Kadir Nurman, the Turkish immigrant credited with inventing the doner kebab, has died in Berlin at the age of 80.
Kadir Nurman set up a stall in West Berlin in 1972, selling grilled meat and salad inside a flat bread.
He had noticed the fast pace of city life and thought busy Berliners might like a meal they could carry with them.
While there are other possible “doner inventors,” Kadir Nurman’s contribution was recognized by the Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in 2011.
Kadir Nurman set up a stall in West Berlin in 1972, selling grilled meat and salad inside a flat bread
The combination of juicy meat, sliced from a rotating skewer, with all the trimmings and optional chilli sauce, has since become a firm fast-food favorite in Germany, and elsewhere.
According to the Berlin-based Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in Europe, there are now 16,000 doner outlets in Germany.
More than 1,000 exist in Berlin to tempt peckish late-night revellers on the German capital’s streets.
Kadir Nurman, who emigrated to Germany in 1960, did not patent his invention, and thus did not particularly profit from the doner’s subsequent success.
In a 2011 interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, Kadir Nurman expressed little bitterness.
Kadir Nurman was happy that so many Turkish people were able to make a living from doners, he said, and that millions of people ate them.
Online costume retailers have scores for under-the-wire shoppers. Costume Express’s Pumpkin Busters start around $10. That’s where we found this undeniably adorable lady bug outfit for $20 for Baby. Buy Costumes also has Grave Busters lasting until this Friday; our favorite is this $17 red dragon get-up for toddlers. With attached wings and a one-piece body suit, it’s easy to put on and entertaining. Both sites feature clearance up to 60 percent off as well.
For more bargains, check out Wal-Mart’s Halloween store, where children’s costumes start at $6.97 and candy packs at $2. Beyond the savings, you’ll find guides for easy crafts and recipes, such as carving the perfect pumpkin.
Just remember, if you want your loot by the 31st, you’ll need to order online sooner rather than later.
Animal lovers in Manila, Philippines, got their pets into the spirit of Halloween by dressing them up in spooky costumes.
The crowd of mostly dogs and cats donned colorful outfits ranging from vampires and headless horsemen to corpse brides.
Some owners even came with their own matching set of outfits and did some basic stunts with their pets.
On October 26, 2013, animal lovers are expected to be at the Eastwood Open Park for the SCAREDY CATS & DOGS 2013, a fund-raising Halloween event for the benefit of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Animal Shelter.
PAWS Executive Director Anna Carbrera said: “We always tell people to spend more time with your pets – that includes the holidays like Halloween.
“So when people like to dress up, they also like to dress up their pets and you see that they’re closer.”
For Julie Imperio and her pet Chihuahua, Halloween is all about having fun.
Julie Imperio said: “Halloween, for me and my pet, means a time for enjoyment by dressing up and being a kid, doing some trick or treating and attending parties.”
Scaredy Cats and Dogs 2013
Now on its 10th year, kids & pet-lovers can once again dress up themselves and their pets and compete in the fun costume contest. Categories are as follows:
Crypt Keeper’s Choice – Most Original Costume
Casper’s Choice – Cutest Costume
Phantom’s Pick – Most Creative Costume
Scream of the Crop – Scariest Costume
Midnight Society – Best Group in Costume
Halim-Aw-Aw Award – Best Native Dog in Costume
Hali-Meow Award – Best Native Cat in Costume
Best Ghoulist Partners – Best Pet & Guardian Tandem
Here you can find some of the best tips, tricks and ghoulish tools for this year’s Halloween.
ZOMBIE-PALOOZA
According to Yahoo Search stats, Zombies are back at the top of the list of pop culture costumes. Look no further than your own smartphone for the start of a skin-puppet-palooza that puts you at the very center of this craze. Check out free apps Walking Dead (iTunes, Google Play), Zombiematic Camera (iTunes) and ZombieBooth (iTunes, Google Play). Each app uses chilling photo effects to transform you, your friends, even your pets, into a truly gruesome headshot that you can share with the (living) world.
If you want to bring even more undead action to life, take a look at Zombie apocalypse extravaganza World War Z. The newly released Blu-ray combo pack (around $20 on Amazon) includes an unrated version that was “too intense” for theaters — plus awesome behind-the-scenes footage that shows just how the blockbuster plague of corpse characters were made. You can leave it playing in the background of your Halloween happenings to create a “restless dead” effect, or use it to just get inspired.
