Oreo cookie celebrates its centenary in the US and four other countries, China, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Indonesia.
Flash mobs in seven US cities sang “Happy Birthday!” to the famous cookie: a white filling (or cream) sandwiched between two black biscuits.
The first Oreos were baked at the Nabisco factory in New York in 1912.
Oreo cookies are now sold around the world, bringing Kraft Foods – which owns Nabisco – $2 billion annually.
“It’s the best-selling cookie in the world,” said John Ghingo, senior director for Oreo Global at Kraft.
“The simple act of enjoying an Oreo cookie and glass of milk continues to speak to a universal, human truth: inside all of us… there’s a kid that deserves to be set free every once in a while,” John Ghingo said.
To mark the cookie’s centenary, Nabisco released a limited edition of "Birthday Cake" Oreo
John Ghingo added that the name Oreo remained mystery even today, but one theory suggested that the two uses of “O” in the word represented the cookies and the “re” in the middle stood for the cream.
To mark the milestone, Nabisco released a limited edition of “Birthday Cake” Oreo.
On Tuesday, celebrations were also held in China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Facebook users faced problems accessing the social network in many countries across Europe for about two hours on Wednesday due to “technical difficulties”.
Facebook smartphone and tablet apps were also affected, as users reported on Twitter.
The company apologized for the incident and said the issue was now resolved.
“Today we experienced technical difficulties causing the site to be unavailable for a number of users in Europe,” Facebook said in a statement.
“The issue has been resolved and everyone should now have access to Facebook. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
More isolated accounts of inaccessibility were posted by users in further afield places such as Pakistan and South Korea.
Facebook users faced problems accessing the social network in many countries across Europe for about two hours on Wednesday due to "technical difficulties"
Facebook has about 850 million users worldwide and many took to Twitter to share information about the down time, with “#facebookdown “quickly becoming a trending topic on the microblogging site.
Most took a humorous view, with user @Purple_Cow tweeting: “#Facebook is #down, expect a surge in productivity in offices everywhere today.”
However, some website owners who make use of the Facebook Connect service – which allows people to log into external sites by using their Facebook account – were left frustrated by the technical issues.
Launched in February 2004, last month Facebook announced plans to float on the stock market. It seeks to raise $5 billion from the move, making it the biggest sale of shares by an internet company.
US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in Ohio and was victorious in four other Super Tuesday states.
As expected, Mitt Romney cruised to victory in his home state of Massachusetts, as well as Idaho, Vermont and Virginia.
Mitt Romney also won in Alaska, which Ron Paul was pinning his hopes on for his only win of the nomination campaign.
Rick Santorum won a hat-trick of contests, while Newt Gingrich took his home state of Georgia.
Mitt Romney now leads the field with 415 delegates committed to backing him at the national Republican convention in August. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the party’s nomination and go on to challenge Barack Obama in November’s election.
But Super Tuesday did not deliver a sufficiently convincing victory to end the race and convince Mitt Romney’s rivals to pull out.
After Tuesday’s 10-state voting marathon, Mitt Romney defended his position as the front-runner.
“I’m going to get this nomination,” Mitt Romney told supporters in Boston.
Mitt Romney and his wife Ann at their Super Tuesday primary rally in Boston
Mitt Romney easily won Massachusetts, where he was governor, as well as liberal-leaning Vermont and Idaho, where his fellow Mormons make up a chunk of the electorate.
He also won resoundingly in Virginia, where Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich failed to qualify for the ballot.
Rick Santorum, a former US senator from Pennsylvania, said his victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Dakota proved he was the bona fide conservative alternative to Mitt Romney.
“This was a big night tonight,” Rick Santorum told supporters in Steubenville, Ohio. “We have won in the West, the Midwest and the South, and we’re ready to win across this country.”
After a cliffhanger count, Mitt Romney narrowly edged out Rick Santorum in Ohio, the night’s most coveted prize.
Ohio was important because no Republican nominee has taken the White House without winning the Midwestern bellwether state in the general election.
Of the 66 delegates on offer, Mitt Romney took home 35 compared to Rick Santorum’s 21, the Associated Press reports.
Rick Santorum began the race in Ohio with a big lead in the opinion polls, but Mitt Romney’s well-funded political machine overcame him in part through a heavy campaign of attack adverts.
Rick Santorum has attracted the support of religious conservatives with his opposition to gay marriage and abortion.
However, his outspoken remarks on birth control and the role of religion may have turned off moderate-leaning voters.
Exit polls showed Ohio voters thought Mitt Romney stood the best chance of beating Barack Obama; however, Rick Santorum appealed more to blue-collar voters.
Super Tuesday Guide
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, did not achieve the sweep of Southern states he hoped for.
But he vowed to stay in the race after his Georgia win.
“There are lots of bunny rabbits to run through, I am the tortoise. I just take one step at a time,” Newt Gingrich said.
