Firefighting teams in Spain’s Canary Islands are struggling anew to contain forest fires said to have forced some 4,700 people to leave their homes.
On the island of Tenerife, the blaze has cut road links and power lines.
On the neighboring island of La Gomera officials say the fire has destroyed part of a nature reserve with “incalculable ecological value”.
Spain has been hard hit by forest fires after its driest winter in 70 years.
Blazes are also raging in the mainland region of Galicia.
Firefighting teams in Spain’s Canary Islands are struggling anew to contain forest fires said to have forced some 4,700 people to leave their homes
Fires first erupted on La Gomera a week ago, but by Monday the blaze was thought to be under control and aircraft used to help put out the flames had even been sent elsewhere, regional official Nancy Melo told the Associated Press news agency.
But on Friday the islands’ government said the fire had now intensified, and a fresh blaze had begun on Tenerife.
About 2,500 people have been evacuated on La Gomera, along with some 2,200 people on Tenerife, the Agence France-Presse news agency quoted the regional government as saying.
On La Gomera, the flames have devoured some 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of land, AFP said.
That includes a tenth of the Garajonay nature reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, some of which is believed to have been in existence for millions of years. Officials have already said it will take at least three decades for the burned areas of the reserve to recover.
Firefighters battling the blazes were up against “high temperatures, low humidity and wind” fanning the flames, regional economy minister Javier Gonzalez Ortiz was quoted as saying.
The dry winter has been followed by a scorching heatwave.
On the mainland, villages have been evacuated in the Galician province of Ourense as more forest fires rage out of control.
Foreign ministers from the Arab League are due to meet in the Saudi city of Jeddah for talks over Syrian crisis.
The ministers are expected to discuss a new envoy to Syria to replace Kofi Annan, who resigned earlier this month.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US and Turkey are working together on detailed plans to support the Syrian opposition.
Fighting has continued in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the second city of Aleppo.
Speaking on a visit to Istanbul, Hillary Clinton said both the US and Turkey were making preparations to respond to the possible collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the use of chemical weapons and increases in the number of cross-border refugees.
Kofi Annan resigned from his position as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria earlier this month, after his proposed six-point peace plan failed to come into effect and violence escalated.
Foreign ministers from the Arab League are due to meet in the Saudi city of Jeddah for talks over Syrian crisis
On the agenda for foreign ministers attending Sunday’s emergency meeting in Jeddah will be Kofi Annan’s replacement – tipped by diplomats to be the veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.
At the table will be envoys from Saudi Arabia and Qatar – leading backers of the rebels in Syria.
The mandate of the United Nations observer mission in Syria – which now comprises some 150 observers – is due to run out in a week’s time.
But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says there still need to be people on the ground to make impartial assessments of the military situation.
The Security Council will discuss the issue on Thursday, but there is little consensus on the council, with Syrian ally Russia calling for an extension and the US skeptical about prolonging the mission.
Instead, the US is taking steps outside the structures of the UN to support Syrian opposition groups, such as the setting up of the working group with Turkey announced by Hillary Clinton in her meeting with her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday.
“Our number-one goal is to hasten the end of the bloodshed and the Assad regime,” she said.
“Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that.”
A “range of contingencies” was discussed, including the possible use of chemical weapons by the Assad government, Hillary Clinton added.
Meanwhile, inside Syria fighting is continuing.
Syrian state TV said authorities were hunting “terrorists” who had set off a bomb in Marjeh, an exclusive district of Damascus near the central bank, and who were “shooting at random to spark panic among citizens”.
At about the same time, another blast went off near Tishrin Stadium close by, reported state news agency Sana.
Hours later, Sana reported that a bus had been attacked in a Damascus suburb, said AP news agency, with six passengers from the central province of Hama killed. It blamed the attack on the “terrorists”.
Violence erupted again between the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and government forces in the country’s largest city, Aleppo.
Activists said the army pounded areas south-west of Salah al-Din, from which the rebels retreated on Thursday.
Reports from Syria are difficult to confirm because of restrictions on reporters working there.
Iranian rescue teams are searching through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors from two strong earthquakes which left at least 250 people dead.
The 6.4 and 6.3 quakes struck near Tabriz and Ahar on Saturday afternoon, and more than 2,000 are believed injured, many in outlying villages.
Thousands spent the night in emergency shelters or in the open and there have been more than 55 aftershocks.
Relief agencies are providing survivors with tents, bread and drinking water.
Hundreds of people were rescued overnight but that the continuing aftershocks have made the operation exhausting work.
The numbers of victims is expected to rise.
All the deaths reported so far have been in rural areas, said local officials, an indication of the poorer quality of housing outside urban areas.
Reports say phone lines to many villages have been cut off, confining rescuers to radio contact.
“The quake has created huge panic among the people,” said one resident of Tabriz.
“Everyone has rushed to the streets and the sirens of ambulances are everywhere.”
Iranian rescue teams are searching through the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors from two strong earthquakes which left at least 250 people dead
The towns of Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan province in north-western Iran were among those that suffered casualties, local crisis committee chief Khalil Saei told state TV according to the Associated Press.
“The magnitude of the disaster is so huge that officials are just managing to get enough people in from other provinces to help out,” one Iranian Red Crescent worker told the AFP news agency.
Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Hassan Ghadami told the official Fars news agency that about 110 villages had been damaged.
State TV said at least six villages were totally flattened, with 60 other villages sustaining damage ranging from 50% to 80%.
“This village is a mass grave,” said Alireza Haidaree, who had been searching for survivors in his home of Baje Baj.
“There are so many other villages that have been completely destroyed,” he told AFP. Locals said 33 of the villages 414 residents had died.
Sixty-six rescue teams have been sent to the region, along with about 200 ambulances and five helicopters.
“Unfortunately there are still a number of people trapped in the rubble but finding them is very difficult because of the darkness,” news agency Fars quoted national emergency head Gholam Reza Masoumi as saying.
State TV broadcast footage of dozens of families sleeping outdoors in parks, and bodies lying on the floor of a morgue in Ahar, including those of children.
As morning came, search teams with sniffer dogs began working through the wreckage in Tabriz.
The timing of the quake, towards the end of the day in the holy month of Ramadan, meant it caught many people indoors as they preparing to break their day of fasting.
A Red Crescent official estimated that 16,000 people had been given emergency shelter in a sports stadium after they were forced to leave their homes.
The organization has provided 3,000 tents, blankets, tons of food and blood supplies.
The Turkish Red Crescent said it was sending a truck full of emergency supplies to the border.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s office posted a statement on its website expressing condolences to those in the disaster zone and calling on authorities to “mobilize all efforts to help the affected populations,” AFP reports.
A provincial official warned people to stay outdoors overnight because of the risk of aftershocks.
“My family is really terrified. It is night time now but we cannot sleep,” said Tabriz resident Amina Zia.
“This earthquake was… very strong and violent.”
The first quake struck 23 km (14 miles) south-west of Ahar and 58 km (36 miles) north-east of Tabriz at 16:54 local time on Saturday, said the US Geological Survey.
