Convicted murderer and ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez was pictured laughing and joking, with his gang-linked neck tattoo on show, as he appeared in court for a pre-trial hearing in a double murder case. The former New England Patriots tight end will stand trial early next year for the 2012 fatal shootings of two men outside a Boston nightclub, a crime prosecutors says was prompted by Hernandez's rage over a spilled drink. A judge on Tuesday set a trial date of February 13 after Hernandez's new attorneys said they could not be ready by this fall. Hernandez, who is already serving a life sentence for a 2013 murder, recently hired a new defense team, which includes Florida attorney Jose Baez - known for winning an acquittal in Casey Anthony's case in the death of her daughter in a highly-publicized 2011 trial.

Jesus Alfredo Guzman (left), 29, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman (bottom right) was among six men kidnapped by a suspected rival gang at an upscale resort (top right) in Puerto Vallarta, in a likely settling of scores. Mexican officials confirmed Jesus Alfredo Guzman's kidnapping. Previously, it was believed that El Chapo's son Ivan Guzman was among those taken in Puerto Vallarta. But Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer told a news conference that Alfredo was the son who was abducted. 'At this moment, we have identified four of the kidnapped,' Almaguer said, 'one of them being Jesus Alfredo Guzman'. Almaguer says the kidnappers appear to belong to the state's dominant Jalisco New Generation drug cartel and the victims are from the rival Sinaloa cartel. He said the identification was made through items found in the vehicles and forensic work at the scene. Seven gunmen in pickup trucks descended on the upscale bar and restaurant around dawn and abducted the group, in what investigators have called a likely settling of scores between rival drug cartels.

A Milwaukee police officer was being targeted by online threats Tuesday from people who say he fatally shot the black man whose death has sparked violence in the city. Police haven't released the name of the officer who shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith (right) on Saturday following a traffic stop, but widely shared social media posts and at least one news report identified him as a 24-year-old patrolman. At least 3,000 people shared a Facebook photo of the targeted officer, who was independently identified by the Journal-Sentinal as Dominique Heaggan-Brown (left). Smith's sister Sherelle Smith, revealed in an interview that the officer went to high school with her brother. Relatives and friends from the Sherman Park neighborhood also confirmed that Heaggan and Smith knew each other. Heaggan is also reportedly known to locals as KB Domo (inset), a musician who often collaborated with hip hop artist Dae Flywalker. Police Chief Edward Flynn said the officer is currently staying with relatives out of town and refused to confirm his identity due to threats.

As disgraced quarterback Johnny Manziel's (inset with his sister) star continues to fall, his fashionista sister's just keeps rising. Meri Manziel lives with her grandmother in Tyler, Texas, where she is studying for a business degree - but she's also often posting sexy snaps from her jet-setting lifestyle to her 17,000 Instagram followers.  The 20-year-old says her dream job is to a buyer for Neiman Marcus - and she's likely to get it if her fashionable pics are anything to go by. But her older brother is apparently not a fan of some of her more risqué pictures - and she says he told her off after she recently posted a picture of herself in a daring one-piece (left).

Brunhilde Pomsel, 105, was inside the Fuhrer bunker in Berlin when Adolf Hitler shot himself while the Russian army advanced on his subterranean stronghold. Now she is the centre of a remarkable new film, where she explains how she went from working for a Jewish businessman to her role at the heart of the Nazi regime alongside Hitler's henchman Joseph Goebbels (right), before her eventual return to German life working for a major broadcaster.

Garland County Circuit Court Judge Wade Naramore (pictured with his wife in court, left) is charged with negligent homicide after his son, Thomas, (right) died in a hot car in July 2015. The first day of testimony opened with a statement from Gerald Keith, Naramore's neighbor, who told the jury he'd found Naramore sitting in his front yard with his son in his arms. He told the court he'd heard him repeating: 'I killed my child. I killed my child.' Keith said he then took Thomas from Naramore and tried to cool him off that day by holding him in a cold shower before emergency personnel arrived.

An Ohio woman whose husband filmed a controversial video of himself killing a bear in Canada was once an animal-loving vegetarian opposed to hunting. Sarah Bowmar, who is now a hunting enthusiast along with her husband Josh, wrote on her blog: 'I hated hunters. I hated that they took pictures with dead deer with the bloody tongue hanging out.' But he 'educated' her about conservation and told her that 'being in the woods isn't always about t he kill itself, it's about appreciating the beauty of everything that God created.' Josh Bowmar, 26, was met with online vitriol after his hunting video went viral on Monday, prompting condemnation from the Canadian government and a ban on spear hunting to be instituted in the fall, the Globe and Mail reported.

