Kate Moss emerged from Mexican restaurant La Bodega Negra in London on Thursday night with her flies undone.
However, the mother-of-one still managed to look effortlessly cool as she left the London eatery with husband Jamie Hince.
Kate Moss, 38, teamed the blue denim jeans with a smart black blazer, a matching vest top and a pair of black heeled ankle boots.
The Croydon-born star appeared a little unsteady on her feet, and as they made their way to their car Jamie Hince put a protective arm around his wife.
Kate Moss emerged from Mexican restaurant La Bodega Negra in London on Thursday night with her flies undone
Earlier on in the night, the happy couple had headed to the Soho Theatre to cheer on Sadie Frost as she made her return to the stage.
Kate Moss was joined by British rocker Ronnie Wood who also attended the press night for Sadie Frost’s latest role in the one woman musical Touched…Like A Virgin.
As the three good friends posed for a photo after the show, Sadie Frost couldn’t hide her happiness.
Wearing a simple black on black ensemble and adding a splash of color with a thin scarlet waist belt, Sadie Frost mingled with her friends at the drinks reception that followed.
Ronnie Wood was dressed causal in a printed shirt and a pair of black trousers and also flashed a huge grin for the camera.
Turkish doctors have carried out the world’s first successful womb transplant in a breakthrough that could allow thousands of young women to fulfill their dream of motherhood.
Derya Sert, a young Turkish woman who was born without a womb, received a healthy organ in a seven-hour operation.
Scans show her new womb, which came from a woman who had died in a car crash, to be healthy and working well.
Derya Sert, 22, is due to start IVF treatment in Turkey in September in the hope of conceiving a longed-for child.
She said: “People ask me now if I want a boy or a girl, but it doesn’t make any difference to me, I just want a child a healthy baby.
“If I had a magic wand, I would want to be pregnant now. I just want to hold my baby in my arms, to be a mother.”
Her surgeon, who believes womb transplants will become common in the future, said that some women’s desire to be pregnant is so overwhelming that they would take any risk – even death – to have a child.
Risks range from rejection of the new womb, to potentially fatal complications of pregnancy. Any baby will have to be delivered by caesarean section and the drugs needed to prevent the womb being rejected can raise the risk of cancer and trigger illnesses such as diabetes.
Derya Sert, the first woman in the world who received a womb from a cadaver in a seven-hour operation
Womb transplants have been carried out successfully in animals including mice, rats and sheep, who then went on to have offspring.
The operation has been done on a woman once before, in Saudi Arabia in 2000.
But the donated womb, taken from a living donor, withered after three months because the blood vessels used to connect it were too narrow and became blocked by clots.
In August last year, Derya Sert became the first woman in the world to receive a womb from a dead donor.
Using a dead donor allowed her doctors at Akdeniz University Hospital in the Turkish city of Antalya to remove the extra tissue and large blood vessels needed to give the womb a reliable blood supply.
Like one in every 5,000 women, Derya Sert, a housewife married to a car mechanic, was born without a womb. She had never had periods, but her ovaries were healthy and she could produce eggs.
Raised in Anamur, a traditional, conservative town in the country’s southern tip, the farmer’s daughter found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that she would never become pregnant and appealed to doctors for help.
The operation involved leading plastic surgeon Omer Ozkan, seven other doctors and another seven medical staff.
Derya Sert spent six months in hospital and was given powerful immunosuppressant drugs to stop her body rejecting the new womb.
Her periods started three weeks after the operation, a signal that the new womb is working well. Scans show its lining to be healthy. The true test of success will come in September, when up to two of the eight embryos created from Derya Sert’s eggs and her husband’s sperm, and frozen ahead of the transplant, will be inserted into her womb.
Derya Sert said: “We could be so happy if I could be a hope for other women. I wish for them to have the baby they long for.”
Her husband Mustafa, 35, said: “If the baby is a boy, we will name him after our doctor.”
Dr. Omer Ozkan, who has just carried out a full face transplant, has been contacted by women from all over the world desperate to have womb transplants.
But he does not plan to do another of the operations until he has seen if Derya Sert is able to have a healthy baby.
Dr. Omer Ozkan said: “This is the first successful womb transplant but the most difficult stage still lies ahead – learning if the patient can become pregnant and have a baby.”
In Sweden, surgeons at the University of Gothenburg have been given the go-ahead to carry out living transplants in which a mother gives her womb to her daughter.
In UK, Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at Imperial College London, could be ready to operate on British women, using wombs from dead donors, in two to three years. More than 50 potential patients have already come forward.
Beyonce took the stage in Atlantic City, New Jersey, last night for the first time since giving birth to daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
Showing off her post-baby curves in a showgirl-style, fringed bra let and tiny shorts, Beyonce, 30,wowed the sold-out crowd on the first of a three-night stint at the Revel Resort & Casino in Atlantic City.
Supporting her from the wings was her rapper husband Jay-Z, who recently returned from the London leg of his Watch The Thrones tour with Kanye West.
Under his Twitter name Mr. Carter, Jay-Z wrote: “I’m gonna say this and then I’m gonna end mine. BEYONCE is the best performer in the world. Period.”
The gig marked Beyonce’s first concert since giving birth to their daughter Blue Ivy in January, following her last gig at the MTV Video Music Awards last August – the same day she confirmed her pregnancy.
Beyonce took the stage in Atlantic City, New Jersey, last night for the first time since giving birth to daughter Blue Ivy Carter
Speaking to the 5,500 fans at the Ovation Hall in the Revel, Beyonce said: “I gotta say, it feels so good to be back home on stage.”
However, she didn’t bring up her new life as motherhood too often, except for a fleeting glimpse of Beyonce cradling her daughter in a video montage on the screen behind her.
Her sexy costumes were custom-made by London design house Ralph & Russo, who used 500,000 Swarovski Elements crystals to create the look.
