Gwyneth Paltrow arrived on the red carpet at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California, for the Marvel’s Iron Man 3 premiere, in a gown which looked demure from a distance.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Antonio Berardi dress featured mesh panels down the sides, showing off her hips and décolletage area.
The material would have made it almost impossible for her to wear underwear beneath the number.
While she could have quite possibly been wearing a strapless bra, briefs would have been too tricky.
Gwyneth Paltrow on the red carpet at the Marvel’s Iron Man 3 premiere the in Los Angeles
The look of her item of clothing – which created the optical illusion of a curvy white silhouette down the middle – also drew attention to her tiny waist.
With a dark green peplum section that matched her kimono style arm cuffs, 40-year-old Gwyneth Paltrow- who plays Pepper Potts – looked in great shape.
She is known for taking up often strict healthy eating plans – such as eating only macrobiotic meals at one point – in an effort to stay trim.
Gwyneth Paltrow allowed her skin to glow in natural make-up and wore her blonde locks straight and to one side over her shoulder.
She added a fun twist to her appearance with purple nail polish and paired a large drop earring with a contrasting small stud that evening.
Hyundai Motor has reported a 15% drop in its profits for the first quarter of 2013, after being hit by industrial action and the strength of the won.
The South Korean company’s net profit in the first three month came in at 2.1 trillion Korean won ($1.9 billion) compared with 2.5 trillion in the same period a year ago.
Since January, the Korean won has appreciated by 4.5% against the US dollar.
Industrial action has also hurt Hyundai’s ability to increase capacity.
Hyundai Motor has reported a 15 percent drop in its profits for Q1 2013, after being hit by industrial action and the strength of the won
Analysts said Hyundai had been hurt by the unfavorable exchange rate environment.
The strong won has made Hyundai’s vehicles less price competitive when compared to their Japanese rivals. The yen has depreciated by more than 10% since January giving a boost to Japanese car makers.
In addition, frequent work stoppages by Hyundai’s unionized workers also affected the carmaker’s earnings.
Hyundai’s labor union again refused to work last weekend – the seventh straight weekend of industrial action.
The latest stoppage resulted in production losses of about 50,000 vehicles which would cost the company nearly 1tn Korean won.
The quarterly earnings statement also revealed weak demand in the eurozone market, which led to an 11% drop in annual sales in Q1 2013.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev admitted his role in the Boston Marathon attacks to the FBI before he was told of his constitutional right to keep quiet and seek a lawyer.
It has been revealed that once Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was read his rights, he immediately stopped talking.
The FBI normally tells suspects they have the right to remain silent before questioning them so all their statements can be used against them in court.
But two anonymous US officials said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been questioned by police for 16 hours before he was read his rights.
It is unclear as to whether this will matter in court as the FBI says Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has already confessed to a witness.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev admitted his role in the Boston Marathon attacks to the FBI before he was told of his constitutional right to keep quiet and seek a lawyer
A spokeswoman for US Attorney Carmen Ortiz said: “Before being advised of his rights, the 19-year-old suspect told authorities that his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, only recently had recruited him to be part of the attack.”
The debate over whether suspected terrorists should be read their Miranda rights has become a sticking point.
Many Republicans believe they hinder intelligence gathering.
The Department of Justice has said investigators may wait until they have gathered intelligence about other threats before reading those rights in terrorism cases.
Investigators have found pieces of remote-control equipment among the debris and are analyzing them, officials said.
One official described the detonator as “close-controlled”, meaning it had to be triggered within several blocks of the bombs.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is recovering in a hospital from injuries suffered during a getaway attempt last Friday.
Gwyneth Paltrow was named the world’s most beautiful woman by People magazine, which praised her “timeless look”.
However, Gwyneth Paltrow, 40, received a barrage of abuse on Twitter after being crowned People magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman 2013.
Gwyneth paltrow beat actresses Jennifer Lawrence, 22, and Amanda Seyfried, 27, to the top spot, and snatched the title from her best friend Beyonce, 31, who won last year.
But within hours of the award being announced, critics took to Twitter to attack the decision.
