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Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer split after nine years

Lisa.Felice
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Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer split after nine years

Russell Crowe and his wife of nine years, Danielle Spencer, have separated, according to a report in Sydney today.

Russell Crowe, 48, and his 43-year-old singer wife have gone their separate ways, with Crowe turning his undivided attention to his acting career after the split, said the report.

The couple, who have two children – Charles and Tennyson, aged eight and six – have parted on friendly terms, the children remaining with Danielle Spencer while her now-estranged husband continues filming the biblical epic Noah in the US.

The report has come as a shock to showbusiness circles in Australia because the couple were regarded as a having a strong marriage despite the demands of their careers, with New Zealand-born Russell Crowe in constant demand for film roles while his wife, whose mother is English, has managed caring for the children as well as singing and appearing on Australian TV.

They were married in a chapel on Russell Crowe’s farm in the hamlet of Nana Glen, in northern New South Wales, in 2003, following which they lived in a penthouse on the shores of Sydney harbor before moving into a $10 million mansion in the posh harborside suburb of Rose Bay.

Russell Crowe and his wife of nine years, Danielle Spencer, have separated
Russell Crowe and his wife of nine years, Danielle Spencer, have separated

The Sydney Morning Herald, which broke the news of the split today, said Danielle Spencer was the quiet, unassuming woman who tamed the Gladiator with her calm and steady nature.

Danielle Spencer once said of her husband’s fame and fortune that “all that stuff has nothing to do with me as a person”.

Despite the general belief that they were a strongly-bonded couple, some critics were surprised to note that Danielle Spencer had been photographed on a night out with Damian Whitewood, her dance partner in a TV show, Dancing With the Stars, a few months ago.

Russell Crowe made a big point of dismissing rumors about their relationship later when he gave his wife a lingering kiss in front of the cameras at Sydney airport.

But the demands of his acting career have kept him away from Danielle Spencer for much of this year.

Russell Crowe has also missed most of the games of the Sydney rugby league club in which he has a financial interest and has left his wife to care for their children.

He has six films coming out in the next 12 months – Man with the Iron Fist, Les Miserables, Broken City, Superman, Noah and the Winter’s Tale.

Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer met 22 years ago on the set of the movie The Crossing, but before developing his relationship with Danielle he had a much publicized romance with Meg Ryan.

He said of Danielle Spencer after their marriage that the thought of marrying her had crossed his mind the first time he had met her.

Danielle Spencer was careful with her words when her husband was involved in a phone-throwing incident in a New York hotel seven years ago after he was unable to get through to her.

“I’m not condoning his behavior,” she said.

“I don’t want to make excuses for him because I’m certainly not.

“But I do understand when you’re apart that the loneliness kicks in.”

 

Felix Baumgartner begins skydiving record attempt

James J. Williams
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Felix Baumgartner begins skydiving record attempt

Felix Baumgartner has lifted off on his mission to break a series of freefall records.

Austrian skydiver’s giant helium balloon left the ground at Roswell, New Mexico, a short while ago and is currently on a climb that should take it to more than 120,000 ft (36.5 km).

Felix Baumgartner will then jump out.

The near absence of air at this high altitude means he should break the speed of sound as he falls – a velocity in excess of 690 mph (1,110 km/h).

The journey down should take 10 minutes, about half of it in freefall.

No-one has ever gone so high in a balloon, nor attempted to make such a high skydive.

The current record for the biggest jump of all time is now 52 years old. It was set by US Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger when he leapt from a helium envelope at an altitude of 102,800 ft (31.3 km).

There are immense risks involved in what Felix Baumgartner is trying to do.

Felix Baumgartner has lifted off on his mission to break a series of freefall records
Felix Baumgartner has lifted off on his mission to break a series of freefall records

Where he is going, the air pressure is less than 2% of what it is at sea level, and it is impossible to breathe without an oxygen supply.

Others who have tried to break the existing records for the highest, fastest and longest freefalls have lost their lives in the process.

Engineers have done everything possible to limit the risks. They have built the Austrian a special pressurized capsule to carry him aloft under the helium balloon.

He will also be wearing a next-generation, full-pressure suit, an evolution of the orange protective clothing worn by shuttle astronauts on launch.

Although the jump has the appearance of another Felix Baumgartner stunt, his team prefers to stress its high scientific relevance.

The researchers on the Red Bull Stratos project believe it will inform the development of new systems for emergency evacuation from high-performance, high-altitude vehicles. NASA and its spacecraft manufacturers have asked to be kept informed.

There are a few examples of pilots being ejected in supersonic airflows when their planes broke apart in the sky, but there is no detailed data on what happens to the human body as it goes supersonic and then, as it slows, goes subsonic again.

Felix Baumgartner will be instrumented to acquire this new data.

Engineers have incorporated an automatic device in his gear that would deploy a drogue stabilization chute if he gets into trouble.

There is, however, high confidence in Baumgartner’s team that he will complete the task ahead of him. He has been buoyed by the success of two practice jumps that have taken him progressively higher into the stratosphere – from 71,600ft (21.8km) and 97,100ft (29.6km).

The official lift-off time for the balloon was 09:31 MDT (16:31GMT). Mission control at Roswell airport is following every moment of what is likely to be a more than two-hour ascent to the jump altitude.

Baumgartner is in video and radio contact throughout. The only person who will speak to him, however, is Col. Joe Kittinger, who was brought into the team early to advise the Austrian how best to beat the octogenarian’s records.

“We are going to get your goal and your dream accomplished Felix,” Joe Kittinger told Felix Baumgartner just before lift-off.

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Turkey bans all Syrian planes from its air space

Diane A. Wade
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Turkey bans all Syrian planes from its air space

All Syrian planes have been banned from Turkish air space, Turkey’s foreign ministry has announced.

The ban follows similar restrictions imposed by Syria, after a Syrian plane alleged to be carrying Russian munitions was intercepted by Turkey.

Turkey’s ban came in on Saturday night and was communicated to Syria, but was only made public on Sunday.

It applies to civilian aircraft, as military aircraft were already de facto banned, a ministry official said.

The Syrian move followed Turkey’s interception on Wednesday of a Syrian jet, which Turkish warplanes forced to land in Ankara.

Turkish officials confiscated what they described as munitions bound for Syria’s defence ministry – an allegation disputed by Damascus.

At the time, Turkey warned its own civilian airlines to avoid Syrian air space as a precaution.

Tensions have been recently rising between the two countries after a series of cross-border incidents.

