Maxwell Drew Johnson, Jessica Simpson’s newborn baby, is already getting a taste of the high life thanks to the $4,000-a-day hospital suite she was birthed in.
Baby girl Maxwell Drew Johnson weighed in at a sizeable 9lbs 13oz after being born yesterday at a luxury wing of the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.
Members of the Jessica Simpson’s family were spotted arriving at the hospital with her mother Tina and sister Ashlee, along with the parents of her fiancé Eric Johnson, seen with excited looks on their faces.
Ashlee Simpson told People magazine yesterday: “Bronx and I are in love with Maxwell already! Jessica has wanted to be a mom since we were little girls and I couldn’t be more excited for her and Eric!”
Jessica Simpson’s suite comes complete with flat screen televisions, chilled juices on ice, muffin baskets, manicures and pedicures and a private dinner for two post-labor.
According to TMZ, the most expensive suite in the hospital costs $3,784 a day and comes complete with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Maxwell Drew Johnson, Jessica Simpson's newborn baby, is already getting a taste of the high life thanks to the $4,000-a-day hospital suite she was birthed in
Jessica Simpson, 31, announced the arrival of Maxwell Drew Johnson via a banner on her official website.
She wrote: “Eric and I are elated to announce the birth of our baby girl, Maxwell Drew Johnson.
“We are so grateful for all the love, support and prayers we have received. This is been the greatest experience of our lives.”
Maxwell Drew Johnson apparently takes her middle name from Jessica Simpson’s mother Tina, whose maiden name is Drew.
While Drew pays tribute to Jessica Simpson’s side of the family, Maxwell is Eric Johnson’s middle name.
Jessica Simpson was last spotted out and about on Sunday, when she went for a drive with her fiancé.
She has looked ready to pop for several weeks now and the star’s due date was April 21.
A year on from the death of Osama Bin Laden, two Pakistani men tell how they came to host the then leader of al-Qaeda.
Late one night in the summer of 2010, on the fringes of the Waziristan region in north-western Pakistan, half a dozen men of a local tribal family waited nervously for the arrival of a guest whose identity they didn’t know.
They had been alerted to this visit weeks earlier, by someone they describe simply as an “important person”. They were not given any names, and the exact time of the guest’s arrival was conveyed to them just a few hours in advance.
At about 23:00, when the world around them was in deep sleep, they heard the rumble of the approaching vehicles.
“A dozen big four-wheel drive jeeps drove into the compound,” recalls one family elder.
“They seemed to converge from different directions.”
One of the 4x4s drove up close to the veranda, and from its back seat emerged a tall and frail-looking man. He wore flowing robes and a white turban.
The waiting men couldn’t believe their eyes. Standing before them was none other than Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world.
“We were dumb-struck,” says the elder.
“He was the last person we’d expected to turn up at our doorstep.”
He stood beside the vehicle for a while, shaking hands. The elder says he kissed Osama Bin Laden’s hand and pressed it against his eyes in a gesture of reverence.
Then, putting his hand lightly on the shoulder of one of his assistants, Osama Bin Laden walked into the room they’d set up for him. The villagers didn’t follow him in. Only a couple of his own men kept him company.
A year on from the death of Osama Bin Laden, two Pakistani men tell how they came to host the then leader of al-Qaeda
This happened exactly one year before Osama Bin Laden was killed in a secret operation of the US Navy Seals in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, located some 300 km (186 miles) to the north-east of this remote tribal compound.
The shock of his death prompted one of his former hosts to tell close friends about this unexpected visit.
Two of the men who’d met Osama Bin Laden on that occasion agreed to speak about that meeting. Both requested that their names and locality be kept secret.
During the three hours Osama Bin Laden spent with them, they said he offered prayers, rested, and ate the lamb chops, chicken curry and rice they’d prepared for him and his entourage.
All that time, his hosts weren’t allowed to leave the compound, or let anyone in. Armed men took positions at the main gate, along the walls and on the roof.
There was a slight commotion among the guards when one of the hosts requested that his 85-year-old father be allowed to see Osama Bin Laden.
“Consider this to be his dying wish,” he pleaded. The message was passed to Osama Bin Laden, who agreed to see the old patriarch.
Four armed men escorted the son home to fetch his father. The old man was only told about Osama Bin Laden’s presence once they were back inside the compound.
They said the old man spent 10 minutes with Osama Bin Laden, pouring out his admiration and prayers for him, and offering time-tested advice on tribal warfare, all in his native Pashto language, which Osama Bin Laden apparently didn’t understand.
This brought smiles to the faces of Osama Bin Laden’s hosts and his guards, they say.
Osama Bin Laden and his men departed in just the same way as they’d come – their 4x4s leaving the compound in a bustling confusion – and heading out in different directions, giving his hosts little chance to determine which way Osama Bin Laden’s vehicle went.
While they were quite open about the details of the visit, they didn’t want to discuss the identity of the “important man” who had asked them to host Osama Bin Laden. They were also reluctant to share information on who else was in the entourage.
Following Osama Bin Laden’s death a year later, both Pakistani and American officials had insisted that the al-Qaeda chief had lived in total seclusion for nearly five years, without once leaving his Abbottabad compound.
That would seem not to be the case. And many questions remain unanswered.
The area where he showed up in 2010 is in the middle of a vast tribal hinterland which was, and to an extent still is, the focus of a number of military operations against militants. Troops stationed there were on high alert and had set up dozens of security checkpoints to monitor commuters along both regular and rarely frequented routes.
How did he get past those posts undetected?
The Pakistanis have always denied having any knowledge of his whereabouts or providing any support to Osama Bin Laden.
There’s also the question of who was planning his itinerary, what was the purpose of his visit and, above all, how frequently did he pay midnight visits to unsuspecting hosts?
Researchers have found red blood cells around the wounds of Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old caveman found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991.
Blood cells tend to degrade quickly, and earlier scans for blood within Oetzi’s body turned up nothing.
Now a study in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface shows that Oetzi’s remarkable preservation extends even to the blood he shed shortly before dying.
The find represents by far the oldest red blood cells ever observed.
It is just the latest chapter in what could be described as the world’s oldest murder mystery.
Since Oetzi was first found by hikers with an arrow buried in his back, experts have determined that he died from his wounds and what his last meal was.
Researchers have found red blood cells around the wounds of Oetzi, the 5,300-year-old caveman found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991
There has been extensive debate as to whether he fell where he died or was buried there by others.
In February, Albert Zink and colleagues at the Eurac Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy published Oetzi’s full genome.
An earlier study by the group, published in the Lancet, showed that a wound on Oetzi’s hand contained haemoglobin, a protein found in blood – but it had long been presumed that red blood cells’ delicate nature would have precluded their preservation.
