Platte River Systems, of Denver, Colorado, maintained the 'homebrew' server at the center of the mounting scandal hitting the Clinton campaign. Daily Mail Online can reveal the firm (which promotes itself online, top left) was sued over claims it illegally accessed the US master database of phone numbers, and that it seized control of hundreds of phone lines - including some used by the Department of Defense and White House military support desks. The disclosure raises questions over the ability of the firm to maintain the controversial Clinton server, which was housed in her upstate New York home and had no State Department security back-up. Clinton (right) is facing increasing scrutiny after material which was 'above top secret' and came from the CIA (bottom left)was found in emails she had kept in it.

Donald Trump has posted an incendiary ad bashing his enemies on Instagram that links a laughing President Obama and a dancing Hillary Clinton with Jihadi John himself. In a series of still photos that flash while sinister music plays, the candidate's post tells the world that Washington insiders are standing blithely by while ISIS and other forces bent on America's destruction make global inroads. 'Politicians are having fun on our dime while the world is burning,' read eerie white block letters on a field of black.

She rose to fame in 2006 playing perky pop princess Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. And while there can be no doubt these days that Miley Cyrus is comfortable in her own skin, the 22-year-old recently reflected on the negative impact the daily pressures of playing the teenage character had on her. The songstress told Marie Claire: 'I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on that show' and revealed that she developed serious body image issues while trying to fit the part. 

He set to miss the first four games of the regular season off the back of the scandal that has rocked football. But fans still turned out to get behind Tom Brady as the New England Patriots played their first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. The quarterback, who was in court this week to appeal the suspension handed to him by the NFL, was welcomed into Gillette Stadium with spectators holding up placards reading: 'Free Brady'. It is first time he has stepped onto the field since he was handed the punishment by the league - and he looked a little less stone-faced then the court sketches of him suggested. He only played in the Super Bowl-champion's first three drives before he was replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo, the young player likely to replace him for the opening stretch of the franchise's NFL campaign. The pair however ended up on the losing side, going down 22-11.

Ashlee Berryman had just left the Braza Bar and Grill in Everett at around 1am on Thursday when she was gunned down. She had been watching her musician boyfriend perform inside the popular venue before the tragic incident unfolded. Prosecutors said Berryman, who leaves behind a three-year-old son, was an 'unintended target' in the shooting. She is believed to have been handing out CDs to promote her boyfriend. Her 20-year-old sister Alx Berryman told the Globe she had a message for the killer: 'You just took away a 3-year-old's mother. 'Maybe you don't have a mother and that's why you're such a monster, but if you did have a mother, or if you do have a mother, imagine growing up without her.'

Jeanette Navin, 55, a sanitation company owner from Connecticut, and his librarian wife, Jeanette, 55 (pictured together), were reported missing August 7 by family members who told police they have not been seen since August 4. Their pickup truck was later found abandoned and vandalized in a commuter lot. Last year, HSBC Bank foreclosed on he Navins' million-dollar home in Guilford for failure to make mortgage payments totaling $2.23million, and a utility company sued Mr Navin claiming $140,000 in unpaid electrical bills. Then in June, the couple sold their other luxury home (inset) for $900,000 and moved into a rental.

Governor John Hickenlooper put an iodine tablet in a bottle of Animas River water to kill bacteria before taking a gulp Tuesday. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, got attention in 2013 after saying he drank a form of fracking fluid to prove it was safe. The San Juan River and its northern tributary, the Animas River, were fouled by a torrent of mine sludge released by a team of EPA workers August 5.

Caitlin Adams, 26, from Texas, transformed her body, going from a size 22 (left) to a size 10 (right). At 5'9", she now weighs a healthy 146lbs, and her experience has inspired her to go back to school to study nutrition, so she can help other teens and young adults who are struggling with obesity.

She's known for her timeless beauty and elegant style and has graced the pages of numerous high fashion magazines. However Brooke Shields says there is nothing she likes better than relaxing at home on her front porch. The star opened the doors of her 1920's Long Island cottage in the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens .

Christian Lusardi admitted to buying millions of dollars in counterfeit poker chips to use in an Atlantic City poker tournament. The 43-year-old man got cold feet and flushed the chips down the toilet in his room, causing the pipes to get clogged. Lusardi pleaded guilty to trademark counterfeiting and criminal mischief in court on Thursday.

One day before the historic reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, former President Fidel Castro asserted in a newspaper column that the U.S. owes the island country 'millions of dollars' as reparations for a decades-long embargo. According to Agence France-Presse, Castro, who is celebrating his 89th birthday today, wrote: "Cuba is owed compensation equivalent to damages, which total many millions of dollars, as our country has stated with irrefutable arguments and data in all of its speeches at the United Nations." The column did not mention U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Cuba for the embassy opening Friday.

