Melanie Griffith celebrated her 55th birthday only last month, but it seems she is not planning on growing old gracefully.
However, with legs likes hers – who could blame her for daring to bare.
Melanie Griffith put her never-ending pins in display in a tiny pair of black shorts earlier this week as she beat the heat in West Hollywood.
The Body Double star, who was running errands, was snapped getting out of her Bentley, greeting photographers with a broad smile.
Melanie Griffith celebrated her 55th birthday last month
Melanie Griffith teamed her look with a striped vest top, exposing a hint of her pink bra, and wore comfortable flat shoes for her outing.
She entered rehab in 2008 after admitting she struggled with a pill addiction.
Since then she has seen to be dedicated to turning her life around and regularly attending yoga classes has played a big part in this.
Melanie Griffith may not be working out just to keep herself energized, though – it’s also doing wonders for figure.
She might have usurped her own mother, Tippi Hedren, to become Queen of Hollywood a few decades ago but she might be about to get a taste of her own medicine.
Dakota, who is Melanie Griffith’s daughter from her short-lived first marriage to Don Johnson, has become hot property in Hollywood, having already starred in films including The Social Network and 21 Jump Street.
The Oscar nominated star is currently on her third marriage but has been struggling to keep up appearances in recent months.
After rumors that her marriage with her Spanish film star husband, Antonio Banderas, was on the rocks, Melanie Griffith tried to quash them the only way she knew how; by pleading with US gossip supremo Perez Hilton on Twitter.
Lena Dunham, Portia de Rossi and Zosia Mamet should think about hiring a new stylist after their abysmal efforts on the red carpet at the 64th Emmy Awards.
Girls creator Lena Dunham, 26, tried her hand at femininity to soften her tomboy pixie cut, but ended up in a lace Prada dress that made her look frumpy – and a lot larger than she actually is.
Unfazed by her fashion faux pas, and her failure to win one of the four categories she was nominated for on Sunday, Lena Dunham chirpily tweeted her way throughout the evening from the Nokia Theatre in LA.
Praising the leading man of the night, Lena Dunham wrote: “Didn’t @jimmykimmel crush it tonight? The perfect old fashioned host swagger, generous yet saucy. A pleasure to behold!”
Lena Dunham ended up in a lace Prada dress that made her look frumpy and a lot larger than she actually is
Similarly, Zosia Mamet didn’t manage to execute a feminine flair on her Bihbu Mahopatra creation.
Zosia Mamet, 24, who plays Shoshanna Shapiro in Dunham’s HBO show Girls, swept her hair from her face in a gelled down side-parting, while looking a little uncomfortable in monochrome gown.
Zosia Mamet didn't manage to execute a feminine flair on her Bihbu Mahopatra creation
And while Portia de Rossi usually excels with her all-American girl look, she opted for something more masculine, posing with wife Ellen DeGeneres in an unusual Maison Valentino jumpsuit.
Portia de Rossi’s look divided fans on Twitter, with many complimenting the lace all-in-one and others ridiculing it.
One user of the social networking site wrote: “My god. WTF convinced Portia de Rossi that an old tea towel was appropriate garb for the #Emmys,” while another described her as “lovely in lace”.
Portia de Rossi opted for something more masculine, posing with wife Ellen DeGeneres in an unusual Maison Valentino jumpsuit
Game of Thrones star Lena Headey chose a bewitching Giorgio Armani dress – and Penny Preville jewels – which had criss-cross spaghetti straps and a sheer bodice to show off her back tattoos.
The gown was complete with theatrical sweeping arms that reached the red carpet, and were something akin to Addams Family martriarch Morticia.
But where Lena Headey failed to inject any color, Julianne Moore stepped in – bravely wearing all yellow.
Credit where it’s due, Julianne Moore, 51, easily defied her half century, but the color block Dior Couture gown was somewhat tent-like as it covered her from her neck to her toes.
Ashley Judd turned a pink dream into a nightmare, with her Carolina Herrera custom raspberry silk gown and giant beehive up-do.
The Missing actress saw the funny side of her extravagant hairstyle, tweeting: “My hair is so grand I am sitting on the floor of the car on our way to the #Emmys!”
And despite her dubious candyfloss creation, Ashley Judd certainly knows how to embrace her curves and had the right idea when it came to accessorizing.
She added: “Most important accessory other than our umbrella on 102 F red carpet? Tigers Milk bar. Snacks are crucial! #Emmys.”
Children should be banned from jumping on trampolines because they are too dangerous, health officials say.
Citing nearly 100,000 injuries in 2009 alone, the American Academy of Pediatrics has also dismissed the recent addition of safety nets around trampolines.
The Academy claims the nets do not make much difference in terms of safety, but instead lull parents into a false sense of security.
“Pediatricians need to actively discourage recreational trampoline use,” Dr. Michele LaBotz, lead author of the new AAP statement and a sports medicine physician at Intermed Sports Medicine in Portland, Oregon, told NBC News.
“This is not a toy. It’s a piece of equipment. We recommend that you not provide it for your family or your neighbors to use. But if you do use one, you need to be aware of the risks.”
Children should be banned from jumping on trampolines because they are too dangerous
Dr. Michele LaBotz added: “I think parents see the soft springy mat and they think it’s safe, like water.
“What they don’t realize is that once you get it to bouncing, especially if there are multiple users, it can be dangerous.
“Bigger kids and adults like to rocket propel up the little kids, getting them to bounce higher than they would otherwise and if the kid comes down wrong, it is the same as falling nine or 10 feet onto a hard surface.”
Data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) revealed the 75% of trampoline injuries happen when there is more than one person jumping on one.
And it’s the younger, smaller children at greater risk of significant injuries, including fractures of the legs and worse, the spine.
NEISS reported that 37 to 39% of all its recorded injuries were caused by falls from a trampoline.
Dr. Michele LaBotz also highlighted one study that found one in 200 trampoline injuries cause some kind of permanent neurological damage.
In her experience parents often continue to let their children use a trampoline ever after they have been injured because of it.