With 96% of votes counted in Alaska, Mitt Romney was winning with 33% of the vote, ahead of Rick Santorum with 29%. Texas Congressman Ron Paul – who had been hoping to make the state his only win of the campaign – was trailing with 22% while Newt Gingrich held 14%.
Of the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the Republican presidential nomination, 419 were up for grabs on Tuesday.
Overall, Mitt Romney won at least 212 of Super Tuesday’s delegates, taking his total to 415, while Rick Santorum added 84, taking his count to 176, AP reports.
The race is not over yet as the next crop of primaries and caucuses will not do Mitt Romney any favors.
Kansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Hawaii hold their contests over the next 10 days.
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich will be hoping to halt Mitt Romney’s momentum and keep their challenges alive.
The drawn-out nomination fight, which has been waged in large part through negative television adverts, may have taken its toll on the Republican Party.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll showed only 35% of Americans looked upon Mitt Romney favorably, compared to 32% for Ron Paul, 23% for Newt Gingrich, and 32% for Rick Santorum.
Two car bomb and suicide attacks killed at least 10 people and wounded another 15 in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, according to police.
The car bomb exploded near a restaurant in Tal Afar centre. Minutes later, a man wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in a crowd of onlookers.
Tel Afar is not far from the Syrian border, just west of the city of Mosul.
Earlier, a car bomb reportedly killed two people and wounded seven in a western part of the capital, Baghdad.
There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left in December, leaving more than 200 people dead.
The violence has come amid a marked deterioration in Iraq’s fragile political process, with the country’s most prominent Sunni Arab politician being sought by the authorities on terrorism charges.
AeroShot producer, Breathable Foods Inc., has received a warning letter for false or misleading statements in the labeling of its product, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on March 6.
There are concerns about the safety of the “caffeine inhaler” and about children and adolescents using it combined with alcohol, said the FDA.
AeroShot gives “breathable energy, anytime, anyplace,” and it is intended to be ingested by swallowing, it is written on the product website, but the FDA said these statements were in contradiction.
“The company’s labeling is false or misleading because these two claims contradict each other. A product cannot be intended for both inhalation and ingestion because the functioning of the epiglottis in the throat keeps the processes of inhaling and swallowing separate,” said the FDA.
Also, labeling a product as “breathable energy” may lead to an improper usage.
Consumers may tend to inhale it, but inhaling caffeine into the lungs is not safe as long this process has not been well studied. The particles in AeroShot are too big to enter the lungs, says the company on its website, but it shows no specific research in support of this claim.
On March 6, 2012, the FDA issued a warning letter to the makers of AeroShot “caffeine inhaler.”
In the same time the FDA is worried about the use of the AeroShot by the children.
AeroShot is “not recommended for those under 18 years of age,” says the website and it is “not intended for people under 12,” says the label.
“But the website also appears to target these age groups by suggesting it be used when studying,” said the Agency.
The product is not intended for persons under 18, said Tom Hadfield, Breathable Foods CEO.
“We plan to work closely with the FDA to meet their requests for information and labeling changes to ensure compliance with dietary supplement requirements. AeroShot delivers a mix of B vitamins and caffeine to the mouth for ingestion and is not ‘inhaled’ into the lungs,” he told the Huffington Post.
The FDA has another concern regarding the utilization of AeroShot while drinking alcohol.
The product website has links to news articles and videos about using AeroShot in combination with alcohol. Those news items express health concerns about this kind of usage, but their presence publicizes and may encourage the use of AeroShot with alcohol, said the FDA.
Taking caffeine while drinking may make consumers to feel “less drunk,” but it does not lower blood alcohol levels, and it does not remove the side effects of drinking too much alcohol. Mixing caffeine with alcohol can be dangerous, especially for very young people, old people, or persons with health problems.
The product label does not include contact information for consumers to report adverse events, as required under federal law.
Consumers who believe they have suffered illness or injury from using AeroShot should also report those events to their regional FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators. The agency also encourages healthcare providers to report to FDA any adverse events in their patients that are associated with AeroShot. As of March 6, 2012, FDA has not received any adverse event reports associated with the product.
In 2010 there was another issue over caffeinated energy drink Four Loko. The media coverage at that time led to increased sales and the drink became more popular. However, the caffeine was eliminated from Four Loko and now further restriction may be added.
AeroShot is sold out on the company’s website, but remains available on store shelves in Boston and New York, according to Breathable Foods.
Senator Chuck Schumer, of New York, promised to oppose AeroShot, over two months ago. The FDA has to take measures concerning the product, because the children and adolescents may abuse it, he said.
Massachusetts-based company, Breathable Foods Inc. has 15 business days to respond to the agency with a plan to bring the AeroShot into compliance with FDA regulations.
Demi Moore arrived in Los Angeles by a private jet in the dead of night following more than a month in rehab.