Last week, there were several days of firing across the border after five Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian shelling.

Turkey’s government has backed the Syrian opposition and called for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

While Turkey may not be at war with Syria, it is now increasingly involved in its neighbor’s conflict.

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Lithuanians vote in parliamentary election

Diane A. Wade
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Lithuanians vote in parliamentary election

Lithuanians have begun voting for a new parliament in a ballot seen in the wider EU as a test for austerity policies to tackle the economic crisis.

Opinion polls suggest the centre-right government will be punished for cutting pensions and public sector pay.

Under its leadership, the economy has rebounded but analysts say it is too soon for voters to feel the impact.

A centre-left government promising to raise wages and reduce taxes for the poor is expected to emerge.

Lithuania enjoyed an economic boom fuelled by cheap Scandinavian loans until the 2008 world financial crisis.

That crisis saw economic output drop by 15%, unemployment climb and thousands of young people in the Baltic nation of 3.3 million emigrate in search of work.

Under Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius’s coalition government, GDP grew by 5.8% last year – one of the fastest rates of any EU economy – and the budget deficit has been tamed.

The price was swingeing cuts to the extent that only every third street lamp in the capital Vilnius was allowed to be lit and fuel for police cars was rationed.

“They cut my pension,” a 72-year-old man selling souvenirs in the capital Vilnius told Reuters news agency.

“I have to keep working because otherwise I won’t be able to afford the rent on my apartment, or the electricity bills.”

Opinion polls suggest the Social Democrats under Algirdas Butkevicius will do best at the polls, followed by their potential coalition ally, the Labour Party.

Algirdas Butkevicius promises to raise the minimum wage, make the rich pay more tax and put back euro entry until 2015, a year later than scheduled.

By delaying euro entry he could run a bigger deficit than euro accession rules permit. Of the Baltic states which joined the EU, only Estonia has so far joined the eurozone.

Analysts say that if the centre-left win, economic factors will oblige them to stick largely to the existing austerity programme.

The parties of the left have also promised to improve the ex-Soviet state’s strained relations with Russia, still Lithuania’s biggest trade partner.

In addition to the parliamentary election, Lithuanians are voting in a non-binding referendum on building a new nuclear power station, a project which could reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies.

Just before the election, PM Andrius Kubilius announced a lawsuit against Russian gas monopoly Gazprom for 5 billion lita ($1.9 billion), alleging that it had overcharged for deliveries.

 

Gary Collins dies aged 74

Sonia Pantiss
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Gary Collins dies aged 74

Legendary TV actor and presenter Gary Collins has died aged 74.

Gary Collins passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning and his death was said to be from natural causes.

The tragedy took place just before 1:00 a.m. at Biloxi Regional Medical Center in the American state of Missouri, according Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove.

Gary Collins married former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley in 1967 and the couple – who separated last year although remained wedded – had one child together, Mary Clancy Collins, Senior Vice President of Development for MGM Television.

He was previously married to Susan Peterson with whom he had two other children, Guy William Collins and Melissa “Mimi” Collins.

Legendary TV actor and presenter Gary Collins has died aged 74
Legendary TV actor and presenter Gary Collins has died aged 74

The master of ceremonies for the Miss America Pageant from 1985-1989 is also known for having appeared on episodes of programmes such as Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels, Alice, The Love Boat and Police Story.

Gary Collins also hosted the talk show Hour Magazine from 1980-1988.

Over the last few years, his public image has been far from wholesome.

In January 2008 Gary Collins served four days in a Glendale, California jail for his second driving under the influence conviction.

Gary Collins pleaded no contest to driving a motor home drunk after his arrest January 31, 2009, in Santa Barbara County, California.

He was sentenced to 120 days home detention according to a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s spokesperson.

His blood alcohol content was measured at .29, more than three times the legal limit.

In November 2010 Gary Collins was charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident in Jackson, Mississippi. He was fined $500 for the incident.

Then on January 5, 2011, Gary Collins was charged with defrauding an innkeeper, a felony, in Harrison County, Mississippi, for allegedly failing to pay his bill at Jazzeppi’s Restaurant, according to a statement released by the Biloxi Police Department.

Gary Collins paid a $500 fine two weeks later and did not appear in court.

 

Alfonso Ribeiro marries Angela Unkrich

Lisa.Felice
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Alfonso Ribeiro marries Angela Unkrich

Fresh Prince of Bel Air star Alfonso Ribeiro has married his fiancée Angela Unkrich.

Alfonso Ribeiro and Angela Unkrich wed in a ceremony in California, according to People magazine.

It is a second marriage for Alfonso Ribeiro, who was has a 9-year-old daughter Sienna with his ex-wife Robin Stapler.

Alfonso Ribeiro is best known as Will Smith’s rich spoiled cousin Carlton Banks in the popular TV show Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which ran from 1990 to 1996.

His famous “Carlton dance” saw him jiving to Tom Jones in a clip which went viral on YouTube.

Alfonso Ribeiro has married his fiancée Angela Unkrich
Alfonso Ribeiro has married his fiancée Angela Unkrich

Alfonso Ribeiro, now 41, got his start in showbusiness on the 1980s series Silver Spoons and once danced with Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial.

He more recently worked as a director and now hosts gameshow Catch 21.

Alfonso Ribeiro was recently seen on TV reprising the role of Carlton in an episode of Big Time Rush.

 

Bye Bye Laundry hanger works as a powerful odor eliminator

Lisa.Felice
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Bye Bye Laundry hanger works as a powerful odor eliminator

The good news for undomesticated goddesses is that now you don’t have to do laundry, thanks to the Bye Bye Laundry hanger.

This innovative new design by British designer Lisa Marie Bengtsson is a hanger that contains specialized charcoal capsules to freshen-up your clothes when you are too lazy to give them a full wash.

Lisa Marie Bengtsson designed a hanger that contains specialized charcoal capsules to freshen-up your clothes when you are too lazy to give them a full wash
Lisa Marie Bengtsson designed a hanger that contains specialized charcoal capsules to freshen-up your clothes when you are too lazy to give them a full wash

The environmentally-friendly hanger has a filtered glass chamber located at the top, where the charcoal lies and is processed with oxygen allowing it to function as an extremely powerful and effective odor eliminator.

Although this is a huge step forward for lazy laundry doers, don’ expect it to work wonders on last night’s stains, its sole function is to absorb odor so don’t expect those curry spills to disappear.

