Chinese political activist and artist Ai Weiwei says police have prevented him from leaving his Beijing studio to attend a court hearing on his tax evasion case.
Ai Weiwei said that a number of police cars arrived at his studio and an employee filming the vehicles was roughed up.
Tax authorities imposed a $2.4 million fine on Ai Weiwei’s firm for tax evasion in 2011.
Supporters say the fine is politically motivated.
The Chinese authorities maintain that the firm, called Fake Cultural Development, owes them money and it must be paid back.
Ai Weiwei said that a number of police cars arrived at his studio and an employee filming the vehicles was roughed up
While Ai Weiwei is a designer for Fake Cultural Development, his wife is the legal representative of his company. She is believed to be attending the hearing in Beijing.
Ai Weiwei, 54, said on Twitter that the police had destroyed the camera of one of his employees. There were also photos showing injuries that his employee suffered after being roughed up by police.
The artist, a outspoken critic of the government, was detained for almost three months without charge last year. After he was released, he was accused of tax evasion and the fine imposed.
Ai Weiwei has said that the tax bill is pay-back for his activism. He challenged the fine in court, saying proper procedure was not followed.
A Beijing court then agreed to hear the case, a move that caught him by surprise.
Scientists have unraveled the mystery of the elephant’s long pregnancy.
A quirk of biology allows the unborn calf to develop in the womb for almost two years (22 months), giving it the brain power it needs to survive from birth.
The research, detailed in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, will help elephant breeding programmes in zoos.
It may also lead to the development of a contraceptive to control wild populations of elephants in Africa.
Dr. Imke Lueders, of the Liebniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany, said: “It is very important to study the reproduction of elephants.
“The increased knowledge that we gained through this research can help in the future with elephant breeding management because we have an idea of how the pregnancy is maintained.”
A quirk of biology allows the unborn calf to develop in the womb for almost two years (22 months), giving it the brain power it needs to survive from birth
Elephants are highly sociable mammals with a high level of intelligence similar to that of great apes and dolphins.
They have the longest-known gestational period of any animal, lasting up to 680 days.
Elephants are born with an advanced level of brain development, which they use to recognize the complex social structure of the herd and to feed themselves with their dextrous trunks.
Until now, the biological processes behind the mammal’s marathon pregnancy has not been fully understood.
But the advent of advanced ultrasound methods has given veterinary scientists a new tool to monitor elephant pregnancies in more detail, as they seek to improve breeding programmes in zoos, including elephant IVF.
Seventeen African and Asian elephants at zoos in the UK, Canada, US, Australia and Germany, including ZSL Whipsnade and Twycross Zoo, were examined in the study.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows the elephant has a unique cycle of ovulation.
Dr. Imke Lueders said the extended pregnancy was “due to a novel hormonal mechanism, which has not been described in any other species of animal”.
Ovulation is triggered by two surges of the reproductive hormone LH (luteinising hormone), while the pregnancy is maintained by hormones secreted by several ovarian bodies known as corpus lutea.
The knowledge will help conservation efforts to help elephants in the wild, as well as in zoos.
Dr. Dennis Schmitt is Director of Research and Conservation at the Centre for Elephant Conservation, set up to safe-guard the future of the Asian elephant.
Commenting on the study, he said: “Not only is the long gestation of elephants unusual (22 months), but the long birth interval (4-5 years between calves) along with a long interval between generations of elephants (average approximately 20 plus years), complicates efforts to manage declining populations of free ranging endangered elephants.”
The research may also help scientists develop a contraceptive for elephants. While some species of elephant are endangered, other populations have grown, leading some to advocate controlling numbers by contraception or, more controversially, culling.
French police say four people have been taken hostage in CIC bank in the city of Toulouse by a man claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda.
The man fired a shot and demanded to speak to the elite police unit which shot Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah.
Mohamed Merah, who claimed to have al-Qaeda training, killed seven people in Toulouse in March before he was shot dead by police.
The director of the bank, a branch of CIC, is said to be among the hostages.
French police say four people have been taken hostage in CIC bank in the city of Toulouse by a man claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda
The regional newspaper Ouest-France says the area around the bank has been sealed off by the security forces.
“We do not know if his claim about al-Qaeda is serious or a fantasy,” a police union source told Ouest-France.
The bank is 100 metres (330 ft) from Mohamed Merah’s flat.
Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian descent, killed seven people in three separate attacks. His victims included three children and a teacher at a Jewish school, and three soldiers.
He was shot dead by a police sniper on 22 March after commandos stormed his flat.
In the wake of the shootings, the French authorities set up an investigation into whether Mohamed Merah had accomplices and into possible Islamist indoctrination practices in prisons.
Mary-Kate Olsen and her new boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy enjoyed a day out in New York with his young daughter last Thursday.
As Mary-Kate Olsen, 26 smoked cigarettes, the half brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, placed his arms around his two girls who appear to be the same height.
The daughter, whose name and age are unknown, is the child of the investment banker’s former wife Charlotte Bernard, whom he divorced in 2010.
As they strolled through New York’s trendy West Village neighborhood together, Mary-Kate Olsen chatted to the young brunette girl who seemed at ease in her company.
Mary-Kate Olsen kept her sunglasses on during the day and even into the evening before the group went for dinner in the West Village.
During dinner, she was spotted indulging in another cigarette as she sat on the footpath outside the restaurant.
Mary-Kate Olsen and her new boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy enjoyed a day out in New York with his young daughter last Thursday
Olivier Sarkozy, 42, was also spotted smoking a cigarette as he clung onto his daughter’s hand and kept his other arm on Mary-Kate Olsen’s shoulder.
Charlotte Bernard is not likely to be impressed by the outing as she spoke out about her disapproval over her ex-husband’s new relationship earlier this month.
Branding their union as “grotesque”, Charlotte Bernanrd told the National Enquirer that it was also “not right”.
An insider also told the National Enquirer: “Charlotte certainly won’t want her kids to be around Mary-Kate, who has a history of wild-partying and booze binges.”
Charlotte Bernard and Olivier Sarkozy also have a son together.
His name is unknown also however both children are said to attend one of New York’s most prestigious schools.
Mary Kate Olsen is 17 years her boyfriend’s junior but they are said to be “head over heels” after being spotted cuddling up to each other at Madison Square Gardens on April 25.
Charlotte Bernard – a children’s book author – married Olivier Sarkozy in 1997 and divorced him around 13 years later.
Olivier Sarkozy has previously been linked to actress Stella Schabnel, 29.
When the unlikely new couple was first snapped at the New York Knicks game at the end of April, he was seen stroking Mary-Kate Olsen’s hair and whispering in her ear.
They are also said to have enjoyed a break together in the Hamptons recently.
Talks between three Greek parties on forming a new coalition government are set to resume on Wednesday, amid intense international pressure.