Demi Moore, 49, had remained in hiding after leaving the unnamed clinic, holidaying on the private Caribbean island of Parrot Cay, where her ex-husband Bruce Willis owns a house.
The break appeared to have done her good, as she appeared tanned and healthy in a baggy white jumper and denim shorts.
Demi Moore was accompanied by close friend Eric Buterbaugh and was met at the airport by a woman who she rushed to embrace after descending the stairs of the plane.
It was the first time the actress has been seen in public since she was hospitalized after having a seizure and collapsing five weeks ago.
Demi Moore had reportedly been smoking “an incense-like substance” as well as inhaling nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas.
The incident came at the end of a difficult time for Demi Moore, who split from husband Ashton Kutcher, 33, in November after he was accused of cheating on her.
Ashton Kutcher and her ex-husband Bruce Willis both visited her shortly afterwards at the home she shares with her three daughters, Rumer, 23, Scout, 20, and Tallulah, 17.
Princess Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco, granddaughter of Grace Kelly, signed as the Gucci’s newest face.
Now the first image from Charlotte Casiraghi’s campaign for the Italian fashion powerhouse has been released.
Paying tribute to her equestrian talents, the shoot, by photographer Peter Lindbergh, took place at a snowy stable.
Charlotte Casiraghi, 25, is seen leaning against a hay bale in the final shot with her hair loose and tousled and a scarf tied around the forehead. Her make-up is minimal and her riding boots can be glimpsed in the bottom of the frame.
The princess also wears a red riding jacket, high-necked black shirt and johdpurs, all most likely part of the riding kit that Gucci exclusively created for her to compete in.
Princess Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco, granddaughter of Grace Kelly, signed as the Gucci's newest face
Behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot obtained by Grazia shows Charlotte Casiraghi posing with a horse as well. Clearly at ease with the animals, she seems in control as she guides its head in order that it is at the best angle for the photographer, and unfazed by the freezing conditions.
Though Royals will rarely front fashion campaigns, Princess Charlotte Casiraghi and Gucci’s creative director share a special bond.
Frida Giannini explained: “Over the last two years I have had the pleasure and privilege to get to know Charlotte through our shared passion for horses.
“She not only embodies the beauty and the grace of the equestrian, but is also a wonderful ambassador for the sport.”
Charlotte Casiraghi was equally full of praise for Frida Giannini, adding: “I admire Frida’s talent as a designer and she has really managed to reinvent the codes of Gucci by giving them a modern twist and a timeless elegance.”
Olympus ex-chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa and six of its executives have been charged by Tokyo prosecutors in connection with a $1.7 billion accounting cover-up.
Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, executive vice-president Hisashi Mori and former auditor Hideo Yamada are among those charged with falsifying securities reports, according to Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies.
Olympus ex-chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa and six of its executives have been charged by Tokyo prosecutors in connection with a $1.7 billion accounting cover-up
The three were arrested last month.
Olympus case has become one of Japan’s biggest corporate scandals.
Cheetah, a four-legged and headless robot, has set a new world speed record, according to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
DARPA said Cheetah achieved 18 mph (29 km/h) on a laboratory treadmill and the previous land speed record by a legged robot was 13.1 mph.
The agency said that the project was part of efforts to develop robots designed to “more effectively assist war fighters across a greater range of missions”.
DARPA – which is run by the Pentagon – funded the Massachusetts robotics company Boston Dynamics to build the machine.
“We plan to get off the treadmill and into the field as soon as possible,” said the firm’s chief robotics scientist, Alfred Rizzi, in a statement.
“We really want to understand what is possible for fast-moving robots.”
Cheetah, a four-legged and headless robot, has set a new world speed record, according to DARPA
The robot’s movements have been modeled on those of fast-running animals in the wild. The machine is designed to flex and un-flex its back to increase the length of its stride.
The current version of Cheetah is dependent on an off-board hydraulic pump, requiring one of the researchers to hold the tubing out of its way. However, the researchers said a free-running prototype was planned for later this year.
The four-year project, which was commissioned in February 2011, ultimately aims to deliver a robot which can “zigzag to chase and evade”, and be able to come to an abrupt halt.
It builds on other models based on animals created by Boston Dynamics including its BigDog rough-terrain robot, designed to recycle energy from one step to the next, and its lizard-like Rise, which can climb walls, trees and fences by using micro-claws on its six feet and a tail for balance.
Cricket tycoon Allen Stanford has been found guilty by a court in Houston, Texas, of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Allen Stanford, 61, was convicted on 13 of the 14 charges.
He had pleaded not guilty to defrauding some 30,000 investors with bogus investments through his Stanford International Bank in Antigua to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Allen Stanford faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charge.
However, the judge will have to decide whether the sentences should run consecutively.
The jury of eight men and four women found Allen Stanford not guilty of one charge of wire fraud.
