Shakira and Usher have signed up as mentors for the next series of The Voice in America.
Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green are taking a break from the NBC show, which is currently airing its third season.
The fourth series will also feature original coaches Adam Levine from Maroon 5 and Blake Shelton.
Cee Lo Green is developing new music and a sitcom based on his life for NBC, while Christina Aguilera is going on tour to support her new album.
Shakira and Usher have signed up as mentors for the next series of The Voice in America
Christina Aguilera released a statement saying: “As I have expressed since day one of the show… I am a singer and performer first and I am so excited to get back to that love.”
She confirmed that she would be eager to return to The Voice in the future as did Cee Lo Green who said he will be back for series five.
Christina Aguilers also encouraged Usher and Shakira to make themselves at home in the coaches’ chairs.
NBC entertainment chief, Bob Greenblatt, said that the network was glad to support Aguilera and Green by allowing them to take time away from the program.
Shakira is a Colombian singer-songwriter and dancer whose song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) was chosen as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
More recently she has been working on a new album.
Usher is one of the biggest selling artists in the world, whose recent hits include OMG and Yeah! He is also credited with signing Justin Bieber.
He also recently appeared on Oprah’s Next Chapter to discuss the custody battle over his two young sons and the death of his stepson Kile Glover after a jet ski accident.
A version of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, which became the most expensive artwork sold at auction earlier this year, is to go on display in New York.
The 1895 pastel, bought by an anonymous bidder in May for $120 million, will go on view at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for six months from 24 October.
MoMA director Glenn D Lowry told the New York Times it was “an incredible opportunity” to see the rare artwork.
The work is one of four in a series by the Norwegian expressionist artist.
The other three versions of The Scream, which depicts a hairless figure on a bridge under a brightly colored sky, are all owned by Norwegian museums.
Edvard Munch’s The Scream, a 1895 pastel, bought by an anonymous bidder in May for $120 million, will go on view at MoMA for six months from 24 October
According to the newspaper, the painting’s new owner is believed to be US financier Leon Black, a leading collector and a member of MoMA’s board.
The pastel will be on view until 29 April 2013 and will hang on the museum’s fifth floor under strict security, the New York Times reported.
Two of the other versions of the painting were stolen, one in 1994 and another in 2004. Both were later recovered.
Before May, the record price for an artwork sold at auction was held by Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, which sold for $106.5 million in 2010.
A new research suggests that middle age starts much later than previously thought – at the age of 55.
And Britons do not see themselves as elderly until they are nudging 70, the survey of 1,000 UK adults aged 50-plus for the Love to Learn online learning website says.
Previous studies have pinpointed the start of middle age as early as 36.
The research suggests that as the population ages, new cut-off points are being drawn.
According to official national data, there are now more adults over 65 than there are under-16s.
A new research suggests that middle age starts much later than previously thought, at the age of 55
Although seven out of 10 early 50-somethings quizzed for the survey defined themselves as middle-aged, the average age at which the period of life was perceived to start was 54 years and 347 days old.
However, a sizeable minority, nearly one in five, thought middle age did not begin until after the age of 60.
But almost one in five (19%) said that being middle age is a state of mind, rather than something that begins at a certain age.
The research also asked the panel at what age they thought middle age ends. The average came in at 69 years and 277 days.
This suggests middle age itself now spans 14 years and goes well beyond the government’s planned state pension age of 66.
Recent research from charity Age UK, looking at how Europeans categorize themselves, found the average age at which old age is perceived to start is 62. But there was less consensus on when youth ended, ranging from 34 in Sweden to 52 in Greece, with an average of 40.
However, the Love to Learn research also found that adults in their 50s were upbeat about the benefits of their age group.
Gill Jackson, director of new online course provider Love to Learn, said: “More than half said they have more confidence and experience than younger people and are less afraid of making mistakes.”
John Craven, who is supporting the website’s launch, said the concept of ageing had changed: “Only a generation ago, many people were pretty old at 60.
“These days most of us in our middle and later years are much younger in our attitudes and it’s all about having an active state of mind.”
But some older people still appear to be haunted about by obstacles from their past, such as failing the 11-plus school entrance exams.
Decades after the event, nearly half of those who did not pass the grammar school entry test said it brought back negative emotions. And one in five said it had put them off learning permanently.
More than 130 prisoners are on the run in Mexico after a mass breakout from Coahuila jail close to the US border.
The inmates escaped through a tunnel dug out from the prison’s carpentry workshop to a perimeter fence.
The prison director and two other employees are being held over the incident at the facility in Coahuila, the state’s attorney general said.
A massive manhunt is under way, and the US authorities are on alert in case any escapees attempt to cross the border.
Some 132 men managed to escape from the prison in the city of Piedras Negras, which borders Eagle Pass in Texas to the north.
More than 130 prisoners are on the run in Mexico after a mass breakout from Coahuila jail close to the US border
One by one, the inmates fled through a tunnel measuring 2.9 m (9.5 ft) deep and 7 m long, attorney general Homero Ramos said in a statement broadcast on local TV.
The state government has offered rewards of 200,000 pesos ($15,600) for information leading to the arrest of each prisoner.
This is not the first time such a mass breakout has taken place in Coahuila, but it is by far one of the biggest in recent years.
Such events only go to underline further to the incoming government of President Enrique Pena Nieto the dire state of the prison system in Mexico.
Enrique Pena Nieto is to take office on 1 December. However, prison reform is not expected to be one of the main priorities of his government.
A secretly filmed video has emerged showing Mitt Romney disparaging Barack Obama voters at a private donor dinner.
The Republican nominee is shown saying the 47% of Americans who back the president do not pay income tax and would never vote for Mitt Romney.
“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Mitt Romney says.