Prof. Albert Zink and his colleagues collaborated with researchers at the Center for Smart Interfaces at the University of Darmstadt in Germany to apply what is known as atomic force microscopy to thin slices of tissue taken from an area surrounding the arrow wound.
The technique works using a tiny metal tip with a point just a few atoms across, dragged along the surface of a sample. The tip’s movement is tracked, and results in a 3-D map at extraordinary resolution.
The team found that the sample from Oetzi contained structures with a tell-tale “doughnut” shape, just as red blood cells have.
To ensure the structures were preserved cells and not contamination of some kind, they confirmed the find using a laser-based technique called Raman spectroscopy – those results also indicated the presence of haemoglobin and the clot-associated protein fibrin.
But the fibrin levels were much lower than would be expected in fresh wounds.
“Because fibrin is present in fresh wounds and then degrades, the theory that Oetzi died straight after he had been injured by the arrow, as had once been mooted, and not some days after, can no longer be upheld,” Prof. Albert Zink remarked.
The team also suggests that their methods may prove to be of use in modern-day forensics studies, in which the exact age of blood samples is difficult to determine.
President Barack Obama has pledged to “finish the job” and end the Afghan war, addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanistan.
Speaking a year after Osama Bin Laden’s death, Barack Obama thanked US troops and hailed plans to end combat operations.
He arrived in Afghanistan on a publicly unannounced visit to sign an agreement on future Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a NATO summit.
Hours after his speech, at least seven people died in an attack in Kabul.
Afghan officials said at least two suicide bombers targeted a guesthouse popular with foreigners in the eastern part of the capital.
They said at least four of the victims were civilians – children from a nearby school. Seventeen people were wounded.
The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attacks.
President Barack Obama has pledged to "finish the job" and end the Afghan war
A spokesman for the NATO lead force praised the Afghan security forces for “taking the lead in putting down another desperate attack by insurgents”.
Earlier, Barack Obama said signing the pact with President Hamid Karzai was “a historic moment” for both nations.
His visit and TV address come as correspondents say public patience with the war in Afghanistan is wearing thin.
In the speech, beamed back to prime-time evening audiences in US, the president said that at the upcoming NATO summit, to be held in Chicago, the alliance would “set a goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year”.
NATO has already committed to withdrawing from combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
“I will not keep Americans in harm’s way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security,” Barack Obama said.
“But we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly.”
Barack Obama’s words appear to be aimed at showing American voters he is pursuing a strategy to wind down the war, while reassuring Afghans in the face of a continuing Taliban insurgency.
About 23,000 of the 88,000 US troops currently in the country are expected to leave Afghanistan by the summer, with all US and NATO troops out by the end of 2014.
“It is time to renew America,” Barack Obama said towards the end of his remarks.
“My fellow Americans, we have travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon,” he said.
“The Iraq war is over. The number of our troops in harm’s way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfil our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al-Qaeda.”
During the speech, Barack Obama outlined the agreement he had just signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Twenty months of negotiation finally produced an agreement after differences over night raids by special forces and the handling of prisoners were ironed out.
According to the US president, the document outlines plans for training Afghan forces and supporting counter terrorism efforts, as well as “Afghan commitments to transparency and accountability”.
Barack Obama also spoke of a “negotiated peace” with the Taliban, saying that if insurgents break with al-Qaeda, and follow the “path to peace”, there can be reconciliation.
He said that ahead of the Chicago meeting of NATO, he had made it clear to Pakistan that it could be an “equal partner in the process”.
Pakistan and US relations soured after Barack Obama launched the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden inside the country’s border.
“In pursuit of a durable peace, America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaeda safe-havens, and respect for Afghan sovereignty.”
Barack Obama also rejected calls to leave Afghanistan before the 2014 NATO timeline, saying “we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly”.
In the wake of the agreement, the US is to designate Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, US officials are quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
President Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan on a previously unannounced visit.
Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have signed a 10-year accord charting future relations between the countries.
The agreement outlines the US role in Afghanistan after 2014, when most NATO combat forces are due to pull out.
Barack Obama is also due to give a TV address to Americans back home. The visit comes on the first anniversary of Osama Bin Laden’s killing.
It was a year ago that US special forces carried out a raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed the leader of the al-Qaeda network.
President Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan on a previously unannounced visit
After Barack Obama’s arrival, Hamid Karzai said a post-war agreement would seal an “equal partnership” between Afghanistan and the United States, reports say.
Barack Obama added the costs of war had been great for both nations, adding he looked forward to “a future of peace”.
He acknowledged there would be difficult days ahead for Afghanistan, but said the Afghan people were taking control of their own future.
The US is to designate Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, US officials are quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
Barack Obama will not make specific decisions on further reductions of US forces in Afghanistan until the autumn of 2012, the officials added.
The president is due to make his TV address from Bagram air base at 23:30 GMT.
The agreement is a first, symbolic step towards setting out a long-term relationship.
It is designed to reassure the people of Afghanistan that they are not about to be abandoned when NATO ends its operations there in 18 months.
It is also meant to send a signal to the Taliban that it cannot simply expect to take over again when the Americans leave, our correspondent adds.
This is President Barack Obama’s third trip to Afghanistan since taking office.
The largest exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of the human body goes on display in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace in UK this week.
During his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci made thousands of pages of notes and drawings on the human body.
Leonardo da Vinci wanted to understand how the body was composed and how it worked. But at his death in 1519, his great treatise on the body was incomplete and his scientific papers were unpublished.
Based on what survives, clinical anatomists believe that Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical work was hundreds of years ahead of its time, and in some respects it can still help us understand the body today.
So how do these drawings, sketched more than 500 years ago, compare to what digital imaging technology can tell us today?
From a notebook dated 1489, there are a series of meticulous drawings of the skull.
Leonardo da Vinci has cut off the front of the face to show what lies beneath. It is difficult to cut these bones without damaging them. And elsewhere in his papers, he left a drawing of the knives he used.
According to Peter Abrahams, professor of clinical anatomy at Warwick University in the UK, Leonardo da Vinci’s image is as accurate as anything that can be produced by scientific artists working today.
“If you actually know your anatomy, you can see all the tiny little holes that are in the skull,” says Prof. Peter Abrahams.
“Those are absolutely anatomically correct. Leonardo was a meticulous observer, and a meticulous experimental scientist. He drew what he saw, and he had the ability to draw what he saw absolutely perfectly.”
According to Prof. Peter Abrahams, the upper half of the drawing of a torso is a fairly accurate observation of the body. The liver, for example, is correctly placed not far below the woman’s right breast. Its size suggests that the woman may have suffered from liver disease.
Leonardo da Vinci's image is as accurate as anything that can be produced by scientific artists working today, say experts
The problems with the image start lower down, however. Clinical anatomist Prof. Peter Abrahams says that the uterus is wrong. This image, he suggests, is reminiscent of what we see in animals such as cows.