 

Echinacea largest ever clinical study finds herbal remedy can protect against colds

Kathryn R. Bown
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Echinacea largest ever clinical study finds herbal remedy can protect against colds

According to the largest ever clinical study of echinacea, the herbal remedy can prevent colds and is of most benefit to people who are prone to them.

Researchers found that taking three daily doses of the common remedy for four months reduced the number of colds.

The duration of the illness suffered by patients also went down by an average of 26%.

According to the results of tests on 750 people, the treatment also cut the number of recurrent colds suffered by those with weak immune systems or a history of catching several bouts each year by 60%.

Several previous studies, including an overview of evidence by the highly respected Cochrane Library, had suggested that echinacea could soothe symptoms and cut colds short, but there was only limited evidence it could prevent the illness from ever taking hold.

The most recent major paper into the therapy, by the American College of Physicians, had found that it did not prevent colds or significantly reduce the length or severity symptoms.

But the new study by experts from the Cardiff University Common Cold Centre suggested that taking Echinaforce, a common form of the herb extract, could not only reduce the risk of colds but reduce the amount of paracetamol patients took while ill.

The research, which was part-funded by A. Vogel, the Swiss manufacturers of Echinaforce, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

It was primarily designed to test the safety of the treatment, and found that it caused no adverse side effects in the participants, who were all over the age of 18.

Echinacea is extracted from the Eastern Purple Coneflower, which is found in North America, and has long been used as a herbal remedy for the common cold.

It is purported to work by fighting viruses, which cause up to 95% of all colds and flu, and studies suggest it can also boost weak immune systems if swallowed.

Patients mixed 25 drops of Echinaforce or a placebo with water and held it in their mouths for 10 seconds before swallowing it, three times per day over a four month period.

Those who took the treatment suffered 149 bouts of illness compared with 188 in the placebo group, a difference described by researchers as “borderline significant”, but the total number of days spent with flu was reduced from 850 to 672, a “highly significant” change.

Recurring infections were cut from 100 episodes in 43 patients to 65 episodes in 28 patients, a difference of 59%, the authors wrote.

Roland Schoop, a medical researcher for Bioforce, the British arm of A. Vogel, and one of the study’s authors, told the Daily Telegraph: “We were actually pretty amazed when we found this 26% difference in cold episodes.”

 

Drinking a litre of mineral water every day can prevent Alzheimer’s memory loss

Kathryn R. Bown
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Drinking a litre of mineral water every day can prevent Alzheimer’s memory loss

Drinking a litre of mineral water every day can prevent cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s sufferers by removing aluminium from their bodies, a new study has found.

British researchers found drinking silicon-rich mineral water “significantly reduced” the levels of neurotoxin aluminium in the body.

Aluminium has long been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s but no scientific relationship has yet been proved.

Patients who took part in the new study drank a litre of mineral water every day for 13 weeks – and the majority showed no further signs of cognitive decline.

One patient saw the amount of aluminium in their body drop by 70% and three participants actually showed an improvement in their mental health.

Professor Christopher Exley, of Keele University, who led the research, said the “surprising” results gave hope to findings ways to combat the devastating disease.

He said: “There were two parts to our research. The first is that drinking silicon water does remove aluminium from the body.

“When you drink silicon-rich mineral water aluminium throughout the body is gathered up into the blood and then excreted through the urine.

“It seems to purge the aluminium from the body. We now know we can use this silicon-rich <<therapy>> water to reduce aluminium.

“The second part of our research was looking at the cognitive abilities of people with Alzheimer’s and whether these changed as the aluminium was reduced.

“The most interesting thing was that we did see this potential relationship between the removal of aluminium and the positive improvement in cognitive function.

“It is highly unlikely to see changes over such a short period of time so the fact we saw changes in cognitive ability was quite a surprise.

“We saw improvement in some cases, cognitive function remained the same in others and it did decrease in others.”

Previous studies have linked the presence of aluminium with plaques and tangles – two kinds of microscopic damage – in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers examined the aluminium levels of 15 sufferers and their carers or partners – 15 women and 15 men in total.

The brand of water used in the study – published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease – was a Malaysian water called Spritzer, which has high levels of the chemical element silicon.

Brands with similar levels include Volvic and Fiji water.

Scientists asked the participants to drink a litre of Spritzer water every day for 13 weeks and measured their aluminium levels at the end.

The patients saw a huge reduction in their aluminium levels, with a number showing drops of 50, 60 and 70%.

Participants were also assessed using the ADAS-Cog (Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive) method, which is a recognized 11-part test.

The tests include memory questions and “simple” tasks such as drawing a clock face – people with a deteriorating function may struggle to put the numbers in the right place.

After 13 weeks, cognitive function is eight of the 15 Alzheimer’s sufferers had not deteriorated – and actually improved “substantially” in three.

Prof. Christopher Exley added: “We now want to carry out further research to see if we could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s who seem to be predisposed to it.

“They are usually aged between 40 and 60. If we could get people to include silicon-rich water in their diet in the future and reduce their risk, it would be a great.”

The Spritzer mineral water containing 35 mg of silicon per litre.

However, Prof. Christopher Exley says mineral water brands also contain high levels of silicon.

He said: “Volvic has high levels of silicon, around 20mg/litre. Fiji water has approximately 45mg/litre.

“There is a simple equation you can do to work out the silicon levels in water. If you look at the back of the bottle, it will often state a mg/litre analysis.

“On that list should be <<silica>>, which is silicon with oxygen. If you divide that number by two you get the approximate value of silicon in that water.”

Prof. Christopher Exley added that it is more effective to drink the water over a shorter period, such as an hour, rather than sipping it all at once, in order to remove aluminium.

“The major challenge is that we don’t have an effective drug for Alzheimer’s. This is a real tragedy,” he said.

“While we know a huge amount, we don’t have an effective drug and I think anything that shows some promise should stand a chance of being investigated.

“I think this deserves a chance.”

The research is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Volume 33, No. 2.

 

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon come to the aid of a man collapsed in parking lot

Lisa.Felice
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Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon come to the aid of a man collapsed in parking lot

Bobbi Kristina Brown and her boyfriend Nick Gordon came to the aid of a man who had collapsed in the parking lot of an Atlanta strip mall.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, and her beau were alerted by bystanders to help the man, with a witness reporting that Nick Gordon got him out of his Jeep and placed him on the floor to perform first aid.

