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
Coco Austin has given fans an eye-popping glimpse at her workout routine.
Coco Austin, 34, shared a fitness video on her YouTube channel in which she is seen toning her famous derriere and core at the gym.
She is seen using an apparatus called the React machine which she describes as simulating “surfboard action”.
“For all you guys that don’t think I work out my booty, this is the killer machine,” Ice T’s wife says.
“This is how you kill your booty and make it round.”
Coco Austin has given fans an eye-popping glimpse at her workout routine
In the video, Coco Austin has her feet firmly planted on the machine’s platform as it moves her legs up and down.
Never one to be shy around a camera, the buxom blonde shows off her ample assets in a magenta sports bra and uber-tight pink short shorts, leaning forward and sticking her booty out to make the most of her voluptuous figure.
At one point in the clip, Coco Austin decides to ride the machine full blast.
“I’m scared,” she tells the camera, clutching the railings as the platform moves faster and faster.
The Ice Loves Coco star tenses her face and focuses to get through the exercise.
“All you need is one minute on that,” she exclaims.
“It’s no secret that I’m not ashamed of my body. I think all bodies are a beautiful thing… It’s like art in my mind. Always trying to perfect,” Coco Austin tweeted Monday.
Cory Monteith’s final video, showing the actor warning his young fans to “stay out of trouble”, has surfaced.
Cory Monteith was filmed just days before his tragic death from drug and alcohol use.
In the video, the 31-year-old takes the tone of an older brother: “Hi Malorie, I’m Cory – I’m Sheila’s friend.
“I just wanted to record this video for you guys to let you know to stay out of trouble and stay in school.”
Cory Monteith’s final video shows the actor warning his young fans to stay out of trouble
The clip was filmed on July 6 as Cory Monteith was onboard a flight to his hometown of Vancouver, where he checked into the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.
It was there his body was found just seven days later.
A fan of the actor’s hit show Glee posted the clip online.
According to Global News, Cory Monteith was approached by Sheila, a flight attendant, for a memento for her boyfriend’s daughter Mallory.
Despite his warning “to stay out of trouble”, initial investigations indicate that a combination of heroin and alcohol lead to the young actor’s death.
After spending time with friends and family in Vancouver, Cory Monteith’s body was found in his room on the 21st floor of the hotel.
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.
It was noted that at this stage there is still no evidence to suggest that Cory Monteith’s death was “anything other than a most-tragic accident”.
But Police Constable Brian Montague later revealed: “There was evidence in the room that was consistent of a drug overdose,” adding that he wouldn’t “go into specifics”.
Cory Monteith cause of death has come as a shock to some after it was initially reported that police did not believe drugs to have been involved, but Brian Montague explained they need to err on the side of caution.
“It was the opinion of the investigators that it was a drug overdose, but we didn’t want to speculate,” he said.
“The last thing we would want to do is speculate a drug overdose and then have that not be the case.”
Ireland Baldwin posted some pictures showing how her boyfriend Slater Trout has been welcomed with open arms by her famous family.
Ireland Baldwin, 17, had a blast leaping off a boat as part of a family vacation in The Hamptons with father Alec Baldwin and her boyfriend Slater Trout.
She proved she was no fish out of water as she shared a tweet of herself airborne while wearing a blue strapless bikini top decorated with fringe and red bikini bottoms.
Ireland Baldwin posted the picture on her Twitter page on Thursday along with the simple caption: “My boys.”
Ireland Baldwin posted some pictures showing how her boyfriend Slater Trout has been welcomed with open arms by her famous family
She reached up into the air with her arms and her legs curled beneath her in anticipation of water contact.
On her right her bare-chested paddleboarder boyfriend was shown sticking out his tongue.
And on her left father Alec Baldwin, wearing black swimming trunks, put on a look of feigned shock.
Ireland Baldwin has previously spoken of how her father “approves” of her choice of boyfriend.