In a late-night appearance, Mitt Romney said his remarks were not “elegantly stated”, but did not retract them.
“This is the same message I give to people in public,” he said in response to the video, released by liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones.
Earlier, his campaign said Mitt Romney “wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy”.
“As the [former Massachusetts] governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work,” spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in a statement.
A secretly filmed video has emerged showing Mitt Romney disparaging Barack Obama voters at a private donor dinner
The Obama campaign was quick to pounce.
“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
This may prove to be a significant setback for Mitt Romney, who has been relentlessly characterized by his political opponents as privileged and out of touch.
Also on Monday, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled a significant reworking of its strategy less than two months before election day.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more on his specific policy proposals in the coming days and weeks.
Until now his message to voters has largely consisted of repeated attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic record.
The video provided to Mother Jones is said to have been filmed at a private fund-raiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
Its picture is blurred out with the exception of Mitt Romney’s face, and no attendees are visible.
The income tax segment is one of several clips posted online, in which Mitt Romney expands at some length on his approach to the forthcoming election, and how his campaign will take on President Barack Obama.
“There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” Mitt Romney is seen saying, referring to the percentage of Americans who have no income tax liability.
“There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Mitt Romney is later seen saying that his campaign has not been as harsh on Barack Obama as possible, because the president remains likeable and because of a desire to win the support of his otherwise disenchanted former supporters.
“Because they voted for him, they don’t want to be told that they were wrong, that he’s a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he’s corrupt,” he says, referring to independent voters who chose Barack Obama in 2008.
“Those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing, but he just wasn’t up to the task.”
Mitt Romney also told the fundraising dinner he believes that if he won, there would be an immediate market-driven boost to the economy.
The videos bookended a difficult 24 hours for the Romney campaign. On Sunday, a lengthy Politico story detailed apparent divisions and indecision within the campaign.
That was followed by a public revising of campaign strategy on Monday morning.
“We are not rolling out new policy,” campaign adviser Ed Gillespie said.
“So much as we are making sure people understand that when we say we can do these things, here’s how we are going to get them done and these are the specifics.”
In that vein, the campaign released an online ad on Monday that discusses his economic plan. Advisers say the campaign will now speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
A series of opinion polls at the end of last week showed Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama both nationally and in several swing states.
The two men square off in the election on 6 November, but early voting begins soon in several states.
Who pays US income tax?
The US federal government runs off two kinds of taxes: payroll taxes, which fund benefits such as Social Security, and income taxes, which largely fund the rest of the federal budget.
In 2011, the Tax Policy Center studied the tax liability of US households:
• 53.6% paid income taxes, 46.4% did not
• 28.3% paid payroll taxes but not income taxes
• 10.3% were elderly and retired and were not taxed on Social Security benefits
• 6.9% did not pay any tax with household incomes of less than $20,000
The majority of those who pay payroll but not income tax do so because of tax benefits for the elderly, families with children and low-income earners.
Mariah Carey and her husband of four years Nick Cannon offered a candid glimpse into their home life with their fraternal twins, as they posted a series of snaps on the youngsters’ official website.
In the intimate pictures spanning six months, Moroccan and Monroe are seen flaunting their designer duds on a balcony, splashing in the posh pool, and getting snuggles from their doting parents.
In one amusing shot, little ‘Roc is seen covering his face while clad in Ralph Lauren, and little ‘Roe struts along in her diva shades and cute red dress featuring butterflies – her famous mother’s favorite insect.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon offered a candid glimpse into their home life with their fraternal twins Moroccan and Monroe
Mariah Carey, 42, whose net worth was estimated at more than $500 million last year, spares no expense when it comes to spoiling her adorable toddlers.
At their lavish black-tie birthday party earlier this year, the tots were gifted a toy Ferrari, rocking horse, and miniature white piano while celebrating at the Plaza Athenee in Paris.
Mariah Carey also reportedly spent millions of dollars creating a luxurious nursery for her little ones, including Chelsea Sleigh cribs, Clara changing table, 24-carat gold and onyx sofa, diamond-encrusted iPods, and a flatscreen TV that comes down from the ceiling.
Mariah Carey and her 31-year-old presenter husband were inspired to name their son Moroccan after Nick Cannon proposed to her in a Moroccan-style room.
His twin sister Monroe was named in honor of the iconic singer, Marilyn Monroe.
Mariah Carey, who’s the third best-selling female artist in the United States, recently began work on the twelfth season of the Fox singing competition series, which will pay her $18 million to judge aspiring talent.
The singer with the five-octave vocal range was rumored to be already feuding with fellow judge Nicki Minaj, who is being paid $12 million as a judge.
TMZ reported that the so-called catfight erupted when the 29-year-old hip-hop starlet began to critique a contestant and Mariah Carey kept interrupting her.
Russell Wasendorf Sr., founder of futures broker Peregrine Financial Group, has pleaded guilty to a fraud involving 24,000 customers in the state of Iowa.
The embezzlement, totaling over $100 million, began some 20 years ago.
Russell Wasendorf Sr., 64, was once regarded as a noble figure who supported a range of institutions from health care to universities.
He now faces at least 24 years in jail. Prosecutors said: “He has gone from being a hero… to a villain.”
In court, Russell Wasendorf pleaded guilty to charges including mail fraud, embezzling customer funds and making false statements to two regulatory agencies.
Russell Wasendorf Sr, founder of futures broker Peregrine Financial Group, has pleaded guilty to a fraud involving 24,000 customers
In July he attempted suicide, writing a note that was found on his person confessing to the fraud.
The company he built up over 30 years is being dismantled by receivers who will attempt to refund some of the money taken from the 24,000-strong customer base.
Assets recently sold include a corporate jet and a publishing company which produced Russell Wasendorf’s books and magazines giving investment advice.