The second earthquake struck just 11 minutes after the first, slightly closer to Tabriz.
Iran straddles a major geological fault line, making it prone to seismic activity. In 2003 an earthquake in the city of Bam left more than 25,000 people dead.
Iran’s earthquake history:
• March 2006 – at least 70 people are killed and nearly 1,000 injured by a 6.0 magnitude quake in Lorestan province
• February 2005 – more than 500 people killed by a strong quake near Zahran, in Kerman province
• December 2003 – a 6.6 magnitude quake destroys the ancient city of Bam, killing more than 25,000 people
• May 1997 – more than 1,600 killed in Birjand, eastern Iran, in a 7.1 magnitude quake
• February 1997 – a 5.5 magnitude quake kills about 1,000 in north-western Iran
• June 1990 – some 40,000 die in a tremor in the northern Gilan province
Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney Houston’s daughter, not only kissed and professed her love for brother-turned-partner Nick Gordon over Twitter last night, she also showed off a mysterious diamond sparkler on her left ring finger.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, had gotten matching “WH” wrist tattoos with Nick Gordon this week in honor of what would have been Whitney Houston’s 49th birthday, but the loved-up pair were eager to show their love to all 95,000 of the singer-turned-actor’s followers.
“1 of the main reasons why i even smile today.:) iloveyoubooboo, forever&always. <<it’s just US now>>…@Nickdgordon {<3}” Bobbi Kristina Brown tweeted along with the kissing picture.
According to TMZ, Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon grew up together after Whitney Houston took him in at the age of 12 when his father went to prison and his mother was unable to take care of him.
Bobbi Kristina Brown not only kissed and professed her love for brother-turned-partner Nick Gordon over Twitter last night, she also showed off a mysterious diamond sparkler on her left ring finger
Nick Gordon was Whitney Houston’s unofficially adopted son, and she treated him like family up until her death at the age of 48 due to an accidental drowning complicated by heart disease and cocaine use.
The 22-year-old first fueled rumors about their relationship status in a tweet written last March, exclaiming: “Yea we got a little closer and what!!!”
The controversial couple have reportedly been sharing her $1.2 million Atlanta home together ever since.
“No matter what…This connection between us will #STAYSTRONG 4EVER! We will love & miss u 4ever lady:) & still through those trials & tribulations the devil kept on trying to break them & soon realized…He couldn’t,” Bobbi Kristina Brown wrote.
By the age of 30 Bobbi Kristina Brown will have inherited everything that belonged to her iconic mother – money, jewellery, cars, etc.
She recently did a guest stint on Tyler Perry’s sitcom For Better Or Worse.
And the mourning starlet is currently filming her blooming love for Nick Gordon on her upcoming reality show, The Houston Family Chronicles, which is set to premiere on Lifetime next month.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was seen clutching Nick Gordon’s thigh while they watched the Billboard Music Awards together back in May, and the teenager was seen wearing the same diamond sparkler that night.
The duo batted away rumors of an engagement shortly after and last month, according to Hollywood Life, they both decided it wasn’t the right time to wed.
“Bobbi and Nick really love each other,” said the source.
“But they just can’t figure out how they want to define their relationship. Bobbi felt like she got swept up in the moment because she was going through a lot of emotions after Whitney’s death. But they’re in love and still together, just not engaged.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s grandmother, Cissy Houston, has branded their relationship “incestuous” in an interview with TMZ.
Despite family feuds over the matter, the Houstons are expected to unite later this month to honor Whitney Houston’s memory with the posthumous release of her final feature film, Sparkle.
The Salim Akil drama is scheduled to premiere on August 17.
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a new city exclusively for women as it bids to combine strict Sharia law and career minded females, pursuing work.
It is thought the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) has been asked to bring the country up to date with the rest of the modern world with the controversial city, which is now being designed with construction to begin next year.
It is hoped it will allow women’s desire to work without defying the country’s Islamic laws.
The municipality in the Eastern city of Hafuf is expected to attract 500 million riyals ($130 million) in investments and it will create around 5,000 jobs in the textiles, pharmaceuticals and food processing industries.
There will be women-run firms and production lines for women.
Although Saudi Sharia law does not prohibit women to work figures show that only 15% of women are represented in the workforce.
The plan coincides with the governments ambitions to get women to play a more active part in the development of the country. Among the stated objectives are to create jobs, particularly for younger women.
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a new city exclusively for women as it bids to combine strict Sharia law and career minded females, pursuing work
“I’m sure that women can demonstrate their efficiency in many aspects and clarify the industries that best suits their interests, their nature and their ability,” Modon’s deputy director-general, Saleh Al-Rasheed, told Saudi daily newspaper al-Eqtisadiah.
Saudi’s existing industrial cities already have factories owned by women, as well as companies that employ a small portion of the female population and Saleh Al-Rasheed added: “We are now working on a second industrial city for women.
“We have plans to establish a number of women-only industries in various parts of the kingdom.”
As part of a mass overhaul of its workforce and its bid to get women into work the state is also attempting to replace foreign salespeople with Saudi women.
This summer, women started replacing staff in cosmetics and perfume shops, only half a year after they replaced male sales staff in lingerie stores.
But despite some progress, women’s rights in Saudi Arabia are still defined by Islam and lack basic freedoms found in many Western cultures.
Last September, King Abdullah announced that women will be able to vote and run in the 2015 local elections but Saudi Arabia is still the only country in the world that prohibits women from driving and it took huge efforts from the International Olympic Committee to persuade them to enter women in the Games for the first time ever.
Wojdan Shaherkani’s Olympics lasted just over a minute, but the fact she made it to her judo bout with Puerto Rico’s Melissa Mojica meant it was a revolutionary moment for the women of Saudi Arabia.
The country’s ultra-conservative clergy tried to destroy her ambitions to be Saudi’s first female Olympian, before an argument about the type of headscarf she should wear jeopardized her place at the eleventh hour.
The Games in London were also a first for Afghanistan, also bound by strict law, when Tahmina Kohistani ran in the 100m, despite months of harassment from men who believed she should not be allowed to compete.
SHARIA LAW: HOW IT WORKS IN SOME ISLAMIC STATES
Sharia Law is the moral code and religious law of Islam dealing with crime, politics, and economics, as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, and fasting.
In general Sharia doesn’t guarantee equal rights for women and men.
For many it does but for rights including marital and inheritance laws, it doesn’t.
Married women have the right to seek employment although it is often thought in patriarchal societies that the woman’s role as a wife and mother should have first priority.
Islam allows both single and married women to own property and the right to inherit from other family members but a woman’s inheritance is different from a man’s, for instance, a daughter’s inheritance is usually half that of her brother’s.
Islamic jurists have traditionally held that Muslim women may enter into marriage with only Muslim men, while the Quran allows a Muslim man to marry a chaste woman from the People of the Book, a term that includes Jews and Christians.
In 2003, a Malaysian court ruled that, under Sharia law, a man may divorce his wife via text messaging as long as the message was clear and unequivocal.
