Sophie Mirabella, an Australian MP, came under a barrage of criticism on social networks today after she just sat and stared blankly when a man collapsed beside her on live TV.
When Simon Sheikh slumped forward, banging his head on a desk with a loud thump, Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella sat back in her seat and stared at the unconscious man as crew members rushed to his aid.
Simon Sheikh, representing a community group, and Sophie Mirabella were part of a panel of experts on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network discussing the newly imposed carbon tax.
Sophie Mirabella came under a barrage of criticism after she just sat and stared blankly when Simon Sheikh collapsed beside her on live TV
Simon Sheikh had earlier shown difficulty joining in the discussion with other panelists appearing confused by his muddled answers.
Then, as the discussion continued, he suddenly slumped forward, banging his head – and Sophie Mirabella, and who was sitting immediately to his left jerked back in her seat away from him.
Moments earlier, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet had given a confused look in Simon Sheikh’s direction, commenting : “I’m not sure what Simon’s doing there. Is he OK? I think… he’ s not OK. Simon is not OK.”
Greg Combet and members of the show’s crew rushed to the slumped man’s assistance – as Sophie Mirabella recoiled.
Today, after it was learned that Simon Sheikh had fainted because he was recovering from a severe bout of the flu, it was Sophie Mirabella’s reaction which had social media fluttering with criticism.
“Oh and if I’m ever in need of first aid I really hope the first person on the scene isn’t Sophie Mirabella,” tweeted columnist Joe Hildebrand.
Even while the show was continuing viewers sent in messages that appeared on the bottom of the screen.
“Watching Simon Sheikh passing out is horrible. But worse is seeing Sophie Mirabella recoil in horror, rather than help,” wrote one viewer.
Another viewer commented: “Disgusted at Sophie Mirabella’s reaction. No thought of helping someone in need.”
A spokeswoman for Sophie Mirabella said later that the MP had been in shock, like others on the panel: “She was unaware it was a medical emergency at the time and has since contacted him to wish him a speedy recovery.”
A massive solar flare is expected on 4th of July, the day in which America celebrates its independence.
According to reports at 10:52 UT the sun’s active region AR1515 released a M5.6-class solar flare towards Earth, sending X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation in our direction.
Discovery revealed that the flare was almost strong enough to become an X-class flare, the most powerful variety of solar eruption.
The sun’s active region AR1515 released a M5.6-class solar flare towards Earth, sending X-ray and extreme ultraviolet radiation in our direction
While the solar flare is not harmful to humans on the ground it does wreak havoc on the upper atmosphere by sending ionization waves through the ionosphere, in some cases causing disruptions to global communications.
The solar flare according to Spaceweather.com was discovered by Rob Stemmes of the Polar Light Center in Lofoten, Norway. A powerful SID was witnessed over Europe only a short time after the flare erupted from the sun.
Solar flares have been around for as long as the sun and happen in cycles along the sun’s photosphere (solar surface).
Space.com reports that this first solar flare is just the start of what is expected to be a solar storm that reaches well into Fourth of July festivities.
With a wave of plasma expected to Earth by Independence Day it looks like there will be more in our skies than just fireworks and if we could actually see the solar flare show with our own eyes, well we would go blind but before that we would stare in amazement at mother nature’s own massive fireworks display.
Lolong, the one-ton crocodile caught in Bunawan, Philippines, has been named the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity.
The Associated Press reports that Lolong was caught by locals last September.
On Monday, the Guinness Book of World Records declared that the 20.24 feet, 1000 pound crocodile was the largest in captivity.
At the time of the crocodile’s capture, Mayor Edwin Cox Elorde said: “There were mixed feelings. We’re really proud because it proves the rich biodiversity of our place but at the same time, there are fears that Lolong may not be alone.”
Lolong, the one-ton crocodile caught in Bunawan, Philippines, has been named the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity
Edwin Cox Eldorde said that he saw a second giant crocodile during Lolong’s capture and he is worried that another man-eating crocodile may be in the surrounding waters.
On the bright side, however, the capture of Lolong has given the town a spike in tourism. A new ecotourism park has been established at the outskirts of Bunawan which has drawn thousands of tourists to see the giant crocodile.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje said that the new world record title could help the zoo bring in more people. It could also help to show people that it is important to protect the biodiversity near Bunawan.
There is no evidence that mermaids exist, The National Ocean Service, a US government scientific agency, has said.
The National Ocean Service made the unusual declaration in response to public inquiries following a TV show on the mythical creatures.
It is thought some viewers may have mistaken the programme for a documentary.
“No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found,” the service wrote in an online post.
The National Ocean Service posted an article last week on its educational website, Ocean Facts.
There is no evidence that mermaids exist, The National Ocean Service has said
Images and tales of mermaids – half-human, half-fish – appear in mythology and art from across the world and through history, from Homer’s Odyssey to the oral lore of the Australian aboriginals, the service wrote.
The article was written from publicly available sources because “we don’t have a mermaid science programme”, said National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanagh.
Carol Kavanagh said that at least two people had written to the agency asking about the creatures.
The inquiries followed May’s broadcast of Mermaids: The Body Found, on the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet network.
The programme was a work of fiction but its wink-and-nod format apparently led some viewers to believe it was a science education show, the Discovery Channel has acknowledged.
John Constable’s The Lock, owned by Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, is expected to become one of the most expensive British paintings ever when it is sold at Christie’s in London later.
The depiction of rural life in Suffolk is tipped to fetch up to £25 million ($40 million).
Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza said it was “very painful” to sell the 1824 masterpiece but had to because she had “no liquidity”.
The work has been housed in Madrid’s Bornemisza Museum, one of whose board members has resigned in protest.
Museum trustee Sir Norman Rosenthal criticized the Baroness, known as Tita, for putting one of its prize exhibits up for sale.
In his resignation letter, the former exhibitions director of London’s Royal Academy said the decision “represents a moral shame on the part of all those concerned, most especially on the part of Tita”.
If it fetches its expected price, The Lock will become one of the five most expensive Old Masters ever sold at auction.
The top price of £49.5 million ($79 million) was reached in 2002 by Sir Peter Paul Rubens’ painting The Massacre of the Innocents.
A former Miss Spain, the Baroness is the fifth wife and widow of Swiss industrialist Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza.
The Lock was part of the huge private art collection he left behind when he died in 2002.