It is possible that given the difficulty of getting hold of female corpses, Leonardo da Vinci used the knowledge that he had gained from dissecting animals to help him understand the human body.
On the right arm, there is a finger print which has smudged the line of the drawing. It could very well be Leonardo da Vinci’s own.
The spinal column shown here is thought to be the first accurate depiction in history.
Leonardo da Vinci’ spinal column drawing is thought to be the first accurate depiction in history
According to Prof. Peter Abrahams, Leonardo da Vinci perfectly captured the delicate curve and tilt of the spine, and the snug fit of one vertebra into another.
This drawing by itself would have secured Leonardo da Vinci a place in history. As far as two-dimensional images go, it is as good as anything produced today.
But it is just one of a series of drawings in which he pushed forward the frontiers of science. He dissected and wrote up his investigations into every bone in the human body, except the skull.
Prof. Peter Abrahams suggests that it was Leonardo’s skill as an architect and engineer that gave him the insight in to how the body actually works.
“This mechanistic approach, this engineering-approach, has only become really popular in the field of surgery within the last 50 or 60 years,” says Peter Abrahams.
“There are still many people doing research on all these little ligaments and pulleys to this very day all over the world.”
Despite his desire to draw the body accurately, Leonardo da Vinci was still wedded to certain ideas that he had inherited from Middle Ages. He still, for instance, thought of the human reproductive system as in some way analogous to that of plants.
“All seeds have an umbilical cord which is broken when the seed is ripe,” writes Leonardo da Vinci.
“Likewise they have a uterus and membranes, as herbs and all seeds that are produced in pods demonstrate.”
Below his embryo, Leonardo da Vinci sketched the uterus opening like the petals of a flower.
When he died, the treatise he planned to write was left incomplete. His detailed drawings were left to his assistant Melzi. Ground-breaking observations including the flow of blood in to the heart were lost to science.
Anatomists such as Prof. Peter Abrahams believe that Leonardo da Vinci’s work was some 300 years ahead of its time, and in some ways superior to what was available in the 19th Century Gray’s Anatomy.
They say it is only recently with 3D, digital technology and moving images that we have been able to take a decisive step beyond what Leonardo da Vinci’s hand and eye were able to achieve.
Norwegian Swimming Federation announces that champion Alexander Dale Oen has died in the US, aged 26.
Alexander Dale Oen was found collapsed in a shower late on Monday after training in Flagstaff, Arizona, Norwegian media say. Officials said he had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Emergency services arrived at the scene within minutes but were unable to revive him.
Alexander Dale Oen won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the World Championships in Shanghai in July 2011.
His triumph came just days after the attack in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik which killed 77 people.
Alexander Dale Oen was found collapsed in a shower late on Monday after training in Flagstaff, Arizona
Norwegian Swimming Federation President Per Rune Eknes said the swimmer had suffered a cardiac arrest. Friends said he had appeared healthy earlier.
Doctors at the Flagstaff Medical Center declared the world champion swimmer dead at 21:00 local time on Monday after all efforts to resuscitate him failed.
Per Rune Eknes told national broadcaster NRK that it was the blackest day in the history of Norwegian swimming.
“We are all in shock… our thoughts go primarily to his family who have lost Alexander way too early,” said Norwegian Coach Petter Loevberg.
Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg expressed his sorrow at the death of the swimmer.
“Alexander Dale Oen was a great athlete for a small country. My thoughts go to his family and friends,” he said.
Alexander Dale Oen’s last tweet on Monday, as he was coming to the end of training in the US, said: “2 days left of our camp up here in Flagstaff, then it’s back to the most beautiful city in Norway #Bergen”.
Alexander Dale Oen was born in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city, and began swimming at the age of four. He got his international breakthrough in 2005 when he came seventh in the 100m breaststroke during the World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada.
He won silver at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Norway’s first Olympic swimming medal, and was considered a strong hope for this summer’s London Games.
After winning his gold medal in Shanghai, Alexander Dale Oen said that the murders of 77 people in Oslo and on the island of Utoeya had affected him deeply.
“We can’t let this guy ruin the future for us,” he said.
US Navy SEAL has slammed President Barack Obama for taking the credit for killing Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as “ammunition” for his re-election campaign.
In his newly released re-election campaign, President Bill Clinton is featured saying that Barack Obama took “the harder and the more honorable path” in ordering that Osama bin Laden be killed. The words “Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?” are then displayed.
Besides the ad, the White House is marking the first anniversary of the SEAL Team Six raid that killed bin Laden inside his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan with a series of briefings and an NBC interview in the Situation Room designed to highlight the “gutsy call” made by the President.
Barack Obama used a news conference yesterday to trumpet his personal role and imply that his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, who in 2008 expressed reservations about the wisdom of sending troops into Pakistan, would have let Osama bin Laden live.
“I said that I’d go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did,” Barack Obama said.
“If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they’d do something else, then I’d go ahead and let them explain it.”
Ryan Zinke, a former Commander in the US Navy who spent 23 years as a SEAL and led a SEAL Team 6 assault unit, said: “The decision was a no brainer. I applaud him for making it but I would not overly pat myself on the back for making the right call.
“I think every president would have done the same. He is justified in saying it was his decision but the preparation, the sacrifice – it was a broader team effort.”
Ryan Zinke, who is now a Republican state senator in Montana, added that Barack Obama was exploiting Osama bin Laden’s death for his re-election bid. “The President and his administration are positioning him as a war president using the SEALs as ammunition. It was predictable.”
Barack Obama has faced criticism even from allies about his decision to make a campaign ad about the Osama bin Laden raid. Arianna Huffington, an outspoken liberal who runs the left-leaning Huffington Post website, roundly condemned it.
Arianna Huffington told CBS: “We should celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It’s one thing to have an NBC special from the Situation Room… all that to me is perfectly legitimate, but to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.”
US Navy SEAL accuses Barack Obama of using them as ammunition for his re-election campaign
Campaigning in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Mitt Romney responded to a shouted question by a reporter by saying: “Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.”
A serving SEAL Team member said: “Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches because he speechwriters are smart.
“But the more he tries to take the credit for it, the more the ground operators are saying, <<Come on, man!>>. It really didn’t matter who was president. At the end of the day, they were going to go.”
Chris Kyle, a former SEAL sniper with 160 confirmed and another 95 unconfirmed kills to his credit, said: “The operation itself was great and the nation felt immense pride. It was great that we did it.
“But bin Laden was just a figurehead. The war on terror continues. Taking him out didn’t really change anything as far as the war on terror is concerned and using it as a political attack is a cheap shot.