Halloween 2013
Get all the Pin-spiration you need for everything else, from makeup tips, printable décor and even to braiinnnnn food on Pinterest. But if the edible eyeballs aren’t quite gory enough, just shuffle on back to your mobile device to add a pair of creepy peepers to just about anything via the Digital Dudz app (iTunes, Android). The animated 3-D gore this app brings to fright night is gut-rippingly great. You can make your costume to display the animation, or buy a Morphsuit (around $30) that comes with a special pouch to display the grisly scenes. There’s everything from an open-heart zipper wound exposing a still-beating heart to a scary clown face with moving eyes.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT WITH LESS CREEP AND MORE CUTE
Moving on from the stuff of nightmares to the stuff that can give parents nightmares – kids costumes. Here’s how to make sure they’re both stellar and safe. Electronics retailer RadioShack is demonstrating just how simple it is to make costumes stand out from the crowd, and in the dark, with a few simple DIY designs. Just follow the directions on this Hacky-Halloween how-to using EL Wire to make simple fairy wings appear to take flight, or set your little wizard aglow with some LEDs and a Battery Powered Inverter.
TRACK OR TWEET
A brand new combination of a QR coded bracelet and smartphone app called Scan Me Kidz helps you track down kids in seconds. With GPS, you can keep kids in sight on the app, while the QR code contains information that when scanned can get youngsters back home or even alert people of allergies and medical conditions.
Even without a bracelet, there are a handful of free smartphone tracking apps such as Mamabear (iTunes, Google Play) and Trick or Tracker (Amazon, Google Play, typically $4.99 but free on Halloween) that help keep a watchful eye on kids. Both apps let you see where your kids are at any time, and they both let parents create a digital fence to get alerts if kids go out of a pre-set area.
Dean McDermott is firing back after a quote taken from his wife Tori Spelling sparked rumors that they might be struggling financially.
“Right now things are going well,” Dean McDermott, told Us Weekly.
“I have several exciting projects in the works. Our show Dean and Tori’s Backyard Bash just re-aired to great ratings, I’ll be the new host of Chopped Canada and I have my first cookbook coming out – The Gourmet Dad, in the spring … Tori’s book [Spelling It Like It Is] just launched this week and things are good.”
Dean McDermott is firing back after a quote taken from his wife Tori Spelling sparked rumors that they might be struggling financially
Earlier this week, Tori Spelling, 40, was quoted in a People magazine article as saying that the couple couldn’t afford a vasectomy.
“We’re in the entertainment business, and things change year to year,” Tori Spelling told People magazine of their financial situation.
“We don’t have a series on the air right now, so we have to be more restrictive of what we can spend, just like anyone who doesn’t currently have a steady job.”
Dean McDermott directly refutes the vasectomy claim, telling Us Weekly: “Could we afford a vasectomy? Probably. … Was it a tougher time for us financially? Yeah. For sure. That’s just the truth of it – it’s the nature of this business.”
Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, who wed in 2006, have four children together: Liam, 6, Stella, 5, Hattie, 2, and Finn, 13 months.
Giant George – the world’s tallest dog according to the Guinness World Records – died last week, one month before his 8th birthday.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce Giant George died on Thursday, October 17, 2013,” his owners, David and Christine Nasser, posted on GiantGeorge.com.
“George passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones … We appreciate the love and support you have given Giant George over the last several years.”
Giant George was the world’s tallest dog according to the Guinness World Records
Giant George, 3 feet, 7 inches from paw to his shoulder and almost seven feet long, was known for his appearance on shows like Live with Regis & Kelly and Good Morning America.
The Great Dane, owned by David and Christine Nasser, was actually the runt of the litter, according to the website.
“Eager to play … this big Great Dane was scared of water, scared of dogs a fraction of his size and, most of all, scared of being alone,” the site said.
David and Christine Nasser donated a percentage of Giant George merchandise to animal charities and in 2011. They donated more than $500 to a Japanese animal shelter after the country was hit hard by both an earthquake and tsunami.
Family, friends and fans have all posted to George’s Facebook page with their condolences.
The Olympic flame has arrived to the North Pole aboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, the Sochi Winter Games organizers say.
The Sochi organizing committee said in Friday’s statement that the torch relay reached the North Pole on October 19.
The Olympic flame has arrived to the North Pole aboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker
Russian Polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, who led the mission, lit a special bowl at the North Pole sign. The ceremony involved 11 torch bearers from several countries.
The icebreaker, which departed from Russia’s Arctic port of Murmansk, made the journey in about 91 hours, the quickest such trip ever.
For most of the 39,000-mile torch relay, the longest in the history of the Olympics, the flame travels by plane, train, car and even reindeer sleigh, safely encased inside a lantern.
For the world premiere of her new album – ARTPOP – in Berlin, Lady Gaga has so far donned a furry chicken/moldy cheese mask, bared her unicorn-tattooed thigh, dressed like a sexy Salvador Dali (moustache included), and gone barefoot in a fluffy ghost-like sheath earlier Friday morning.