Allen Stanford looked down as the guilty verdicts were announced, and one of his daughters started crying.
Cricket tycoon Allen Stanford has been found guilty by a court in Houston, Texas, of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme
The same jury will now deliberate in a brief civil trial as prosecutors seek to seize funds from more than 30 of Allen Stanford’s bank accounts worldwide.
However, investigators say they have been unable to find 92% of the $8 billion the bank said it had in assets.
One of Allen Stanford’s lawyers, Ali Fazel, told Associated Press he was “disappointed in the outcome”, adding: “We expect to appeal.”
Allen Stanford’s defense was based on blaming a former chief financial officer, James Davis, and arguing that most of the money was lost by court-appointed receivers following the bank’s seizure.
Prosecutors said Allen Stanford’s bogus certificates of deposit had promised artificially high returns to fund his lavish lifestyle over a 20-year period.
They said Allen Stanford had told depositors in more than 100 countries that their money was safely invested in stocks and securities. However, it was in reality being transferred to his businesses and personal account.
James Davis, who had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors, testified that he had worked with Allen Stanford to falsify records.
Allen Stanford did not take the stand during the six-week trial.
Allen Stanford was the organizer of the money-spinning Stanford Twenty20 cricket tournament in the West Indies in 2008.
Forbes Magazine listed Allen Stanford as the 605th richest man in the world in 2006.
He has spent three years in detention after being denied bail.
Allen Stanford’s trial was delayed after he was involved in a prison fight in September 2009 and developed an addiction to an anti-anxiety drug. But in December 2011 he was declared fit to stand trial.
Moldovan parliament voted to make chemical castration mandatory for those convicted of violently abusing children under 15.
The new law states that both Moldovans and foreigners convicted of violent paedophile offences will be chemically castrated.
Rapists will also face castration, to be decided on a case by case basis.
Many Moldovans believe their country has become a destination for international sex tourists, AP reports.
Five of the nine people convicted for child sex offences in Moldova in the past two years have been foreigners, the agency says.
The Liberal Party MP who steered the bill through parliament, Valeriu Munteanu, said there had been 15 cases in recent years of violent paedophiles reoffending in Moldova.
Moldovan parliament voted to make chemical castration mandatory for those convicted of violently abusing children under 15
Chemical castration involves a man taking hormones which suppress the production of testosterone for three months, leading to a decreased sex drive.
Some MPs in Moldova’s parliament questioned the efficacy of chemical castration, pointing out that it is reversible – and calling for alternative methods to be considered, according to Moldovan newspaper Timpul.
Amnesty International Moldova has condemned the decision, saying it undermines the basic right to physical and mental integrity.
Executive Director Cristina Pereteatcu said chemical castration was “incompatible with human rights, which are the foundation of any civilized democratic society”.
Poland introduced mandatory chemical castration for some sex offenders in 2009, and Russia has recently introduced similar legislation.
Both Germany and the Czech Republic have been criticized by Europe’s top human rights body for using voluntary surgical castration to treat sex offenders.
Rihanna was voted one of the top beauty icons of 2011, beating the likes of Victoria Beckham and Angelina Jolie, and now she has revealed the secret behind her radiant looks – Per-fékt, the skin perfection gel.
Per-fékt, the $40 skin perfection gel, is already popular with a number of Hollywood stars including Reese Witherspoon, Goldie Hawn and Jennifer Hudson.
According to make-up artist Mylah Morales, Per-fékt, which acts as an alternative to traditional powder blush, helps achieve a bronzed and youthful look.
“Skin Perfection Gel which preps skin for make-up application and leaves it radiant and refreshed with a hint of color,” Mylah Morales told Female First.
Per-fékt, which should be applied to the cheekbones, forehead and the bridge of the nose, is available in two different shades and helps boost natural skin color
Per-fékt – which should be applied to the cheekbones, forehead and the bridge of the nose – is available in two different shades and helps boost natural skin color.
The manufacturers claim that the ingredient Niacin (Vitamin B3) helps to increase circulation, while antioxidants caffeine, Vitamins A and E protect from premature skin aging.
Jennifer Hudson previously said: “I love this stuff… I mix the Per-fékt Skin Perfecting Gel in Rich with a little moisturizer and apply it all over my face as a base.
“It’s what I grab when I’m getting ready to be a diva!”
Per-fékt was founded by U.S. entrepreneur Richard Anderson, who previously worked with leading beauty brands including Yves Saint Laurent and Bobbi Brown.
Richard Anderson said: “Today’s modern, on-the-go woman doesn’t have the time to apply a concealer, then color corrector, then primer, then foundation and then powder.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of the late Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, is speaking out for the first time since the superstar’s passing in an interview with Oprah Winfrey airing Sunday, March 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on OWN’s “Oprah’s Next Chapter.”