Touching pictures of a mother dog rescuing her ten-day-old puppies from a house fire and carrying them to safety have emerged on the internet.
The blaze broke out at a home in Santa Rosa de Temuco, Chile, on Thursday after a car bomb went off.
The mother dog – a German Shepherd mix called Amanda – risked her life to pick up the puppies in her mouth and carried them from the burning house to the safety of the fire truck.
She ran between the house and truck over and over again until all puppies were safe.
Mother dog Amanda rescuing her ten-day-old puppies from a house fire and carrying them to safety
After rescuing all of her pups from the blaze, Amanda sat down next to them, protecting them with her body as the firefighters fought the blaze.
Amanda and her puppies were then taken to a vet where one puppy called Amparo, who had suffered severe burns, died.
The other four puppies were doing well.
The vet, Felipe Lara, told Soy Chile that Amanda had defended her puppies when they tried to take them away from her to care for them.
Eventually she let them check over her pups but she wanted to stay with ailing Amparo and did not want to let her from her sight.
The pictures first appeared on online social board reddit and quickly became the main story of the day.
Shanyna Isom, an university student from Memphis, has been labelled a medical mystery after falling victim to an unidentified illness which causes human nails to grow out of her hair follicles.
Shanyna Isom, 28, suffered an allergic reaction three years ago which caused the debilitating syndrome which has left her struggling to walk and carry out daily chores.
The young woman was left covered in hard scabs as “nails” replaced the hair on her body and doctors are still in the dark about how to cure her mysterious illness.
Shanyna Isom lives with her family in Memphis and was in her first year at university when the nightmare began.
In September 2009, Shanyna Isom was prescribed steroids after suffering an asthma attack and within hours the law student was “itching” all over her body.
Soon black bumps covered her legs and doctors treated her for everything from eczema to Staphylococcal infection to no avail.
Shanyna Isom has been labelled a medical mystery after falling victim to an unidentified illness which causes human nails to grow out of her hair follicles
Shanyna Isom became bedridden as the illness took over and doctors tried to determine what was wrong
In 2011 she began treatment in Baltimore where doctors established that the bumps were in fact human nails slowly covering her body.
Shanyna Isom produces 12 times the normal number of skin cells per hair follicle, suffocating her skin.
“Where hair grows, nails are growing,” Shanyna Isom told WAFB news.
Today doctors have yet to diagnose her but have been able to control her symptoms.
“I couldn’t sit up and I couldn’t walk, but now I can walk with a cane and sometimes I can walk on my own.”
The criminal justice major describes it as a nightmare she is trying to wake up from.
“They’ve tested me from A to Z and everything was coming back negative.
“As of right now, I am the only one in the world with my illness.”
The illness has left Shanyna Isom and her family deep in debt as state-issued insurance does not cover her care at the specialist unit she attends in Baltimore and only covers five of the 17 medications she is prescribed.
The family savings accounts are dry and her outstanding medical bills are currently up to $250,000.
Shanyna Isom has set up the S.A.I Foundation to raise money for her treatment but fears she may not be able to continue.
She relies on family and friends for financial help and they have rallied around her for support.
“At this point I just do everything I can to get the help that’s needed for her,” her friend Tolungia Webb said.
Shanyna Isom hopes that the foundation will be able to raise enough money to cover her medical bills and help others in the same situation.
She said: “If it means me dealing with this to help someone else, I’m willing to go through it.”
Two strong earthquakes have hit north-western Iran, leaving at least 87 people dead and 400 more injured, according to state TV.
The quakes struck near the city of Tabriz and the town of Ahar, but most of the casualties are thought to be in outlying villages.
Reports say phone lines to many villages have been cut off, making rescue efforts harder.
The US Geological Service measured the quakes at magnitude 6.4 and 6.3.
Two strong earthquakes have hit north-western Iran, leaving at least 87 people dead and 400 more injured
“The quake has created huge panic among the people,” said one resident of Tabriz.
“Everyone has rushed to the streets and the sirens of ambulances are everywhere.”
The towns of Haris and Varzaqab in East Azerbaijan province were among those that suffered casualties, Khalil Saei, local crisis committee chief, told state TV, according to the Associated Press.
Officials say at least four villages have been completely destroyed, with another 60 villages suffering damage ranging from 50% to 70%.
The two earthquakes came within minutes of each other, according to seismology experts at Tehran University.
Dozens of rescue workers have been sent to the region, but the onset of darkness has hampered relief efforts.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked South Korea to bar footballer Park Jong-woo from the bronze medal ceremony after he held up a political message after the team beat Japan.
The slogan was said to refer to a long-running dispute about islands which both South Korea and Japan claim.
The IOC says it is holding an inquiry.
Friday’s match came hours after South Korea’s president visited the islands, known as Dokdo in South Korea and as Takeshima in Japan, sparking a row.
The move prompted Japan to recall its ambassador in Seoul.
IOC has asked South Korea to bar Park Jong-woo from the bronze medal ceremony after he held up a political message after the team beat Japan
South Korea won the Olympic football bronze medal by beating Japan 2-0.
The IOC says that after the game, a player was photographed brandishing a sign allegedly asserting South Korea’s sovereignty over the islands.
The committee urged the South Korean Olympic committee to take “swift action on this issue” and said the player should not be present at the medal ceremony, which took place on Saturday.
A Korean Football Association official later named him as Park Jong-woo, 23 – who was not present at the ceremony.
Football’s governing body, FIFA, said it had opened a separate investigation to discipline him.
The official told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that Park Jong-woo had taken the sign – which reportedly read “Dokdo is our land” – from a fan after the match, stressing that the incident was not pre-planned.
“Park was running around with the banner which he got from the crowd. We saw the message on the banner so we quickly took it from him,” the unnamed official is quoted as saying.
The statutes of both the IOC and FIFA prohibit political statements by athletes and players.
Friday’s visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to the islands was strongly criticized by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
“It is contrary to our nation’s stance that Takeshima is historically – and under international law – an integral part of our national territory, and is completely unacceptable,” PM Yoshihiko Noda said.
The uninhabited islands, which are roughly equidistant from the two countries, are small but lie in fishing grounds which could also contain large gas deposits.
Mexico has beaten Brazil with 2-1 at Wembley and has won the men’s Olympic football gold medal for the first time.
Oribe Peralta struck from the 18-yard box after 32 seconds following some poor Brazilian defending.
Fabian Marco hit the Brazil crossbar before a completely unmarked Oribe Peralta headed his team’s second goal.
Brazil, also hoping to win gold for the first time, pulled a goal back through Hulk in injury-time, before Oscar headed wide when well positioned.
But the South American side scarcely deserved to take the game into extra-time after a very patchy performance, particularly in defence.
Mano Menezes’s team had scored three in each of their previous five games and were treating the tournament as an important staging post ahead of hosting the World Cup in 2014.
But if they are to succeed on home soil they will have to show a significant improvement from what they produced at Wembley, with star forward Neymar a largely peripheral figure.