Earlier in the day Ireland was in a more relaxed mood as she shared a glamorous photo of herself posing with Alec Baldwin’s pregnant wife Hilaria Thomas.
“Our boat face,” Kim Basinger’s gorgeous daughter tweeted along with the photo.
Ireland Baldwin lives with her mother Kim Basinger in Los Angeles, but frequently makes room for visits with her father on the East Coast.
Police photographer Sgt Sean Murphy has leaked images of Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his capture in anger at the picture used by Rolling Stone magazine for its next cover.
Sean Murphy said his photos showed “the real bomber” – the magazine cover was “hurtful” to the victims’ memories and their families.
Sgt Sean Murphy has leaked images of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during his capture in anger at the picture used by Rolling Stone magazine for its next cover
The images, given to Boston Magazine, show Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with the red dot of a laser sight of a sniper rifle on his face.
The Boston Marathon bombings killed three people.
More than 260 were injured in the two explosions at the marathon finish line on April 15.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is also accused of the murder of a fourth person, a university police officer, who was allegedly shot dead by him and his brother Tamerlan in the days after the attack.
A spokesman for state police said the release of the photos had not been authorized, and they would not be given to other news media.
The spokesman also said Sgt Sean Murphy, a police photographer, was subject to an internal investigation.
A tweet from the author of the Boston Magazine article said Sgt Sean Murphy had been “relieved of duty”.
The police photographer told the magazine he released the contrasting images of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as a response to the Rolling Stone cover.
The latest pictures show the “real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine”, Sgt Sean Murphy said.
“These were real people, with real lives, with real families,” he said in a statement.
“And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and their families.”
The pictures were taken when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, wounded after a gunfight with police, was found hiding in a dry-docked boat in a residential garden.
On Wednesday, Rolling Stone defended its decision to put Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover, saying it was committed to serious, thoughtful coverage.
But two Massachusetts-based convenience store chains, Rockland and Tedeschi Food Shops, and national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, said they would not stock the edition.
An outpouring of angry comments appeared on social media networks saying the magazine cover was tasteless.
While Spanx pants are known and loved for their figure-skimmimg effects, there’s no denying they are not the most comfortable garment to be worn in the heat of summer.
But now the world’s best-known brand of big knickers have unveiled a summer selection that won’t make you sweat on a warm day.
Spanx have just re-launched their Skinny Britches range in a fabric designed to make you feel slim and trim without feeling sweaty and constricted
Spanx have just re-launched their Skinny Britches range in a fabric designed to make you feel slim and trim without feeling sweaty and constricted.
They’ve been designed to be lightweight and breathable, incorporating the same Spanx technology that you’d expect from the classic designs, but in a lightweight format.
The pants, which claim to firm the tummy, hips, thighs and bottom, have been created with ultra-light fabric and cotton gusset, and a “non-binding”, unseamed waistband that won’t dig in or create lumps and bumps.
The designs, which are 61% nylon, 39% Lycra/elastane, are available as skorts, shorts or all-in-one styles and range in price between $38 for a thong and $145 for an all-in-one.
Previously a red carpet secret, Spanx are now proudly worn by A-listers such as Kourtney Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, Princess Beatrice, Jessica Alba, Beyonce.
Tina Turner has married her 57-year-old toyboy beau Erwin Bach in Switzerland, it has been revealed.
Tina Turner, 73, and German record company executive Erwin Bach exchanged vows on the shores of Lake Zurich in Switzerland several days ago.
And the newlyweds will cement their union this weekend at a Buddhist ceremony this weekend in Zurich, which Tina Turner has called home for the past 15 years.
Around 120 guests, including David Bowie, Oprah Winfrey and Sade, are due to attend as Tina Turner and Erwin Bach celebrate their marriage at their Kusnacht home.
According to Swiss weekly Schweiz am Sonntag, Tina Turner has requested that all the guests wear white to the celebration, while she will be wearing a gown designed by Italian fashion giant Giorgio Armani.