One remarked: “If Gwyneth Paltrow is the most beautiful woman in the world then I’m a ten times Olympic bobsled gold medalist and Top Gun fighter pilot.”
Another wrote: “So People magazine has declared Gwyneth Paltrow is the world’s most beautiful woman, I wonder how they decide this. Bunch of c**p.”
Gwyneth Paltrow received a barrage of abuse on Twitter after being crowned People magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman 2013
“Gwyneth Paltrow’s publicist has not only earned his or her holiday bonus this year already but yours and mine as well,” added a third.
The comments come just a week after Gwyneth Paltrow was voted one of the most hated celebrities in Hollywood in a poll by Star magazine.
The actress was accused of being arrogant and giving patronizing advice on everything from cookery to how to dress.
Clean-living Gwyneth Paltrow, who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin, follows a rigorous diet and exercise regime to keep herself in shape.
But despite always appearing immaculate at red carpet events, she insists she spends most of her time lounging around in “baggy shorts” with “frizzy hair”.
Gwyneth Paltrow said: “Around the house, I’m in jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t really wear make-up. That’s what [my family] are used to.
“And Chris will make a joke about it. If I’ve gotten fully dressed up, he’ll be like, <<Oh, wow! You’re Gwyneth Paltrow!>> Because he’s used to seeing me in baggy shorts and frizzy hair.”
Describing her intensive fitness regime, which involves training five times a week with celebrity instructor Tracy Anderson, Gwyneth Paltrow added: “It makes me look younger and feel strong. It’s like brushing my teeth, I just do it.”
According to reports, Kim Kardashian’s bra size has gone up to F, and the reality star is said to be concerned that she won’t be able to lose the baby weight she has gained once her first child is born.
“Kim’s panicking that the weight will just keep on stacking on and will never come off,” a source close to Kim Kardashian toldInTouch magazine.
“Not only is she vain, but she knows that her body is what makes her money. She’s built an empire on it. But as much as she tries to be good, she just can’t stop eating.
“It’s like something has taken over her body, and she’s miserable.
Kim Kardashian’s bra size has gone up to F while she is concerned that she won’t be able to lose the baby weight
“(She’s) freaking out about her body.
“She’s always played up her sex appeal, so she’s terrified she won’t be able to get her body back after the baby is born.
“She’s completely neurotic about her looks. She recently gained six pounds in one week. She said, <<Even my armpits are fat, I don’t know what’s happening to me>>. She’s got to do something, because her body is everything to her.”
However, speaking to reporters at the E! Upfronts event on Monday, Kim Kardashian said she had gotten more used to pregnancy, is more comfortable in her skin and is no longer feeling the aches and pains of expectant motherhood.
“Now I think I’m past all the awkward phases and stages, and once you feel the baby kick it’s a whole new experience,” Kim Kardashian said.
“I finally really embrace it. I love it now, but it took a minute. It was a lot, you know, a lot of body changes and stuff.”
Kim Kardashian, 32, has received a lot of scrutiny over how she’s chosen to dress her baby bump.
For a while she avoided maternity clothes, wearing see-through tops and leather pants.
Kim Kardashian also opted to still wear designer clothing but in larger sizes that maybe weren’t meant for an expectant woman.
She said that she’s not only feeling better, but is pretty calm about giving birth and isn’t nervous.
“At the beginning that was what I feared the most, and now, I mean, it’s inevitable,” Kim Kardashian said.
“It’s gonna happen. I’m really not worried or nervous.”
Kim Kardashian and her baby’s father, Kanye West, know the gender of their child but are keeping it a secret.
She said she’s careful when she goes shopping to not give anything away.
“We buy all white,” Kim Kardashian said, laughing.
“Or we’ll go and buy both [girls’ and boys’ clothing], and then no one will know.”
After being slated when she stepped out in a pink voluminous Lanvin mini dress that failed to flatter her pregnancy figure last month, Kim Kardashian somewhat redeemed herself when she stepped out in a very similar style in New York on Wednesday.