Lady Gagashowed off yet another unusual fashion accessory this week as she left her hotel in Berlin where she is promoting her upcoming album ARTPOP, donning a fake Salvador Dali-style moustache.
Lady Gaga, 27, felt her facial hair needed a dramatic outfit to match, which she teamed with a black bra, knickers, suspender, fur coat and her customary platform boots.
Lady Gaga donning a fake Salvador Dali-style moustache
The singer recently revealed that she would be releasing a new track from her latest LP for every country she visits during her three week promotional tour.
Announcing the exciting news, Lady Gaga tweeted this week: “I’ll be debuting a new song in every territory I travel to over the next 3 weeks! An exclusive for each country! Any guesses for Berlin?”
After deciding which track she will premiere, Lady Gaga later revealed: “2day at AMPYA ARTPOP listening party in Germany I’ll perform the world premiere of <<Gypsy>> at the piano! Stream it tonight around the world!”
Serbia is holding state funeral in Belgrade to honor the widow of former Yugoslav leader Marshal Tito, Jovanka Broz.
Jovanka Broz, who died of heart failure at the age of 88 last weekend, is due to be buried next to her husband Josip Broz Tito in the elaborate House of Flowers mausoleum.
She received full military honors in line with her status as a decorated member of the anti-Nazi partisans who fought in World War II, officials said.
Jovanka Broz lived as a recluse after the death of her husband in 1980.
She was accused of plotting a coup, was placed under house arrest for a time, and had her identity papers taken away.
Jovanka Broz lived in seclusion in the Belgrade suburb of Dedinje and rarely gave interviews.
After her marriage to Josip Broz, known as Tito, Jovanka Broz spent nearly three decades as first lady
However, in 2009 Jovanka Broz spoke to the Politika daily about the period after her husband’s death.
“They chased me out … in my nightgown, without anything, not allowing me even to take a photo of the two of us, or a letter, a book,” Jovanka Broz said.
“I was in isolation and treated like a criminal… I could not leave the house without armed guards.”
Serbian PM Ivica Dacic led the tributes at the funeral ceremony.
Jovanka Broz had been admitted to hospital in August in a serious condition, suffering from heart problems.
Her last wish was to be buried in the House of Flowers in Belgrade, next to Josip BrozTito.
Jovanka Budisavljevic, an ethnic Serb, was born into a farming family in what is now Croatia on December 7, 1924.
She joined the partisans when she was just 17, remaining with them until the end of the war in 1945.
After her marriage to Josip Broz, known as Tito, Jovanka Broz spent nearly three decades as first lady.
Germany is planning to send its top intelligence chiefs to Washington to “push forward” an investigation into allegations the US spied on Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The heads of German foreign and domestic intelligence would hold talks with the White House and the National Security Agency (NSA), a government spokesperson said.
Earlier, Germany and France said they want the US to sign a no-spy deal by the end of the year.
EU leaders at a Brussels summit have warned a lack of trust could harm the fight against terrorism.
As well as the bugging of Angela Merkel’s phone, there are claims the NSA has monitored millions of telephone calls by both German and French citizens.
Spain on Friday followed Germany and France in summoning the US ambassador to explain reports of spying on the country. Italy has also expressed anger at reports it too has been spied on.
US state department spokesperson Jen Psaki acknowledged that the revelations – most of them sourced to former NSA worker Edward Snowden – have “posed a moment of tension with some of our allies”.
“We are having discussions with those allies, those will continue, as is evidenced by the German delegation that will be coming here in the coming weeks,” she said.
Jen Psaki also said a review of US intelligence gathering, called for by President Barack Obama, would look at how it affects foreign policy.
The “high level group of outside experts… will consider as part of this how we can maintain the public’s trust, how the surveillance impacts our foreign policy, particularly in an age when more and more information is becoming public,” she said.
Germany will send its top intelligence chiefs to Washington to “push forward” an investigation into allegations the US spied on Angela Merkel
On Friday, the NSA website itself was inaccessible for several hours, with numerous hacking groups claiming credit for the service outage.
The issue was later put down to “an internal error that occurred during a scheduled update”, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said.
“Claims that the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service attack are not true.”
German government spokesman Georg Streiter did not give a date for the intelligence chiefs’ trip to Washington but said it was being arranged with “relatively short notice”.
“What exactly is going to be regulated, how and in what form it will be negotiated and by whom, I cannot tell you right now,” Georg Streier told reporters.
“But you will learn about it in the near future because we have created some pressure to do this speedily.”
Angela Merkel made clear her anger at the allegations, which emerged in the German media, when she arrived in Brussels on Thursday for the EU summit.