Ralph & Russo designer Tamara Ralph told People magazine: “Beyoncé wanted us to be really creative and create fun and edgy designs that had an ultra-glamorous feel to them.”
During the set, Beyonce performed a selection of her biggest hits, including Crazy In Love, Love On Top, Irresistible and If I Were A Boy.
The singer paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston with a cover of I Will Always Love You and closed the concert with Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).
Critics and fans were unanimously impressed, with USA Today’s Elysa Gardner writing: “Backed by an all-female band and a tireless posse of dancers and backup vocalists, Beyonce reasserted her unique pop persona; she was at once angel and seductress, cool diva and woman of the people.”
Also in the crowd were Beyonce’s former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland and Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks.
Ahead of the concert, Beyonce posted a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube featuring her rehearsals for the concerts, admitting she was “nervous” about returning to the stage.
She said: “I’m enjoying being a mother so it’s like going back to my old job, and it’s a little strange.
“But it’s important that you don’t lose yourself and still have your own passions. And so I’m back to work, I’m back to business.”
Ford Spain has created a perfume called Olor a Nuevo (which means “smells new”) – the scent of new car.
The fragrance forms the keynote of the car manufacturer’s new olfactory campaign, designed in association with Ogilvy Madrid to promote its Seleccion line of used cars.
It is promoting the range on the promise that these are “the only used cars that smell new.”
Ford Spain has created a perfume called Olor a Nuevo (which means “smells new”), the scent of new car
The idea is that the fragrance is spritzed on the interior of used cars to make them smell showroom fresh, eliminating the musty scent associated with buying an Arthur Daley style used car.
Ford Spain produced tongue-in-cheek radio and television commercials involving actual phone calls with used-car salespeople.
When asked if the cars they sold would smell new, every one of them said no.
Ford then also produced bottles of the scent and came up with an aromatic marketing campaign in which scented cards were hung inside public transport.
Olor a Nuevo is not the first bizarre scent to hit the market, with zany scientists Air Aroma recently recreating the scent of a new Apple product.
It certainly beats a cardboard pine tree dangling from your rear view mirror, but we don’t think anyone will be mistaking it for Tom Ford’s award- winning Violet Blonde any time soon.
Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict’s butler, has been formally named as a suspect in the Vatican’s inquiry into a series of media leaks from the Church’s highest levels.
Vatican magistrates accused Paolo Gabriele, 46, of illegal possession of confidential documents.
A series of leaks, dubbed Vatileaks, has revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to find the source.
Paolo Gabriele is the pope’s personal butler and assistant and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope’s private apartments.
He lives with his wife and three children in an apartment within the Vatican walls, where Italian media report that a stash of confidential documents had been discovered.
“I confirm that the person detained on Wednesday for illegal possession of private documents is Mr. Paolo Gabriele, who remains in detention,” the spokesman for the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi said, according to Italy’s state broadcaster, Rai.
Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's butler, has been formally named as a suspect in the Vatican's inquiry into a series of media leaks from the Church's highest levels
Father Federico Lombardi added that now the initial stage of the process was complete, Paolo Gabriele had nominated two lawyers capable of representing him at a Vatican Tribunal, and had met with them.
He would, the Vatican spokesman added, have “all the juridical guarantees foreseen by the criminal code of the State of Vatican City”.
As the Vatican has no jail, Paolo Gabriele is being held in one of the three so-called “secure rooms” in the offices of the Vatican’s tiny police force inside the walled city-state, Reuters reports.
If convicted, Paolo Gabriele could face a sentence of up to 30 years for illegal possession of documents of a head of state, probably to be served in an Italian prison due to an agreement between Italy and the Vatican, Italian media report.
The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media – dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.
The detention comes during one of the most tumultuous weeks in recent history for the Vatican.
Last week a book, entitled His Holiness, was published by an Italian journalist with reproductions of confidential letters and memos between the pope and his personal secretary.
The Vatican called the book “criminal” and vowed to take legal action against the author, publisher, and whoever leaked the documents.
Last Thursday, the president of the Vatican bank – Ettore Gotti Tedeschi – was ousted by the bank’s board.
Sources close to the investigation said he too had been found to have leaked documents, though the official reason for his departure was that he had failed to do his job.
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi himself said the move had been a punishment for his attempt to make the bank more open.
The leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.
The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict XVI by the Vatican’s current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.
Others concern “poison pen” memos criticizing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
Thousands of websites in Europe are expected to be in breach of a law that dictates what they can log about visitors.
European laws that define what details sites can record in text files called cookies come into force on 26 May.
Cookies are widely used to customize what repeat visitors see on a site and by advertisers to track users online.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it would offer help to non-compliant sites rather than take legal action against them.
The regulations say websites must get “informed consent” from users before they record any detailed information in the cookies they store on visitors’ computers.
Among websites that have complied with the law, getting consent has involved a pop-up box that explains the changes. Users are then asked to click to consent to having information recorded and told what will happen if they refuse.
Thousands of websites in Europe are expected to be in breach of a law that dictates what they can log about visitors
The ICO has also updated its policy to allow organizations to use “implied consent” to comply. This means users do not have to make an explicit choice. Instead, their continued use of a site would be taken to mean they are happy for information to be gathered.
However, it was a “concern” for the ICO that so many sites were not yet compliant, said Dave Evans, group manager at the ICO who has led its work on cookies in the last 18 months. However, he added, it was not necessarily easy for companies to comply with the laws because of the amount of work it involved.
On busy sites, he said, an audit of current cookie practices could take time because of the sheer number of cookie files they regularly issue, monitor and update.
Dave Evans said the ICO was expecting sites that were not compliant to be able to demonstrate what work they had done in the last year to get ready.