According to TMZ, friends close to Bobbi Kristina say she is doing the interview because she trusts the talk show host and entertainment mogul.
“[Oprah] was loyal to my mom, and never did my mother wrong, or made her look bad. She always looked out for my mom,” Bobbi Kristina Brown reportedly tells her friends.
Bobbi Kristina Brown said she is doing the first interview after Whitney Houston’s death with Oprah Winfrey because she trusts the talk show host and entertainment mogul
Sources also say that Oprah Winfrey was one of the first people who reached out to Bobbi Kristina after Whitney Houston’s passing.
Airing one month following Whitney Houston’s death, the exclusive OWN interview will also feature the singer’s sister-in-law Patricia Houston and brother Gary Houston as they discuss “rumors and speculation surrounding Houston’s death.”
In promotion of Sunday’s episode OWN has released a sneak peek trailer showing a glimpse of some of the show’s highlights.
A set of emails leaked from the intelligence analysis firm Stratfor suggests the body of Osama Bin Laden was actually sent to the U.S. for cremation in a secret place, not buried at sea.
According to the emails, Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed during the famous Navy SEAL Team Six raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and his remains were transported back to the U.S. and cremated.
The emails were allegedly obtained by the hacker group Anonymous from Stratfor, an organization dealing with analysis of intelligence and geopolitical analysis.
Stratfor is also known as the “Shadow CIA”.
Last week, Anonymous announced that it had gotten access to 2.7 million of the Stratfor’s confidential correspondences, and said they could provide “the smoking gun for a number of crimes”.
Anonymous said Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, were “clueless” when it came to database security.
After Osama Bin Laden was killed in the famous raid in Pakistan on May 2 2011, the Obama administration said his body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson – in accordance with Islamic tradition.
But in a particular set of emails given to WikiLeaks, Stratfor’s vice president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says he doubts the official White House version of what happened to Osama Bin Laden’s body.
Fred Burton says the body was “bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane” and “onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]”.
A set of emails leaked from the intelligence analysis firm Stratfor suggests the body of Osama Bin Laden was actually sent to the U.S. for cremation in a secret place, not buried at sea
The claims are sure to stoke conspiracy theorists, especially since the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that Fred Burton refers to closed its doors on September 15, 2011, four months after Osama Bin Laden’s death.
In another email, Fred Burton said: “If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi’s ashes.
“Eichmann was seen alive for many months on trial before being sentenced to death and executed. No one wanted a monument to him so they cremated him.”
Stratfor CEO George Friedman responded: “But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman [sic]. No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened [sic].”
In a February 27 statement, Stratfor said: “In December, thieves compromised Stratfor’s data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate – and illegal – breach of privacy.
“Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them.”
Stratfor, which is not affiliated with the U.S. government, would not comment further.
The emails were revealed as it was reported that key members of LulzSec, of which Anonymous is an offshoot, were arrested by the FBI.
A FBI official told Fox News that the arrests were “devastating” blow to the organization, saying: “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.”
The “Adolph Eichman” referred to by Fred Burton was a Nazi lieutenant and a major architect of the Holocaust.
After World War II ended in 1945, Adolph Eichman was caught by U.S. forces, and he slipped through America’s fingers when he gave them a phony name.
Adolph Eichman wound up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived for years until he was captured by the Israeli spy agency the Mossad in 1960.
War crimes and crimes against humanity were among the charges Adolph Eichman faced when he was found guilty in an Israeli court in 1962.
Adolph Eichman was hanged, cremated, and his ashes were later spread over the Mediterranean Sea.
The vehicle of the future, the shrinking car that can be adjusted to fit into a small parking space, was shown at the world’s biggest IT fair on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
About 4,200 exhibitors from 70 countries display the latest technology at the CeBIT, which runs until March 10 in Hanover, Germany.
The shrinking car is a two-seater “pod“, it has only 2.10 meters (seven feet) length and a cobalt-blue color.
Its top speed is 55 kilometers (35 miles) per hour and it has a range of 100 kilometers when its two batteries are fully charged. It creates additional energy from the turning of its wheels.
The vehicle can “dock” with other similar cars to create “road trains” of up to 20 cars, driven by just the person at the front. In that configuration, automatically all the cars share the energy available.
The car’s length can be reduced by 50 centimeters with a push of a button whenever is necessary. Its wheels can turn in a full circle, in this way the driver can pull up to a space and then move sideways into it.
Shrinking car concept has appeared over a decade ago. A complex prototype was unveiled at the CeBIT on March 6, 2012.
The futuristic automobile also has built-in sensors to avoid collisions, can drive itself and can be summoned by smartphone.
“If you are in the office, you can press a button on your smartphone and it will come and pick you up. We already have the technology to do this. It will be happening in five to six years,” said Timo Birnschein, the project leader, from the German Centre for Artificial Intelligence.