John Constable's The Lock is expected to become one of the most expensive British paintings ever when it is sold at Christie's in London
While most of it was sold to Spain, 250 artworks are still in the Baroness’ private collection and have been lent to the country free of charge for the past 13 years.
Announcing the sale of the John Constable painting in May, the Baroness said she needed to sell because of the current economic crisis.
“It’s very painful for me, but there was no other way out,” she told the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“I need the money, I really need it. I have no liquidity.
“Keeping the collection here is costly to me and I get nothing in return.”
Francesca Von Habsburg, the Baroness’s stepdaughter and another museum board member, has also expressed disapproval over the sale.
“The baroness has shown absolutely no respect for my father and is simply putting her own financial needs above everything else,” she told The Mail on Sunday.
The top end of the art market has escaped many of the problems faced by the wider global economy, with new records consistently being set for individual artists.
Last month Joan Miro’s 1927 work Peinture (Etoile Bleue) sold for more than £23.5 million ($37.5 million), a record for the Spanish painter.
In May Edvard Munch’s The Scream became the most expensive art work ever sold at auction, selling for $119.9 million in New York.
Most expensive Old Master pictures sold at auction:
1. Sir Peter Paul Rubens – The Massacre of the Innocents (£49.5 million)
2. JMW Turner – Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino (£29.7 million)
3. Francesco Guardi – Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon (£26.7 million)
4. George Stubbs – Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey (£22.4 million)
5. JMW Turner – Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio (£20.5 million)
6. Jacobo Pontormo – Portrait of a Halbadier (£22.3 million)
7. Rembrandt – Portrait of a man with arms akimbo (£20.2 million)
8. Rembrandt – Portrait of a lady aged 62 (£19.8 million)
9. Canaletto – Venice, the Grand Canal (£18.6 million)
10. Raphael – Portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino (£18.5 million)
French police have carried out searches of the home and offices of former President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a campaign financing probe.
A law firm in which Nicolas Sarkozy owns shares was also searched, reports say.
The investigation is related to allegations that Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election campaign received illegal donations from France’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.
Nicolas Sarkozy has previously denied all wrongdoing.
Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funneled to Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign by Liliane Bettencourt's office
Nicolas Sarkozy is currently in Canada with his family, his lawyer Thierry Herzog told the AFP news agency.
In presidential elections in May, Nicolas Sarkozy lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, and lost his immunity from prosecution in June.
Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funneled to Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign by Liliane Bettencourt’s office.
Individual campaign contributions in France are limited to 4,600 euros ($5,800).
Actor Andy Griffith, whose portrayal of a small-town sheriff made The Andy Griffith Show was one of American television’s most enduring shows, has died aged 86.
Television station WITN quoted a longtime friend as saying that Andy Griffith died at his home on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.
The Dare County Sheriff’s dispatcher would say only that an ambulance was called to Andy Griffith’s residence but would not comment further.
Actor Andy Griffith has died aged 86
Andy Griffith created another memorable character, the folksy defense lawyer in Matlock in the 1980s and ’90s, but it was his portrayal of Sheriff Andy Taylor on the The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s that gave him a place in U.S. television history.
The show portrayed life in the friendly, slow-moving fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, which was widely believed to have been based on Andy Griffith’s own hometown, Mount Airy, North Carolina.
Always wonder why your diet and exercise regimens never seem to work?
Possibly you’re unwittingly undoing your best efforts.
Last week, the British Nutrition Foundation identified more than 100 different factors that influence our weight.
However, many of the tips they offered – such as eating smaller portions and not relying on ready-made foods that are high in calories and fat – are fairly obvious.
Here you can find more surprising habits that are sabotaging your weight- loss regimen:
Look again at your shopping trolley
1. Eating cereal for breakfast. A U.S. study found breakfast cereal sweetened with sugar left overweight participants hungry before lunchtime, and they consumed more calories a day than those given an egg for breakfast (the protein kept them full). Egg eaters also had significantly lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite.
2. Having milk in your tea. Last year, Indian scientists found tea contains high levels of compounds, theaflavins and thearubigins, that help to reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the gut, and can cut cholesterol. However, proteins found in cows’ milk neutralize this ability. Drink your tea black.
3. Eating white bread. Too many refined carbs, especially white bread and white rice, can lead to weight gain, particularly around the midriff, found researchers at Tufts University in Boston.
Two groups ate roughly the same number of calories each day, but those who ate mostly refined carbs added a half inch on their waist per year compared with those eating unrefined “whole” foods such as vegetables and wholegrain bread.
4. Not reading food labels. A study in the Journal of Consumer Affairs showed that people who habitually read food labels as well as taking exercise lose more weight than those who merely exercise. What’s more, those who only read food labels and are sedentary lose more than those who exercise but ignore the food labels.
5. Drinking too much fruit juice. Fruit juices and other sugary drinks have a stronger impact on weight than calories from solid food, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Cutting out just one sugary drink a day resulted in a weight loss of more than 1lb after six months.
6. Underseasoning your food. Adding a bit of ground cayenne pepper to your meal can help burn calories faster. What’s more, the pepper seems to curb hunger – especially for fatty, salty and sweet foods, found nutritionists at Purdue University in Indiana.
7. Avoiding yoghurt. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yoghurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who simply cut calories.
Yoghurt eaters also lost 81% more fat in the stomach area. It’s thought the calcium and protein in dairy products may help burn fat.
How friends ruin your plans
8. Overweight friends. If your friends gain weight, the chances are you will, too, according to a study from Harvard University.
“We find that having four obese friends doubled people’s chance of becoming obese, compared with people with no obese friends,” says Alison Hill, the study’s lead author.
Why? A recent Dutch study found that we tend to mimic each other’s behavior when we eat out, taking a bite at the same time.
9. Reading recipe books and magazines. Professor Kathleen Page, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, discovered looking at pictures of high-fat foods stimulates the brain’s appetite control centre, leading to an elevated desire for sweet and savory food.
10. Not chewing enough. The longer food remains in the mouth, the more chance the tongue has to send messages to the brain to release the necessary digestive juices. “Chewing and digesting solid food fills you up,” says dietitian Helen Bond.
11. Eating at work. Research shows we typically eat 30% more calories in company than when alone and that women at work are more likely to be influenced by the diet patterns of colleagues than men. In one study, female secretaries ate 5.6 times more chocolates if these were on a nearby desk of a colleague than if they had to walk two metres to get them.
