Two passengers almost came to blows at 40,000ft on board a 517-seat Airbus A380 being operated by Emirates from Dubai into Manchester Airport.
The argument started when an 18-year-old youth sitting in economy class moved his seat back to sleep.
The 38-year-old passenger sitting immediately behind him was about to eat his in-flight meal at the time.
When he asked the youth to put his seat back up while he ate a major row broke out.
They traded insults and leapt up from their seats in a head-to-head confrontation.
As the argument became more heated cabin crew were called and attempted to defuse the incident.
Stunned travelers watched on as the two men continued to shout abuse at each other while standing in the aisle before they were finally persuaded to calm down.
The pilot of flight EK17 flight was so concerned he radioed ahead and police were informed.
Officers went to the gate at Terminal 1 after the flight landed to meet the two passengers at around noon on Tuesday.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed officers “spoke to” two men aged 38 and 18.
No further action was taken as neither man wanted to make a formal complaint, and also admitted they had both been “in the wrong”, say police.
A spokesman for Emirates said: “Emirates does not tolerate this kind of behaviour from passengers and safety will not be compromised.”
They confirmed there had been an “altercation” on board the flight and, although no blow had been exchanged, cabin crew had been called to calm the passengers.
Two passengers almost came to blows at 40,000ft on board a 517-seat Airbus A380 being operated by Emirates from Dubai into Manchester Airport
One traveller, who uses the route, said: “I have recently flown with Emirates to the Far East. This trip was split up into 2 separate flights and lasted 20 hours.
“Like a lot of people on the second leg of the trip I wanted to sleep. There is a system in place where you can indicate that you do not want the meal and to be left alone to sleep, which is what I did. My seat was reclined to the limit allowed.
“When it came time for the meal I was woken up by the person behind asking me to sit up, so they could enjoy their meal. I was a little p***** off that I had been woken up.
“I hadn’t reclined it whilst he was eating, I was doing what I wanted to do, sleep, in a position that the seat was allowing me. I didn’t make a fuss and accepted it.
“This is only a problem in the <<cheap>> seats and perhaps the airlines can have an area in this class for passengers who want to sleep in the reclined position.
“No meals would be served to these passengers, so the problem will be removed. By sitting in this area you accept no meals and the seat in front may be reclined.”
The double-decker plane first started flying into Manchester Airport in September 2010 after around $15 million had been spent on changes to the airfield to accommodate it.
Its introduction was part of a huge boom in the number of people flying in and out of Dubai.
Twitter made a complaint regarding changes made by Google to integrate its social network Google+ into search results.
The new feature is called Search plus Your World, will automatically push results from Google+ up the search rankings.
Tweeting on the news, Twitter’s lawyer Alex Macgillivray described it as a “bad day for the internet”.
Google is determined to push its social network in the face of continued rivalry with Facebook.
The current changes were about even greater personalization, it said. It already includes personal search history in its search algorithms.
The three changes are:
• Personal Results – which enable users to find information such as Google+ photos and posts, both their own and those shared specifically with them, that only they will be able to see on their results pages
• Profiles in Search – both in autocomplete and results, users will be able to find people they are close to or might be interested in following
• People and Pages – helps users find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable people to follow them with just a few clicks.
Twitter made a complaint regarding changes made by Google to integrate its social network Google+ into search results
“Search is pretty amazing at finding that one needle in a haystack of billions of webpages, images, videos, news and much more,” said Amit Singhal in the company’s official blog.
“But clearly, that isn’t enough. You should also be able to find your own stuff on the web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to… all from one search box,” he added.
Twitter’s general counsel Alex Macgillivray tweeted in response to the changes: “Bad day for the internet. Having been there, I can imagine the dissension @Google to search being warped this way.”
Alex Macgillivray had previously been employed at Google.
Twitter expanded his point in an official statement.
“For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results any time they wanted to find something on the internet.
“Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and tweets are often the most relevant results.
“We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organisations and Twitter users.”
Google hit back at the criticisms.
”We are a bit surprised by Twitter’s comments about Search plus Your World, because they chose not to renew their agreement with us last summer and since then we have observed their rel=nofollow instructions,” Google said in a statement.
This refers to a technical barrier which makes it difficult for Google to rank Twitter information, a spokeswoman explained.
There is also little sharing between Google and its other big rival Facebook.
Stepping into the growing row between the three firms, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told MarketingLand magazine that his company was not favouring its own social network over Facebook and Twitter. He said that all would be treated equally if the two rivals granted the search giant the right permissions to access their content.
Search expert John Battelle said in his blog post that social search would mean little until Facebook and Google settled their differences and offered consumers what they really wanted – Facebook data integrated with Google’s search.
“The unwillingness of Facebook and Google to share a public commons when it comes to the intersection of search and social is corrosive to the connective tissue of our shared culture,” he said.
50 Cent has showed off his money literally in a series of vulgar poses on his Twitter page.
50 Cent shared four photos of him holding massive wads of cash in his hotel room in Las Vegas yesterday.
The rapper also used the social networking site to put his two cents in on the arrival of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby daughter.
50 Cent has showed off his money literally in a series of vulgar poses on his Twitter page
50 Cent, 36, thought to be worth $250 million, is joined by boxer Floyd Mayweather in Sin City where he attended the Consumer Electronics Show to promote his own brand of headphones.
He has cash tucked going up the length of both of his arms, and some tucked under his hat.
50Cent wrote: “I was thinking I could make a lot of money one day.
“Then I got mad cause some chumps was hatin on me.
“So I joined a gang lol THE MONEY TEAM … We made it mom top of the world!!!!.( James cagney voice) lol.”
50 Cent then potentially reignited his bitter feud with Jay-Z after posting two mocked up pictures of the rapper and Beyoncé’s new baby, Blue Ivy Carter.
The baby has Jay-Z’s face superimposed on it and 50 Cent joked: “Yal play to much congratulations to JAYZ and Beyonce BABY #BlueIvyCarter IS GEORGOUS.”
50 Cent potentially reignited his bitter feud with Jay-Z after posting two mocked up pictures of the rapper and Beyoncé's new baby, Blue Ivy Carter
Talking about rumors that Beyonce and Jay-Z are holding out for a big money magazine deal to reveal the first photos of their daughter, 50 Cent said: “You bull s***ing they will pay a million dollars for a picture of that baby lol trust me.”
50 Cent and Jay-Z rappers have been embroiled in a bitter feud for several years with 50 Cent once saying that no one knew who Jay-Z was until he married Beyonce.
50 Cent also once threatened to have Beyonce for himself and have children with her.
A French TV reporter, who has been killed in the Syrian city of Homs among other eight today, is the first Western journalist to die in the country’s current unrest.
Gilles Jacquier was on a government-authorized trip to the city, the France 2 channel said.
Syrian TV said Gilles Jacquier was among eight killed. A colleague said that minutes earlier they had interviewed some people at a pro-government gathering.
Opposition groups say 15 people died around the country on Wednesday, including three in Homs.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has called for full clarification of what happened.
“We vigorously condemn this odious act,” Alain Juppe said in a statement.
The Syrian authorities have severely restricted access to foreign journalists since the unrest began last March.
