Johnny Depp has admitted that he is an avid watcher of none of than larger than life reality toddler, Honey Boo Boo.
“Here Comes Honey Boo Boo… I could be called a fan,” Johnny Depp revealed in an interview with Extra TV host Terri Seymour.
While he has played some of Hollywood’s eclectic roles from Captain Jack Sparrow to Edward Scissorhands and Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp admitted that he is in awe of the stars of the TLC reality hit.
“I’m a little frightened of the show. That’s the thing… they’re probably great people, but there are bits that happen that just I am mesmerized by,” Johnny Depp told the English broadcast reporter, who is Simon Cowell’s ex-girlfriend.
A spin-off from beauty pageant show, Toddlers & Tiaras, seven-year-old Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson, her mother, June Shannon (Mama June) and father Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, from rural McIntyre, Georgia, have skyrocketed to worldwide infamy with their outrageous redneck ways and brash talking in thick southern accents.
Johnny Depp has admitted that he is an avid watcher of none of than larger than life reality toddler, Honey Boo Boo
The series draws in millions of viewers but has been strongly criticized for being both exploitative and offensive.
A reviewer for Forbes magazine in the US even slammed network TLC as trying to “portray Alana’s family as a horde of lice-picking, lard-eating, nose-thumbing hooligans south of the Mason–Dixon line”, adding that “it falls flat, because there’s no true dysfunction here, save for the beauty pageant stuff”.
Along with Honey Boo Boo, father-of-two Johnny Depp admitted to Rolling Stonemagazine that he watches “the trashiest television imaginable”, and may have more TV-time in the future if he cuts back his acting career.
“I can’t say that I’d want to be doing this for another 10 years,” the actor revealed.
Thoughts of retirement pop up “every day”, he said, but nothing’s imminent.
“I think while I’ve got the opportunity and the desire and the creative spark to do the things that I can do right now, I should do them.”
Meanwhile, moviegoers in America are rushing to the cinema to see Johnny Depp’s latest hit. The 3D film, which features the voices of Steve Carrell, Kristen Wiig and Russell Brand grossed $4.7 million, while Disney’s big budget adventure coined in less than half that at $2 million.
Israel announces it will release a number of Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement made with US Secretary of State John Kerry to resume peace talks.
Yuval Steinitz, minister responsible for international relations, said it would involve “heavyweight prisoners in jail for decades”.
John Kerry announced on Friday that initial talks would be held in Washington “in the next week or so”.
The Israeli minister’s remarks are the first details of the deal.
John Kerry had declined to tell reporters in Amman what the two sides had agreed to, saying that the “best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private”.
The agreement came at the end of four days of frenetic shuttle diplomacy, on John Kerry’s sixth visit to the region in the past few months.
Yuval Steinitz told Israeli public radio that the deal adhered to the principles set out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for kick-starting the talks.
The release of prisoners would take place in stages, he said.
While the number of detainees to be freed is unclear, one Palestinian official said discussions had earlier focused on the release of 350 prisoners over a period of months, including around 100 men held since before 1993, when Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo peace accords.
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 4,817 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails.
Israel announces it will release a number of Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement made with US Secretary of State John Kerry to resume peace talks
For their part, the Palestinians had committed themselves to “serious negotiations” for a minimum of nine months, said Yuval Steinitz, who is a member of the prime minister’s Likud party.
But he made clear that Israel had not accepted Palestinian pre-conditions, including a halt to settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“There is no chance that we will agree to enter any negotiations that begin with defining territorial borders or concessions by Israel, nor a construction freeze.”
Israel and the Palestinians last held direct talks in 2010, which were halted over the issue of settlement-building.
Settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Announcing the agreed resumption of talks, John Kerry warned that while it was significant, it was still “in the process of being formalized” and the issues that needed to be tackled were “complicated”.
One of the major sticking points for the two sides is the issue of territorial borders.
Palestinian officials say a core demand is that Israel recognizes pre-1967 ceasefire lines but right-wing members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition had refused to accept talks based on the issue.
John Kerry praised the Arab League’s decision to back the plan and said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni would be travelling to Washington to hold the “initial talks”.
Israeli commentators point out that while Saeb Erekat has been in discussions with the Israeli PM, the Washington talks will not yet involve Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas said “progress has made it possible to agree on the principles that allow for the negotiations to resume”.
The Middle East Quartet, made up of the US, Russia, the EU and UN, welcomed the “huge achievement” made by John Kerry and his team.
Tzipi Livni responded optimistically to Friday’s developments on her Facebook page, saying “four years of diplomatic stagnation” were about to end, after “months of skepticism and cynicism”.
She promised to protect Israel’s “national and security interests”, saying that she was convinced the talks were “the right thing” for Israel’s future.
Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza, has rejected the announcement of a return to talks.
“Mahmoud Abbas does not have the legitimacy to negotiate on fateful issues on behalf of the Palestinian people,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
An Italian court has convicted five people of manslaughter over the deadly 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck off Giglio.
The boat’s helmsman, cabin service director, two ship officers and the head of the Italian company’s crisis team were sentenced to up to two years and 10 months in prison for multiple manslaughter, negligence and shipwreck.
Reports say they may avoid prison-time.
The trial of Captain Francesco Schettino has been adjourned after he requested electrical tests on the ship.
Francesco Schettino is charged with multiple manslaughter for causing the shipwreck and abandoning the vessel with thousands still aboard. His case will resume on 23 September after Italy’s summer holidays.
Thirty-two people were killed when the Costa Crociere ship capsized off the island of Giglio in January 2012.