The receiver is also hoping to raise money from various properties including a restaurant, company headquarters that could be worth $20 million and a 4,000-bottle wine collection.
Peregrine’s customers invested mainly in commodities, including corn and gold.
They have not been able to access their accounts since the firm filed for bankruptcy in July but are expected to gain back an initial 30-40% of their investment in the coming weeks.
The trial of ex-police chief Wang Lijun, who was at the heart of China’s biggest political scandal in years, has resumed, after it began in secret on Monday.
Wang Lijun is charged with defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking.
The trial was due to begin Tuesday but began earlier, unannounced, at a court in the southern city of Chengdu.
Wang Lijun’s flight to the US consulate in the city in February triggered events leading to the downfall of powerful politician Bo Xilai.
On the second day of the hearing, foreign journalists will not be given access to the public part of the trial.
The trial had been expected to start on Tuesday, but Wang Lijun’s lawyer Wang Yuncai, who is not related to her client, said the hearing had started at 08:30 local time on Monday.
The trial of ex-police chief Wang Lijun has resumed, after it began in secret on Monday
A brief report in state media said Wang Lijun is standing trial for ”bribe-taking and bending the law for selfish ends” on Tuesday.
”The Chengdu City Intermediate People’s Court held a closed-door trial Monday on Wang’s two other charges of defection and abuse of power,” the Xinhua news agency report said.
On Tuesday, security officials stood guard outside the court.
It is not clear how long Wang Lijun’s trial will last but that of Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, lasted a day.
According to the UK Foreign Office, Wang Lijun made allegations about Neil Heywood’s death while at the US consulate.
Shortly afterwards, Bo Xilai was sacked and Gu Kailai was accused and convicted of the murder of Neil Heywood and given a suspended death sentence.
Chinese media has been quiet on the trial and searches for Wang Lijun’s name and related terms have mostly been blocked on China’s Twitter-like weibo microblogs.
However, netizens have been using pseudonyms such as “head nurse” – a term that puns on ”deputy mayor” in Chinese – to make comments. Wang Lijun was the deputy mayor of Chongqing.
A microblog user in Guangzhou said: “Good luck, head nurse.”
“There should be a public holiday today, and the head nurse’s trial should be broadcast live on TV so people can have a chance to learn what is the rule of law,” said a microblog user in southern Zhuhai city.
The trial is taking place ahead of a key party leadership congress in China, expected in the coming weeks.
Earlier Chinese state media reports said the evidence against Wang Lijun was “concrete and abundant”.
The indictment against him said he knew that Gu Kailai was a murder suspect, but “consciously neglected his duty and bent the law for personal gain”, Xinhua news agency reported.
Wangn Lijun’s flight to the US consulate had proved an embarrassment for China and threw up issues involving diplomacy and state secrets, analysts say.
But most analysts expect him to be given a suspended death sentence, similar to the one meted out to Gu Kailai, reports say.
At a separate trial on 10 August, four senior police officers from Chongqing admitted to charges of covering up evidence linking Gu to the murder. A court official said they had been given terms of between five and 11 years in prison, AFP reported.
Bo Xilai, Wang Lijun’s former boss in Chongqing, had been tipped for promotion to the top leadership ranks at the party congress before his downfall.
He has not been seen in public since the scandal erupted. He is said to be under investigation by the party’s disciplinary officials.
Wang Lijun, 52, began his career in law enforcement in the Inner Mongolia Region in 1984 and moved to the southwestern city of Chongqing in 2008.
He had a reputation for being tough on organized crime and was once the subject of a TV drama called Iron-Blooded Police Spirits.
Rumer Willis looked striking in a satin lilac gown as she attended the Audi and Derek Lam Emmys Week party at Cecconi’s Italian restaurant held in Los Angeles last night.
Posing with a hand on her hip, Rumer Willis, 24, looked confident in the Oscars-worthy dress.
The neckline was exceptionally daring, slashed way below the cleavage and just above the navel.
Of course, the eldest daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis injected a little alternative fashion fun by keeping her nose ring in, wearing a gold body chain and painting her fingernails different colors.
Rumer Willis attended the Audi and Derek Lam Emmys Week party with new beau Jayson Blair making their romance official
Rumer Willis attended the event with new beau Jayson Blair, 28, making their romance official.
While the lovebirds have been spotted on several dates together and running errands around Hollywood, Sunday evening marked their debut red carpet appearance together.
Having already starred in Glee, 2 Broke Girls and The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Jayson Blair’s notoriety looks set to soar – not only because of dating Rumer Willis, but having been cast in NBC buzz show The New Normal.
And Rumer Willis is certainly not shy when it comes to supporting her new beau.
Affectionately referring to him as “my man”, Rumer Willis offered a little free PR via Twitter, writing: “Hey everybody check out the season finale of @DropDeadDiva tonight my man @Jayson_Blair is guest starring.”
She added: “Hey guys check out the premiere of my guy @Jayson_Blair new show @NBCTheNewNormal after The Voice.”
Despite her parents’ success, Rumer Willis has struggled to find silver screen stardom in the same light.
Instead, she secured work playing the role of Gia on 90210 back in 2009, and has since starred in one episode of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Workaholics.
Fresh protests are taking place around the Muslim world over amateur anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims, which was produced in the US.
At least one protester was killed in violent protests in Pakistan and thousands attended an angry rally in the Philippines city of Marawi.
Weapons were fired and police cars torched in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said the US faces “very dangerous” repercussions if it allows the full video to be released.
In a rare public appearance, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told a rally in the capital Beirut that the world did not understand the “breadth of the humiliation” caused by the “worst attack ever on Islam”.
Thousands of people were on the streets, waving flags and chanting: “America, hear us – don’t insult our Prophet”.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the influential leader of the Shia Muslim militant group, earlier called for a week of protests – not only against American embassies, but also to press Muslim governments to express their own anger to the US.