12. Eating off the wrong-colored plate. A study from the Journal of Consumer Research found when food is on a plate that matches its color, it tends to blend into the plate, leading people to eat more. When the same amount of food is served on a plate that contrasts the meal, such as red spaghetti on a green plate, the portion appears larger and is more psychologically satisfying.
13. Not getting enough sleep. A study published in the journal Sleep last month suggested too little encourages the genes that cause weight gain. Longer (nine hours) suppresses the action of these “obesity” genes.
14. Dieting by yourself. A study in the journal Obesity earlier this year found that team-mates in a weight-loss competition significantly influenced each other’s weight loss. “We know that obesity can be socially contagious, but now we know that social networks play a significant role in weight loss as well,” said lead author Tricia Leahey, of the Miriam Hospital in the U.S.
A study in the Lancet journal earlier this year found that people who joined a diet class such as Weight Watchers lost more than twice as much weight as those who received weight-loss advice from a doctor or nurse.
British Nutrition Foundation identified more than 100 different factors that influence our weight
15. Saying “I can’t” when you’re offered food. Research suggests if you say this when asked if you’d like a slice of cake, you’re less likely to stick to your diet than if you say, “I don’t . . .”
Dr. Vanessa Patrick, of the University of Buffalo, who led the study, says: “Saying <<I can’t>> to temptation inherently signals deprivation and loss. Using the <<I don’t>> strategy shows a sense of determination and empowerment.”
16. Avoiding the mirror. Eating near a mirror can have a powerful effect on how many calories you consume. “One U.S. study showed that eating in front of mirrors slashed the amount people ate by nearly one-third,” says exercise psychologist Dearbhla McCullough, of Roehampton University. “The theory is, having to look yourself in the eye as you eat reminds you of why you’re trying to lose weight.”
17. Being a loner. The more social interaction you have, the more weight you could lose. At least that was what researchers at Ohio State University found when they studied laboratory mice.
Mice forced to socialize led to vast increases in the amount of calorie-burning brown fat compared with ordinary white fat. The researchers put this down to the fact that the mice were more inclined to be active in the groups than alone.
18. Eating dinner off your lap in front of the TV. A study at the University of Birmingham in Alabama found people who were distracted while eating a meal consumed more high-fat snack food afterwards and didn’t even remember what they had eaten.
19. Being stressed. Stress encourages the body to lay on weight around your middle. This is because it triggers the release of a hormone called cortisol. Over time, raised cortisol levels cause belly fat to accumulate and also makes individual fat cells enlarge.
20. Buying too great a variety of foods. Fewer food choices and instilling culinary boredom could be the key to successful weight loss. Researchers reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when women were offered the same food over and over again, they tended to eat less overall.
21. You’re recently divorced – or just married. Divorce and getting married are kinds of “marital transition that act as weight shocks”, causing us to pile on the pounds, a study of 10,071 people found.
Professor Dmitry Tumin, from Ohio University, found the likelihood of major weight gain after marriage or divorce increased most for people past the age of 30, partly down to comfort eating through stress and anxiety.
22. Playing music while eating. Researchers at Georgia State University showed this could cause you to eat more. If you listen to pop as you chew, make sure the music is slow: a study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology showed that listening to faster music led people to eat more quickly, while the opposite was true for slower music.
Workouts that don’t work
23. Doing only yoga. It burns just 144 calories in 50 minutes, which is no better than a slow walk. Even a power yoga class burns only 237 calories (half the amount of a circuit class), boosting heart rate to just 62% of its maximum.
“It provides only a mild workout for the heart and lungs (a good workout would be 70-90%),” says John Brewer, professor of sport at the University of Bedfordshire.
24. Exercising alone. You are more likely to give up or not work out as hard. Group exercise unleashes a flood of feel-good chemicals in the brain that could help you stick with physical activity rather than throw in the towel, found a recent study by Oxford University’s Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology.
The researchers also measured pain thresholds and found the group exercisers tolerated hard work much better than those going it alone.
“Making a commitment to meet others also means you are more likely to stick with workouts,” adds Dearbhla McCullough.
25. Lifting heavy weights. Lifting light weights (of 3-5 lb) for more repetitions is just as effective at building muscle as lifting heavy weights, say researchers at McMaster University in Canada.
But while light weights will help you shed fat, lifting heavy weights can cause you to bulk up.
26. Exercising for hours at a steady pace. Short sharp bursts are just as effective and less time-consuming, and you’re more likely to stick at it. Canadian researchers compared the effects of cycling at a moderate pace for 90-120 minutes with a workout of 20-30 seconds of gut-busting pedaling followed by four minutes rest and repeated four to six times.
After two weeks, both groups had almost identical improvements in fitness despite the fact some had only worked out for six to nine minutes a week, but others had put in five hours.
27. Giving in to hunger after exercise. When women exercised hard they ate almost enough calories afterwards to make up for the ones they’d burned, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
28. Doing the wrong type of exercise. Some people, regardless of weight, are programmed not to respond at all to aerobic exercise, says a study led by Jamie Timmons, professor of ageing biology at the University of Birmingham.
It makes no difference to their fitness or insulin sensitivity, the efficiency with which their bodies dealt with blood sugar and a risk factor for diabetes. Jamie Timmons says “endless hours spent jogging, swimming or going to the gym could be a waste of time for up to one-fifth of the population”.
Instead, they should do high intensity, shorter duration exercise such as circuits or weight training.
29. Exercising inside. Most studies show that, compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments is associated with greater boosts to mood, decreased anxiety and an increased likelihood of sticking with the workouts.
30. Doing the wrong exercise for your age. From around our 30s, we lose on average one-fifth of a pound of muscle a year, thanks to a process known as sarcopenia.
“Resistance training in particular – such as lifting weights or kettlebells – becomes as, if not more, important than aerobic workouts as you get older to offset these losses,” says Louise Sutton, head of the Carnegie Centre for Sports Performance at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Why do you need the muscle? It’s vital for burning off fat.
31. Doing only aerobic or weight training. To get fit, you need to mix exercise such as cycling and running, with weight training or resistance work, including some forms of Pilates, according to a recent study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
32. Exercising without music. Music is a key motivator, suggest various studies from Brunel University in Middlesex. This is because it both distracts attention from pain as well as simultaneously prompting us to work harder for longer.