The German chancellor told reporters after the first day that “once the seeds of mistrust have been shown it doesn’t facilitate our co-operation… it makes it more difficult”.
Angela Merkel said they would be pressing for a “joint understanding by the end of the year for the co-operation of the (intelligence) agencies between Germany and the US, and France and the US, to create a framework for the co-operation”.
At a news conference on Friday Angela Merkel said both Berlin and Paris would, separately, be pressing Washington for a deal that is “clear-cut, in line with the spirit of an alliance”.
French President Francois Hollande said the aim of the initiative “is about knowing about the past and setting a framework for the future and putting an end to monitoring mechanisms that are not controlled”.
Observers say they may be seeking an arrangement similar to the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing agreement the US has had with Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada since just after World War II.
A statement from EU leaders on Friday said the recent intelligence issues had raised “deep concerns” among European citizens.
The leaders “underlined the close relationship between Europe and the USA and the value of that partnership,” and “stressed that intelligence-gathering is a vital element in the fight against terrorism.”
But, the statement went on: “A lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence-gathering.”
There are reports that the NSA has monitored the phones of 35 world leaders.
At least 17 Iranian border guards have been killed in a clash with gunmen on the border with Pakistan, the official Iranian news agency Irna says.
The clashes took place on Friday night in a mountainous region outside Saravan, a border town in the south-east province of Sistan Baluchistan.
A number of guards were also wounded in the attack, reports said.
An unnamed official quoted by Irna blamed “bandits or rebels opposed to the Islamic republic”.
At least 17 Iranian border guards have been killed in a clash with gunmen on the border with Pakistan
Iran lies on a major drug trafficking route between Afghanistan and Europe.
The population in this Sunni Muslim area complains of discrimination by Iran’s Shia establishment. An armed group, called Jundallah, has carried out a number of attacks against the state in recent years.
“We do not have exact details of the incident yet,” Tasnim news agency quoted Saravan’s member of parliament, Hedayatollah Mirmoradzehi, as saying.
“No group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.”
“Since the venue of the operation is in a location that is geographically difficult of access, we have no exact information on whether any of the officers there were abducted or not,” he added.
The region has experienced repeated deadly clashes over previous years.
AFP news agency quotes officials as saying more than 4,000 police officers and soldiers have been killed in the past three decades in fighting with traffickers.
JP Morgan has reached a $5.1 billion settlement with the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over charges it misled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing boom.
Meanwhile, a separate settlement with the US Justice Department is expected to be announced soon.
“This is a significant step to address outstanding mortgage-related issues,” the FHFA said in a statement.
It is the biggest settlement ever by a US bank.
In a statement, JP Morgan said the settlement resolves the biggest case against the firm relating to mortgage-backed securities.
JP Morgan added that the agreement relates to “approximately $33.8 billion of securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from JP Morgan, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual” from 2005 – 2007.
JP Morgan has reached a $5.1 billion settlement with the FHFA over charges it misled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing boom
The bank purchased Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual at the height of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and has tried to argue that it should not be punished for mistakes made before those deals.
As part of the agreement with the FHFA, JP Morgan will pay $4 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims that it violated US securities law.
It will pay the agencies an additional $1.1 billion for misrepresenting the quality of single-family mortgages.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the biggest mortgage lenders in the US. They received $187 billion in US taxpayer aid to help them stay afloat during the financial collapse.
They have since repaid $146 billion of the loan.
JP Morgan has been under investigation for several months by US regulators.
The bank said that it hoped the settlement would be part of a “broader resolution” of the firm’s housing bubble woes – a nod to an expected settlement with the US Justice Department that is also likely to run to several billions of dollars.
The firm reported a rare loss last quarter, having set aside an additional $9 billion to help it deal with its mounting legal troubles.
JP Morgan has set aside a total of $23 billion to help the bank work through its many investigations by regulators in the US and abroad.
Last month, JP Morgan agreed to pay more than $1 billion to help it end various investigations into its 2012 “London whale” trading debacle, which cost the bank more than $6 billion and raised questions about its oversight procedures.
Saudi Arabia’s government has stepped up warnings to women not to defy a ban on female drivers by taking part in a mass driving protest.
The interior ministry has reiterated that anyone flouting the ban is likely to face unspecified punishment.
Saturday’s planned protest is the third of its kind since 1990.
About 17,000 people signed a petition calling either for women to be allowed to drive or for an explanation of why the prohibition should remain in force.
Campaigners are encouraging women to take to the wheel in defiance of the ban.
After the 1990 protest, a number of women were arrested or lost their jobs.