“There are a number of families, even those with kids who have had significant injuries, who decide they still want the trampoline as part of what they offer to their children,” Dr. Michele LaBotz said.
Dr. Barbara A. Gaines, director of trauma and injury prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told the news station that parents often think an injury caused by a trampoline is “one of those freak things”.
“But these are not just accident,” she adds.
“There is a pattern to them and there’s something we can do to prevent them. It’s not that we don’t want kids to have fun. But injury shouldn’t be an expected part of childhood.”
Modern Family star Sofia Vergara suffered a wardrobe malfunction just 20 minutes before her hit TV show won Emmy Award for Outstanding Commedy .
Sofia Vergara, 40, shared pictures of her fashion mishap on her Twitter page, showing the busted back zip of her Zuhair Murad teal cut-out gown.
The picture showed Sofia Vergara’s pert derriere fully visible as the rear of the dress failed to contain her Latin curves.
Sofia Vergara tweeted the shot along with the caption: “Yes!!!! This happend 20 min before we won!!!! Jajajajja. I luv my life!!!!”
Sofia Vergara shared pictures of her fashion mishap on her Twitter page
The actress later thanked her wardrobe team for helping fix the malfunction before she headed onto the stage to collect the Outstanding Comedy for Modern Family for the third consecutive year.
Sofia Vergara wrote: “20 min Modern Family won!! Dress malfuncion !!! Thank you emergency team!!”
She had earlier looked stunning as she posed on the red carpet in the aquamarine sequinned outfit, which hugged her figure and highlighted her tiny waist.
The stunning actress teamed the outfit, which featured a cut-out back panel, with silver jewellery and left her brown hair loose in waves around her shoulders.
And following Modern Family’s victories at the ceremony – it also took home Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actor for Eric Stonestreet,
Julie Bowen for Supporting Actress in a Comedy and Outstanding Comedy Director award for Steven Levitan – Sofia Vergara marked the show’s success at the FOX Broadcasting Company, Twentieth Century FOX Television and FX 2012 Post Emmy party at Soleto Trattoria in LA.
The actress also ensured she kept her fans updated with her movements at the party, regularly tweeting pictures from inside the event.
Sofia Vergara, who lost out on the Supporting Actress award to co-star Julie Bowen, certainly appeared to be letting her hair down at the event, even indulging in a spot of crowd surfing as the free-flowing alcohol took hold.
She tweeted a picture of herself crowd surfing with the caption: “This is how the Colombians partyyy at the Emmys!!”
Sofia Vergara had earlier written: “I party like a mermaid!” alongside a picture of herself cuddling up to fiancé Nick Loeb.
The actress even invited 19 family members to enjoy the festivities alongside her at the afterparty.
Sofia Vergara told Extra TV: “I brought a lot of people from my family. They wanted to come here with me. There are 19 people, and they love coming here with me, so we have a great time.”
Presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye, the daughter of South Korea’s former leader Park Chung-hee, has apologized for human rights violations committed during her father’s rule.
Park Geun-hye is the ruling party candidate for presidential elections in December.
Park Chung-hee seized power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled until he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979.
He boosted the economy but was accused of ruthlessly crushing dissent, delaying democratic development.
Park Geun-hye is the ruling party candidate for the South Korean presidential elections in December
Park Geun-hye, 60, secured the ruling party nomination for the polls last month, marking the first time a woman has been chosen as a presidential candidate by one of South Korea’s main political parties.
But she has been battling her father’s legacy since the very beginning of her presidential campaign.
Park Chung-hee is credited with kick-starting South Korea’s economic success, but many younger and liberal voters see his human rights record as a blot on the country’s history.
Addressing a news conference, Park Geun-hye said her father had prioritized economic growth and national security issues.
“Behind the stellar growth were sacrifices by workers who suffered under a repressive labor environment,” she said.
“Behind the efforts for national security to protect [ourselves] from North Korea were human rights abuses committed by state power.”
Offering sincere apologies, she said: “I believe that it is an unchanging value of democracy that ends cannot justify the means in politics.”
Park Geun-hye remains ahead in opinion polls for the 19 December election.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller End of Watch and Jennifer Lawrence’s horror film House at the End of the Street have tied for top spot at the US box office.
According to early estimates, both films took $13 million each.
They were closely followed by third-placed film, Trouble with the Curve, starring Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams.
But it was another sluggish weekend overall, with revenues – $88 million – down 25% on the same time last year.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller End of Watch has tied for top spot at the US box office
“This was a clash of the non-Titans,” said Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box office tracker Hollywood.com.
“When three films are duking it out for the top spot with only around $13 million, that doesn’t represent a very strong period at the box office.”
British film Dredd had a disappointing opening, going in at number six with $6.3 million.
Perks, Emma Watson’s first film since Harry Potter, took $244,000 but only opened in four cinemas.
The 3D re-release of Finding Nemo was at number four, taking $9.4 million.
Resident Evil: Retribution slipped from the top spot to number five, with $6.7 million.
Other top ten films included The Master and ParaNorman.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been fined $19,170 and given a one-year suspended sentence for breaching the public’s trust.
Ehud Olmert was found guilty in July of illegally granting favors to a businessman while he was a minister.
He was cleared of corruption charges which forced him to resign in 2009.
Ehud Olmert is now eligible to run for parliament, though he remains barred from serving in the cabinet while he faces another corruption trial.
Officials in Jerusalem are alleged to have taken bribes during his term as the city’s mayor, between 1993 and 2003, and under his successor, to speed up a controversial residential development, known as Holyland.
Ehud Olmert was found guilty in July of illegally granting favors to a businessman while he was a minister
Ehud Olmert has denied any involvement in the multi-million dollar scandal.
In July the court in Jerusalem found that, while trade and industry minister, Ehud Olmert had made decisions that benefited companies that were represented by a close personal friend and former business partner, Uri Messer.
Ehud Olmert said he respected the court’s decision and that he would “learn the necessary lessons”, but insisted that the matter amounted to procedural irregularity rather than corruption.