More than 5,000 people have been killed, the UN says. The government says 2,000 security personnel have died combating “armed gangs and terrorists”.
Observers arrived in Syria in December to monitor an Arab League peace plan, but the killing has continued.
Arab League said on Wednesday it was delaying sending more monitors after an attack on an observer team earlier in the week, Reuters news agency reported.
Eleven observers were slightly injured in the attack, in the port city of Latakia.
Gilles Jacquier is described as a veteran award-winning journalist who covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and between Israel and the Palestinians
Gilles Jacquier, 43, was part of a group of 15 foreign journalists being shown around a part of Homs and speaking to locals.
One of his colleagues said they were escorted by soldiers and police, and were in a part of the flashpoint city where street life was relatively normal with some shops open.
A grenade fell close to them minutes after they had spoken to some young people and they fled into a nearby building. More grenades hit the building causing casualties.
“There was smoke everywhere, people started screaming and yelling. There was complete chaos,” he said.
Gilles Jacquier was behind him when he went into the building, but he saw him lying dead a few minutes later, he added.
At least one other European journalist was wounded, reports say. Dutch officials and media said a Dutch journalist was hurt.
The area of the attack is inhabited by members of the Alawite sect and therefore considered to be mainly pro-government. No opposition supporters have given an account of the incident.
Gilles Jacquier is described as a veteran award-winning journalist who covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and between Israel and the Palestinians.
His mission in Syria was to make a documentary film on the protests.
The incident came as Arab League observers continued their mission aimed at monitoring a peace plan proposed by the league.
Earlier on Wednesday, a former member of the mission called it a “farce” and described the situation there as a humanitarian disaster.
Anwar Malek told al-Jazeera TV that he had resigned because of what he had witnessed in Syria, including war crimes committed by security forces.
He said the government had “fabricated” most of what the monitors had seen to stop the Arab League taking action.
The UN Security Council has been told that an estimated 400 people had been killed in Syria since the mission arrived in late December – an average of almost 40 deaths a day.
The US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice, said the figure showed Syria’s government had accelerated its killing of demonstrators, rather than using the opportunity to end the violence.
Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad made a surprise appearance at an open air rally by thousands of his supporters in Damascus.
Bashar al-Assad said he wanted to show his love for the Syrian people.
His wife, Asmaa, and his children were also briefly shown in the live broadcast. There had been speculation that they might have left Syria.
Two of Robert Kardashian’s ex-wives claim Khloe does not have the same father as her older sisters Kim and Kourtney.
The late businessman’s ex-wives have come forward saying he expressed doubts over the paternity of Khloe Kardashian.
Khloe Kardashian has hit back at the claims, calling them “really low”.
In an explosive interview with Star magazine, Jan Ashley, who married the businessman after Khloe’s mother Kris Jenner, said: “Khloe is not his kid – he told me that after we got married.”
She added: “He just kind of looked at me and said [it] like it was a matter of fact. He said <<Well, you know that Khloe’s not really a Kardashian, don’t you?>> And I said… <<OK>> and that was it.”
Ellen Pierson, 63, who married Robert Kardashian in 2003, just two months before his death, has also come forward after eight years of silence to “tell the truth” about the Kardashian family.
Ellen Pierson claims Khloe Kardashian, who is married to Dallas Mavericks basketball player Lamar Odom, knew she had a different father to her sisters and younger brother Rob.
“Khloe brought it up all the time. She looked nothing like the rest. She was tall, had a different shape, light hair, curly hair. Didn’t look anything like the other three children,” she said.
Ellen Pierson said Robert Kardashian, who is of Armenian descent, had told her that he and Kris were not sleeping together at the time Khloe was conceived.
“[But] he never would have considered a DNA test. He loved her very much. Robert did question the fact that Khloe was his,” she said.
“Any normal man would if they knew their wife had cheated on him.”
Two of Robert Kardashian's ex-wives claim Khloe does not have the same father as her older sisters Kim and Kourtney
Khloe Kardashian has responded to the claims today on Twitter.
She wrote: “The audacity you have to mention my father’s name like this! Should be ashamed of urself! I let a lot of things slide but this one is really low… YOU ARE DISGUSTING! (yes you know who YOU are).”
Khloe’s mother, Kris Jenner, 56, recently admitted in her new book that she cheated on Robert during their marriage and Jan and Ellen her husband also knew.
Since Robert Kardashian’s death, Ellen Pierson had experienced financial difficulties, filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010.
The home Ellen and Robert Kardashian shared in Indian Wells, California, was sold after going into foreclosure in October.
Kris remarried Olympian Bruce Jenner in 1991 and the couple had two daughters, Kendall and Kylie.
Bruce Jenner already had four children from two previous marriages: Burt, Casey, Brody, and Brandon.
Khloe Kardashian is often talking about how she looks nothing like her sisters, and Kris Jenner has been quoted as saying people asked her whether she was “the milkman’s daughter” when she was born.
On Khloe Kardashian’s blog in June 2010, she shared a number of pictures of her and the attorney.
She wrote: “Father’s Day is two days away, so in preparation I wanted to post this photo album (mostly old school pics) dedicated to my dad and to Bruce.
“I was seriously the luckiest girl in the world growing up because I had two amazing dads who not only loved us kids more than anything, but adored each other as well.
“My dad and Bruce were always really close – Kendall and Kylie even called my dad Uncle Robert which I loved.
“Father’s Day is always a bittersweet holiday for me because I of course miss my dad, but it also reminds me of how truly blessed I am to have had two incredible fathers.”
A source has confirmed to Us Weekly magazine that Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez are engaged.
Olivier Martinez, 46, reportedly proposed with an emerald-and-diamond ring from Gurhan which Halle Berry, 45, has been seen sporting recently.
Halle Berry was first pictured with a ring on her wedding finger as early as December 29, leading to speculation that Olivier Martinez planned a Christmas proposal.
The actress has been careful to keep the ring turned around to just look like a plain band in recent weeks, but gave photographers a glimpse of the stunning stone during an outing in LA yesterday.
A source has confirmed to Us Weekly magazine that Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez are engaged
Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez first met while working opposite one another on the film Dark Tide; they soon emerged as a hot new couple in the autumn of 2010.
A source told Us Weekly: “[Halle] had given up on being married, but she trusts Olivier. He makes her feel safe. He’s a keeper.”
Olivier Martinez previously dated Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, 43, for several years – and supported her through her battle with breast cancer – before they split in 2007.
For Halle Berry, who has a 3-year-old daughter, Nahla, with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, this will be the third marriage.
The actress dated handsome model Gabriel Aubry, 36, for almost five years before their acrimonious split in April 2010.
Halle Berry’s love life has been fraught with hard times. An ex-boyfriend beat her so badly that she was left partially deaf, her first marriage falling apart caused her to attempt suicide and her second marriage ended because her husband was allegedly a sex addict.
Halle Berry wed former baseball player David Justice in 1993, divorcing four years later.
She has spoken publicly about contemplating suicide after the end of her first marriage.
“It was all about a relationship,” Halle Berry told Parade magazine in 2007.
“My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn’t love me didn’t mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again.”
Halle Berry then married R&B singer Eric Benét in 2001, only to separate in 2003 and finalize their divorce in 2005.