Fines for non-compliance were unlikely to be levied, he said, because there was little risk that a non-compliant site would cause a serious breach of data protection laws that was likely to cause substantial damage and distress to a user.
It was planning to use formal undertakings or enforcement notices to make sites take action, he said.
“Those are setting out the steps we think they need to take in order to become compliant and when we expect them to be taking those steps,” he said.
“If they comply with one of those notices or sign one of those undertakings they are committing to doing this properly and that’s the main point.”
As well as advising firms, the ICO has also issued guidance to the public that explains what cookies are, how to change cookie settings and how to complain if they are worried about a site’s policy.
Egyptians will choose between Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, a candidate from the Mubarak-era regime, when the presidential election goes to a run-off, state media confirm.
Mohammed Mursi has a slight lead on former PM Ahmed Shafiq with a reported 25.3% of votes against 24.9%.
The two represent forces that have battled each other for decades.
The second round in Egypt’s first free presidential polls is on 16-17 June.
Voting in the first round took place peacefully on Wednesday and Thursday.
The official results will be announced on Tuesday, but state media have been reporting tallies from polling stations around the country and have now confirmed the two frontrunners.
The vote was hailed as a historic achievement by international observers but many Egyptians – particularly supporters of the revolution – will find the choice they have been left with most unappealing.
Egyptians will choose between Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, a candidate from the Mubarak-era regime, when the presidential election goes to a run-off
A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood said Egypt would be “in danger” if Ahmed Shafiq won, and the group would reach out to other candidates to defeat him.
Warning of “determined efforts to recreate the old regime”, the Brotherhood urged parties that supported the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak to unite around their candidate.
They have invited a range of opposition figures to a meeting on Saturday.
Both the Brotherhood and Shafiq campaigns have accused each other of “stealing” the revolution.
Ahmed Shafiq spokesman Ahmed Sarhan urged pro-revolutionaries to vote for his candidate, saying that while his programme was about “the future”, the Brotherhood’s was about “an Islamic empire”.
The polarized choice remaining in the run-off suggests Egypt could be entering a new period of confrontation.
Ahmed Khairy, spokesman for the Free Egyptians Party, a secular liberal party which emerged last year, said the outcome of the first round was “the worst possible scenario”, reported Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram.
He described Mohammed Mursi as an “Islamic fascist” and Ahmed Shafiq as a “military fascist”.
The pro-revolution vote was split, the reported results suggest, between leftist Hamdin Sabbahi (third with 21.5%) and a moderate Islamist who broke with the Brotherhood, Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh (fourth with about 19%).
Hamdin Sabbahi dominated in many urban areas, including Alexandria, local reports suggested.
Former Arab league chief Amr Moussa trailed in fifth place.
Mohammed Mursi and ahmed Shafiq represent very different strands of Egyptian society.
Mohammed Mursi is seen as belonging to a popular strand of political Islam that was excluded from the political process for many years under Hosni Mubarak.
Ahmed Shafiq, who served briefly as Hosni Mubarak’s prime minister, is regarded by many as a creature of the old secular regime.
Analysts say he drew his support from people fearful of an Islamist takeover, and those exhausted by the upheavals of the past 16 months.
About 50 million people were eligible to vote in the polls, in which 13 candidates were vying for the presidency.
It was the country’s first freely contested presidential election in its history, and observers said it had been conducted peacefully.
The military body that assumed presidential power in February 2011 – the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) – has promised a fair vote and civilian rule.
Until a new constitution is approved it is unclear what powers the president will have, prompting fears of friction with a military which seems determined to retain its powerful position.
Many Egyptians have grown frustrated with the pace of change in their country following the revolution, as the economy languishes, public services break down and crime levels rise.
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, has turned down a payout worth about $75 million.
Apple will pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share from July, the first time the technology giant has declared a dividend since 1995.
But a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Tim Cook will not take up his dividends.
A newspaper recently said that Tim Cook was the best-paid boss in the US with an income of more than $300 million.
“At Mr. Cook’s request, none of his restricted stock units will participate in dividend equivalents,” the filing said. It did not say why.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tim Cook made $378 million last year, most of which came from a grant of one million shares awarded.
His base salary is $900,000. His predecessor, Steve Jobs, famously had an annual salary of $1.
A regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Tim Cook will not take up his Apple dividends
Earlier this week, Apple’s lead designer Jonathan Ive was knighted.
The Briton – responsible for the designs behind iconic products like Apple’s iPod, iPhone and iPad – also reaffirmed his desire to stay at the company.
Since the death of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and figurehead, many have speculated that the company might struggle to maintain its reputation for innovative products and would face an exodus of top talent.
That has not happened yet as Apple has sought to lock in people like Tim Cook and Sir Jonathan Ive through long-term stock options.
Apple has about $110 billion in cash. In March, the tech giant said it would use its cash to start paying a dividend to shareholders and to buy back some of its shares.
It expects to use $45 billion over the next three years.
Earlier this year, Apple’s shares touched a high of $644, surpassing $600 billion in market value and making the company the world’s most valuable firm.
Since then, Apple shares have dropped to $562 each, making the company worth $525 billion.
A photograph of a woman recovering from a lung operation has gone viral after hundreds of thousands of viewers are clicking on to see Rachel, whose surname is not known, because she is ridiculously photogenic.
Rachel, 28, posted a photo of herself in hospital on the “Ask Me Anything” section of Reddit.
The young woman is pictured in bed in the ICU at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, after 60% of her lung was removed.
The army wife was diagnosed with congenital emphysema after contracting pneumonia.
Over 400,000 have seen the picture in just two days and it has been shared thousands of times.
In the image, Rachel is clutching a big fluffy heart that says “Lose 60% of her lung…wins 100% of my heart”.
Rachel, 28, posted a photo of herself in hospital on the “Ask Me Anything” section of Reddit
Rachel, who uses the tag WhosThatGirl_ItsRach, says she is flattered by all the attention.