The team led by Timo Birnschein has been working on the shrinking car for fifteen months. They hope to make it roadworthy soon.
Shrinking car concept and prototype, Rinspeed Presto convertible, powered by 1.7-liter 120-horsepower Mercedes turbodiesel, has appeared almost a decade ago, but there were no plans for production.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, the suspected leader of the hacking group LulzSec has pleaded guilty to carrying out high profile attacks on several companies while other members of the group have been arrested, US law enforcement official says.
Hector Xavier Monsegur had been charged with conspiracy to engage in computer hacking according to unsealed court papers filed in Manhattan.
The charges were filed via “a criminal information” and the suspect – nicknamed Sabu – had co-operated with the government, Reuters reported.
US law enforcement officers have said at least three members of the hacking group had been arrested.
Irish police added that they have arrested one of five men being sought in connection with the group and are holding him at a south Dublin police station.
Charges against other suspects are expected to be made public later.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, the suspected leader of the hacking group LulzSec has pleaded guilty to carrying out high profile attacks on several companies while other members of the group have been arrested
LulzSec, which is linked to the online activist group Anonymous, had claimed responsibility for attacks against eBay and Sony Pictures among others.
Last month Anonymous published a recording of a private telephone conversation between FBI agents and London detectives talking LulzSec suspects.
Fox News reported that one of Lulzsec’s leading members had helped the bureau gather evidence against his associates.
Fox quoted one FBI official as saying: “This is devastating to the organisation… we’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.”
Prof. Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey’s department of computing noted that LulzSec had been quiet since the middle of 2011 following an attack on Paypal.
“Judging by the level of activity this morning, where hackers have been pasting personal information about the person reported as having turned witness to implicate other hackers, it would appear that there is a considerable rift inside these groups,” he said.
“The hackers are certainly acting as if they feel they have been betrayed by one of their own.”
Bobby Brown is set to claim Whitney Houston got him into drugs in a follow up to his 2008 autobiography tome.
Bobby Brown, 43, is planning to reveal the details of his life with Whitney Houston in a book about the late singer in a follow up to the 2008 tome, “Bobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But”, written after their divorce in 2007 which contained secrets about their relationship.
According to a gagging clause meant Bobby Brown could not say everything he wanted to in the first tome, but insiders now believe the rapper is going to “cleanse himself of all responsibility” over the Whitney Houston’s drug use in his forthcoming release following her death last month.
A source told the Daily Star newspaper: “Bobby knows people will buy the book, whatever it says. And unlike last time, Whitney is not here to defend herself.
“He’s free to say whatever he wants and will undoubtedly paint himself as a grieving saint.”
“I never used cocaine until after I met Whitney. Before then, I had experimented with other drugs, but marijuana was my drug of choice,” Bobby Brown wrote in his 2008 tome.
“She used code words when ordering drugs like <<boy>> for heroin and <<girl>> for cocaine.
“At one point in my life, I used drugs uncontrollably. I was using everything I could get my hands on, from cocaine to heroin, weed and cooked cocaine.”
Bobby Brown is set to claim Whitney Houston got him into drugs in a follow up to his 2008 autobiography tome
Bobby Brown said in the book that his 15-year marriage to whitney Houston was doomed from the start.
“Within the first year, we separated, with several more to follow,” Bobby Brown wrote.
“I think we got married for all the wrong reasons. Now, I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married. … I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children.”
The 2008 book contains allegations that part of the reason Whitney Houston married bad-boy singer Bobby Brown, a former member of New Edition and onetime solo star, was that she was under pressure to mute tabloid rumors that she was having a lesbian affair with her assistant Robyn Crawford.
“The media was accusing her of having a bisexual relationship with her assistant, Robin Crawford,” he wrote.
“Since she was the American Sweetheart and all, that didn’t go too well with her image. … In Whitney’s situation, the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation, whether it was true or not. In the short, I think I got caught up in the politics and ended up marrying one of the biggest stars in the world.”
Bobby Brown admitted that he too was to blame for their messy breakup and that he was often unfaithful to his ex-wife.
“I am guilty of sleeping with other women. … Women are always throwing themselves at you. I’m only human, so I would make the mistake and bite the hook sometimes. … I let the testosterone take over,” he wrote.
The 2008 autobiography’s promotional materials claimed that Bobby Brown dated Madonna and Janet Jackson, in addition to sleeping with “thousands of women.
Bobby Brown – who had daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19, with Whitney Houston – also claims he will divulge details about a previous relationship with Madonna.
The rapper has been quoted as saying: “By the time I brought out my third single I was one of the biggest stars in the world.
“Madonna used to open up shows for New Edition in New York.
“Running into her and getting to know her better at the height of my success was like a reunion.”
Whitney Houston confessed to using “rock cocaine” and marijuana during a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009 and it is believed her shock death at the age of 48 was caused by a lethal combination of alcohol and prescription drugs.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has received phone calls and emails from different people claiming to be relatives of Whitney Houston and demanding murder investigation in singer’s death.