Kim Kardashian, 32, wore an almost identical black knit frock, which this time had short capped sleeves.
The pink voluminous Lanvin mini dress failed to flatter Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy figure last monthKim Kardashian stepped out in black Lanvin mini dress in New York
The black hue somewhat slimmed down Kim Kardashian’s physique and featured a higher bustline which made her seem less top heavy.
The darker shade also appeared to make her large baby bump disappear, despite the material sitting tight across her waistline.
Kim Kardashian teamed her dress with a pair of lace cut-out ankle booties and a large black crocodile skin clutch.
Boston bomb suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was added to a terrorism database 18 months ago at the request of the CIA, officials have told US media.
The FBI has already said it investigated Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, but had found no evidence of a threat.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a police chase last week. His brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is in custody over the bombs.
Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded when two devices exploded at the Boston Marathon on April 15.
A US politician earlier confirmed the bombs were set off by remote control.
But the devices were not sophisticated and apparently had to be triggered from a few streets away.
Officials said Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) on the request of the CIA.
CIA tracked Tamerlan Tsarnaev 18 months before Boston attack and added him to terrorism database
The database contains as many as 745,000 entries, and individuals on that list are not necessarily on the so-called terrorist watch list.
The Russian authorities had alerted US counterparts to the activities of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose family has its origins in the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya.
About six months before the CIA requested his name be added to TIDE, the FBI asked the Russians for more information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev but received none, and closed its investigation.
The authorities earlier said the US intelligence community had no information about threats to the Boston Marathon ahead of the April 15 attacks.
After a classified briefing in the House intelligence committee on Wednesday, Democratic Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger said he believed the FBI was not at fault.
“I feel, based on the testimony today, that the FBI did exactly what they would do and they followed through the protocols that were necessary once they got that information,” Dutch Ruppersberger told reporters.
He also said he had been told the bombs were detonated with a “garage door opener-type of device”.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was injured during the police manhunt and remains in hospital in a fair condition.
Officers captured him as he hid in a boat covered by a tarpaulin in a garden in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Officials initially had said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev exchanged gunfire with police for more than an hour before he was captured on Friday.
But the Associated Press quoted two unnamed officials as saying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been unarmed when he was captured.
The younger brother has been charged in hospital with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could be sentenced to death if convicted on either count.
In bedside questioning, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has said he and his brother were angry about the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the brothers are not believed to have had direct contact with a militant organization, politicians said after closed-door briefings.
It is suspected the brothers became radicalized online.
The suspects’ parents, Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, are due to arrive in the US on Thursday, Russian media reported.
The Tsarnaev family has origins in the predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya in southern Russia.
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been living in the US for about a decade at the time of the Boston Marathon attack.
In 2012, Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent six months with relatives in Dagestan, another Russian republic, which has an Islamist militant insurgency.
Two unnamed US officials have revealed to the Associated Press that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was unarmed when police captured him hiding inside David Henneberry’s boat in Watertown.
The report contradicts the Boston police department’s own account of Dzhokar Tsarnaev’s capture on Friday – after commissioner Edward F. Davis described a firefight between him and officers before the terror suspect was captured.
The New York Times also said an M4 rifle had been found on the boat – another claim contradicted by the latest revelations.
Officers had originally said they had exchanged gunfire with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for more than one hour Friday evening before they were able to subdue him.
But on Wednesday, the law enforcement officials told the AP that no gun was found aboard the vessel.
It also contradicts many media accounts of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s final moments of freedom.
The New York Times reported that an M-4 carbine rifle – similar to the weapon used by American troops fighting in Afghanistan – was found aboard the boat and that officials had recovered two handguns and a bb gun used by the two brothers.
Two unnamed US officials have told the AP that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was unarmed when police captured him hiding inside the boat
The throat wound sustained by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was also said by numerous law enforcement sources to be self inflicted.
Sources told Newsday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s bullet wound looked to be self-inflicted, due to the location of the wound and the trajectory of the bullet.
Reuters reported that the Boston bomber was shot through the mouth by a round that exited through his neck.
