Chris Harper-Mercer, who died in a shoot-out with police after the massacre at Umpqua Community College, was kicked out of the Army while training at Fort Jackson. The Pentagon said Mercer was discharged after just five weeks of training in late 2008 after 'failing to meet the minimum administrative standards to serve in the U.S. Army'. The revelation came as it emerged that investigators found seven weapons at Harper-Mercer's home overnight, as well as six at the school - more than previously thought. The 26-year-old was carrying a rifle, five pistols and body armor during the slaying of nine people in Roseburg. Four more rifles, two other pistols and a shotgun were found at his apartment. It is also now believed that the shooter had Asperger's Syndrome and attended a high school for students with behavioral issues.

John Lennon (pictured, with his bereaved wife Yoko Ono) was voted the seventh greatest Briton of all time, but DOMINIC SANDBROOK argues that his only driving thought was: 'Me, me, me.' In his new book, Sandbrook writes that although his admirers like to remember Lennon as man of 'bracing cynicism and withering wit', he was in fact a man of great self-absorption. 'Even his most admiring biographers struggle to justify his cruel streak, his eagerness to sneer at anybody different, his mockery of Jews and homosexuals, his weird obsession with dwarves and deformities,' Sandbrook claims.

Accumulated rainfall in the Carolinas from unrelated storms this week coupled with more on the way from Joaquin prompted a warning from the National Weather Service on Friday about a 'historic, potentially life-threatening rainfall event' in parts of the Carolinas and northeast Georgia this weekend. Up to 12 inches of rain were expected in some areas between Friday and Sunday, with flash floods and gusts up to 35 miles per hour likely to topple trees and cause power outages, the Weather Service said. Flood warnings and coastal flood advisories were in effect for some sections. Two deaths in the Carolinas on Thursday were linked to heavy rainfall.

Three members of the Nyack College (center) women's softball team sued the Christian school Friday, saying it failed to protect them from a former coach Kurt Ludwigsen (left), 44, who allegedly sexually harassed them. Ludwigsen of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Among the allegations were claims that Ludwigsen invited porn star Allie Haze (right) to practice and tried to convince the girls to let her coach them.

Detectives investigating the murder of Dallas dentist Kendra Hatcher (right), 35, have charged a man with her shooting and are seeking her lover's former girlfriend to charge her. Kristopher Love, 31, was arrested and is being held on $2.5million bail. He is accused of being a hired killer. Dr Hatcher's boyfriend Ricardo Paniagua (inset), a dermatologist, had broken up with Brenda Delgado (left), 33, in the spring and embarked on a relationship with divorcee Dr. Hatcher. Police said tonight that Delgado was a murder suspect and at large and being classed as a 'fugitive.'

Robin Williams's widow and his three children from previous marriages reached a settlement in their legal fight over the late actor's estate, ending a public dispute following the beloved comedian's suicide last year. Terms of the out-of-court settlement were not disclosed but James Wagstaffe, who is representing Susan Schneider Williams, said she will remain in the northern California home she shared with the Oscar-winner. The actor's third wife also will receive living expenses to maintain the home, a watch Robin Williams often wore, a bike bought on their honeymoon, and their wedding gifts.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. As Russia launches airstrikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad (bottom right), photographs remind the world of what the Syrian president is capable of. While the barbarity of groups such as ISIS are regularly recorded in propaganda videos produced by the terrorists themselves, Assad is notorious for trying to keep his evil acts a secret. But Caesar's photos (main and top right) show that he, a sovereign ruler, had plumbed the same depths as the terror group.

Roy Jeffs, the son of imprisoned cult leaser Warren Jeffs, has told of his life inside his father's twisted religious sect, including daily confessions and alleged sexual abuse. Roy said his father controlled him by forcing him to write letters confessing his sinful thoughts, under pain of exile if he refused, then punished him for his transgression by sending him to work crews or live in 'hiding houses'. He said he never saw a film until he was 20 and was even banned from swimming. He also spoke about sex abuse he claims to have suffered, saying it began before he was six years old.

On Thursday, prosecutors released photos used in the murder trial of Colorado man Harold Henthorn, 59. Henthorn was convicted last month in the 2012 murder of his wife Toni, 50. The newly released evidence file also contains Harold's calls to 911, which some jurors said sounded too cool for a man trying to save his wife's life. Henthorn, 59, always maintained that his 50-year-old wife's death was an accident. He told authorities that he surprised his wife with the hike up Deer Mountain, and that she died falling over a ledge after stopping to take a picture of the view. However, prosecutors argued that Henthorn carefully planned his wife's killing in order to cash a $4.7million life insurance policy, and scouted the location of the hike nine times before the September fall.

Hacidena de la Paz, built by seafood magnate John Blazevich over 17 years in the gated Los Angeles suburb of Rolling Hills, taking its inspiration from the ornate dwellings of 19th century Andalusia. Zoning laws meant that the above ground portion of the house could only be one story, so Blazevich built 50 feet into the ground, where there is now a tennis court that turns into a ballroom. The businessman and his fiancee Alexandra McLeod went on trips around the world to collect pieces for their 51,000 square foot home as it was being designed and built by award winning Spanish architect Rafael Manzano Martos.