According to TMZ, the calls and emails were made by several different people, some claiming to be relatives of Whitney Houston and some relatives of Bobby Brown. The calls and emails have a common theme – the belief Whitney Houston may have been murdered. At least one person claimed to have information supporting the murder theory.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has received phone calls and emails from different people claiming to be relatives of Whitney Houston and demanding murder investigation in singer’s death
At least one caller offered a theory about a relative who might have done Whitney Houston in, but offered no supporting proof.
The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has not verified the callers were indeed relatives.
The Coroner has already said there was no sign of foul play or trauma, but the official cause of death won’t be determined until toxicology results are in.
An official from the Coroner’s Office says the investigation is ongoing and would not comment further.
At least 37 people have been killed by an avalanche in Badakhshan province, north-eastern Afghanistan, according to officials.
The provincial governor’s office said another six people were injured when the snow hit a village in Shekay district, near the Tajikistan border.
The village had been wiped away, said spokesman Abdul Marouf Rasikh.
Badakhshan is one of the country’s poorest and most remote regions and is shut off by heavy snow every year.
The village had been severely affected by the cold weather, said Abdul Marouf Rasikh, and governor Shah Wali Ullah had been visiting at the time.
“The governor was trapped with those six injured but was rescued by helicopters and taken to a remote area on the border with Tajikistan,” said Abdul Marouf Rasikh.
Tokyo Sea Life Park is trying to locate an escaped Humboldt penguin seen heading for Tokyo Bay.
The one-year-old penguin was spotted swimming in a river mouth in the Japanese capital.
An official from the harbor-front aquarium said the escapee penguin appeared to have scaled a wall in its bid for freedom.
The 60-centimetre long penguin hatched last January and lives with 134 penguins in an enclosure at Tokyo Sea Life Park.
“We first noticed the penguin might have fled when the director of a neighbouring zoo e-mailed us Sunday with a photo,” park official Takashi Sugino told AFP news agency.
Tokyo Sea Life Park is trying to locate an escaped Humboldt penguin seen heading for Tokyo Bay
Takashi Sugino said officials were struggling to recapture it because it swam “at a tremendous speed”.
The Humboldt penguin was snapped bathing in the mouth of the Kyu-Edo river, which runs into Tokyo Bay.
A park official said that great efforts were being made to find it – and that exactly how the penguin got out remained unclear.
Humboldt penguins breed on the Pacific coast of South America and offshore islands of Chile and Peru.
They are thought to be declining in number. One of the reasons is due to increasing water temperatures caused by the El Nino effect and reduced food supply.
Pikaia gracilens, a two-inch-long worm-like sea creature, is the earliest-known animal to have the beginnings of a backbone, according to Cambridge University scientists.
This makes Pikaia gracilens, which evolved more than 500 million years ago, a precursor of modern vertebrates, including humans.
The latest study resolves a debate about whether it is the first member of the chordate family.
Chordates are distinguished by having a “notocord” – a flexible rod supporting the nerve running down their back- which, over millions of years, would become the spine in their more advanced descendants.
On both sides of Pikaia’s notocord in a neat zig-zag pattern are around 100 tiny blocks of muscle tissue – called myomeres – which are thought to have allowed it to propel itself quickly through the water by bending its body from side-to-side.
Pikaia had no eyes or teeth but has a clearly defined head, gills to take in oxygen, and two tiny tentacles which may have had some sensory ability to find chemicals to feed on in the water.
Simon Conway, a Cambridge University professor, who led the study, said: “The discovery of myomeres is the smoking gun that we have long been seeking.
“Now with myomeres, a nerve cord, a notocord and a vascular (blood vessel) system all identified, this study clearly places Pikaia as the planet’s most primitive chordate.
“So, next time we put the family photograph on the mantlepiece, there in the background will be Pikaia.”
Pikaia gracilens, a two-inch-long worm-like sea creature, is the earliest-known animal to have the beginnings of a backbone, according to Cambridge University scientists
The researchers, whose study is published this week in the journal Biological Reviews, analyzed 114 specimens found in the Burgess Shale in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, one of the world’s most celebrated fossil fields with specimens dating back 505million years.
They used a range of new imagery techniques such as scanning electron microscopes, to reveal finer details in the Pikaia fossils.
It is not clear why Pikaia began to develop a backbone but it may have needed to escape more quickly from predators.
Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron, from the University of Toronto in Canada, who took part in the research, said: “Fossils of primitive chordates are incredibly rare.
“Pikaia would stand no chance of preservation in normal conditions outside exceptional sites like the Burgess Shale.
“We hope that, with continuing explorations and field work studies there, other species will be discovered, allowing us to refine our understanding of the early history of our own group.”