New Democracy, the conservative winner of Sunday’s election, is expected to lead the new government.
Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said a government could be formed by midday on Wednesday.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras’s three-day mandate to form a government expires on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether Pasok, which came third in the vote, will join the government, or merely support it.
The third party is Democratic Left. Between them, the three parties would have a majority of 29 seats in parliament.
They all favor keeping Greece in the euro while wanting to renegotiate terms of its EU-IMF bailouts, although they differ on the extent.
However, European leaders have indicated that there is limited room for manoeuvre and are expecting details on how the new government intends to make another 11.7 billion Euros ($14.8 billion) of cuts by 2014.
New Democracy won 129 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament on Sunday, followed by the radical anti-bailout party, Syriza, with 71, Pasok with 33 and the Democratic Left with 17.
New Democracy won 129 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament on Sunday, followed by the radical anti-bailout party, Syriza, with 71, Pasok with 33 and the Democratic Left with 17
World powers have urged Greece to move swiftly to form a government.
Speaking after talks between the three parties in parliament on Tuesday, Eavngelos Venizelos said a government “must be formed as soon as possible”.
He said his party would support the government “wholeheartedly”, but had not yet decided what form its participation would take.
If Antonis Samaras fails to form a government by the deadline on Wednesday, Syriza would be given a chance, followed by Pasok.
But Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has said he will not even attempt to do so. He has also refused to join a government led by New Democracy.
Two international bailouts have been awarded to Greece, an initial package worth 110 billion Euros ($138 billion) in 2010, then a follow-up last year worth 130 billion Euros ($164 billion), but they come with tough austerity measures attached.
Greece has also had 107 billion Euros ($135 billion) of debt, held by private investors, written off.
Bailout deal – Greek pledges
• Cut 15,000 state sector jobs this year – aiming for 150,000 to be cut by 2015
• Cut minimum wage by 22%, to about 600 Euros a month
• Pension cut worth 300 million Euros this year
• Spending cuts of more than 3 billion Euros this year
• Liberalize labor laws to make hiring and firing easier
• Boost tax collection
• Carry out privatizations worth 15 billion Euros by 2015
• Open up more professions to competition (health, tourism and real estate)
• Greece aims to cut its debt burden to 116% of GDP by 2020
Sina Weibo, China’s biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, is introducing a membership charge for premium features.
For a monthly fee of 10 yuan ($1.57) its 300 million users can add personalized pages, voice posts and better security, among other services.
The move could help return the firm to profit. It posted a $13.7 million loss for its first quarter in May.
One analyst called it a “bold move”, adding Twitter was unlikely to follow.
Sina Weibo is introducing a total of 15 added VIP features, according to the Tech in Asia blog.
It said the move built on other recent innovations added to the platform including social games and a virtual currency called Weibi.
One Beijing-based business consultant noted the decision to charge fees had followed government pressure on the business to boost efforts to filter out illegal posts by some of its members, increasing its costs.
Sina Weibo, China's biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, is introducing a membership charge for premium features
“Weibo has become an indispensable tool to Chinese netizens, although some argue of late that it has become less compelling due to the restrictions,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA.
“But for Sina of course ultimately its aim is not to run the service as a charity.
“This could be a tricky situation – if they push too far to monetize they could tarnish their brand, but if they don’t succeed in converting all this traffic to commercial value then it’s ultimately unsustainable in the long term.”
While the move may prove a success for the Chinese firm, independent media analyst Mark Mulligan suggested it would be a mistake for western social networks to follow at this point.
“It’s a very brave move, and I do not think it is likely that Twitter would follow a similar route, certainly not at this stage,” he said.
“In order to start charging for something that people expect to be free, a company has to be very confident of its market position.
“Any social tool faces competition – Facebook has done a lot trying to emulate microblogging with its timeline features. If Twitter tried to [introduce fees], Facebook would capitalise on that and try to implement a much richer set of services entirely free.”
He added that the dynamics were different in China and Sina Weibo might not be afraid of competition since other domestic web giants, such as Tencent and Renren, had also introduced membership fees for some add-on services.
A spokeswoman for Twitter said the firm did not comment on other companies, adding that its business model remained based on advertising.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is critically ill and may be close to death, reports from Cairo suggest.
Hosni Mubarak is said to have had a stroke and was moved from prison to an army hospital, where he is on life support. Initial reports said he was “clinically dead”.
It comes amid protests over disputed presidential election results and new powers for the ruling military.
Hosni Mubarak, 84, was ousted in last year’s uprising, and jailed for life for his role in the death of protesters.
There have been frequent reports since then that his health has deteriorated, many of which have proved wrong.
Through the night, supporters and opponents gathered outside the Maadi military hospital, where the former president is being treated.
Reports that he was clinically dead have been categorically denied by the ruling military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested in Cairo’s Tahrir Square against a move by the SCAF to assume new powers.
The rally was called by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is also claiming victory for its candidate Mohammed Mursi in last weekend’s presidential elections.
His rival Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under Mubarak, has also said he has won.
Results are expected to be announced on Thursday.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is critically ill and may be close to death
The Muslim Brotherhood has also vowed to retry Hosni Mubarak once in power, and insists that he should face the death penalty.
As Egyptians voted, the generals dissolved parliament and claimed all legislative power for themselves.
Activists have described the moves as a “military coup”.
On Tuesday, Hosni Mubarak – who ruled Egypt for 30 years – was transferred by helicopter to intensive care at the Maadi armed forces hospital after suffering a stroke, state media said.
Correspondents say the hospital is better equipped to deal with such conditions than the prison hospital where he was being treated.
The former leader is now said to be unconscious and on life support.
Doctors are said to have used a defibrillator on him several times. The device delivers an electric shock to the heart to try to re-establish a normal heartbeat.
There are lots of police officers currently deployed outside the hospital.
There are also small groups of people – both Mubarak’s supporters and protesters against him – who have gathered outside the building, our correspondent says.
One woman, a supporter, was almost shaking with emotion and saying “I love him”.
Another supporter, a man, stood holding a poster of Hosni Mubarak.
“He is my father. I love him more than my father. The Muslim Brotherhood are criminals. They have destroyed our country. Mubarak kept us in peace for 30 years,” he said.
A group of anti-Mubarak young men responded by shouting: “We are poor, and he did nothing for us. His family ate meat and we were starving.”
“I’m ready to hammer his grave with my shoe,” another protester added.
Egyptians will be very skeptical about any reports about the former president’s health.
Before Hosni Mubarak’s trial began, his lawyer said he was in a coma, only for the former president to appear – alive and conscious, if not particularly well – in court.
Now there will be fears that the state of Mubarak’s health could be used as a distraction, as Egypt waits for the result of the hotly disputed presidential election.