“In years to come there is going to be information that will come out that Obama was not the man who made the call. He can say he did and the people who really know what happened are inside the Pentagon, are in the military and the military isn’t allowed to speak out against the commander- in-chief so his secret is safe.”
Senior military figures have said that Admiral William McRaven, a former SEAL who was then head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) made the decision to take bin Laden out. Tactical decisions were delegated even further down the chain of command.
Chris Kyle added: “He’s trying to say that Romney wouldn’t have made the same call? Anyone who is patriotic to this country would have made that exact call, Democrat or Republican. Obama is taking more credit than he is due but it’s going to get him some pretty good mileage.”
A former intelligence official who was serving in the US government when bin Laden was killed said that the Obama administration knew about the al-Qaeda leader’s whereabouts in October 2010 but delayed taking action and risked letting him escape.
“In the end, Obama was forced to make a decision and do it. He knew that if he didn’t do it the political risks in not taking action were huge. Mitt Romney would have made the call but he would have made it earlier – as would George W. Bush.”
Brandon Webb, a former SEAL who spent 13 years on active duty and served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said: “Bush should get partial credit for putting the system in place.
“Obama inherited a very robust package with regards to special ops and the intelligence community. But Obama deserves credit because he got bin Laden – you can’t take that away from him.
“My friends that work in Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that have been on video teleconferences with Obama on these kill or capture situations say that Obama has no issue whatsoever with making decisions and typically it’s kill. He’s hitting the kill button every time. I have a lot of respect for him for that.”
But he said that many SEALs were dismayed about the amount of publicity the Obama administration had generated about SEAL Team Six, the very existence of which is highly classified.
“The majority of the SEALs I know are really proud of the operation but it does become <<OK, enough is enough – we’re ready to get back to work and step out of the limelight>>. They don’t want to be continuously paraded around a global audience like a show dog.
“Obama has a very good relationship with the Special Operations community at large, especially the SEALs, and it’s nice to see. We had the same relationship with George W. Bush when he was president.”
It was “stretching a little much” for Barack Obama to suggest only he would have made the decision.
“I personally I don’t think Romney would have any problem making tough decisions. He got a very accomplished record of making decision as a business professional.
“He may not have charisma but he clearly has leadership skills. I don’t think he’d have any problem taking that decision.”
Clint Bruce, who gave up the chance of an NFL career to serve as a SEAL officer before retiring as a lieutenant after nine years, said: “We were extremely surprised and discouraged by the publicity because it compromises the ability of those guys to operate.
“It’s a waste of time to speculate about who would and wouldn’t have made that decision. It was a symphony of opportunity and intelligence that allowed this administration to give the green light. We want to acknowledge that they made that decision.
“Politicians should let the public know where they stand on national security but not in the play-by-play, detailed way that has been done recently. The intricacies of national security should not become part of stump speeches.”
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to cast a blank vote in Sunday’s French presidential poll run-off.
Marine Le Pen told a rally of her National Front party that she could back neither incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy nor Socialist Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience.
Marine Le Pen won 6.5 million votes – 17.9% – in the first round of the election.
The latest opinion polls suggest Francois Hollande has a six to 10 point lead over President Sarkozy.
Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will go head-to-head in the sole televised election debate on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Marine Le Pen led her National Front party’s annual rally to its climax at the Place de l’Opera in the French capital.
Marine Le Pen was addressing supporters after winning a record number of votes for her party in the first round of the presidential election and after taking over from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, just over a year ago.
“On Sunday, I will vote blank,” she told the rally.
“I have made my choice. Each of you will make yours.”
Marine Le Pen told a rally of her National Front party that she could back neither incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy nor Socialist Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience
Marine Le Pen praised the campaign her party had run, saying it had touched the spirit of the French people.
“We have become the centre of gravity for French politics,” she said.
Marine Le Pen said a “great project of emancipation” had begun and nothing would be the same again.
She rounded on both Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Marine Le Pen said Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent policy switches had contradicted his actions over his five-year term and he was not fit to be president.
Opinion polls suggest about 50% of National Front voters will back the president, about 30% will abstain and about 15% will support Francois Hollande.
Nicolas Sarkozy is holding a large rally on Tuesday in Trocadero Square, Paris, which he says is a showcase of “real work”.
This has irritated unions as it carries the implication that Left-wing unions – who are holding their own May Day rally – do not understand the value of work.
Meanwhile, Francois Hollande told supporters in the central town of Nevers: “French people want change.”
He added that now he was no longer the candidate of the Socialist Party but the candidate of “the whole united Left”.
After the first round on 22 April, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon – who polled 11% of the vote – told his supporters to rally behind Francois Hollande in the second round.
Francois Hollande has chosen not to attend the unions’ rally at the Bastille, which will be addressed by Socialist Party secretary Martine Aubry.
Large numbers of workers and union members are marking May Day with marches and rallies across the country.
Nicolas Sarkozy continued to court far-right voters on Tuesday in an interview on the RMC radio station, saying France had too many immigrants.
He said: “Our system of integration doesn’t work. Why? Because before we were able to integrate those who were received on our territory, others arrived. Having taken in too many people, we paralyzed our system of integration.”
Indian divers and rescue workers are looking for survivors on the Brahmaputra river in Assam state, where a ferry capsized during a storm on Monday, killing at least 103 people.
Police said about 150 people had been rescued or swam to safety while at least 100 more were missing.
The death toll was likely to rise, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
Lax safety standards mean ferry accidents are common on the river, but this is one of the worst disasters.
The accident happened in the remote district of Dhubri, about 350 km (215 miles) west of Assam’s main city, Guwahati.
The ferry capsized and broke into two pieces during the storm, police said.
Many of Indian boats are overcrowded with poor or minimal safety features
Witnesses said many passengers were swept away by the river’s strong current after the boat broke up.
A passenger, Hasnat Ali, told local TV channels that about 200 people were travelling inside the boat along with cargo.
Hasnat Ali said he was riding on the top of the ferry with 150 other people when the storm hit, throwing off many of them.
He said he managed to hold on to a log and was rescued by villagers.
The ferry carried no lifeboats or life jackets and was overloaded with people and goods, according to a police officer quoted by Reuters news agency.
Boats are a common mode of transport in the area, which is dotted with small islands and villages along the banks of the river.
Many of the boats are overcrowded with poor or minimal safety features.
An overdue Jessica Simpson was yesterday spotted out for a drive with fiancé Eric Johnson.
Jessica Simpson, 31, must be feeling the pressure as last weekend her dad, Joe, gave fans a major hint that his daughter was due soon.
“Still counting down the days til I am a grandpa again. Keep Jess in your prayers,” he tweeted.
An overdue Jessica Simpson was yesterday spotted out for a drive with fiancé Eric Johnson
Soon afterwards Katy Perry and Chelsea Handler also took to their Twitter pages to wonder why Jessica Simpson still hasn’t given birth.