Clearly anticipating an enjoyable evening, it was also reported that Tina Turner and Erwin Bach had already sent out letters to neighbors and local residents apologizing in advance for any noise they might cause.
Tina Turner has married her 57-year-old toyboy beau Erwin Bach in Switzerland
Tina Turner’s union with Erwin Bach marks her second wedding – her first being a volatile 14-year marriage to the late Ike Turner, with whom she found fame in the 1960’s.
Following their divorce in 1978 Tina Turner recounted the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her first husband in bestselling 1986 memoir I, Tina – the inspiration for big-screen biopic What’s Love Got to Do with it starring Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as Ike.
Tina Turner first met Erwin Bach at an EMI record label bash in 1985, although their relationship remained platonic for more than a year before they started dating.
Despite the age difference, Tina Turner and Erwin Bach have enjoyed a blissfully happy romance, something she referred to during a 2006 interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, in which she shot down any notion of marriage.
“People often ask me why don’t I marry,” she said.
“I have love. I have a good life. I don’t need to interfere with that. For some people, marriage means <<You’re mine now>>. That can be the beginning of the failure of a relationship.”
She added: “Psychologically, something happens when someone says, <<You’re my husband or wife. You can’t do this or that>>. It’s about ownership. That freedom that two people loving each other and wanting to be together – and being able to leave if anything is wrong – is gone.
“Neither Erwin nor I feel the need to get married. We’ve been together for 18 years. What would marriage give me that I don’t already have? Marriage would be about pleasing the public. Why do I need to please the public if I’m already pleased?”
Tina Turner has two children, sons Craig, from a relationship with late saxophonist Raymond Hill in 1958 and Ronald – her only child with Ike.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said she feels “very angry” after finding out her pseudonym Robert Galbraith was leaked by a legal firm.
JK Rowling was revealed as the writer of crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling in the Sunday Times.
She found out the leak came from law firm Russells, whom she had assumed she “could expect total confidentiality from”.
“I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced.
“To say that I am disappointed is an understatement,” JK Rowling said in a statement.
“A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know,” she added.
JK Rowling has said she feels “very angry” after finding out her pseudonym Robert Galbraith was leaked by a legal firm
Russells Solicitors said it apologized “unreservedly”.
In a statement, it said the wife of one of its partners, Chris Gossage, had told her best friend, Judith Callegari, that Robert Galbraith was really JK Rowling.
The company said it was revealed “during a private conversation” adding “the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly”.
It has been reported Judith Callegari subsequently revealed JK Rowling’s identity to a Sunday Times journalist via Twitter on July 9.
Russells continued: “Whilst accepting [Chris Gossage’s] own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling’s agent.”
There had been speculation leaking the name was part of a publicity campaign.
However Russells said: “We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved.”
The Cuckoo’s Calling – believed to be the debut novel of Robert Galbraith – tells of war veteran-turned private investigator Cormoran Strike and received good reviews when it was first published.
The book had sold 1,500 copies before JK Rowling was revealed as the author, but within hours it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon’s sales list.
When she was revealed as Robert Galbraith, JK Rowling said she had found writing under a pseudonym “a liberating experience”.
JK Rowling issued a statement saying she had “hoped to keep this secret a little longer” but added it had “been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name”.
It’s hard to remember a time before cell phones, and even to remember what life was like before smartphones. You might recall watching the news every night just to get the latest updates and sports scores, or carefully setting your trusty alarm clock and checking it several times on the night before a big work meeting. However, smartphones have made it so much easier to stay updated and current anywhere.
Make Your List, Check it Twice
Instead of carrying around paper and a pen, then searching through your purse or briefcase to jot down notes or items your grocery list, a notepad app on your smartphone has made this obsolete. Keep track of your important tasks or things to remember, all in one place.