The actress has previously revealed that the couple was in counseling to combat Eric Benét’s sex addiction after just a year.
Of her second marriage, Halle Berry said: “I knew this time I had a right to set boundaries and say, <<This isn’t OK for me>>. I knew that it wasn’t my fault. If I hadn’t gone through the first breakup and made that promise to myself this would have leveled me.”
“I stink at marriage,” Halle Berry joked to Parade in the 2007 interview.
Los Angeles authorities said yesterday that no new evidence has been uncovered in the death of Natalie Wood that would point to foul play.
After several weeks of interviews and other investigative work, detectives have not uncovered any evidence the death was a homicide.
It had been ruled as an accident.
Chief detective William McSweeney told the Los Angeles Times cold cases like Natalie Wood’s are never really closed and that detectives are still looking at some aspects of the case.
“At this point, it is an accidental death. Nothing has been discovered to suggest changing that at this time,” William McSweeney said.
Los Angeles police said in November “substantial new evidence” led them to re-open their investigation into Natalie Wood’s death 30 years ago.
Los Angeles authorities said yesterday that no new evidence has been uncovered in the death of Natalie Wood that would point to foul play
Natalie Wood died sometime after the evening of November 28, 1981, when the 43-year-old actress was boating off Catalina Island with her husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken.
The evening before the drowning, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken, who was her co-star in the film “Brainstorm”, had dinner at a restaurant on the island.
According to ship Captain Dennis Davern’s sworn statement to detectives, the trio returned to the yacht and had drinks and Robert Wagner and Christopher Walken got into an argument.
A furious Robert Wagner shouted: “Do you want to f*** my wife” at Christopher Walken as he smashed a bottle of wine in the moments before Natalie Wood fell overboard, Dennis Davern claimed.
The captain told the officers when he showed up on the open deck where Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner had been arguing, Dennis Davern said: “Wagner was present, and he stood near the far rear wall of the yacht.”
The day after Natalie Wood’s body was found off the coast of California, Dennis Davern said he was asked to go to Robert Wagner’s bedroom at his Beverly Hills home, where he met with a lawyer and was told to “Say nothing”.
The captain wrote: “Wagner informed me he would hire an attorney who would handle my statement about Natalie Wood’s disappearance and drowning, which he did before Natalie Wood’s funeral.
“I signed a statement the appointed attorney drafted, one completely void of the facts surrounding Natalie Wood’s disappearance.”
Dennis Davern continued: “Detective Duane Rasure accepted the statement that had been prepared for me – a statement claiming that I did not know details about Natalie Wood’s disappearance from the yacht.
“Although I did want to reveal what I knew, I obeyed what had been asked of me.”
Robert Wagner has always maintained Natalie Wood accidentally slipped and drowned as she drunkenly tried to tie up a dinghy against the boat. Police say he is not considered a suspect.
In his memoir, Pieces of My Heart, Robert Wagner explains how he had been on his boat, the Splendour, with Natalie Wood – who he had married twice – and Christopher Walken when an argument broke out.
Robert Wagner wrote: “Chris [Walken] began talking about his <<total pursuit of a career>>, which he admitted was more important to him than his personal life. He clearly thought Natalie should live like that, too.
“I got angry. <<Why don’t you stay out of her career?>> I said. <<She’s got enough people telling her what to do without you>>.”
As the argument escalated, Natalie Wood left for bed.
“The last time I saw my wife she was fixing her hair in the bathroom while I was arguing with Chris,” Robert Wagner said.
“I saw her shut the door. She was going to bed.”
Robert Wagner described how he and Christopher Walken moved up to the deck as “things were threatening to get physical” and they were calmed by the fresh sea air.
He said he waited up a little longer before going to bed – but his wife was not there.
When Robert Wagner was questioned by a rescue boat captain in 1981 about why he didn’t call for help to find his missing wife, he allegedly said: “We thought she was off on another boat screwing around because that’s the kind of woman she is.”
Describing his sense of guilt, Robert Wagner continued in his book: “Yes, I blamed myself. If I’d been there, I could have done something. I wasn’t, but ultimately, a man is responsible for his loved one.
“I would have done anything in the world to protect her. Anything. I lost a woman I loved with all my heart and I will never completely come to terms with that.”
Lifeguard captain Roger Smith told the Times in November that Natalie Wood could have been saved if officials had been called sooner to search for her.
Roger Smith said he was alerted that Natalie Wood was missing at 5:11a.m. the next day.
Based on the condition of her body when Natalie Wood was pulled from the water, Roger Smith said he believes she survived for some time in the water and was washed out to sea.
University lecturer and nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan has been killed in a car explosion in north Tehran.
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, an academic who also worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility and another unidentified person were killed in the attack.
The blast happened after a motorcyclist stuck an apparent bomb to the car.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years, with Iran blaming Israel and the US.
Both countries deny the accusations.
Iran’s Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi told state television that the attack against Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan would not stop “progress” in the country’s nuclear programme.
Mohammad Reza Rahimi called the killing “evidence of [foreign] government-sponsored terrorism”.
Local sources said Wednesday’s blast took place at a faculty of Iran’s Allameh Tabatai university.
Two others were reportedly also injured in the blast, which took place near Gol Nabi Street, in the north of the capital.
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was a graduate of Sharif University and supervised a department at Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan province
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was a graduate of Sharif University and supervised a department at Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan province, semi-official news agency Fars reported.
“The bomb was a magnetic one and the same as the ones previously used for the assassination of the scientists, and the work of the Zionists [Israelis],” deputy Tehran governor Safarali Baratloo said.
Witnesses said they had seen two people on the motorbike fix the bomb to the car, reported to be a Peugeot 405. A second person died in the attack though the car itself remained virtually intact.
The latest attack comes almost two years to the day since Massoud Ali Mohammadi, a 50-year-old university lecturer at Tehran University, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb as he left his home in Tehran on 12 January 2010.
Reports at the time described Dr. Massoud Ali Mohammadi as a nuclear physicist, but it later appeared that he was an expert in another branch of physics.
There was also confusion as to whether the attack had any domestic political overtones because of reports about his apparent links to an opposition presidential candidate.
However, in August 2011, an Iranian man – Majid Jamali Fashi – was sentenced to death for the killing, with state authorities saying he was paid by Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Israel does not comment on such claims.
Of the latest attack, Fars reports that the bombing method appears similar to another 2010 bombing which injured former university professor Fereydun Abbasi-Davani, now the head of the country’s atomic energy organization.
There has been much controversy over Iran’s nuclear activities.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes, but the US and other Western nations suspect it of seeking to build nuclear weapons.
In a statement quoted on Iranian television on Wednesday, the country’s atomic energy agency said its nuclear path was “irreversible”, despite mounting international pressure.
Scientists say life expectancy is written into our DNA and could be seen from the day we are born.
They have found a way to predict how long someone will live – by measuring their genes as a baby
It all depends on the length of the telomeres, which are described as “acting like the plastic ends on shoelaces” to protect chromosomes from wear and tear.
Telomeres are being studied extensively – and are thought to hold the key to ageing.
The longer your telomeres, the longer you will live – dependent, of course, on not dying accidentally, from disease or from lifestyle factors.