Katy Perry tweeted: “Has Jessica Simpson had that baby yet?! I’m getting anxious.”
And Chelsea Handler echoed the sentiment when she posted on her own page: “How has jessica simpson still not given birth to this baby? I’m getting frightened.”
Labor demonstrations marking May Day are taking place across the world, with the main focus on Europe and its backdrop of unpopular austerity measures and rising social unrest.
Greece, Spain and Portugal are set to hold large nationwide demonstrations.
At a Paris rally, National Front leader Marine Le Pen is expected to tell her supporters who they should vote for in Sunday’s presidential run-off vote.
The Occupy protest movement has urged May Day action spanning the globe.
Anti-austerity protesters will take part in a day of strikes and demonstrations across Greece.
In Athens, protests have become an institution, with public and private sector strikes and disruption to public transport.
But there may be less of the traditional violence, since minds are focused on Sunday’s general election, when many Greeks are expected to vent their anger against the austerity measures.
Labor demonstrations marking May Day are taking place across the world, with the main focus on Europe
Elections on Sunday are also the main focus in France.
Marine Le Pen will lead a march in Paris to the statue of Joan of Arc, an iconic figure for the far right.
She has promised to indicate where the 6.5m voters who supported her in the first round of the presidential election should cast their votes on Sunday, in the crucial second round between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.
Nicolas Sarkozy will rally in Trocadero Square, while French unions march to the Bastille.
He has dubbed his rally a showcase of “real work”.
Francois Hollande said Nicolas Sarkozy was more the president of “real unemployment”.
The main May Day rally in Spain is expected to get under way in Madrid at about 11:00 a.m., while Portugal’s labor unions will rally in the afternoon.
In Russia, nationalists, communists and opponents of incoming president Vladimir Putin are all holding separate rallies.
Vladimir Putin and outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev made a rare joint public appearance on the streets of Moscow, leading more than 100,000 people in a Soviet-style “Holiday of Labor and Spring” march.
The Occupy movement has called for global protests against economic inequality.
The movement gained international attention with the Occupy Wall Street protest last September but has struggled to maintain its profile as its supporters began to be evicted from public squares across the US.
An Occupy statement said: “The Occupy Movement has called for A Day Without the 99% on May 1st, 2012,” referring to its slogan that the wealthy 1% rules over a powerless 99%.
Its main rally will be in New York in the afternoon rush hour.
The Occupy movement in San Francisco called for a Golden Gate Bridge protest.
It said: “This May Day we look forward to seeing strong, powerful picket lines, unlike anything the Golden Gate Bridge bosses have seen before.”
Rallies have already taken place across Asia, including:
• In Hong Kong, about 5,000 workers marched demanding a rise in the minimum wage
• In Jakarta, Indonesia, more than 9,000 workers marched to the state palace calling for better pay and job protection
• In Manila, the Philippines, some 8,000 workers rallied near the Malacanang palace to call for pay increases
Experts say a genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed.
Ultimately the findings, in the journal Cancer Research, could lead to a simple blood test to screen women, they say.
The test looks for how genes are altered by environmental factors like alcohol and hormones – a process known as epigenetics.
One in five women is thought to have such a genetic “switch” that doubles breast cancer risk.
The scientists from Imperial College London analyzed blood samples from 1,380 women of various ages, 640 of whom went on to develop breast cancer.
And they found a strong link between breast cancer risk and molecular modification of a single gene called ATM, which is found on white blood cells.
A genetic test could help predict breast cancer many years before the disease is diagnosed
They then looked for evidence of what was causing this change. Specifically, they looked for a chemical effect called methylation, which is known to act as a “gene switch”.
Women showing the highest methylation levels affecting the ATM gene were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with those with the lowest levels.
In some cases the changes were evident up to 11 years before a breast tumor was diagnosed.
Dr. James Flanagan, of Imperial College London, who led the new research, said: “We know that genetic variation contributes to a person’s risk of disease.
“With this new study we can now also say that epigenetic variation, or differences in how genes are modified, also has a role.
“We hope that this research is just the beginning of our understanding about the epigenetic component of breast cancer risk and in the coming years we hope to find many more examples of genes that contribute to a person’s risk.
“The challenge will be how to incorporate all of this new information into the computer models that are currently used for individual risk prediction.”
It is not yet clear why breast cancer risk might be linked to changes in a white blood cell gene.
But the team envisages that a blood test could be used in combination with other information about breast cancer risk, such as family history and the presence of other known breast cancer genes, to help identify those women at greatest risk of developing the disease in the future.
These women could then be closely monitored and offered pre-emptive treatment, such as surgery.
Researchers from Northwestern University, US, say bilingualism is a form of brain training – a mental “work out” that fine-tunes the mind.
Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed.
Experts say the work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides “biological” evidence of this.
For the study, the team monitored the brain responses of 48 healthy student volunteers – which included 23 who were bilingual – to different sounds.
They used scalp electrodes to trace the pattern of brainwaves.
Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed
Under quiet, laboratory conditions, both groups – the bilingual and the English-only-speaking students – responded similarly.
But against a backdrop of noisy chatter, the bilingual group were far superior at processing sounds.
They were better able to tune in to the important information – the speaker’s voice – and block out other distracting noises – the background chatter.
And these differences were visible in the brain. The bilingualists’ brainstem responses were heightened.
Prof. Nina Kraus, who led the research, said: “The bilingual’s enhanced experience with sound results in an auditory system that is highly efficient, flexible and focused in its automatic sound processing, especially in challenging or novel listening conditions.”
Co-author Viorica Marian said: “People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp. But the advantages we’ve discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages.
“It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound.”
Musicians appear to gain a similar benefit when rehearsing, say the researchers.
Past research has also suggested that being bilingual might help ward off dementia.
A new research has found that the number of babies born in the US showing symptoms of opiate withdrawal increased threefold in the 10 years up to 2009.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said one in every 1,000 newborns was affected in 2009.
The number of pregnant women testing positive for illegal or legal opiates increased fivefold in the same period.
The report says abuse of prescription painkillers is partly to blame.
The study, the first of its kind in the US, was based on records from more than 4,000 hospitals across the country.
A new research has found that the number of babies born in the US showing symptoms of opiate withdrawal increased threefold in the 10 years up to 2009
It found that in 2009, about 13,500 babies were born with withdrawal symptoms – roughly one every hour.
Not all babies born to women who used opiates during pregnancy showed the symptoms, the report said.
But those that did were often born earlier and smaller, suffered seizures, restlessness, breathing problems or difficulty feeding and often required treatment with the opiate-replacement drug methadone to help wean them off their dependency.