Eliminating Paper Maps
Asking for directions is no longer necessary, nor is carting around a handful of maps while on vacation. Simply open your favorite GPS app and plug-in the address. As long as you are in range of a satellite, you will get systematic directions (and on some apps, even turn-by-turn directions with the capability to re-route for closed or blocked off roads) that keep you on course for your trip.
Stay Entertained Anywhere
If you get stuck in a doctor’s office waiting room, don’t weigh yourself down with heavy books or magazines to pass the time. Your smartphone can store hundreds of your favorite books and magazines, all in one easily accessible location.
Remember Every Event
The cameras in smartphones and tablets have created a new normal for documenting daily life. With photo sharing and editing apps, you can quickly snap photographs of your family, friends, or even what you’re having for dinner, and share content with people all across the world.
Deposit Checks From Your Phone
Skip the trip to the bank with mobile banking apps, many of which accommodate transfers between accounts, online bill pay, and mobile check deposit, where you simply take a photo of the check and the money is in your account within a few hours. These apps also eliminate paper waste, since you don’t have to fill out a deposit slip or write out a check to pay bills.
Digital Media Options
You can also cancel your newspaper subscription, since many national and local newspapers now offer a digital app where you can read the latest updates from your community and around the globe.
No More Math in Your Head
Don’t worry about calculating a tip or a percentage while you are out and about since your smartphone includes a calculator. Some devices also store credit and debit card information, so you can pay on the go.
It will be interesting to see how many new apps come into the marketplace in the future, possibly eliminating the need to carry a wallet, go to the post office or even receive your daily news. If your ID, store loyalty cards, and payment information is in one place, you might be able to travel light and simply carry your phone.
Robert Seldon Lady, a former CIA station chief convicted by an Italian court of kidnapping a terror suspect, has been detained in Panama, Italian officials say.
Robert Seldon Lady was sentenced to nine years in jail for his involvement in the abduction of the man, an Egyptian cleric, in Milan in 2003.
The cleric, known as Abu Omar, was allegedly flown to Egypt and tortured.
Lady was convicted in absentia with 22 other Americans for their role in his “extraordinary rendition”.
Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar, was snatched from Milan in 2003
But the Italian authorities have so far only sought the international arrest of the former Milan station chief, Italian media say.
Robert Seldon Lady was reportedly arrested near Panama’s border with Costa Rica.
The Milan case was the first involving extraordinary rendition, the CIA’s practice of transferring suspects to countries where torture is permitted.
Twenty-two CIA agents, including Robert Seldon Lady, and one air force pilot were convicted in 2009 of abducting the cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr. Their sentences were upheld last year by Italy’s highest appeals court.
Robert Seldon Lady reportedly rushed back to the US in 2007, when court hearings began in Milan to decide whether to put the 23 Americans on trial.
He said he had opposed the proposal to kidnap the imam, but was overruled.
Trayvon Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, said they are shocked and disgusted the jury in George Zimmerman’s trial found him not guilty of murdering their son.
George Zimmerman, 29, was acquitted of both second-degree murder and manslaughter on Saturday night after a month-long trial that gripped and divided the nation.
Trayvon Martin’s parents, who both testified their son was screaming for help on a 911 call that was a crucial piece of evidence in the trial, made a string of TV appearances this morning to talk about the verdict.
“I really didn’t believe that he was not guilty. My first thought was shock, disgust. I think people are forgetting that Trayvon was a teenager so he probably thought as a teenager,” Sybrina Fulton told Good Morning America.
“I really do believe he was afraid because he did call George Zimmerman creepy. So he was afraid and if you are 17 years old and you are afraid, you may not know what to do.”
Tracy Martin said: “I wish they really knew Trayvon for who he was and knew that he was a kid. They didn’t know him as a human being, a very decent human being, a fun-loving kid. He loved kids.
“I just wish they had an opportunity to really know who Trayvon was and to put that in context with what their decision was.”