Nevertheless, he said he would not appeal against the conviction.
At a hearing earlier this month, Ehud Olmert asked the judge for leniency in sentencing, saying “the worst accusations” had been made against him and that he had been subjected to a “media campaign of unprecedented size and intensity, in Israel and abroad”.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of six months of community service, as well as a fine and probation, citing the degree of Ehud Olmert’s closeness to Uri Messer, his high position and the fact that there was more than one instance of conflict of interest.
After hearing the sentence, Ehud Olmert hugged his lawyer, Navot Tel Zur, and told reporters: “I leave court today with my head held up high.”
But Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel said he was considering appealing and insisted: “This affair is not over.”
Iran has restricted access to Google’s search engine and to its email service, Gmail.
A firewall already prevents Iranians from accessing many Western sites.
The latest move coincides with protests throughout the Muslim world – including some in Tehran – against an anti-Islamic film posted on Google’s video-sharing site YouTube.
A government deputy minister announced the upcoming ban on Sunday on state television.
“Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide, and will remain filtered until further notice,” said an adviser to Iran’s public prosecutor’s office Abdul Samad Khoramabadi.
Iran has restricted access to Google’s search engine and to its email service, Gmail
The announcement was also sent out as a text message on mobile phones.
The unsecured version of the search engine, which is much easier to eavesdrop on, remains accessible.
“Google search website is accessible, but is not functioning properly. Google services which need a secure SSL [Secure Sockets Layer] connection are out of reach in Iran,” said one user.
“Any attempt to get access to those services leads the user to a never-ending waiting phase, where nothing comes up.”
Users can only access Gmail accounts by using virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow web surfing behind heavily encrypted firewalls.
Many Iranians already use VPNs to bypass the government’s restrictions on other blocked Western websites, said Mahmood Tajali Mehr, an Iranian telecommunications consultant living in Germany.
“This is just a move by the Iranian government towards a so-called nationwide intranet, to control all the traffic from the outside, and authorities are saying they will implement it in about three years.
“But every school child knows how to bypass restrictions by using VPNs, it’s very common in Iran.”
It is not the first time Iranian authorities have cut access to Google services.
Both Google Search and Gmail were restricted in February, ahead of parliamentary elections in March.
Mahmood Tajali Mehr said that he did not think the services were going to stay restricted for long.
“This is just a propaganda tool to demonstrate that Iran is doing something against the US, but it is unlikely to last longer than a few days.
“The current trouble with the anti-Islamic film is helping the government with this propaganda.
“The state is saying that the people are asking to block these services because of the film, but there haven’t been such protests as in Pakistan and elsewhere, only small organized protests, so my personal feeling is that it has nothing to do with the film.
“Especially keeping in mind that YouTube has been blocked for some time already.”
Google’s YouTube site has been censored since mid-2009, following protests and allegations of vote fraud after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The websites of several Western media organizations are also blocked in the country, and a number of other web services, including Facebook and Twitter, are often censored.
In March, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered officials to set up a body tasked with defining policy and co-ordinating decisions regarding the internet, called the Supreme Council of Virtual Space.
Senior EU officials are warning that it is proving harder than ever to reach an agreement on the European Union’s next multi-annual budget.
Ministers are meeting on Monday for further talks and EU leaders will hold a special summit in November to try to strike a budget deal.
The European Commission has proposed an overall budget of 1,033 billion euros ($1,337 billion) for 2014-2020.
Senior EU officials are warning that it is proving harder than ever to reach an agreement on the European Union's next multi-annual budget
Every six years or so, the EU has a big political fight about the size and structure of its next multi-annual budget.
At a time of economic crisis, that looming row is once again upon us.
The Commission points out that the budget it has proposed represents only about 1% of Europe’s income, and many countries are supportive.
They want to protect spending programmes from which they benefit, such as the Common Agricultural Policy or Regional Funding for poorer areas of the European Union.
But a number of influential countries argue that increased spending is not tenable and they want a real freeze in the size of the budget.
A jab that allows damaged hearts to heal themselves and could be given by paramedics in the back of ambulances is being developed at a British university.
Scientists at Imperial College London hope that giving heart attack victims an injection of stem cells will trick the organ into repairing itself, saving lives and greatly cutting the odds of further ill health.
Crucially, and unlike other techniques being tested on patients in the UK, the cells they plan to use are from a person’s own heart, an innovation they believe increases the odds of the treatment being a success.
They are close to applying for permission to test the jab on patients.
If trials on heart attack survivors are successful, the injection could eventually be given by paramedics just minutes after a heart attack and before patients even reach hospital.
A jab that allows damaged hearts to heal themselves and could be given by paramedics in the back of ambulances is being developed at Imperial College London
The jab is one of several treatments being researched by the British Heart Foundation as part of its multi-million-pound Mending Broken Hearts project to improve the care of heart attack patients.
The aim is to cut the odds of heart failure, in which the heart, weakened by one, or a series of heart attacks, struggles to pump blood around the body.
In the most severe cases, the lungs ‘drown’ in fluid.
Treatments range from drugs to transplants but with 40% of those affected dying within a year of diagnosis, heart failure has a worse survival rate than many cancers.
Doctors and scientists around the world are trying to use stem cells – “blank” cells able to turn into various types of tissue – to shore up ailing hearts.
But most have focused on cells taken from bone marrow and improvements have been slight.
The Imperial team believes that stem cells from the heart will be much more successful.
These cells are extremely rare, with just 300 per million normal heart cells, meaning the lack the power needed to repair the damage wrought by a heart attack.
But the scientists have found a way of extracting them from a patient’s own heart, and growing them in huge numbers the laboratory, before injecting them back into the hear
Once there, they patch up the ailing tissue, with tests on mice showing stem cells taken from the animals’ hearts trigger the growth of new tissue and blood vessels.
The human version of the jab has also been tested on pigs and the researchers are one to two years away from applying for permission to test the treatment on patients.
With it taking three to four months to grow enough cells for each jab, the first patients will be treated several months after a heart attack.