“People have been saying so many nice things about me the last few days,” Rachel told Yahoo.
“I’ve never felt more beautiful,” she said.
The attention is a boost to the patient who only a few days before the picture went viral was speaking openly about the pain she’d been experiencing on the website’s message board.
“They stopped my epidural for awhile [sic] yesterday. I wanted to die. My incisions and tubes and lungs were on fire. I wanted to scream but moving and making noise made it worse. I thought I was going to pass out from holding my breath. I’m scared right now,” she wrote.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m just SO afraid. It’s making me cry thinking about it. I feel so helpless right now. Yesterday was agony.”
Now Rachel is enjoying replying to more positive posts.
“Damn, I wish I had looked this good after my surgeries,” says one comment.
“As a woman my first thought was <<Fake. No one looks that good after surgery!>>. You are beautiful! Good luck with the recovery :)” said another.
Rachel’s ability to look fantastic despite the odds has her in good company.
The story is just like that of Zeddie Watkins Little who meant nothing to the average American until a picture of the 25-year-old was posted on the web as he ran a 10k run in March.
Next thing Zeddie Watkins Little, who is from Charleston, South Carolina, knew he was on morning television as “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy”.
“I find the humor in all of it, it’s funny. I feel honored to be part of a joke that’s in good spirits because the Internet can be a little vicious,” he said on the television show.
His photo was viewed on Facebook 1.25 million times in the two weeks after it was posted on the social networking site on March 31.
A gunman fired from the rooftop of a house in Hyvinkaa, a southern Finnish town, killing two people and injuring seven others, the authorities have said.
Police arrested an 18-year-old man suspected of the shootings in Hyvinkaa, 50 km (30 miles) north of Helsinki.
A man and a woman, both 18 years old, were killed in the incident. A police officer was among the wounded.
Some of the injured were said to be in a serious condition and have been taken to Helsinki for emergency treatment.
Local media reported that a man in combat fatigues opened fire on crowds in the early hours.
A gunman fired from the rooftop of a house in Hyvinka killing two people and injuring seven others
MTV3 channel said the man used a rifle and fled shortly after the incident.
Eyewitnesses spoke of panic as they were shut inside bars and clubs for hours while police searched the area.
Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen said the suspect was arrested several hours later and offered no resistance.
“The man was found with two weapons… including a hunting rifle,” he said.
The police have not publicly commented on a possible motive for the crime.
Finland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe.
However, a series of mass shootings prompted the government to tighten the rules last June.
The police said the Hyvinkaa suspect had no license for his weapons.
A new book by biographer David Maraniss that delves into Barack Obama’s teenage years gives fresh insight into the president’s marijuana-smoking days as a high school student in the 1970s.
The book reveals how a teen Barack Obama and his friends formed The Choom Gang – slang for smoking marijuana – in which he invented inhaling techniques and rode a car called the Choomwagon.
In the book, Barack Obama: The Story, David Maraniss calls the future president “Barry” and reveals he “was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends”.
One was “total absorption” or “TA”, the rules of which stated that if you exhaled early, “you were assessed a penalty and your turn was skipped the next time the joint came around”.
Another idea was “Roof Hits” – rolling up car windows to stop smoke blowing out and going to waste.
“When the pot was gone, they tilted their heads back and sucked in the last bit of smoke from the ceiling,” David Maraniss writes in the book, excerpted on Google Books and due out June 19.
“Wasting good bud smoke was not tolerated,” an old school friend told the author.
And if that rule didn’t give enough of an insight into how much Barack Obama loved his marijuana, David Maraniss goes on to reveal he was known for his “interceptions” when a joint was being passed around.
“He often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted <<intercepted>>, and took an extra hit,” David Maraniss writes.
In the book, Barack Obama The Story, David Maraniss calls the future president “Barry” and reveals he “was known for starting a few pot-smoking trends”
The anecdotes are from Barack Obama’s time studying at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii and Occidental College in Los Angeles.
It is not the first time the spotlight has fallen on his teenage use of marijuana. In his 1995 autobiography, Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama made the admission himself.
Barack Obama wrote about some of his smoking haunts, including “a white classmate’s sparkling new van”, “in the dorm room of some brother” and “on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids”.
“Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it,” Barack Obama adds in the memoir.
But David Maraniss is quick to point out that Barack Obama was surrounded with the drug in Hawaii – where a wide selection of varieties were on offer – and that “Barry” did not fit the stereotype of a teen pot smoker.
“In fact, most members of the Choom Gang were decent students and athletes who went on to successful and productive lawyers, writers and businessmen,” David Maraniss writes.
But they weren’t all destined for great futures. Ray, who dealt pot to the group and was known for his ability “to score quality bud”, was later killed by a “scorned gay lover” armed with a hammer.
Ray gets another mention in Barack Obama’s school yearbook as the teenager wrote his thanks to: “Tut [his grandmother], Gramps, Choom Gang, and Ray for all the good times.”
One of Barack Obama’s friends, Mark Bendix, had a Volkswagen microbus that they called “the Choomwagon”, the book continues, and they would use it to drive up Mount Tantalus in Honolulu.
Once parked, they “turned up their stereos playing Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult and Stevie Wonder, lit up some <<sweet-sticky Hawaiian buds>> and washed it down with <<green bottled beer>> (the Choom Gang preferred Heineken, Becks, and St. Pauli Girl)”.
The book also documents Barack Obama’s early democratic leanings, explaining that the group operated by consensus and any member could veto a suggestion.
“Whenever an idea was broached, someone could hold up his hand in the V sign (a backward peace sign of that era) and indicate that the motion was not approved.
“They later shortened the process so that you could just shout <<V>> to get the point across,” he wrote.