However, the latest reports are better sourced than any before.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador’s London embassy, the country’s foreign minister has said.
“Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request,” Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters in Quito.
On 14 June, Britain’s Supreme Court dismissed Julian Assange’s bid to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.
He has denied the allegations, saying they are politically motivated.
The Supreme Court has given him until 28 June before extradition proceedings can start.
Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former Wikileaks volunteers in mid-2010 but have not filed any charges.
Julian Assange, whose Wikileaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, claims the sex was consensual.
Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy
In a statement, Ecuador’s embassy said he had arrived there on Tuesday afternoon to seek asylum.
“As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito,” it said.
“While the department assesses Mr. Assange’s application, Mr. Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorean government.”
It said the decision to consider the bid for asylum “should in no way be interpreted as the government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.”
Julian Assange issued a statement, saying he was “grateful to the Ecuadorean ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application”.
Associated Press quoted Ricardo Patino as telling reporters Julian Assange had written to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa saying he was being persecuted.
Ricardo Patino said that the Australian had claimed “the authorities in his country will not defend his minimum guarantees in front of any government”.
Julian Assange said he would not be protected from being extradited to “a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition,” Ricardo Patino said.
The anti-secrecy campaigner fears extradition to Sweden may lead to him being sent to the US to face separate charges relating to Wikileaks, for which he could face the death penalty.
But Swedish authorities have said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would intervene if Julian Assange was to face the prospect of “inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial” in the US.
Julian Assange could still take his case against extradition to the ECHR and has until 28 June to make the move.
Vaughan Smith, a friend who put Julian Assange up at his Norfolk home until December 2011, said he understood why he was seeking asylum.
“There’s been an organized campaign to undermine him in recent months in Britain,” Vaughan Smith said.
“And he believed he would not get justice in Sweden.”
Wikileaks has posted an alert on its Twitter feed: “ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.”
It said Ecuador had offered asylum as early as November 2010.
Ecuador’s deputy foreign minister said in 2010 his country was offering Julian Assange residency because it wanted to give him the opportunity to freely present the information he had.
However, President Rafael Correa subsequently dismissed the idea, which he said neither he nor Ricardo Patino had approved.
Thousands of people are gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to protest against a decision by the ruling military council to assume new powers.
The protests have been called by the Muslim Brotherhood, as it claims its candidate Mohammed Mursi won last weekend’s presidential election.
His rival, former PM Ahmed Shafiq, also says he has won.
As Egyptians voted, the generals dissolved parliament and claimed all legislative power for themselves.
Correspondents say the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) appears to be working on the assumption that Mohammed Mursi will win, and making moves designed to reduce or constrain the power of the president and entrench its own.
Activists have described the moves as a “military coup”.
Demonstrators have been chanting slogans against the military council, in the same square where huge protests last year led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.
Thousands of people are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against a decision by the ruling military council to assume new powers
Youth activists and liberals, many of whom refused to take part in the election run-off, are also involved in the protests.
“[The election is] not totally stolen, but they have put some obstacles to fully transfer the power of the revolution and the voice of the street, and the voice of the critical mass to rule the country,” said one protester.
There are plenty of Egyptians who seem to be reconciled to the prospect of the military continuing to exercise power because they fear that otherwise the Muslim Brotherhood might turn their secular society into something resembling the theocracy of Iran.
Earlier the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory in the election.
A spokesman for its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) announced its chairman, Mohammed Mursi, had received 51.74%, compared with former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who he said had 48.26%.
The Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) is scheduled to announce the official results on Thursday, but it usually shares them with the candidates beforehand to give them a chance to make objections.
The results tally with what Egyptian media and independent observers have been reporting, and the FJP’s own calculations, which it released on Monday.
However, Ahmed Shafiq’s campaign vigorously denied its candidate had lost.
In a news conference shown on Egyptian television, representatives of Ahmed Shafiq’s campaign said the papers that Mohammed Mursi’s campaign referred to did not come officially from the HPEC, and insisted that Shafiq was ahead in the tally.
“We are willing to do whatever necessary at a legal level to prove he’s the next president,” Ahmed Shafiq campaign spokesman Karim Salem said.
Voting over the weekend to choose a successor to Hosni Mubarak, who was forced to step down by last year’s uprising, was overshadowed by two SCAF decrees.
The first ordered the immediate dissolution of parliament following Thursday’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruling that the law governing the recent elections for the lower house was unconstitutional because party members had been allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.
Troops were deployed outside the parliament building before the decree was issued on Saturday to prevent MPs gaining access. The FJP and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party dominate both chambers.
The second decree, which was published after the polls closed on Sunday, amended the March 2011 constitutional declaration and gave the generals complete control over legislation and military affairs until fresh parliamentary elections are held.
The SCAF will also play a significant role in running the 100-member assembly that will draft the country’s new constitution.
The new president – who will take office without the oversight of a parliament and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties – will be able to form and dismiss a government, ratify and reject laws, and declare war, but only with SCAF’s approval.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have officially announced their split after nearly 14 years together.
Johnny Depp’s publicist announced this afternoon that the couple had “amicably separated” and added: “Please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children.”
Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp, who have two children, Lily-Rose, 13, and nine-year-old Jack, haven’t been seen at a public event together since 2010 but recently denied the split rumors which have been circulating since January.
Their relationship has said to have been in trouble for several months and recent rumors linked Johnny Depp to his bisexual co-star Amber Heard.
But news of the split comes just a month after it was claimed the couple were “working on” getting their relationship back on track.
A source said recently: “For the first time in a long time, he is talking about her. They both want to make it work.”
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have officially announced their split after nearly 14 years together
Johnny Depp recently blasted untrue speculation about his relationship being over and said: “The rumors are not true. They are absolutely not true.
“No matter what I say about this, people believe the opposite. I can’t say enough about it not being over.”
But recently, rumors have circulated about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the bisexual actress he starred with in The Rum Diaries.
A number of publications carried pictures and reports that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard enjoyed a trip together to Las Vegas on a private plane as he was in town promoting Dark Shadows.
But Vanessa Paradis was nowhere to be seen and didn’t accompany him on any of his promotional duties for the film.
Last month they continued to deny that their relationship was on the rocks, but Vanessa Paradis was snapped walking round Los Angeles looking rather glum and hiding under a big hat.
Last week she scowled at photographers as she flew out of Los Angeles under another huge hat as she jetted to France for the Cabourg Film Festival.
And ever the professional, three days later she flashed her sexy gap-toothed smile as she joined her co-stars for the photocall for her new movie Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit (I Was Made Very Small).
And throughout the day she did not shy away from meeting people and was happy to sign items for fans, even though the announcement of her split from Johnny Depp was imminent.
Johnny Depp, 48, and Vanessa Paradis, 39, got together in 1998 when they met in the Costes Hotel in Paris while he was filming the Roman Polanski film The Ninth Gate.