But in time, it may be possible to create a one-size-fits-all jab, allowing almost immediate treatment, said researcher Professor Michael Schneider.
Esther Rantzen, who is backing the Mending Broken Hearts appeal and whose late husband, the documentary maker, Desmond Wilcox battled heart disease for years, said: “If hearts learn to heal themselves, then people who are bed-bound, who are imprisoned in their own homes, who can’t walk upstairs, who can’t involve themselves in any physical activity could be restored to health and their family life greatly improved.”
Prof. Michael Schneider is also trying to find ways of stopping cells from dying during a heart attack.
Other work being funded by the BHF includes research into a pill that could be given in advance to those at high risk of heart attacks and patches of cells that could patch up the heart.
Professor Peter Weissberg, the charity’s medical director, said that despite advances in cardiac medicine, a good treatment for severe heart failure has remained elusive.
“Although we have been able to prevent heart attacks and treat people with heart attacks when they occur, we haven’t been able to stop the damage that occurs when a heart attack takes place.
“The reason we are making such a noise about it now is that science has progressed to a point where it looks biologically feasible that we might be able to create new heart cells to repair the heart.
“Ten years ago, that would have been science function.”
German Roman Catholics are to be denied the right to Holy Communion or religious burial if they stop paying a special church tax.
A German bishops’ decree which has just come into force says anyone failing to pay the tax – an extra 8% of their income tax bill – will no longer be considered a Catholic.
The bishops have been alarmed by the number of Catholics leaving the Church.
They say such a step should be seen as a serious act against the community.
German Roman Catholics are to be denied the right to Holy Communion or religious burial if they stop paying a special church tax
All Germans who are officially registered as Catholics, Protestants or Jews pay a religious tax of 8-9% on their annual income tax bill. The levy was introduced in the 19th Century in compensation for the nationalization of religious property.
“If your tax bill is for 10,000 euros, then 800 euros will go on top of that and your total tax combined will be 10,800 euros,” said Munich tax accountant Thomas Zitzelsberger.
Catholics make up around 30% of Germany’s population but the number of congregants leaving the church swelled to 181,000 in 2010, with the increase blamed on revelations of sexual abuse by German priests.
Alarmed by their declining congregations, the bishops were also pushed into action by a case involving a retired professor of church law, Hartmut Zapp, who announced in 2007 that he would no longer pay the tax but intended to remain within the Catholic faith.
The Freiburg University academic said he wanted to continue praying and receiving Holy Communion and a lengthy legal case between Prof.Hartmut Zapp and the church will reach the Leipzig Federal Administrative Court on Wednesday.
“This decree makes clear that one cannot partly leave the Church,” Germany’s bishops’ conference said last week, in a decision endorsed by the Vatican.
Unless they pay the religious tax, Catholics will no longer be allowed receive sacraments, except before death, or work in the church and its schools or hospitals.
Without a “sign of repentance before death, a religious burial can be refused,” the decree states. Opting out of the tax would also bar people from acting as godparents to Catholic children.
“This decree at this moment of time is really the wrong signal by the German bishops who know that the Catholic church is in a deep crisis,” said Christian Weisner from the grassroots Catholic campaign group We are Church.
But a priest from Mannheim in south-western Germany, Father Lukas Glocker, said the tax was used to do essential good works.
“With kindergarten, with homes for elderly or unemployed, we’ve got really good things so I know we need the tax to help the German country to do good things.”
While the decree severely limits active participation in the German Catholic Church, it does hold out some hope for anyone considering a return to the fold.
Until now, any German Catholic who stopped payment faced eventual excommunication. Although the measures laid out in the decree are similar to excommunication from the church, German observers say the word is carefully avoided in the decree.
Six Somali civilians have been shot dead by a Kenyan soldier advancing towards the al-Shabab stronghold of Kismayo, the Kenyan army has confirmed.
The soldier has been detained pending an investigation, it said, noting the incident followed a militant attack.
Somali army spokesman Adan Mohamed Hirsi earlier said: “It was a deliberate killing.”
Meanwhile, the Hizbul Islam group has announced that it is leaving the al-Shabab militant organization.
It is a significant setback for al-Shabab, following recent military defeats.
Kenyan troops intervened in Somalia a year ago after a spate of cross-border attacks blamed on the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab.
The shooting happened about 50 km (30 miles) from Kismayo, the largest city still in militant hands.
Six Somali civilians have been shot dead by a Kenyan soldier advancing towards the al-Shabab stronghold of Kismayo
Adan Mohamed Hirsi condemned the killings and asked the Somali government to take action.
“This incident is very hurtful,” he said, adding that a group of young men were shot outside a shop in the village of Janay Abdalla.
They were reportedly queuing to buy sugar.
As well as those killed, two civilians were seriously wounded, Adan Mohamed Hirsi said.
Kenyan military spokesman Col. Cyrus Oguna said the incident happened shortly after al-Shabab militants attacked Kenyan soldiers who were escorting people to collect water from a well in the village, killing five civilians and one soldier.
“Later on in the day, several people approached KDF [Kenya Defence Forces] defensive positions, where a KDF soldier allegedly opened fire killing six people,” he said in a statement.
“The soldier was disarmed and has since been put on guarded seclusion,” he said, adding that appropriate action would be taken after the investigation.
Col. Cyrus Oguna said the Kenyan operations in Somalia should not be judged by this “unfortunate incident” and that the “utmost care and concern for civilian safety” were taken.
Kenyan forces have in the past been accused of causing civilian deaths in Kismayo while shelling al-Shabab targets inside the city from ships operating off the coast.
Some 10,000 people have fled Kismayo in the past week, the United Nations refugee agency estimates.
Al-Shabab has been forced out of the capital, Mogadishu, and several other towns over the past year but still controls much of the countryside in south and central Somalia.
However, it still stages frequent attacks.
On Saturday, gunmen shot dead a member of Somalia’s new parliament in Mogadishu.
Mustafa Haji Maalim was gunned down after leaving a mosque in the southern Waberi district following evening prayers, witnesses said.