As well as in Dreams from My Father – in which he wrote he “got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind” – Barack Obama has been forthcoming about his use of marijuana.
When Bill Clinton’s claimed that he had tried marijuana but insisted he “didn’t inhale” in 2006, Barack Obama said: “That was the point, wasn’t it?”
Yet since coming into power in 2008, Barack Obama’s support for the substance has waned, enforcing strict penalties for drug use – that would have prevented his presidency if he himself had been caught.
A research team has discovered that the mysterious heads on Easter Island have full bodies, extending down many, many feet into the ground of the island.
The Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) has been carefully excavating two of 1,000-plus statues on the islands – doing their best to uncover the secrets of the mysterious stones, and the people who built them.
Project director Jo Anne Van Tilburg said: “Our EISP excavations recently exposed the torsos of two 7 m tall statues.
“Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of visitors to the island have been astonished to see that, indeed, Easter Island statues have bodies!
“More important, however, we discovered a great deal about the Rapa Nui techniques of ancient engineering.”
The Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) has been carefully excavating two of 1,000-plus statues on the islands, doing their best to uncover the secrets of the mysterious stones, and the people who built them
Among their discoveries, the team has discovered:
• The dirt and detritus partially burying the statues was washed down from above and not deliberately placed there to bury, protect, or support the statues
• The statues were erected in place and stand on stone pavements
• Post holes were cut into bedrock to support upright tree trunks
• Rope guides were cut into bedrock around the post holes
• Posts, ropes, stones, and different types of stone tools were all used to carve and raise the statues upright
The remote island – one of the remotest in the world, tucked away in the South Pacific Ocean – was once home to a Polynesian population, whose history remains mysterious.
They likely sailed to the islands in canoes – a 1,500-mile journey over the open waters, and then, once they landed, they began relentlessly carving the stone statues.
This led to their own downfall: By the time Europeans discovered the island in the 1700s, the population had decimated nearly all the trees in the island to help with the statue construction, and the knock-on effect on the island’s ecology led to their decline.
The team also discovered that ceremonies were certainly associated with the statues.
On the project website, Jo Anne Van Tilburg said: “We found large quantities of red pigment, some of which may have been used to paint the statues.
“Finally, and perhaps most poignantly, we found in the pavement under one statue a single stone carved with a crescent symbol said to represent a canoe, or vaka.
“The backs of both statues are covered with petroglyphs, many of which are also vaka. A direct connection between the vaka symbol and the identity of the artist or group owning the statue is strongly suggested.”
Engelbert Humperdinck from UK will open the proceedings as 26 countries compete in the final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Baku tonight.
The 76-year-old singer will be the first to perform in Azerbaijan’s Crystal Hall, with his ballad Love Will Set You Free.
Sweden’s Euphoria – a club hit by singer Loreen that has already topped the charts in four countries – is among the frontrunners for the prize.
A combination of points from televoting and national juries decides the winner.
Each country awards points to 10 competitors based on judges’ scores and a public vote, with 12 points being the maximum awarded.
Earlier this week 37 countries competed in the semi-finals for 20 places, with the Eastern European candidates dominating the list of finalists.
Romania, Serbia and Italy are among those tipped for success. But they will face stiff competition from the Russian “Buranovo Grannies”.
The group comprises six pensioners from a church choir in rural Russia who will perform Party for Everyone, a cross between a traditional folk tune and a dance track.
The grannies include Natalya Pugacheva who, at the age of 77, is the oldest ever participant in the contest.
Buranova Babushkas, a group comprises six pensioners from a church choir in rural Russia, will perform Party for Everyone, a cross between a traditional folk tune and a dance track
Ireland will be represented by pop duo Jedward for the second year running, following the brothers’ finish in eighth place last year.
Their performance of pop track Waterline will end with the 20-year-old Grimes twins jumping into a fountain in the middle of the stage.
The former X Factor contestants described the occasion as “awesome”.
“We’ve bought Eurovision back to the glory days,” John said.
France, Italy, Spain, Germany and the UK automatically qualified for the final as they contributed the most money to the competition. Hosts Azerbaijan also went straight through.
Britain has fared poorly in recent years. The UK has not won since 1997 and has come last three times in the past 10 years.
But there are high hopes for Engelbert Humperdinck – affectionately known as “The Hump” – given his huge global fanbase and strong following in Eastern Europe.
The veteran crooner has received four Grammy nominations and a Golden Globe for Entertainer of the Year.
He is also one of only a handful of artists with a star on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Las Vegas Walk of Fame.
“I never realized the magnitude of it… how big it was,” he said.
“Now I am here I think the responsibility is pretty heavy-duty. But I am really thrilled to representing my country in this contest.
“It’s my job, I am singer and I do have 45 years of experience. So I hope it has some bearing on whatever the results will be.”
The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most watched television events in the world, with 125 million viewers expected to tune in.
The show will kick off at 20:00 BST and finish at 23:15.
Following last year’s unprecedented Eurovision victory in Germany, the Azeri government, eager to boost the oil-rich country’s global image, has poured money into preparations for the contest.
But media attention has proved both positive and negative, with much of the focus on Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record, and protests by democracy campaigners being broken up in the capital Baku.
Eurovision Song Contest
• Created by Marcel Bezencon in 1955
• First held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956, when the winning song was Refrain performed by Lys Assia
• Twenty-six countries are competing in the 2012 final
• Watch clips and find out more at the Eurovision website (www.eurovision.tv)
Janet Jackson arrived at amFAR’s Cinema Against AIDS annual ball at Cannes in a stunning bright white Pucci by Peter Dundas gown that showed off her slim, toned frame.
Janet Jackson, 46, paired the show-stopping number with shoes by Giuseppe Zanotti and jewelry by Pomellato.
The singer has become a spokesperson for NutriSystem after her most recent successful attempt to battle the bulge.