Mexico has beaten Brazil with 2-1 at Wembley and has won the men's Olympic football gold medal for the first time
Mano Menezes went into Saturday’s match under huge pressure to deliver gold and fill the one significant missing blank for the Brazilian team, but if the game was to be Brazil’s coronation as Olympic champions then Mexico clearly had not read the script.
They defeated Brazil 2-0 in a friendly earlier in the summer and stunned Wembley when Peralta’s low strike nestled in the bottom corner while many inside the stadium were still taking their seats.
Manchester United defender Rafael was partly at fault for the goal, his sloppy pass allowing Javier Aquino to nip in and dispossess Sandro, with the ball running invitingly into the path of Oribe Peralta.
Brazil could not find their stride – a situation not helped by a series of niggly fouls that broke up play and angered coach Mano Menezes, who could be seen waving an imaginary card on the touchline.
And their disappointing start was put into stark perspective when Mano Menezes made a change just after the half-hour mark, bringing on Hulk for Alex Sandro.
The substitution made a difference and Jose Corona managed to palm clear a swerving strike from Hulk while Marcelo shot wastefully wide after he had linked with Oscar and Leandro Damiao to carve open the left side of the Mexican defence.
By the early stages of the second half it was obvious that Mexico had opted to try to defend their lead.
This seemed to play into the hands of their opponents, particularly Neymar, who had disappointed in the opening half but briefly relished the chance to repeatedly run at the Mexico defence.
He twice shot wide and saw another effort blocked, but his influence soon faded and Mexico almost struck with a swift break.
There was more shoddy Brazilian defending involved too, as Fabian dispossessed an opponent far too easily and eventually saw his overhead effort rebound off the crossbar.
An unmarked Oribe Peralta later slotted home from six yards but Brazil were saved by the offside flag. There was to be no reprieve with 15 minutes remaining.
A free-kick was delivered from the right and the Mexico striker was left completely alone to head home from eight yards.
Brazil’s frustrating afternoon saw team-mates Juan Jesus and Rafael square up to each other in the final minutes.
Hulk’s injury-time strike into the bottom corner briefly ignited hope of a spectacular comeback and Oscar then headed wastefully wide at the near post as Mexico held on.
The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in four zones across the city, the Brazilian organizing committee has said.
Plans for their eight-minute segment in the London 2012 closing ceremony on Sunday night have also been set out at London’s Olympic Park.
They said pure Brazilian samba would demonstrate the country’s passion.
Events will be at Copacabana Beach, the Olympic Park which is being built at Barra, in Deodoro and at the Maracanã.
The Rio de Janeiro Games are being tag-lined as “A city leaps forward” and Brazilian children presented the video outlining the city’s plans to build venues and infrastructure.
The Rio de Janeiro Games will be staged in four areas:
• Copacabana – Olympic: beach volleyball; rowing and canoe sprint/kayak; marathon swim; triathlon; sailing; race walk; road cycling. Paralympic: rowing and paracanoe; triathlon; sailing; marathon and road cycling.
• Barra – Olympic: basketball; taekwondo and judo; wrestling; handball; tennis; track cycling; diving, water polo; swimming and synchronised swimming; gymnastics, artistic, rhythmic and trampoline; boxing; table tennis; weightlifting; and badminton. Paralympic: wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby; judo and boccia; sitting volleyball; goalball; wheelchair tennis; track cycling; swimming; wheelchair basketball; table tennis; powerlifting.
The famous Maracanã football stadium, the venue for the 1950 World Cup, is being redeveloped for the 2014 finals, which Brazil is also hosting, and the 2016 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies
Football will also be held in cities across the country – São Paulo, Brasília, Belo Horizonte and Salvador.
The famous Maracanã football stadium, the venue for the 1950 World Cup, is being redeveloped for the 2014 finals, which Brazil is also hosting, and the 2016 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.
Organizers said construction was running on time and they were “delivering on our promises” to transform the city and transportation network.
They said London Games organizers LOCOG had been sharing with them information on how to organize a Games.
Some detail about Brazil’s eight-minute part of the London closing ceremony was also revealed.
It will feature diva Marisa Monte, model Alessandra Ambrosio, Renato Sorriso – a dancer and street cleaner who sweeps up between samba schools appearing at the Rio carnival, 82 drummers and the rapper Bnegao.
Rehearsals have been taking place in Greenwich and Dagenham, where the London ceremonies have also practiced.
Dancers will wear outfits including gold lamé flared bodysuits and the artistic directors said it would feature “pure samba” with roots in Brazilian percussion.
Italian football player Emanuele Pesoli of Serie B side Verona has gone on hunger strike in protest over his three-year match-fixing ban.
The defender has also chained himself to the gates of the Italian Football Federation’s headquarters in Rome.
“I am hurt by the sentence and I would like to confront those who accuse me,” said Emanuele Pesoli.
The 31-year-old has been banned after a probe into illegal betting on matches while he was at Siena, who he left for Verona in July.
Emanuele Pesoli of Serie B side Verona has gone on hunger strike in protest over his three-year match-fixing ban
Juventus manager Antonio Conte has been suspended for 10 months for not reporting match-fixing when he was in charge of Siena, then in Serie B, in the 2010-11 season.
“It is a strong protest but they are ruining my life for something I have not done,” added Emanuele Pesoli.
“I will stay here until I can’t do it anymore.”
Emanuele Pesoli was one of a number of players, coaches and officials to be handed bans by the federation on Friday in the latest scandal to engulf Italian football.
In May, police searched more than 30 homes, including those of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and the lower divisions.
Lazio captain Stefano Mauri, 32, was held along with former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, while officers visited Italy’s pre-Euro 2012 training camp to question left-back Domenico Criscito, 25.
Brigitte Nielsen, who has a minor role in the upcoming low-budget movie Skinny Dip, says she defied the threat of kidnap from drugs gangs while filming in crime-torn Colombia.
Perhaps it goes without saying that a Palme d’Or award at the next Cannes Film Festival is hardly on the cards. But then, Brigitte Nielsen, 49, is brutally aware that beggars can’t be choosers.
And for now, the Danish-born actress, the ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone, has more pressing concerns than her once glittering, but long since washed-up, movie career.
Brigitte Nielsen’s continuing personal disintegration was starkly – and tragically – illustrated this week in pictures of her drunk and confused in broad daylight in a Los Angeles park.
The statuesque blonde was photographed swigging from a half-bottle of Popov vodka – a U.S. brand seen more often clutched by down-and-outs than in the bars of the finer Hollywood establishments she once frequented.
In other shots, Brigitte Nielsen is seen coughing while dragging on a cigarette and being ill on a park bench. Eventually, she curls up in the foetal position on the grass to sleep off the bender.
Most pitifully of all, perhaps, Brigitte Nielsen is then seen drinking mouthwash in a bid, one imagines, to cover up evidence of the binge, before wandering off home to her much younger fifth husband, Italian former bartender Mattia Dessi, 33.