WARNING: Story contains images some readers may find emotionally distressing. Natalie Morgan, 29, of Florida, is seen cuddling her dead daughter, Eleanor, in a series of Facebook pictures as she pleads with parents to be grateful for their children and remember her story. She says that she and her husband, Brian, spent six hours in the hospital with the child, who died in utero at 40 weeks.

From the day he was born, Howard Shulman was an outsider who was destined for a life blighted by a deformity on his face. He was abandoned at birth, made a ward of New Jersey and spent a childhood - rife with bullying and filled with endless surgeries - in foster homes. But as he grew older, and forged a daring life for himself, he feared he may one down return and be trapped inside a state system. This time, however, it would be a prison. In a new memoir, Running from the Mirror, he describes how he ran drugs across the country, dealt pot to tourists on a beach in Mexico and was nearly caught by the DEA with a suitcase full of 'product' at a Chicago train station in the 1970s. He told Daily Mail Online he then bought a nightclub in San Diego where he met his wife for the first time, before he decided to track down his biological mother, 40 years after deciding she didn't want to care for him. After meeting her twice, once at a New Jersey deli and once at The Plaza Hotel in New York City, he never spoke to her again, as she believed he held too much anger against her.

Boudoir shoots have grown in popularity in recent years, but they are seldom associated with conservative religious communities. Lately, however, Orthodox Jewish women have been posing for these smoldering pictures, stripping down to lingerie and robes for their own sexy shots. Lea, a 30-year-old photographer from New York, said this type of shoot for Orthodox clients now accounts for 35 per cent of her business. She told Daily Mail Online that the sessions, for which she charges about $1,000, celebrate women and can help 'keep the spark alive' in marriages. She added that most of her clients are married, and many are mothers and even grandmothers. And, according to at least one rabbi, the revealing photo shoots are totally 'kosher' - but the ensuing snaps should be kept between a husband and wife.

Mario Bosco's (pictured) memoir entitled 'From Hopeless to Hollywood: The Mario Bosco Story,'(center) which came out in July, details how his condition that makes him small helped him to land a Hollywood career. He's been on Jimmy Kimmel (right) Live and has met the likes of John Travolta (left), and Denzel Washington along the way.

Tai Jennison takes a photo of his friend (pictured) surfing unknowingly capturing the moment a shark is lurking in the background. Two days later while taking part in his routine surf at Alexandria Bay in Queensland, the teenager and his mates encounter a shark swimming so close to their board, his friend's dad was forced to scream a warning for the boys to hurriedly swim back to shore.

Elizabeth Denton, an editor at Seventeen.com, rocked the 18-year-old reality star's hair, nails and make-up for 24 hours. She said that while it was 'fun' to look like Kylie, it also made her feel insecure to look so over-the-top. The writer also revealed it took a whopping five hours to transform her into the celebrity.

Edwin Wheeler, 30, from Oregon, first began receiving messages from a mysterious stranger in February. The first message simply said: 'Hi Wendy how are you and your girls.' He replied with a selfie and a text which read: 'I ain't never been called Wendy before,' to show that the sender had the wrong number, however the person continued sending messages intended for Wendy to his number for several months, before finally realizing their mistake.

Two spearfishers off the coast of Queensland in Australia have filmed the moment they were forced to shoot a bronze whaler shark (inset), after it lunged towards them (left and right) as they returned to their boat. Moments before the attack, one of the men muttered: 'They're getting pretty close aren't they!'

Emily Nolan, 29, is one of the many women who posed naked for photographer Victoria Janashvili's body-positive coffee table book Curves, which celebrates fuller-figured women. However, Emily explained that she was reluctant at first to show people the stunning images inspired by her yoga practice.

Terrifying images from a patrol helicopter has revealed the outline of HUGE shark (pictured) resting just below the surf, clearing more than 10 surfers from the water in Australia. The 10ft great white shark was spotted off the coast of Boulder Beach, Ballina, in New South Wales at about 10.30 am.

Rhode Island-based photographer Laura Kilgus has been passionate about helping the Down syndrome community in any way she can and has put together a special show containing portraits of children suffering from the genetic disorder. There is often a negative connotation associated with Down syndrome, but Claudia Lowe, Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Society of Rhode Island says, 'Once you meet someone with the condition you realize, how special each one is, with their own personality and sense of humor.'

The unnamed child, who is believed to be from the US, was asked to pose with the bird of prey - and took her task very seriously. The original image was posted on the 'Photoshop Battles ' feed on Reddit by user Obladesque, who works at Paws For Ability in Ohio, with the caption 'Girl unhappily holds an owl', however, internet users took matters into their own hands.

Eric Lafforgue's stunning photographs of Ethiopia's Daasanach tribe, from the Omo Valley, capture a new generation of fashion fans, mixing their ancestral beading and hairstyles with items from the West's disposable consumer culture. Accessories are not gender specific and men and women alike turn fashion mobile phone sim cards into earrings, wear discarded football shirts (right), sport rainbow-coloured clips (left) and carry Disney items (centre), to create utterly unique new styles.