Nick Gordon, 22, and Bobbi Kristina were at the strip mall to withdraw money from an ATM, before they rushed over to help.

The couple both held up the young man’s legs, as they stood among a crowd of nine people waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Bobbi Kristina Brown and her boyfriend Nick Gordon came to the aid of a man who had collapsed in the parking lot of an Atlanta strip mall
Bobbi Kristina Brown and her boyfriend Nick Gordon came to the aid of a man who had collapsed in the parking lot of an Atlanta strip mall

Bobbi Kristina Brown looked stricken and ran her hands through her hair as Nick Gordon bent down to try to help, before paramedics arrived to perform CPR. However, the man’s state of health after he reached hospital is not yet known.

Earlier this week, Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon sat stoically through the We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute to Whitney Houston at the Nokia Theatre LA Live, where Jennifer Hudson, Britney Spears and Usher were among those on hand to give tear-jerking music tributes.

The tribute will air in the U.S. next month.

 

Kardashians blocked by residents to move to South Beach

Lisa.Felice
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Kardashians blocked by residents to move to South Beach

When Kim Kardashian plotted a move to Miami it seemed a given that she’d be settling into the exclusive South Beach area of the city.

But Kim Kardashian and her sisters have instead been forced to find a home in the unfashionable area of North Beach, after residents blocked their application to move to South Beach.

When the sisters tried to rent beach homes on Sunset Islands, De Lido Islands and on North Beach Road, their efforts were blocked by neighbors, Radaronline.com is reporting.

A local rule meant the Kardashians needed to get signatures from neighbors living within 500 feet of the three homes they wished to lease with a 90% approval rate.

South Beach residents refused to bend to Kardashian sisters’ wishes, undoubtedly fearing their placid streets being overrun by television crews and photographers and turning into a virtual circus.

So, while they are filming their show in South Beach, Kim, Kourtney and Khloe have had to settle for a 51,000-square-foot property within a gated community in North Miami Beach, which is nearly 14 miles away from their filming locations.

“The area is known for its hourly hotels, strip clubs and high crime rate,” a source told Radaronline.com.

“It’s a far-cry from their usual posh digs, with just a 7-Eleven and an abandoned old bank close by.”

 

Fungal meningitis outbreak: death toll rises to 15

Kathryn R. Bown
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Fungal meningitis outbreak: death toll rises to 15

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say 15 people have now died from an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections to treat back pain.

CDC said the latest death occurred in Indiana – the second in the state.

In all, nearly 200 people in 13 US states have been affected.

A company in Massachusetts earlier recalled more than 17,000 vials of steroid it had sent to more than 70 clinics across America.

Thirteen states have been affected: Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho and Texas.

Fungal meningitis is not contagious, the CDC says.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include severe headache, nausea and fever as well as slurred speech and difficulty walking.

The drugs have been traced to Massachusetts’ New England Compounding Center.

The drug manufacturer last week voluntarily recalled all products in circulation that were made at its Framingham facility.

Massachusetts health regulators have said there were complaints against the pharmaceutical company in 2002 and 2003.

According to the Massachusetts Health Department, 17,676 vials of the steroid methylprednisolone acetate were sent to 76 healthcare providers in 23 states between July and September.

The CDC has published a list of clinics that received shipments of the drug, which was recalled on 26 September.

 

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz accidentally shot by patrol

Diane A. Wade
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Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz accidentally shot by patrol

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has been wounded in what is said to be an accidental shooting.

Officials say Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is now being treated for a light injury at a military hospital in the capital, Nouakchott.

Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said on national TV that a military patrol had mistakenly opened fire on the presidential convoy.

The minister added that President Abdel Aziz, 55, was injured in the arm and that his life was not in danger.

“On his way back to Nouakchott, the presidential convoy was shot by a Mauritanian patrol as they did not recognize his convoy,” Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said.

“The Mauritanian people can be reassured, the president is fine… He got out of the vehicle unassisted upon arrival at the hospital, where he walked in without difficulty.”

The hospital remains sealed off by security forces.

President Abdel Aziz came to power in a military coup in 2008 in the West African nation. He won presidential elections a year later held under an agreement with coup opponents.

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is seen by the West as a bulwark against Islamists in the region, particularly in neighboring Mali.

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Syria bans Turkish civil flights over its territory

Roy Siemens
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Syria bans Turkish civil flights over its territory

Turkish civilian planes are no longer allowed to fly over Syria, Damascus has said, amid growing tensions between the two neighboring countries.

The ban took effect at midnight on Saturday.

This comes just days after Turkey intercepted a Syrian-bound plane, claiming it carried Russian-made munitions for the Syrian army.

Syria has described the claim as a lie, challenging Ankara to put the seized goods on public view.

The Syrian foreign ministry said its ban on Turkish flights was in retaliation for a similar move from Ankara.

Turkey has not announced such a measure, although it has said it will continue to ground Syrian civilian planes it suspects are carrying military cargo.

Tensions have been recently rising between the two countries after a series of cross-border incidents.

Last week, there were several days of firing across the border after five Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian shelling.

Turkey’s government has backed the Syrian opposition and called for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad.

In Syria itself, there were reports on Saturday that rebels had shot down a Syrian military jet outside Aleppo – the town at the centre of recent fighting.

Footage posted online showed the burning wreckage of what appeared to be an aircraft, but the claim has not been independently verified.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has accused the government of President bashar al-Assad of dropping cluster bombs – which are banned by more than 100 countries – into populated areas.

The group said there was a number of credible reports that the number of cluster bomb strikes had increased dramatically in recent days.

Syria refuses to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans the use of such weapons.

In a separate development, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul that the UN’s failure to act in Syria gave President Assad the green light to kill tens or hundreds of people every day.

Turkey may not be at war with Syria, but it is now increasingly involved in its neighbor’s conflict.

Recep Tayip Erdogan’s comments come as the UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, had talks in Istanbul with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to hear Ankara’s perspective on the crisis.

No breakthroughs were expected, and none were reported after the meeting.

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Lakhdar Brahimi has crisis talks in Turkey

Roy Siemens
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Lakhdar Brahimi has crisis talks in Turkey

The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has had talks in Turkey amid rising tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

Lakhdar Brahimi met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to hear Turkey’s perspective on the crisis.

Several days of cross-border firing followed the killing of five Turkish civilians by Syrian shelling last week.

Earlier this week, Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound plane amid reports it had Russian-made defence equipment aboard.

Syria has dismissed the claim as a lie, challenging Turkey to show any evidence.

