the unfortunate foot incident

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) ― It might just be Britney Spears' latest hit.

Hours after losing child-visitation rights Thursday, the troubled pop star apparently ran over a photographer's foot with her car.

According to celebrity Web site Hollywood.TV, Spears was pulling out of a Beverly Hills medical building around 5 p.m. when the incident occurred.

Messages left late Thursday with Spears' attorney were not immediately returned. A police dispatcher in Beverly Hills said late Thursday no police report had been filed.

Video on the Web site is titled "The Unfortunate Foot Incident," but doesn't show the tire of Spears' car rolling over the cameraman's foot.

The video shows Spears beginning to pull out of a parking garage when her car is surrounded by more than a dozen photographers. The car comes to a stop.

Spears honks and the car lurches forward a few feet. Shouting is heard, and the camera jerks around as fellow photographers apparently help a man to his feet.

Spears drives off. Seconds later, the video shows what appears to be a tire mark on the unidentified paparazzo's sock. The man, wearing sandals with white socks, doesn't respond to questions from the cameraman and walks off without any apparent problems.

Earlier Thursday, Spears learned she was barred from visiting her young sons, who are in the custody of ex-husband Kevin Federline, until she complies with a court order, Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled.

The order, dated Wednesday, does not spell out what directives Spears defied. A hearing in the matter was scheduled for Oct. 26.

Spears' apparent foot bender isn't the first time she's had trouble behind the wheel. She faces hit and run charges and driving without a valid license from an Aug. 6 wreck.

In that crash, paparazzi filmed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.
may as well amend the title of her latest single to "Gimme More Bad Luck."

In her latest in a series of driving-related woes, the embattled pop princess appeared to run over the foot of a paparazzo Thursday while exiting a Beverly Hills medical building.

Video footage of the incident shows photographers swarming Spears' white Mercedes convertible as she tries to pull out of the garage.

She honks and lurches forward, and suddenly there are shouts, as the paparazzi are seen leaning over one of their own, whose foot apparently had an unfortunate up-close-and-personal encounter with Spears' tire.

According to a paparazzo who filmed the incident, Spears put her hand up to her mouth in shock and burst into tears, but drove away without stopping to check if the man was all right.

"She knew after he fell and he didn't back up, and he was just stuck at the front of the car," the lensman told Los Angeles' local ABC affiliate.

"From what I saw with my eyes, she went over it, and he pulled his foot out from the back of the tire."

Video showed a tire mark on one of the unidentified man's white socks, but he left the scene without comment, and Beverly Hills police said no report had been filed.

The incident occurred on the same day Spears reached a civil settlement in her hit-and-run case, stemming from her August fender bender.

The pop star was booked on the misdemeanor hit-and-run count on Tuesday, after she was formally charged in the case last month. However, the settlement―said to be in the $1,000 range―combined with the fact that she has finally acquired a valid California driver's license, could lead to the charges against her being dropped.

All in all, it's been a tough week for Spears.

On Wednesday, a court commissioner revoked her visitation rights with her sons, effective immediately after she apparently failed to comply with a court order.

"Petitioner's visitation with the minor children is suspended pending Petitioner's compliance with the court orders," Court Commissioner Scott Gordon said in his ruling.

According to sources close to Spears, she's devastated by the latest development in her custody battle.

"She's really upset," a source tells E! Online. "She keeps saying, 'I can't believe this is happening.' It's like she just can't accept what's happened."

However, things could be looking up for Spears, at least according to Kevin Federline's lawyer.

Attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said he's confident the singer will regain visitation rights with one-year-old Jayden James and two-year-old Sean Preston ahead of the next hearing in the case, which is scheduled for Oct. 26.

"She has complied with the part of the order [causing the suspension]," Kaplan told People. "I expect that visitation will be reinstated." Seattle City Council candidate Venus Velázquez acknowledged using bad judgment when she chose to drive after having drinks with dinner Wednesday night.

Seattle police arrested Velázquez on Northwest Market Street at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of drunken driving, an incident almost certain to impact her campaign less than three weeks before the election.