It was known they could be shortened by life choices, including smoking and stress. But this is the first indication that our lifespan might be predetermined from birth.
In the future, tests may allow people to know their expected lifespan from a very early age – if they want to.
Professor Pat Monaghan, who led the Glasgow University study, said: “The results of this research show that what happens in our bodies in early life is very important.
“It is not understood why there are variations of telomere length but if you had a choice, you would want to be born with longer telomeres.
“If you were to test this, I don’t think anyone would want to know – it would just make you miserable. But it must be remembered that how you live has a big effect. This isn’t quite a case of nature overtaking nurture.”
Telomeres are important because they stop DNA from unraveling, but they begin shortening from the moment we are conceived
The study – which used zebra finches, one of Australia’s most common bird species – is the first to measure telomere lengths at regular intervals through an entire life. With people, it is usually only the elderly who are studied because of the timescales involved.
Blood cell samples were taken from 99 finches, starting when they were 25 days old.
The results exceeded even the researchers’ expectations. The birds with the shortest telomeres did tend to die first – from as early as seven months after the start of the trial.
But one bird in the group with the longest telomeres survived to almost nine years old.
Professor Monaghan said: “These birds were dying of natural causes. There were no predators, no diseases and no accidental deaths. This was showing their capacity for long life.”
The results hold huge implications for humans, whose telomeres work in the same way.
Telomeres are important because they stop DNA from unraveling, but they begin shortening from the moment we are conceived.
The longer they are, the better for an individual because when they get too short, they stop working.
DNA is then no longer protected and errors begin to creep in when cells divide. When this happens – usually in middle age – the skin begins to sag and the immune system becomes less efficient. Faulty cells also lead to a growing risk of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
The university’s institute of biodiversity, animal health and comparative medicine has published its groundbreaking research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.
In the next stage of their research, the Glasgow scientists will look at what causes telomeres to shorten – including inherited and environmental factors – to make it possible to predict life expectancy more accurately.
In a new study, psychologists found that a more mature brain is better equipped to see the sunny side of life.
As people move from middle to old age, they tend to focus on positive events and filter out bad ones, the researchers suggest.
Older people cope with a negative event by simply shrugging it off and moving on, said the study for the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
In contrast, younger people are more likely to dwell on a setback until something positive happens to distract them from it.
A series of tests showed older minds focus on the positive.
For example, after seeing a series of photos of faces, older people later recall the ones that are smiling.
This suggests that as the brain ages and loses some of its memory, there is a subconscious choice in what to remember and what to let go, and the positive memories are more likely to stay.
As people move from middle to old age, they tend to focus on positive events and filter out bad ones, the researchers suggest
The researchers said: “Some psychologists believe that cognitive processes are responsible – in particular, focusing on and remembering positive events and leaving behind negative ones.
“Those processes, they think, help older people regulate their emotions, letting them view life in a sunnier light.”
The over-50s are also more likely than younger adults to “prune” their social circle or friends if they find any of their acquaintances ‘bring them down’.
Researcher Derek Isaacowitz of Northeastern University in Boston said more study was needed to help others by discovering why happiness and age were linked.
He added: “Older people are happier on average, but we still want to know in what situations does this particular strategy make this particular person with these particular qualities or strengths feel good.”
One of the reasons Kim Kardashian ended up splitting up with NBA player Kris Humphries is because he was unhappy with the way she spoke to her family.
According to RadarOnline, Kris Humphries would argue with Kim Kardashian because he felt she did not show her relatives enough respect.
Supposedly Kris Humphries was attracted to Kim Kardashian because how close she was to her own family.
The power forward himself comes from a small, close knit family, so he was shocked at the things Kim Kardashian would say to her own relatives.
A source said: “Kris just couldn’t believe that Kim would speak to her mom with such disrespect, often telling her she had no idea what she was doing, as pertaining to Kris’ management of her career.
“On one recent episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Kim called Khloe an <<ugly little troll>> because she was woken up by her sister, earlier one morning than she liked.
“Kris would never even joke with his parents, nor his sister, Kaela that way. He just wasn’t raised that way.”
One of the reasons Kim Kardashian ended up splitting up with NBA player Kris Humphries is because he was unhappy with the way she spoke to her family
The mystery source, who is reportedly very close to the situation, also said Kris Humphries had been trying to make her change her ways.
It said: “Kris tried to approach the subject gingerly with Kim, saying there were other ways to communicate her frustration and anger, rather than using such ugly language, Kim responded by telling him that it was none of his business.”
As their 72 day union deteriorated the arguing between the pair got even worse.
The source said: “Kim got angry at her mom on the phone while they were in New York because of a photo shoot that she had to go to, that she didn’t want to do.
“Humphries was in the room, and told Kim to stop, and that she had diarrhoea of the mouth.
“Kim quickly turned her anger towards her husband and hung up on her mom, which happens all the time.”
However, it seems Kim Kardashian had been turning to her mother, Kris Jenner, 56, for support as she struggled with her marriage breakdown.
On Kourtney & Kim Take New York, Kim Kardashian told her mother she was unhappy in her marriage during a business trip to Dubai.
Kim Kardashian said: “There’s something in my relationship that I feel isn’t right.
“And married life isn’t what I thought it would be with him: I keep thinking something is off.”
Monica Hussing and William Robinson Sr. from Clevland, Ohio, who failed to seek medical care for their cancer-stricken son because they said they couldn’t afford medical care have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Their son, Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors. The prosecutors say that had he received treatment, the youngster would have had a 96% chance of making a full recovery.
The parents claim they never took their cancer-stricken son to the doctor because they didn’t have the money.
But somehow, they found the cash to have their family pit bull treated for fleas, prosecutors say.
Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors
Monica Hussing, 37 and William Robinson, 40, have been free on $150,000 bail each in Cleveland, since their son died. On Monday, the parents pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter and face up to eight years in prison.
Monica Hussing’s lawyer blamed Willie’s death on the fact that the parents, who still have five children, were poor and did not have health insurance.
“Unfortunately, these people did not have that ability to get the proper health care and I think the entire system both in Warren, in Trumbull County and in Cuyahoga County it was just a little bit of… the ball was dropped,” John Luskin told WJW.
But prosecutors say as Willie Robinson was dying a horrible, but preventable, death, his parents paid $87 to take their pit bull Petey to a veterinarian and have it treated for fleas.
After ignoring his pleas for medical help, Willie Robinson collapsed at their home March 22, 2008. It was then Monica Hussing and William Robinson finally took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with cancer and died later that day.
The coroner ruled the boy’s death, caused by cancer and pneumonia, a homicide, meaning it was the result of his parents’ actions.
Authorities say none of the couple’s five other children, now 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8, received medical care. All of them have been removed from their parents and are living with an aunt.
The parents also kept their children out of school. Willie Robinson never saw a classroom in his short life, authorities say.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is cancer of lymph tissue found in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver and bone marrow. Symptoms include: fatigue, fever and chills, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.
It is the most common form of childhood cancer and the most treatable, with up to 96% of children surviving at least five years after the cancer goes into remission.
Saud bin Nasser Al Shahry is a Saudi father who is trying to sell his son on Facebook for around $20 million.