Saudi Arabia’s government has stepped up warnings to women not to defy a ban on female drivers by taking part in a mass driving protest
An interior ministry spokesman, Mansour al-Turki, considerably toughened the Saudi government line on the women drivers’ campaign on Thursday.
A previous statement on Wednesday was confusing, with both those pro- and anti- the campaign believing it favored them.
But Mansour al-Turki explicitly restated that women were prohibited from driving, with violators – and their supporters – likely to face unspecified measures.
A campaign activist, Zaki Safar, said that this was an unusually explicit statement of the ban, which is informal rather than enshrined in Saudi law.
Zaki Safar believes the government is still sending mixed messages, as it is itself divided over whether to lift the ban.
Earlier this week, about 100 conservative clerics asked for an audience at the royal court in the capital, Riyadh, to denounce the campaign as a conspiracy by women and a threat to the country.
But there have been indications of a less hardline attitude by the authorities than back in 1990, and at the second protest in 2011.
As part of the latest campaign, dozens of women have posted online videos of themselves driving in different Saudi cities. None of them has been arrested.
The activists behind the campaign believe the public mood is changing, with many more people – including an increasing number of men – publicly supporting the lifting of the ban.
Music mogul Quincy Jones is suing the estate of Michael Jackson for $10 million in unpaid royalties.
Quincy Jones says Michael Jackson’s estate and Sony Music Entertainment improperly re-edited songs to deprive him of royalties and production fees.
The music producer says they also broke an agreement giving him the right to remix master recordings for albums released after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009.
Quincy Jones produced some of Michael Jackson’s top discs including Off the Wall and Thriller.
The Jackson estate said that it was saddened by the lawsuit.
Quincy Jones produced some of Michael Jackson’s top discs including Off the Wall and Thriller
“To the best of its knowledge, Mr. Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael,” a statement said.
Earlier this month the family of Michael Jackson lost a negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the 50-year-old pop star.
A jury concluded Dr. Conrad Murray, who was looking after the singer ahead of his concert tour, was not unfit for his job – and so AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.
Michael Jackson died in 2009 after taking an overdose of a surgical anaesthetic.
Imprisoned Chinese journalist Chen Yongzhou, whose newspaper New Express has made front-page appeals for his release, has confessed to wrongdoing on state TV.
“I’m willing to admit my guilt and to show repentance,” said reporter Chen Yongzhou, arrested over claims he defamed a partly state-owned firm.
State media said he had admitted writing false stories for money.
Analysts say there have been a number of televised confessions recently in high-profile or politicized cases.
Imprisoned Chinese journalist Chen Yongzhou has confessed to wrongdoing on state TV
But campaigners have frequently criticized the practice, saying they are often made under duress and violate rights to due process.
Chen Yongzhou wrote several articles for the Guangdong-based New Express alleging financial irregularities at a construction-equipment company called Zoomlion.
“In this case I’ve caused damages to Zoomlion and also the whole news media industry and its ability to earn the public’s trust,” he told state broadcaster CCTV.
“I did this mainly because I hankered after money and fame. I’ve been used. I’ve realized my wrongdoing.”
State media said Chen Yongzhou had confessed to taking bribes, but did not report who might have paid the bribes.
Chen Yongzhou’s case attracted huge attention after the New Express twice used its front page to call for his release.
The New Express has not yet commented on the confession.
Augusto Odone, a former World Bank economist who rejected medical opinion and created an oil to save the life of his son Lorenzo, has died in Italy at the age of 80.
Augusto Odone taught himself enough science to invent a treatment for his 6-year-old son after he was diagnosed with a neurological disease and given two years to live. Lorenzo eventually died aged 30.
The battle to help Lorenzo Odone was depicted in a 1992 Hollywood film, Lorenzo’s Oil.
Lorenzo Odone was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a neurological disease that progressively destroys the brains of young boys.
The disease leads to the build-up of dangerous “long-chain” fatty acids, and within a year children are paralyzed, blind and unable to speak.
Doctors predicted that Lorenzo Odone would die in childhood.
Augusto Odone rejected medical opinion and created an oil to save the life of his son Lorenzo
However, Augusto Odone and his wife Michaela refused to accept the prognosis for their son, and put all their energies into trying to find a treatment.
Despite having no formal scientific training, Augusto Odone studied medicine and biochemistry, and concocted a mixture of acids from olive and rapeseed oils.
The Odones eventually persuaded an elderly British chemist, Don Suddaby, to distil the formula, which became known as Lorenzo’s Oil.
After testing it on a family member, Augusto Odone gave the oil to his son, with dramatic results: his long-chain fatty acids started to drop to normal levels.
Its success in delaying the onset of symptoms in Lorenzo was demonstrated by the fact he lived to the age of 30, far beyond what doctors had predicted.