From Hollywood “glamazon” to hopeless alcoholic, – it’s a cruel fall from grace. Particularly as, for all her professional travails – which have seen her submit herself to the indignities of the international reality television circuit – the woman once dubbed The Great Dane appeared to have beaten the addiction to booze that saw her enter rehab five years ago.
Brigitte Nielsen’s continuing personal disintegration was starkly illustrated this week in pictures of her drunk and confused in broad daylight in a Los Angeles park
Just what has gone so very wrong for the 6 ft 1 in former model, now a mother of four, who had leading men such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sean Penn falling at her feet?
Brigitte Nielsen blamed the latest episode on the stress of her mother being ill. She told an American website: “Looking at the pictures, I can understand the level of worrying, but I can assure everyone there is no cause for alarm.”
“I just haven’t been coping well with my mother’s illness. I’m not making any excuses. I have spoken to my sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous, and I continue to go to meetings. I’m committed to my sobriety, and I’m not going to let this momentary relapse define me.
“I’m not perfect, and I’m battling a disease, and yes, there will be setbacks, but I know what I need to do in order to be healthy.”
But already, Hollywood is buzzing with rumors that it is money troubles that led Brigitte Nielsen, who once blew hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single shopping spree, to fall off the wagon so spectacularly.
She has left a string of debts as her career, which saw her cast as the leading lady to Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy in the Eighties, has flatlined.
Last night, former close friend and manager Ryan Glasgow, who played a pivotal part in helping her beat the bottle before, claimed he is one of several high-profile industry figures to whom she apparently is in debt.
“Brigitte’s financial position is precarious,” claimed Ryan Glasgow.
“She owes me a lot of money. She has had a few managers since we parted company, and it’s because she owes them all money, too.
“Everyone thought she received a fortune when she was divorced from Sylvester Stallone, but I know she walked away from him with almost nothing. I did some work for her and lined up a TV pilot for her, then she just vanished, and I haven’t had any contact from her for two years.
“In the end, I just accepted the loss of money because I was happy she was sober and living a happy life. But it was a bit of an elephant in the room where she was concerned. Despite the issues between us, it is heartbreaking what has happened to her, because Brigitte is basically a good human being and a good person.
“But she is sick. I helped her get sober the first time in 2007 and got her into a clinic. She was very keen to get herself clean and was very excited and happy to be changing her life. I thought she was still sober.”
Ryan Glasgow adds: “Sadly, alcoholism is a disease. As anyone who follows the celebrity world knows, it is not uncommon, but it is unfortunate.”
Last year, Brigitte Nielsen wrote a tell-all book, You Only Get One Life.
The book chronicles in all-too-graphic detail how she once attempted suicide, lived through an abusive (fourth) marriage, as well as her adulterous fling with Arnold Schwarzenegger when they starred in her 1985 film debut Red Sonja.
Brigitte Nielsen need for cash has also led to her lurching from one reality TV show to another – with her willing to accept the public humiliation. Having appeared in the British version of Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, in which she made her peace with Sylvester Stallone’s mother Jackie (who had called her a “pig”), this year Brigitte Nielsen appeared in the German version of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! where she ate turkey testicles live on air.
Last year, Brigitte Nielsen was strapped on a rotating wheel on ITV while knives were flung at her, and on a bizarre British satellite television programme she agreed to be “murdered”, after which the producers attempted to convince innocent contestants they were real-life suspects.
Brigitte Nielsen even agreed to a programme entitled From Old To New, in which she was filmed having $80,000 of plastic surgery including a facelift, boob job and liposuction on her thighs.
It’s all a massive comedown from her last major movie role 25 years ago in Beverly Hills Cop II with Eddie Murphy.
In truth, Brigitte Nielsen was always famed far more for her Amazonian figure and shock of bleached blonde hair than for any discernable talent in front of the camera. But in 1985, her looks were enough to snare Sylvester Stallone, then the biggest movie star in the world.
Brigitte Nielsen, still married to first husband, Danish musician Kasper Winding – with whom she has a son Julian, now 28 – sent scantily clad pictures of herself to the married actor’s New York hotel. Within weeks of them meeting, Sylvester Stallone, 17 years older than the 22-year-old Brigitte Nielsen, cast her in Rocky IV.
Sylvester Stallone divorced first wife Sasha Czack and married Brigitte Nielsen within a few months. They starred together in another action movie, Cobra, and Sylvester Stallone had full-size nude bronzes of Brigitte Nielsen commissioned for the garden of their Beverly Hills mansion.
She gave his cheque book an outing in New York, Milan and Paris, buying jewellery and clothes, and spent $5,000 in an LA wig shop. The marriage collapsed within 18 months, with Sylvester Stallone accusing her of being a gold-digger who “fleeced me as if I was a Christmas turkey ready for the pluckin”. More fool he, you might say.
Following their 1987 divorce, in which Brigitte Nielsen was erroneously reported to have received $6.5 million, she accused the powerful Sylvester Stallone of torpedoing her acting career, and had to make do with a string of low-budget flops. She went on to have a son with an American football player, as well as a short marriage to a photographer, before she married again, in 1993, to Swiss motor racer Raoul Meyer, with whom she has two sons.
But the marriage was blighted by her claims of domestic abuse and their younger son having a brain tumor (last year Brigitte Nielsen tearfully revealed he faced further surgery after the benign growth returned).
By the time they divorced in 2005, Brigitte Nielsen admits she was a tormented alcoholic. She said: “Booze turned me into a bad mother, an ugly, depressed woman and a complete loser. I looked in the mirror and realized I’d reached rock bottom. I heard voices in my head telling me to drink. I even drank just to pick up the phone [and talk to someone] because I felt such self-loathing and embarrassment.”
Brigitte Nielsen claims to have found salvation with fifth husband Mattia Dessi, despite meeting him, unpromisingly, in an Italian bar where she was getting drunk on cocktails and he was serving them. Indeed, Ryan Glasgow says her six-year marriage to Mattia Dessi, who is trying to launch a modelling career, has been a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“I never thought he had Brigitte’s best interests at heart,” Ryan Glasgow said.
“I felt he was interested in the fame. He really wants very much to be famous and to be a model.”
Britney Spears tweeted a picture from the second day of her shoot for her new Elizabeth Arden perfume, Fantasy Twist.
Britney Spears, 30, wore a plunging golden gown with a blonde wig and headpiece, with her fiancé Jason Trawick compare her to a 1930s screen siren.
She tweeted: “Loving day 2 of my Elizabeth Arden Fantasy Twist fragrance shoot.
“Jason says I look like Jean Harlow!”
Britney Spears tweeted a picture from the second day of her shoot for her new Elizabeth Arden perfume, Fantasy Twist
The day before, the mother-of-two dressed as an ancient Egyptian.
Britney Spears posted a sneak peek of the look, writing: “Channelling my inner Cleopatra today at Elizabeth Arden Fantasy Twist shoot. Fragrance is out in Sept. 1st look on Path.”
Fantasy Twist is the latest release in Britney Spears’ billion-dollar perfume empire.
She released her first fragrance Curious in 2004 after signing a deal with Elizabeth Arden.