The father claims he is selling his son to avoid “living in poverty” after his illegal business was shut down, it was reported today.
Saud bin Nasser Al Shahry also claims trafficking his son is the only option to continue providing for his wife and daughter.
The father says he is willing to go to court to complete the sale, the only condition of which is to know which city the buyer lives in.
Saud bin Nasser Al Shahry made the decision after first asking whether the authorities could help him financially when his illegal debt-collection business was shut down by a court, he told Qatari news outlet Al Sharq.
He was apparently denied the request because he was older than 35.
It is not clear whether his actions are merely a publicity stunt or, if genuine, whether he would be able to carry out the sale without redress.
Saud bin Nasser Al Shahry claims he is selling his son to avoid “living in poverty” after his illegal business was shut down
Human trafficking is an offence in Saudi Arabia, but the country does not comply with minimum international standards, according to the U.S. Department of State.
In recent reports, quoted in Venture Beat, it said the Saudi government “continues to lack adequate anti-trafficking laws, and, despite evidence of widespread trafficking abuses, did not report any criminal prosecutions, convictions or prison sentences for trafficking crimes committed against foreign domestic workers.”
Facebook is also unlikely to allow such a sale through its website.
According to Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, users “will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law”.
Around half of all Saudi children face domestic violence or some kind of abuse, it is claimed by a Saudi Arabian human rights group, The National Society for Human Rights.
Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off Aceh province.
The 7.3 magnitude quake struck 423 km (262 miles) south-west of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The earthquake had a depth of 29.1 km (18.1 miles), according to USGS.
A giant earthquake struck off Indonesia in December 2004 triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed some 230,000 people, half of them in Aceh.
An official with Indonesia’s geological agency, Arief Akhir, confirmed that a tsunami warning had been issued.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – one of the most seismically active regions on earth.
Roxy Music star Bryan Ferry and his younger girlfriend Amanda Sheppard married in a romantic island ceremony.
Bryan Ferry, 66, and Amanda Sheppard, 29, have tied the knot in a simple private ceremony at the stunning Amanyara luxury beach resort on the Turks and Caicos Islands last week on January 4th.
Amanda Sheppard wore an ethereal Lanvin white dress for the ceremony, while Bryan Ferry looked dapper in a dark blue suit by Anderson & Sheppard.
This is the second marriage for world-famous crooner Bryan Ferry, who was married to Lucy Helmore, with whom he has four children, for 21 years.
Bryan Ferry also famously dated Jerry Hall for two years before she left him for Mick Jagger.
Following his divorce from Lucy Helmore, Bryan Ferry began dating dancer Katie Turner, 35 years his junior.
During an interview last year, Bryan Ferry said he was “fortunate” to have snared himself a younger girlfriend.
He said: “The interesting thing is – and I don’t want to say the wrong thing in case I get into trouble with my girlfriend – you never really meet people your own age who aren’t married.
“I’m very fortunate that I work in music, where you’re in touch with different age groups, either the audience or people you work with.
“It does help. Obviously I’m not ageist!”
Bryan Ferry, 66, and Amanda Sheppard, 29, have tied the knot in a simple private ceremony at the stunning Amanyara luxury beach resort on the Turks and Caicos Islands last week on January 4th
When Bryan Ferry and Amanda Sheppard first started dating back in 2009, many people doubted whether their relationship would last.
A source said at the time: “No one expected the fling to last, but it’s getting quite serious.
“They are a really lovely couple but there’s no talk of marriage just yet. I don’t think Bryan’s that keen on getting married again.”
However, a few months later Amanda Sheppard quit her job as a London PR girl after Bryan Ferry offered to financially support her, and moved in to the singer’s London home.
Amanda Sheppard was absent from Buckingham Palace last year, however, when Bryan Ferry collected his CBE from the Queen.
Bryan Ferry was instead accompanied by his sons Otis, 29, Isaac, 26, Tara, 21, and 20-year-old Merlin.
Three-year-old Sofia Walker refused to back down when a lion viciously lashed out at her at Wellington Zoo in New Zealand last week.
Fortunately for little girl, a thick pane of safety glass stood between her and Malik, the 7-year-old lion so incensed by her gall.
The incredible moment was captured on camera by Sofia Walker’s father Julian.
At one point, the fascinated toddler turns to her parents and asks: “What’s he telling me?”
“I think he’s telling you to move away, Sofia,” a woman responds off camera. “He wants to eat his food.”
But Sofia Walker remained as transfixed with the animal as he was with her and the battle of wills continued.
Then, once more unable to hold in his frustration, Malik pounced for a second time, wildly swiping his front paws against the glass as he stood on his hind legs.
Three-year-old Sofia Walker refused to back down when a lion viciously lashed out at her at Wellington Zoo in New Zealand last week
Paul Hatton, the zoo’s team leader of carnivores and primates, told the New Zealand Herald: “There were a couple of moments where she was a little bit surprised, which is fair enough completely, but she didn’t seem too bothered.
“He’s massive and you sometimes forget how big he is until you see a picture of him right up next to a small child. He’s a big character.”
Malik, who had been just given his breakfast, is an easily grumpy and defensive lion, Paul Hatton said.
He explained: “They don’t like to share, lions.”
Malik has plenty of room in his enclosure, but on this occasion refused to move out of sight from visitors.
The glass separating man from beast is 33mm thick and is constructed of three separate layers that are bonded together. Not even a sledgehammer could break it, Paul Hatton said.
Julian walker said: “She’s always had this quiet confidence with animals, but she’s certainly more confident with a lion than I would be, that’s for sure.”
Pope Benedict XVI warned yesterday that gay marriage is one of several threats to the traditional family unit that undermines “the future of humanity itself”.
Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats from nearly 180 countries that the education of proper of children needed proper “settings” and that “pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman”.
The pontiff made his comments, some of his strongest yet against gay marriage, during a New Year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican.
During his speech, Pope Benedict touched on some economic and social issues facing the world today, including gay marriage.
The pontiff said: “This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society.
“Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself. The family unit is fundamental for the educational process and for the development both of individuals and states.
“Hence there is a need for policies which promote the family and aid social cohesion and dialogue.”
Pope Benedict XVI warned yesterday that gay marriage is one of several threats to the traditional family unit
The Vatican and Catholic officials around the world have protested against moves to legalize gay marriage in Europe and other developed parts of the world.
One leading opponent of gay marriage in the U.S. is New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who Pope Benedict will elevate to cardinal next month.
Timothy Dolan fought against gay marriage before it became legal in New York state last June, and in September he sent a letter to President Barack Obama criticizing his administration’s decision not to support a federal ban on gay marriage.
In that letter Timothy Dolan, who holds the powerful post of president of the U.S. Bishops Conference, said such a policy could “precipitate a national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions”.
The Roman Catholic Church, which has some 1.3 billion members worldwide, teaches that while homosexual tendencies are not sinful, homosexual acts are, and that children should grow up in a traditional family with a mother and a father.
Gay marriage is legal in a number of European countries, including Spain and the Netherlands.
Some Churches that have allowed gay marriage, women priests, gay clergy and gay bishops have been losing members to Catholicism, and the Vatican has taken steps to facilitate their conversion.
