Argentina has broadcasted a political advert filmed on the territory of Falkland Islands without authorization.
The advert features an Argentine athlete training in the Falklands ahead of the London Olympics in July.
It ends with the slogan: “To compete on English soil, we train on Argentine soil.”
Falklands legislator Ian Hansen dismissed it as a piece of “cheap and disrespectful propaganda”.
The advert – broadcast in Argentina on Wednesday night – is the latest measure by Argentina to reassert its claim to the British overseas territory it calls the Malvinas.
The advert features an Argentine athlete training in the Falklands ahead of the London Olympics in July
Produced by the Argentine presidency, it is titled Olympic Games 2012: Homage to the Fallen and the Veterans of the Malvinas.
It shows Argentine hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg running and exercising in the Falklands capital Port Stanley, interspersed with shots of penguins and the windswept South Atlantic.
Ian Hansen said the video had been filmed without permission from the islands’ authorities.
He accused Argentina of trying to “politicize the Olympics in service of its territorial ambitions”.
“It is deeply sad to see Mr. Zylberberg clambering over a war memorial. Sadly this illustrates the disrespect the Argentine authorities have for our home and our people,” Ian Hansen said.
“At no stage does the video feature any Falkland Islanders – a clear reflection of Argentina’s policy, which is to pretend that the people of the Falkland Islands do not exist.”
Last month saw the 30th anniversary of the start of the Falklands War, when Argentine forces invaded the islands before being defeated by a British task force.
Argentina wants the UK to negotiate on sovereignty, but the British government says it will not discuss the issue without the agreement of the Falkland islanders.
According to an American survey, more than one third of U.S. citizens would fail the country’s citizenship test for immigrants.
The study, conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio, found that one in three respondents would fail the civics portion of the test given to those applying for U.S. citizenship.
More than 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 were asked 10 random questions from the civics test, which asks about US history and government topics.
Of those questioned, 35% were unable to answer the pass mark of five correctly.
The most common questions people got wrong revolved around the different functions of government, and how power was distributed between the federal and state governments.
Seventy-five per cent of respondents didn’t know what the judicial branch does, while 71% could not name the U.S. constitution as the “law of the land”.
Furthermore, 57% could not define what an amendment was.
According to an American survey, more than one third of U.S. citizens would fail the country's citizenship test for immigrants
Most of those surveyed did the best on history and geography-related questions.
Despite this, another study found that 60% of Americans believe that being able to pass the government portion of the naturalization exam is a prerequisite for a high school diploma.
There are two parts to the citizenship exam, namely the English test and the civics test.
In the English test, an applicant’s ability to speak, read and write using the language are all assessed.
In the civics portion, the applicant is quizzed on US history and government topics.
According to U.S. News and World Report, 97% of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship pass the test.
Ten sample questions
The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
We elect a President for how many years?
What is the name of the President of the United States now?
If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
What is the highest court in the United States?
What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
There were 13 original states. Name three.
What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
A newly unveiled report written for wartime British intelligence says Adolf Hitler developed a “messiah complex” towards the end of World War II.
The report, written in 1942 by Cambridge academic Joseph MacCurdy, said Adolf Hitler was turning increasingly to “Jew-phobia” as defeat loomed.
Social scientist Mark Abrams commissioned the report, which came to light as a result of research into his work.
“Hitler is caught up in a web of religious delusions,” Joseph MacCurdy said in the report.
He outlined how Hitler began to focus on the “Jewish poison” as the tide of World War II turned against Germany.
A newly unveiled report written for wartime British intelligence says Adolf Hitler developed a "messiah complex" towards the end of World War II
“The Jews are the incarnation of evil, while he is the incarnation of the spirit of good,” Joseph MacCurdy said.
“He is a god by whose sacrifice victory over evil may be achieved. He does not say this in so many words, but such a system of ideas would rationalize what he does say that is otherwise obscure.”
Cambridge historian Scott Anthony came across the report while researching Joseph MacCurdy’s work.
“MacCurdy recognized that, faced with external failure, the Nazi leader was focusing on a perceived <<enemy within>> instead – namely, the Jews,” Scott Anthony said.
“Given that we now know that the <<final solution>> was commencing, this makes for poignant reading.”
Activist Chen Guangcheng has phoned a US Congressional hearing to plead for help in his attempts to leave China with his family.
Chen Guangcheng said he feared for the safety of his family and wanted to meet visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton face-to-face.
The dissident is in a Beijing hospital sealed off by Chinese police.
He had spent six days at the US embassy but left after initially accepting China’s assurances of his safety.
Chen Guangcheng said that only after leaving the embassy did he fully realize the threats that had been made against his family members.
In his call, broadcast live to the Congressional hearing from a mobile phone, Chen Guangcheng said: “I want to come to the US to rest. I have not had a rest in 10 years.
“I’m concerned most right now with the safety of my mother and brothers. I really want to know what’s going on with them.”
He said villagers who had helped him were “receiving retribution”.
Chen Guangcheng told Rep Chris Smith, who was chairing the hearing at the Congressional commission on China: “I want to meet with Secretary Clinton. I hope I can get more help from her.”
His supporter and friend, Bob Fu, acted as translator.
Chris Smith told Chen Guangcheng that the activist’s friends in the US had expressed “desperate concern” for him.
“We are praying for you and we will be unceasing in our efforts to help,” Chris Smith said.
Chen Guangcheng is in the hospital with his wife and children but the building is ringed by police and he is effectively under detention.
The dissident has expressed repeated concerns about his family members in his home village in eastern Shandong province.
Chen Guangcheng earlier said his wife had relayed to him the extent of the threats there.
“She told me our house has been installed with seven CCTV cameras inside the courtyard. There are people in and outside of our house and on the roof… They just eat and stay in our house, and they plan to build up electric wires around my house.”
Chen Guangcheng has phoned a US Congressional hearing to plead for help in his attempts to leave China with his family
Although he initially said he wanted to stay in China, Chen Guangcheng said he had changed his mind because he believed China had reneged on an agreement to guarantee his safety.
There is no official confirmation about the nature of any such agreement, but media reports from the US suggest that Chen Guangcheng had been promised safety in a university town elsewhere in China.
The case has increasing political resonance in the US.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said if reports that US officials had persuaded Chen Guangcheng to leave the embassy were true “this is a dark day for freedom and it’s a day of shame for the Obama administration”.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama was “not concerned about political back-and-forth on this issue”.
Jay Carney said: “He is focused on the need to advance US interests in our broad-based relationship with China… He has and will continue to make a priority in that relationship or a part of that relationship an open and frank discussion of our concerns about human rights.”
The US has said that at no point did Chen Guangcheng ask for asylum and he was never put under any pressure to leave the embassy.
State department spokesman Mark Toner said there had only been telephone access to Chen Guangcheng on Thursday, adding: “It’s our desire to meet with him [on Friday] or in the coming days. But I can’t speak to whether we’ll have access to him. I just don’t know.”
Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are in Beijing for annual bilateral talks, focusing heavily on Syria and North Korea.