Scientific studies have shown that the oil has most effect on children who have the ALD gene but have not yet displayed any of the symptoms.
The story of Augusto and Michaela Odone was depicted in Lorenzo’s Oil, which starred Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon as the parents.
After the death of Michaela in 2000, Augusto Odone returned from the US to his native Piedmont region of Italy, to be near his surviving children.
A reboot of Murder, She Wrote series is in the works, starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.
Octavia Spencer has signed on to appear in the pilot ordered by NBC, reports Deadline.
The new take will feature Octavia Spencer as a hospital administrator who is also an amateur detective.
The original series, which starred Angela Lansbury, ran for 12 seasons on rival network CBS from 1984 to 1996.
At the height of its popularity, it attracted some 23 million viewers in the US and earned Angela Lansbury four Golden Globes for the role, as well as 12 consecutive Emmy nominations.
NBC has ordered a “put pilot”, which guarantees the episode will air, but does not guarantee it will be commissioned for a full series.
NBC is bringing back Murder, She Wrote, with Octavia Spencer playing Angela Lansbury role
It has been described as a “light, contemporary procedural in the vein of Bones or Fargo”.
“I’ve always considered myself an armchair detective and in a recent meeting with [NBC chairman] Bob Greenblatt, he asked me what type of character would be able to lure me to TV,” Octavia Spencer said.
“Naturally, I said JB Fletcher meets Colombo… and here we are.”
The pilot will be produced by David Janollari, who worked on Six Feet Under, and will be written by former Desperate Housewives executive producer Alexandra Cunningham.
If the show gets picked up, it will be the first regular series for Octavia Spencer, who has previously guest-starred on numerous shows including Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory and Chuck Lorre’s latest comedy Mom, starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney.
Murder, She Wrote is NBC’s latest “re-imagining” – it is also re-working 1980s crime series Remington Steele and 1994 film Reality Bites.
Enjoy this Halloween season with these spooky chocolate spiders.
Ingredients:
200g dark or milk chocolate, broken into chunks
113g pack liquorice Catherine wheels
2 x 154g packs Oreo cookies
white and black icing pens
Chocolate spider cookies
Method:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, turn off the heat and leave the chocolate in the bowl to keep warm while you assemble the spiders.
Unroll some of the liquorice wheels and cut into 2-3cm lengths to use as the Chocolate spiders’ legs.
Splodge a small tsp of chocolate onto half of the cookies. Arrange eight liquorice legs on top, then sandwich with another cookie. Spread some more chocolate on top of the second cookie to cover, then put somewhere cool to set.
Use the icing pens to add eyes, by first blobbing two big dots of white icing on each, topped with two smaller dots of black icing.
Honey Boo Boo embraced the Halloween spirit early this year, working with Mama June to ready their McIntyre, Georgia, home for the ghoulish holiday.
Honey Boo Boo, 8, was seen earlier this month decorating her family property. In between playing with her Hula Hoop in the front yard, barefoot Alana Thompson hung lights adorned with spooky spiders. That was just part of the festive display, which also included cobwebs, jack-o’-lanterns, skeletons, ghosts, a giant black cat, and crime scene tape.
The family added a little inside joke to the display by hanging two “Boo” signs on the front exterior of the white house.
Honey Boo Boo embraced the Halloween spirit early this year
Honey Boo Boo loves her Halloween – earlier this year TLC aired a special episode on how the family spends the holiday. The clan was shown going all out with devilish decorations, making up their costumes and a trip to a local corn maze. They also told ghost stories (including an apparent family classic about the “Fart Ghost”) and complained about their trick-or-treat loot (someone dared to give her dental floss!).
This year’s festivities may well end up on the show’s third season, which premieres on January 1.
It remains to be seen whether Honey Boo Boo will once again inspire Halloween costumes this year.
In 2012, Miranda Lambert and Paris Hilton both dressed as Honey Boo Boo – with the country singer proving to be a real ringer. This year, the network is selling a “Little Miss Sassified” sash for those hoping to adopt an authentic Honey Boo Boo look.
There is no word on what Honey Boo Boo herself will dress up as this year, but it doesn’t really matter. As she said earlier this year: “Halloween is all about treats … treating myself to candy.”
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom have confirmed the end of their 3-year marriage.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom – who were believed to be one of the strongest couples in Tinsel Town – announced their amicable split, claiming that they still love each other.
Talking to E! News, a representative for Orlando Bloom said: “Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr have announced that they have been amicably separated for the past few months.
“After six years together, they have recently decided to formalize their separation.”
The statement continued: “Despite this being the end of their marriage, they love, support and respect each other as both parents of their son and as a family.”