Lena Zawaideh, who was part of Bad Things with the double Olympic gold medalist, also claims the winter sportsman hasn't paid her for some of her performances. According to documents seen by Daily Mail Online, White also constantly criticized her appearance and asked her to get her hair cut in certain ways. He sent the musician 'sexually harassing and suggestive comments' via text messages, which were publish White has admitted he sent the explicit messages years ago, but has denied sexually harassing Zawaideh. Lena Zawaideh (left), the drummer for the band Bad Things, has accused snowboarder Shaun White of sexually harassing her for years while they were on tour. Zawaideh's attorneys say his behavior caused her 'emotional distress and mental harm' that forced her to seek psychological treatment - the cost of which means she can no longer afford to train to be a doctor. Among the allegations, Zawaideh claims White sent her sexually explicit and graphic images of 'engorged and erect penises'.

A New York City woman killed while out running near her mother's Massachusetts home brought light to the lives of everyone she touched, mourners were told at her funeral Tuesday. Family (parents tor right), neighbors and a bus full of Google co-workers were among the hundreds of people who paid tribute to Vanessa Marcotte (inset left), 27, at Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic church in Leominster. 'She was so perfect, it was otherworldly," said her best friend Leah Abrahams. 'Something about Vanessa always reminded me of the ocean - so breathlessly beautiful, quiet and peaceful.'

USA's Kerri Walsh-Jennings (right) has just lost her first ever Olympic beach volleyball match. Walsh-Jennings and her partner, April Ross, made a valiant effort against Brazil in the women's beach volleyball semifinal but were beaten two-sets-to-none on Tuesday night. Walsh-Jennings and Ross fought hard against Brazil's second-seeded pair, Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas (left). But Brazil eventually bested Team USA, advancing to the final against Germans Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst.

Brazilian show jumper Alvaro Doda de Miranda is back on form after a tumultuous year in which his decade-long marriage to a billionaire heiress fell apart. Miranda was discovered in bed with a woman by his wife, Athina Onassis's security team, earlier this year in a scandal that has rocked the show jumping world. But despite the carnage in his personal life, he has managed to find extra motivation to succeed at the Rio Olympics and secure a place in the jumping final.

They're the Olympic athletes who never skip core-day at the gym. From Australian track athlete Anneliese Rubie (left) to diver Melissa Wu (center) and Brazilian gymnast Jade Barbosa (right), Femail looks at the women in Rio with incredible abs.

Ellen Degeneres has been accused of being a racist after tweeting a meme, pictured left, of Usain. The Photoshopped image showed her riding the back of the Olympic gold medalist in what is now an iconic image of him casually smiling at the camera during his winning 100 meter men's final sprint. The caption read: 'This is how I'm running errands from now on.' DeGeneres took to Twitter to insist she is not racist, telling her fans: 'I am highly aware of the racism that exists in our country. It is the furthest thing from who I am.' Usain, who was a guest on her show last season, is pictured right, competing today in the Men's 200m heat. He himself also re-tweeted the image. 

German twin sisters Anna (right) and Lisa Hahner (left) have divided opinion among fans after finishing the Olympic marathon holding hands. The German's have been accused of not trying hard enough by the countries athletic federation director Thomas Kurschilgen, while others have defended the girls calling it one of the most uplifting moments. The pair finished the race 15 minutes slower than their personal bests.

She's the superstar of the Olympics in Rio but for Simone Biles, four gold medals and one bronze is nothing compared to meeting her crush Zac Efron. The 19-year-old gymnast couldn't contain her excitement at getting to meet the former High School Musical star in Rio, sharing video on social media of the actor, 28, planting a kiss on her cheek. 'On cloud 9,' she wrote alongside the Instagram clip she posted Tuesday.

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner are taking a much needed break this week (left), and after months campaigning for The Donald the two appear to have found the perfect place to get away from it all - the megayacht of a billionaire Democrat. David Geffen, who was one of the earliest supporters of Barack Obama and donated to both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the primary, is hosting Ivanka and Jared on his boat the Rising Sun. The couple was seen jet skiing (right) in Croatia on Friday off the $200million boat (inset), and later went sightseeing in Dubrovnik with Wendi Deng and Brian Grazer and his new wife Veronica.

Donald Trump's campaign is finally going up on the airwaves after leaving the paid advertising battleground uncontested for the general election campaign, remedying a stunning 9-to-1 advantage for Hillary Clinton. The ads are to air in North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

A heartbroken father has described the tragic moment of how his young son died while trying to snuggle up to his older brother after being shot along with his cousin in a drive-by shooting in Missouri. Jayden Ugwuh, 9, and his cousin, Montell Ross (pictured together left), 8, were sound asleep on Saturday in a Kansas City house (top right) when gunfire erupted around 1.30am. Jayden woke up to gunfire and ran towards his older brother's room before going back to get Montell and they were both shot. Jayden still managed to make it to 12-year-old Jayson Ugwuh Jr. (bottom right), and climbed in the bed to snuggle up with him as he died.