He had had a high-profile engagement to Winona Ryder and a long-term relationship with Kate Moss and she had just come out of a relationship with French-Slovenian actor Stanislas Merhar, having been reportedly previously engaged to singer Lenny Kravitz.
A year after they got together, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’s first child, daughter Lily-Rose Melody was born followed by their son John “Jack” Christopher in 2002.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis never married but he recently stated that having children cemented roots for him and added that they gave him “real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything”.
Yasser Lopez, a teenager from Florida, has miraculously survived after a spear was shot through his brain, doctors say.
Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month.
Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3 ft (90 cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head.
He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation.
Yasser Lopez, a teenager from Florida, has miraculously survived after a spear was shot through his brain, doctors say
Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became “agitated”.
After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner.
Doctors said the teenager has no memory of the freak accident.
He was shot with the projectile as he swam in a lake near his Miami area home on 8 June when his friend set off the trigger of a spear gun he was loading.
While medics are not sure of the extent of the damage to his memory and other parts of the brain, they say his condition could have been much worse.
“It’s a miracle the spear missed all the main blood vessels of the brain,” neurosurgeon Ross Bullock told reporters.
Also helpful, doctors say, was the foreign object’s trajectory into the right side of the brain, Yasser Lopez’s non-dominant lobe, missing the parts responsible for speech and other important functions.
The original sketches for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney’s earliest characters, have been animated 85 years after they were drawn.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created in 1927, a year before Mickey Mouse was born, and the rabbit starred in 26 cartoons in the 1920s and 30s.
Archivists have used dozens of drawings from Disney’s personal sketchbook to create a new Oswald cartoon.
Harem Scarem was unveiled at Disney’s D23 fan event and can be seen online.
Walt Disney and long-time collaborator Ub Iwerks created the rabbit while working at Universal before he set up his own empire.
Oswald’s oversized ears, big eyes and shorts bear a striking similarity to Disney’s next creation, Mickey Mouse, who was inspired by a mouse who would visit his drawing board.
The original sketches for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney's earliest characters, have been animated 85 years after they were drawn
However, Disney had to relinquish control of the character when he left Universal, aged 27.
In 2006, Disney chief executive Bob Iger and NBC Universal struck a deal to see ownership of Oswald return to the company. He has already featured in video game Epic Mickey, and is thought to have a starring role in the game’s forthcoming sequel.
“Walt would be so excited about having Oswald back,” Disney archives director Becky Cline told Yahoo News.
“And for a Disney fan, to get the character back in the fold, is really exciting. To see something they’ve never seen before.”
The new 90-second animation does not alter the original sketches, but sees them placed in order to create a basic animating effect.
Disney has just announced plans to update the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for a new TV animation.
Aimed at young children, The 7D will premiere on Disney Junior in 2014 after a successful pilot.
The reinterpretation sets the classic tale in a world known as Jollywood, where the dwarves help Queen Delightful keep the kingdom in order and battle villains called Grim and Hildy Groom.
Demi Moore has apparently hit it off with a new man – True Blood star Joe Manganiello.
According to reports, Demi Moore, 49, and Joe Manganiello, 35, were spotted enjoying each other’s company at the after-party following the premiere of the actor’s new movie That’s My Boy at Los Angeles’ Napa Valley Grille earlier this month.
A source told heat magazine: “They looked amazing together. Demi was getting a lot more attention than a lot of the younger girls in the room, and Joe was seen waiting for her before they went off and hung out together at the party. They had amazing chemistry.”
The pair first met when they both signed up to appear in the movie Magic Mike, in which Joe Manganiello stars as stripper Big Dick Richie.
And despite Demi Moore pulling out of the film following her breakdown, the pair have reportedly kept in touch.
Demi Moore and Joe Manganiello were spotted enjoying each other’s company at the after-party following the premiere of the actor's new movie That's My Boy in Los Angeles earlier this month
The source added: “Demi has finally got her groove back – and it’s all thanks to meeting Joe. She’s feeling confident again and, more importantly, sexy.”
However, it remains to be seen what Demi Moore’s ex Ashton Kutcher makes of her new relationship, as he actually starred alongside Joe Manganiello in an episode of sitcom Two And A Half Men last year.
Meanwhile, it has also been claimed that Demi Moore has gained nearly a stone after sticking to a new healthy eating regime.
The actress had sparked concern with her worryingly thin frame when she dropped to less than seven stone ahead of being admitted to rehab.
Now Demi Moore, who was spotted at her daughter Tallulah’s graduation on June 7th, is looking much healthier after adopting a new eating plan.
An insider told heat: “Back then Demi was basically living on Red Bull but now she’s eating balanced meals that include protein, complex carbs and organic vegetables.
“She’s also been swimming and doing yoga every day and has gained just over a stone.”
Terminator 3 star Nick Stahl went missing back in May before entering a rehabilitation facility to address drug and alcohol addiction.
And it seems that Nick Stahl has once again vanished after checking himself out.
Nick Stahl, 32, who played John Conner in the 2003 action hit, has reportedly left rehab, “against doctors advice” according to E! News.
According to the website, Nick Stahl left the facility a week ago and now his loved ones, including his estranged wife Rose Murphy Stahl, have no idea where he is.
“He’s been missing for four days,” Rose Murphy told E! News.
“But I don’t want to comment any further.”
Nick Stahl checked himself out of the undisclosed rehab facility last weekend, then reportedly went to stay with a friend.
He was later spotted in downtown Los Angeles, where he has often been seen in the notorious Skid Row area.
Following the sighting, Nick Stahl apparently returned to the friend’s home, however he has not been seen since leaving the property last Thursday night.
Nick Stahl went missing after checking himself out from a rehabilitation facility
Once again Nick Stahl has left friends and family members panicked by not telling anyone of his whereabouts and a full search party has ensued.
“Now he’s disappeared. We can’t find him anywhere. He has not made contact with anyone. We are all just desperately looking for him,” a source told E! News.
“Everyone just wants him to come home. It’s a terrible situation. We are searching, but we’ve had no solid leads.”
The disappearing act comes after the star left his wife Rose and loved ones frantic when he first went missing in early May.
He later then reportedly told his wife he has checked into rehab as well as emailing his friends to tell them he was alive.
At the time Rose Murphy Stahl told TMZ she had spoken to the actor – very briefly – and he told her he checked into rehab.
She said she checked with the facility to make sure he was still there and they confirmed that he was.
Nick Stahl’s wife also told the website that she wasn’t considering divorce and was just relieved that she could tell the couple’s two-year-old daughter Marlo that her “daddy is safe”.
She also said she intended to visit her husband in rehab for however long he needed to stay.
Nick Stahl had apologized for the raising fears about his safety, and pledged to stick out a period in rehab to get his drug and alcohol issues under control.