By 2009, Britney Spears had released another seven fragrances, including Fantasy and Curious.
Britney Spears has earned an estimated $1.5 billion from her perfume empire and dominates the celebrity fragrance market.
Meanwhile, Britney Spears is set to become the target of a bidding war for her next record contract.
The internet is abuzz after pictures of Mark Zuckerberg emerged as we have never seen him before – topless and hanging out with a load of other topless guys.
TMZ posted the picture today which shows Mark Zuckerberg caressing his hairy – and quite buff – chest while obviously having a very good time cavorting with the other men.
The jury is out on what exactly is going on in the picture or where it was taken and Facebook have yet to respond to a request for comment.
The photo surfaced on the image-sharing site imgur, posted anonymously by someone who says they screen grabbed it from Facebook.
They claim the picture was “accidentally posted” by Facebook Director of Engineering Andrew Bosworth – who is seen also topless at the far right of the picture sporting a very masculine hat and bow tie combo.
Andrew Bosworth allegedly deleted the picture “seconds later”, but obviously not fast enough, as someone was able to capture it and make it available to the world wide web.
If this was an accident, many Facebook users will find something bitter sweet about the leak after Mark Zuckerberg and his team have repeatedly changed the site’s privacy settings over the years, which included claiming the rights to all pictures posted on the social networking site.
On the other hand, the picture isn’t going to do Mark Zuckerberg’s image any harm. After all appearing quite buff – for a computer nerd – hanging out shirtless with a few similarly shirtless friends shows the billionaire is just like everyone else, right?
Mark Zuckerberg caressing his hairy chest while obviously having a very good time cavorting with the other topless men
Coincidentally, the picture has emerged on the same day the Federal Trade Commission voted to finalize its settlement with Facebook, resolving charges that the social network exposed details about users’ lives without getting the required legal consent.
Facebook Inc. didn’t admit wrongdoing, but agreed to submit to government audits of its privacy practices every other year for the next two decades.
The company also committed to getting explicit approval from users before changing the types of content it makes public.
The settlement, announced in November, is similar to agreements the FTC reached separately with Google Inc. and Myspace.
The FTC approved the settlement Friday after a public comment period. It came a day after the FTC fined Google $22.5 million to resolve allegations that Google didn’t comply with the earlier settlement.
Both Facebook and Google have vast amounts of data on their users – Facebook through the things people share on the site, and Google through the searches and other things people do.
Such information is valuable because it can be used to improve the lucrative targeted advertising pitches that both companies aim at users.
Over the years, Facebook has been pushing users to voluntary share more about themselves. That ultimately encourages users and their friends to spend more time on the site, which in turn allows Facebook to sell more ads.
Although Facebook boasts that it gives users a variety of software settings so they can decide which photos, links and updates to share with whom, the company changes those options on a regular basis.
Much of the FTC’s complaint against Facebook centers on a series of changes that the company made to its privacy controls in late 2009.
The revisions automatically shared information and pictures about Facebook users, even if they previously programmed their privacy settings to shield the content.
Among other things, people’s profile pictures, lists of online friends and political views were suddenly available for the world to see, the FTC alleged.
The complaint also charges that Facebook shared its users’ personal information with third-party advertisers from September 2008 through May 2010 despite several public assurances from company officials that it wasn’t passing the data along for marketing purposes.
Facebook believes that happened only in limited instances, generally when users clicked on ads that appeared on their personal profile pages.
Most of Facebook’s users click on ads when they are on their “Wall” – a section that highlights their friends’ posts – or while visiting someone else’s profile page.
Under the settlement, Facebook must get explicit consent – a process known as “opting in” – before making changes that override existing privacy preferences.
The company also may not make misrepresentations about the privacy or security of users’ personal information – a broad clause that led to Google’s fine on Thursday.
Violations will be subject to civil penalties of up to $16,000 per day for each infringement.
Facebook had no comment beyond a statement that it is pleased the settlement received final approval.
The company’s stock gained 52 cents, or 2.5%, to $21.53 in midday trading Friday. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, began trading publicly in mid-May, after the settlement with the FTC was reached.
A quick-thinking cat managed to escape a pursuing pooch and surf her way to safety in a backyard pool.
The ingenious move, caught in a YouTube video, showed an aggressive Fox Terrier pursuing the feline on a sunny afternoon.
But the clever kitty was too quick for her menacing companion, as seen in footage uploaded to the video-sharing website by Robert Dollwet, an American animal trainer living in New South Wales.
Quick-thinking cat managed to escape a pursuing pooch and surf her way to safety in a backyard pool
The cat gracefully jumped on to a waiting surfboard and let the longboard take her to safety.
Enjoying a respite mid-pool, she casually glanced back at her pursuer — who was left dumbfounded by her skillful maneuver.
After a pause in the pool, the cat concluded her surfing stint.
Admitting defeat, the pup stayed on the other side of the water and watched her go her merry way.
50 Cent hit rival Kanye West below the belt by branding his girlfriend Kim Kardashian “trash”.
The rapper has surely kicked off a new feud with his old sparring partner with his latest comments.
50 Cent, 37, told XXL Magazine: “You know how it is? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
50 Cent hit rival Kanye West below the belt by branding his girlfriend Kim Kardashian “trash”
He made the quip as he shared his thoughts on the The College Dropout’s touching ode to his lover, the charmingly titled Perfect B****.
50 Cent said: “I mean, if that man feel like she’s perfect, then she’s perfect.
“He could mean it and you’ll end up singing the words to it because he’s Kanye.”
But he also issued a note of caution, pointing out his doubts that there is such a thing as the perfect woman.
He said: “I’m not sure. The smartest guys I know have lost being a bad judge of character in that area.”
50 Cent has been a rival of Kanye West’s throughout his career, and in 2007 he infamously promised to quit music if his Curtis album was outsold by West’s platter Graduation.
Of course the latter went on to top the charts after selling 957,000 copies in the first week, while 50 Cent took the number two spot, selling 691,000 units.
Despite his previous assertions, 50 Cent went on to release Before I Self Destruct in 2009, while this year he unveiled his latest opus Street King Immortal.
The annual Perseid meteors are expected to put on a spectacular sky show this weekend.
Glare from a waning crescent moon may interfere with viewing.
But the Perseids remain one of the most popular events in the astronomical calendar, with meteor rates expected to reach as many as 100 per hour.
The Perseids are actually pieces of Comet Swift-Tuttle; each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet’s debris.
The annual Perseid meteors are expected to put on a spectacular sky show this weekend
These tiny pieces of ice and dust (which range from the size of a grain of sand to around as big as a pea) hit the Earth’s atmosphere at some 60 km/s (134,000 mph).
“December’s Geminids often outperform them by a bit, but the Perseids are probably the most-watched meteor shower, because they come in the warm vacation season,” said Alan MacRobert, a senior editor of Sky and Telescope magazine.
The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere.
Their name comes from the fact that meteors in this shower radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus.
The Earth passed particularly close to Comet Swift-Tuttle in 1992, when the Perseids put on a spectacular display.