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI decreed that Anglicans who leave their Church, many because they feel it has become too liberal, can find a home in Catholicism in a parallel hierarchy that allows them to keep some of their traditions.
The Vatican has since set up “ordinariates,” structures similar to dioceses, in Britain and the U.S. to oversee ex-Anglicans who have converted and be a point of contact for those wishing to do so.
Sarah Yarborough murder in 1991 on her high-school campus may now finally be solved – thanks to the DNA of a 17th century family.
Seattle police investigating the death of 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough from Washington say they are one step closer to catching her killer.
Investigators have matched crime-scene DNA samples to the historic family of Robert Fuller, from Massachusetts, whose ancestors settled in Salem in 1630 after coming over on the Mayflower.
Sarah Yarborough was murdered in 1991 on her high-school campus
It means one of Robert Fuller’s descendants could be responsible for Sarah Yarborough’s death in 1991. But as almost 400 years have passed, the number of suspects could now run “into the thousands”.
Forensic consultant Colleen Fitzpatrick said: “The most important thing is having a last name.
“People get excited about having a Mayflower connection, but the most important thing is having a probable last name for this guy.”
Following the murder, the King County Sheriff’s Department circulated two composite sketches of a possible suspect.
Suspect was a man in his 20s at the time of the attack, with shoulder-length blonde or light brown hair. But a name was never put to the sketch.
Last month, Colleen Fitzpatrick was sent the DNA profile. She compared it to others in genealogy databases and found the closest match was to the family of Robert Fuller.
Colleen Fitzpatrick revealed that, since the DNA trace follows male descendants, there was “a high degree of probability” that the man police are looking is named Fuller.
King County investigators disclosed the test results yesterday.
A video has emerged of Russell Brand taking off his wedding ring, just two weeks after his first wedding anniversary with Katy Perry back in November.
Russell Brand posted the video on porn website Nudevista as he began a week-long tour of various universities in America.
In the footage, Russell Brand is seen saying: “I am going to meet people from sororities and fraternities. I don’t know what a sorority is except for what I have seen on Nudevista – that they are sort of sex clubs for women.
“A week of revolution and, more importantly, I am going to learn first-hand about sororities.”
Russell Brand is then seen taking his ring off in full view of the camera, before adding: “I’m just going to place this somewhere very, very safe for the next week.”
A video has emerged of Russell Brand taking off his wedding ring, just two weeks after his first wedding anniversary with Katy Perry back in November
Since filing for divorce from Katy Perry on December 30, Russell Brand has remained resolutely silent on his Twitter page.
However, his estranged wife Katy Perry came forward over the weekend to thank her fans for their support in the difficult times.
Katy Perry wrote: “I am so grateful for all the love and support I’ve had from people around the world. You guys have made my heart happy again.”
She also pulled out of what was scheduled to be her first public appearance since the split at the People’s Choice Awards, writing her apologies on Twitter.
But new claims have suggested Katy Perry is considering flying into the UK in a bid to resolve things with her former spouse.
A source told Grazia magazine: “Katy was absolutely crushed by Russell’s decision. She’s furious after everything he’s done, but still insists there must be a way to reconcile and try to work things out.
“She told Russell that if he’d agreed to marriage counseling, they wouldn’t be in this mess and tried to persuade him to fly back to the States and meet her.
“She’s now considering jetting to the UK as she’s desperate to see him and talk to him.
“She said she can’t stand that everything has been done over the phone and says she needs to see him before she can truly accept it’s over.”
On December 21, 2012, the apocalypse foretold 5,125 years ago by the ancient Mayans will come to pass and the world will end.
Meanwhile, Harold Camping, an American radio preacher, got thousands of followers worked up when he predicted the Second Coming of Jesus Christ on May 21 last year.
When that didn’t happen, Harold Camping said the world would end on October 21. And then he quietly retired from his radio show.
But the “2012 phenomenon”, as it is commonly known to its legions of internet followers, is different.
For the Mayans, a famously wise and advanced civilization which was at its height between 250 and 900AD in the present-day Mexican state of Yucatan and Guatemala, have grabbed everyone’s attention.
The evidence boils down to one simple fact: their 5,125-year calendar – the one used across Central America before the arrival of Europeans – runs out on December 21 this year.
The point is that the Mayans were noted for their extraordinary astronomical observations and mathematical powers.
And if they didn’t think it worth taking their calendar beyond December 2012, they must have had a reason.
Public concern is so high that NASA, the U.S. space agency, even has a section debunking the theories of impending doom on its website.
NASA says it has taken more than 5,000 questions from people, some asking if they should kill themselves, their families or their pets.
Archaeologists who have studied the Mayans have been downplaying the apocalypse theories, insisting that the only surviving Mayan reference to any dreadful significance attached to December 21, 2012, was contained on a single ancient stone tablet found at ruins in Tortuguero, southern Mexico, in the 1960s.
Mexico’s tourism agency hopes the 2012 phenomenon will draw 52 million visitors to the region - more than twice the number the whole country normally receives
According to an inscription on the tablet, a fearsome Mayan god of war and creation may “descend” from the sky on the appointed day.
But then, a few weeks ago, archaeologists had to admit they had found a second piece of evidence – a 1,300-year-old carved brick fragment at a temple ruin in nearby Comalcalco.
The brick, now kept in a vault at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, has an inscription on its face which also refers to the date.
The fact that the face of the brick was probably laid facing inward or covered with stucco – suggesting it was not meant to be seen by the Mayan population who visited the temple – has only added to the hysteria of modern doom-mongers.
Scientists insist there is no dire threat on the horizon, while Mayan experts stress that the ancient civilization’s legacy has simply been misinterpreted.
“Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012,” says NASA on its website in the reassuring tones of a parent dealing with a frightened toddler.
“Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than four billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.”
Of course in these conspiracy-obsessed times, there are thousands of cynics who are not convinced.
David Morrison, senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, said he had been receiving about ten emails a day from worried members of the public who are “seriously, seriously upset”.
A young woman from Denmark wrote to him saying: “Mother of one daughter and another coming.
“Yesterday I was considering killing myself, the baby in my stomach and my beloved two-year-old daughter before December 2012 for fear of having to experience the Earth’s destruction.”
A 13-year-old American, wrote: “I am considering suicide. I am scared to tears . . . I don’t want to live any more, I deserve an explanation.”
Another wrote: “I am so scared. My only friend is my little dog. When should I put her to sleep so she won’t suffer when the Earth is destroyed?”
Worried Americans are rushing to buy everything from $27 survival guides to $50,000-per-person places in bunkers that are marketed as being both nuclear bomb and asteroid-proof.
Robert Vicino, a Californian businessman who is building the luxury bunkers in secret locations asked on his website: “What if the prophecies are true? Which side of the door do you want to be on?”
The businessman says that he has more than 5,000 Americans booking places, and is now building bunkers in Europe.
Steve Cramer, one man who has reserved his place, insists: “We’re not crazy people: these are fearful times. My family wants to survive. You have to be prepared.”
Jason Hodge, a father-of-four who also counts himself a “future survivor”, to use the jargon of the apocalypse industry, adds: “It’s an investment in life.
“I want to make sure I have a place I can take me and my family if that worst-case scenario were to happen.”