Deputy commander Ciro Ambrosio, third officer Silvia Coronica, helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, cabin service manager and Costa Crociere crisis co-ordinator Roberto Ferrarini
The five defendants were Roberto Ferrarini, director of the Italian cruise company’s crisis unit, cabin service director Manrico Giampedroni, first officer Ciro Ambrosio, Indonesian helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin and third officer Silvia Coronica.
They received prison sentences ranging from 18 months to two years and 10 months as the court agreed to plea bargains in order to avoid a lengthy trial.
The heaviest sentence was given to Roberto Ferranini who was ashore as the disaster unfolded and in charge of co-ordinating the cruise ship company’s response to the crisis.
An Italian court has convicted five people of manslaughter over the deadly 2012 Costa Concordia shipwreck off Giglio
None is likely to go to jail as sentences of under two years are suspended in Italy, while longer sentences may be appealed or replaced with community service, Reuters cited judicial sources as saying.
Francesco Schettino’s lawyers say he faces a maximum 20 years in jail if found guilty. He denies the charges and says that without his actions many more people would have died.
The trial is taking place in Grosseto, the city nearest the site of the wreck, and much of the case against him has already been disclosed in a report by court-appointed experts.
Francesco Schettino has been accused of leaving the luxury liner before all those on board – 4,229 – had been evacuated and steering it too fast and too close to shore during a night-time, sail-past salute to people on the tiny island off Tuscany.
He has already accepted some degree of responsibility, asking for forgiveness in a television interview last year as he talked of those who died.
However, Francesco Schettino maintains he managed to steer the stricken vessel closer to shore so it did not sink in deep water where hundreds might have drowned.
His lawyers say he is being made a scapegoat for what was simply an accident.
The vessel was holed by rocks just as many passengers were dining on the first night of their cruise. A disorganized evacuation followed as many of those on board panicked when the ship began to tilt to one side.
Costa Crociere, part of the American-based Carnival Corporation, agreed to pay a $1.3 million fine in April to settle possible criminal charges.
Most passengers have already accepted compensation of about 11,000 euros ($14,200) each, but remaining groups of survivors are holding out for more.
The Costa Concordia still lies partially submerged while salvage crews work to refloat it.
Cory Monteith’s estranged father Joe believes the Glee star may have been keeping his drug use a secret, even in the days leading up to his death.
In an interview with ET Canada Joe Monteith said he still grapples with the fact that his son is gone.
“I guess he was involved a little more in drugs than anybody knew at the time,” the military man said.
“His mother who was there with him all the time, she started picking up on it,” Joe Monteith recounted, saying that she first noticed his habits when money and things around the house had gone missing.
Joe Monteith admits that he wasn’t a big presence in his son’s life, having divorced his mother Ann McGregor when the actor was 7.
Cory Monteith and his father worked on rekindling their relationship, establishing contact after Glee threw him into fame in 2009.
“When they did break the news to my wife, she almost fell over, in fact, I had to grab her,” he said.
“I had to ask them again, <<What was that you said?>>. It didn’t really sink in. It still really hasn’t.
“I always loved both my sons and am going to miss Cory very very much.”
Cory Monteith’s mother Ann McGregor first noticed his habits when money and things around the house had gone missing
Cory Monteith, who was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday at the age of 31, was allegedly a hard-worker when in Los Angeles, and a substance-abuser whenever he would return to his native Canada, according to TMZ.
He checked into rehab in March and managed to stay clean while on the Glee set, but his resolve to stay sober weakened whenever he visited Vancouver, a source told the website.
According to sources, Cory Monteith’s girlfriend and Glee co-star Lea Michele, along with the rest of the hit television show’s cast, were aware of his addiction problems and worked hard to keep him clean and sober.
Cory Monteith allegedly never showed up for work under the influence of drugs or alcohol and abstained from these substances “most of the time”.
But his life in Canada painted a different picture, as he often returned to his hometown of Vancouver often, and surrounded himself with friends who fueled his addiction.
Cory Monteith grew up with his mother and brother Shawn in Victoria, British Columbia, and he saw little of his father after the divorce due to Joe’s military service.
In 2009, Cory Monteith reunited with his father for the first time in 17 years.
In an interview with Parade two years ago, Cory Monteith said: “We’d spoken maybe three or four times [during that period] and he reached out to me on Facebook. I couldn’t shut the door, so I got on a plane.
“He greeted me at the airport, and [he and stepmother Yvette] were so happy they were almost crying. It was a good time.”
The British Columbia Coroners Service revealed the autopsy results on Tuesday, adding that the investigation into his death is continuing, and that no further details were available at this time.
The Simpsons will meet Family Guy for a crossover episode, Fox announced Thursday.
The two highly popular animated comedies are scheduled to meet in autumn of 2014 in a mash-up which will surely have fans jumping for joy.
The episode will take place in The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield, where Family Guy‘s Griffin family will show up for what will surely be hilarious interaction.
The mash-up has been dubbed The Simpsons Guy and will surely be a win for Fox, which is the home of both shows.
The Simpsons will meet Family Guy for a crossover episode
According to Fox, when the Griffin family arrives in Springfield during a road trip, they “get along famously” with the Simpsons.
Homer Simpson “welcomes his new <<albino>> friends with open arms”, the episode synopsis explains.
When the famous cartoon families meet, of course Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin will go head to head over which beer is better – Duff or Pawtucket.
Family matriarchs Marge Simpson and Lois Griffin are apparently set to become pals, whilst Stewie and Bart will bond over their mutual love for pranks.
Fox gave comments on behalf of their characters, with Peter Griffin saying: “Fox hasn’t spent this much money since they took Simon Cowell tight T-shirt shopping,” and Homer Simpson adding: “Finally I can get my hands on this guy!”