Asteroid 2012 DA14, a 150-foot space rock orbiting Earth, will pass closer than geostationary satellites to our planet on February next year.
NASA’s Impact Risk report said that the odds of the space rock actually hitting Earth are very low indeed – but on February 15, 2013, it will pass just 17,000 miles from Earth, closer than “geostationary” satellites.
If an asteroid of that size hit Earth, it would cause an explosion similar to a nuclear blast.
Two astronomers from the Observatorio Astronómico de La Sagra in Spain spotted 2012 DA14 in late February and its orbit has been calculated to be very similar to Earth’s.
Some reports suggested that on February 15 next year an impact was a possibility, but U.S astronomer Phil Plait, the creator of the Bad Astronomy blog, has ruled out an impact.
Phil Plait wrote: “Asteroid 2012 DA14 is almost certainly not going to hit Earth next February. And by <<almost certainly>>, I mean it. The odds of an impact are so low they are essentially zero. This does not rule out an impact at some future date, but for now we’re safe.”
Asteroid 2012 DA14, a 150-foot space rock orbiting Earth, will pass closer than geostationary satellites to our planet on February next year
The asteroid will come within 17,000 miles of Earth, which is closer than some of our satellites, but Phil Plait says this is nothing to worry about.
The astronomer adds: “Seventeen thousand miles is well beneath many of our own orbiting satellites. To the best of my knowledge, this is the closest pass of a decent-sized asteroid ever seen before the actual pass itself. However, let’s again be very clear – it will miss. In astronomical terms, 17,000 miles is pretty close, but in real human terms it’s a clean miss.”
After 2013, 2012 DA14’s closest brush with Earth will come in 2020, but Phil Plait said that even then the odds of an impact will be less than the chance of being hit by lightning in your lifetime – 1 in 100,000.
What are the chances of a major impact?
NASA’s latest scan for “impact event” threats used the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE and took two infrared scans of the entire celestial sky between January 2010 and February 2011.
The scan aimed to find asteroids and comets “near Earth” – i.e. within 120 million miles.
The scan found there are 20,500 asteroids and comets that could destroy a city-sized area within 120 million miles of earth – previously the figure was thought to be 36,000.
NASA says the risk of impact is less than previously thought. The likelihood of a “planet-killer” – the mountain-sized asteroids in the “large-sized” range, above 3,300ft – appears to have fallen more significantly.
There are only 981 of these objects near Earth, and NASA has found 911 of them.
Rumors have swirled that Whitney Houston had an affair with the then-married Jermaine Jackson in the mid-1980s, and now sister La Toya is joining the fray.
During an appearance on The Talk today, La Toya Jackson says: “He has admitted that they had an affair.”
A report in The Sun, however, provides more salacious details.
The paper claims that Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson were together for a year, and that Houston’s hit song “Saving All My Love for You” – about a woman hooking up with a married man – was a thinly veiled ballad to her clandestine paramour.
The Sun claims that Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson were together for a year, and that Houston's hit song "Saving All My Love for You" was a thinly veiled ballad to her clandestine paramour
Michael Jackson reportedly knew about the affair but didn’t approve. At the time, Jermaine Jackson was married to Hazel Gordy, daughter of legendary Motown founder Berry Gordy.
After Whitney Houston’s death, a video surfaced of the couple singing a duet back in 1984, which – if The Sun’s report is to be believed – would have happened around the time of the affair.
Jermaine Jackson caused a small stir two weeks ago when he retracted a press release announcing that he had dedicated his song “The First Time You Love” to Whitney Houston, and claimed it had been sent out without his knowledge.
Bobbi Kristina Brown has marked her first birthday since the death of her mother Whitney Houston.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of Whitney Houston – whose lifeless body was found submerged in a bath tub at her Beverly Hills hotel suite on February 11 – turned 19 on Sunday and saw in the occasion with her close family.
A source said: ”Bobbi is now with the family and going through the grieving process just with them.”
Bobbi Kristina – whose father is Whitney’s ex-husband Bobby Brown – had to be hospitalized following Whitney Houston’s death, and went missing on the day of the funeral.
Bobbi Kristina Brown has marked her first birthday since the death of her mother Whitney Houston
But an insider reveals that Bobbi Kristina Brown has started to show signs of improvement since bonding with her maternal grandmother, gospel singer Cissy Houston.
The source told US Weekly: ”[They] have been getting along a bit better. She really needs her own space right now to heal, and Cissy knows that.
”Cissy has a team of people helping her through this … right now, the goal is to make her feel special and loved.”
Meanwhile, Michael Jackson’s sister LaToya has weighed in on rumors that Whitney Houston has a secret fling with her brother Jermaine in the 1980’s, while he was married to first wife Hazel Gordy.
During an appearance on American chat show “The Talk”, LaToya Jackson said of her brother Jermaine: “He has admitted that they had an affair.”