In Syria itself, there were reports on Saturday that rebel fighters had shot down a Syrian military jet outside Aleppo.

Footage posted online showed the burning wreckage of what appeared to be an aircraft, but the claim has not been independently verified.

Lakhdar Brahimi met Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on Saturday, as did German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

“It is important that no-one pours oil on the fire. We are counting on moderation and de-escalation,” the German minister said, according to news agency AFP.

Meanwhile Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul that the UN’s failure to act in Syria gave President Bashar al-Assad the green light to kill tens or hundreds of people every day.

Turkey may not be at war with Syria, but it is now increasingly involved in its neighbor’s conflict.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government accuses Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, of arming the rebels.

However, Syria has said it is ready to set up a joint committee to oversee security on the border.

Its foreign ministry said it had been discussing with diplomats from Russia, a key ally, the idea of a Syrian-Turkish security committee to avoid misunderstandings at the border, which would establish a “mechanism for surveillance of the border while respecting national sovereignty”.

Lakhdar Brahimi’s visit comes a day after he met senior Saudi officials in the city of Jeddah.

Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah was quoted as urging “an immediate halt to the bloodshed of the Syrian people”.

However, the envoy’s visit to the region carries no immediately obvious peace plan.

He adds that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suggested Lakhdar Brahimi may head to Damascus next week if his meetings in the region go well.

Meanwhile state media in Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s key supporter in the region, say Lakhdar Brahimi is to travel to Tehran on Sunday for talks, ahead of a visit to Iraq on Monday.

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Women get twice the benefit from fish oil than men

Kathryn R. Bown
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Women get twice the benefit from fish oil than men

A new research has found that eating oily fish may boost women’s heart health more than men’s.

The oils – found in fish like salmon, mackerel and tuna – are known to improve chances of surviving a repeat heart attack.

But a new study suggests women could benefit more from their effect on the heart.

Researchers at the University of Reading, UK, found fish oils have a direct impact on the muscle cells that control the elasticity of our blood vessels.

In tests, women got double the benefit compared with men as elasticity improved four-fold in women compared with two-fold in men.

In fact the beneficial effect of the fish oil in women was as potent as that of drugs that are prescribed to people with poor blood vessel elasticity, such as those with diabetes.

Study leader Professor Christine Williams, the University’s first Hugh Sinclair Professor of Nutrition and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said: “Studies examining women’s heart health are much less common than those which study men, partly because the studies are harder to carry out in women due to the varying effects of hormones during the menstrual cycle.

“In addition, many believe men are the only ones to suffer from heart disease.

“However nearly 40,000 women die of coronary heart disease each year in the UK and we do not yet know whether all the diet recommendations which we currently advise are as effective for women as for men.

“The good news here is that current recommendations that we should all eat more oily fish appears to be more effective for women than men.”

However, two thirds of Britons never eat oily fish even though official guidelines recommend its consumption at least once a week.

In the study around 60 people, half men and women, were given test drinks containing either saturated fats or a combination with omega 3 fish oils, equivalent to a 200 g portion of oily fish.

Imaging was used to check the reaction of the blood cells to the different drinks, says a report in the Journal of Lipid Research.

Prof. Christine Williams said: “As well as discovering the effect of fish oils is greater in women we also found that people with a gene variation that produces the protein eNOS, which helps to increase blood flow, also benefitted more.

“Our study showed that people who carry the rarer form of the protein, which is about 10 per cent of the UK population, respond twice as well to fish oils, suggesting they would particularly benefit from additional oily fish intake.

“This research supports the view that the effects of diets vary, being more effective in certain genders and genotypes. Our study was very carefully designed to include equal numbers of men and women and also equal numbers of people with the two types of gene variants, so that the results are very unlikely to be due to chance.”

Although the responses varied, all the subjects in the study benefitted from taking fish oils with a meal.

“However, for women and those with the gene variant, the responses were very marked indeed, and when it comes to their diet could give them considerable health benefits in the future.”

The work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Fish oil is known to increase the release of nitric oxide from the lining of the blood vessel wall which causes relaxation of the vessel and increases blood flow.

However, the researchers found that some of the relaxation effect on the blood vessel wall may be due to direct actions of the fish oil acting on the muscle cells themselves, rather than on the cells lining the blood vessel wall.

Prof. Christine Williams added: “This is an exciting discovery which gives us a new way of looking at how our diet affects the health of our blood vessels, and possibly more effective ways of improving heart health in the future.”

The best dietary source of omega 3 fatty acids is oily fish because the human body cannot produce omega-3 fatty acids.

There has been an explosion in the number of foods fortified with omega-3 oils, such as chickens, margarine, eggs, milk and bread, but they contain only small amounts.

Types of fish that contain high levels include tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and anchovies.

White fish is also a healthy food including cod, haddock and plaice although it contains lower levels of essential fatty acids.

Fish oil supplements are recommended as protection against repeat heart attacks, with regular fish eaters a third more likely to survive a heart attack.

Fish oil supplements are approved for prescribing on the NHS to patients after a heart attack, or who have metabolic syndrome or high triglycerides – unhealthy blood fats.

Omacor, which is licensed for post-heart attack treatment, has been shown in clinical trials to cut the risk of sudden death by up to 45%.

Omega-3 fats are important throughout adult life for mental wellbeing but in particular help heart patients, and those with arthritis, by blocking the body’s response to inflammation.

They work in several ways to reduce heart attack risk by cutting blood fats, reducing the chances of a blood clot and blocking dangerous heart rhythms that might otherwise prove fatal.

 

Sex addiction is a real disorder

Kathryn R. Bown
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Sex addiction has traditionally been written off as an “excuse” for philandering celebrities, but a new study suggests that it is a real disorder.

The disorder, in which sufferers have relentless sexual urges that feel out of their control, is even being considered for inclusion in America’s “bible” that lists all mental conditions, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Until now, however, researchers have been struggling to define what hypersexual disorder, as sex addiction is formally known, actually is.

Under one proposed definition, a person who simply has frequent sex would not be diagnosed with it, said study researcher Rory Reid, an assistant professor and research psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

But a person whose sexual activities are excessive, frequently used to cope with stress and interfere with their ability to function in daily life may meet the criteria for the disorder.

In a new study from the university, the researchers emphasized they are not trying to turn common behaviors – such as having a lot of sex, or watching pornography – into disorders.

Instead, people with hypersexual disorder report feeling out of control, and act on their sexual urges, disregarding the repercussions.