The dead lawmaker was the father-in-law of former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and is the first parliamentarian to be targeted since a new 275-member assembly was selected in August.
No-one has so far claimed the attack, though al-Shabab has previously vowed to kill government officials.
On Thursday, a double suicide attack in Mogadishu targeting a restaurant recently opened by Somalis from the diaspora killed 18 people.
Hizbul Islam spokesman Mohamed Moalim said his group still wanted the African Union mission to leave Somalia but welcomed the new president and parliament as a “positive development”.
He said the split was due to long-standing ideological differences, such as his group’s opposition to the use of foreign jihadis.
The two forces merged in 2010, following bitter clashes.
Since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has seen clan-based warlords, Islamist militants and its neighbors all battling for control.
The Vietnamese authorities have jailed three bloggers accused of spreading anti-government propaganda, in a case criticized by human rights groups.
The high-profile but brief trial took place in Ho Chi Minh City under heavy security, reports say.
The trio was given jail sentences of between four and 12 years.
The government, which does not allow freedom of expression, has been under pressure from bloggers over corruption cases and human rights issues.
The three were accused of posting political articles on a banned website called Free Journalists’ Club, as well as articles critical of the government on their own blogs.
Vietnam has jailed three bloggers accused of spreading anti-government propaganda
Nguyen Van Hai, who uses the pen name Dieu Cay, received the longest sentence of 12 years.
The case of Dieu Cay, who was a soldier before he became a dissident writer, was raised by US President Barack Obama earlier this year.
Former policewoman Ta Phong Tan, who also wrote a blog called ”Justice and Truth”, was sent to jail for a decade. In July, her mother died after setting herself on fire in apparent protest against the detention of her daughter.
The third dissident writer, Phan Thanh Hai, was jailed for four years.
In a statement, the US embassy in Hanoi called on the Vietnamese government to free the group.
“We are deeply concerned by reports that the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court convicted and sentenced blogger Dieu Cay to 12 years in prison for peacefully expressing his political views,” the statement said.
Activists have accused the government of stepping up a crackdown against bloggers and peaceful activists.
“Vietnam’s arbitrary use of vaguely worded national security laws to imprison critics of the government means bloggers are bearing the brunt of this assault on freedom of expression,” Brad Adams, Asia director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement urging the release of the trio.
Earlier this month, Vietnam’s prime minister hit out at three blogs critical of the government.
A statement on a government website said PM Nguyen Tan Dung had ordered police to investigate and take action against those responsible.
Wang Lijun, the ex-police chief at the heart of China’s biggest political scandal in years, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Wang Lijun was jailed for ”bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribetaking”, Xinhua said.
His flight in February to a US consulate led to the downfall of his ex-boss, top politician Bo Xilai.
Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted in August of killing British businessman Neil Heywood. Wang Lijun was accused of helping in a cover-up.
Wang Lijun – the former chief of police in the city of Chongqing, where Bo Xilai was Communist Party leader – had faced up to 20 years in jail, but prosecutors called his co-operation “meritorious service”.
The ”combined term” of 15 years in prison included nine years for bribery, seven for bending the law, two for defection and two for abuse of power, state television reported.
Wang Lijun has been sentenced to 15 years in jail
”We decided to sentence him to 15 years altogether on all the four charges and deprive [him of] his political rights for one year,” court spokesman Yang Yuquan told reporters.
”Wang Lijun said he wouldn’t appeal after hearing the verdict,” Yang Yuquan said.
The verdict was ”in accordance with the law”, he added, saying three of Wang Lijun’s relatives were at the hearing.
Wang’s lawyer, Wang Yuncai, also told the Associated Press that the sentence was ”considered normal” under Chinese law.
The verdict comes as China prepares to select new leaders in coming weeks.
It is due to hold a party congress that will see major changes in the top echelons of leadership, although specific dates have not been announced.
Wang’s trial took place last week in Chengdu. A court official said after the two-day hearing that he had not contested the charges.
The indictment against Wang said he knew that Gu Kailai was a murder suspect.
Wang Lijun, however, ”bent the law” by appointing Guo Weiguo – the deputy chief of Chongqing’s Public Security Bureau and ”a close friend” of both Wang and Gu – to oversee the case , a Xinhua report said.
Wang Lijun hid a recording of Gu Kailai’s account of the killing from the police, the report added.
But conflict arose between Wang Lijun and Gu Kailai, after which Wang told investigators to ”re-collect, sort through and carefully keep the evidence” from the case, the report said.
During his term in Chongqing Wang had also committed other offences, including illegally releasing four suspects in return for property and money totaling more than 3 million yuan ($476,000), Xinhua said.
Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence for the crime. At a separate trial on 10 August, four senior police officers from Chongqing admitted covering up evidence linking her to the murder and were jailed for between five and 11 years.
Bo Xilai has not been seen in public since the scandal erupted and is said to be under investigation by the Communist party’s disciplinary officials. He has been removed from his official posts.
But it is not known whether the former party chief – who was tipped for promotion to the top ranks before his downfall – will face criminal charges himself.
At Wang Lijun’s trial last week, Bo Xilai was said to have reacted with anger when the police chief told him of his wife’s involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, “boxing the ears” of his former ally.
Bo Xilai’s populist brand of politics – an authoritarian crackdown on corruption coupled with the promotion of old communist values – is said to have made him enemies.
They may be pushing for a criminal trial that removes him from the political landscape for a very long time.
A new research claims the logos of companies like McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Burger King are “branded” on the youngsters’ brains.
MRI scans of children’s appetite and pleasure centres reveals they light up when they are shown advertising images of their favorite fast foods, according to scientists.
But when the logos were well-known brands but had nothing to do with food the same areas of the brain failed to respond.
They appear to have tapped into the “reward” areas of the brain which develop before youngsters learn self-control.
A new research claims the logos of companies like McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Burger King are “branded” on the youngsters' brains
Researcher at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Kansas Medical Center, divided 120 popular food and non-food brands, including McDonald’s and Rice Krispies, and BMW and FedEx, reported the Sunday Independent.