The Simpsons, created by Matt Groening, and Family Guy, created by Seth MacFarlane, have never had an official crossover episode.
Seth MacFarlane has appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, and Dan Castellaneta of The Simpsons made an appearance on Family Guy, but that has been the extent of it to date.
The Simpsons has been running for 24 seasons now, while Family Guy is in its 11th season.
One Direction star Harry Styles’ latest on stage incident saw him nearly set himself on fire during the band’s second Chicago show.
The near-miss occurred when Harry Styles walked into a flaming pyrotechnic on the stage.
But luckily for Harry Styles, his bandmate Zayn Malik was there to warn and stop the 19-year old from singeing off his famous floppy hair.
The would-be accident occurred during the group’s performance of Teenage Dirtbag – the same song that saw Harry Styles running off stage to be sick a week earlier in Detroit.
The song went off with out a hitch, with a much more energetic Harry Styles running around the stage and waving at fans.
Harry Styles’ latest on stage incident saw him nearly set himself on fire during the band’s second Chicago show
But as the pop song came to a close, the teenager picked up a white towel and wrapped it round his head as he made his way towards the side of the stage, and the impressive flame.
And conscious of the danger that lay in Harry Styles’, Zayn Malik, 20, attempted to make his friend aware of the fact he was heading towards a fiery ending.
Calling out and pointing didn’t work thanks to the raucous cheers of the thousands of fans watching the show, so Bradford boy Zayn Malik ran towards Harry Styles and pulled him back just seconds before he set himself alight.
Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne watched as their brave bandmate saved Harry Styles from a life-threatening injury, and seemed to chuckle at their mate’s clumsy behavior.
One Direction have 15 more U.S. dates on their Take Me Home world tour before flying to Australia, so hopefully Harry Styles will survive before they head Down Under.
New reports claim that Kanye West may face a felony attempted robbery charge stemming from his Los Angeles airport altercation on Friday with a photographer.
Kanye West, 36, charged a paparazzo who was peppering him with questions upon his arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.
The photographer was taken to a hospital following the assault and told authorities that he wants to press charges against Kanye West, TMZ reports.
Police officers will refer the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as a felony attempted robbery rather than the lesser charge of battery, according to the website.
The case has been transferred to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division for investigation as police suspect Kanye West committed an attempted robbery when he struck the photographer and tried to take his camera. Prosecutors will ultimately decide which charges will be filed, if any.
Kanye West may face a felony attempted robbery charge stemming from his Los Angeles airport altercation with a photographer
Kanye West was surrounded by about five paparazzi who captured the incident and the singer left with his bodyguard in their car.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Airport Police said in a statement to X17online: “Today at approximately 2:00 p.m., at the Tom Bradley International Terminal [on the arrival level curbside], Los Angeles Airport Police officers were flagged down by a citizen [photographer] who alleged that he was taking pictures of an individual when he was battered by the subject.”
“The alleged subject was not at the location nor was he observed by officers at the scene.”
The statement added: “LAFD was notified, responded to the location and transported the victim to a local hospital for medical attention. A police report was taken by the Los Angeles Police Department and the investigation is ongoing.”
Kanye West has made no secret of his contempt for photographers and just last week he went on a furious rant while at the same airport after a snapper complimented his music.
“Don’t talk, don’t talk to me,” he said in the outburst while grabbing the camera.
However, Kanye West appears to be completely oblivious to the fact that his girlfriend and mother of his child, Kim Kardashian is a reality star who has made her name through constantly being photographed and followed by cameras.
Kim Kardashian, 32, and her family have allowed camera crews into their homes since their show Keeping Up With The Kardashians became a hit in 2007 following her tape scandal.
Since then, all members of the family have relied on reality television to acquire fame, actively seeking out press and publicity to enhance their careers.
However, it seems that Kanye West has had trouble adjusting to the lifestyle.
Sadly for the Kardashians, Kanye West’s violent outburst took place on the same day that Kim Kardashian’s mother Kris Jenner insisted that the rapper does not have a temper.
Russian activist Alexei Navalny has told supporters he will fight and win the Moscow mayoral vote, after he was freed from jail pending an appeal against a five-year jail term.
Alexei Navalny has returned to Moscow from Kirov, where a judge convicted him of embezzlement, in a case widely condemned as political.
The court ruled on Friday he could go back to Moscow until the appeal.
The jail term has been criticized by the US, EU and human rights groups.
Alexei Navalny has told supporters he will fight and win the Moscow mayoral vote, after he was freed from jail pending an appeal against a five-year jail term
Alexei Navalny told a crowd of supporters at Yaroslavsky station on Saturday that “we are going to stand in the elections and we will win”.
He was accepted as a candidate in the September 8 mayoral poll shortly before he was found guilty of embezzlement and there had been some doubt over whether he would run.
The anti-corruption activist said he would take part in campaigning for the election as long as it was possible.
A number of riot police were at the station and security forces were deployed in the surrounding area, Interfax news agency reports.
Hours after his conviction was announced in Kirov on Thursday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow in an unsanctioned demonstration.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has since warned activists not to hold any more protests without official approval.
Asked late on Friday whether there was any chance of Alexei Navalny being pardoned, Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “A convict first has to admit his guilt.”
Venezuela announces it has “ended” steps towards restoring diplomatic ties with the US, after comments made by Samantha Power, who was nominated as the next envoy to the UN.
Samantha Power said this week she would seek to combat what she called the “crackdown on civil society” in countries including Venezuela.
She was speaking at a US Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
The remarks prompted an angry response from Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela hereby ends the process… of finally normalizing our diplomatic relations,” said Venezuela’s foreign ministry in a statement.