George Zimmerman’s parents, Robert and Gladys, spoke to Barbara Walters this week and said that if they had the chance, they would tell the couple they are truly sorry about what happened the night their son fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
When asked whether he was comforted by this, Tracy Martin called it a “hard and fair question”.
“There’s no winner in this situation,” he said.
Trayvon Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, said they are shocked and disgusted the jury in George Zimmerman’s trial found him not guilty of murdering their son
“Obviously, we are devastated more.
“I just think that all the circumstances surrounding books being written and the mischaracterization of us as parents, I just really don’t feel that it’s real sincere.
“But we continue to pray that we’ll find peace and strength to be forgiving parents.”
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton have started a foundation named after their son and say they hope his death and the trial can serve as a catalyst to bring the country together.
“I think moving forward we need to educate ourselves as a community on the gun laws, on the laws, on the statutes. We need to come together more as a whole, not individual people, not individual races, religions. We need to come together as God’s people.
“We need to start learning each other, understanding each other. You can’t just judge a book by its cover. Something is wrong in so many ways to say that someone is suspicious just because you don’t know them.”
Sybrina Fulton added: “It’s not just about the Trayvon Martin case. Now it’s about your kids. It’s about other kids. What do we tell our sons?”
Today was the first day the two had spoken out about the verdict on TV.
They also appeared on the Today show where they told Matt Lauer they are still in disbelief over the verdict.
“Is this the intent for the justice system to have for victims. Trayvon wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Tracy Martin said.
“We felt in our hearts that we were going to get a conviction. We thought that the killer of our unarmed child was going to be convicted of the crime that he committed.”
When asked if they would like to say anything to the jury, he responded: “How can you let the killer of an unarmed child go free?
“What would your verdict have been had it been your child? And there’s no winner in this case at all. It’s just, I want them to put themselves in our shoes.
“Obviously anytime you have a person that makes an assumption that a person is up to no good, there’s some type of profiling there. Was he racially profiled?
“I think that if Trayvon had been white this wouldn’t have never happened. Obviously race is playing some type of role.”
Sybrina Fulton said she felt the jurors and the justice system failed her son “to a degree”.
“We let the process take its course. We didn’t get the verdict that we were looking for because we wanted [George Zimmerman] to be held accountable.
“Our focus has continued to change. First it was for an arrest then it was for a conviction…we were disappointed.”
When asked about forgiveness for George Zimmerman, Tracy Martin said “forgiveness takes time”.
“I think that the forgiveness is like a healing process, forgiven takes time,” he said.
“The Bible says that you have to forgive and forget, but also the healing process is a long process.”
New reports claim that OJ Simpson has only three months to live as a result of his extreme case of diabetes and unhealthy lifestyle behind bars.
The combination of high blood pressure, a vastly expanding waistline and a lack of physical activity as he serves a 33-year prison sentence have doctors concerned about his health.
The first warning flags were raised when OJ Simpson appeared at a hearing in May when the former running-back looked much heavier than he ever had before.
Now The National Enquirer claims that he weighs 300 pounds and prison doctors have encouraged him to exercise and eat more healthfully to combat the high blood pressure and diabetes.
Instead, OJ Simpson is listlessly passing the days by laying in bed in his prison cell and only getting up to get sugar-filled snacks.
“OJ’s doctors have told him he could be dead in as little as three months because of his out-of-control blood sugar and blood pressure,” an unidentified prison friend told The Enquirer.
“But OJ doesn’t care. He knows he’s never going to get out of prison, so he refuses to take care of himself.”
The combination of high blood pressure, a vastly expanding waistline and a lack of physical activity as he serves a 33-year prison sentence have doctors concerned about OJ Simpson’s health
The 33-years OJ Simpson faces following a 2008 robbery are not helping motivate Simpson, as he is now making plans for his death.
He allegedly confessed to murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994 and told a prison friend that he will write a confession letter that will be sent- and then publicly shared- after he dies.
OJ Simpson’s lawyer, Ozzie Fumo, countered this claim, saying that in his months of interactions with Simpson he has “never once disparaged the Goldmans”.