As the talks opened, Hillary Clinton did not mention Chen Guangcheng by name but addressed the topic of human rights.
“The United States believes that no state can legitimately deny the universal rights that belong to every human being – or punish those who exercise them,” she said.
Chinese officials on Wednesday accused the US of interference in China’s domestic affairs and demanded an apology for housing Chen Guangcheng at the US embassy.
Chen Guangcheng had been at the embassy for almost a week after escaping from house arrest in his village in Shandong.
He had planned his escape from house arrest for months. On 27 April, Chen Guangcheng scaled the wall the authorities had built around his house and was then driven hundreds of miles to Beijing.
ABC News quoted US officials as saying an embassy vehicle drove out to meet a car carrying Chen Guangcheng, but the staff realised they were being followed. The two cars met hurriedly in an alleyway and Chen Guangcheng was bundled into the US car and driven back to the embassy, ABC said.
Several people involved in Chen Guangcheng’s escape have been detained or have disappeared in recent days.
He has spent seven years in prison or under house arrest after he exposed human rights abuses, including the way thousands of women were forced to have abortions under China’s “one-child-policy”.
Osama Bin Laden’s documents seized during the raid on the Abbottabad compound were posted online by the research wing of the US military academy, West Point.
The newly released papers reveal a frustrated Osama Bin Laden struggling to control an unruly network, the US military says.
The papers show al-Qaeda leader was unhappy with affiliates’ attacks on fellow Muslims, urging them to target the US instead.
Seventeen documents were released from a cache of more than 6,000.
The 175-page cache was posted online by the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center – in the week marking a year since Osama Bin Laden’s death.
The papers date from September 2006 to April 2011 and include letters from other al-Qaeda leaders.
Osama Bin Laden’s documents seized during the raid on the Abbottabad compound were posted online by the research wing of the US military academy, West Point
Some documents suggest that the group had a strained relationship with Iran.
Letters reveal al-Qaeda’s exasperation with the way Tehran handled the release of detainees, including members of Osama Bin Laden’s family, expressing annoyance that the Iranians “do not wish to appear to be negotiating with us or responding to our pressures”.
Meanwhile, there is no explicit reference to any institutional support from Pakistan, where Osama Bin Laden lived for nine years.
The papers make mention of “trusted Pakistani brothers”, but one reference suggests Osama Bin Laden was wary of Pakistani intelligence.
He gave instructions to family members travelling to Pakistan to make sure they were not followed – in case the local intelligence chief trailed them to his location.
The documents also shed light on Osama Bin Laden’s concerns that Muslims were being alienated by the ideology of jihad.
In a letter from 2010, Osama Bin Laden wrote of “starting a new phase to correct [the mistakes] we made”.
“In doing so, we shall reclaim, God willing, the trust of a large segment of those who lost their trust in the jihadis,” he wrote.
In its executive summary on the documents, the US military says they reveal Osama Bin Laden’s frustration with affiliated organizations and his powerlessness to control their actions, including:
• Osama Bin Laden was advised by his California-born media adviser Adam Gadahn to distance his network from al-Qaeda in Iraq because of the latter’s perceived failures
• His lieutenants threatened to take measures against the leadership of the Pakistani Taliban for their “vile mistakes”, including indiscriminate attacks on Muslims
• Osama Bin Laden wrote a strongly worded letter to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urging them to focus on attacking the US, instead of the Yemeni government or security forces
• Osama Bin Laden saw little to gain from a pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda from the Somali radical insurgent group al-Shabab, which he viewed as poorly organized
The letters reveal that Osama Bin Laden was also skeptical of so-called lone wolf missions by homegrown jihadists.
He urged his associates “not to send a single brother on a suicide operation; they should send at least two”.
Osama Bin Laden added that in cases when only one militant undertook an operation the “percentage of success was low due to psychological factors that affect the [designated] brother in such a situation”.
Other papers suggest Osama Bin Laden ordered his militants to look out for opportunities to assassinate President Barack Obama or David Petraeus during any of their visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan. David Petraeus, now CIA director, formerly commanded international forces in Afghanistan.
But Osama Bin Laden warned them not to bother targeting Vice-President Joe Biden because “Biden is totally unprepared for that post [of president], which will lead the US into a crisis.”
In a letter from April 2011, the al-Qaeda leader discusses the Arab Spring, calling it a “formidable event” in the history of Muslims and expressing hope they can influence events through media outreach and “guidance”.
The correspondence suggests that Osama Bin Laden’s inner circle closely monitored US news media.
Al-Qaeda media adviser Adam Gadahn described ABC News as “all right, actually it could be one of the best channels as far as we are concerned”, but he said Fox News “falls into the abyss” and “lacks neutrality”.
Adam Gadahn also felt al-Qaeda had not been given credit for America’s economic downturn, according to documents from 2010.
“All the political talk in America is about the economy, forgetting or ignoring the war and its role in weakening the economy,” wrote Adam Gadahn.
Earlier this week, White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said Osama Bin Laden’s papers reinforced the view that the US was safer without him.
New reports suggest Lindsay Lohan and her ex-girlfriend Samantha Ronson have reignited their former flame, two years since they broke up their romantic union.
Lindsay Lohan, 25, reportedly cosied up to Samantha Ronson in a club in New York on Tuesday evening.
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson sparked speculation they’ve reunited after they were reportedly spotted leaving Le Baron hand in hand.
A source told X17Online.com: “Lindsay and Sam were whispering and laughing and they left the club holding hands.
“They didn’t care who saw them, and they definitely seem to be back on. It was just like the old days — they couldn’t get enough of each other!”
Lindsay Lohan was spotted leaving her hotel room in the Big Apple the following day looking fresh and happy in her sleek get-up, sparking speculation she was glowing from her evening out the night before.
Lindsay Lohan reportedly cosied up to Samantha Ronson in a club in New York on Tuesday evening
They’re evening together came just hours after Samantha Ronson appeared on American TV breakfast show Live With Kelly.
The DJ visited the set with her band Samantha Ronson & The Undertakers to perform her new single Summer of Sam.
And she must have felt the performance went well as she celebrated with Lindsay Lohan afterwards.
Samantha Ronson wrote on Twitter ahead of the appearance: “Super excited to perform Summer of Sam on @LiveKelly tomorrow morning. Hope you all tune in 9am est on abc.”
But it will be a surprise move for Samantha Ronson if she has reignited her romance with Lindsay Lohan, because she recently opened up about their relationship the first time around.
Samantha Ronson, 34, likened the experience to that of being “held hostage” and admitted it wasn’t a “healthy relationship”.
She appears to be opening up about her time with Lindsay Lohan in the lyrics to her track Sometimes When You Win, You Lose.
Samantha Ronson sings: “I just wanted to find some peace with you / You needed the noise as proof / And we started this war on the same side / Now I feel just like a hostage in the room / But I’m trying to find a way out alive.”