The meteor shower has since returned to normal. The comet will not approach so close again until around 2125.
Mitt Romney, the US Republican presidential candidate, is to reveal his choice for running mate in the November election on Saturday, his campaign says.
The vice-presidential candidate will be named at an event on a former warship, the USS Wisconsin, in Norfolk, Virginia, at 09:00 EDT.
Unconfirmed US media reports say Mitt Romney has decided on Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan.
But the campaign has made no official comment on the candidate’s identity.
Mitt Romney is challenging President Barack Obama in the 6 November vote.
Analysts say Mitt Romney will be hoping to wrest back momentum in the campaign after a series of pro-Obama campaign ads attacking his record.
The former governor of Massachusetts is set to begin a four-day bus tour through key battleground states.
The trip campaign will visit the states of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida before finishing in Ohio.
Unconfirmed US media reports say Mitt Romney has decided on Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as running mate for November election
In particular, Mitt Romney will seek to fight back against the Democrats’ push to portray him as upper-class and out-of-touch with ordinary Americans, observers say.
Recent opinion polls suggest a close race between the two men, with Barack Obama tending to have a slight lead in most surveys.
The vice-presidential announcement is expected to be made during a tour of the USS Wisconsin, a decommissioned battleship docked in Norfolk’s Nauticus Museum.
Dating back to the World War II-era, the vessel also saw service during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Several US media reports said all the signs were pointing to 42-year-old Paul Ryan as the leading contender to be Mitt Romney’s running mate.
A Republican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told reporters that Paul Ryan would be chosen.
If Paul Ryan is confirmed as Mitt Romney’s running mate, it would be a bold and ideological choice for a candidate who has been fairly cautious so far.
As chairman of the Budget committee in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Paul Ryan is seen as likely to add electoral firepower on what are expected to be the key election issues – jobs, the economy and the budget deficit.
He is also a staunch conservative who could enthuse the Republican base, and counteract some conservatives’ skepticism about Mitt Romney’s political past as governor of the traditionally liberal state of Massachusetts.
Other Republicans mentioned as being on Mitt Romney’s shortlist include Ohio representative Rob Portman, 56, and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, 51.
Rob Portman is seen as likely to help Mitt Romney gain votes in the important swing state of Ohio, while Tim Pawlenty could improve Romney’s appeal to working-class voters.
In a little over two weeks’ time, Mitt Romney will be formally confirmed as candidate at the Republican Party convention in Tampa, Florida.
His bitter rival in the primaries, Rick Santorum, will be a speaker at the convention, it was announced earlier in the week.
Paul Ryan profile:
• Aged 42, Paul Ryan was elected to the House of Representatives at 28 and is currently the Republican congressman for Wisconsin
• Seen as young and dynamic and a rising star in the Republican party
• Chairs the House Budget committee and has worked on reshaping federal budget
• A staunch conservative, he is best known for his proposals for large cuts in spending and taxes, which have proved popular with grassroots Republicans
Hillary Clinton has arrived in Turkey for talks on the worsening crisis in neighboring Syria.
The US Secretary of State will meet Turkish leaders as well as Syrian opposition activists.
They are expected to discuss preparations for a transition of power in Syria if the government of President Bashar al-Assad falls.
The UN says there has been a surge in the number of civilians fleeing violence in Syria, especially from the northern city of Aleppo.
Turkey, like all of Syria’s neighbors, is dealing with a growing humanitarian crisis as thousands of refugees flood across the border.
Rebels in Aleppo say they are preparing a counter-attack after withdrawing from the strategic south-west district of Salah al-Din under heavy bombardment.
High on the agenda of Hillary Clinton’s talks there is how to best co-ordinate support for the fractured Syrian opposition.
Hillary Clinton has arrived in Turkey for talks on the worsening crisis in neighboring Syria
US officials say the secretary of state wants to understand Turkey’s position and its concerns as conditions in Syria deteriorate.
Hillary Clinton is also expected to announce more humanitarian aid for those fleeing the violence.
Turkey is currently supporting more than 50,000 Syrian refugees with more arriving every day.
The talks will also focus on plans for what US officials call “the day after Assad”, our correspondent says, taking steps towards a future Syria that Washington hopes will be pluralistic and democratic.
Among US concerns are reports that a growing number of al-Qaeda linked militants are fighting alongside rebels in Syria.
US intelligence officials quoted by AP news agency said at least 200 militants linked to al-Qaeda are already operating in Syria, and their numbers are growing as foreign fighters enter the country.
US officials fear they could establish a presence similar to that in Iraq, which could be hard to defeat if rebels eventually oust President Bashar al-Assad.
Analysts say it could be one reason why Washington has been reluctant to offer military assistance to the anti-Assad insurgency.
Sporadic violence was reported around Syria on Friday.
Journalists from Reuters news agency reported seeing residents fleeing Aleppo with cars packed with possessions, taking advantage of a lull in the fighting.
AFP news agency reported that a bakery in the city’s eastern Tariq al-Bab district had been hit by a shell, killing about 12 people and injuring at least 20.
State news agency Sana also reported that government forces had repelled a rebel attack on Aleppo’s international airport.
The opposition Syrian National Council said part of Aleppo’s 13th-century citadel had been damaged by shelling.
Activists also reported fighting in suburbs of the capital, Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad is facing down stiff international pressure to step aside despite months of anti-government protests and worsening violence.
Bashar al-Assad has suffered a string of high-status defections, including his former Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who fled to Jordan earlier this week.
Mel Stuart, the director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died at his Beverly Hills home aged 83.
Mel Stuart’s family said he died after suffering from cancer.
Beginning his career mainly directing documentaries, the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book was Mel Stuart’s second feature film.
Mel Stuart was nominated for an Oscar in 1965 for his documentary, Four Days in November, about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
According to his own website, Mel Stuart made more than 180 films.
However he was best-known for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder.
Mel Stuart, the director of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, has died at his Beverly Hills home aged 83
He embarked on the ambitious musical fantasy after his 11-year-old daughter asked him to make a movie of the book she loved. She was also given a cameo in the film, along with her brother.
Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt in the movie, said she had “fond memories” of working with Mel Stuart.
“He always said he didn’t like kids and that he made a movie for adults that he hoped kids would like,” she said.
“He created an amazing film that has lasted and endured against all odds as it wasn’t popular at the time.”
Julie Dawn Cole last saw the director in October in New York when the cast reunited for the film’s 40th anniversary.
“He was on form – barking orders as he always had done, organizing a photoshoot,” she said.
“I’m glad I saw him last year – it’s one hell of a legacy to leave.”
The Omen screenwriter David Seltzer, who got his break from Mel Stuart at the age of 26, described him as “a mentor by way of drill sergeant, much-feared boss and much-loved friend”.
Born in New York, Mel Stuart had originally aspired to be a composer, but after university decided to instead pursue a career as a filmmaker.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Mel Stuart worked with award-winner David Wolper’s production company to make dozens of documentary films.