Mayan apocalypse converts have started flocking to Bugarach too, a tiny hilltop town in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
The 200-strong local community has had to contend with 20,000 visitors since the start of last year, and the French government is worried about the threat of mass suicides.
Believers say a magnetic force surrounds the town’s “mystical” mountain where the top layers of rock are older than the lower ones.
(Geologists say that soon after the mountain was formed, it exploded and the top flew into the air, before landing upside-down).
People claim the magnetic force will protect them from the apocalypse to come.
Others who have flocked to Bugarach insist the mountain is a gateway to another dimension and may contain a secret alien base.
Unhelpfully, the Mayans did not specify exactly what would happen when the world ends. But that hasn’t stopped believers from letting their imaginations run riot.
Many of their 2012 doomsday scenarios involve astronomical phenomena – a rogue planet hitting Earth, fierce solar storms, a galactic alignment in which the Sun’s gravitational effect combines with that of a huge black hole to create havoc. The gloomiest think we may get all three.
A particularly popular theory is that a rogue planet called Nibiru is lurking behind the Sun and will collide with the Earth next December, destroying it. Some believe this rogue body is Eris, a dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune.
The idea of a planet creeping out from behind the Sun and smashing into Earth provided the depressing backdrop to last year’s Lars von Trier film Melancholia, starring Kirsten Dunst and Kiefer Sutherland.
Another theory, also involving the Sun, predicts that a huge solar flare – called a “solar max” – will destroy the Earth.
This notion has already inspired Hollywood in the 2009 disaster blockbuster 2012, in which the flare caused catastrophic earthquakes. The film also made reference to the Mayan calendar.
Finally, no apocalypse would be complete without at least one alien invasion.
This time last year, reports emerged suggesting the U.S. Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) had detected three large spacecraft due to arrive at Earth in 2012. SETI rejected the claims, to which those who wanted to believe the reports replied: “Well they would, wouldn’t they?”
Another alien theory doing the rounds among conspiracy theorists is that the authorities will stage a fake extra-terrestrial invasion at next year’s closing ceremony for the London Olympic Games so they can declare martial law and introduce a new world order.
Academics and scientists dismiss all of these theories as wild hysteria, of course.
But the fact is that Mayan scholars have been bickering for years over what the end of the Long Count Calendar actually signifies.
The Mayan calendar began in 3,114 BC – believed by Mayans to be when the current “world order” was created – and progresses in 144,000-day cycles (a little more than 394 years) known as baktuns.
The 13th (a sacred number for Mayans) baktun runs out on the 2012 winter solstice, December 21. After that date, the “Great Cycle” is completed and the calendar sequence simply ends.
In 1957, respected Mayan scholar and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that the completion of a “Great Period” of 13 baktuns would have been “of the utmost significance to the Maya”.
In 1966, Michael Coe, another prominent Mayan anthropologist and a former CIA agent, went much further and concluded there was a “suggestion” among the Mayans that the final day of the Great Cycle would see “Armageddon overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation” and “thus . . . our present universe would be annihilated”.
Experts had tended to agree with Michael Coe’s interpretation until about a decade ago when the academic world started to insist the Mayans had meant nothing of the sort.
The Mayans believed the end of the 13th baktun would indeed be significant, say academics now, but in a good way.
There will simply be another cycle and it will be a cause for celebration not desperation.
This optimistic message has been championed by many in the New Age movement, which is obsessed by the idea that cultures such as the Mayans had a secret spiritual knowledge that we might tap into if only we knew where to look.
Whatever the truth, hundreds of books have already been published on the subject, not to mention dozens of television programmes and films.
For the most reliable indication of the future, we should perhaps head for the heart of Mayan territory in south-eastern Mexico.
There, locals aren’t running for the hills at all, and don’t seem worried.
In fact, quite the reverse. After suffering years of a tourist industry badly hit by the violence of warring drug cartels, they are looking forward to an economic boom.
Mexico’s tourism agency hopes the 2012 phenomenon will draw 52 million visitors to the region – more than twice the number the whole country normally receives.
And the town of Tapachula, on the Guatemalan border, has already started a countdown to December 21 on a giant digital clock in its main park.
Quite what will happen on the day it runs out remains the subject of feverish debate around the world.
Picasso’s Woman’s Head, given to the Athens National Gallery by the artist himself, was stolen on Monday along with two other valuable works of art.
The Picasso painting was given to Greece in 1949 in recognition of the country’s resistance to Nazi Germany.
According to police, a Mondrian painting and a sketch by Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia had also been stolen.
The heist took place shortly before 05:00 local time and took just seven minutes, police said.
The thief or thieves broke into the back of the gallery after forcing open a balcony door.
All three artworks were stripped from their frames.
Picasso's Woman's Head, given to the Athens National Gallery by the artist himself, was stolen on Monday along with two other valuable works of art
A guard was alerted by a burglar alarm and caught sight of the silhouette of a person running from the building.
He ran after the thief, who dropped another painting – Mondrian’s Landscape – as he made his escape.
Police said the guard had been distracted by several alarms going off at various points in the building earlier in the evening. When he went to investigate, he found no-one in the gallery.
The police added that the theft occurred on the final day of an exhibition called Unknown Treasures, which included works by German artist Albrecht Duerer and Rembrandt.
Picasso’s Woman’s Head is a Cubist bust created by the artist in 1939. The Mondrian work dates from 1905 and is an oil painting of a riverside windmill and Caccia’s religious scene of St Diego de Alcala is a pen and ink drawing.
Museum officials have not yet determined the worth of the stolen artwork, but closed the gallery on Monday as a result of the break-in.
It was already scheduled to close for expansion and refurbishment work following the end of the Unknown Treasures exhibition.
The museum has a large permanent collection of post-Byzantine Greek art, as well as a small collection of Renaissance works and some El Greco paintings.
According to specialists, the death of a loved one makes people up to 21 times more likely to suffer a heart attack within a day of the loss.
Cardiologists also say that during the first week of bereavement, the risk is almost 6 times higher than normal.
The risk slowly declines during the month that follows, a study found.
Doctors are warning people of the dangers, especially for those closest to the person who died and who are already at risk of having a heart attack.
A U.S. study of almost 2,000 heart attack survivors found the increased risk of heart attack within the first week after the loss of a significant person ranged from one per 320 people at high risk to one per 1,394 people with a low heart attack risk.
The study is the first to look specifically at heart attack risk in the first days and weeks after bereavement.
Previous research shows grieving spouses have higher long-term risks of dying, with heart disease and stroke accounting for more than half of deaths – leading to the phenomenon known as “broken heart syndrome”.
According to experts, the stress caused by bereavement has immediate health effects, while loss of sleep and appetite can depress the immune system of surviving loved ones, which may aggravate existing underlying medical conditions.
The emotional strain also causes some bereaved partners to take their own lives, while others neglect their health and diet because of the pain of their loss.
Dr. Murray Mittleman, a preventive cardiologist and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and School of Public Health’s epidemiology department, in Boston, said: “Caretakers, healthcare providers, and the bereaved themselves need to recognize they are in a period of heightened risk in the days and weeks after hearing of someone close dying.”