Khalessi the two-year-old pit bull mix (pictured) was found abandoned on an Orlando, Florida lawn. She was missing her nose, nostrils, and sinus cavity - making her long front teeth hang out like the tusks of a walrus. Her hind legs don't work and she has injuries that indicate past abuse. However, she wags her tail all of the time and still loves people. She will have multiple surgeries and then be put up for adoption through Passion 4 Pits Rescue group.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star says the Born This Way singer just tripped over after a night of high spirits rather than high alcohol consumption. In the back of Gaga's car, she had a 'Slim Master' detox drink, which claims to help speed up the metabolism (pictured inset)

SARAH VINE: Vogue, which can produce intelligent journalism, too often dances to the tune of designers, and not the other way around. It's like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. Indeed, in her monthly editorial letter, even Alexandra Shulman, the magazine's brilliant and highly accomplished editor-in-chief, sounds a note of disbelief. You have to search hard to find it, buried as it is in the middle of a three-page Versace advert featuring a bird-poo yellow trouser suit and matching handbag, but it's there nonetheless: 'Personally, I'm not so sure all these shouty clothes will rush off the rails.' (Pictured left to right: Emma Watson graces the front cover of British Vogue's September issue and some of the unusual clothes which feature in the magazine.)

A Christian Louboutin heel got wedged into an escalator at the Condé Nast headquarters in New York on Thursday. Shoe designer Nareesha McCaffrey owned up to the pricey shoe being hers. The famed mass media company's office is located within One World Trade Center.

The stylish apartment, which featured in fashionista chick flick Devil Wears Prada, is on the market with the cool price-tag of $23,000 a month in Soho, New York. It features in the hit movie when Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, meets journalist Christian Thompson at an industry party and belongs to up and coming designer James Holt.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT A man armed with a metre-long sword has stabbed a woman to death outside a Uniqlo store in Beijing's busy Sanlitun district. The attacker, known only as Gao, also slashed a French man who was trying to help the woman (pictured above), who later died in hospital. Sickening photos taken at the scene (inset) show the attacker casually sauntering around the square before he is apprehended by police.

A video from Nerf reveals the new features on two of its Blaster toys - one of which can shoot balls around 70 miles per hour. The clip from the toy brand was uploaded to YouTube on Monday and shows the features of its Apollo XV-700 and Zeus MXV-1200 models. Both Blasters are part of the company's Rival line of products. The Zeus MXV-1200 (main left and top right) can shoot balls at around 70mph, the company says. Its Apollo XV-700 model (bottom right) is 'a manual spring-loaded, single-shot blaster,' project engineer Dan Matarese says in the promotional video. Matarese says 4.5 years were spent working on the Rival toys.

An Oregon house cat has been named the world's oldest at the ripe old age of 26. Corduroy, a long-haired tabby, has belonged to Ashley Reed Okura of Sisters, Oregon since he was just short of 7-years-old. 'The secret has been allowing him to be a cat -- hunting and getting plenty of love!' Okura said in a release put out by Guinness World Records, who certified the record Thursday.

Inspired by Brandon Stanton's popular Humans of New York, which shares portraits alongside interesting stories from real New Yorkers, this satirical Facebook page also features people posing in the city that never sleeps. Unlike on the original page, however, these stories are made up to poke fun at 20-something living in the city. The sometimes unflattering quotes paint millennials as entitled, uninterested in current events, and obsessed with social media and trends. But they also include some hysterically funny - and incredibly accurate - observations.

Where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo, 260 storm days each year create around 28 lightning strikes hitting the lake each minute. The unique atmospheric phenomenon generates an 1.2 million lightning strikes each year and is visible from almost 250 miles (400km) away. There are several theories to explain the continuous storms including high winds which sweep across the lake forming clouds when they meet the Andean mountains. Others link it to the boggy marshes releasing methane gas.

A 3-year-old police K-9 died Wednesday after the air-conditioning unit in a squad car malfunctioned at the PGA Championship in Kohler, Wisconsin. Wix, a Belgian Malinois, was on assignment with the Brown County Sheriff's Office. An investigation will be conducted into Wix's death by the sheriff's office.

The Tardis-like creation has been taking campsites by storm this summer because it's so small that it can be easily towed like a trailer - but its nifty design also hides a secret compartment. The brainchild of two Australian camping enthusiasts, Glenn Wills and Christine Bree, The Gidget will set buyers back about £10,000 to own the retro-inspired pod.

Hands gripping the steering wheel, I am perched in the front seat of a garish white Mercedes so enormous it makes me feel like one of the Borrowers, writes SARAH RAINEY. My every move is being watched by an equally enormous man dressed head to toe in purple velour, who identifies himself only as 'The Wolf of Knightsbridge'. I am forbidden from touching the plush red-and-white leather interior; forbidden from pressing the astounding array of buttons and levers that dot the dashboard; and, above all else, forbidden from putting my foot anywhere near the accelerator. Parked outside the five-star Dorchester hotel in London (above) are, from left, a Ferrari, a Mercedes, a Rolls-Royce, a garishly customised gold Range Rover and, yes, yet another Ferrari. I am pictured (left) with a white Lamborghini , and (right) with 'The Wolf of Knightsbridge', right, and another man, known as 'Angelo'.