According to TMZ, his friends and family were hopeful he would live up to his word, though at the time they were skeptical.
Nick Stahl and Rose Murphy are currently estranged.
In February she attended court to seek a ban against the actor seeing their daughter Marlo if he failed a drug test.
In May, when Nick Stahl went missing, she spoke out in the media voicing her fears that he was dead.
She said she feared he may have lost his battle with substance abuse and overdosed.
Rose Murphy Stahl told People magazine: “He could have overdosed, that’s one thought.
“And I’m wondering if there will be a body recovered.”
Rose Murphy Stahl first reported her husband as a missing person on May 14, and it came after the pair suffered a number of domestic problems.
In court documents she claimed Nick Stahl was abusing drugs and said she was afraid for their daughter’s safety.
She demanded that his visitation with Marlo be limited to just 8 hours a week and that all visits be supervised.
She also wanted Nick Stahl to prove he wasn’t abusing drugs around their child, asking that he present “proof of a negative result for a test for drugs and alcohol within the 24 hours prior to his scheduled visitation time”.
She claimed they both were happy to file the legal paperwork in early February to motivate him to get better, and he had been living away with a male friend since that time.
Rose, full name Roseann, also said she does not consider the two of them separated or estranged.
She said: “That was an adult, loving decision that we made to try to inspire his recovery and maybe even scare him away from relapse.”
Sources said Nick Stahl had been frequenting Los Angeles’s notorious Skid Row area.
Before he took on the task of becoming John Connor in 2003’s Terminator sequel, Nick Stahl appeared in The Man Without A Face with Mel Gibson, Disturbing Behavior, and The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards.
Nick Stahl also appeared in the short-lived HBO cult hit series Carnivale.
The actor was arrested earlier this year on charges that he did not pay a taxi driver, after he allegedly could not cough up an $84 fare.
Nick Stahl spent an entire day in jail following his crime, so his $50 fine was suspended.
The latest secret to Jennifer Aniston’s perfect body has been revealed.
Jennifer Aniston, 43, is said to be an ardent fan of a new $8 “wonder” smoothie – and drinks nothing else on one day every week.
A source told Grazia magazine: “The drink is made up of fresh, organic vegetables. Beetroot, cucumbers, spinach, garlic, carrots, celery and kale.”
According to the source, Jennifer Aniston drinks the super healthy concoction one day a week, usually on a Saturday.
Nutritionist Jeannette Jackson said the smoothie can have amazing and cleansing health benefits.
“The alkaline vegetables prevent bloating, help ease water retention and even mood swings.
“Beetroot helps clean the blood of toxins, celery and carrots boost potassium and sodium levels, and kale and parsley offer immense benefits to the brain, so you’ll feel less stressed. The drink is filling so should be easy to do for one day a week, but make sure it’s part of a healthy balanced diet,” she said.
Rumors are rife that Jennifer Aniston’s new smoothie diet is forming part of the preparations for a wedding after onlookers spotted her and boyfriend Justin Theroux looking loved-up in Paris last week.
Jennifer Aniston drinks the super healthy concoction one day a week, usually on a Saturday
Make Jennifer Aniston’s smoothie at home
You’ll need:
• Six organic cucumbers
• Three large organic beets
• Two bunches spinach
• One bunch organic kale
• Fresh garlic and ginger
• One bunch organic carrots
• A stick of celery
Pulp all the vegetables together in a juicer. Add a little cayenne pepper or a herb such as parsley, to make the juice blend taste like a vegetable soup.
Immediately refrigerate the juice in a glass (no plastic jugs).
Drink as much as you want, all day, for one day a week.
Facebook has decided to buy an Israeli startup specializing in facial recognition technology – Face.com.
The firm already provides software that allows Facebook’s members to identify and tag photos of their friends.
The terms of the deal are not known, but Reuters quotes estimates of $55-60 million.
Tagging is a popular feature on Facebook, but privacy advocates have raised concerns about the technology.
Face.com’s software scans photos Facebook users upload, and suggests friends they may wish to tag with just one click.
According to the social network, the acquisition does not mean there will be changes to Facebook’s current face detection and recognition systems for photos.
“People who use Facebook enjoy sharing photos and memories with their friends, and Face.com’s technology has helped to provide the best photo experience,” said Facebook’s spokesperson.
“This transaction simply brings a world-class team and a long-time technology vendor in house.”
Facebook has decided to buy an Israeli startup specializing in facial recognition technology Face.com
UK campaign group Privacy International warned of what it described as the potential pitfalls of the technology.
“Facebook are in the process of building the largest and most accurate facial recognition database in the world, and with great power comes great responsibility,” said Emma Draper, the organization’s head of communications.
“We would hope to see very strict safeguards on how this information is stored and who has access to it, particularly if – as seems increasingly likely – Facebook is going to start making money from it.”
But Facebook refuted the suggestion that it was building a facial recognition database, explaining that the technology simply allowed people on Facebook to tag images of their friends quickly and easily, without allowing users to identify anyone on the social network unless they were already friends with them.
Face.com is an 11-employee startup located in the heart of Tel Aviv’s startup community on Rothschild Boulevard, locally known as the Silicon Boulevard.
The firm could not be reached for comment, but in a statement on its website it said that “by working with Facebook directly, and joining their team, we’ll have more opportunities to build amazing products that will be employed by consumers – that’s all we’ve ever wanted to do”.
Face.com launched its first product in 2009, and also supports third-party apps such as Photo Finder, Photo Tagger, and CelebrityFindr, which allows Twitter users to search for photos of celebrities.
Facebook has recently been expressing great interest in mobile and photo-sharing – in April, it bought Instagram for $1billion, and weeks later launched a photo sharing smartphone app called Camera.
Both apps allow users to add filters and make other tweaks to photographs.
One person has been killed and 15 others were injured in a crash involving Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe’s motorcade, police say.
A car in the motorcade hit a commuter bus near the rural town of Zvimba – the third such accident in two weeks.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Sunday’s accident happened because the bus failed to make way for the president’s vehicles quickly enough.
President Robert Mugabe typically travels with an escort of around 10 vehicles.
His motorcade typically includes the presidential limousine, motorcycles and army vehicles.
One person has been killed and 15 others were injured in a crash involving Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe's motorcade
The car involved in the crash on the Robert Mugabe highway outside the president’s home town of Zvimba is thought to have been leading the motorcade.
The national police spokesman said the bus driver had failed to heed the siren and beacon of the escort vehicle, leading to a head-on collision between the minibus and a police car.
“One passenger in the commuter bus died on the spot while 15 passengers from both vehicles were injured in the accident,” Wayne Bvudzijena told the AFP news agency.
He urged motorists to “pull off the road when they hear a siren or see a red or blue beacon”.
Police VIP protection spokesman Martin Mbokochena criticized what he called “some unruly elements in society who want to disturb”.