Researchers reviewed health charts and interviewed 1,985 patients while in hospital after a confirmed heart attack between 1989 and 1994.
Patients answered questions about circumstances surrounding their heart attack, as well as whether they recently lost someone significant in their lives over the past year, when the death happened and the importance of their relationship.
The researchers estimated the relative risk of a heart attack by comparing the number of patients who had someone close to them die in the week before their heart attack to the number of deaths of significant people in their lives from one to six months before their heart attack.
Experts found after a significant person’s death, heart attack risks rose to 21 times higher than normal during the first day.
The risk was almost 6 times higher than normal in the first week, and declined steadily during the first months, says a report in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The study shows bereaved people at high risk of a heart attack before the loss occurred were 4 times more likely to succumb themselves than those previously at low risk.
Psychological stress caused by intense grief can increase heart rate, blood pressure and blood clotting, which in the short-term can raise the chances of a heart attack.
Lead researcher Elizabeth Mostofsky said grieving people may neglect their own wellbeing, forgetting to take medication for heart and other medical problems.
“Friends and family of bereaved people should provide close support to help prevent such incidents, especially near the beginning of the grieving process.
“During situations of extreme grief and psychological distress, you still need to take care of yourself and seek medical attention for symptoms associated with a heart attack,” she said.
Heart attack signs include chest discomfort, upper body or stomach pain, shortness of breath, breaking into a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
A new study shows that nicotine patches are a waste of time and money, as they are not better than willpower at helping smokers to quit.
In earlier clinical trials it was suggested that nicotine replacement therapy could double a smoker’s chances of giving up the habit.
However, the new study of 800 patients found patches made no difference to long-term quitting rates.
According to researchers, the earlier trials had failed to replicate “real-life” situations. They said success and relapse rates were similar whatever method smokers adopted.
A new study shows that nicotine patches are a waste of time and money, as they are not better than willpower at helping smokers to quit
The recent study – by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts, Boston – investigated patients who gave up smoking between 2001 and 2006.
The study concluded: “The main finding is that persons who quit relapsed at equivalent rates, whether or not they used nicotine replacement therapy to help them in their quit attempts, in clear distinction to the results of randomized clinical trials.”
The results were the same for heavy and lighter smokers and whether counseling was or was not given.
Harvard’s Hillel Alpert said: “This study shows that using NRT is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes in the long term than trying to quit on one’s own.”
In an online report in the journal Tobacco Control, fellow author Lois Biener said the funding for NRT might be better spent on other interventions. In replacement therapy, patches, gum, nasal sprays or inhalers are used to supply nicotine to the bloodstream.
Further American research released yesterday suggests that nicotine patches can help improve memory loss among older people.
Non-smokers with failing brainpower who used patches for six months had a 46% improvement in their memory skills, according to a report in the journal Neurology about the study at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
Previous research has suggested nicotine helps brainpower among Alzheimer’s sufferers.
Demi Moore filed for divorce from Ashton Kutcher two months ago, but it seems that she is still showing the strains of the split from her husband.
Demi Moore, 49, appeared gaunt as she was seen running errands in Hollywood on Saturday afternoon.
Wearing jeans, a shirt and a cardigan, Demi Moore failed to conceal her thin frame and her clothes hung loose on her frail figure.
Over the past few months her weight has plummeted in the wake of news Ashton Kutcher cheated on with Sara Leal.
Demi Moore, 49, appeared gaunt as she was seen running errands in Hollywood on Saturday afternoon
The strain seems to have had an impact on Demi Moore’s figure, as her slim frame has become increasingly thinner over the past couple of months.
Demi Moore opened up about her self-esteem with US Harper’s Bazaar.
In the February issue of the magazine the actress revealed she originally feared being abandoned but said her biggest fear now is “not having the courage to reach her full potential”.
Demi Moore explained: “There is no way to reach your fullest potential if you don’t really find the love of yourself.”
While she is still clearly suffering in the wake of her marriage split it appears she is moving on with a mystery man, according to US reports.
Demi Moore was seen at a Hollywood parking lot and walked to her car after a young man dropped her off on Saturday.
The man’s identity is not known but he was keen to make sure Demi Moore made it to her car safely, looking out of the open door of his SUV as she walked away.
The pictures appeared on the US celebrity website, RadarOnline today.
For more than seven years Demi Moore has been considered the flag bearer for older celebrity women who have younger partners, as she is 16 years older than her estranged husband who is 33.
FDA is warning patients about a potential mix-up between powerful prescription pain drugs and common OTC medications like Excedrin and Gas-X manufactured by Swiss drug maker Novartis.
The issue is a result of major manufacturing problems at a Lincoln, Nebraska, facility which was shut down last month because of the issues.
Novartis has recalled bottles of Excedrin, Bufferin, Gas-X and NoDoz which may have included mixed up pills.
Now the Food and Drug Administration says some of those OTC pills may have accidentally been packaged with powerful prescription painkillers made at the same facility.
The opioid drugs are sold by Endo Pharmaceuticals as Percocet, Endocet, Opana and Zydone.
FDA officials say they are not recalling the prescription drugs because they are medically necessary and the likelihood that they contain stray pills is low.
FDA’s Dr. Edward Cox told reporters:
“The likelihood of finding a wrong tablet in an opiate pain medication dispensed to patients is low and patients should not be unduly alarmed.”
Novartis said it has voluntarily suspended operations and shipments from its Lincoln, Nebraska, facility to rectify the problems at the site.
The plant has been under fire from inspectors from FDA for its quality control. An FDA report said the company did not properly address any of the 223 critical complaints it received in 2011.
In 2010, the plant did not rectify 165 of the 587 complaints it got, according to the FDA.
Additionally, the company failed to investigate 166 reports of pills being packaged in the wrong bottles in 2009.
The Journal Star newspaper in Lincoln reported that the FDA blamed the problems on Novartis having too few people at the plant to review complaints. The staffers the company does have are poorly trained, the FDA, added.
Novartis said it is working to upgrade and improve manufacturing and training at the Nebraska plant before restarting production.
Company officials have said they don’t know exactly how many bottles will be affected by the recall or when the factory will come back online.
Spokeswoman Julie Masow said there is no indication prescription pills actually got mixed up with Novaris OTC drugs, but the recalls are a precaution.
Novartis said its Consumer Health unit will take a one-time charge currently estimated at $120 million in the fourth quarter relating to the recalls and improvements at the facility.
The company said it implemented the recall, which affects U.S. retailers, voluntarily and is working with FDA during the process.
It became aware of the potential problem during an internal review that identified broken and chipped pills, and inconsistent bottle packaging that could cause pills to be mixed up.
Novartis said it wanted to make sure that customers didn’t take any pills that they might be allergic to or that might become dangerous when mixed with their other medications, though it also said that there have been no such reports from consumers.
The drug maker said that some of the bottles of headache medicine Excedrin and caffeine caplets NoDoz with expiration dates of December 20, 2014, or earlier will be subject to the recall.
Some of the packages of pain medicine Bufferin and stomach medicine Gas-X with expiration dates of December 20, 2013, or earlier will also be affected.
The company said it will post more information Monday at www.novartisOTC.com. Customers can also call the company at 1-888-477-2403 Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.