It objected to Samantha Power’s “interventionist agenda”, noting that her “disrespectful opinions” were later endorsed by the state department, “contradicting in tone and in content” earlier statements by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Venezuela announces it has “ended” steps towards restoring diplomatic ties with the US, after comments made by Samantha Power
Relations between the US and Venezuela have been strained in recent years. They last had ambassadors in each other’s capitals in 2010.
Washington angered Caracas by backing the Venezuelan opposition’s demand for a full recount of the presidential election in April to replace Hugo Chavez, who died in March.
Hugo Chavez’s anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, won the vote by less than two percentage points.
In June, the two countries had tentatively agreed to work towards improving their strained relations, after Venezuela freed and deported a US filmmaker who had been held on conspiracy charges.
During a regional summit in Guatemala, John Kerry said he had agreed with Foreign Minister Elias Jaua on an “ongoing, continuing dialogue” in order to “establish a more constructive and positive relationship”.
He said the US wanted to “begin to change the dialogue between our countries and hopefully quickly move the appointments of ambassadors between our nations”.
Elias Jaua said at the time that for Venezuela it was important to build a relationship based on the principles of mutual respect and no interference in internal affairs.
Kris Jenner insists that the father of her new granddaughter North, Kanye West, “does not have a short temper”.
Kris Jenner, 57, had viewers scratching their heads when she made the admission whilst appearing on The Talk on Friday.
The mother-of-six was shown a video clip from last week when her daughter Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend lost his cool after a photographer kindly complimented his music.
When asked what she thought about Kanye West’s behavior, Kris Jenner said: “Knowing Kanye and I do know him very, very well and I am very close to him…he doesn’t have a short temper like everybody thinks.”
While the cameraman in question was merely complimenting Kanye West on his collaboration with Jay-Z on their hit album Watch The Throne, Kris Jenner said she thinks that the singer was most likely pushed to the edge.
“I think what happens with anybody who gets upset over something with paparazzi-related issues is that they are obviously provoked to an extent that we see nothing about,” the momager said.
“So we don’t know, I don’t know. I am just only seeing this for the first time. So I don’t know what happened before that so I don’t want to comment or judge on something when I wasn’t there.”
“I think none of us know the fifteen minutes that happened before that and how crazy they could have gotten.”
Kris Jenner insists Kanye West does not have a short temper as she attempts to explain Kanye his outburst at photographer who complimented his music
In TMZ‘s clip, Kanye West is seen “lashing out” at one of their cameramen after the snapper simply tried to tell him how much he admires his canon of work.
Kanye West had just arrived at Los Angeles International Airport when the incident occurred.
“Don’t talk, don’t talk to me,” the rapper yelled at the photographer.
He then spiraled off into an angry stream of consciousness rant: “I don’t want to hear paparazzi talk to me or anybody I know and tell everybody never talk to anyone that anyone knows.”
But it was when the videographer asked if there’ll be another collaboration between Kanye West and best buddy Jay-Z – after telling the star he loved him – Kanye flipped.
He was seen charging back the cameraman and appearing to reach for his equipment.
As well as claiming that Kanye West is not so notoriously short tempered as everybody thinks, Kris Jenner also summed up the aggressive reaction to “sleep deprivation”.
After viewing the footage, fame-hungry Kris Jenner gushed about how much she loved the rapper.
“First of all, I love that man, I do. He is a great guy,” she gushed.
“I think he was just a little sleep deprived… because of the baby, probably, I don’t know.”
And when one of the panellist joked that Kris Jenner was not getting as much attention from the paparazzi since the outburst, Kris attempted a little joke that somewhat fell flat.
“Is that what this about? I tried to buy a couple of them coffee this morning and they wouldn’t even take that,” she said with a laugh.
This is the second time Kris has defended her daughters’ partners in one week as both Kanye West and Khloe Kardashian’s husband Lamar Odom become increasingly fed up with constantly being under the spotlight by association with the media hungry clan.
Matt Sandusky filed for a name change for himself, his wife, and his four children.
This is not the first time that Matt Sandusky has tried to distance himself from his adoptive father, disgraced former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky .
During Jerry Sandusky’s trial, Matt made a statement after the other victims testified saying that he too was s***ally abused by his adoptive father.
Because the jury had already begun deliberating, Matt Sandusky was not called to go into further detail in the court.
Eight victims testified in court and the stories of two others were relayed for the jurors without having their names released.
Matt Sandusky filed for a name change for himself, his wife, and his four children
Meanwhile Penn State has approved a settlement of about $60 million for the majority of the victims of convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky.
The university board reportedly agreed on the figure during a meeting on Friday but details about the exact break-down of the sum have yet to be released.
Aside from Matt Sandusky, there are a total of 32 plaintiffs who petitioned for financial compensation from Penn State.
The Legal Intelligencer reports that the $60 million settlement covers a majority of those claims, but it does not specify how many exactly or how much each victim receives.
The paper reports, via Deadspin, that “there’s a good chance” that all of the claims will be settled between the school and the victims by the end of the summer.
Jerry Sandusky, 69, was found guilty of 45 of the 48 charges against him.
He was sentenced to spend 60 years behind bars, with the first possibility of parole coming after his first 30 years.
The judge made it clear that even though the maximum possible sentence for the charges was 442 years, he decided that the former coach would spend sufficient time to ensure that he would never be released from the supermax prison in his lifetime.
Cory Monteith’s girlfriend and Glee co-star Lea Michele is said to have made an emotional trip to the Vancouver hotel where the actor died of a heroin and alcohol overdose.
Lea Michele, 26, visited the makeshift memorial outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel where fans have showed their respects by laying flowers and tributes,RadarOnline reports.