When she was told by the Daily Beast that many fans will presume it’s about Lindsay Lohan, she replied: “Maybe they’d be right. Maybe they’d be wrong. I wrote that song when I was with the person that it’s about. They knew what it was about when I wrote it. Yeah, it’s a little tough on that one.”
And when Samantha Ronson was asked if she was held “hostage” by the relationship, she added: “Most people would assume that it’s figurative, that it’s about emotions. But maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s actually literal. It was not a healthy relationship.”
Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson started dating in 2008, before they went their separate ways in 2010.
Samantha Ronson has since been linked to blonde Erin Foster.
While Lindsay Lohan appears to have gone back to her old ways by dating her former girlfriend, it appears she’s also gone back to other familiar territory.
The actress, who has endured a number of legal woes over the last few years, is having to face up to a case over an alleged hit-and-run she reportedly committed in March.
According to TMZ.com, the manager of the Hookah Lounge in Hollywood Boulevard has claimed Lindsay Lohan struck him with her car before allegedly driving off without leaving any information.
Officers at LAPD have reportedly finished their investigation and sent it to the District Attorney’s office for review, but the website reports there is not much evidence to support the accuser’s claims.
Lindsay Lohan has reportedly denied her car went anywhere near the man and insists he’s making it up.
Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy S3, the handset with a 4.8 inch (12.2 cm) screen, an increase on the 4.3 inch screen of its predecessor.
Samsung described Galaxy S3 as the “best in class” Android-based smartphone on the market.
Analysts say the popularity of the previous Galaxy – the S2 – was a major factor in Samsung overtaking Nokia to become the world’s best-selling mobile phone maker.
The firm said that the new Super AMOLED display was 22% larger than its predecessor, but the actual device was not much wider since it had shrunk the size of the bezel.
The development allows Samsung to boast it has a slightly larger screen than the 4.7 inch dimensions of the HTC One X, the top of the range model from its Taiwanese rival.
Samsung Galaxy S3 is also significantly bigger than the 3.5 inch display of Apple’s iPhone 4S and the 4.3 inch screen of Nokia’s Lumia 900.
It added that a mix of “intelligent camera features” and face recognition technology should offer owners a more natural experience.
For example, it said that the front camera would identify the user’s eyes and would not go dark or lock so long as they were looking at it.
Other features on the S3 include an 8 megapixel camera on the rear, and a 1.9 megapixel front camera for video calls.
Samsung Galaxy S3 will be available from the end of May in Europe
The phone also uses what is described as a “natural language user interface” dubbed S Voice. The South Korean company said it was a major improvement on the voice control features it included on earlier models.
“It is more like a good friend and listens intently and responds effectively to you,” a spokesman said at the launch event in London.
The facility can be used to command the phone to play songs, adjust the volume, send texts or emails and take photographs.
The function is likely to be compared to Apple’s Siri software.
Samsung Galaxy S3 will be available in two colors, pebble blue and marble white, and the firm says that other options will be available at a later date.
One analyst attending the launch event said that the advances Samsung had made should help Google’s Android continue to be the most used smartphone operating system.
“The importance of the Galaxy S3 to Samsung cannot be underestimated,” said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum.
“The company has built its reputation on producing the <<must-have>> Android smartphone and in the process has become the poster child for the Android platform.
“However, Samsung’s Galaxy S3 not only needs to stand out amongst a plethora of other Android-based smartphones, it will also go head-to-head with the next iteration of Apple’s flagship smartphone, the iPhone.”
Adam Leach added that Apple was not expected to release its new handset until much closer to the end of the year.
Samsung Galaxy S3 will be available from the end of May in Europe. Launches in Asia, the Middle East and Africa will follow.
A 4G version will go on sale in the US and South Korea in the summer.
Khloe Kardashian has never made a secret of her battle with her weight, speaking openly about her desire to shed the pounds in various interviews.
Now Khloe Kardashian, 27, has spoken of her delight after losing an astonishing 20lbs in just 20 days.
The reality TV star, seen posing in a dark purple two-piece on the cover of Life & Style Weekly magazine, underneath the headline How I got thin fast!
It is believed that the main reason Khloe Kardashian has managed to slim down is the fact that she has been having healthy, easy meals cooked for her by a personal chef.
Khloe Kardashian has spoken of her delight after losing an astonishing 20lbs in just 20 days
Khloe Kardashian, who is 5ft 10in, has also apparently been working out alongside her basketball player husband Lamar Odom, and his personal trainer, in a bid to shape up.
She has spoken before about how difficult she finds it to be compared to her more petite sisters, Kim and Kourtney.
Khloe Kardashian told Us Weekly magazine last year: “They are 5-foot and 5-foot-2, so I look massive next to them. Everyone expects me to be 9 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds when they meet me.”
She has also said in the past: “My weight is always going up and down. I’m always fighting that and I feel like no matter what I do, I don’t look good enough to everybody else.
“My weight is my biggest lifetime struggle. It’s not the biggest thing in life, but it does get you down sometimes.”
Apparently the difficulty in Khloe Kardashian’s relationship with husband Lamar Odom has been to blame for her recent weight gain.
But the news that they are taking a break from their reality TV career will also help Khloe Kardashian maintain her new slim line figure.
Khloe Kardashian told People magazine yesterday: “We just wanted to prioritize a little; we just wanted a little pause. Part of being married is knowing when your husband needs your support.”
Astronomers say the moon will go “super” this weekend, but that will mean bad news for the meteor shower watchers.
The Super Moon, or the year’s biggest full moon, will delight all on 5th of May, 2012, starting from 23:35 EST (or 03:35 GMT on May 6th). Even though the moon will be at its biggest for just a few hours, the full moon will appear to last for a full three days starting on 4th May till 6th May.
Unfortunately, the bright moon will wipe out the faint Eta Aquarids, the meteor shower from the debris of the Halley comet. However, given that the Eta Aquarids register at a high count of 60 meteors per hour, one shouldn’t lose all hope. Let’s just say that it won’t be seen in its usual self. Meteor shower enthusiasts will agree that the Aquarids are not really that bad a miss.
The Super Moon happens at the full moon when the moon is closest to the Earth. The 2011 Super Moon was spectacular – the moon won’t be that close to the Earth in another 18 years.
The Super Moon, or the year’s biggest full moon, will delight all on 5th of May, 2012, starting from 23.35 EST
This year’s Super Moon won’t be that great, but it will still be quite a sight, with the moon appearing 14% bigger and 28% brighter than usual full moon nights.
Photo enthusiasts interested in sky watching should definitely aim at photographing the Super Moon. Last year’s was a bumper catch and this time too people are optimistic. A tripod is not necessary, as you’ll require really small exposure time for the moon, but getting to a place with a clear sky will definitely mean a lot for the clarity of the photo. Unlike other night photos, you will be well-advised to keep the ISO of your camera sensor low.
And as for the Eta Aquarids, we aren’t very optimistic, especially if you were planning to photograph them. Living in the Southern Hemisphere will give you a slight advantage and you’ll be lucky to see a few good and bright streaks. The fact that you won’t be able keep your camera shutter open for most of the area in the sky, due to the bright moon, will not help your cause.