Two weeks ago, a motorbike in the presidential cavalcade hit and killed a homeless man during another visit to the president’s home town.
A member of the presidential guard died and seven others were hurt in a separate leg of the same trip, when a truck in the motorcade overturned after one of its tires burst.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been disqualified by Supreme Court from holding office, two months after convicting him of contempt of court.
The Supreme Court ruled he had “ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan”.
In April, the Supreme Court convicted Yousuf Raza Gilani of failing to pursue corruption charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.
He had argued the president has constitutional immunity from prosecution.
But Yousuf Raza Gilani was given only a token sentence and spared a jail term.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been disqualified by Supreme Court from holding office, two months after convicting him of contempt of court
Tuesday’s court ruling disqualified Yousuf Raza Gilani from office and from parliament.
“Since no appeal was filed [against the 26 April conviction]… therefore Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani stands disqualified as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora [parliament],” Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry told a packed courtroom.
He added: “He has also ceased to be the prime minister of Pakistan… the office of the prime minister stands vacant.”
It is not clear what next steps Yousuf Raza Gilani may take – or whether his removal means the fall of the government.
Senior leaders of the governing Pakistan People’s Party are in emergency session.
It has the necessary majority in parliament to elect a successor to Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The legal case against Yousuf Raza Gilani is part of a stand-off between Pakistan’s civilian government and the judiciary, which many believe is being backed by the military.
The pursuit of the contempt case by Supreme Court judges was seen by many as an attempt at meddling in the country’s politics.
Famous Pakistani singer Ghazala Javed has been shot dead in the north-western city of Peshawar.
Ghazala Javed and her father were killed when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on them late on Monday, police say.
Police say the murders may be linked to a family dispute.
Ghazala Javed, who sang in her native Pashto, was from Pakistan’s Swat valley, which she fled three years ago during a military offensive against Taliban militants in the region.
Ghazala Javed and her father were killed when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on them late on Monday
Singers and dancers were particularly targeted by insurgents when they overran the area in 2007.
Ghazala Javed at one point was also forced to stop singing because of threats.
The singer, who was in her twenties, later married a businessman but they are thought to have divorced.
Correspondents say her music fused eastern and western traditions.
Tributes from fans across Afghanistan and Pakistan have been pouring into social media sites.
According to new research, men who are heavy tea drinkers may be more likely to develop prostate cancer.
A team from Glasgow University tracked the health of more than 6,000 male volunteers over a period of 37 years.
They found men who drank over seven cups of tea per day had a 50% higher risk of developing prostate cancer than moderate and non tea drinkers.
The team said it did not know if tea was a risk factor or if drinkers lived to ages where cancer was more common.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer amongst men in Scotland and diagnosed cases increased by 7.4% between 2000 and 2010.
The Midspan Collaborative study began in Scotland in 1970 and gathered data from 6,016 male volunteers, all aged between 21 and 75.
Volunteers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their usual consumption of tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking habits and general health, and attended a screening examination.
Just under a quarter of the men included in the study were heavy tea drinkers.
Of these, 6.4% developed prostate cancer during a follow-up of up to 37 years.
Researchers found that men who drank more than seven cups of tea per day had a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer compared to those who drank no tea or less than four cups per day.
Men who drank over seven cups of tea per day had a 50 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer than moderate and non tea drinkers
The study was led by Dr. Kashif Shafique of Glasgow University’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing.
He said: “Most previous research has shown either no relationship with prostate cancer for black tea or some preventive effect of green tea.
“We don’t know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway.”
“We found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, be non alcohol-drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels.
“However, we did adjust for these differences in our analysis and still found that men who drank the most tea were at greater risk of prostate cancer.”
Chris Garner, a member of Edinburgh and Lothian Prostate Cancer Support Group, said the research would not stop him drinking tea.
He has adopted a healthier diet since being diagnosed with prostate cancer 10 years ago and drinks green tea.
Chris Garner said: “As usual you get evidence on one side and you get evidence on the other and you’re left in the middle trying to decide who’s right but I have to say, I don’t think tea is very high on the agenda if you’re looking at diet, lifestyle and so on.
“There are other things which come well above tea.”
Dr. Kate Holmes, head of research at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said: “Whilst it does appear that – of the 6,000 men who took part in this study – those who drank seven or more cups of tea each day had an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, this did not take into consideration family history or any other dietary elements other than tea, coffee and alcohol intake.
“We would therefore not wish any man to be concerned that drinking a moderate amount of tea as part of a healthy diet will put them at an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.”
The findings of the study have been published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.
U.S. doctors have discovered that women who go through a premature menopause are more likely to suffer a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage or a cerebral aneurysm.
This occurs when part of the artery weakens and swells.
The artery can then burst and cause a stroke or death, with half of those suffering a cerebral aneurysm likely to die.
The new U.S. research is part of a growing body of evidence pointing to the staggering toll on a woman’s overall health associated with early menopause — a concern because more women are being diagnosed with the disorder.
Most scientists define a premature menopause, or premature ovarian failure (POF), as occurring when a woman’s ovaries stop working before the age of 40, though some studies include women up to the age of 45.
As well as cerebral aneurysm, they are also at greater risk of heart disease – they are 50% more likely to die and 80% more likely to suffer from heart disease than women who go through the menopause between the ages of 52 to 55.
A study last year by Imperial College London found that women who had early menopause were also twice as likely to have a poor quality of life in health terms.
U.S. doctors have discovered that women who go through a premature menopause are more likely to suffer a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage or a cerebral aneurysm
Another study, by the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., found that affected women had a greater risk of dying early, developing heart disease, neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, psychiatric disorders and osteoporosis.
Women were particularly likely to die early or develop heart disease if they’d not been taking HRT following their early menopause, said the researchers.
“These recent studies are telling us what we have suspected for some time, but until now no one has done the work to quantify it,” says Dr. Kevin Harrington, a consultant gynaecologist at the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London.
The trigger for all this is dramatically falling levels of the hormone oestrogen.
“Oestrogen plays a very important role in maintaining the health of all the connective tissues in the body,” Dr. Kevin Harrington says.
“This includes blood vessels, skin, ligaments and bones.”
The deteriorating quality of the blood vessels in the brain is responsible for conditions such as strokes. Low oestrogen affects connective tissues in the eyes and mouth, too, which is why these patients are more prone to gum disease, tooth loss and cataracts.
The thyroid gland can also be affected, says Dr. Kevin Harrington.
This is possibly because auto-immune diseases are thought to be a major cause of premature menopause.
“It may be the kind of person whose body produces antibodies that attack the ovaries is also prone to producing antibodies that attack the thyroid.”
Lifestyle may be to blame. The Imperial College study found a link with smoking.