They used a magnetic resonance imaging scanner which monitored changes in the blood flow that increases when the brain becomes more active.
Analysis of the tests on children, aged 10 to 14, showed there was increased activity in parts of the brain in the “reward” centres and in driving and controlling appetite.
Study leader Dr. Amanda Bruce told the Independent: “Research has shown children are more likely to choose those foods with familiar logos.
“That is concerning because the majority of foods marketed to children are unhealthy.”
Last year, children aged six to 13, took part in research into the effect of exposure to TV ads for unhealthy food products.
The children were shown 10 advertisements for junk food and then asked to choose between three food options which were described as “high fat, high carbohydrate”, “high protein”, and “low energy”.
Options for high protein included items like roast chicken. The low energy ones included items like salad.
The children were then shown a series of ten advertisements for toys and presented with a similar questionnaire.
Results of the study suggest that children exposed to unhealthy food ads – as opposed to toy ads – are far more likely to show unhealthy eating preferences.
These effects were especially pronounced among study subjects who typically watched more than 21 hours of TV per week.
Libya’s interim leader Mohammed Magarief has vowed to disband all illegal militias in the aftermath of the US ambassador’s death this month.
All camps and militias not under the authority of the government would be dissolved and no unauthorized checkpoints allowed, he said.
Militias that emerged during the fight to topple Colonel Muammar Gaddafi last year remain a powerful force.
Residents of Benghazi evicted militants in response to the envoy’s death.
Libya’s interim leader Mohammed Magarief has vowed to disband all illegal militias in the aftermath of the US ambassador's death
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others Americans died during an attack on the city’s US consulate on 11 September, which coincided with protests over an anti-Islam video produced in the US.
Islamist militants have denied being behind the attack.
Libya has been awash with firearms as well as powerful regional brigades and local town militias since the uprising.
The government has relied on some brigades to help provide security, and many people will be watching closely to see how the authorities will go about achieving the mammoth task of gaining full military control over the country.
“[We want to] dissolve all militias and military camps which are not under the control of the state,” said Mohammed Magarief, the parliamentary speaker who acts as head of state until elections next year.
“We call on everyone to stop using violence and carrying weapons in the streets and squares and public places.”
One powerful militia in eastern Libya, the Abu Slim Brigade, has already announced it will disband and leave its bases in Derna, a town east of Benghazi.
Another militia, Ansar al-Sharia, which denies attacking the US consulate, is also reported to be leaving Derna.
Ansar al-Sharia was driven out of its headquarters in Benghazi over the weekend in unrest which left at least 11 people dead.
A ceremony to mark 40 years of ties with Japan has been canceled by China as the two countries’ row over an island chain continues.
A Chinese official said the ceremony, due to be held on Thursday, was being postponed “until an appropriate time”.
Asia’s two biggest economies have argued for decades over the Japanese-held islands, known as the Senkaku in Tokyo and the Diaoyu in Beijing.
The unpopulated East China Sea islands may be rich in natural resources.
Chinese indignation grew recently when nationalist politicians from Japan visited the chain to commemorate the Japanese dead of World War II, when the country occupied much of eastern China.
Thousands of people have attended angry protest rallies in Chinese cities.
Chinese indignation grew recently when nationalist politicians from Japan visited disputed islands to commemorate the Japanese dead of WWII
Japan’s coast guard reported 20 Chinese marine surveillance ships in the vicinity of the islands last week. They confirmed to Kyodo news agency on Sunday that the last such vessel had left.
The cancellation of Thursday’s ceremony was confirmed by the Japanese foreign ministry.
Amid the rising tension, China’s first aircraft carrier has been handed over to the navy of the People’s Liberation Army, state media report.
The handover ceremony for the 300 m (990 ft) ship, a former Soviet carrier called the Varyag, took place in the north-eastern port of Dalian after a lengthy refit by a Chinese shipbuilder.
Taiwan also claims the disputed islands, which Beijing maintains are historically part of China.
Sunday saw hundreds of slogan-chanting Taiwanese from right-wing parties and civil groups rally in Taipei.
They called for a boycott of Japanese goods and brandished anti-Japanese placards during the peaceful march.
They went as far as calling for co-operation with the mainland to solve the territorial dispute.
The Associated Press news agency reports that a group of Taiwanese fishermen say they will sail 60 boats to the islands on Monday to protect their fishing grounds.
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
• The islands were the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010
A recent study that scanned the buttocks of inactive people found muscle was shrinking and breaking down due to lack of exercise.
The research at Tel Aviv University also showed that fat cells thrive in the buttocks of those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, causing thick layers of fat to develop deep inside muscle tissue.
Here we explain why your backside is expanding – and the simple steps you can take to combat desk derriere:
A. WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?
Insufficient activity and a poor diet are the main causes of desk derriere but other factors also play a role.
“The hip flexor muscles, found at the front of the hip, become overactive and tight if an individual spends all day sitting,” explains Chris Jones, professional head of physiology at Nuffield Health in UK.
“In response, the three key muscles that give the buttocks their shape – the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus – become less responsive and generally underactive, leading to poor muscle tone.”
The gluteal muscles are necessary for stabilizing and controlling movement of the pelvis, legs and lower back.
“When the bottom and stomach muscles become weak and the hip flexor muscles become tight, Lower Crossed Syndrome can develop,” says Anne Elliott, lecturer at the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University.
“Symptoms include lower back, knee or ankle pain and in some cases limited movement.”
The flat width of an office bottom may also be attributed to the length of time spent sitting.
The Tel Aviv study showed that preadipocyte cells – the precursor to fat cells – that were exposed to sustained mechanical loading, such as being sat on, developed into fat cells and accumulated fat twice as quickly as normal fat cells.
“The results suggest that if you sit down for a long time, you are more likely to store fat in your bottom,” says Professor Amit Gefen, who oversaw the 2011 study.
“They also imply that the width of a bottom may be increased by sitting down.
“When our work was published, many experts contacted me to say that they had seen this phenomenon in obese patients.”