Dozens of bullet holes were seen on the exterior of David Henneberry’s boat in photos taken shortly after the final standoff in the Watertown backyard.
The officials told the AP that say investigators only recovered a 9 mm handgun believed to have been used by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s brother, Tamerlan, from the site of a gun battle Thursday night, which injured a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was believed to have been shot before he escaped.
Meanwhile the suspect told the FBI that they were angry about the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the killing of Muslims there, officials said.
How much of those conversations will end up in court is unclear.
The FBI normally tells suspects they have the right to remain silent before questioning them so all their statements can be used against them.
Under pressure from Congress, however, the Department of Justice has said investigators may wait until they have gathered intelligence about other threats before reading those rights in terrorism cases.
The American Civil Liberties Union has expressed concern about that.
Regardless, investigators have found pieces of remote-control equipment among the debris and were analyzing them, officials said.
One official described the detonator as “close-controlled”, meaning it had to be triggered within several blocks of the bombs.
Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate for Venezuela’s presidency, has threatened to take action over disputed votes he claims were “stolen” by Nicolas Maduro’s government.
Henrique Capriles Radonski demanded details of an audit of the vote the electoral council says it will carry out.
He said the council had a “deadline” of Thursday, but did not specify what action he would take.
Nicolas Maduro won the April 14 election by less than two percentage points.
He was sworn in as president last week, succeeding his mentor Hugo Chavez, who died in March of cancer.
Henrique Capriles has threatened to take action over disputed votes he claims were “stolen” by Nicolas Maduro’s government
But the opposition cried foul, and tensions in the divided country have reached fever pitch, with the government accusing the opposition of fomenting coup attempts and the opposition accusing the government of “desperate lies”.
Nine people died in post-election protests and both the government and opposition are planning more protests on 1st of May.
Henrique Capriles says the vote was marred by thousands of irregularities, including voter intimidation, and has demanded a full recount.
The national electoral council (CNE) offered an electronic audit of the vote last week, to begin this week, but says Nicolas Maduro’s victory remains “irreversible”.
It has so far failed to give any details of the audit and on Wednesday Henrique Capriles said he would wait only until Thursday.
“We will not accept a joke audit,” Henrique Capriles said at a news conference.
“It’s time to get serious.”
Henrique Capriles repeated his accusations that Nicolas Maduro had manipulated poll results, telling a news conference: “The truth – and it is as big as our country is wide – is that you stole the election. That is the truth.
“You stole this electoral process, and you have to explain that to this country and to the world.”
The government, meanwhile, accuses the opposition of stirring up the post-election violence in a bid to engender a coup, and the government-controlled National Assembly has now announced a commission to investigate whether Henrique Capriles was responsible.
Pedro Carreno, who will head the commission, dubbed Henrique Capriles a “murderer” as he announced its formation – joining the National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello, who has called him a “fascist murderer”.
Prisons Minister Iris Varela, meanwhile, has said a jail cell awaits Henrique Capriles.
Media coverage of the post-election violence has been at odds, with state media describing pro-opposition mobs torching health clinics but opposition media saying many reports of the violence were fabricated.
South Korea’s economy growth rate hit a two-year high in the first quarter of 2013, boosted by a rebound in construction, investment and exports.
The economy grew by 0.9% in the January to March quarter from the Q4 2012, the central bank’s estimates showed.
The data is likely to help allay fears over the health of the Korean economy.
Earlier this year, the government cut its growth forecast for the current year amid a slowdown in exports.
However, the latest data showed a 3.2% quarter-on-quarter growth in exports during the period.
South Korea’s economy growth rate hit a two-year high in the first quarter of 2013, boosted by a rebound in construction, investment and exports
That compares with a 1.2% drop in the previous quarter.
South Korea’s exports, which account for almost half of its overall output, have been hit by slowing demand in key markets such as the US and the eurozone.
Demand in the eurozone has been hurt by the bloc’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis, while the US economic recovery has also been fragile.
Some analysts warned that despite the positive data, exports continue to be fragile as conditions in those markets have not improved substantially.