Ukraine denounces a threatened EU boycott of next month’s Euro 2012 football championship as “destructive”.
In a statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the move would undermine the image of the tournament and be detrimental to millions of Ukrainians and Poles.
Poland – which is co-hosting Euro 2012 – has also criticized any boycott.
Several European leaders are considering cancelling their trips to Ukraine, in protest over the treatment of jailed former PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
Yulia Tymoshenko, who is on hunger strike, alleges she was beaten by prison guards.
The statement from the Ukrainian foreign ministry said sport events were designed to bring unity, and criticized what it said were attempts to politicize them.
“We view as destructive attempts to politicize sporting events, which since ancient times have played a paramount role in improving understanding and agreement between nations,” the statement said.
“A successful championship will be a victory not for politicians, parties or ideologies, but for all Ukrainians and Poles. Its failure will be a loss for millions,” it said.
Ukraine denounces a threatened EU boycott of next month's Euro 2012 football championship as "destructive"
Austria has said it will boycott all the matches in Ukraine, while the Netherlands said it will not attend unless Yulia Tymoshenko’s treatment improves.
On Thursday, EU officials said European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso would not be attending.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also reported to be considering boycotting the event, while the UK says it is undecided on whether to attend.
Meanwhile, five European presidents – from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Slovenia – have said they will not attend a Ukrainian summit of Central and East European leaders next week in Yalta.
In an attempt to ratchet up the pressure further, Germany earlier said the EU is prepared to delay a trade agreement with Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that “with our EU partners we are unanimous that the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine cannot be ratified as long as the rule of law in Ukraine does not develop in the right direction”.
But Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has said Euro 2012 is on track and UEFA – European football’s governing body – had not complained.
“The tournament is ready and on 11 May we will be transferring the control of the four stadia to UEFA.”
Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, was jailed last year for abuse of office, in a trial condemned by the West as politically motivated.
She is an arch-rival of Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych, who beat her to the presidency in February 2010, avenging his defeat in the 2004 Orange Revolution.
The opening games of the month-long Euro 2012 will be played on 9 June.
After yesterday’s Today show interview was focused on Whitney Houston, its second part turned this morning to Bobby Brown’s on-going relationship with daughter Bobbi Kristina.
According to Bobby Brown, 43, he and his daughter Bobbi Kristina share a very open, healthy relationship as he tells Matt Lauer: “I am her father, she talks to me about everything.”
When asked if the rumors of Bobbi Kristina’s substance abuse were accurate, Bobby Brown said that he was not concerned about that right now.
“I know what she is actually doing,” he said.
“I think people are making assumptions of what my daughter is [because of] how strong she is. People tend to want to control strong willed people.”
Bobby Brown says he and his daughter Bobbi Kristina share a very open, healthy relationship
Given their close relationship, Matt Lauer then asked if Bobbi Kristina Brown was dating her stepbrother, Nick Gordon, as rumors have alleged.
“Nick’s a good kid, I have nothing against Nick,” Bobby Brown said before being pushed by the host to make a declarative statement that they are not dating.
Bobbi Kristina is a strong girl, according to her father.
“Her mom taught her well. I think we raised her really well. She’s fine, she knows her mom is gone and she knows she has to live.”
Bobby Brown attempts to clear his name by dispelling the age-old rumors that he was the cause of Whitney Houston’s addiction in his interview with Today’s Matt Lauer.
In addition to recounting how well Whitney Houston looked the week prior to her death, Bobby Brown, 43, told Matt Lauer that he still asks himself if he could have helped her more.
“Maybe I could have done something different. You know?” Bobby Brown said.
“To ensure she had a longer life. But you have to want it.”
Although happily engaged, Bobby Brown had no qualms expressing the love he had for Whitney Houston, his ex-wife of 14 years.
Although happily engaged, Bobby Brown had no qualms expressing the love he had for Whitney Houston, his ex-wife of 14 years
Bobby Brown’s perception is that the couple had a great and “beautiful” relationship.
“I can honestly say that I loved that woman with everything that I am,” he admitted.
“I truly and genuinely love that woman. And I still love her to this day.”
Bobby Brown said it’s no secret (not even to his fiancée) how he felt about Whitney Houston.
“I was in love with her deeply,” he says of his late ex.
It’s commendable for Bobby Brown to take the high road by only having good things to say about Whitney Houston. From the outside looking in the couple may have appeared to be a little rough around the edges. But that’s not to say the love they had for each other wasn’t real. Take a look at the couple during the happier times of their marriage.
Ubuntu has some obvious advantages over other operating systems: is free of charge, free of viruses and designed to outpace its rivals on low-end systems.
Ubuntu claims 20 million people use it a day. Not an insignificant number, but still a drop in the ocean compared to Microsoft’s Windows or Apple’s OS X.
Even so, lead designer and one-time astronaut Mark Shuttleworth hopes that last week’s major upgrade to the Linux-based project will produce an outsized splash and increase the size of its somewhat divergent customer-base.
“In terms of our user, they would split into two sorts of camps,” Mark Shuttleworth says.
“One, not very tech savvy, that has an old PC lying around and Windows is getting difficult because of the computer’s age or viruses, and Ubuntu gives them a nice basic all-purpose PC with a great web experience.
“The other group tends to be the next generation of tech entrepreneurs – people who are passionate about technology and want to do amazing things with it.”
Mark Shuttleworth counts Wikipedia and Facebook’s Instagram photo app among his clients.
A third class of users is also attracted to the system – public bodies looking to cut their IT bills. The Dutch ministry of defense, part of France’s police force and schools across the south of Spain have all opted to switch thousands of their PCs to the software.
Ubuntu is able to offer itself as a free download thanks to coders across the world volunteering to develop the open-source project.
Mark Shuttleworth’s London-based company, Canonical, manages and funds the endeavor and makes money back by offering support, training and online storage.
The system may remain niche so long as it lacks native versions of big name software like Photoshop, iTunes and Microsoft Office – despite alternative products – but it may still shake up the wider industry thanks to efforts to incorporate innovative technologies.
The adoption of a head-up display (HUD) in the upgrade is a case in point.
It aims to replace increasingly overloaded point-and-click menu systems with a panel into which users type what they want the computer to do. The computer then tries to offer up a list of functions that match their request.
“The core idea is that instead of hunting for some functionality in a menu you can simply express what you want,” Mark Shuttleworth says.
“You can say I want to send that to grandma, or I want to back this up.
“It’s driven by the idea that search or expressing your intent has become really powerful. If Google can turn the whole internet into one page of likely results just based on the one sentence you give it, why can’t we do that with your email or graphics application?”
Ubuntu has some obvious advantages over other operating systems, is free of charge, free of viruses and designed to outpace its rivals on low-end systems
For now the innovation remains optional. The software designer admits it still needs “a great deal of work”, but he adds that it is only one of many steps he hopes to take towards a more intuitive, multi-sensory experience.