Of course, many overweight people simply have a tendency to store fat in specific places.
“Women especially are prone to store fat on the bottom,” says Chris Jones.
“This is due to an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which dictates where fat settles in the body. Females store more fat around the hips, while males tend to retain more around the waist.”
A recent study that scanned the buttocks of inactive people found muscle was shrinking and breaking down due to lack of exercise
B. LESS SUGAR, MORE WATER
“Unfortunately, you cannot spot-reduce fat,” says dietician Anna Raymond, who is spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association.
“Luckily, the fat on the buttocks isn’t as metabolically active as that on the stomach – fat that deposits around the waist releases enzymes that contribute to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
However, it is crucial to cut down on sugar, says nutritional therapist Dr. Elisabeth Philipps: “Simple carbohydrates lead to the secretion of insulin, which increases the body’s ability to store fat. They also sap energy, so you feel less like exercising.”
Drinking lots of water will also help with fluid retention.
“Those sitting at desks all day often forget to drink enough,” says Anna Raymond.
“Dehydration may cause you to reach for sugary snacks.”
Finally it is important to get enough of the right types of fat: “You can improve skin elasticity on your bottom with two portions of oily fish a week or an omega-3 supplement,” Anna Raymond adds.
C. CHECK IF YOU ARE AT RISK
It is possible to determine whether your gluteal muscles are functioning properly or if you are at risk of developing desk derriere with a simple exercise.
“Lie flat on your tummy and bend one knee to 90 degrees so that the sole of the foot is facing the ceiling,” says Chris Jones.
“Keeping the foot facing the ceiling, slowly lift the leg five inches off the ground by squeezing your buttock on that side and then hold it motionless in the air for 30 seconds.
“You should be able to hold the leg perfectly still, with any sensation of tension being limited to the buttock itself.
“If the lifted leg shakes a lot with the effort or you feel tension in your hamstrings or lower back, the gluteal muscles are not correctly switching on and engaging.”
D. RUBBING IT IN
To release the hip flexor muscles and reactivate the gluteal muscles, give yourself a sports massage.
“Take a tennis ball and slowly roll over the hip flexor muscles where you feel it to be tight,” recommends Chris Jones.
“If it feels tender, hold the ball and apply gentle pressure to the area for about a minute or until the tenderness has diminished.”
Do this between five and ten minutes a day, repeating five days a week until there is no tension.
E. BRUSHING UP
“Dry skin-brushing stimulates circulation and helps relieve water retention in the area,” says Dr. Elisabeth Philipps.
“Using a long-handled brush, always work towards the heart, concentrating on the backs of thighs and buttocks for two minutes every day before showering.”
F. GET EXERCISE IN YOUR SEAT
Exercise is crucial because it involves dynamic loading (carrying weight while moving) of the muscle cells, which inhibits fat accumulation and burns stored fat.
Cornel Chin, a personal trainer who has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio, suggests incorporating simple exercises into your daily routine.
“Climbing the stairs, but walking two steps at a time, really engages the gluteal muscles,” he says.
“Work out at your desk a couple of times a day too: do ten slow buttock squeezes followed by ten squeezes that you hold for two seconds, and then ten pulses (very quick squeezes).”
“Any exercise with explosive movement that abruptly clenches the muscles – basketball, netball, squash, tennis and even cricket – is excellent. This uses the entire muscle and therefore works the deeper fibres.”
PM David Cameron’s personal trainer, Matt Roberts, recommends the following three daily exercises:
Step Up
1. Stand straight in front of a bench or elevated surface.
2. Step up with one leg and follow with the other. Return to the starting position.
3. Repeat 12 times to see some benefit, and each set three times for optimal results.
Straight Leg, Donkey Kick
1. With your knees and forearms supporting the body go on all fours. Face the floor and ensure you maintain a straight back.
2. Straighten the right leg outwards and behind you whilst keeping the left leg in a bent position at 90 degrees.
3. Keeping the right leg straight, lift it up and toward the ceiling as far as is comfortably possible. Return to start position and repeat with your left leg.
Standing Abductor Raise
1. Holding on to a chair for balance, start with your feet a hip-width apart.
2. Without bending sideways at the waist, lift your leg out to the side – no higher than 45 degrees – using a slow and controlled movement. Hold for one second and return to starting position.
Grant Paul, a San Francisco hacker, says he has cracked the new iPhone 5, less than eight hours after its release to the public.
Grant Paul, who develops software for Apple’s iOS operating system, posted photos on his Twitter page of a “jailbroken” iPhone 5.
Apple ships its iPhones and other mobile devices with restrictions that only allow Apple-approved software to be installed.
However, hackers have worked to “jailbreak” all previous versions of the operating system by exploiting security flaws.
Grant Paul, who develops software for Apple's iOS operating system, posted photos on his Twitter page of a jailbroken iPhone 5
Instructions for stable “jailbreaks” are posted online, which allow normal users to free their phones of Apple’s restrictions.
Tech news site The Next Web reports that Grant Paul’s hack of the new phone is remarkably fast.
The iPhone 5 runs on Apple’s new iOS 6 operating system, which does not have the same security flaws as previous versions of the software.
Other hackers have also found cracks to jailbreak older devices running the new operating system.
The development doesn’t mean a hack is available for lay-users – though it does mean one will likely be online much sooner.
Apple fans lined up around the world to have the first chance at buying the iPhone 5 at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.
At 3:49 p.m. on Friday, Grant Paul tweeted a photo of an iPhone 5 screenshot that included Cydia, the app used to download non-Apple-approved software on jailbroken iPhones.
The implication of the photo was that Grant Paul had been able to download Cydia to his iPhone 5 only because he was successfully able to hack it.
He celebrated the remarkable achievement with an understated tweet: “Taller screens like Cydia too. :)”
As skeptics weighed in, Grant Paul posted a screenshot of the Cydia home page and then a photo of his phone with Cydia on it.
The tech community has largely accepted the pictures as proof that the iPhone 5 has successfully been cracked.