“In his mind, they’re creditors along with his children Sydney and Justin,” Ozzie Fumo said.
The friends cited by The Enquirer said the double slaying came in a moment of rage that he regrets to this day because he still loves Nicole Brown.
OJ Simpson also reportedly tasked his few close friends with finding ways to hide his remaining $2 million in off-shore accounts so that his son and daughter can access it after his death.
In doing so, OJ Simpson would be in direct violation with the 1997 court ruling that said he owes Ron Goldman’s relatives $21 million after he was found at fault in a wrongful death civil suit.
He has become even more withdrawn and oddly behaved – reportedly singing The Wizard of Oz’s If I Only Had a Brain to himself – since the retrial hearing in May.
“He ignores people when they talk to him and often wanders around in a glassy-eyed trance. His family is being supportive but he’s not paying attention to them either,” one of OJ Simpson’s friends told The Enquirer.
A new research suggests that Wikipedia articles about former US President George W. Bush and anarchism are the most hotly contested on its English-language edition.
Scientists analyzed page edits in 10 editions to find topics fought over by contributors to the open encyclopaedia.
While some topics were locally controversial, many religious subjects, such as Jesus and God, were universally debated, they found.
Further research is planned to log how controversial topics change over time.
Researchers from the University of Oxford and three other institutions analyzed logs of the changes made to Wikipedia pages to identify those in the throes of an “edit war”. Such a conflict involves editors of pages making changes that are almost instantly undone by another editor.
Finding the pages over which editors scrap about such changes was a better guide to controversial subjects than simply picking out those that changed a lot, wrote the researchers in a paper describing their work.
Pages that get updated a lot might just be about a rapidly changing field or topic, they said. By contrast, a topic page in which words and phrases are constantly removed and re-instated gave an insight into the depth of feeling it evoked among contributors.
Millions of articles from 10 separate language editions of Wikipedia were subjected to analysis to find the topics over which editors scrapped most fiercely. English, Spanish, Persian, Arabic and Czech editions were among those analyzed. Data was taken from editions of Wikipedia published on the web in 2010.
Wikipedia articles about former US President George W. Bush and anarchism are the most hotly contested on its English-language edition
The most controversial topics across all the 10 editions analyzed were:
Israel
Adolf Hitler
The Holocaust
God
In addition other religious subjects, such as Jesus, The Prophet Muhammad and Christianity were regularly fought over by editors.
The analysis also revealed many local controversies.
Among French editors, the page about French politician Segolene Royal was the one contributors fought over the most.
By contrast, in Romania information about the Universitatea Craiova football team proved most controversial.
Further work planned by the team will look at a more recent data set from Wikipedia and map edit wars over time to see the ebb and flow of controversial subjects.
Russian activist Alexei Navalny has been jailed for five years, for embezzlement from a timber firm.
Protest leader Navalny, 37, had denied the charges, saying the trial was politically motivated.
He had been a leading campaigner against President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, and regularly blogged about corruption allegations.
The EU said the verdict posed “serious questions” about the state of Russian law. The US said it was “deeply disappointed”.
Before he was handcuffed and led away, Alexei Navalny urged his supporters to continue his anti-corruption struggle, tweeting: “Don’t sit around doing nothing.”
He has previously said he would like to stand for president one day.
Alexei Navalny had recently registered his candidacy for the next mayor of Moscow, but his campaign team said that after the verdict he was withdrawing from the race, and called on his supporters to boycott the vote.
Anti-Putin activist and former cabinet minister Boris Nemtsov told reporters the trial was “completely fabricated from start to finish, and even the judge could not say what the reason for the crime was”.
Other countries have also voiced their concern at the verdict. The US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul, said: “We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial.”
Alexei Navalny has been jailed for five years, for embezzlement from a timber firm.