“They might consider the consequences momentarily, but somehow feel their need for sex is more important, and choose sex even in situations where such choices might cause significant problems or harm, such as job loss, relationship problems or financial difficulties,” he told the website MyHealthNewsDaily.

The results of the study, published online in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, will be sent to the American Psychiatric Association.

In the UCLA study, hypersexual disorder was defined as “recurrent and intense sexual fantasies, sexual urges, and sexual behavior”, lasting at least six months.

To be diagnosed with the disorder, these sexual fantasies, urges and behaviors cause the patient distress, or interfere with some aspect of the patient’s life, such as the patient’s job or social life.

They must not be brought on by drugs or alcohol, or another mental disorder.

The conclusions were drawn after the researchers interviewed more than 200 people who had been referred to a mental health clinic, without knowing the reasons for their referral.

Of them, 150 were thought to have sexual behavior problems; the others had problems such as substance abuse.

Using the definitions above, 134 of the patients referred for sexual problems were diagnosed with hypersexual disorder.

And in 92% of cases, the professionals agreed on who should be diagnosed with the condition.

Doctors also asked patients to report which behaviors were most problematic for them, including masturbation, pornography viewing, sex with consenting adults, cybersex, telephone sex and frequenting strip clubs.

The majority who were diagnosed with hypersexual disorder said masturbation and pornography viewing were problematic.

Some patients reported losing jobs because they could not refrain from these behaviors at work, the study found.

Regarding the argument that being diagnosed with the disorder would provide an excuse to be unfaithful, Dr. Rory Reid said: “Having a disorder didn’t help them avoid consequences, such as divorce, but it is advantageous for them when they want to get help and change.”

He now wants to establish how common sex addiction is and whether these people have changes in their brain that are similar to those seen in people with addictions.

SEX ADDICTION SYMPTOMS

  • Recurrent and intense sexual fantasies, sexual urges, and sexual behavior, lasting at least six months
  • Excessive amounts of sex, frequently used to cope with stress.
  • Sex interfering with the ability to function in daily life, e.g. job or social life
  • Feeling out of control and having to act on sexual urges, even in situations it might cause significant problems or harm, such as job loss, relationship problems or financial difficulties
  • The sexual fantasies, urges and behaviors must not be brought on by drugs or alcohol, or another mental disorder

 

Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter owned by Eric Clapton sold for $34 million

Sonia Pantiss
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Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter owned by Eric Clapton sold for $34 million

Oil painting Abstraktes Bild by the German artist Gerhard Richter has sold for £21 million ($34 million) – an auction record for a work by a living artist.

Abstraktes Bild, painted in 1994 , which was owned by rock star Eric Clapton, has been described as a “masterpiece of calculated chaos”.

The artwork, expected to fetch £9-12 million, was sold to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby’s in London on Friday.

A round of applause broke out as the painting went under the hammer.

Gerhard Richter, 80, who lives in Cologne, is considered by some to be the world’s greatest living painter.

Abstraktes Bild, painted in 1994, has been described as a masterpiece of calculated chaos
Abstraktes Bild, painted in 1994, has been described as a masterpiece of calculated chaos

Sotheby’s called Abstraktes Bild a “paradigm of Gerhard Richter’s mature artistic and philosophical achievement”.

Before the sale, Alex Branczik, senior director of contemporary art at Sotheby’s, said of the painting: “Abstraktes Bild is one of the great abstract masterpieces by Gerhard Richter.

“Its appearance on the market presents collectors with the unique opportunity to acquire an outstanding work by one of the greatest living painters.”

A sister painting of the artwork is currently jointly owned by the Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland.

Eric Clapton is a known art collector.

Even before the sale, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated the Cream guitarist’ s wealth at some £140 million, making him the 17th-richest British musician.

He has previously sold off part of his extensive guitar collection to raise money for his rehab clinic, which he founded in 1998 to help treat drug and alcohol addiction.

 

Florence Lamblin arrested for money laundry alongside 20 people in France and Switzerland

Diane A. Wade
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Florence Lamblin arrested for money laundry alongside 20 people in France and Switzerland

Authorities in France and Switzerland have arrested 20 people, including Florence Lamblin, the deputy mayor of a Paris district, on suspicion of laundering some 40 million euros of drug money.

Florence Lamblin resigned from her post on Saturday but denies any involvement.

Nine suspects, including her, have been charged with offences ranging from money laundering to drug trafficking.

The arrests are part of an investigation into the smuggling of cannabis from Morocco to Paris.

A French police source told the AFP news agency that this case was one of the biggest of its kind.

A lawyer for Florence Lamblin, an elected Green Party member and deputy mayor of Paris’ 13th Arrondissement, told the media that she has no involvement and the charges against her were down to “judicial error”.

Reports say that around 400,000 euros in cash was found by police during house searches and millions more has been uncovered in safety deposit boxes and bank accounts.

In total, 17 people were arrested in France and three in Switzerland.

Of the nine people already charged in France, eight were freed on bail of between 80,000 and one million euros and the ninth was kept in custody on suspicion of drugs offences.

Press reports in Switzerland said the three suspects there were brothers of Moroccan origin. Authorities told AFP that two men remained in custody and one had been released on bail.

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Food sensitivity stops weight loss, says Dr. John Mansfield in his book Six Secrets of Successful Weight Loss

Kathryn R. Bown
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Food sensitivity stops weight loss, says Dr. John Mansfield in his book Six Secrets of Successful Weight Loss

Whether it’s low fat, low carb, low GI – most of us have tried, and failed, to lose weight at some point.

Now Dr. John Mansfield is claiming the problem could be much more deep-rooted – a food sensitivity.

If the body is aggravated by a food, it can cause sensitivity and weight gain, says Dr. John Mansfield, a pioneer in the field of allergy and nutrition.

In fact, in his new book, the Six Secrets of Successful Weight Loss, he says food sensitivities are “by far the commonest single cause of weight gain”, rather than too many calories or a lack of exercise.

“One of the most successful weight loss secrets is to find out if you are sensitive to any ordinary, everyday foods such as wheat, corn, eggs, yeast or milk,” he said.

“Food sensitivities, which vary considerably from one person to another, were the prime cause in more than 70% of the patients I treated over a period of 31 years in clinical practice, specializing in allergy and nutritional medicine.”

Dr. John Mansfield adds that many of us have no idea we are sensitive to certain foods because we eat them all the time – and then put up with symptoms such as headaches or fatigue without realizing our diet is to blame.