“You could imagine having the device track your eyeballs so it knows what you are looking at – so you could look at a movie and say <<I want to watch that>>.
“You can get away from the designer of the application having to provide a cumbersome way to express all the things you can do which you have to navigate, and just let you just say what you want to get done – whether that’s by talking, pointing or by touch interface – all of these things have to come together to make it feel more human.”
Delivering these ambitions will take years, perhaps decades.
In the shorter term, Ubuntu’s fans have been excited by a job posting which discussed creating a Ubuntu smartphone system.
Mark Shuttleworth refuses to reveal any details, beyond hinting that it will be a closer relation to the firm’s core product than some of its rivals’ mobile systems are to their desktop equivalents.
“You know you wouldn’t want to run Mac OS X nor Windows 8 on a phone,” he says.
“Those companies have quite different sorts of interfaces. We think we have found a way to have a more harmonious portfolio… we will be judged on what we ship.”
The firm’s smartphone efforts are also concentrated on “Ubuntu for Android” – an app that makes high-end phones act like a PC when docked with a monitor and keyboard, which is due out later this year.
The firm suggests businesses could ultimately cut costs by only having to buy a single device for each of their employees.
It is a radical proposition, and also a bit of a philosophical challenge.
“There are two counter-balancing forces – one force saying everyone should have fewer CPUs [central processing units] as their phone can replace other devices,” says Mark Shuttleworth.
“But then you have exactly the opposite trend which is saying that anything that could have a screen can also have a brain, a memory and a personality – printers with touch-screens, desk phones that deliver your mail. And those are two completely contradictory forces.
“Holding those two opposing ideas in our head at the same time is what’s really exciting.”
Other ambitions include the roll-out of the first Ubuntu powered television sets and perhaps support for mark two of the Raspberry Pi stripped-back computer, whenever it launches.
“We just couldn’t connect all the dots in the first version… I’d be delighted if a future version worked with us,” Mark Shuttleworth adds.
But as his firm rushes to release new innovations, one major cloud looms: the threat of a patent dispute.
Although Canonical has avoided becoming involved in one of the rising number of lawsuits sucking up time and brainpower at its competitors, it is an ever-present concern.
“We know that we are sort of dancing naked through a minefield and there are much bigger institutions driving tanks through,” Mark Shuttleworth says.
“It’s basically impossible to ship any kind of working software without potentially trampling on some patent somewhere in the world, and it’s completely impossible to do anything to prevent that.
“The patents system is being used to slow down a lot of healthy competition and that’s a real problem. I think that the countries that have essentially figured that out and put hard limits on what you can patent will in fact do better.”
Two men from UK, who have been totally blind for many years, have had part of their vision restored after surgery to fit pioneering eye implants.
The men are able to perceive light and even some shapes from the devices which were fitted behind the retina.
The patients are part of a clinical trial carried out at the Oxford University Eye Hospital and King’s College Hospital in London.
Professor Robert MacLaren and Dr.Tim Jackson are leading the trial.
The two patients, Chris James and Robin Millar, lost their vision due to a condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, where the photoreceptor cells at the back of the eye gradually cease to function.
The wafer-thin, 3 mm square microelectronic chip has 1,500 light-sensitive pixels which take over the function of the photoreceptor rods and cones.
The surgery involves placing it behind the retina from where a fine cable runs to a control unit under the skin behind the ear.
When light enters the eye and reaches the chip it stimulates the pixels which sends electronic signals to the optic nerve and from there to the brain.
The chip can have its sensitivity altered via an external power unit which connects to the chip via a magnetic disc on the scalp.
The wafer-thin, 3 mm square microelectronic chip has 1,500 light-sensitive pixels which take over the function of the photoreceptor rods and cones
Chris James from Wroughton in Wiltshire said there was a “magic moment” when the implant was switched on for the first time and he saw flashing lights – showing that the device was functional.
“I am able to make out a curve or a straight line close-up but I find things at distance more difficult. It is still early days as I have to learn to interpret the signals being sent to my brain from the chip.”
Chris James, a motor-racing enthusiast, says his ambition is to be able to make out the silhouettes of different cars on the race-track.
Prof.Robert MacLaren, who fitted the first implant in the UK at the Oxford Eye Hospital, said:
“It’s the first time that British patients who were completely blind have been able to see something.
“In previous studies of restorative vision involving stem cells and other treatments, patients always had some residual sight.
“Here the patients had no light perception at all but the implant reactivated their retina after more than a decade.”
The chip results in the brain receiving flashes of light rather than conventional vision – and it is in black and white rather than color.
But in an unexpected development, the other British man to have the implant says he is now able to dream in color for the first time in 25 years. Robin Millar says he is also able to stand in a room and detect light coming through windows.
Prof. Robert MacLaren said the results might not seem extraordinary to the sighted, but for a totally blind person to be able to orientate themselves in a room, and perhaps know where the doors and windows are, would be “extremely useful” and of practical help.
In 2010 a Finnish man who received the experimental chip was able to identify letters, but his implant worked only in a laboratory setting, whereas the British men’s devices are portable. The implant was developed by a German company, Retina Implant AG.
Dr. Tim Jackson, eye surgeon at King’s College Hospital who has also fitted one of the devices, said:
“This pioneering treatment is at an early stage of development, but it is an important and exciting step forward, and may ultimately lead to a much improved quality of life for people who have lost their sight from retinitis pigmentosa.
“Most of the people who receive this treatment have lost their vision for many years, if not decades. The impact of them seeing again, even if it is not normal vision, can be profound, and at times quite moving.”
Both surgeons stress that the chip is not a treatment but part of a clinical trial. Up to a dozen British patients will be fitted with the implants.
Although it could ultimately benefit patients with the most common form of progressive blindness, age-related macular degeneration, they are not eligible for the study at present.
Nor are patients with glaucoma or optic nerve disease.
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says he has been unable to meet US officials to discuss his desire to leave the country.
The blind dissident, in hospital in Beijing, says he believes Chinese officials were preventing US envoys from visiting him on Thursday.
After he escaped house arrest last week, Chen Guangcheng spent six days in the US embassy before emerging on Wednesday.
The issue continues to overshadow key talks between the US and China.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Beijing to attend talks focusing on North Korea and Syria.
As the talks opened, Hillary Clinton did not mention Chen Guangcheng by name but addressed the topic of human rights.
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng says he has been unable to meet US officials to discuss his desire to leave the country
Earlier, the US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, rejected the suggestion that Chen Guangcheng had been pressured into leaving the US embassy.
“I can tell you unequivocally that he was never pressured to leave. He was excited and eager about leaving,” he said.
However, Chen Guangcheng says since he left he has been made aware of threats made to his wife and family while he was in the embassy.
“She told me our house has been installed with seven CCTV cameras inside the courtyard. There are people in and outside of our house and on the roof…They just eat and stay in our house, and they plan to build up electric wires around my house,” he said.
Although he initially said he wanted to stay in China, Chen Guangcheng changed his mind because he believes China has reneged on an agreement to guarantee his safety.