Further research last year also suggested a link between premature menopause and PFCs – chemicals found in non-stick pans and food packaging. The women with the highest levels of PFCs in their body had the lowest levels of oestrogen in their blood.
Genetics may play a part, too, with women more likely to go through early menopause if their mother did. However, doctors say more research is needed.
Furthermore, the success in treating cancer in children, adolescents and women of child-bearing age might lie behind some cases of POF – for instance, premature menopause can be a side-effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Clearly early diagnosis is key, yet despite improved recognition of POF, campaigners say much more could be done.
A recent British Menopause Society report noted some doctors were still unaware of the need to protect prematurely menopausal women against future illness and called for the creation of a national register of all such patients to ensure they receive correct advice and care.
Campaigners are also calling for HRT to be made free of prescription charge for women who’ve suffered a premature menopause.
Texan model Lauren Scruggs, who had her left eye and arm chopped off after she walked into a plane propeller last year, has now learned how to drive a stick shift.
Despite her life-changing injuries – she suffered a fractured skull, a broken collarbone and brain injuries during the horrific accident – Lauren Scruggs, 23, is determined to lead a normal life.
Lauren Scruggs made the announcement on Twitter on Monday.
“Randomly learned how to drive a stick shift today. It’s kind of exhilarating,” the former model posted.
Lauren Scruggs released the cover to her upcoming autobiography last month, a testament to the fact that she is moving on with her life.
Her parents confirmed in April that she was working with a journalist to help her write about the life-changing incident.
On May 15, Lauren Scruggs tweeted a picture of the cover, and affirmed her ever-present Christian faith has played a guiding role in her recovery.
She wrote: “Humbled & thankful to share the journey God has chosen 4 me. Hope it helps others learn, as I have, that He is enough.”
Lauren Scruggs released the cover to her upcoming autobiography last month, a testament to the fact that she is moving on with her life
The cover shows Lauren Scruggs wearing a yellow top with her long blonde hair covering her left eye, which was replaced with a glass substitute after her real eye had to be removed due to the accident.
In the memoir, entitled Still Lolo, Lauren Scruggs will write alongside New York Times writer Marcus Brotherton about that fateful night of December 3, 2011.
The book, slated for release this November, will also contain segments on faith and Christian belief.
Lauren Scruggs signed with Tyndale Momentum, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers who will be producing the reflective autobiography.
Though the book’s title makes a reference to the model’s nickname, there will also be excerpts from her parents, Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs.
The book deal, whose value is still unknown, is not the only financial gain that Lauren Scruggs will be receiving out of the incident.
It is rumored that Lauren Scruggs settled with the plane’s insurance company for more than $1 million.
According to the Courthouse News Service, the plane which injured the model was insured by Aggressive Insurance Services, along with a separate plane owned by the pilot Curt Richmond, a friend of the Scruggs family from Dallas, Texas.
Curt Richmond’s policy extended to other planes he pilots, the service said. Both have a $100,000 limit for passengers riding in the planes.
The report stated that Curt Richmond’s insurance “verbally offered” to pay Lauren Scruggs $200,000 after the December 3 accident.
Lauren Scruggs almost lost her life when she walked into the plane propeller after taking a short flight to see the Dallas Christmas lights from the sky.
She suffered a fractured skull, broken collarbone, brain injuries and lost her left hand. Two weeks after the tragic accident, doctors decided that they had to remove Lauren’s eye.
Speaking on Good Morning America in early April, her father said that his daughter recalls nothing of walking into the plane’s propeller.
“She has the courage to wake up every day and do what she needs to do,” Cheryl Scruggs told GMA.
“She’s doing remarkable.”
Jeff Scruggs chipped in, saying their daughter is still the same buoyant person.
“She has the same spunk, the same personality.”
Katie Couric, GMA’s guest host at the time, asked if Lauren Scruggs has any memory of the accident.
Jeff Scruggs responded: “The last thing she remembers is getting out of the plane.”
She first proudly displayed her prosthetic eye while out and about last month after she was pictured leaving the gym with her mother.
Her mother Cheryl Scruggs has written on the devoutly Christian family’s Caring Bridge website: “How blessed we are to see God’s Presence in Lo every single day. We never take this for granted.
“We are blessed beyond measure; blessed beyond our wildest dreams. Easy to say, hard to live.
“Not all of it appears, externally, as blessing, but <<we know that all things work together for those who love God>>, and we believe this is true.”
“I don’t know how to thank each one of you, properly, for so much love during this difficult incident in my life,” Lauren Scruggs wrote in January.
“My heart is so grateful beyond what I could ever imagine.
“Thank you dearly for the sweet encouragements, the precious words in letters and messages, the beautiful grace in pretty presents.
“But mostly I am so so thankful for you and your loving hearts and sweet spirits.”
Taking a cue from New York City’s proposed ban on sugary drinks, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is looking to pass a similar crackdown to combat obesity and diabetes.
Residents of Cambridge may have to sacrifice larger portions of soft drinks in its battle of the bulge, nearly a month after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made national headlines with his own proposal.
Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis submitted the proposal at a city council meeting on Monday night.
The size limit on the drinks was not mentioned in her resolution, but it’s expected to follow Bloomberg’s limit of 16 ounces.
Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis told WHDH: “When people are served these gigantic portions of soda in bottomless cups, sometimes it’s just more than people are able to resist.”
Taking a cue from New York City's proposed ban on sugary drinks, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is looking to pass a similar crackdown to combat obesity and diabetes
Also like Michael Bloomberg’s resolution, the Davis’ measure has ignited a heated discussion.
Axis Sivitz, 25, of Cambridge, told The Boston Globe that he supports the ban, saying: “When faced with a health crisis, you have to do something about it.”
Sophia Talamasm, 29, told the paper she is against Henrietta Davis’ proposal.
She said: “Sometimes you need a soda.”
Cambridge is home to Harvard University, where Michael Bloomberg got his MBA degree.
New York City opened the issue for public debate after Michael Bloomberg pitched the crackdown to the city council late last month.
While Michael Bloomberg has faced uproar in New York over the ban, polls show that New Yorkers are mostly split on the issue.
The city Board of Health, which is appointed by the mayor, is expected to approve the measure after a three-month comment period.
It could take effect as early as March, unless the critics who accuse Michael Bloomberg of instituting a “nanny state” can get the courts or state lawmakers to intervene.
Last week, the legality of such a crackdown was called into question.
It’s not just businesses and industry groups that could sue. In theory, any individual affected by the ban could bring a legal challenge.
But it wouldn’t be enough to simply claim that the ban infringes on personal freedom, said Rick Hills, a New York University law professor specializing in local government law and New York City.
And Rick Hills said that opponents would have to do more than argue that the law affects one source of sugar more than others.
Courts, he said, have repeatedly ruled that the government can try to eradicate societal ills one step at a time.