The race between public-affairs consultant Velázquez and attorney Bruce Harrell to replace Peter Steinbrueck has been among the city's most competitive.

At a West Seattle forum Thursday night, Velázquez opened by talking about the incident. She teared up and said she hoped voters would judge her by the entirety of her record.

A police report released Thursday said Velázquez's car was traveling 50 mph in a 30-mph zone and crossed the center line, according to a police report. After pulling her over, an officer noticed signs of intoxication, the report said.

Velázquez said Thursday she had had two drinks at a restaurant after a candidate forum in Sunset Hills ended at 8:30 p.m.

"I made a bad call, it was a judgment call," said Velázquez, 41.

In a statement she issued Thursday evening, she apologized to "the people of Seattle, my family, my friends and all of my supporters. I am more sorry about this incident than I can express in words. I have devoted much of my life to public service ― and most of the year to my campaign for Seattle City Council ... I remain hopeful that I will have the opportunity to serve the voters and the city of Seattle."

The election is Nov. 6. Absentee ballots are being mailed this week.

Velázquez said Thursday she felt fine to drive home Wednesday night after leaving BalMar restaurant and bar. She declined to say what kind of drinks she'd had. A campaign staffer was riding with her, and Velázquez said she felt the staffer had drunk too much to be driving.

"I had two drinks with dinner; I am a small woman, I'm 5 foot 2," she said. "I believe I was not impaired. I wouldn't have driven if I believed I was impaired. I wouldn't jeopardize my safety or other people's safety."

According to police, radar in the patrol car registered Velázquez going 20 mph over the speed limit on Northwest Market Street near 22nd Avenue Northwest. The officer wrote in the report that he then saw Velázquez's Volvo station wagon cross the center line after she passed Ballard Avenue Northwest.



The officer turned his car around, followed Velázquez going 45 mph, and saw her drifting side to side within her lane, according to the report. He pulled her over east of 15th Avenue Northwest.

Velázquez said she recalls saying yes when the officer asked if she had been drinking.

According to the police report, she did not have her driver's license with her, so the officer verified on his mobile computer that she was licensed to drive. When the officer returned to Velázquez's car, he noticed a "strong minty smell" on her breath, which made him suspect she was trying to cover up the smell of alcohol.

He gave her a field sobriety test, including a balance test, eye test and breath test. The Police Department did not disclose the results of the breath test, saying it could be used as evidence. The department also declined to release the full 13-page police report, providing only the four-page incident narrative.

After the tests, the officer arrested Velázquez and took her to the West Precinct, where she refused to take a breath test on the equipment at the station. She was cited for driving under the influence and two traffic violations, and released around 12:40 a.m., when a police officer drove her home.

Because she refused the breath test at the station, Velázquez's license could be suspended for a year after a hearing with the state Department of Licensing. She still has her license but says she is not driving.

The case has been sent to the City Attorney's Office. Velázquez said she did not know how she might plead Saturday, when an appearance is scheduled in Municipal Court.

Earlier this year, King County Councilwoman Jane Hague was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. She has pleaded not guilty. In that case, state troopers said the Bellevue councilmember was sarcastic and irate while in police custody.

Hague, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Richard Pope in District 6.

City Councilmember Richard McIver, who is not up for election this year, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to fourth-degree domestic-violence assault. According to charging documents, McIver grabbed his wife by the throat three times during an altercation last week. He told police he had been drinking, the documents say.

Velázquez said Thursday that her driving record was relatively clean. "I don't even have a speeding ticket."

Reminded that according to court records, she was cited for speeding in Seattle in 1995, Velázquez responded, "Well, that was a long time ago."

The Seattle Police Officers' Guild, which has endorsed her candidacy, said the arrest will not affect its support for Velázquez.

"There's no excuse for it, but it is for most people a momentary lapse in judgment," said Sgt. Rich O'Neill, president of the guild. "I don't think it is a reflection on her stance on the issues, which was the reason we endorsed her."

Councilmember Steinbrueck, who also has endorsed Velázquez, could not be reached for comment.