There is no official confirmation about the nature of any such agreement, but media reports from the US suggest that Chen Guangcheng had been promised safety in a university town elsewhere in China.
Chen Guangcheng also said that US officials had been to the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment, but he had not seen them. He believes Chinese foreign ministry officials are not letting them in.
“Yesterday afternoon I thought they [US officials ] left. I looked for them, but couldn’t find them…Today I got to know that they were prevented from coming in, not that they are not coming in,” he said.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said he had “no information” on Chen Guangcheng’s request to leave China.
Both Hillary Clinton and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are attending the annual two-day talks, which had been expected to focus on North Korea and Syria.
Hillary Clinton has previously expressed her support for Chen Guangcheng, who has been held under house arrest for almost two years.
As the talks opened, she addressed the topic of human rights.
“The United States believes that no state can legitimately deny the universal rights that belong to every human being – or punish those who exercise them,” the top US diplomat said.
President Hu Jintao, also speaking at the start of the talks, said it was not possible for China and the US to see “eye to eye on every issue”.
Chinese officials on Wednesday accused the US of interference in their domestic affairs and demanded an apology for housing Chen Guangcheng at the embassy.
Chen Guangcheng had been at the US embassy for almost a week after escaping from house arrest in his home village in the eastern province of Shandong.
He had planned his escape from house arrest for months. On 27 April, he scaled the wall the authorities had built around his house and was then driven hundreds of miles to Beijing.
The activist spent seven years in prison or under house arrest after he exposed human rights abuses, including the way thousands of women were forced to have abortions under China’s “one-child-policy”.
Several people involved in Chen Guangcheng’s escape have been detained or have disappeared in recent days.
Carry-on baggage fee will soon cost some Spirit Airlines passengers $100, which is more than they may have paid for their flight.
The Miramar, Florida, airline currently charges $45 at the gate for a carry-on bag.
As of November 6, just days before Thanksgiving, customers who wait to pay the carry-on baggage fee at the boarding gate will have to fork over $100.
Any bag that needs to fit in the overhead bin is considered a carry-on.
Luckily, a small bag that fits under the seat is still free.
Carry-on baggage fee will soon cost some Spirit Airlines passengers $100, which is more than they may have paid for their flight
The price for a carry-on bought at an airport kiosk will increase to $50 from $40.
Larger pieces of luggage checked at the airport will cost between $8 and $10 more, while the fee for bags checked online will rise by between $2 and $5.
Spirit Airlines will also increase a handful of other fees by between $2 and $10.
Spirit is one of two airlines that charge for carry-ons; Allegiant is the other.
In the first quarter, Spirit’s average revenue from fees per passenger on a round-trip flight topped $100 for the first time.
“Despite achieving among the best first quarter results in the industry, we will not relax our vigilance toward further improving our cost structure,” Ted Christie, Spirit’s Chief Financial Officer said in a statement on May 1.
He said that Spirit would have to make certain adjustments to remain profitable.
“However, we must remain focused on offsetting cost headwinds, including rising jet fuel prices and aircraft maintenance expenses, in order to maintain our competitive advantage.”
A study found that overdue babies, those who were born after 42 weeks, were more likely to suffer behavioral problems such as ADHD in early life.
Women should be aware of the risks of prolonging pregnancy, experts report in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
The research was carried out in The Netherlands, where until recently it was commonplace for women to choose not to be induced if they were overdue.
A study of more than 5,000 babies found those born after 42 weeks were more likely to develop behavioral problems than those born around their due date, and had more than twice the risk of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
A study found that overdue babies, those who were born after 42 weeks, were more likely to suffer behavioral problems such as ADHD in early life
Lead researcher Dr. Hanan El Marroun from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Erasmus MC-Sophia in Rotterdam said post-term as well as pre-term births seemed to be associated with long-term health effects.
She said: “Every pregnant woman knows that if the child comes early that’s not good, so why don’t we question the long-term effects of when a child comes too late?”
Complications include a higher risk of stillbirth and difficulties in delivering large babies.
However, a minority of women, dubbed “the 10-month mamas”, believe a baby will come in its own time and avoid medical intervention.
Researchers have found that aspirin could be as effective as more expensive drugs for heart failure patients with a normal heart rhythm.
Their study on more than 2,000 patients, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said aspirin was as effective as the commonly prescribed drug warfarin.
It said each drug had risks, but they had similar benefits overall.
However, a British cardiologist argued the risks from warfarin were less serious.
Heart failure is a major health problem in many parts of the world. It affects 900,000 people in the UK and six million people in the US. A failing heart struggles to pump blood around the body, meaning even trivial tasks become exhausting.
As the blood is not pumped round the body as efficiently the risk of a blood clot increases, if a clot blocks blood to parts of the brain it will result in a stroke.
Patients are treated with drugs to reduce the risk of a fatal blood clot forming. However, researchers said it was unknown whether aspirin or warfarin was the better treatment in the 75% of heart failure patients who still have a normal heart beat.
Aspirin was as effective as the commonly prescribed drug warfarin, say researchers
Researchers gave 2,305 patients, in 11 countries, either aspirin or warfarin.
The combined risk of death, stroke and major bleeding was the same for each drug, according to the researchers.
Patients taking warfarin had a much lower risk of stroke, but had a high risk of bleeds. They said that after four years there was a “small benefit” with warfarin, but it was “borderline” and of “uncertain clinical significance”.
They concluded: “There is no compelling reason to use warfarin rather than aspirin.”
The lead researcher, Dr. Shunichi Homma, from the Columbia University Medical Center, said: “Since the overall risks and benefits are similar for aspirin and warfarin, the patient and his or her doctor are free to choose the treatment that best meets their particular medical needs.
“However, given the convenience and low cost of aspirin, many may go this route.”
However, Dr. Andrew Clark, from the British Society for Heart Failure and the University of Hull, said: “The study shown here demonstrates that warfarin quite markedly reduces the risk of stroke associated with heart failure compared with aspirin, but at a cost of an increase in major haemorrhage.
“How to interpret that for individual patients means weighing the risk of stroke against the risk of haemorrhage, but also weighting that by importance.
“I would regard a gastrointestinal haemorrhage requiring transfusion as being of less importance than a stroke, so would tend in favor of warfarin.
“I would be more inclined to prescribe warfarin that previously, but the evidence is not overwhelming.”
The British Heart Foundation said both warfarin and aspirin had risks and benefits, but this study showed “neither has an advantage over the other overall in preventing stroke or death in the long term.”
Dr. Walter Koroshetz, who is the deputy director of the US National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said the study would have “a large public health impact”.
He added: “Patients and their physicians now have critical information to help select the optimum treatment.
“The key decision will be whether to accept the increased risk of stroke with aspirin, or the increased risk of primarily gastrointestinal haemorrhage with warfarin.”
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his rival Francois Hollande have traded insults in their only TV debate of the election campaign.
Nicolas Sarkozy called Francois Hollande a “little slanderer”, while his challenger said the president shirked responsibility.