Michael Jackson’s little sister is dedicated to helping others shed weight, as much for their health as anything else as she has admitted that she put her own in danger by being overweight.
Janet Jackson arrived at amFAR's Cinema Against AIDS annual ball at Cannes in a stunning bright white Pucci by Peter Dundas gown that showed off her slim, toned frame
Janet Jackson told Prevention magazine: “Health was always a concern. When I gained weight in 2005, my nutritionist was very worried. I was close to having diabetes.
“Even when I lost it and then gained quite a bit back, there was always the thought of heart disease.”
But Janet Jackson credits her trainer with helping her get motivated, she said: “I don’t like to work out, and I get bored easily. [Trainer] Tony Martinez is great. When I’m getting ready for a tour, I’ll work out with the dancers. He’ll put us in teams and we’ll do all sorts of drills and races.”
The singer adds: “I think people really connect with the idea of someone who’s gained and lost weight in a very public way, and also someone who’s an emotional eater.”
In the commercial, released last month, a newly-slim Janet Jackson said: “This is what success looks like.”
Back in 2006, Janet Jackson weighed 180 lbs before slimming down. However following the death of sibling Michael three years later, she began to pile on the pounds again.
Janet Jackson has championed the brand on Twitter, simply saying: “Nutrisystem works. #SUCCESS”
In her book, True You, release last year, Janet Jackson wrote: “For more than three decades, I’ve struggled with yo-yo dieting. Some of my battles with weight have been very public.
“But most of them have been internal. Even at my thinnest, when my body was being praised, I wasn’t happy with what I saw in the mirror or how I felt about myself.”
A one-year-old Humboldt penguin which escaped from a Tokyo aquarium has been caught after more than two months on the loose in the Japanese capital.
The Humboldt penguin scaled a wall and slipped though a fence at the Tokyo Sea Life Park in March.
It has since been spotted several times swimming in rivers running into Tokyo Bay, but had eluded keepers.
The fugitive penguin was finally recaptured on Thursday evening.
Two keepers went to a river after a sighting of the penguin was reported in the morning. They managed to catch it later that day on the river bank, a spokesman for Tokyo Sea Life Park said.
Escaped penguin 337 has since been spotted several times swimming in rivers running into Tokyo Bay, but had eluded keepers
The penguin – known only as 337 – was being examined by experts but appeared to be in good condition.
“It hasn’t lost weight,” the spokesman said.
“It hasn’t got fatter either but its health seems good.”
After the penguin escaped, the aquarium launched an appeal for help and sent employees out searching.
On one occasion Japanese coast guards spotted the penguin and followed it but were unable to secure it.
Kazuhiro Sakamoto, vice-head of the aquarium, told Kyodo news agency he was “relieved to see the penguin come back alive”.
The penguin is one of 135 penguins at the park. Humboldt penguins breed on the Pacific coast of South America and offshore islands of Chile and Peru.
They are thought to be declining in number. One of the reasons is due to increasing water temperatures caused by the El Nino effect and reduced food supply.
Facebook has launched a new photo sharing smartphone app called Camera.
The software allows users to take multiple pictures and share them at once rather than having to upload them one at a time.
Camera also features a feed of friends’ photos.
The launch is unexpected as the program offers users similar tools to Instagram which the social network is in the process of taking over.
Both apps allow users to add filters and make other tweaks to photographs.
Facebook’s Camera photo sharing app offers users similar tools to Instagram which the social network is in the process of taking over
Facebook has agreed to pay $1 billion for Instagram, but the acquisition has not been completed.
Brian Blau, research director at the technology analysts Gartner, said the move may surprise some, but thought it made sense.
“Facebook has to move its business forward,” he said.
“It said earlier that it would keep Instagram as a separate business, but you need to bear in mind that it is buying a unique social network with a specific demographic.
“By doing this Facebook allows Instagram to remain intact while adopting some of its features to ensure its core service maintains its lead as the internet’s most used photo sharing site.”
At present Camera only works on Apple’s smartphones and tablets.
A news release from Facebook did not mention when it might be released for Android or other systems.
The Vatican says it has detained a person, named by Italian media as Paolo Gabriele, who is suspected of leaking a series of confidential documents and letters to the media.
Reports citing unnamed sources said he was the Pope Benedict’s personal butler.
The “Vatileaks” scandal, as it is known, has enraged the Holy See. The leaks have revealed alleged corruption, mismanagement and internal conflicts.
The Vatican said the person detained was being questioned by Vatican magistrates.
Last month, Pope Benedict XVI set up a special commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks.
“The inquiry carried out by Vatican police… allowed them to identify someone in possession of confidential documents,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists.
“This person is currently being questioned.”
Italian media have named the arrested man as Paolo Gabriele, a personal butler and assistant to Pope Benedict XVI and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope’s private apartments.
Italian media have named the arrested man in Vatileaks scandal as Paolo Gabriele, a personal butler and assistant to Pope Benedict XVI and one of very few laymen to have access to the Pope's private apartments
Among the select number who are allowed to enter the Pope’s private study include four nuns and two secretaries, as well as the butler.
Italian media reports said that a stash of confidential documents had been discovered at his flat, within the walls of the Vatican.
The news of the arrest comes just a day after the president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by its board.
The official reason for his departure was his failure to fulfill the “primary functions of his office”, the Vatican has said.
But, according to reports, he was also suspected of being involved in the leaking of the documents.
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi said had been punished for his attempt to make the bank more open.
“I have paid for my transparency,” he told Reuters.
The Vatileaks scandal has filled Italian media – dominating the columns of Italian newspapers and filling TV programmes and magazines.
The leak of a string of highly sensitive internal documents from inside the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, including personal letters to Pope Benedict XVI, has been an evident embarrassment to the Pope, prompting the rare investigation.