A trailer for the obscure, poorly made film at the centre of the row, entitled Innocence of Muslims, came to light in recent weeks and protests first erupted in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, last Tuesday.
More than a dozen people have died in protests since.
In Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the local press club was burnt down and government offices attacked in the Upper Dir district.
One protester was killed in an exchange of fire with police, following the death of another protester on Sunday.
A protest of thousands of students took place in the nearby city of Peshawar, reported AFP news agency.
In the biggest city, Karachi, police fired in the air to disperse a crowd heading for the US consulate, reported Reuters, and lawyers marched in Lahore.
At least one protester was killed in violent protests in Pakistan over anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the film was “wrong and offensive but also laughable as a piece of film-making – what is dangerous and wrong is the reaction to it”.
Tony Blair, who now serves as a Middle East peace envoy, said the protests were ultimately about the “struggle of modernization” under way in the region and not “some form of oppression by the West”.
The exact origins of the film are shrouded in mystery, although US authorities say they believe the film was made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted fraudster living in California who has since been questioned over his role.
A trailer of the film is available on YouTube and the company said it would not remove it as it was within its guidelines.
But a spokesperson said YouTube had restricted access to the clip in countries where its content is illegal “such as India and Indonesia as well as in Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries”.
The eruption of anger has seen attacks on US consulates, embassies and business interests across the Middle East and North Africa. British, Swiss, German and Dutch properties have also been targeted.
The US ambassador to Libya was among four Americans killed on the day protests first broke out.
Libyan Interior Minister Fawzi Abdul Al has dismissed a claim on Sunday by the president of the national congress that 50 people have been arrested in connection with the deaths.
He said only four people had been detained so far, although up to 50 could be under investigation.
• About 3,000 protesters burned US and Israeli flags in the southern Philippines city of Marawi
• In Yemen, hundreds of students in the capital, Sanaa, called for the expulsion of the US ambassador, said AFP
• In Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, hundreds of protesters faced off with police, throwing stones and petrol bombs, while police retaliated with tear gas
• More protests were reported in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir
• Hundreds of Palestinians staged a peaceful sit-in protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah
• Angry demonstrators in the Afghan capital, Kabul, fired guns, torched police cars and shouted anti-US slogans
• A small protest was held outside the US embassy in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, AP reported.
Ireland Baldwin, daughter of the 9 1/2 Weeks star Kim Basinger, shared a picture of herself with her near 20,000 followers, and she was wearing quite a small bikini.
Still in the tender adolescent phase, Ireland Baldwin, 16, showed no signs of shyness despite the revealing pose, but then she does have a model figure.
Ireland Baldwin looked in fantastic shape as she struck a pose in front of the mirror and snapped herself with her mobile phone.
The teenager striped down to a bikini to display her six pack as she hid her face behind a red baseball cap with the word “play” printed on it.
Ireland Baldwin captioned the photograph: “I stoleeeee your snapback HA #minenow #lamemirrorpic #bahaha.”
Ireland Baldwin shared picture of herself with her near 20,000 followers
While Ireland was busy having a good time with her camera phone, her father Alec Baldwin was seen visiting the St. Patrick’s Cathedral complex, on Sunday afternoon.
The New York venue is where Alec Baldwin married Hilaria Thomas earlier this year, and his daughter was one of the bridesmaids.
Alec Baldwin, 54, may not have the same washboard stomach that his daughter has but he is certainly in better shape than has been in a long time.
The 30 Rock star dropped 30 lbs after giving up sugar and starch when he was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.
Speaking to David Letterman Alec Baldwin said: “I’ve been trying to diet and I’ve lost so much weight that the problem is none of my clothes fit me.”
Scientists claim people who believe in luck and fate are more likely to be obese.
Researchers found that those who place their hands in fate were less likely to change their lives by their own actions, leading to conditions including obesity.
Their outlook meant they exercised less, ate less healthily and smoked and drank more than those who believed their life was in their own hands.
A team from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research looked at the diet and exercise habits of more than 7,000 people and compared the results to their personality types.
Scientists claim people who believe in luck and fate are more likely to be obese
Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark said those who had a greater faith in luck or fate were more likely to live an unhealthy life, adding: “Our research shows a direct link between the type of personality a person has and a healthy lifestyle.”
She suggested that the findings could have implications for the obesity epidemic, with psychology playing a more important role.
Prof. Deborah Cobb-Clark said: “The main policy response to the obesity epidemic has been the provision of better information, but information alone is insufficient to change people’s eating habits.
“Understanding the psychological underpinning of a person’s eating patterns and exercise habits is central to understanding obesity.”
The research also found that men and women hold different views on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
While men wanted physical results from their healthy choices, women were more receptive to the everyday enjoyment of leading a healthy lifestyle.
Prof. Deborah Cobb-Clark said this implied policies to cut obesity may need to be tailored according to gender, adding: “What works well for women may not work well for men.
“Gender-specific initiatives may be particularly helpful in promoting healthy lifestyles.”
Visitors using the restrooms on the 18th floor of exclusive hotel Standard in New York may get a fantastic view through floor-to-ceiling windows – but passersby can’t say the same.
Bathroom users at the Boom Boom Room club at the swanky Standard Hotel in Manhattan are entirely visible to people on the street thanks to the 10-foot windows lining the walls.
And it’s a discovery that has alarmed some unaware toilet-goers as there is no warning sign that their bare behinds will be seen – and sometimes photographed – by strangers below.
“The view outside is exciting, but the view inside is frightening,” visitor David Langdon, 55, from Melbourne, Australia told the New York Daily News.
“I saw people waving at me! Sitting on the royal throne, you don’t expect a public viewing.”