The president defended his record and said he had kept France out of recession. But Francois Hollande said France was going through a “serious crisis” and was struggling with slow growth.
The run-off vote takes place on Sunday.
It was a long, bad-tempered debate that left the impression that neither candidate liked each other.
There were plenty of angry exchanges, with both candidates accusing each other of lying.
Francois Hollande accused Nicolas Sarkozy of “ruining the French economy”, prompting his rival to say he had been unfairly blamed.
“It’s never your fault,” Francois Hollande responded, to which Nicolas Sarkozy said: “It’s a lie, it’s a lie!”
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his rival Francois Hollande have traded insults in their only TV debate of the election campaign
Analysts said neither candidate landed a knockout blow – which may be to the advantage of Francois Hollande, the favorite for Sunday’s vote.
Opinion polls suggest the Socialist candidate has a lead of seven percentage points.
Francois Hollande said he would work to help those in need, saying that those “with privileges” had been protected under Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I will be a president for justice, because we are going through a serious crisis that hits in particular the most modest of us, the hardest working people, those who are the most vulnerable.”
He accused Nicolas Sarkozy of failing to take responsibility for the economic difficulties that France was suffering, blaming it instead on the global economic crisis.
Francois Hollande said unemployment levels were “a record” and referred to the downgrading of France’s credit rating.
Lashing back at Francois Hollande, President Nicolas Sarkozy said France had done better than other European countries in coping with the economic climate.
“What is the country to not have known recession since 2009 – it is France,” Nicolas Sarkozy said.
He rejected Francois Hollande’s proposed stimulus programmes, insisting that France had to cut spending and debts.
Nicolas Sarkozy also accused Francois Hollande of representing only the unions, rather than all of France.
“It’s all very nice to talk about uniting people, but it has to be put into practice,” he said.
Francois Hollande also said he would be firm on demands made by the Muslim community, saying he supported France’s ban on face-covering veils and would not allow separate hours in swimming pools for men and women.
Nicolas Sarkozy has similarly criticized demands for special treatment from France’s Muslim community.
The debate was broadcast live by several channels and ran over time to nearly three hours.
There has been a huge build-up to the event, billed variously by newspapers as The Last Duel and The Final Confrontation.
About a third of France’s 63 million people were set to watch the live debate.
Nicolas Sarkozy had attacked Francois Hollande for refusing to hold three election debates instead of one, but there has been just one debate per presidential election since 1974, apart from in 2002 when Jacques Chirac refused to debate with the far right’s Jean-Marie Le Pen.
A key moment in Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 debate with Segolene Royal – Francois Hollande’s former partner and mother of his children – came when he told the Socialist candidate to “calm down”. She repeatedly refused to do so, saying some anger was “perfectly healthy”.
In this debate, Nicolas Sarkozy came across as the more aggressive participant, leaning forward and raising his voice more often, analysts say.
It was presented by two French TV anchors, Laurence Ferrari of TF1 and David Pujadas of France 2.
The Scream, the iconic artwork of Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch, has become the most expensive item sold at auction, after it fetched $119.9 million.
The 1895 pastel was bought by an anonymous buyer at Sotheby’s in New York. Bidding lasted 12 minutes.
The work is one of four in a series by Edvard Munch and was the only one still owned privately.
Proceeds of the sale are to go towards founding a new museum, hotel and art centre in Norway.
Seven bidders were competing for the work, which had a starting price of $40 million. The crowd broke into applause, following the sale on Wednesday.
The sale price includes the buyer’s premium.
The Scream, the iconic artwork of Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch, has become the most expensive item sold at auction, after it fetched $119.9 million
The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was for Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, which sold for $106.5 million in 2010.
The other three versions of The Scream are all owned by Norwegian museums, but Sotheby’s say the version they sold is the most colorful.
It is also the only one to include a poem by Edvard Munch on the frame, which talks of the inspiration behind the series of works.
It reads: “I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city.
“My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”
The piece was sold by businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was friendly with the Norwegian artist.
Earlier this year, Petter Olsen spoke of his decision to sell The Scream.
“I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time,” he said.
“Now, however, I feel the moment has come to offer the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work.”
The Scream has become one of the famous works of art in popular culture.
“Together with the Mona Lisa, it’s the most famous and recognized image in art history,” Michael Frahm, an art adviser with Frahm Ltd., told the Associated Press news agency.
He added that it has been “used by everyone from Warhol to Hollywood to cartoons to teacups and T-shirts”.
Two of the other versions of The Scream were stolen, in 1994 and 2004 respectively. Both were later recovered.
The European Space Agency is to mount Juice probe, a billion-euro mission, to Jupiter and its icy moons.
Juice probe has just been approved at a meeting of member state delegations in Paris.
It would be built in time for a launch in 2022, although it would be a further eight years before it reached the Jovian system.
The mission has emerged from a five-year-long competition to find the next “large class” space venture in Europe.
Juice stands for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer. The concept proposes an instrument-packed, nearly five-tonne satellite to be sent out to the Solar System’s biggest planet, to make a careful investigation of three of its biggest moons.
The spacecraft would use the gravity of Jupiter to initiate a series of close fly-bys around Callisto and Europa, and then finally to put itself in a settled orbit around Ganymede.
Emphasis would be put on “habitability” – in trying to understand whether there is any possibility that these moons could host microbial life.
Callisto, Europa and Ganymede are all suspected to have oceans of water below their icy surfaces. As such, they may have environments conducive to simple biology.
“People probably don’t realize that habitable zones don’t necessarily need to be close to a star – in our case, close to the Sun,” explained Prof. Michele Dougherty, a Juice science team member from Imperial College London, UK.
“There are four conditions required for life to form. You need water; you need an energy source – so the ice can become liquid; you need the right chemistry – nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen; and the fourth thing you need is stability – a length of time that allows life to form.
“The great thing about the icy moons in the Jupiter system is that we think those four conditions might exist there; and Juice will tell us if that is the case,” she said.
The European Space Agency is to mount Juice probe, a billion-euro mission, to Jupiter and its icy moons
The mission will cost ESA on the order of 830 million Euros ($1.1 billion) over its entire life cycle. This includes the cost of manufacturing the spacecraft bus, or chassis, launching the satellite and operating it until 2033.
This sum does not however include Juice’s 11 instruments. Funding for these comes from the member states. When this money is taken into account, the final budget for Juice is expected to be just short of 1.1 billion Euros.
It has not yet been decided which European nations will provide which instruments. An Announcement of Opportunity will be released this summer with a view to identifying the instrument providers by the start of next year.
The final and formal go-ahead for Juice should be given in 2014. In ESA-speak, this stage is referred to as “adoption”.
It is the moment when all the elements required to build the satellite are in place and the full costs are established.
It is also the point at which any international participation is recognized.
At the moment, Juice is a Europe-only venture, but there is every possibility that the Americans will get on board.
The US space agency (NASA) walked away from the idea of producing a companion satellite to Juice – a spacecraft that would orbit Europa rather than Ganymede – due to programmatic differences and budget concerns.