Lea Michele visited the makeshift memorial outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel where Cory Monteith’s fans have showed their respects by laying flowers and tributes
Eyewitness Rik Feydick told the website that Lea Michele, who was accompanied by two bodyguards in an SUV, didn’t leave the vehicle but peered through the windows looking “crushed” and hiding behind giant black sunglasses.
Once Lea Michele and her bodyguards realized she had been spotted her driver was said to have abruptly sped off, according to Rik Feydick.
Earlier this week, Lea Michele attended a private cremation service for Cory Monteith, along with his mother.
She had earlier visited the hospital to view Cory Monteith’s body and is said to have played an integral part in making arrangements following his death.
Cory Monteith, 31, was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday.
An initial autopsy and toxicology report revealed Cory Monteith died from a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol.
The famous Star Wars film set in the Tunisian desert is about to be buried by migrating sand dunes.
The buildings of the fictional city Mos Espa featured in The Phantom Menace, “Episode I” of the Jedi saga.
Sited on the planet Tatooine, this was the home of the young Anakin Skywalker, later to become Darth Vader.
Scientists have used the dwellings as a fixed geographic reference to measure the migration of giant wind-blown crescent-shaped dunes, or barchans.
The famous Star Wars film set in the Tunisian desert is about to be buried by migrating sand dunes
Homes are rarely built in dune fields, and this study illustrates why. It shows dune movements on Earth are 10 times faster than barchans on Mars.
Wind-blown sand can build huge mounds in arid deserts, with sand grains pushed up the shallow rear slope before falling down the steep front slope in the lee of the wind. With steady prevailing winds, the dune shape reflects the wind direction and can develop crescent “wings” pointing downwind.
Individual crescent-shaped barchans are seen on other planets as well as on Earth, and have been imaged on the surface of Mars as well as on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
Ralph Lorenz, from Johns Hopkins University, US, together with Jason Barnes, of Brigham Young University, and Nabil Gasmi, of the University of Sousse, Tunisia, visited the Mos Espa site in 2009, and noted that part of a nearby set used in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope had already been overrun.
Using satellite images of the site, they were able to determine the speed of dune movement, which is approaching the buildings once inhabited by such luminaries as Anakin, his slave owner Watto, and rival podracer Sebulba.
Moving at around 15m a year, the front edge of the barchan appears to have made contact with some of the Mos Espa buildings earlier this year, and is encroaching on Qui-Gon’s Alley.
The barchan will likely continue on its journey past the city site, which in due course will re-emerge from the sand, but it is anticipated that it will not remain unscathed.
The Mexican version of Coca-Cola, which is made with real cane sugar, rather than high-fructose corn syrup, has become the beverage of choice among trendy New Yorkers.
The U.S. uses the cheaper sweetener in its sodas because of government-imposed importation laws that make sugar more expensive here than in any other country.
But fans of Mexican Coke, as it is often called because it is bottled south of the border, say that this “purer” soda is superior in both taste and quality – even if it costs a little extra.
Indeed, a Facebook page dedicated to the non-American version of Coke has amassed nearly 10,000 fans.
“It’s better,” says the fan page.
“Ask anyone.”
Cane sugar Coke hasn’t been widely produced in the U.S. since 1985, when the soda company switched it out for high-fructose corn syrup.
Since the federal government provides a subsidy for corn farmers, there is an abundance of corn at a low price, much of which is converted into high-fructose corn syrup.
The Mexican version of Coca-Cola, which is made with real cane sugar, rather than high-fructose corn syrup, has become the beverage of choice among trendy New Yorkers
The syrup, which tastes nearly identical to real sugar, is then used to sweeten everything from sodas and fruit-flavored drinks to cereals and yogurts.
Cane sugar Coke has become a cult favorite in recent years, however, with grocery stores and restaurants across the country choosing to import the drink from Mexico.
In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the hipster capital of New York City, loyal fans of the sugared drink pay up to $3.50 for a bottle.
Adalis Velez, owner of East Williamsburg taco joint La Gringa, which sells Mexican Coke for $2.25, told DNAInfo: “Our customers actually love Mexican Coke.
“At first I thought it was just the hype or the nostalgia of the glass bottle, but after drinking it I realized there was something to all the madness. For me, it’s smoother, sweeter and colder.”
And in May 2011, Momofuku chef David Chang defended his decision to price a bottle of Mexican Coke at $5, after an angry customer complained.
“Mexican Coke = hard to obtain in NYC + costs $” the chef responded via Twitter.
A 2010 Food Politics study suggested that there may not be a difference at all between the two versions.
Researchers who examined a sample of Mexican Coke could not find any sucrose in it, but they “did find plenty of glucose and fructose”.
They noted that their findings meant either that Mexican Coke is also made with high-fructose corn syrup, or that the bottle had aged, causing the sucrose to “invert” into its constituent glucose and fructose.
In any case, Mexican Coke aficionados often praise their preferred drink for being healthier, a claim that is disputed among experts.
A 2004 study, published by researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University, stated that high-fructose corn syrup is a significant factor in America’s obesity epidemic.
However, the Mayo Clinic said: “There’s insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is any less healthy than other types of sweeteners.”
Whether or not it is healthier, tastier, or even any different at all, Mexican Coke’s trend status is undeniable.
Coca-Cola switches their formula to real sugar once a year during Jewish Passover, when observant Jews aren’t allowed to eat corn.
Duck Dynasty’s Willie and Korie Robertson have five kids: John Luke, Will, Bella, Rebecca, and Sadie.
The eldest Robertson child is also the newest to the family, Rebecca. Rebecca came to the Robertsons as an exchange student from Taiwan, but then became their foster daughter.