Bathroom users at the Boom Boom Room club at the swanky Standard Hotel in Manhattan are entirely visible to people on the street
His daughter Belinda Langdon, 24, believed the windows were reflective on the outside, making it impossible for people to see inside the hotel, which is known for its celebrity sightings.
“It’s pretty creepy,” she said.
“The people taking pictures are pervy. You just hope nobody recognizes you on the street.”
The windows are visible to tourists visiting the High Line park, a public area which is built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.
Rows of bathrooms line the walls of the building with users sitting close enough to the windows for passersby to see them sitting and relieving themselves.
There are no curtains or blinds on the windows for the more bashful customers wishing to avoid giving jaw-dropping views to the tourists below.
Among the toilet users are people visiting the club and a rooftop lounge at the hotel, which is favored by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz.
But some patrons said they do not care about their very public display, with one man even waving to people below as he used the toilet.
“Who cares? So people know you have to pee?” Florentina Ballesteros, 26, added to the Daily News.
“The view was wonderful both ways!”
Managers at the Standard refused to comment on the bathrooms. It is not the first time that the Standard has hit the headlines for its semi-clothed antics.
In 2009 people walking along the High Line Park were treated to free peep shows from guests – including couples having sex and porn films being recorded – in the rooms above.
One shopworker in the area said she saw “a naked girl jumping up and down on a trampoline right in front of the window”, while others were shocked to see men pleasuring themselves.
In 2008, the hotel won an award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York for best new building erected that year.
Can you make people like you with just a handshake?
Sabine Koch, from the University of Heidelberg, discovered you might be able to.
She trained a group of experimenters to shake people’s hands in one of two ways. Some of them learnt how to shake hands in a smooth flowing way, while others were shown how to produce more sharp up-and-down movements.
This team of handshakers then shook the hands of almost 50 participants. After each shake, Sabine Koch asked participants how they felt. Compared with those subjected to the spiky handshakes, those who had been subjected to the smooth handshake were happier, felt psychologically closer to the experimenter, and rated the experimenter as more likeable and open.
Compared with those subjected to the spiky handshakes, those who had been subjected to the smooth handshake were happier
The smooth handshake had made participants behave in a way that is associated with happiness and this had, in turn, made them both feel better and think more of the person they had just met.
To replicate one of Sabine Koch’s “smooth” handshakes, hold someone’s hand and move your hand up and down in a slow flowing motion. At first the movements will appear artificial; however, with practice they will feel more natural.
Focus on recreating the “smooth” hand movement. Once you are confident, use your Koch-shaking abilities to create a good impression.
The Kardashians are a close family, sharing everything with their television audience – and each other.
And last night’s grand finale of Keeping Up With The Kardashians was no different, with the birth of little Penelope Scotland witnessed by the entire clan.
Sisters Kim and Khloe, brother Rob Kardashian, younger half siblings Kendall and Kylie Jenner, mother Kris and long-term boyfriend Scott Disick were all inside the delivery room to see Kourtney Kardashian pulling the little girl out with her hands.
“Kourtney just loves to pull out her own children,” said Khloe after the birth.
“It’s such a magical feeling to say hello to my baby girl,” said Kourtney Kardashian, who remained calm throughout the delivery, although mother Kris Jenner was in tears.
The Kardashians were all inside the delivery room to see Kourtney pulling the little girl out with her hands
“Watching my daughter give birth, it reminds me, it doesn’t get better than this,” she told the cameras.
Luckily, Kourtney Kardashian’s two-and-a-half year old son Mason loved his new sibling, although seemed a little confused by her name.
“Her name is Penelope,” Kourtney Kardashian told Mason.
“No, her name is sister,” he replied.
Despite her calmness at the birth, Kourtney Kardashian was earlier a little tearful at the prospect of the birth.
“I’m feeling very emotional and anxious. Event though I’ve done all this before,” she said.
Earlier, the Kardashians celebrated the impending new arrival by holding Kourtney a swanky baby shower, complete with flamingos in the pool and pink candy floss.
Among the guests was Kim Kardashian’s beau Kanye West who looked slightly out of place among the hoards of women.
“It feels really good for Kanye to be here with my family,” said Kim Kardashian.
“Just to see how close of a family we are. I really feel like I’m in a great relationship but I’m not going to rush it.”
She was also thrilled that sister Khloe has given her approval to the relationship after having a famously tricky time with Kim Kardashian’s ex Kris Humphries.
“I’m happy that you guys are finally doing your thing. You understand each other’s lives,” Khloe Kardashian told Kanye West in a private moment at the shower, adding she thinks the match is one of “Kim’s healthiest relationships”.
Kanye West responded: “I think I’m very content. In every way.”
Natalie Portman may have bared all in her previous campaigns for Christian Dior, but she is covering up in her latest advert for the French fashion house.
Natalie Portman, 31, is the epitome of demure chic in the gorgeous shoot and is seen softly gazing at the camera while wearing a white knitted jumper.
In another shot, the actress is pictured looking especially casual in a simple dark grey top and artfully worn in jeans.
But it’s not all about dressing down for Natalie Portman, in a final stunning image she is seen sitting on a bed wearing a diaphanous pastel pink dress.
Natalie Portman may have bared all in her previous campaigns for Christian Dior, but she is covering up in her latest advert for the French fashion house
The shoot is a stark contrast to her most recent advert for the Diorskin Nude range, where the brunette beauty is pictured lying topless over a chaise lounge.
Natalie Portman also stripped off for her previous advert for Miss Dior Cherie perfume, where she soaks in a tub wearing nothing but her Dior sunglasses.
Directed by Sofia Coppola, the homage to Jean Luc Godard’s 1960s movies, also shows the actress undressing her onscreen lover and kissing him passionately on a bed.