Dr. Gabriele Jordan, a researcher at the Institute of Neuroscience in UK, claims she has found a woman who has the ability to view 99 million more colors than the average human being.
Vision is one of the most complicated of the senses, and how the eyes perceive color is broken down by ocular cells called cones.
Most people have three types of cones, and are known as being trichromatic.
Individuals who are color blind have only two types of cones, making them dichromatic.
According to Discover magazine, Dr. Gabriele Jordan has spent the last 20 years on a mission to find the tetrachromat – an individual with four types of cones – and an ability to view 100 million colors.
While Dr. Gabriele Jordan and her team found several tetrachromats, only one could pass her test, which included showing three colored circles with a difference that no one but a true tetrachromat could detect.
Dr. Gabriele Jordan claims she has found a woman who has the ability to view 99 million more colors than the average human being
That woman, who has only been identified as subject cDa29, is a doctor living in northern England – but others may be out there.
Dr. Gabriele Jordan told Discover magazine that the findings had her “jumping up and down”.
But with their tetrachromat comes a conundrum: How is one woman’s vision so advanced when others with the same four cones were not?
She told the magazine: “We now know tetrachromacy exists. But we don’t know what allows someone to become functionally tetrachromatic, when most four-coned women aren’t.”
And why not men? Research on color blindness dating back to 1948 found the condition appeared to run in families, but didn’t affect women.
Dutch scientist H.L. de Vries, who wrote the paper, suggested that females recognized color differently, thanks to that fourth cone.
According to new reports, corset sales are booming, part of a massive trend for body shaping underwear, but the peaks and troughs of demand tell a story about feminism and body image over the past 200 years.
Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Miley Cyrus – there’s quite a list of performers with a history of taking to the stage in a corset.
But sales figures suggest ordinary people are turning to one of the greatest symbols of the Victorian era. Corsets are making a comeback.
Rigby & Peller, the Queen’s brassiere-maker, says sales of traditional corsets in May were 45% up on 2011.
Ebay has reported a 185% rise in the number of corsets being sold over the last three months, with 1,900 listed over the period. It says most corsets are bought in the UK (40%), the US (34%) and Australia (8.6%).
Marks & Spencer says it sells one item from its new corset-inspired Waist Sculpt lingerie line every three minutes.
On one level, the rise in recent corset sales is a simple question of fashion. The boom in burlesque over the last seven or eight years and the popularity of the 1950s look on both sides of the Atlantic has made the corset desirable to some.
“It seems that vintage styling is no longer reserved to vintage queens and retrophiles, thanks to the burlesque explosion, TV programmes like Mad Men, films like My Week With Marilyn,” says Maz Spencer, of London boutique lingerie store What Katie Did.
“Women now seem aware that they need correct shapewear in order to achieve that vintage silhouette, and preferably they would rather go for a solution piece which looks desirable – as opposed to unattractive beige spandex pants.”
Then there is the impact of the “underwear as outwear” trend, says Rigby & Peller creative director Nicky Clayton.
Nicky Clayton says fashion frequently oscillates between slim and more curvaceous body shapes.
Corset sales are booming, part of a massive trend for body shaping underwear
But the rise and fall of the corset – which has been around in one form or another for hundreds of years – also tells a tale of feminism and changing body image.
In Victorian times, most well-to-do women wore one under their dress.
But in the 20th Century, the Victorian corset came to be regarded by many as physically oppressive and even associated with women’s inferior status. At one point, it nearly disappeared.
During WWI, there was a practical assault on the corset. With many women working, a constraining undergarment was unhelpful and in parts of the US, women were told to stop buying corsets as the metal was needed. At the same time, the bra started appearing on the scene.
Alison McCann, curator of the 2010 Undercover exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum, says the rejection of the corset was almost an extension of the Suffragette movement.
“Women started taking ownership of underwear, and designing what they wanted to wear,” she says.
Fashion trends also saw corsets being cast off. The popularity of Coco Chanel’s 1920s creations saw relaxed fashions and flapper dresses, making the flattened female form, or boyish look, more desirable.
There was a brief return to female curves and waist-nipping corsets in the 1950s, when Christian Dior’s “new look” became fashionable, as women sought a glamorous look after the austerity of WWII.
But the 1960s saw women get rid of girdles and garter belts en masse at a time of burgeoning female empowerment.
Of course some women, particularly those who went for a gothic or punk look, have claimed corsets as a subversive statement for years.
Man-made fibres had changed the make-up of corsets over the years, making them more comfortable. But McCann suggests it was not until Madonna made headlines with her corset-inspired stage outfit during her Blond Ambition tour in 1990 that most women started being interested in them again.
Then came the boom of the burlesque scene in the 2000s which saw the corset reincarnated as a symbol of sexual empowerment.
“Technology made corsets beautiful but functional at the same time. Now women are buying corsets to express their individuality, it’s experimental,” she says.
However other commentators argue that a time when women are, on average, larger than ever, the corset revival is down to something else entirely.
Waist sizes are getting bigger. A 2001 UK National Sizing Survey found that the average female waist size had increased by 16.5 cm since the 1950s – rising from an average 28 in waist to 34 in.
And shapewear has been sought after ever since Spanx exploded onto the scene. So are women going to increasingly extreme lengths to get a 1950s waist?
Hannah Almassi, deputy fashion news editor at Grazia, says the magazine has seen a particular type of corset, called fajas – the Spanish word for wrap – become much more popular recently.
“They’re a compression corset originally created for patients to wear after liposuction. They come from Colombia and whilst they aren’t a new invention, the way girls are using them is.
“They aren’t a traditional type of lace-up whalebone corset, it’s more of a girdle and the effect is created by the highly elastic compression fabric that sucks everything in,” she says.
Hannah Almassi says there have always been ways of manipulating body image in fashion, “whether that’s flapper girls bandaging their breasts to fit the boyish mode or the crazy shoulder pads of the ’80s”. So in some ways corsets are the next generation.
Designers such as Prada and Louis Vuitton have put corsets and the 50s silhouette on a pedestal, but more mundane clothing chains have brought the look to the masses, Nicky Clayton says.
“The traditional corsets have steel boning in them – they ‘knee in the back’ and have a proper lace up – but technical development has meant other corsets still have the waist-nipping beautiful contouring, but garments are more comfortable.
“Of course in the 50s, all the beautiful red carpet dresses – Dior and Oscar de la Renta – had powerful mesh and waist tapes inside them. Today’s ready-to-wear isn’t made like that, so people are turning to corsets and control wear to do that job,” she says.
Nicky Clayton says Rigby & Peller’s Spanx sales have doubled since May 2011.
She says women are also feeling more liberated.
“Barriers have been broken down. It was a bit of a faux pas before, women didn’t want to be seen shopping for corsets or control wear. Now they are happy to come in and ask,” she says.