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom – who have a son, Flynn, together – began dating in 2007 before walking down the aisle three years later.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom have confirmed the end of their 3-year marriage
The Victoria’s Secret model was last seen with her husband at the beginning of this month, while their final public appearance together was at the opening night of Orlando Bloom’s Broadway productions of Romeo and Juliet in September.
Miranda Kerr and Orlando Bloom looked as loved up as ever though, cozying up for the pictures on the red carpet as they made their way into the venue.
And it was only in January when the couple denied rumors of a split, with 36-year-old Miranda Kerr describing Orlando Bloom as an “amazing partner.”
Speaking on the Today show, Miranda Kerr said: “We’re wonderful. He’s such an amazing partner, and amazing father and we’re just really lucky.”
“We do the best that we can with both of our schedules and we’re really lucky to have each other.
“As long as [Orlando and I] know the truth, that’s all that matters.”
It is thought that the couple’s busy work schedules played a big part in the breakup of their marriage, with Miranda Kerr flying all over the world as a model and Orlando Bloom often moving locations to film scenes for his latest film projects.
Eerie eyeball pops: These spooky chocolate cake balls will be a hit with kids at Halloween – they can help decorate them too.
Ingredients:
100g/4oz Madeira cake
100g Oreo cookies
100g bar milk chocolate, melted
200g bar white chocolate, melted
few Smarties and icing pens, to decorate
You will also need:
10 wooden skewers
½ small pumpkin or butternut squash, deseeded, to stand pops in
Halloween eerie eyeball pops
Method:
Break the Madeira cake and cookies into the bowl of a food processor, pour in the melted milk chocolate and whizz to combine.
Tip the mixture into a bowl, then use your hands to roll into about 10 walnut-sized balls. Chill for 2 hrs until really firm.
Push a skewer into each ball, then carefully spoon the white chocolate over the cake balls to completely cover. Stand the cake pops in the pumpkin, then press a Smartie onto the surface while wet. Chill again until the chocolate has set. Before serving, using the icing pens, add a pupil to each Smartie and wiggly red veins to the eyeballs.
The parents of mystery girl Maria are the Bulgarian Roma couple who came forward earlier this week, DNA tests have confirmed.
Sasha Ruseva spotted the blond, blue-eyed girl on television after she was removed from a Roma camp in Greece last week, allegedly telling her neighbors she was the “fool” who had given the girl up, her grandmother Zineb Kasimova told NBC News in an earlier interview.
Zineb Kasimova had said that she would be prepared to “take her home,” if the tests proved conclusive, although the girl’s future now still remains unclear.
“They left the kid because they have no money at all,” said Zineb Kasimova, who has about 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“When the mother saw the child on TV, she went to the neighbors and told them, <<I was a fool to leave the kid there>>.”
Sasha Ruseva told Bulgarian TV on Thursday that she had once left a baby behind in Greece after working there.
“I didn’t take any money,” she said.
Sasha Ruseva spotted her daughter Maria on television after she was removed from a Roma camp in Greece last week
“I just didn’t have enough money to feed her. I intended to go back and take my child home, but meanwhile I gave birth to two more kids, so I was not able to go.”
Bulgarian police later questioned Sasha Ruseva and her 36-year-old husband Atanas Rusev, whose DNA was later shown to match with samples taken by the Greek police from the little girl.
“The prosecutors’ office has opened a pre-trial investigation against [Sasha Ruseva] for agreeing to sell her child on an undisclosed date in 2009 in Greece,” the regional prosecutor’s office in the southern town of Kazanlak said in a statement.
“The probe is opened following checks linked to the female child with the name Maria in Greece.”
Sasha Ruseva and her husband both vanished after being interviewed by investigators, police told NBC News on Friday.
From their small shacks next to an unpaved road in Nikolaevo, neighbors told NBC News that the couple have nine children – including four who are blond and fair-skinned like Maria.
Maria was found living with Christos Salis, 39, and Eleftheria Dimopoulou, 40, last week in a Roma settlement near Farsala, Greece.
Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou have been charged with abduction and procuring false documents. Magistrates ordered that Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou be held in custody until they face trial.
Their lawyer Marietta Palavra told NBC News earlier this week that Maria’s real mother is a Bulgarian Roma prostitute who was looking for a home for the unwanted baby among local Roma families in Greece.
Spanish singer Manolo Escobar, whose best-selling track Y Viva Espana became part of his country’s cultural identity in the 1970s, has died aged 82.
Manolo Escobar died at home in the town of Benidorm surrounded by his family, after a long fight against cancer.
The iconic singer was “a symbol who lived in the musical landscape of Spaniards for half a century,” Spain’s culture minister, Jose Ignacio Wert, said in a statement.