“They appear uncomfortable, sometimes they breathe a little faster. They’re scratching their faces,” said Dr. Stephen Patrick of the University of Michigan, who worked on the study.
The babies were kept in hospital for an average of 16 days, compared to three for health babies.
As most were born to mothers who were entitled to financial help with their medical costs, the study said this was placing a serious burden on health budgets.
The researchers said many pregnant women were legitimately taking pain-relieving opiates on prescription, but warned that more must be done to find ways of protecting unborn babies from powerful drugs.
Dr. Stephen Patrick said the findings were “part of a bigger call to the fact that opiates are becoming a big problem in this country”.
An editorial in the journal accompanying the study said that while such opiate medications provide “superior pain control” they have been “overprescribed, diverted and sold illegally, creating a new opiate addiction pathway and a public health burden for maternal and child health”.
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that painkiller abuse in the US had reached “epidemic proportions”.
It said overdoses of pain relievers cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.
Bobby Brown has been widely derided by many fans being responsible for introducing Whitney Houston to the drugs which played a part in her untimely death.
Now, Bobby Brown has hit back at the claims in his first interview since the singer passed away back in February.
“I didn’t get high [on narcotics] before I met Whitney,” Bobby Brown tells The Today Show’s Matt Lauer.
“I smoked weed, I drank the beer, but no, I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs at all.”
Bobby Brown, 43, says drugs were a part of Whitney Houston’s life “way way before” they got together.
Bobby Brown says he was not the one who got Whitney Houston addicted to drugs, in a new interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown married in 1993 and had daughter Bobbi Kristina, now 19-years-old, before divorcing in 2007.
Bobby Brown adds: “It’s just unexplainable how one could, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs. I’m not the reason she’s gone.”
In the candid sit-down interview which will air in the U.S. this Wednesday, Bobby Brown, who says he is “very much clean and sober’ from narcotics,” tells host Matt Lauer that he was “hurt” when he heard the news of Whitney Houston’s death at just 48-years-old.
“I was hurt because me being off of narcotics for the last seven years, I felt that she was… I didn’t know she was struggling with it still,” says Bobby Brown, who looks studious in a pink sweater over a checked shirt.
“But at the same time, listen, it’s a hard fight. It’s a hard fight to maintain sobriety that way.”
Matt Lauer then presses home the media speculation to Bobby Brown, saying: “If I heard it once, I heard it a hundred times, and I know you heard it too. Fans, people who say they were close to Whitney, say her life went downhill when she met Bobby Brown. How does it make you feel when you hear it?”
“It makes me feel terrible,” Bobby Brown responds.
“But I know differently. I think if anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time looking through the bubble, they would know how we felt about each other. They would know how happy we were together.”
Bobby Brown also recalls the last time he saw Whitney Houston – about a week before she died.
“She had this glow about her that was just incredible,” he says.
“I’m saying to myself, <<She must be doing really well>>, because she looked really well. She looked like she was in a good place.”
Whitney Houston was found dead in Beverly Hilton Hotel bathtub on February 11 from what authorities called accidental drowning brought on by cocaine use and heart disease. White powder and drug paraphernalia were found in the bathroom where she died.
The second part of Bobby Brown’s interview with Matt Lauer airs on Thursday on U.S. network NBC and features interviews with three of the singer’s children Landon, Bobby Jr., and La’Princia – and his fiancée, Alicia Etheridge.
It has not been smooth sailing for Bobby Brown since Whitney Houston’s death.
He turned up for Whitney Houston’s funeral in New Jersey but left before the service started saying he felt unwanted and disrespected.
And six weeks after Whitney Houston died, Bobby Brown was arrested and charged in Los Angeles with DUI and driving on a suspended license. Brown has pleaded not guilty.
Whitney Houston’s family is planning to encase her body in concrete to prevent the stealing of the $750,000 worth of jewellery the late singer is buried with.
At the moment Whitney Houston’s grave is under 24-hour guard at Fairview Cemetery in New Jersey but it is thought her mother Cissy Houston can’t afford to keep up the security.
Whitney Houston was buried with a diamond brooch and earrings next to the body of her father John Russell Houston Jr. – who died in 2003 – in February.
A close family source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Cissy can’t afford to keep paying guards forever. A concrete encasement is the only answer.”
Whitney Houston was buried with a diamond brooch and earrings next to the body of her father John Russell Houston Jr
A burial expert at Hollywood Forever, which houses the remains of a number of celebrities, believes encasing Whitney Houston in concrete is a “sensible move”.
They said: “It makes robbery virtually impossible. It would take a long time to get through, even with a pneumatic drill.”
Cissy Houston, 78, has also announced she wants to set the record straight about her daughter, who was found dead in a bath tub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in February aged 48.
Whitney Houston’s mother has vowed to write a book publishing both the “good” and “bad” times in the singer’s life.
She is quoted by the New York Times as saying: “I want to stop the lies, It’s going to be the bad. It’s going to be the good.”
Cissy Houston has met a number of New York publishers about the tome, and she could reach a seven-figure deal depending on what she reveals about Whitney Houston’s drug issues and previous marriage to Bobby Brown.
At least 103 people have died after a ferry capsized during a storm in north-eastern India, local police say.
The vessel was reported to be carrying at least 300 passengers on the Brahmaputra river in Assam state.
Reports say more than 100 people are missing, while dozens of others either were rescued or made it to safety.
Poor safety standards mean ferry accidents are common on the river but that this is one of the worst disasters in recent memory.
At least 103 people have died after a ferry capsized during a storm in north-eastern India
Police officials said it happened in the remote district of Dhubri during heavy winds and rain.
Dhubri is about 350 km (215 miles) west of Assam’s main city, Guwahati.
The vessel capsized and broke into two pieces during the storm, police said.
“I could see people being swept away as the river current was very strong,” a witness to the accident, Rahul Karmakar, told AFP news agency.
Assam state Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said emergency teams were in place but nightfall and bad weather were hampering rescue efforts.
The ferry carried no lifeboats or life jackets, and was overloaded with people and goods, with passengers sitting on the roof, according to a police officer quoted by the Reuters news agency.
In a statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was “shocked and grieved” by the incident.
Manmohan Singh has “given instructions for all possible assistance to the government of Assam in relief operations”, the statement added.
Boats are a common mode of transport in the area, which is dotted with small islands and villages along the banks of the river.
Many of the boats are overcrowded with poor or minimal safety features.
Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s brother, was shot dead by two gunmen and not just “lone wolf” Sirhan Sirhan, claims Nina Rhodes-Hughes, a witness stood just metres away from the presidential candidate in a Los Angeles hotel.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, of Vancouver, Canada, is convinced Sirhan Sirhan – sentenced to life imprisonment after the killing – was the not the only man firing shots that fateful 1968 day.