He said: “I wrote the book to help people who are frustrated by diets and still struggle to reach their ideal weight. As every individual has different health and nutritional influences, the <<one-size-fits-all>> diet does not simply work.

“Obesity and weight problems have reached epidemic proportions in the western world in the last three decades, with more and more people struggling to achieve their ideal weight.”

Dr. John Mansfield also quashes the theory that calorie counting and low-fat diets can lead to weight loss.

“Low-fat diets don’t work because we need fat to regulate our appetites. If you are not eating enough fat your appetite fails to be satisfied and you are constantly hungry, and therefore eat more.

“The repetitive mantra of the doctors, dieticians and governments is to reduce calorie intake and increase exercise. Yet this approach has not produced the desired results.

“Despite growing evidence against it, the experts are stuck in the narrow one-track conceptual groove of calorie control, a strategy that consistently fails millions of people.”

Instead, Dr. John Mansfield advises checking for underlying health issues that may be affecting your weight, such as a thyroid problem (an underactive thyroid can lead to weight gain) and identify food sensitivities “that inflame the body and contribute to weight gain”.

The theory is that an allergic-type reaction caused by food sensitivity disrupts a feedback mechanism in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus.

After eating, this receives signals from the gut that stored body fat has increased, prompting us to feel less hungry.

“When this mechanism is working well, your body weight remains constant, despite quite widely varying calorie consumption from day to day,” said Dr. John Mansfield.

“However, the adverse reaction caused by regularly eating foods you are sensitive to causes the ‘constant’ level of weight to be permanently set at an incorrect, higher level.

“This is why you can’t shed the pounds regardless of what you eat.”

In order to work out which foods might be affecting your health, he advises following an “elimination” diet and gradually re-introducing potential “problem” foods, such as milk, eggs and yeast.

The “elimination” diet allows you to eat as much as you like of the 42 foods identified as being “low sensitivity foods”, such as turkey, lamb, many types of fish, lentils, vegetables such as green beans and avocado and fruit such as apples.

Dr. John Mansfield claims that through this process of elimination of “high sensitivity foods” weight loss is quickly achieved within the first seven days.

However, the overall aim of this diet is to introduce a broad range of foods back into the diet that don’t adversely affect weight or induce other symptoms such as headache and fatigue.

“The process takes on average up to six weeks to reintroduce foods back into your diet but the reality is that you will then know which foods you can eat in quantity, without influencing your weight or how you physically feel,” he says.

 

PROBLEM FOODS

Dr. John Mansfield has identified the 20 foods most likely to produce a reaction, with the most common at the top:

Wheat

Corn

Milk and products made from it

Corn (maize)

Eggs

Yeast (used in many products such as bread, vinegar and alcohol)

Cane sugar

Coffee

Oats

Barley (malt)

Beet sugar

Tea

Potatoes

Soy (used frequently in processed foods)

Lemons

Cocoa beans (chocolate)

Oranges

Beef

Pork

Onions

 

Cuban refugees die near Mexico’s Isla Mujeres

Diane A. Wade
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Cuban refugees die near Mexico’s Isla Mujeres

An improvised raft carrying 23 Cuban refugees has sunk as it approached Mexican island Isla Mujeres near the popular resort of Cancun.

Two people have died and 11 are missing and presumed dead.

Survivors told Mexican media that their home-made raft sank as it hit the reefs surrounding Isla Mujeres on Friday morning.

The refugees said they headed for Mexico in the hope of joining relatives in the United States.

The accident happened some 150 metres (140 yards) off Isla Mujeres, in an area known for its strong currents, the Mexican Navy said.

Ten Cuban refugees managed to swim to safety.

But they said the others were taken away by the currents or fatally injured as they were pushed towards the rocks by the big waves.

“One of them head a head injury and died on the beach. The other one, a woman, was taken to hospital but also died of her injuries,” said a Navy official, Ismael Gonzalez Gil.

There were no children among the 23 Cuban refugees.

The survivors said group’s intention was to reach the Mexican coast, which lies some 220 km (140 miles) west of Cuba, and eventually cross the border into the United States.

 

Pakistan: market bomb attack kills 15 people in Darra Adam Khel

Roy Siemens
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Pakistan: market bomb attack kills 15 people in Darra Adam Khel

At least 15 people have been killed and up to 30 wounded in a car bomb attack on a market in the town of Darra Adam Khel, north-west Pakistan, local security officials say.

Some reports said a suicide attacker detonated the bomb in the town of Darra Adam Khel near the Khyber tribal area.

It was apparently aimed at a pro-government militia set up to fight the Taliban, local security officials said.

Some of the wounded were being taken to hospitals in other towns, because local facilities could not cope.

Some were being taken to Peshawar, about half-an-hour’s drive to the north.

Officials said no group had claimed responsibility for the bombing, but previous attacks in the area have been blamed on the Taliban.

President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the blast. In a condolence message he said the incident showed that extremists had no regard for human life.

The blast occurred outside the office of the local “peace committee” – a group of militants who used to fight with the Taliban but switched sides and now support local elders and the government.

At least 20 nearby shops were also badly damaged in the explosion, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.

It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were members of the peace committee and how many were local people going about their shopping on a Saturday morning, local government official Fakhar-ud-Din told the AFP news agency.

Darra Adam Khel is a small town on the edge of the ethnic Pashtun tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan.

The government has fought a long campaign to bring the region, which is a haven for militant groups, under its control.

Darra Adam Khel has been a centre for arms trading, with locally made weapons on sale openly at stalls in the town.

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the town two years ago killed more than 70 people.

Prayers were held in schools across Pakistan on Saturday for a young victim of the Taliban, 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who was shot this week in the Swat Valley.

The girl, who had campaigned for the right to an education, was picked out by name by an armed man on a bus, and shot in the head.

A military spokesman said she was still on a ventilator in hospital on Saturday and that the next 36 to 48 hours would be critical.

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Endeavour space shuttle rolls on LA streets

Diane A. Wade
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Endeavour space shuttle rolls on LA streets

Los Angeles residents have been turning out to watch the US space shuttle Endeavour as it inches through the city on a giant trolley, bound for a museum.

The spacecraft that once reached 17,000 mph (28,160km/h) is trundling down the city’s famously low-level boulevards at a stately 2 mph.

“It’s pretty neat to see a spaceship in the street,” a spectator told local TV.