“Music is like a legal drug for sporty types,” says Dr. Costas Karageorgis, who led the study.
“It can reduce the perception of effort significantly and increase endurance by as much as 15%.”
It’s all your body’s fault.
33. You don’t have enough brown fat – thin people are known to have higher amounts of beneficial brown fat than the overweight. Brown fat’s great appeal is that it burns calories faster, like a furnace.
A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found that a form of brown fat is turned on when people get cold.
34. You’re too sensitive to smell. Overweight people gain pounds because they are more sensitive to the smell of food than thinner people, according to a study published in the journal Chemical Senses.
35. Your genes make you hungry. Many genes have been linked to obesity, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene, which has been shown to play a role in putting on weight.
Earlier this year, researchers revealed a mutation in this gene seems to disrupt the brain’s response to appetite hormones which leads the body’s message to “stop eating” being blocked.
36. You’re a woman. Using brain scans, U.S. researchers have found overweight men could suppress cravings or what they called “the conscious desire to eat’ more successfully than women. It’s thought hormone differences were involved.
37. Your brain chemicals are out of kilter. The hormone leptin helps control appetite but U.S. researchers found overweight and obese people don’t lack leptin, but their brain isn’t very sensitive to it.
38. It’s your age. “Basal metabolic rate, which accounts for about 50 to 70% of your total energy expenditure, is thought to decrease about 1 to 2% per decade,” says Louise Sutton. After 20, daily energy expenditure decreases about 150 calories per decade. “The upshot is that you need to eat less as you get older,” says Louise Sutton.
39. You’re hard-wired to yo-yo. Scientists now think that soon after fat people lost weight, their metabolism slows and they experience hormonal changes that increase their appetites again.
Last year, a team of Australian researchers reported these effects can be long term.
People “who have lost weight need to remain vigilant and understand that once they have lost weight the battle is not over,” says Joseph Proietto, the professor of medicine who led the study.
40. Your parents made you fat: whether you are fat or thin could be an inherited factor. A 2009 UK study showed only four per cent of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared with 41% with fat mothers.
Research in the International Journal of Obesity suggests a very strong link between mother and daughter and father and son obesity, but no link across the gender divide.
Facebook promises to address complaints it was responsible for wiping email contacts in some users’ mobile phone address books, replacing them with @facebook.com listings.
The social network blamed the deletion of users’ contacts on a software bug.
The problem followed last week’s move to make Facebook’s own addresses visible by default on its website, hiding the ones originally listed.
Facebook said it was fixing the issue, promising it “will be resolved soon”.
The company was unable to confirm the scale of the bug, but reports by The Verge and CNN Money suggested users who had activated Facebook Contact Sync on Blackberry and Android phones, and devices running the beta versions of Apple’s iOS6 and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 had been affected.
Facebook promises to address complaints it was responsible for wiping email contacts
The social network linked the issue to the application programming interface (API) at the heart of a tool designed to ensure that when its members amended their contact details, the changes would be made to their Facebook friends’ smartphone address books.
The software was designed to copy over its users’ “primary email addresses” – the ones they used to log into the social network.
However, a statement acknowledged that “for people on certain devices, a bug meant that the device was pulling the last email address added to the account rather than the primary address, resulting in @facebook.com addresses being pulled”.
Since Facebook’s synchronization tool only synchronized email addresses that were visible on its site, and it had made third-party addresses invisible by default, pre-existing contacts were deleted as a result.
“The gravity of changing personal data on users’ phones is much greater than just changing them on a cloud-based service or a website,” said Anthony Mullen, senior analyst at the tech consultants Forrester.
“The lesson here is Facebook should have offered a simple wizard walking people through the change showing what impact it would have rather than just letting it happen automatically.
“However, despite talk of a backlash it doesn’t seem these problems have been grave enough to have motivated users to quit the network.”
Sources close to Amazon revealed on Monday that the company was in the process of acquiring UpNext, a 3D mapping startup.
According to GigaOm, the UpNext team will move to Seattle where they will join the Amazon mapping team as they move towards a Google and Apple maps competitor.
Some analysts believe the move is an attempt by Amazon to reboot its Amazon Kindle Fire tablet which already relies on information from the UpNext team, others believe the company may push further into the consumer electronics sector with help from the UpNext team, potentially towards an Amazon Kindle smartphone.
Amazon is in the process of acquiring 3D mapping startup UpNext
UpNext is a four-person shop that provides various mapping applications for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire devices, the company’s software currently covers 50 cities throughout the United States with “enhanced details” for 23 of those cities.
In 2011 UpNext secured $500,000 in funding from a private group of investors and while the purchase price by Amazon is not yet known however investors are believed to have recuperated up to five times their initial investment.
Before this acquisition the Amazon Kindle Fire was only able to provide maps over a Wi-Fi connect, a problem that could very well be remedied with top-notch mapping software with 3D mapping capabilities.
Both Amazon and UpNext are not yet commenting on the acquisition.
Should Amazon snag a good deal for UpNext they will be purchasing a country that has already managed to attract a lot of attention, including a deal with the NFL to provide 3D stadium maps of the surrounding area for Super Bowl games.
UpNext would also provide Amazon with its own set of point-to-point directions.
Microsoft has written down the value of online advertising firm aQuantive it bought five years ago by $6.2 billion.
Microsoft bought aQuantive for $6.3 billion in cash in an attempt to catch rival Google in the race to increase revenues from search-related advertising.
The write-down effectively wipes out the acquisition’s value, although there was little impact on Microsoft’s shares in after-hours trading on Monday.
The purchase of aQuantive in 2007 was then Microsoft’s biggest acquisition.
It has since been eclipsed by the company’s $8.5 billion purchase of internet phone service Skype last year.
Microsoft has written down the value of online advertising firm aQuantive it bought five years ago by $6.2 billion
Microsoft said in a statement on Monday that “the acquisition did not accelerate growth to the degree anticipated, contributing to the write-down”.
Analysts said the write-down came as no surprise to investors.
“aQuantive didn’t work out, but everyone already pretty much knew that,” said Colin Gillis at BGP Financial Partners.
“Now, they are just mopping up.”