Two Hasidic men who admitted to brutally beating a gay black man until he was blinded in one eye were sentenced to just 150 hours of community service - but are trying to get out of doing it in a 'culturally diverse' neighborhood. Fashion student Taj Patterson (inset) was left permanently blind in his right eye after being beaten by a group of Hasidic men as he walked down the street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in December 2013. Pinchas Braver (right), 22, and Abraham Winkler (left), 42, and another man, who were all part of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish patrol group, were charged with gang hate crime.

Brady Bunch actress Eve Plumb (inset) has sold her Malibu home (top and bottom left) that she bought when she was just 11 years old for $3.9 million. Plumb, who played Jan Brady on the popular 1970s sitcom, bought the home with the help of her parents in 1969. The oceanfront property was purchased by the family for just $55,300. Plumb's home currently has three bedrooms and 1.75 bathrooms in 850 square feet of space. But design firm, MEIS, is set to turn the 1950s bungalow into a modern, beach-front Malibu home (top and bottom right), featuring a retractable moon roof, floor-to-ceiling glass, and a stacked car-garage. The new home would have three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in 3,500 square feet of space.

Meghan Maza Oeser, 36, from Alsip, Illinois , recently left her husband Kevin home for the weekend with their kids. To help him get through the three days, she wrote him a funny open letter full of cursing and referring to their children as 'the others'. The post, shared on Friday, quickly went viral and has so far been shared more than 70,000 times.

The myth of the chupacabara first began in Puerto Rico, after farmers found their goats drained of blood. However, new footage claims to have caught moving images of the beast on camera as it wanders through the Portuguese desert. In the short clip, the mysterious creature is seen to pace slowly through the wasteland on two legs, while stooping its head.

You've seen most of these objects lying around countless times, but cut them clean in half and they become quite foreign. Playbuzz has compiled a collection of various items sliced perfectly in half; by methods including a powerful high pressure water jet, and the results are surprising. Who knew that the inside of a golf ball is so pretty, for example? Or how grim the contents of a firework really looks?

Mallory Buettner 29, from Quinte West, Ontario lost 210lbs after having gastric bypass surgery and then had 10lbs of loose skin removed seeing her shrink from 400lbs To 187lbs in two years. However, she suffered some heart ache along the way when she and her husband-to-be split when he became unsupportive of her weight loss.

A charming video has captured legendary actor Dick Van Dyke (pictured, right) reviving his sixties style to serenade a crowd of diners with the titular song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in which he starred in 1968 (pictured, top and bottom left). The barbershop sing-along enchanted customers at a Denny's in Santa Monica, California. Even at the age of 90, the star was in fine voice and hit all the right notes alongside three of his pals, whom combined form the a capella quartet Dick Van Dyke and The Vantastix.

This is the moment that a Washington, DC police officer pins a black woman to his patrol car, leaving her feet dangling while he calls her 'a prostitute'. The shocking footage, shot by Twitter user @macandcheeks on Monday, shows a woman, identified only as Shadon, who claims to be a school teacher being manhandled and interrogated by the cop, who has not arrested her. City authorities have now opened an investigation into the incident, which left Twitter users appalled. Talking on Twitter, Shadon, pictured inset, said the cop's actions were harassment and he shouldn't have assumed she was 'doing the wrong thing'.

These are some of the amazing images of the Battle for the Pacific during the Second World War with color added by Rhode Island EMT Jared Enos featuring battles in Saipan and Iwo Jima. The photographs, which were taken between early and mid 1945. Japanese troops fought to the death as US Marines tried to dislodge them. He said: ''In this collection we see the US Marines in the thick of it. We see them in some of the direst circumstances imaginable. Ultimately, I want emphasize just how simultaneously terrible and inspiring the war was.'

A dashcam captured a motorist gesturing to the woman that her fuel cap was open at a set of traffic lights in Burlington, Washington. The footage shows the woman forgetting to put her 4x4 in park as she gets out to close it. The car starts to roll forward as she quickly tries to rectify her error before it then runs over her legs. Concerned motorists exit their vehicles to help the woman as her 4x4 continues to roll across the junction and crash into a tree.

A five-year-old girl from Connecticut in the US has made a name for herself in the style stakes by replicating outfits worn by celebrities. Little Sophia has drawn inspiration from Kylie and Kendall Jenner as well as Selena Gomez, mimicking their designer style. When Kylie Jenner stepped out in a ripped black t-shirt dress and knee-high boots (left), Sophia did the same (second left). And when Kendall Jenner (second right) wore a camouflage dress, Sophia made it her own (right), complete with matching accessories.