Wearing a black strapless dress the star, smoulders for the camera and poses suggestively with a black bow-tie.
Natalie Portman might look totally at ease in front of the cameras but in a recent interview with InStyle, the actress confessed that she feels as if she never quite succeeds in putting on a perfect public appearance.
“My grandmother believes you don’t leave the house unless you have perfect hair and make-up, so she is always at me for not brushing my hair or not putting on enough make-up,” she said.
“I love Sofia Coppola’s whole aesthetic. She presents herself in a ladylike fashion and has so much personality,” the mother of one-year old boy Aleph added.
That said, Natalie Portman did admit that she never leaves the house without a lipstick: “I keep three lipsticks with me, always, one nude, everyday color, plus a red and a plum for dressing up.”
At the unlikely venue of the Foreign Commonwealth Office, Vivienne Westwood showed a remarkably restrained collection of very Mad Men frocks: all cards, pointy boobies and tiny waists.
No-one cuts a dress quite like she does: the draping flatters the body, adding inches to the bust, covering a tummy.
There was none of her usual fondness for bleak tartans, but summery colors and pretty prints on tea dresses and pyjama pants. Loved the print headscarves, was less keen on the gold cowboy boots.
At the end of the show, Vivienne Westwood unfurled the banner seen at the Paralympics ceremony, calling for a climate revolution
There was craziness, of course there was: the models’ faces were painted green or pink, while grey was streaked in their hair.
At the end of the show, Vivienne Westwood unfurled the banner we saw at the Paralympics ceremony, calling for a “climate revolution”. Hard to square this desire with being a fashion designer, but ah well. The Stephen Jones hats, a riot of flowers, were glorious.
Oil prices rose for the eighth session in a row, with Brent crude trading near a four-month high, boosted by the Federal Reserve’s move last week to stimulate the US economy.
The central bank said on Thursday that it would inject $40 billion a month into the economy.
Brent crude for November delivery was up 26 cents at $116.92 a barrel, while US crude was up 1 cent to $99.01.
There are fears that high oil prices could hamper economic recovery.
The Fed’s announcement that it would start a third round of bond-buying, known as quantitative easing, has been dubbed QE3.
Oil prices rose for the eighth session in a row, with Brent crude trading near a four-month high
“The big question is how long this Fed-inspired rally will continue, as QE3 was the last bazooka to be used in the central bank’s arsenal,” IG markets said in a report.
“For the time being, [the oil price] has given a powerful shot in the arm for global markets.”
But Victor Shum, managing director of consultancy IHS Purvin & Gertz, said the current price “doesn’t do any favors” for a global economy that is struggling to get back on track.
“A price rally like we are seeing now is only going to do more damage,” he said.
But he added that he did not expect this level of trading to last.
“Fundamentals at the moment are not indicative of these prices, and I don’t see oil being able to sustain this rally.”
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic has suspended some of its operations in China after anti-Japan protesters attacked two of its factories.
Panasonic said its factory in Qingdao will remain shut until 18 September.
According to media reports, Canon has also suspended operations at three of its Chinese factories.
The attacks are a part of wider protests that have spread across China and hurt other firms, including Toyota.
They started after Japan said it had agreed a deal to buy a chain of disputed islands in East China Sea from their private Japanese owner.
Panasonic has suspended some of its operations in China after anti-Japan protesters attacked two of its factories
China has maintained its sovereignty over the islands which are also claimed by Taiwan.
A spokesperson for Panasonic said the firm would continue to monitor the situation over the next two days.
The disputed islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, are uninhabited but resource-rich.
They have been a contentious issue between the two countries, and were the focus of a major diplomatic row between them in 2010.
The dispute flared up again over the weekend after Tokyo said it had agreed to purchase them, leading to thousands of protesters taking to the streets in various parts of China.
The demonstrations saw protesters burning Japanese flags and targeting Japanese-made cars.
There have been reports of a Toyota dealership in China being damaged during the demonstrations.
On Monday, the Bloomberg news agency reported that Canon had also suspended operations in three of its factories in China until 18 September.
Analysts said the dispute had started to affect Japanese firms operating in China.
“We are definitely seeing that Japanese companies are being directly affected by the protests,” said Shaun Rein of China Market Research Group.
The attacks on some Japanese businesses have raised fears about the impact of the protests on Japanese investment in China.
Analysts said that China, which was known for being a low-cost manufacturing base, has seen a steady rise in labor costs in recent times, negating a big advantage it had on other countries in the region.
They said that the protests could result in some Japanese firms starting to look beyond China for further expansion.
“They might want to consider expanding manufacturing operations in Thailand or in other nations that are more welcoming towards Japanese investment,” said Shaun Rein.
He warned that such moves might have an impact on China’s economic growth and also on the overall trade ties between Asia’s two biggest economies.
“The trade relations are going to be damaged by the continuing protests, for sure.”
Japan-China disputed islands
• The archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs
• Japan, China and Taiwan claim them; they are controlled by Japan and form part of Okinawa prefecture
• The Japanese government signed a deal in September 2012 to purchase three islands from Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara, who used to rent them out to the Japanese state
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah, has called for fresh protests in Lebanon on Monday over film Innocence of Muslims.
The world needed to know Muslims “would not be silent in the face of this insult”, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said.
Protests at many US diplomatic missions have been continuing over the film, which was made in the US.
One person was reportedly killed in clashes between protesters and police in Pakistan on Sunday.
In a speech broadcast on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV station, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah called for demonstrations on several days over the coming week.
The first is scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon in a southern suburb of Beirut which is a Hezbollah stronghold.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah, has called for fresh protests in Lebanon on Monday over film Innocence of Muslims
Sheikh Nasrallah branded the video the most dangerous insult to Islam ever, worse, he said, than Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses and the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which were published in a Danish newspaper in 2005.