The $6.2 billion charge is likely to wipe out any profit for the company’s fourth quarter. Wall Street was expecting Microsoft to report fourth-quarter net profit of about $5.25 billion on 19 July.
In addition to the write-down, Microsoft said its forecast for future growth and profitability at its online services arm – which includes the Bing search engine and MSN internet portal – were “lower than previous estimates”.
Micron Technology has decided to buy rival Japanese chipmaker Elpida in a deal worth 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion).
Once completed, the deal will see Micron become the world’s second-largest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.
These chips are key components of personal computers.
Elpida had filed for bankruptcy protection in February after being unable to repay debts of 448 billion yen.
“We are creating the industry-leading pure-play memory company,” said Mark Durcan chief executive of Micron Technology.
Mark Durcan added that the deal will help strengthen the combined companies’ market position “through increased research and development and manufacturing scale” and “improved access to core memory market segments”.
Micron Technology has decided to buy rival Japanese chipmaker Elpida in a deal worth 200 billion yen
The deal will also see Micron get the ownership of Elipda’s 65% stake in Rexchip Electronics, a joint venture between Elpida and Powerchip Technology.
Rexchip, which also makes DRAM memory chips, has manufacturing facilities in Japan and Taiwan.
Micron said that output from Elpida and Rexchip factories could increase its current manufacturing capacity by almost 50%.
“We’ve always had deep requirements for additional capacity and this puts us in great shape to respond to that,” said Mark Adams, president of Micron.
At the same time, analysts said that given the high cost involved in setting up chip manufacturing units, Micron had acquired the Japanese rival for a fraction of the price it would need to invest to build similar infrastructure.
“We estimate this manufacturing capability would cost roughly $6 billion – $8 billion if built new,” said Kevin Cassidy an analyst at Stifel.
DRAM chips manufacturers have been going through a rough patch in recent times due to falling prices and slowing demand.
While Elpida filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, Micron posted a net loss of $224 million in the three months to 1 March, compared with a profit of $72 million a year earlier.
The traditional DRAM chips are used in personal computers, the demand for which has been falling amid growing popularity of smartphones and tablet PCs.
Those gadgets mostly use NAND memory chips and that has hurt DRAM chip makers.
However, Micron said Elipda had “built a strong presence in Mobile DRAM”, chips targeted at mobile phones and tablet PCs, which should help it cater to growing demand from the sector.
At the same time, analysts added that Micron may be able to use Elpida’s manufacturing facilities to diversify its product range.
CNN presenter Anderson Cooper has publicly announced that he is gay.
In an email published online, Anderson Cooper said he was proud of his sexuality and had decided to speak out in case anyone thought he was ashamed.
The son of socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, he said he had not previously spoken out on his sexual orientation for personal and professional reasons.
CNN said it had no comment and there were no plans for Anderson Cooper to discuss the matter on air.
CNN presenter Anderson Cooper has publicly announced that he is gay
Anderson Cooper wrote in the email, published by Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast: “It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something.”
He continues: “The fact is, I’m gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud.
“I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues.”
Anderson Cooper’s sexual orientation had long been subject to rumors.
His show, Anderson Cooper 360, received an award earlier this year from a gay rights group.
Italian striker Mario Balotelli was sporting three tramlines of blue sticky tape on his back in the Euro 2012 Championship.
And at Wimbledon, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has had his elbow patched up with the same stuff.
So what’s behind this latest sporting fad?
The Japanese makers of Kinesio tape say it gives players an edge by mending injuries.
Although it might seem like a new idea, the tape has been around since the 1970s.
The brainchild behind the tape, Dr. Kenzo Kase, says he came up with the design because he found standard taping techniques, like conventional strapping, too restrictive for his patients.
Although standard strapping provides muscle and joint support, it limits movement and, according to Dr. Kenzo Kase, gets in the way of the healing process by restricting the flow of inflammatory fluids below the skin.
The Japanese makers of Kinesio tape say it gives players an edge by mending injuries
Kinesio tape is different, he says, because it lifts the skin to assist this lymphatic flow, which, in turn, reduces pain and swelling.
However, Dr. Kenzo Kase admits there have been too few studies to prove these scientific claims.
Dr. Kenzo Kase says people have been using his tape with success for more than 30 years. But he recognizes that only solid scientific evidence can silence critics.
“We have many people researching but the society of Kinesio taping therapy itself – the International Kinesio Taping Association – is only five years old. We need more evidence. We do not have research reports. Part of the reason people are using Kinesio tape is to find the science.”
Another element to consider is the power of persuasion or “placebo effect” – if you believe something will work then you will see results.
John Brewer, a sports professor at the University of Bedfordshire, said: “Personally, I think it is more of a placebo effect. There is no firm scientific data to show that it has an impact on performance or prevents injuries.
“My concern is that there is little that you can put on the skin that will have a real benefit for the muscles that lie deep beneath.
“The power and stress going through the joints is immense.
“But, saying that, I can’t see it would cause any real problem, other than making you lose a few hairs.”
In theory, anything that can lessen the oscillations or vibrations that go through the muscle when you are doing intense sport will be beneficial, he said.
Phil Newton, a physiotherapist at Lilleshall, one of the UK’s National Sports Centres, said: “It’s a multimillion-pound business, yet there’s no evidence for it. There’s a whole host of companies making this tape now.
“A lot of medical practitioners do use it.
“It is different to the various types of tape that physios have been using for donkey’s years to strap sprained ankles and so on.
“This is a relatively new type of tape that is thin and light weight. The idea behind it is fascial unloading – reducing pressure in the tissue below the skin.”
Dr. Phil Newton remains dubious. “Looking at the tensile strength of the tape I don’t see how it could do it unless it is down to stimulating the senses. The power of placebo is very strong and shouldn’t be underestimated.”
He predicts the Olympics will be awash with the stuff. “It’ll be a show of multicoloured tape.”
“We’ll probably see athletes in the Olympics sporting a few union jacks made out of it,” he said.
Dr. Kenzo Kase certainly hopes so.
He said: “Olympians are very top athletes. Top athletes are very different from regular athletes. They are hypersensitive and they worry. My tape will give lots of comfort to them. This is not drugs.”
British scientists have discovered another eight pieces of genetic code linked to osteoarthritis, bringing the total number to 11.
Inherited factors account for at least half of any individual’s chance of developing this common condition that affects the joints, experts believe.