Endeavour began its 12-mile, two-day journey on Friday and is due to end up at the California Science Center.

The 75-ton spacecraft entered service in 1992, making 25 trips, logging 123 million miles and circling the globe almost 4,700 times.

Replacing Challenger, which was destroyed in an accident in 1986 that killed seven astronauts, Endeavour was the baby of the shuttle fleet.

NASA took its shuttles out of service last year in order to focus on destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, such as asteroids and Mars.

Los Angeles residents have been turning out to watch the US space shuttle Endeavour as it inches through the city on a giant trolley
Los Angeles residents have been turning out to watch the US space shuttle Endeavour as it inches through the city on a giant trolley

The three other surviving shuttles are already in museums or will be eventually:

• Enterprise is on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.

• Discovery is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

• Atlantis is due to be put on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

For its trip across Los Angeles, Endeavour has been placed on a 160-wheeled carrier which is being guided by remote control.

The shuttle set off on Friday from Los Angeles international airport, where it arrived three weeks ago aboard a specially equipped Boeing 747.

After an early bumpy ride, it was backed into a shopping centre car park in the city’s Westchester neighborhood as crowds cheered.

Janet Dion, a family therapist from nearby Manhattan Beach, marvelled at the shuttle, its exterior weathered by its space missions.

“You can sense the magnitude of where it’s been,” she told the Associated Press news agency, looking at the heat tiles which had protected the craft on its returns to Earth.

Around midnight local time, Endeavour crossed a bridge over the Interstate 405 highway, an especially difficult part of the complicated journey because of the size of the shuttle and width of the bridge.

For the bridge manoeuvre, crews spent hours transferring the shuttle to a special, lighter towing dolly, which was then pulled across by a pickup truck.

Four hundred trees had to be cut down to make way for Endeavour’s wingspan. The city has promised to plant 1,000 replacements.

Power lines have also been raised and traffic lights pulled down but some stretches of the 12-mile journey are still a tight squeeze.

Former shuttle commander Mark Kelly, who captained Endeavour’s final flight, said he hoped the spacecraft would become an inspiration for future generations of astronauts.

“Maybe some day one of these kids that see Endeavour, look up at it at the California Science Center, will be that person that walks on the planet Mars?” he told US broadcaster CNN.

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Smart Bra: First Warning Systems bra helps detect breast cancer

Kathryn R. Bown
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0
Smart Bra: First Warning Systems bra helps detect breast cancer

First Warning Systems unveils plans for a hi-tech device that can be worn inside the bra to help detect breast cancer.

One million women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year – and of those, 400,000 will die.

Catching the cancer early is crucial to survival rate – and the efficacy of traditional annual mammograms as a reliable detection method is being called into question, with tumors beginning to form up to six years before they can be detected using mammograms.

First Warning Systems believe their device will play be able to detect tumors early on and reduce the rate of false positives and negatives – thereby helping women seek treatment as soon as possible following a diagnosis.

The invention takes the form of a sensor that is placed inside the undergarment where it will measure any changes in cell temperature caused by the blood vessel growth associated with tumors as they develop.

Medcitynews.com reported that the sensor will also contain software that uses pattern recognition, chronology and artificial intelligence to look for changes in breast tissue that might indicate a tumor was present.

They report that the size of breast tumors and how far the cancer has spread are crucial elements in determining the prognosis of women diagnosed with breast cancer.

First Warning Systems believe their device will play be able to detect tumors early on and reduce the rate of false positives and negatives
First Warning Systems believe their device will play be able to detect tumors early on and reduce the rate of false positives and negatives

Advancing technology – 3D mammography and thermography, for example – have gone some way in bringing early diagnoses to women. But these common methods are not infallible.

“Concerns with patient discomfort, exposure to radiation and false positives and negatives have spurred the creation of numerous other screening methods,” they said.

They report that a number of medical organizations are in the process of developing new methods of cancer detection.

Philadelphia firm UE Lifesciences is testing sensors for a handheld device intended as an alternative to mammograms.

Another, Ascendant Diagnostics, has had success in testing protein levels in tears as a way of detecting cancer early, while Delphinus Medical Technologies is in the process of developing an ultrasonic breast cancer detection device.

The launch of the bra is reported to be planned for 2013.

 

First Warning Systems smart bra:

• Monitors change in cell temperature caused by blood vessel growth associated with developing tumors

• Pattern recognition software looks for changes in breast tissue that might indicate a tumor was present

• Bra set for release in 2013

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2012 Halloween coolest character make-up: MAC Cosmetics step-by-step guide

Nancy Clayson
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2012 Halloween coolest character make-up: MAC Cosmetics step-by-step guide

Halloween and its plethora of costumes can be daunting.

So in the lead up to the spooky holiday, MAC Cosmetics has released its own Halloween how-to guide for inspiration, and technical ease, in those “where to start” moments of confusion.

Using step-by-step make-up face charts, MAC shows you how to recreate some of Hollywood’s most iconic faces; from Cat Woman and Marylin Monroe, to The Great Gatsby’s Daisy and The Hunger Games’ Effie Trinket.

The Halloween face creations use MAC make-up; and for ease of reference, each face chart specifies the exact colors and products needed.

Cat Woman’s “sexy, sleek and mysterious”, look uses a mix of pink and brown eyeshadow for dramatic eyes peeking out from the mask, as well as dark grey and brown eye liner.

With a touch of blush, the full lips are created with mis-matching lip liner and lipstick.

MAC Cosmetics Halloween guide says Marilyn Monroe's classic Hollywood glamour focuses on her brows, lips and her beauty spot
MAC Cosmetics Halloween guide says Marilyn Monroe’s classic Hollywood glamour focuses on her brows, lips and her beauty spot

Marilyn Monroe’s classic Hollywood glamour focuses on her brows, lips and of course, her beauty spot. Using a cherry lip color covered in a bright red “dazzle glass” lipgloss, MAC creates her famous pout.

The most creative and daring make-up look is The Hunger Games’ technicolor creation from the Capitol.

Using colors like Vibrant Grape, Fig, Purple Dash, Smooth Blue and Dollymix, recreating Elizabeth Banks’ character Effie Trinkett seems easier than first imagined.

With Baz Lurman’s take on F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is released in December this year, the character Daisy is Halloween timely.

Her enchanting look from the roaring Twenties uses soft ochre colors and a deep plum for the lips. With the right cream-colored flapper dress, Halloween will be its most glamorous yet.

 

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