Mel Stuart’s films included three editions of The Making of the President, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the groundbreaking film Wattstax, which focused on Los Angeles’ black Watts community in the aftermath of the 1965 riots.
After leaving the Wolper Organisation in 1977, Mel Stuart went on to independently direct and produce numerous other documentaries such as AFI’s 100 Years-100 Movies, Inside the KGB and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not TV series.
His other features include the 1969 comedy If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, starring Suzanne Pleshette and Ian McShane.
Mel Stuart is survived by his wife, Roberta, and three children.
X-ray has identified a Norwegian tourist sleeping on a moving baggage belt at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
The unnamed 36 year-old man reportedly climbed over one of the check-in desks and fell asleep on the belt that takes luggage to be loaded on to planes.
When the belt started moving, he travelled for around 50m curled up in the foetal position.
X-ray has identified a Norwegian tourist sleeping on a moving baggage belt at Rome's Fiumicino airport
He apparently remained asleep after staff spotted him in the X-ray machine, stopped the belt and alerted police.
The tourist, who appeared to have been drinking heavily, will now face charges in relation to the incident according to Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper.
The incident has raised questions about security at the airport, but a police spokesperson told the paper that the man could not have got through to secure areas of the airport.
“There is a security system – a sort of roll-up blind – which can only be opened by the member of staff who loads the baggage,” the officer said.
“[The Norwegian] could have carried on going round the main belt but he could never have ended up in sensitive areas of the airport.”
Debbie Rowe, the mother of Michael Jackson’s two older children, Prince and Paris, has warned she will demand custody if the civil war in the Jackson family isn’t resolved.
Up until now, Debbie Rowe has been happy to remain on the sidelines and allow Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, to raise her children.
But sources close to the family said Debbie Rowe has become increasingly concerned about how the turmoil in the family is affecting Prince, 15 and 14-year-old Paris.
Now Debbie Rowe has filed legal papers at Los Angeles Superior Court backing a new guardianship deal reached between Katherine Jackson, 82, and her grandson TJ, 34, to share parenting responsibilities for Michael’s three children, including Blanket, 10, whose biological mother has never been identified.
But in the documents, the 53-year-old former dermatology nurse warns: “Should the arrangement sought by TJ Jackson and Katherine Jackson become untenable, unstable, unsafe, or in any way contrary to the best interests of the children, Ms. Rowe will seek court intervention.”
Debbie Rowe, the mother of Michael Jackson’s two older children, Prince and Paris, has warned she will demand custody if the civil war in the Jackson family isn’t resolved
The stay-away mother claims her concern is for the health, safety and well-being of her children; and says she will continue to ensure their needs are met.
Debbie Rowe is said to have strong feelings that the children should not be put into the care of the Jackson siblings who became embroiled in a bitter feud over the way Michael’s children and his affairs have been handled in the wake of his 2009 death.
Last month, Janet, Jermaine, Rebbie and Randy Jackson took Katherine away to a spa in Arizona and kept her incommunicado from her grandchildren because they claimed she was becoming ill from the stress of handling the multi-million pound estate.
The bizarre family coup resulted in Paris and Prince, both worried about their guardian’s whereabouts, launching scathing attacks on their Twitter accounts.
Katherine Jackson and the three children were the sole beneficiaries in Michael’s will.
Debbie Rowe, a longtime Michael Jackson fan, offered to bear the star’s children following the collapse of his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley in 1996.
Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe married that year in Australia and three months later she gave birth to their first son, Prince.
Paris was born the following year, but the unlikely couple divorced in 1999 and Michael Jackson took full responsibility for raising the children.
Debbie Rowe reportedly received a $9.5 million settlement and a house in Beverly Hills, California, in return for effectively handing over her rights as a mother.
In August 2009 – two months after Michael Jackson’s sudden death – Debbie Rowe reached a custody settlement with Katherine Jackson under which she was allowed supervised visits with the children.
Debbie Rowe is said to have been monitoring the unrest in the Jackson family closely and agreed to sign off on the new joint parenting deal at the request of the judge overseeing the case.
Diana Ross, named as a back-up guardian for his children in Michael Jackson’s will, also agreed to the terms of the new arrangement.
Following an exclusive launch, The Perfume Shop recorded that it sold one bottle of Justin Bieber’s new fragrance Girlfriend every minute in the opening week, making it one of the business’ bestselling celebrity scents.
On top of the in-store success, The Perfume Shop saw a dramatic increase in online traffic with the launch producing an increase in sales of 132% compared to this time last year.
Die hard Beliebers camped outside The Perfume Shop stores in UK and swarmed high streets across the country as they eagerly awaited the launch of the teen idols fab new fragrance.
The Perfume Shop recorded that it sold one bottle of Justin Bieber’s new fragrance Girlfriend every minute in the opening week
The Perfume Shop’s Facebook page has been overrun with “likes” and comments and 75% of the business’ Twitter feed was dominated by Justin Bieber posts during the launch weekend, including a tweet to all UK fans from the heartthrob himself directing them to UK stores.
Michelle D’Vaz, UK National Advertising and PR Manager at The Perfume Shop said: “With the remarkable success of JB’s debut scent Someday, we are thrilled to say all records have been broken with the launch of Girlfriend.
“The online traffic has been remarkable and with one bottle being sold every minute it is safe to say Bieber fever is still a phenomenon!”
Nena von Schlebrugge, Uma Thurman’s mother, posed for Vogue when she worked as model in the 1950s.
The shots were taken in a London alleyway by photographer Norman Parkinson and show Nena von Schlebrugge wearing items from Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection for Christian Dior.
Norman Parkinson first spotted Mexican-born Nena von Schlebrugge’s model potential when he met her in Stockholm, Sweden, when she was 14-years-old. He was one of the first photographers to take the models out of the studio and into more unusual environments.
The photographs are to go under the hammer at Christie’s London in September.
The two photographs of her in the alleyway are expected to fetch £4,000 ($6,000) while another picture of her near the Palace of Westminster is estimated to make £6,000 ($9,500).
The shots were taken in a London alleyway by photographer Norman Parkinson and show Nena von Schlebrugge wearing items from Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection for Christian Dior
Nena von Schlebrugge went on to have a successful modelling career as she moved to New York and posed for the Ford Modelling Agency.
She later married Robert Thurman and had four children, including Uma, who has starred in films including Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction.
Uma Thurman said she is full of admiration for how her mother pursued a modelling career when she was still just a teenager.
“She’s a very strongly independent person. She went off to make her future at a really young age. At around 15, she went from Stockholm to England. Imagine that in about 1950,” told Reader’s Digest Australia.
Uma Thurman added that she’s surprised when people say she has inherited her mother’s good looks.
“I’m not classically attractive. I’ve always been sort of an acquired taste,” she said.
The actress said that her mother, who is now managing director of Menla Mountain Retreat in New York state, warned her not to get “attached” to beauty.
“My mother always made it very clear to me that, whatever you look like now, you’re going to look worse later. Don’t get too attached to your beauty because it’s not yours to keep. Don’t go around thinking that it’s some big bonus and that you can count on it,” she said.
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