And understanding these factors could offer up new treatments.
The research in The Lancet compared the DNA of 7,400 UK osteoarthritis patients with that of 11,000 healthy volunteers.
This allowed scientists to find the most promising “culprit” regions of the genetic code to study in more detail.
They repeated their work in another group of 7,500 people with osteoarthritis and about 43,000 individuals without the condition from Iceland, Estonia, the Netherlands, and the UK.
British scientists have discovered another eight pieces of genetic code linked to osteoarthritis, bringing the total number to 11
The results confirmed the three previously reported gene variants and found a further eight linked to osteoarthritis.
Further work is now needed to pinpoint the actual DNA changes within the genetic regions to establish exactly how these changes lead to osteoarthritis.
The one with the strongest effect was situated in the region of the GNL3 gene which produces a protein with an important role in cell maintenance.
Three others were in DNA regions involved in the regulation of cartilage, bone development and body weight.
One of the lead scientists, John Loughlin, who is professor of musculoskeletal research at Newcastle University, said: “We know that osteoarthritis runs in families and that this is due to the genes that people pass on, rather than their shared environment.
“In this study we were able to say with a high degree of confidence which genetic regions are the major risk factors for developing osteoarthritis: the first time that this has been possible for this common yet complex disease. It’s an important first step.”
Prof. Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, the charity that funded the work, said: “Until we understand the cause of this complex disease, we cannot hope to find a cure. This is a major breakthrough in our understanding of osteoarthritis, which we hope will help us to unlock the genetic basis of the disease.”
According to the largest study of babies born following the technique, taking an eighth of a developing embryo during IVF treatment to test for genetic diseases is “completely safe”.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can help doctors spot diseases like cystic fibrosis before deciding whether to continue with fertility treatment.
However, there have been concerns about PGD’s safety.
Three days after an egg has been fertilized in an IVF clinic, the developing embryo would be made up of just eight cells.
It is at this stage that doctors can delicately remove one of those cells to test for more than 100 genetic diseases. If the embryo is given the all-clear, it can then be transferred into the woman’s womb.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can help doctors spot diseases like cystic fibrosis before deciding whether to continue with fertility treatment
PGD is rare, but the University Clinic in Brussels, Belgium, part of the Free University, performs about 600 PGD cycles every year.
Its data on 995 babies born through the technique between 1993 and 2008 was presented at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Turkey.
It suggested the risks of low birth weight, premature birth, major malformations and the perinatal death rate was the same as for other forms of IVF.
Lead researcher Dr. Sonja Desmyttere said: “Embryo biopsy does not adversely affect the health of newborn PGD children.
“It is important for parents to know that PGD is a safe option.”
She advised prospective parents should “go for it,” but added that research was still taking place on the impact of the test later in life.
Other research on PGD presented at the conference suggested that testing for hereditary breast cancer was a “good” and “feasible” option for parents.
The genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are known to hugely increase the risk of breast cancer. Women with one of these genes have a 60% to 80% chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetimes. There is also an increased risk of ovarian cancer.
The genes can be detected by PGD, meaning embryos could be selected that do not have a heightened risk of breast cancer.
Doctors at two large fertility clinics at university hospitals in Maastricht, in the Netherlands, and Brussels, have reported 42 pregnancies after screening for BRCA genes between 2006 and 2011.
Prof. William Verpoest, from the Vrije University in Brussels said: “We now believe that this technique offers an established option for those couples seeking to avoid the risk of inherited BRCA in their children.”
However, he admitted this “would never be a default option” for all couples with BRCA genes, as the procedure was ethically controversial.
President Bashar al-Assad is quoted as saying he regrets “100 per cent” a Turkish jet was shot down after entering Syrian airspace.
In an interview with Turkey’s Cumhuriyet newspaper, Bashar al-Assad argues that the plane was flying in an area previously used by Israel’s air force.
The plane went down in the Mediterranean last month and the two pilots have not been found.
The incident has heightened tensions between the two countries.
President Bashar al-Assad is quoted as saying he regrets "100 per cent" a Turkish jet was shot down after entering Syrian airspace
Last week, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Syria’s action and described the neighboring country as a “clear and present threat”.
Turkey reinforced border areas with rocket-launchers and anti-aircraft guns.
On Sunday, Turkey said it had scrambled six F-16 fighter jets when Syrian helicopters had approached the border.
“We will not allow (the shooting down) to turn into open combat between the two countries,” President Bashar al-Assad is quoted as saying.
Cumhuriyet, which published the interview on Tuesday, does not indicate when it took place but shows a picture of Bashar al-Assad standing beside its Ankara bureau chief Utku Cakirozer.
In other developments:
• Turkish media reported late on Monday that another 85 Syrian soldiers, including 14 senior officers, had defected across the Turkish border. It is one of the biggest groups of army defections since the March 2011 uprising in Syria began.
• Syria has been accused of practicing a widespread policy of state-sanctioned torture, in a Human Rights Watch report . The group says it has identified at least 27 detention centres across Syria.
• UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said that both Syrian government forces and the opposition have been involved in operations that harmed civilians. She has appealed for further militarization of the conflict to be avoided at all costs.
Bob Diamond, Barclays Bank chief executive, has resigned with immediate effect.
The move follows the resignation of chairman Marcus Agius and comes less than a week after Barclays Bank was fined a record amount for trying to manipulate inter-bank lending rates.
Bob Diamond said he was stepping down because the external pressure on Barclays risked “damaging the franchise”.
British PM David Cameron has described the rigging of Libor rates as “a scandal”.
“I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth,” Bob Diamond said in a statement.
Bob Diamond, Barclays Bank chief executive, has resigned with immediate effect
He will still appear before MPs on the Treasury Committee to answer questions about the Libor affair on Wednesday.
“I look forward to fulfilling my obligation to contribute to the Treasury Committee’s enquiries related to the settlements that Barclays announced last week without my leadership in question,” Bob Diamond said.
Last week, regulators in the US and UK fined Barclays £290 million ($450 million) for attempting to rig Libor and Euribor, the interest rates at which banks lend to each other, which underpin trillions of pounds worth of financial transactions.
Staff did this over a number of years, trying to raise them for profit and then, during the financial crisis, lowering them to hide the level to which Barclays was under financial stress.
The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to bring criminal charges.