The race to replace Steinbrueck has been heated, with Velázquez raising $176,300 and Harrell raising $208,700. A week ago, Velázquez won a significant financial boost after a pro-business political-action committee, Forward Seattle, spent more than $56,000 to support her campaign.

Forward Seattle did not return calls.

Harrell said, "My prayers are with her family. It's an unfortunate situation. I'm going to remain focused on my platform."

The Seattle Times was alerted to the incident when Harrell called the newspaper Thursday morning to say he had heard unsubstantiated rumors of an arrest and wondered if they were true.

Velázquez praised the work of the officer who arrested her. "The police officer who stopped me was incredibly professional and respectful and treated me fairly and well," she said.
Generals: General Elphinstone against the Ameers of Kabul, particularly Akbar Khan, and the Ghilzai tribal chiefs.

Size of the armies: 4,500 British and Indian troops against an indeterminate number of Ghilzai tribesmen, possibly as many as 30,000.

Uniforms, arms and equipment:
The British infantry, wearing cut away red jackets, white trousers and shako hats, were armed with the old Brown Bess musket and bayonet. The Indian infantry were similarly armed and uniformed.

The Ghilzai tribesmen carried swords and jezail, long barrelled muskets.
Winner: The British and Indian force was wiped out other than a small number of prisoners and one survivor.


The route taken by the Kabul garrison during its disastrous retreat to India in January 1842

British Regiments:
44th Foot, later the Essex Regiment and now the Royal Anglian Regiment.
Regiments of the Bengal Army:
2nd Bengal Light Cavalry
1st Bengal European Infantry
37th Bengal Native Infantry
48th Bengal Native Infantry
2nd Bengal Native Infantry
27th Bengal Native Infantry.
Bengal Horse Artillery

The War:
The British colonies in India in the early 19th Century were held by the Honourable East India Company, a powerful trading corporation based in London, answerable to its shareholders and to the British Parliament.

In the first half of the century France as the British bogeyman gave way to Russia, leading finally to the Crimean War in 1854. In 1839 the obsession in British India was that the Russians, extending the Tsar's empire east into Asia, would invade India through Afghanistan.

This widely held obsession led Lord Auckland, the British governor general in India, to enter into the First Afghan War, one of Britain's most ill-advised and disastrous wars.

Until the First Afghan War the Sirkar (the Indian colloquial name for the East India Company) had an overwhelming reputation for efficiency and good luck. The British were considered to be unconquerable and omnipotent. The Afghan War severely undermined this view. The retreat from Kabul in January 1842 and the annihilation of Elphinstone's Kabul garrison dealt a mortal blow to British prestige in the East only rivaled by the fall of Singapore 100 years later.

The causes of the disaster are easily stated: the difficulties of campaigning in Afghanistan's inhospitable mountainous terrain with its extremes of weather, the turbulent politics of the country and its armed and refractory population and finally the failure of the British authorities to appoint senior officers capable of conducting the campaign competently and decisively.

The substantially Hindu East India Company army crossed the Indus with trepidation, fearing to lose caste by leaving Hindustan and appalled by the country they were entering. The troops died of heat, disease and lack of supplies on the desolate route to Kandahar, subject, in the mountain passes, to constant attack by the Afghan tribes. Once in Kabul the army was reduced to a perilously small force and left in the command of incompetents. As Sita Ram in his memoirs complained: "If only the army had been commanded by the memsahibs all might have been well."

The disaster of the First Afghan War was a substantial contributing factor to the outbreak of the Great Mutiny in the Bengal Army in 1857.

The successful defence of Jellalabad and the progress of the Army of Retribution in 1842 could do only a little in retrieving the loss of the East India Company's reputation.

Account:
Following the British capture of Kandahar and Ghuznee Dost Mohammed, whose replacement on the throne in Kabul by Shah Shujah was the purpose of the British expedition into Afghanistan, despairing of the support of his army fled to the hills. On 7th August 1839 Shah Shujah and the British and Indian Army entered Kabul.