Willie and Korie Robertson with their five kids, Sadie, Will, Rebecca, John Luke and Bella
John Luke is the eldest boy and the one who has been on Duck Dynasty most often. We’ve seen John Luke on a date (chaperoned by grandfather, Phil Robertson), playing video games with cousin Cole, and generally hanging around the house during filming.
Sadie’s been right in the middle of Duck Dynasty, too. We’ve seen her cook with her grandmother, Miss Kay, and climb under the house for her granddad, Phil. But, getting driving lessons from Uncle Si provided her most memorable screen time.
Will was the third Robertson child to join the family, adopted at birth before Bella was born and before Rebecca joined the family. Will shows up on camera now and then, but we haven’t heard much from him yet.
And then there’s the youngest, Bella. Let’s hope we get a chance to get to know her on the show, too.
President Barack Obama has made his first comments on Trayvon Martin case since last week’s acquittal of George Zimmerman.
The president said: “Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago.”
The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot and killed in Florida in February 2012.
George Zimmerman, 29, said he opened fire on the teenager in self-defense and was acquitted of murder by a Florida court last week.
In an unexpected press call, Barack Obama said very few black men in the US had not experienced racial profiling.
Barack Obama said the pain that African-Americans felt around the case came from the fact that they viewed it through “a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away”.
He said African Americans were also keenly aware of racial disparities in the application of criminal laws.
“That all contributes to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different,” Barack Obama said.
President Barack Obama has made his first comments on Trayvon Martin case since last week’s acquittal of George Zimmerman
He shared his experiences of being racially profiled in the past, such as being followed while out shopping.
“There are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars.
“There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she has a chance to get off.”
Barack Obama also hailed the “incredible grace and dignity” of Trayvon Martin’s parents in the way they reacted to the verdict.
Calling for “soul-searching” from Americans on issues of race, Barack Obama also sounded a hopeful note, saying that race relations were improving with each generation.
Saturday’s not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman from the all-female jury of six prompted nationwide protests, with further demonstrations planned for this weekend.
Barack Obama called for the protests to remain peaceful, saying any violence “dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin”.
He said that although criminal matters and law enforcement were traditionally dealt with on a state and not a federal level, it would be useful to examine some state and local laws to see if they encourage confrontation in certain situations.
On Wednesday, US Attorney General Eric Holder cited the case as he urged a nationwide review of “stand your ground” laws, such as those in place in Florida, which permit the use of deadly force if a person feels seriously threatened.
The issue was never raised during the trial, though the judge included a provision about the law in her instructions to the jury, allowing it to be considered as a legitimate defense.
Gwyneth Paltrow has embarked on another glamorous collaboration – this time selling a $295 golden wetsuit by Cynthia Rowley on her website Goop.
“We’re obsessed with this super rad wetsuit from Cynthia Rowley,” goes the description on Gwyneth Paltrow’s site.
The diving suit, sold exclusively on Goop is said to have a make for a “form-fitting look” and is “functionally constructed from metallic gold neoprene that shines in the summer sun”.
Gwyneth Paltrow is selling a $295 golden wetsuit by Cynthia Rowley on her website Goop
Gwyneth Paltrow, who makes a number of glamorous, sometimes rariefied items available to her Goop readers, collaborated on sterling silver crockery earlier this year.
Describing a $950 silver shot glass, Gwyneth Paltrow wrote: “This sterling shot cup has the phrase <<Just a thimble full>> engraved on it – a gentle reminder to practice a little bit of restraint.
“A great gift or a fun conversation piece for your home bar.”
The actress does, however, stress that she is completely normal – just like the rest of us.
Earlier this year, Gwyneth Paltrow confessed: “One of my most negative qualities is… perfectionism… it comes from self-doubt and insecurity.
“I’m just a normal mother with the same struggles as any other… trying to do everything at once, trying to be a wife and maintain a relationship.”
Kate Middleton’s due date was widely reported as being last Saturday, July 13, but it has now been suggested that the official due date is actually today, July 19.
The world’s press has been camped outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London for a fortnight to ensure they don’t miss her arriving.
And social media is continually awash with rumors that she has gone into labor.
However, the only confirmation from Kate Middleton has been that she was due in “mid-July”, and last night a source claimed she was actually given today’s date.
Kate Middleton’s due date was widely reported as being July 13, but it has now been suggested that the official due date is actually July 19
This means the baby could arrive as far away as August 2, because expectant mothers are only usually induced if the baby is two weeks late.
The Royal source said: “A small number of staff at St Mary’s who might be called upon when the Duchess gives birth were told they had to remain teetotal for a month before the due date.”
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, they added: “They were told the due date was July 19.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s private office at Kensington Palace has refused to confirm the Duchess’s exact due date, although Kate herself let slip during a public walkabout earlier this year that it is “mid-July”.
William was said to have had a few days off from his job as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot in Wales this week, which he was thought to have spent with his wife at their Kensington Palace residence.
Kate Middleton, 31, stayed at the home of her parents Carole and Michael Middleton in Berkshire last weekend, while Prince William played in two long-standing charity polo matches.
The Duchess of Cornwall dropped a tantalizing hint on Monday that the wait could soon be over, telling well-wishers she expects the little boy or girl to arrive imminently.
Camilla revealed during a visit to a children’s hospice near St Austell, Cornwall: “We are all just waiting by the telephone. We are hopeful that by the end of the week he or she will be here.”
However, on Wednesday the Queen appeared to suggest that the baby was already late.
The Queen told a 10-year-old schoolgirl on a trip to Cumbria: “I would very much like it to arrive because I’m going on holiday soon… I wish it would hurry up.”