Ray J is reportedly still struggling to come to terms with Whitney Houston’s death.
Ray J, who dated Whitney Houston on-off until her tragic death in February, is finding it “tough” because as well as missing her, he has been subjected to a lot of cruel comments.
His sister, singer Brandy Norwood, said: “It’s been really tough on him, just trying to get through it.
“They were really, really good friends and some of the things that people have said about him, [have] really hurt him. Being the kind person that he is, the good guy that he, it’s just been tough for him to get through some of the things that have been going on.”
Ray J is reportedly still struggling to come to terms with Whitney Houston's death
Brandy says all the family have been supporting Ray J to get him through it all as well as offering to help Whitney Houston’s 19-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown.
She told Access Hollywood: “We all come together as family. Family always makes you feel better and [gives you] a sense of comfort, so we’ve all been sticking together through this tough time for him, for me, for everyone around us that have been going through the same thing.”
“I’ve definitely expressed that to Bobbi Kris, and, you know, everything, just telling her that I’m here for her whenever she needs me.”
Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathtub of her Beverly Hills hotel room in February after suffering a huge heart attack partly brought on by her cocaine abuse.
Cissy Houston honored her daughter Whitney Houston with a rousing rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water at the BET Awards across town at the Shrine Auditorium.
The tribute was the emotional highlight of Sunday evening, and started with some heartfelt words from Mariah Carey.
“I miss my friend. I miss hearing her voice and laughter, but we’ll always have the music,” Mariah Carey said.
“We’ll always have that voice we all fell in love with. She inspired us all.”
Cissy Houston honored her daughter Whitney Houston with a rousing rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water at the BET Awards
Monica, Brandy and Whitney Houston’s brother Gary then all sang for the crowd, followed by Cissy Houston, whose performance of the Simon & Garfunkel song brought tears to the eyes of those assembled – a group that included Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
The tribute wrapped with Chaka Khan singing her 1978 song I’m Every Woman, which Whitney Houston covered with great success in 1993.
Kanye West, Jay-Z and Beyoncé took home the night’s biggest awards. Kanye West and Jay-Z were named best group for their collaboration as The Throne, and also won video of the year for Otis.
Beyoncé was named best female R&B artist. Chris Brown was named best male R&B artist.
Drake and Nicki Minaj were honored as the best hip-hop artists.
It looks like Tom Cruise’s unlucky number is 33 as all three of his ex-wives called it quits when they reached that very same age.
Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes were all in their early thirties when their marriages to Tom Cruise took a turn for the worse.
Fans of Tom Cruise searched for a meaning, some postulating that the number 33 is related somehow to his religion, Scientology.
Tom Cruise married Mimi Rogers when she was 31 in May of 1987. She was 33 when they broke up in 1990.
In his second marriage to Nicole Kidman, the actors stayed together for ten years. They split in 2001, when she was 33.
His wedding with Katie Holmes was in 2006 when she was 28 and last week, when she filed for divorce, she had reached the ripe old age of 33.
It looks like Tom Cruise's unlucky number is 33 as all three of his ex-wives called it quits when they reached that very same age
In each case, divorce proceedings began when the wives were 33 and concluded when they were 34.
Perez Hilton dug deep into Scientology to find out what, if any importance there is to the number 33. Turns out, the first Church of Scientology was established in Phoenix, Arizona, which lies on the 33rd parallel.
In numerology, the number 33 is for the “master teacher” represented by the Archangel Michael. The number 33 is associated with the power of healing through love; people with the life path number 33 are totally selfless and love unconditionally.
Regardless of the positive connotations, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s divorce will not be recognized by the church of Scientology, according to church documents.
There is a belief in the church of Scientology that marital problems come from “withholds” or “overts” – undiscussed issues or problems.
Katie Holmes is believed to have blind-sided Tom Cruise by initiating divorce proceedings and seeking sole custody of their daughter Suri.
With sole custody of Suri, Katie Holmes would be able to remove her daughter from the Church of Scientology despite her husband’s enthusiasm for it.
The estranged couple has been raising Suri in accordance with the doctrine of the Church of Scientology – treating her as an adult, free to make her own decisions.
“Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children,” a spokesperson for Tom Cruise said.
Katie Holmes cited “irreconcilable differences” as the cause to the split.
Following the news that Katie Holmes is parting ways with the Tom Cruise, new pictures have emerged of the former Dawson’s Creek star before her days of Tom, Suri and Scientology.
In never-seen-before-snaps, Katie Holmes is pictured as a fresh-faced teenager enjoying her teenage years in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
Katie Holmes, who has since appeared in the long-running TV series Dawson’s Creek and several movies including Go and Batman Begins, was already an aspiring star appearing on stage as King of Pop Michael Jackson during a school production.
And sources said Katie Holmes was a model student during her time at the posh all girls Notre Dame Academy in the mid 1990s.
In never-seen-before-snaps, Katie Holmes is pictured as a fresh-faced teenager enjoying her teenage years in her hometown of Toledo
There she enjoyed freedom, doing fun things like painting her face and cheerleading from the stands with her friends during volleyball games.
Katie Holmes even dressed up as Tonight Show regular Paul Schaefer for a Halloween prank with friend Jami Miller playing host David Letterman.
The new candid snaps emerged after Katie Holmes sensationally revealed on Friday that she divorcing her husband of fives years Tom, despite the couple depicting the image of the perfect Hollywood family.
Following the news Tom Cruise said he was “deeply saddened” that his younger wife had filed for the separation.
He revealed that Katie Holmes had initiated the split, bringing a dramatic end to one of Tinseltown’s most high-profile romances.
Katie Holmes has asked for sole custody of the couple’s six-year-old daughter Suri.
She has asked for legal custody, primary residential custody and a ‘suitable amount’ of child support from her husband, TMZ has reported.
A recent study published in the Journal of Obesity suggests that high intensity intermittent exercise may have greater potential to reduce visceral fat than steady-state exercise (jogging, cycling).
The scientists from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have developed “LifeSprints”, a fast-paced exercise program that includes the use of cycling, boxing and equipment like elliptical fitness trainers.
According to the study, a 20-minute workout consisting of 8 seconds of doing sprints on an exercise bike, followed by 12 seconds of relative recovery resulted in more belly fat loss than 40 minutes of steady-state exercise.