He said he had waited for the Pope to complete his three-day official visit to Lebanon before speaking out on the matter.
“Those who should be held accountable, punished, prosecuted and boycotted are those directly responsible for this film and those who stand behind them and those who support and protect them, primarily the United States of America,” Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said.
He said that Arab and Islamic governments should press for an enforceable international law banning insults to Islam and other religions.
There have been protests over the film in Lebanon in recent days, but most have been reported from the northern city of Tripoli, which has a Sunni Muslim majority.
The obscure, poorly made film at the centre of the row, entitled Innocence of Muslims, depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a power-hungry and foolish man, and includes scenes of him having sex with his wife Khadija and other women.
The exact origins of the film are shrouded in mystery, although US authorities say they believe the film was made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted fraudster living in California.
On Monday, more than 1,000 people were reported to be taking part in a demonstration against the film in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Some protesters were armed and have opened fire, but there were no reports of casualties, a senior security official said.
Two police vehicles have been set on fire on the Jalalabad road, home to NATO and US military bases.
Sunday’s clashes in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, occurred when protesters attempted to break through a barricade to the US consulate.
Police used tear gas and fired warning shots into the air in response to stone-throwing protesters.
A spokesman for the group that organized the rally told the Associated Press news agency that a protester had been killed in the clashes. Several other people were injured.
The US embassy in Islamabad announced on its Twitter feed that “all American personnel are safe and accounted for” at the consulate and thanked Pakistani police for their efforts in protecting it.
In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, a few hundred people held a vocal demonstration outside the US embassy.
Protesters directed invective not just towards the controversial video, but also at US military involvement in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Crowds also gathered outside the US consulate in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.
Anti-Islamic Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whose party lost many of its seats in last week’s elections, has posted a link to the video on his website and encouraged his followers to do the same.
Also on Sunday, the president of Libya’s interim assembly said some 50 people had been arrested in connection with last week’s deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.
Mohamed Magarief told CBS News he had “no doubt” the attack was pre-planned, and that some of those who took part were from outside Libya.
US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other US consulate staff were killed in the attack.
However, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told ABC America’s “current best assessment” was that “this began as a spontaneous, not a pre-meditated, response” to earlier protests over the film in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The violence in Benghazi was followed by a string of attacks on US consulates, embassies and business interests across the Middle East and north Africa. British, Swiss, German and Dutch properties have also been targeted.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has called for fresh attacks against Western embassies, describing the recent unrest as “a great event”, and urging protesters to unite to “expel the embassies of America from the lands of the Muslims”.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced he will seek a court order to end a strike by thousands of teachers, as their walkout goes into a second week.
The strike, affecting 350,000 students, began when talks broke down over issues including pay and teacher evaluation.
The teachers’ union had reached an outline deal on ending their action but delegates unexpectedly voted to continue discussions for two more days.
Rahm Emanuel said the strike was “illegal” and “wrong for our children”.
He said he had sought a court injunction to bring the walkout to an immediate halt because it was over “non-strikable” issues and “endangers the health and safety of our children”.
The Chicago mayor – President Barack Obama’s former White House chief of staff – issued his statement after Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) delegates voted against suspending the strike.
Chicago teachers strike began when talks broke down over issues including pay and teacher evaluation
The confrontation is seen as an embarrassment to Barack Obama, in his home city and in the middle of a re-election battle.
The strike is the first of its kind in the US for 25 years and is awkward for a president with close ties to the mayor.
The teachers walked out after lengthy contract talks stalled over reforms aimed at revitalizing city services. The negotiations hit deadlock over a proposed teacher evaluation process.
The CTU fears more than one in four public school teachers could lose their jobs and benefits if an evaluation of their performance based on students’ test scores goes ahead.
In a statement posted on the CTU website, 800 union delegates considered a 23-page outline deal between the union and the mayor.
Union leader Karen Lewis said “a clear majority” had voted not to suspend the strike to allow delegates two more days to hold discussions with the union’s 26,000 members. Another meeting is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
She had earlier said she would ask the delegates to suspend the walkout.
“Teachers and school staff will return to the picket lines of the schools at which they teach at 07:30 on Monday,” the CTU statement said.
Rahm Emanuel faced a $700 million school budget shortfall when he took office last year and he has said the contract agreed with the union will cost $295 million over four years.
Under the proposed deal published by the union:
• the evaluation system would be phased in over several years while the weighting of students’ test results in teacher-evaluations would be reduced
• teachers’ health care benefits would stay at current levels
• teachers would receive a 3% raise this year followed by 2% in the following two years
• a further increase would be included if the agreement went into a fourth year
Russian Soyuz capsule has returned to Earth with its three-man crew after they spent 123 days at the International Space Station.
Two Russians, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, and their American colleague Joe Acaba made the safe return in Kazakhstan on Monday morning.
Another crew of three who took off in May remain on the International Space Station.
Russian Soyuz capsule has returned to Earth with its three-man crew after they spent 123 days at the International Space Station
Next month, another three are due to take off from Kazakhstan to join them.
The capsule landed at 08:53 local time and all three crew members “are safe and adjusting to gravity,” according to the Twitter feed of the US space programme NASA.
Toddlers & Tiaras star Honey Boo Boo, a second grader from McIntyre Georgia, is in high demand after her TLC reality show drew more viewers than vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s speech at the Republican National Convention.
Yesterday the seven-year-old pageant queen learned the heavy price that comes with fame as she busily signed head shots at a local amusement arcade before rushing off to a TLC press junket.
In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Alana Thompson said that filming the show was fun because she got to do things she doesn’t always get to do, like going to a water park.