Authorities in Dubai are launching an initiative of offering gold in return for weight loss in an scheme to encourage healthier living.
Those interested can sign up from Friday for the initiative which lasts over the next 30 days and coincides with Ramadan, a month of fasting.
For each kilogram lost, participants will receive a gram of gold, which is currently worth about $45.
Those taking part – dubbed “golden losers” – need to lose at least two kilos to receive the payout.
The three participants who lose the most weight will be entered into a draw to win a gold coin worth $5,400.
Authorities in Dubai are launching an initiative of offering gold in return for weight loss in an scheme to encourage healthier living
Called Your Weight in Gold the scheme was announced by Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality.
“Ramadan is the most appropriate season to launch such initiatives as it reminds us about many health benefits of reducing weight and encourages us to take strong steps to change our bad lifestyles,” he said.
There has been alarm across Gulf States at the sharp rise in obesity blamed on increasing fast-food diets and a lack of exercise.
The Your Weight in Gold scheme is being sponsored by the Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).
Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman of the DMCC said: “We would highly encourage everyone from all walks of life to take part in this great initiative and hope DMCC’s contribution of AED 100,000 [$27,225] worth of gold coins will help motivate individuals.”
At Friday’s registration participants will be able to receive advice on how to lose weight without harming their health.
Ticket prices for international fans attending the football 2014 World Cup in Brazil will start at $90 for initial group matches.
Football’s governing body FIFA announced that the cheapest ticket for overseas fans for the final on 13 July 2014 was $440 and the most expensive $990.
The tournament starts on 12 June 2014, with the first game being played in Sao Paulo.
Tickets will go on sale from 20 August 2013.
Fans have until 10 October 2013 to apply and a ballot will be held to decide which of these applications are successful.
Only later will tickets be sold on a first come, first served basis.
Ticket prices for international fans attending the football 2014 World Cup in Brazil will start at $90 for initial group matches
In total about three million tickets will be available for fans.
For Brazilian nationals the cheapest tickets start at $15. These are only available for students, those aged over 60 and people on social welfare programmes. For other Brazilians tickets start at $30.
The lowest price paid for a ticket in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was $20, also for group stage matches in the special category set aside exclusively for residents.
The governing body had previously said that tickets in Brazil would be the “cheapest ever”.
The FIFA ticket website will include a map of the ground that shows the location of different categories of tickets.
This meant there would be “no surprises” over where fans would end up sitting, said FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil, who is in charge of ticketing strategy.
He said there would be a reselling system run by FIFA, if people were unable to attend games for which they had bought tickets.
About 500,000 tickets will be reserved exclusively for residents of Brazil, including about 50,000 for construction workers who were involved in building and upgrading the grounds for the tournament.
The Japanese government has approved the first trial of stem cells produced from a patient’s own body.
Stem cells can become any other part of the body – from nerve to bone to skin – and are touted as the future of medicine.
Researchers in Japan will use the cells to attempt to treat a form of blindness – age-related macular degeneration.
The Japanese government has approved the first trial of stem cells produced from a patient’s own body
The announcement was described as “a major step forward” for research in the field.
There are already trials taking place using stem cells taken from embryos. But this is ethically controversial and the cells will not match a patient’s own tissues, so there is a risk of rejection.
Induced pluripotent stem cells, however, are made by coaxing a sample of the patient’s skin to become stem cells, so there should be no risk of rejection.
Japan’s health minister, Norihisa Tamura, has ruled that the cells can now be tested in patients.
The trial will be run by the Riken Center for Developmental Biology and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital in Kobe.
Initially, six patients will receive transplants of cells to see if the procedure can restore their damaged vision.
In 2012, Prof. Shinya Yamanaka shared the Nobel prize for medicine or physiology for his discovery that adult human tissue could be coaxed back into a stem cell state.
Huawei has denied claims made by former CIA chief Michael Hayden that it has spied for the Chinese government.
Michael Hayden was quoted by the Australian Financial Review as saying that it was his “professional judgment” that the firm supplied intelligence to China.
However, Huawei said the claims were “unsubstantiated” and “defamatory”.
Huawei, one of the world’s biggest telecom equipment makers, has faced increased scrutiny in recent times.
Last year, US politicians claimed that the company posed a security threat because of its alleged links to China’s government and military.
Huawei has denied claims made by former CIA chief Michael Hayden that it has spied for the Chinese government
On Thursday, the UK government said that it would review Huawei’s involvement in a cybersecurity centre.
The concerns over its association with the Chinese authorities have been driven in part, by the fact that the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a former member of the People’s Liberation Army.
However, Huawei has repeatedly denied those claims and has stressed that it is 98.6%-owned by its employees.
In an article published by the Australian Financial Review, Michael Hayden claimed that Western intelligence agencies had information about Huawei’s “clandestine activities”.
Michael Hayden was quoted as saying that Huawei at a minimum had “shared with the Chinese state intimate and extensive knowledge of the foreign telecommunications systems it is involved with”.
However, Scott Sykes, head of international media affairs for Huawei, said that these remarks were “sad distractions from real-world concerns related to espionage – industrial and otherwise – that demand serious discussion globally”.
Russian activist Alexei Navalny has been freed from jail pending an appeal, a day after being sentenced to five years for embezzlement.
The court ruled that keeping Alexei Navalny in custody would deprive him of his right to stand in the mayoral elections in Moscow in September.
Thousands of Russians had protested against Alexei Navalny’s conviction, saying it was politically motivated.
Alexei Navalny, 37, is a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin.
The elections in Moscow are set for September 8 and – for now at least – Alexei Navalny is being allowed to campaign.
On Thursday, Alexei Navalny was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled timber worth 16 million roubles ($500,000) from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov’s governor Nikita Belykh.