The British official controlling the expedition was Sir William Macnaghten, the Viceroy's Envoy, acting with his staff of political officers.

At first all went well. British money and the powerful Anglo-Indian Army kept the Afghan tribes in controllable bounds, pacifying the Ameers with bribes and forays into the surrounding districts.


Afghan tribesmen waiting to attack the Kabul Brigade during the agonising retreat to India

In November 1840 during a raid into Kohistan two squadrons of Bengal cavalry failed to follow their officers in a charge against a small force of Afghans led by Dost Mohammed himself. Soon afterwards, despairing of his life in the mountains, Dost Mohammed surrendered to Macnaghten and went into exile in India, escorted by a division of British and Indian troops no longer required in Afghanistan and accompanied by the commander in chief Sir Willoughby Cotton.

In December 1840 Shah Shujah and Macnaghten withdrew to Jellalabad for the ferocious Afghan winter, returning to Kabul in the spring of 1841.

In the assumption that the establishment of Shah Shujah as Ameer was complete, the British and Indian troops were required to move out of the Balla Hissar, a fortified palace of considerable strength outside Kabul, and build for themselves conventional cantonments. A further complete brigade of the force was withdrawn, leaving the remaining regiments to settle into garrison life as if in India, summoning families to join them, building a race course and disporting themselves under the increasingly menacing Afghan gaze.

There were plenty of signs of trouble. The Ghilzai tribes in the Khyber repeatedly attacked British supply columns from India. Tribal revolt made Northern Baluchistan virtually ungovernable. Shah Shujah's writ did not run outside the main cities, particularly in the South Western areas around the Helmond River.
Sir William Cotton was replaced as commander in chief of the British and Indian forces by General Elphinstone, an elderly invalid now incapable of directing an army in the field, but with sufficient spirit to prevent any other officer from exercising proper command in his place.


Afghan tribesmen armed with jezails

The fate of the British and Indian forces in Afghanistan in the winter of 1840 to 1841 provides a striking illustration of the collapse of morale and military efficiency where the officers in command are indecisive and wholly lacking in initiative and self-confidence. The only senior officer left in Afghanistan with any ability was Brigadier Nott, the garrison commander at Kandahar.

Crisis struck in October 1841. In that month Brigadier Sale took his brigade out of Kabul as part of the force reductions and began the march through the mountain passes to Peshawar and India. Throughout the journey his column was subjected to continuing attack by Ghilzai tribesmen and the armed retainers of the Kabul Ameers. Sale's brigade, which included the 13th Foot, fought through to Gandamak, where a message was received summoning the force back to Kabul, Sale did not comply with the order and continued to Jellalabad.

In Kabul serious trouble had broken out. On 2nd November 1841 an Afghan mob stormed the house of Sir Alexander Burnes, one of the senior British political officers, and murdered him and several of his staff. It is the authoritative assessment that if the British had reacted with vigour and severity the Kabul rising could have been controlled. But such a reaction was beyond Elphinstone's abilities. All he could do was refuse to give his deputy, Brigadier Shelton, the discretion to take such measures.

Until the end of the year the situation of the Kabul force deteriorated as the Afghans harried them and deprived them of supplies and pressed them more closely.

On 23rd December 1841 Macnaghten was lured to a meeting with several Afghan Ameers and murdered. While the Kabulis awaited a swift retribution the British and Indian regiments cowered fearful in their cantonments.

Attempts to clear the high ground that enabled the Afghans to dominate the cantonments failed miserably, because the troops were too cowed to be capable of aggressive action.

The beginning of the end came on 6th January 1842 when the British and Indian garrison, 4,500 soldiers, including 690 Europeans, and 12,000 wives, children and civilian servants, following a purported agreement with the Ameers guaranteeing safe conduct to India, marched out of the cantonments and began the terrible journey to the Khyber Pass and on to India. As part of the agreement with the Ameers all the guns had to be left to the Afghans except for one horse artillery battery and 3 mountain guns and a number of British officers and their families were required to surrender as hostages, taking them from the nightmare slaughter of the march into relative security.