Nonetheless, there is a strong desire among the American scientific community to have some involvement in Juice, especially in those aspects that concern Europa.
Dr. Britney Schmidt from the University of Texas at Austin is excited that Europe has chosen to fly Juice, and expects the probe’s data to resolve many outstanding questions at the icy moon.
“We know that ice is a really good place [for life] to do business on Earth,” she said.
“There’s plenty of microbial and even some macroscopic organisms that use ice to make a living. It’s not so hard to imagine that life like that which lives in Antarctica and in the Arctic might be very possible on Europa.”
The ESA executive has put down 68 million Euros as a kind of placeholder, to give some idea of how much NASA might like to contribute. The sum is roughly the equivalent of two instruments. However, it should be said that no explicit discussions between ESA and NASA have taken place concerning which specific instruments might come from across the Atlantic.
One further issue needs to be resolved: the name of the mission. The “Juice” label was dreamt up by the science team who devised the mission concept, but the researchers acknowledge there was a touch of humor in its creation.
They would like to use the name Laplace, after the great 18th/19th-Century French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace. A number of commentators would like to see ESA run a public competition to find a suitable mission name.
The Juice proposal was chosen over two other ideas – Athena, which envisages the biggest X-ray telescope ever built, and NGO, which would place a trio of high-precision satellites in space to detect gravitational waves.
These defeated concepts will probably now be entered into the next competition, due to be announced next year or the year after.
Kodak Theatre, the Hollywood venue that hosts the Oscars, has been renamed the Dolby Theatre in a new sponsorship deal.
The 3,400-seater building, which has been home to the annual Academy Awards ceremony since 2002, was previously known as the Kodak Theatre.
Earlier this year a judge granted Eastman Kodak permission to end the $74 million, 20-year naming rights deal it signed in 2000.
Kodak Theatre, the Hollywood venue that hosts the Oscars, has been renamed the Dolby Theatre in a new sponsorship deal
Dolby has agreed a 20-year contract with theatre owners the CIM Group.
“The Academy’s Board of Governors believes that the home for our awards is in Hollywood,” said Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“It is where the Academy and the motion picture industry are rooted. We are pleased to have a new agreement with CIM that will continue our long-standing partnership.”
Kevin Yeaman, of British-founded audio technology specialists Dolby, said the partnership “allows the theatre to be not only the world stage for the Academy Awards, but for Dolby innovations for decades to come”.
Eastman Kodak entered bankruptcy protection from its creditors in January this year after failing to keep up with competitors.
The 133-year-old company announced it was to stop making digital cameras in order to focus on more profitable divisions.
Bobby Brown has spoken out for the first time since Whitney Houston’s death in an interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show.
Bobby Brown, 43, told Matt Lauer he was “hurt” by suggestions that he played a role in Whitney Houston’s demise.
“I was hurt. I was hurt… because, you know, 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,” Bobby Brown told Matt Lauer in a new sitdown interviewing, aired Wednesday on The Today Show.
“But at the same time… listen, it’s a hard fight. It’s a hard fight to… maintain sobriety that way.”
Matt Lauer asked Bobby Brown if he thought Whitney Houston’s cocaine use shortly before her death (the coroner’s reported indicated she had the narcotic in her system at the time of her death in February) led to the pop star’s death, and the recovering addict said he believed it did.
“From what I feel and… how I saw her, the last time I saw her, it had to be that particular day… It had to be that one, because that’s all it takes… One hit, you know, and… it could definitely take your life away from you,” Bobby Brown said.
“And – unfortunately – that was it.”
Bobby Brown has spoken out for the first time since Whitney Houston’s death in an interview with Matt Lauer on The Today Show
Many fans blamed Whitney Houston’s early descent into drug addiction on her relationship with Bobby Brown, and the singer said those thoughts are still upsetting.
“It makes me feel terrible. But… I know differently. I think if anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time lookin’ through the bubble – they would know how we felt about each other, they would know how happy we were together… And the reality show gave us a wakeup, because… we looked at the bubble and saw ourselves,” the singer said, referring to Being Bobby Brown.
“We [were] able to see what other people were saying about us… We [were] able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other.”
Pushed more by Matt Lauer over the rumor, Bobby Brown said: “No, that’s not true. I didn’t get high before I met Whitney.”
“I smoked weed, I drank the beer, but no, I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs at all,” he added.
Asked if drugs were a part of Whitney Houston’s life before their relationship, Bobby Brown claimed that they were.
“It’s just – it’s just unexplainable – how one could, you know, [say that I] got her addicted to drugs. I’m not the reason she’s gone,” he said.
“And it’s not revisionist history? It’s not a chance of, after the fact, setting the record straight in Bobby Brown’s way?” matt Lauer asked.
“No. I can honestly say that I love that woman with everything that I am… And I believe she loved me the same way,” he replied.
“We wouldn’t have been able to make the most beautiful girl in the world without love. And that’s the truth.”
Three-year-old Emmelyn Roettger of Washington D.C. loves writing, spelling and counting and is fascinated by science and space.
Despite her tender age Emmelyn Roettger, known as Emme, is familiar with the concept of mitosis and can explain the process of metamorphosis in butterflies.
In fact her outstanding thirst for knowledge and academic competency is such that she has earned herself a place in Mensa, becoming the high-IQ society’s youngest U.S. member.
Emmelyn Roettger was accepted into the club in March, aged two years and 11 months, with an IQ of 135.
The little girl suffers from poor vision, causing “unspecified delays” in her development which doctors had initially mistaken for signs of autism.
But when her mother, Michelle Horne, thought to get her vision checked everything fell into place and Emme’s talents took off.
Emmelyn Roettger was accepted into Mensa on March this year, aged two years and 11 months, with an IQ of 135
Wearing glasses the youngster immediately showed an unusually high appreciation for the world around her.
“She showed an obvious want for things,” her mother told MSNBC, “grabbing at things, trying to get to toys, fussing for things that she couldn’t reach — and she started crawling within a few weeks.”
By 15 months she was recognizing letters and could write them before turning two. She learnt to write her name and count to 100 shortly after her second birthday and simple maths puzzles came naturally to her.
But paediatricians continued to refer to the toddle as “delayed” so her mother sought support from other avenues.
Emmelyn Roettger came across the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, a standardized intelligence test designed for children between the ages of two and a half and seven.
Emme scored so highly (in the 99th percentile on all measures) that Michelle Horne submitted her score to Mensa.
“My husband thought it was a silly idea at first,” Michelle Horne said.
“I was looking for support, though, and I thought Mensa could be another resource for us.”
The society accepted Emme into its family, as the youngest U.S. member. Her parents hope her unusual talents will be nurtured and challenged by being in the club.
Frank Lawlis, American Mensa’s supervisory psychologist and author of The IQ Answer, told MSNBC that while life can be easier in some ways for kids with sky-high IQs, in other ways it is limiting.
“There’s a social stigma to being very smart, just like there’s a stigma to being retarded,” he said.
“It can limit a person’s potential for social relationships.”