A spokesperson for the EU’s top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, said the embezzlement charges were unsubstantiated, and that Alexei Navalny’s jailing posed “serious questions as to the state of the rule of law in Russia”.
French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot added his concern, but said: “We note that not all judicial remedies have been exhausted and that the sentence could be reviewed on appeal.”
Alexei Navalny’s supporters in Moscow have vowed to stage protests against the verdict later on Thursday.
He arrived at the courtroom in Kirov to hear the verdict after a 12-hour overnight train journey from Moscow.
His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said her husband knew he would get a non-suspended sentence and was mentally prepared to go to prison.
Alexei Navalny was found guilty of heading a group that embezzled timber worth 16 million rubles ($500,000) from the Kirovles state timber company while working as an adviser to Kirov’s governor Nikita Belykh.
The prosecution had asked for a six-year jail sentence, but judge Sergei Blinov decided on five years, and said there were no extenuating circumstances that would warrant keeping Alexei Navalny out of prison.
Alexei Navalny’s co-accused, Pyotr Ofitserov, was also found guilty, and given a four-year jail sentence.
“Navalny… committed a grave crime,” said Judge Sergei Blinov as he delivered the sentence.
State television has only shown limited interest in the process despite Alexei Navalny’s prominence, but online the trial has been followed extensively.
Alexei Navalny came to public attention when he inspired mass protests against the Kremlin and President Vladimir Putin in December 2011.
Judge Sergei Blinov said he found the testimony of the main prosecution witness, Vyacheslav Opalev, to be “trustworthy and consistent”.
Alexei Navalny insists that Vyacheslav Opalev spoke against him out of revenge, because Navalny had recommended he be fired and his company investigated for corruption.
After the verdict, Alexei Navalny tweeted: “So that’s it. Don’t get bored without me. Most importantly, don’t sit around doing nothing. The toad won’t get off the oil pipe by itself.”
In his LiveJournal blog on Wednesday Alexei Navalny said: “The current authorities are not a big, healthy fish, but rather a bloated fish or Latin American toad, which puffs itself up when it sees danger, with the help of television.”
In an unusual step, the court allowed the whole trial to be broadcast live online.
He is now one of the key figures of the opposition – a thorn in the side of the political establishment, campaigning against the endemic corruption.
Alexei Navalny has also coined a phrase to describe the ruling party United Russia that has stuck in everyone’s minds – “the party of crooks and thieves”.
Former America’s Next Top Model star Renee Alway was unrecognizable in a new police mugshot released on Wednesday.
Renee Always appeared battered and bruised while her eyes look downward in despair.
The contrast couldn’t have been greated to the height of her fame.
Renee Alway’s eyes appear to be bruised with red marks underneath them while there are cuts and scratches around her face in the aftermath of her six hours armed standoff with police officers last month.
She was arrested on June 28 for investigation of burglary, fraud, narcotics possession, committing a felony while on bail and other charges, the Palm Springs Police Department said in a statement.
Officers responding to a report of a suspicious woman walking around a neighborhood spotted a condominium with an open back door, police said.
Former America’s Next Top Model star Renee Alway was unrecognizable in a new police mugshot
Neighbors told officers the residents were out of the country and Renee Alway was found hiding in the garage allegedly armed with a gun, police said.
Authorities believed an armed man also was in the condo and the SWAT team was called in for the ensuing six-hour standoff.
Renee Alway has remained in custody at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in nearby Banning with bail set at $150,000.
She was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday for a drug court evaluation.
Renee Alway also was arrested on June 2 and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, petty theft and fraud.
She pleaded not guilty and was released on bail, which prompted the charge of committing a felony while on bail following her latest arrest.
Renee Alway has been arrested three times this year, Sgt. Kyle Stjerne told KTLA News in Los Angeles.
He did not give any specifics on her other alleged crimes.
Renee Alway competed on Cycle 8 of the modelling competition show created by and starring Tyra Banks and finished third.
Cycle 20 of America’s Next Top Model will premiere on August 2.