Alexei Navalny has been freed from jail pending an appeal, a day after being sentenced to five years for embezzlement
At the end of a three-hour verdict reading, Alexei Navalny was sentenced to five years in jail.
But on Friday, the Kirov regional court took just over an hour to hear the bail case and make its decision.
The three judges decided that, as Alexei Navalny had not breached his bail conditions during the trial, he should allowed to await the appeal decision at home in Moscow.
Alexei Navalny and his co-accused Pyotr Ofitserov were immediately released, and Navalny embraced his wife Yulia.
“I am very grateful to all the people who supported us, all the people who went to [protest on Moscow’s] Manezh Square and other squares,” he said.
It was not just the defense pleading Alexei Navalny’s case. In an unexpected move, prosecutors also pushed for him to remain free, with travel restrictions, pending his appeal.
Analysts said this could be an attempt by officials to soothe public anger over the case.
After the verdict on Thursday there were violent scuffles, as thousands of people took to the streets in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities in protests that continued late into the evening. Reports said dozens were detained by police.
Other countries questioned the fairness of the verdict, with the EU saying it posed “serious questions” about the rule of law in Russia, while the US said it was “deeply disappointed”.
A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the trial had “raised doubts about whether criminal justice was the main motive”.
The Kremlin denies that Vladimir Putin uses courts for political ends, and the judge rejected Alexei Navalny’s claim that the trial was politically motivated.
Alexei Navalny is a leading campaigner against Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and has regularly blogged about corruption allegations.
He came to public attention when he inspired mass protests against the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin in December 2011.
Before he was led away to jail on Thursday, Alexei Navalny urged his supporters to continue his anti-corruption struggle, tweeting: “Don’t sit around doing nothing.”
Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy, with debts of at least $15 billion.
The city of Detroit, once a symbol of US industrial power, is seeking protection from creditors who include public-sector workers and their pension funds.
Unions described the bankruptcy filing as a power grab.
Detroit has become the largest US city ever to file for bankruptcy
Detroit has faced decades of problems linked to declining industry. Public services are nearing collapse and about 70,000 properties lie abandoned.
Mayor Dave Bing has vowed that public services will keep running and wages for public workers will be paid.
On Thursday, Michigan state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr asked a federal judge to place the city into bankruptcy protection.
If it is approved, he would be allowed to liquidate city assets to satisfy creditors and pensions.
Detroit – known as Motor City for its once-thriving automobile industry – stopped unsecured-debt payments last month to keep the city running as Kevyn Orr negotiated with creditors.
He proposed a deal last month in which creditors would accept 10 cents for every dollar they were owed.
But two pension funds representing retired city workers resisted the plan. Thursday’s bankruptcy filing comes days ahead of a hearing that would have tried to stop the city from making such a move.
Kevyn Orr suggested at the time there was a 50-50 chance of the city needing to file for bankruptcy. He also said the city’s long-term debt could be between $17 billion and $20 billion.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Kevyn Orr said filing for bankruptcy was the “first step toward restoring the city”.
Alongside him, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said that residents had to make a new start.
“I really didn’t want to go in this direction – but now that we are here, we have to make the best of it,” Dave Bing said.
The mayor also assured residents that the city would stay open and bills would be paid despite the filing.
“Paychecks for our city employees will continue, services will continue,” he said.
But Ed McNeil, the lead negotiator for a coalition of 33 unions, told Reuters news agency the move was about “busting the unions”.
“I’ve said all along that this is a power grab,” he was quoted as saying.
“This is not about fixing the city’s finances. It’s about the governor and his own agenda to take over the city of Detroit.”
In a letter accompanying Thursday’s filing, Michigan’s Governor Rick Snyder, a Republican, said he had approved the request from Kevyn Orr to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
“Only one feasible path offers a way out,” Gov Rick Snyder said, adding that residents needed a clear exit from the “cycle of ever decreasing services”.
“The only way to do those things is to radically restructure the city and allow it to reinvent itself without the burden of impossible obligations.
“It is clear that the financial emergency in Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is available”.
Meanwhile, the White House said it was closely monitoring developments in Detroit.
“While leaders on the ground in Michigan and the city’s creditors understand that they must find a solution to Detroit’s serious financial challenge, we remain committed to continuing our strong partnership with Detroit as it works to recover and revitalize and maintain its status as one of America’s great cities,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage.
Analysts say there are some concerns that businesses might ditch their operations in Detroit.
But, in the wake of the filing, US car company General Motors said it did not expect any impact on its operations, and hoped it would mark a “clean start” for Detroit.
GM is proud to call Detroit home and today’s bankruptcy declaration is a day that we and others hoped would not come,” the company said.
The city, once renowned as a manufacturing powerhouse, has struggled with its finances for some time, driven by a number of factors, including a steep population loss.
The murder rate is at a 40-year high and only one third of its ambulances were in service in early 2013.
Declining investment in street lights and emergency services have made it difficult to police the city.
And Detroit’s government has been hit by a string of corruption scandals over the years.
Between 2000-10, the number of residents declined by 250,000 as residents moved away.
Detroit is only the latest US city to file for bankruptcy in recent years.
In 2012, three California cities – Stockton, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino – took the step.
In 2011, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania tried to file for bankruptcy but the move was ruled illegal.
But Thursday’s move in Detroit is significantly larger than any of the earlier filings.
Detroit decline:
Population has shrunk from a peak of 2 million in the 1950s to 713,000 today
Highest violent crime rate of any major US city, with 15,245 reported incidents in 2011
Some 78,000 abandoned and blighted buildings
40% of street lights do not work
Only a third of the city’s ambulances are in service