“Music is my life,” Manolo Escobar said this month.
“I will never surrender.”
“I am happy because I have work and because, moreover, people are still prepared to pay to see me on stage,” Manolo Escobar said in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC.
“I want to return to a few of the places I have been to in my career of more than 50 years and say goodbye for good. I will sing one more time in each one so that I don’t go back,” the singer added.
Manolo Escobar’s best-selling track Y Viva Espana became part of Spain’s cultural identity in the 1970s
Born in a small village outside Almeria in October 1931, Manolo Escobar had a huge following in Spain in the 1960s and 1970s with hits such as El Porompompero and Mi Carro.
A well-known personality thanks to his television show Canta Manolo Escobar, he also starred in films including The Guerrillas and Father Manolo, in which he played a singing priest.
But it was the success of Y Viva Espana, in 1973, that made Manolo Escobar an international star. The track was based on Eviva Espana, the 1971 song written by Belgian duo Leo Rozenstraten and Leo Caerts, and performed, in Dutch, by Samantha.
Manolo Escobar’s best-selling single – released to coincide with Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy and a boom in international tourism – sold an estimated six million copies.
In 1974, the track was covered by Swedish singer Sylvia Vrethammar, whose English version reached number four in the UK Singles Chart.
One of Manolo Escobar’s last big acts was in July 2010 when he sang with the Spanish football team to celebrate their victory in the World Cup in South Africa.
Manolo Escobar announced his retirement from music at the end of 2012 after 50 years on the stage.
Last month, the singer had to cancel the final dates of his farewell tour after falling ill.
He was undergoing treatment, reportedly for colon cancer, at Benidorm’s Hospital Clinica, but is understood to have left on Tuesday. He died at home two days later.
Manolo Escobar leaves a wife, Anita, and one daughter, Vanessa.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Iceland has been rated the country with the world’s smallest gender gap for five years in a row.
The rating means Iceland is the country where women enjoy the most equal access to education and healthcare. It is also where women are most likely to be able to participate fully in the country’s political and economic life.
Iceland is joined at the top of The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013 by its Nordic neighbors Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Overall, the gender gap narrowed slightly across the globe in 2013, as 86 of 133 countries showed improvements. However, “change is definitely slow”, says one of the report’s authors, Saadia Zahidi.
Europe has seven countries in the top 10 and the US is 23rd. The Philippines, at fifth, is the highest ranking Asian nation and Nicaragua is the highest-placed country from the Americas, at 10th.
The G20 group of leading industrial nations has no representative in the top 10, nor do the Middle East or Africa.
Top 10 countries:
1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Philippines
6. Ireland
7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. Nicaragua
The Global Gender Gap Report, 2013
Canada and the US come in at 20th and 23rd in the overall rankings. Both countries score well on education, where they are joint top alongside several other nations.
The US comes below Canada on politics, 60th to Canada’s 42nd place, but the US is ahead of its neighbour on economics, at sixth, and health, at 33rd, where Canada comes ninth and 49th respectively.
From Latin America, the three strongest-performing countries here are Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, who all make the top 25 nations overall. Brazil’s position is unchanged from last year at 62nd.
“The health and education gap was closed here years ago. So it’s a continent ready to take off in terms of labor and political participation,” says Saadia Zahidi.
Northern European countries generally fare well compared with other countries. The WEF attributes this, in part, to policies that help people balance the twin demands of work and family life.
In southern Europe, the gender gap in education was reversed a number of years ago. However, there are lower levels of female participation in the workforce.
Middle East and North Africa is the region where some of the greatest gender inequalities exist. But the picture is far from uniform. For instance, the Gulf states have tended to invest heavily in female education, with a reverse gender gap taking place in the United Arab Emirates. Many more women than men are now finishing university here.
This contrasts with countries like Yemen, where levels of female education are very low.
Some of the Sub-Saharan African countries with the widest gender gaps can be found here; Chad and Ivory Coast all come close to the bottom of the overall rankings.
But southern Africa has some nations where a high level of labor force participation and political empowerment have helped bring them into the top 30 countries. Lesotho reaches 16th, South Africa is one place behind and Mozambique comes in at 26th.
In Asia, the Philippines stands out as the most equal country on the continent. This is down to closing the gap in health and education. The country also has a high level of economic participation, says the WEF.
China comes 69th overall, ahead of India at 101st. India’s low rank is due to poor scores from the WEF on education, health and economics.
How are the rankings made?
In order to compare relative gender gaps, the WEF creates an index from more than a dozen different sets of data. A score of one (or 100%) represents equality; zero (or 0%) represents inequality. Countries are then ranked on their results.