She told CNN: “What has to come out is that there was another shooter to my right. The truth has got to be told. No more cover-ups.”
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, now 78, claimed she had told FBI investigators she heard much more than eight shots, which was the maximum Sirhan Sirhan could have fired with his small-caliber handgun.
The former television actress, who was working as a volunteer fundraiser for RFK’s campaign at the time, also said some of the “12 to 14” shots came from a different location to where the convicted murderer was standing.
But the “official reporting” of the incident has left her frustrated after it was changed by the FBI, Nina Rhodes-Hughes claimed, to say that she only heard eight shots.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes added: “For me it’s hopeful and sad that it’s only coming out now instead of before – but at least now instead of never.
“I never said eight shots. I never, never said it. There were more than eight shots. There were at least 12, maybe 14. And I know there were because I heard the rhythm in my head.
“When they say only eight shots, the anger within me is so great that I practically – I get very emotional because it is so untrue. It is so untrue.”
She said she ran out of the pantry, where the shooting took place, yelling: “They’ve killed him! They’ve killed him! Oh, my God, he’s dead! They’ve killed him!”
“Now, the reason I said, <<they>> is because I knew there was more than one shooter involved. Although it was 44 years ago, I will swear thatthis is exactly what happened.
“I remember it like it was almost yesterday, because you don’t forget something like that when it totally changes your life forever.
“It took a great toll on me. For a while, even the backfiring of a car would send me into tears.”
Robert F. Kennedy was shot dead by two gunmen and not just “lone wolf” Sirhan Sirhan, claims Nina Rhodes-Hughes (left)
Sirhan Sirhan, now 68, is currently serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.
He was the only person arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of RFK, and never contested the case, during his 1969 trial, that he was the only gunman.
Initially handed the death sentence, it was reduced to a life sentence in 1972.
But Sirhan Sirhan is now trying to engineer his release on the grounds that he was not the only gunman and that it was not him that killed Robert F. Kennedy.
He is now awaiting a U.S. District Court ruling which could see him released, re-tried or granted a hearing.
The hearing would take place on the production of new evidence – including Nina Rhodes-Hughes’ eyewitness account.
Sirhan Sirhan’s lawyer William Pepper called the alleged FBI alteration of her story “deplorable” and “criminal” and said it “mirrors the experience of other witnesses”.
Other witnesses have also mentioned hearing more than eight shots, but these have only been detailed in Los Angeles Police Department summaries and not FBI reports.
These included Estelyn Duffy LaHive, who thought she heard 10 shots, and Booker Griffin who said there was “two quick shots, followed by a slight pause, and then another 10 to 12 additional shots”.
A recently uncovered tape recording at the Ambassador Hotel’s pantry by freelance journalist Stanislaw Pruszynski also suggests there were 13 shots on June 5.
Analysis has revealed five of the shots could have been fired from another direction to where Sirhan Sirhan’s weapon was positioned.
RFK’s autopsy report also revealed his body and clothing were struck from behind, at right rear, by four bullets fired at upward angles and at point-blank range.
But witnesses said Sirhan Sirhan fired somewhat downward, almost horizontally, from several feet in front.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes, whose witness account is now being reviewed by the federal judge, first met Robert F. Kennedy two-and-a-half years before his death at NBC-TV studios in Burbank, California.
In the make-up room being prepared for her role in Morning Star, Nina Rhodes-Hughes said she was “starstruck” when he entered. He was there to pre-record an interview.
Nina Rhodes-Hughes said: “I saw Robert Kennedy and everything else disappeared from view. There was an aura about him that was very captivating. He kind of pulled you in.
“His eyes were very deep set and they were very blue. And when you looked at him, you got very drawn in to him.”
Nina Rhodes-Hughes said it was at that point she decided to help RFK, who was then a Senator for New York, should he ever decide to run for the top job of President.
RFK, the most seriously wounded of the six people shot, was gunned down just moments after claiming victory in California’s Democratic primary election.
He died the next day, while the other victims survived.
Although Sirhan Sirhan’s lawyers are calling for his release, Nina Rhodes-Hughes, who was never called to testify at the trial, said he should remain in prison.
She said: “To me, he was absolutely there. I don’t feel he should be exonerated. There definitely was another shooter. The constant cover-ups, the constant lies – this has got to stop.”
Mariah Carey was eager to show off her figure after recently losing 70 pounds of baby weight, but her black and red spandex trousers looked eye-wateringly tight as she took to the stage at the Top of the Mountain Concert in Ischgl, Austria.
But Mariah Carey, 42, topped off the look with a cropped fur-trimmed jacket, black boots and fingerless gloves.
It’s not the first time she’s worn the two-tone ski pants – she was spotted in the same pair while in Aspen over Christmas.
Mariah Carey jetted to the city over the weekend after renewing her wedding vows to Nick Cannon on the top of the Eiffel Tower on Thursday.
Mariah Carey’s black and red spandex trousers looked eye-wateringly tight as she took to the stage at the Top of the Mountain Concert in Ischgl
The singer, who married the TV presenter in a surprise ceremony in the Bahamas four years ago, took to twitter to celebrate the “incredible night” in the French capital.
Mariah Carey wrote: “Tonight was an incredible night. I can’t express how amazing it was to renew our vows in Paris at the top of the Eiffel tower.
“Thank you so much to all the fans who came out as always and showed their love and support. I love you!”
Nick Cannon – who has recently battled ill health – recently admitted he continued to be amazed by his marriage to Mariah Carey, with who he now has nearly one-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe.
He said: “We get married every year; it’s our thing. I just have to keep doing it to make sure it’s real!”
Nick Cannon recently revealed the couple planned to celebrate their children turning one with a special celebration outside of the US.
He said: “It’s up in the air right now but it’s probably not going to be in the States. We are going to take it overseas.”
When a party at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France was suggested, Nick Cannon appeared to hint the speculation was right, smiling as he said: “You’re good. You’re good.”
Spain’s Duchess of Alba and her younger husband Alfonso Diez were still very much enjoying married life six months after their wedding as they stepped out for a lunch date in Paris.
Duchess of Alba, 85, held hands with Alfonso Diez, 61,as they strolled the streets of the French capital.
Dressed head to toe in several different shades of blue – which included a hairpiece, shoes, dress and stockings – the eccentric billionairess clung to her husband’s arm as they browsed a book shop.
The couple married in a flamboyant ceremony last October; the bride, an eccentric billionaire with more titles than Queen Elizabeth II while her groom was a mere civil servant young enough to be her son.
Duchess of Alba held hands with Alfonso Diez as they strolled the streets of the French capital
But despite the objections of her six children – and plenty of public controversy – Spain’s Duchess of Alba wed Alfonso Diez at her 15th century palace in Seville.