And sure enough, the Here Comes Honey Boo star managed to squeeze in a little bit of me time at the local amusement arcade The Fun Zone in Milledgeville.
Honey Boo Boo signs autographs at the amusement arcade in Milledgeville
After a quick game of PacMan, followed by what looked like a quick telling off from mother June Shannon, the canny kid and her bagful of tokens headed straight to the Skee Ball machine.
The bowling game, known by arcade aficionados to pay out the most tickets, delivered, and Alana Thompson, known for her outrageous catchphrases “a dolla makes me holla!” and “you better redneckognize!”, could not contain her delight.
But there was little time to cash in her tickets, as the mother and daughter were spotted not much later leaving home with wet hair and Honey Boo Boo changed into a pink t-shirt with the words “We Dream” with a pair of denim shorts and sparkly high heeled shoes.
Critics have accused the Thompson family of everything from child exploitation to glamorizing redneck stereotypes.
But June Shannon has said: “Life is all about experiences and this is one of the experiences on the journey of life, and if it continues, fine, and if it doesn’t, then we move on to be the same people we were before the show even started.”
The season finale of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo airs Wednesday, September 26 on TLC.
Fantasy series Game Of Thrones has dominated the Creative Emmy Awards, which recognize arts, craft and technical work on television shows.
The HBO programme picked up six prizes including best visual effects and best costumes – the latter of which went to British designer Michele Clapton.
BBC nature show Frozen Planet took home four awards, led by the trophy for outstanding non-fiction series.
And actress Kathy Bates won a prize for her impersonation of Charlie Sheen.
The Oscar-winner was a guest star on sitcom Two And A Half Men, from which Charlie Sheen was fired in 2011, playing the ghost of his character, Charlie Harper.
Game Of Thrones has dominated the Creative Emmy Awards
Kathy Bates, who revealed last week she had had a double mastectomy, was not able to collect her award in person, but proved a popular winner with the audience in Los Angeles.
She was one of a handful of guest actors honored at the technical awards, which precede next week’s Primetime Emmys.
Chat show host Jimmy Fallon won the prize for best guest actor in a comedy series, in recognition of his appearance on long-running sketch show Saturday Night Live.
Actress Martha Plimpton was named best guest actress in a drama for her recurring role in legal drama The Good Wife. She plays Patti Nyholm, a conniving lawyer who has used her pregnancy and, in recent episodes, her baby to win sympathy from judges and juries.
In what was described as a “major upset” by The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Davies won best guest actor in a drama, for his role in crime drama Justified.
Jeremy Davies, who beat the likes of Jason Ritter, Michael J Fox, and Mark Margolis, seemed as surprised by his victory as the press were.
“Is this is actually happening and is it officially too late for a recount?” he asked reporters backstage.
British series Downton Abbey, which returns for its third series in the UK tonight, scooped two awards – for hairstyling and original dramatic score.
As temperatures outside the Nokia Theater reached 36 Celsius (97 Farenheit), Glasgow-born Downton composer John Lunn joked: “How do you live in this heat? The ovens in Scotland don’t get this hot!”
Political thriller Homeland won its first ever Emmy award, for outstanding casting in a drama series, perhaps an indicator that acting prizes will be in store for Claire Danes and Damian Lewis at next week’s Primetime ceremony.
Director Martin Scorsese also received one of the coveted statuettes, which depict a winged woman holding an atom, for his documentary on former Beatle, George Harrison.
George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, told reporters the guitarist had been planning his own documentary before his death in 2001.
“After the Beatles Anthology came out, he started filming and was filming for several years to do his own story,” she said.
“I think he would be very happy with the award and the reception.”
The biggest upset of the night was for critics’ darling Mad Men. The 1960s advertising drama, an Emmy favorite, failed to win any of the awards it was shortlisted for.
It is still in the running for the top award at the Primetime Emmys, which will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on 23 September.
Europe has almost exhausted its stock of old-style internet addresses.
Strict rationing of these addresses – called IPv4 – has been started by the body that hands them out in Europe.
From now on, companies can only make one more application for IPv4 addresses and, if successful, will only get 1,024 of them.
In addition, any application for more old addresses must demonstrate how an organization is using the new, replacement, addressing scheme.
“The day has come, finally,” said Axel Pawlik, managing director of the Ripe NCC that hands out addresses to European ISPs, firms and other organizations.
Europe has almost exhausted its stock of old-style internet addresses
Every device that goes online is allocated a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address.
The internet grew up using an addressing scheme called IP Version 4 (IPv4). In the 1970s when the web was being built the 4.3 billion IP addresses allowed by IPv4 were thought to be enough.
However, the rapid growth of the internet and popularity of the web have swiftly exhausted this pool.
The growth of the net is linked to the size of the pool because everything that connects to the net needs an IP address to send and receive data.
Plans are afoot to move to a new scheme, known as IP Version 6 (IPv6), that has an effectively inexhaustible supply of addresses.
On 14 September Ripe NCC got down to its last 16 million IPv4 addresses. While this might sound a lot, said Axel Pawlik, the use of this last substantial block would be so heavily restricted that the supply could be considered to be at an end.
“Applicants will only get about 1,000 addresses and that’s it and they only get them once and that’s the end of it,” said Axel Pawlik,
To even get that small number of IPv4 addresses, he said, applicants must already have an allocation of IPv6 addresses and demonstrate how they planned to use them.
Immediately prior to reaching the last big block Ripe was handing out just under four million IPv4 addresses every 10 days.
Anyone planning expansion based around the net should already be committed to using IPv6, said Axel Pawlik.
Other techniques based around technical tricks that share IPv4 addresses among many different devices would prove increasingly unworkable, he said.
“They are complicated, potentially unstable and expensive,” he said.
“The other route they could go is to v6 as it’s in most of the net equipment now.”