In spite of the binding undertaking to protect the retreating army, the column was attacked from the moment it left the Kabul cantonments.

The army managed to march 6 miles on the first day. The night was spent without tents or cover, many troops and camp followers dying of cold.

The next day the march continued, Brigadier Shelton, after his ineffectiveness as Elphinstone's deputy, showing his worth leading the counter attacks of the rearguard to cover the main body.

At Bootkhak the Kabul Ameer, Akbar Khan, arrived claiming he had been deputed to ensure the army completed its journey without further harassment. He insisted that the column halt and camp, extorting a large sum of money and insisting that further officers be given up as hostages. One of the conditions negotiated with the Ameers was that the British abandon Kandahar and Jellalabad. Akbar Khan required the hostages to ensure Brigadier Sale left Jellalabad and withdrew to India.

The next day found the force so debilitated by the freezing night that few of the soldiers were fit for duty. The column struggled into the narrow five mile long Khoord Cabul pass to be fired on for its whole length by the tribesmen posted on the heights on each side. The rearguard was found by the 44th Regiment who fought to keep the tribesmen at bay. 3,000 casualties were left in the gorge.

On 9th January 1842 Akbar Khan required further hostages in the form of the remaining married officers with their families. For the next two days the column pushed through the passes and fought off the incessant attacks of the tribesmen.

On the evening of 11th January 1842 Akbar Khan compelled General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton to surrender as hostages, leaving the command to Brigadier Anquetil. The troops reached the Jugdulluk crest to find the road blocked by a thorn abattis manned by Ghilzai tribesmen. A desperate attack was mounted, the horse artillery driving their remaining guns at the abattis, but few managed to pass this fatal obstruction.


The last stand of the survivors of Her Majesty's 44th Foot at Gandamak

The final stand took place at Gandamak on the morning of 13th January 1842 in the snow. 20 officers and 45 European soldiers, mostly of the 44th Foot, found themselves surrounded on a hillock. The Afghans attempted to persuade the soldiers that they intended them no harm. Then the sniping began followed a series of rushes. Captain Souter wrapped the colours of the regiment around his body and was dragged into captivity with two or three soldiers. The remainder were shot or cut down. Only 6 mounted officers escaped. Of these 5 were murdered along the road.

On the afternoon of 13th January 1842 the British troops in Jellalabad, watching for their comrades of the Kabul garrison, saw a single figure ride up to the town walls. It was Dr Brydon, the sole survivor of the column.


Dr Brydon arrives at Jellalabad, the last survivor of an
army of 16,500 soldiers and civilians

Casualties:
The entire force of 690 British soldiers, 2,840 Indian soldiers and 12,000 followers were killed or in a few cases taken prisoner. The 44th Foot lost 22 officers and 645 soldiers, mostly killed. Afghan casualties, largely Ghilzai tribesmen, are unknown.

Follow-up:
The massacre of this substantial British and Indian force caused a profound shock throughout the British Empire. Lord Auckland, the Viceroy of India, is said to have suffered a stroke on hearing the news. Brigadier Sale and his troops in Jellalabad for a time contemplated retreating to India, but more resolute councils prevailed, particularly from Captains Broadfoot and Havelock, and the garrison hung on to act as the springboard for the entry of the "Army of Retribution" into Afghanistan the next year.

Regimental anecdotes and traditions:

The First Afghan War provided the clear lesson to the British authorities that while it may be relatively straightforward to invade Afghanistan it is wholly impracticable to occupy the country or attempt to impose a government not welcomed by the inhabitants. The only result will be failure and great expense in treasure and lives.
The British Army learnt a number of lessons from this sorry episode. One was that the political officers must not be permitted to predominate over military judgments.
The War provides a fascinating illustration of how the character and determination of its leaders can be decisive in determining the morale and success of a military expedition.
It is extraordinary that officers, particularly senior officers like Elphinstone and Shelton, felt able to surrender themselves as hostages, thereby ensuring their survival, while their soldiers struggled on to be massacred by the Afghans.