Swiss voters appear to have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum.
Hotels, restaurants and bars are currently allowed to have rooms for smokers but critics say this harms the health of those who work in them.
Restrictions introduced two years ago were watered down after lobbying from the catering trade and tobacco firms.
Swiss voters appear to have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum
With returns from nearly all 26 cantons counted, the full ban seemed to have been rejected convincingly.
Zurich newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung suggested voters had rejected the ban by nearly two-thirds.
In some cantons, more than 70% of voters rejected the ban, according to Geneva newspaper La Tribune de Geneve. Geneva itself bucked the trend by supporting the ban by 52% to 48%.
Geneva and seven other cantons have already imposed their own comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.
Jean-Charles Rielle, a doctor and member of the committee behind the proposal, told AFP news agency before the vote that they wanted to clear up the confusion.
“In the cantons where these laws [banning smoking rooms] are already in effect, we saw immediately… a 20% drop in hospitalization due to cardiovascular incidents, heart attacks and these kinds of problems,” he said.
However, Laurent Terlinchamp, president of Geneva’s association of cafe owners, restaurateurs and hoteliers, said the proposed measures were extreme.
“In Geneva, where the law came in two years ago, we were told that a new clientele would start to come back to establishments,” he said.
“But it’s not the case today because profits are down 10% to 30% depending on the type of business.”
La Tribune de Geneve suggests voters rejected a full ban because they did not want to force the smaller cantons into changing their local laws, and because of resentment at perceived state interference in people’s lives.
LAPD is investigating the apparent drowning of a crew member on the set of forthcoming Johnny Depp film The Lone Ranger, near Los Angeles.
The unnamed 48-year-old diver is thought to have suffered a heart attack while cleaning out a pool that was going to be used in the film.
He was pronounced dead on Friday according to the coroner’s spokesman.
The Lone Ranger, due to be released in July 2013, is a remake of the classic adventure with Johnny Depp as Native American spirit warrior Tonto and Armie Hammer in the title role
Walt Disney studios said: “Our hearts and thoughts are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this time.”
Spokesman Paul Roeder added in a statement: “Our full support is behind the investigation into the circumstances of this terrible event.”
Police revealed the man had been wearing scuba equipment to carry out maintenance on a deep pool on a ranch near Palmdale, in the desert north of Los Angeles, where the Western is being filmed.
It is thought he was preparing a tank for an underwater scene to be shot at a later date.
The Lone Ranger, due to be released in July 2013, is a remake of the classic adventure with Johnny Depp as Native American spirit warrior Tonto and Armie Hammer in the title role.
Siemens has denied allegations that it planted explosive devices inside nuclear equipment destined for Iran.
The German engineering company said it has “no business ties to the Iranian nuclear programme”.
An Iranian MP said the devices had been discovered before they could explode.
Iran is under UN sanctions and the MP did not say where the equipment had come from. Tehran is engaged in a standoff with Western countries which suspect it is building a nuclear bomb.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has rebuked Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran is only six or seven months from having “90%” of what it needs to make a nuclear bomb.
He has urged the US to draw a “red line” which, if crossed, would lead to military intervention.
Siemens has denied allegations that it planted explosive devices inside nuclear equipment destined for Iran
Iran has insisted that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes, and warned that it will retaliate if it comes under attack.
A senior commander with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that such a conflict would “turn into World War III”.
Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran’s al-Aram TV that “whether the Zionist regime [Israel] attacks with or without US knowledge, then we will definitely attack US bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan”.
On Sunday, Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of the presiding board of the Iranian parliament, accused the IAEA head Yukiya Amano of passing confidential information about Iran’s nuclear programme to Israel.
The charges against Siemens were made a day earlier by the head of the Iranian parliament’s security committee.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iranian authorities believed the equipment “was supposed to explode after being put to work, in order to dismantle all our systems”.
“But the wisdom of our experts thwarted the enemy conspiracy.”
Alaeddin Boroujerdi said the explosives were planted at a Siemens factory and the company had to take responsibility.
The Munich-based German firm denied the charge. It said its nuclear division has had no business links with Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
“Siemens rejects the allegations and stresses that we have no business ties to the Iranian nuclear program,” spokesman Alexander Machowetz said.
The Iranian accusation raises some intriguing questions:
• Has the Iranian MP simply got it wrong?
• Is Iran buying Siemens equipment through a third party?
• Is there something more underhand going on, with sabotaged equipment being sold with the secret approval of Western intelligence agencies?
In June 2010, a virus – nicknamed Stuxnet – was found to have infected computer systems at Iranian nuclear plants.
It, too, was connected to a Siemens product but the company denied all knowledge.
Unconfirmed reports linked the virus to a government agency, perhaps in the US or Israel.
The latest allegations deepen the mystery, says our Berlin correspondent.
The IAEA has been coming under increasing attack by Iranian officials.
In the latest allegations, Javad Jahangirzadeh was quoted by Iran’s English-language Press TV as saying: “[Yukiya] Amano’s repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials’ views about Iran’s nuclear activities indicates that Iran’s nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime and other enemies of the Islamic Republic.”
Yukiya Amano has made only one visit to Israel in his capacity as IAEA chief, according to Reuters news agency.
Days earlier, Iran’s nuclear chief alleged the IAEA may have been infiltrated by “terrorists and saboteurs”.
Fereydun Abbasi-Davani said explosions had cut power lines to a uranium enrichment facility last month shortly before a visit by IAEA inspectors.
International sanctions against Iran:
US
• Longstanding ban on all trade with Iran except for activities “intended to benefit the Iranian people”
• New sanctions against foreign firms dealing with Iran’s oil sector and central bank
EU
• Restrictions on trade in equipment which could be used for uranium enrichment
• Asset freeze on individuals and organizations linked with nuclear programme
• Export ban on natural gas technology
UN
• Ban on sales of heavy weaponry and nuclear technology to Iran
• Iranian arms exports blocked, and asset freeze for key individuals and firms
• Cargo inspections to detect and stop Iran’s acquisition of illicit materials