The leaked documents include a letter to Pope Benedict by the Vatican’s current ambassador to Washington alleging cronyism, nepotism and corruption among the administrators of Vatican City.
Others concern “poison pen” memos criticizing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope’s number two, and the reporting of suspicious payments by the Vatican Bank.
If the person detained is a layman he would be put on trial in Italy, under Italian criminal law.
But if he is a churchman, he could be tried for breaching ecclesiastical law by a Vatican tribunal, though this would be extremely rare.
SpaceX unmanned Dragon cargo ship has been successfully attached to the International Space Station (ISS).
Astronauts onboard the platform used its robotic arm to grasp the vehicle and attach it to a berthing port.
Dragon is the first commercial vessel to visit the space station.
It is also the first American ship to go to the orbiting laboratory since NASA retired its shuttles last year.
US astronaut Don Petit was inside the ISS at the controls of the Canadarm2.
Don Petit reached out with the robotic appendage and grabbed the Dragon capsule at 13:56 GMT.
SpaceX unmanned Dragon cargo ship has been successfully attached to the International Space Station (ISS)
“Houston, looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail,” Don Petit radioed to NASA mission control in Texas.
The capture was met by applause from controllers, at the NASA centre and at the SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California, where Dragon’s flight is also being overseen.
Just under two hours later, Don Petit used the arm to position the Dragon under the ISS’s Harmony connecting node. A good seal was confirmed at 16:02 GMT.
The ISS crew will go inside the ship on Saturday to unload its stores.
The attachment of Dragon to the platform marks a significant milestone in the history of human spaceflight.
Traditionally, this field of endeavor has been the preserve of government-owned and operated vehicles.
But NASA is looking to save money that it can then re-invest in some of its other programmes far beyond Earth, at asteroids and at Mars.
It believes this can be achieved by contracting out the more routine tasks in low-Earth orbit to the private sector.
To that end, it is providing seed funding of approximately $800 million to SpaceX and another company, Orbital Sciences Corporation, to help them develop new rocket and cargo vehicles.
Orbital’s rocket is called Antares, and its freighter is known as Cygnus. The pair should go into space together for the first time before the end of the year.
Once these companies have proved the performance of their systems, they will start to receive lucrative ISS re-supply payments.
For SpaceX, its contract is valued at $1.6 billon and calls for a minimum of 12 Dragon cargo missions to the ISS.
But freight is just the start. The ferrying of crews to and from the ISS will be the next service NASA buys in.
SpaceX wants this business as well, and is developing the safety and life-support equipment that would allow Dragon to double up as an astronaut taxi.
Veteran comedian Joan Rivers believes it isn’t too soon to joke about Whitney Houston in her grave.
In her book, I Hate Everyone… Starting With Me, which includes a section on travel, Joan Rivers writes: “I hate Houston. It’s crawling with bugs. Oh, wait, that’s Whitney Houston; I’m sorry, my bad.”
Some complained it was too soon, but if you think Joan Rivers is backing off because of a little criticism, she won’t.
Veteran comedian Joan Rivers believes it isn't too soon to joke about Whitney Houston in her grave
A report notes that the 78-year-old Brooklyn native “delivered her A-game for 70 minutes Tuesday night to an estimated crowd of 1,600 at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.”
Joan Rivers made fun of Goldie Hawn still thinking she’s a hottie (“Do you believe I have a grownup daughter?” “Yes!”).
Dick Clark not retiring from “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” after suffering a stroke (After mocking Clark’s slurred speech, Joan Rivers said: “Dick. It’s (expletive) March); kids on planes (“Where’s Casey Anthony when you need her?”).
Whitney Houston got it again, (“Can I just mention that Whitney looked fabulous at the Grammys? She was in mahogany from head to toe”) and what would have happened if they had Twitter back in the day (“Hi, This is Joan of Arc. Is it just me or do I smell smoke?” and “It’s Amelia Earhart. Where the (expletive) am I?”)
An international team of researchers has identified what they say are the oldest-known musical instruments in the world.
The flutes, made from bird bone and mammoth ivory, come from a cave in southern Germany which contains early evidence for the occupation of Europe by modern humans – Homo sapiens.
Scientists used carbon dating to show that the flutes were between 42,000 and 43,000 years old.
The findings are described in the Journal of Human Evolution.
A team led by Prof. Tom Higham at Oxford University dated animal bones in the same ground layers as the flutes at Geissenkloesterle Cave in Germany’s Swabian Jura.
Scientists used carbon dating to show that the flutes were between 42,000 and 43,000 years old
Prof. Nick Conard, the Tuebingen University researcher who identified the previous record-holder for oldest instrument in 2009, was excavator at the site.
He said: “These results are consistent with a hypothesis we made several years ago that the Danube River was a key corridor for the movement of humans and technological innovations into central Europe between 40,000-45,000 years ago.
“Geissenkloesterle is one of several caves in the region that has produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments.”
Musical instruments may have been used in recreation or for religious ritual, experts say.
And some researchers have argued that music may have been one of a suite of behaviors displayed by our species which helped give them an edge over the Neanderthals – who went extinct in most parts of Europe 30,000 years ago.
Music could have played a role in the maintenance of larger social networks, which may have helped our species expand their territory at the expense of the more conservative Neanderthals.
The researchers say the dating evidence from Geissenkloesterle suggests that modern humans entered the Upper Danube region before an extremely cold climatic phase at around 39,000-40,000 years ago.
Previously, researchers had argued that modern humans initially migrated up the Danube immediately after this event.
“Modern humans during [this] period were in central Europe at least 2,000-3,000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted,” said Prof. Tom Higham.
“The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time.”
Kim Kardashian stunned when she showed up to the amfAR gala with a classic, Old Hollywood style look in a canary yellow gown to the Cinema Against AIDS event at the Hotel du Cap in Cannes.