“Sprints are a very time efficient form of exercise. The sprint program, LifeSprints, reduced visceral fat with seven times less exercise time and has a much greater impact on cardiovascular and metabolic health than reductions of subcutaneous fat stores in the legs and arms,” said study author, Professor Steve Boutcher, from the University of New South Wales.
Over forty young sedentary and overweight males were assigned to either exercise or control group. The researchers recommended them to maintain their normal eating habits during the study. The exercise group underwent high intensity intermittent exercise three times per week, twenty minutes per session, for twelve weeks.
“Other studies using aerobic exercise, such as continuous jogging, have found that the amount of exercise needed to produce a similar decrease in visceral fat was around seven hours per week for 14 weeks,” Professor Steve Boutcher said.
At the end of the program, the participants in the exercise group have lost two kilograms (4.40 pounds) of body fat, 17 percent of visceral fat, and put on 1.2 kilograms (2.64 pounds) of muscle in their legs and trunk. The reduction of visceral fat is very important because this is the fat stored around the heart, liver, kidneys and other internal organs and is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
“Participation in regular aerobic exercise typically results in little or no gain in muscle mass, whereas moderately hard resistance exercise over months may increase muscle mass. The amount of LifeSprints exercise, however, needed to significantly increase muscle mass appears to be much less,” Professor Steve Boutcher said.
You should consider using this exercise program even if you are a woman because the researchers have also studied the influence of the sprinting program on women. That study also demonstrated an important belly fat loss from stationary fast-paced cycling for 20 minutes, three times a week. You can also try this exercise program to improve your health.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two-thirds of the U.S. adults are overweight and one-third is obese.
An adult needs at least 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise. Daily exercise keeps our muscles toned, maintains our hearts in good shape, prevents type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and depression. On the other hand, exhaustion from long and heavy exercises may increase the risk of various heart or joints problems.
Famous photographer Douglas Kirkland recounts an evening he spent with Marylin Monroe just one year before she died in a revealing new photographic memoir.
Compiling Douglas Kirkland’s iconic photographs in their entirety for the first time, With Marilyn: An Evening/1961, reveals the intimate moments the then 27-year-old photographer shared with the sexiest woman in the history of Hollywood.
“Sex ran high on the evening we shot,” Douglas Kirkland recalled.
“I was 27, but mentally like a 16-year-old, alone with Marilyn Monroe, and only a white silk sheet draped across her nude body. Can you imagine the charge I felt as a young man?”
Shooting her for Look magazine’s 25th anniversary issue in 1961, the photographer, who has also captured iconic images of Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot, met with Marilyn Monroe on three separate occasions.
Douglas Kirkland’s encounters with the superstar enabled him to capture a series of timeless portraits that have helped to define how we remember her today.
And just how she came to be dressed in only a white silk sheet, Douglas Kirkland, originally from Fort Erie, Canada, says he owes to the icon herself.
“It started with me visiting her with my colleagues [from Look]. I wanted something really hot but in my small town way I didn’t feel comfortable articulating that,” he said.
“I was embarrassed to say what I really had in mind, she invented the idea. She said, <<I know what we should do! We should have a bed, and get a white silk sheet, it must be silk. I’ll be there and I’ll wear nothing, just that silk sheet>>.”
Douglas Kirkland recounts an evening he spent with Marylin Monroe just one year before she died in a revealing new photographic memoir
When they started shooting the next day, Douglas Kirkland said it began slowly, heating up gradually.
“It got really hot. It’s all real. They’re not poses. It’s all Marilyn herself, I didn’t say turn this way turn that, I just encouraged her as she got excited.”
He believes that the reason she felt an uninhibited comfort with him, was because of his modest background, and his young age.
“I had an innocence about me, my eyes were wide open. I was very young for my age, just because of where I grew up in Canada, and suddenly I was with this superstar of all superstars, and she responded to me, and I, of course, responded to her.”
He admitted he was surprised by the closeness she felt towards him.
“I was the new kid on the block,” he said.
“But she was warm and caring and at one point at the end of our photo session I lay down beside her, she was on the bed, and we just shared stories about our lives. She had been in foster homes and all places, but she found her way through it.”
“She got knocked around a lot on her move to the top. But at the base of Marilyn… she was a very sweet, wonderful woman,” he said, before adding, “…wonderful, girl”.
The pair began shooting at 9:30 a.m. in the small apartment, the superstar was an hour and a half late, but an hour in their session, just before lunch time, the icon ordered everyone to leave the room.
“I wanna be alone with this boy, I find it usually works better this way…” Douglas Kirkland recalls her whispering.
“And before I knew, I heard the door close.”
Douglas Kirkland, who is and was married at the time to his wife Francoise, says that even though “nothing happened” between the pair during their 16 hours of shooting, he admits: “This is Marilyn seducing, period.”
“It didn’t happen, but it could have happened. The magnitude of the images are a result, I put all of it into the pictures,” he explained.
“Had I probably taken the opportunity to make love with her, the pictures wouldn’t have had the same power.
“What we did, was put the power of that love I was feeling, and what she was projecting, we put that into the images, and those are the images you see.”
GlaxoSmithKline Plc. has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and has to pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history.
The Justice Department says GSK pleaded guilty to promoting two popular drugs for unapproved uses and to failing to report important safety data about a diabetes drug to the Food and Drug Administration.
Prosecutors say GSK encouraged use of Paxil for children although it was not approved for anyone under 18.
The company also promoted Wellbutrin for uses besides major depressive disorder, its only approved use.
They say that between 2001 and 2007 GSK failed to report on two studies of the cardiovascular safety of Avandia, a diabetes drug.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc. has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and has to pay $3 billion to settle the largest case of healthcare fraud in U.S. history
Of the penalties, $1 billion covers criminal fines and forfeitures and $2 billion is for civil settlements with the federal and state governments.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole said at a news conference in Washington that the settlement “is unprecedented in both size and scope”.
As part of the settlement, GSK agreed to strict oversight of its sales force by the U.S. government to prevent the use of kickbacks or other prohibited practices.
GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement it would pay the fines through existing cash resources. The company announced a $3 billion charge in November related to legal claims.
Chief Executive Andrew Witty said GSK’s U.S. unit has “fundamentally changed our procedures for compliance, marketing and selling. When necessary, we have removed employees who have engaged in misconduct”.