The famously flamboyant Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart wore a delicate pale pink gown designed by Victorio y Lucchino for her third marriage, which took place in front of 38 guests.
Well-wishers donned fancy dress and wigs in an attempt to copy her quirky style as they celebrated in the city’s streets.
The twice-widowed Duchess’s children feared Alfonso Diez was a gold-digger – so he has relinquished his rights to her $5 billion fortune in an effort to appease them.
Duchess of Alba, who is a distant relative of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, went ahead with the marriage despite her children’s qualms.
It emerged in August that she has divided her fortune between her six children to convince them that her suitor is besotted with her rather than her money.
Known now for her frizzy white hair, squeaky voice and wildly colorful clothes, the duchess is among Spain’s most famous people.
Last year, Duchess of Alba was at the centre of a sex scandal when Spanish magazine Interviu published a 30-year-old picture on its front cover of the duchess sunbathing topless in Ibiza.
Duchess of Alba and Alfonso Diez, a social security administration employee, are old acquaintances through her second husband, who was a former priest, and Diez’s brother.
They bumped into each other about three years ago outside a cinema in Madrid and eventually started dating.
Khloe Kardashian and her husband Lamar Odom have decided not to continue with their reality series, so that he can concentrate on his basketball career, it has been claimed.
According to TMZ.com, the married couple are pulling the plug on their show, which currently airs on E!, and will significantly limit their time on the main family programme Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
TMZ also reports that Lamar Odom is keen to revive his playing career, after he was put on the Dallas Mavericks “inactive list” following a less than successful season.
Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom have decided not to continue with their reality series, so that he can concentrate on his basketball career
Lamar Odom, 32, released a statement earlier this month when the news was announced, which read: “The Mavericks and I have mutually agreed that it’s in the best interest of both parties for me to step away from the team.
“I’m sorry that things didn’t work out better for both of us, but I wish the Mavs’ organization, my team mates and Dallas fans nothing but continued success in the defense of their championship.”
Lamar Odom, who now lives in Los Angeles full-time with Khloe Kardashian, has hired a trainer in a bid to improve his skills on the court.
It is believed Lamar Odom is hoping to be traded from the Mavericks once the basketball season draws to a close.
Khloe & Lamar, which airs in America on Sunday nights, has proved a more than successful spin-off of the main Kardashian vehicle.
It followed in the footsteps of the family’s other spin-offs, including Kourtney & Kim Take New York, and Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami, as well as Kim’s Fairytale Wedding – which followed the most famous Kardashian as she prepared to wed her now estranged husband Kris Humphries.
It was reported earlier this month that the Kardashian family had signed a $40 million three-year contract with E!, with sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, as well as parents Kris and Bruce Jenner, all earning equal pay.
The seventh season begins airing in the States on May 20.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is to file a complaint against Mediapart website that claimed Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi had offered to fund his 2007 election campaign.
On May 6, Nicolas Sarkozy faces Socialist Francois Hollande in the second round of the presidential election.
The Mediapart site has published a 2006 document signed by former head of Libyan intelligence Moussa Koussa proposing up to 50 million Euros in funding.
Nicolas Sarkozy called it a “crude forgery” and Moussa Koussa said it was a fake.
“Do you think that with all that I’d done to Mr. Gaddafi, he’d have made me a bank transfer? Why not a signed cheque?” he told France 2 TV on Monday.
The allegation that Muammar Gaddafi had offered illegal funding for Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign first surfaced in March 2011 when the late Libyan leader’s son, Saif al-Islam, said he was ready to reveal all the details.
Nicolas Sarkozy is to file a complaint against Mediapart website that claimed Muammar Gaddafi had offered to fund his 2007 election campaign
At the time, France was spearheading NATO-led efforts to impose a no-fly zone aimed at halting the advance of pro-Gaddafi forces against Libyan rebels.
But this is the first document linked to the allegation, supposedly signed by Moussa Koussa and addressed to the head of Col. Gaddafi’s chief of staff at the time, Bashir Saleh, who ran Libya’s sovereign wealth fund.
Bashir Saleh said in a statement from his lawyers that the “politically intentioned” allegations were “completely unfounded”.
Speaking on French TV, Nicolas Sarkozy linked the publication of the document clearly to Sunday’s election run-off with Francois Hollande and promised to file a complaint by the end of the campaign.
“The election campaign doesn’t justify everything,” he complained.
“There’s a section of the press, of the media, and notably the site in question whose name I refuse to mention, that is prepared to fake documents. Shame on those who have exploited them!”
Responding to Nicolas Sarkozy’s threat to take legal action, Mediapart said that the outgoing president was “decidedly opposed to media independence and shows it by his reaction to our latest revelations on the Libyan secrets”.
The website added that those in power preferred to insult journalists whose information upset them rather than respond to the questions they posed.
Francois Hollande, who is currently eight points ahead in the latest opinion poll, told Europe 1 radio that it was for the judicial system to take up the matter.
“If it’s a fake, well then the website will be condemned,” he said.
“And if it’s not a fake, then at that point there would be some explaining to do.”
The Socialist candidate is himself facing an awkward political moment with the apparent re-emergence of former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, once a favorite for the party’s presidential nomination.
DSK, who is under formal investigation for alleged involvement in a vice-ring, was invited to a Socialist MP’s party on Saturday to which several figures in the party’s presidential campaign were also attending. Francois Hollande later emphasized that DSK “no longer has a role in political life” and was not part of the campaign.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has denied giving an interview published by the British newspaper, the Guardian, in which he is said to have suggested that his arrest in New York last year on charges of sexual assault was manipulated by President Nicolas Sarkozy for political purposes.
A spokesman said the words were a montage from a forthcoming book by New York journalist Edward Jay Epstein.
Warner Bros. have launched a new eBook range called Inside The Script, which includes classic hits Ben Hur and Casablanca.
Available in the iBookstore for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, the Inside The Script titles take classic movie scripts and expand them for the digital age.
Other movies in the Inside the Script series will include An American in Paris and North by Northwest.
The e-books include items such as the shooting script, production notes, storyboards and on-set photographs.
Warner Bros. have launched a new eBook range called Inside The Script, which includes classic hits Ben Hur and Casablanca
“Now we can give fans rarely seen details of how these stories came together,” said Thomas Gewecke, Warner Bros. president of digital distribution.
The Ben Hur e-book includes excerpts from Charlton Heston’s performance and shooting journals from the film sets.
An American in Paris features a reproduction of the tickets to the film’s Hollywood premiere from MGM make-up artist John Truwe.
Casablanca includes a telegram from producer Hal Wallis relating to his row with studio mogul Jack Warner, who beat Wallis to the stage to accept the film’s Oscar for best picture in 1944.
And Hitchcock’s North by Northwest includes costume sketches and composer Bernard Herrmann’s music notes.