But instead of finishing off her look behind closed doors to give the air of perfection, Kim Kardashian flossed and picked her nails as she retouched herself on a yacht.
Kim Kardashian, 31, was seen reapplying her foundation, fiddling with her nails and even flossing before she left for the public event.
And she obviously wanted to look her best as she played with her bracelet and kept on checking herself in the mirror.
But when she was finally ready she was the belle of the ball at the glitzy event.
Kim Kardashian was seen reapplying her foundation, fiddling with her nails and even flossing before she left for amfAR Gala Cinema Against AIDS in Cannes
Fans have noted a definite change in Kim Kardashian’s red carpet style since she started dating Kanye West.
Kim Kardashian’s retro-inspired gown billowed in the breeze as she arrived at the star-studded gala in Cap D’Antibes.
While she certainly went for a more classic style, Kim Kardashian ensured there was still plenty of provocative skin on show with a daring slit up one leg and a plunging neckline that revealed her ample cleavage.
She continued her glamorous theme with Forties’ style curls and bright red lipstick.
Enormous diamond earrings completed the look.
Perhaps the reason behind her classic makeover was boyfriend Kanye West’s absence. The pair have been glued to each other sides during their stay in both London and Cannes but her was absent from the amfAR gala.
Kanye West even flew straight to Cannes from his last show at the London O2 arena, so eager he was to not miss a night with Kim Kardashian, after she flew out earlier in the day.
Inside the prestigious party, Kim Kardashian was pictured enjoying a laugh with her good friend Heidi Klum.
The ladies, who became friends after Kim Kardashian appeared on Project Runway last year, have been spotted gossiping at a number of showbiz parties this week in Cannes, and even enjoyed lunch together aboard a boat a few hours before the amfAR party.
The annual Cinema Against AIDS benefit raises money for AIDS research.
Kosovar Albanian actress Arta Dobroshi ended up being the centre of attention at Cannes Film Festival 2012 thanks to an unfortunate “Marilyn Monroe” moment which saw her skirt blow up to reveal her derriere in one of the worst faux pas’ of the festival so far.
Arta Dobroshi was to promote her movie Trois Mondes (Three Worlds) along with co-stars Raphaël Personnaz and Clotilde Hesme.
The actress turned up looking demure in a blue high waisted skirt with a cream top tucked in and she finished her look off with some nude snakeskin heels with her hair scraped into a high bun.
But Arta Dobroshi ran into problems thanks to the breezy weather in Cannes today.
Arta Dobroshi shows her derriere in embarrassing "Marilyn Monroe" moment at Cannes Film Festival 2012
As she tried to look her best and pose for the waiting cameras her skirt blew up and was reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s infamous white frock moment which saw her dress being blown upwards.
But Arta Dobroshi appeared unaware just how much she was revealing as she continued to pose and smile at photographers who were getting a bit more than they bargained for.
She managed to finally pose with her outfit the way it was supposed to look with the skirt firmly in place.
And she later sat with her co-stars as they posed during the photo shoot for the film.
A new male contraceptive pill could be developed after researchers in Edinburgh, UK, have identified a gene critical for the production of healthy sperm.
Experiments in mice found that the gene, Katnal1, was vital for the final stages of making sperm.
The authors of a study in PLos Genetics said a drug which interrupts Katnal1 could be a reversible contraceptive.
A fertility expert said there was “certainly a need” for such a drug.
Contraception in men is largely down to condoms or a vasectomy.
Experiments in mice found that gene Katnal1 was vital for the final stages of making sperm
Researchers at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh were investigating the causes of male infertility.
They randomly altered the genetic code of mice to see which became infertile. They then traced the mutations which led to infertility, which led them to Katnal1.
It contains the blueprints for a protein which is important in cells which support the development of sperm. Without the protein, sperm do not fully form and the body disposes of them.
Scientists hope they will be able to perform a similar trick in humans to stop sperm developing, without causing lasting damage.
One of the researchers Dr. Lee Smith said: “If we can find a way to target this gene in the testes, we could potentially develop a non-hormonal contraceptive.
“The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder the early stages of sperm production and the overall ability to produce sperm.”
He said it would be “relatively difficult” to do as the protein lives inside cells, however, he said there was “potential” to find something else that protein worked with, which might be an easier target.
Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei has filed a competition complaint against US firm InterDigital with European Union regulators.
Huawei accuses InterDigital of “abusing” its position and demanding “exploitative” fees to use its patented technology, said to be essential to 3G in mobile devices.
It added that such moves were against the EU rules which require holders to licence their patents fairly.
InterDigital said it was “committed” to those rules.
Huawei said in a statement: “InterDigital is seeking to leverage its declared 3G standard essential patents to force Huawei to conclude a discriminatory, unfair and exploitative license.
“InterDigital’s demand manifestly breaches the policies of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute calling for fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing practices by technology patent holders.”
Huawei accuses InterDigital of "abusing" its position and demanding "exploitative" fees to use its patented technology, said to be essential to 3G in mobile devices
InterDigital, which is based in Philadelphia, owns more than 19,500 mobile communications patents and patent applications.
Huawei said that InterDigital had been trying to take advantage of the dominant position it enjoys in the sector and despite negotiations the two firms had not been able to reach an agreement.
However, InterDigital said that it had been following the rules set by regulators while dealing with various companies across the globe.
“Our long and successful track record of licensing more than 50 companies throughout the mobile industry is proof of that commitment, and of our ability to reach mutually agreeable terms for such licenses,” Lawrence Shay, President of InterDigital’s patent holding subsidiaries said in a statement.
This is not the first time that the two firms have been involved in a patent-related dispute.
Last year, InterDigital lodged a complaint against Huawei, along with another Chinese phone maker ZTE and Finland’s Nokia, accusing them of infringing seven of its patents.