“I think it’s hard to say that the economy is turning around as export growth completely halted,” said Jun Min-Kyoo, an economist at Korea Investment and Securities.
“Companies are still panicking about poor exports.”
There have also been fears over the impact movements in the currency markets may have on Korean exports.
The South Korean won has risen by nearly 10% against the US dollar since May, making its exports more expensive to foreign buyers.
Meanwhile, there has been a sharp decline in the Japanese yen, which has dipped almost 20% against the US dollar since November 2012, triggered by an aggressive monetary policy stance by the new Japanese government.
There have been fears that because Japan and South Korea compete in similar markets, Korean goods may lose out as a result of the currency moves and that such developments may also hurt South Korea’s overall growth.
However, analysts said the latest data indicated that the moves had not had a significant effect on the sector.
“Exports improved even though the yen was depreciating, suggesting that there hasn’t been any major impact on growth yet,” said Kong Dong-Pak, an analyst at Hanwha Securities.
As a result, policymakers have been taking measures to boost domestic consumption in an attempt to offset the decline in foreign sales and sustain growth.
Last week, the government unveiled a 17.3 trillion won ($15.3 billion) stimulus plan.
It said the funds would be used to help small and medium-sized exporters, create jobs, boost a stagnant property market and cover a shortfall in tax revenue.
The move is expected to help boost annual growth by 0.3 percentage point this year and create 40,000 jobs.
Analysts said that as the plan is implemented and starts to impact real growth, policymakers may revise their projections upwards.
“Once the government’s extra budget starts kicking in, it’s possible that the Bank of Korea could raise its 2013 growth forecast come July,” said Kong Dong-Pak of Hanwha Securities.
Mexican teachers incensed by sweeping education reforms have attacked the buildings of political parties in the south-western state of Guerrero.
For several hours, masked protesters started fires and attacked the offices with pickaxes and sticks, spraying slogans on the walls.
Guerrer governor has called for support from the federal government.
The reforms impose centralized teacher assessment and seek to end corrupt practices in the education system.
Those practices include the buying and selling of teaching positions.
But unions say the reforms could lead to big lay-offs, and critics also suggest they may be paving the way for the privatization of Mexico’s education system.
Mexican teachers incensed by sweeping education reforms have attacked the buildings of political parties in the south-western state of Guerrero
Wednesday’s protests came a day after the Guerrero state legislature refused to amend the educational bill, which includes constitutional changes which must be passed by each state.
Police stood by during Wednesday’s rampage in the state capital, Chilpancingo – though hundreds are guarding the state legislature.
Dozens of protesters targeted the local headquarters of the governing party, the PRI, as well as the offices of the opposition PAN and PRD, which have supported the reforms.
A senator’s office and state education department building were also attacked by the demonstrators, who broke windows and tossed computer equipment, desks and chairs out of the windows.
They burned papers inside the offices, some of which still had frightened workers inside when the masked men broke in, and sprayed slogans including “traitors of the people” on the walls.
The teachers are part of the country’s smaller, more radical union, the National Co-ordinator of Education Workers.
Union spokesman Minervo Moran said the violent protests were “a reaction to the aggressive policies that are being imposed by the reforms and that’s why there was this sort of action against the parties” that voted against the protesters’ proposals.
Guerrero Governor Angel Aguirre called for federal back-up and the PRI chairman Cesar Camacho pledged to investigate the unrest.
“We need to avoid the law of the jungle imposing itself, chaos and the breakdown of public order,” Cesar Camacho was quoted as saying.
Recently formed civilian self-defence groups are thought to have joined the demonstrators wreaking havoc on Wednesday.
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto signed the education law in February, but parliamentarians need to draw up separate legislation to implement it.
Switzerland has decided to renew restrictions on immigration from eight central and eastern EU countries.
There is concern in Switzerland about a growing influx of workers from poorer EU members.
Restrictions on the number of work permits will be extended for 12 months from May.
Though not an EU member, Switzerland signed up to the bloc’s rules on freedom of movement and now faces criticism from Brussels.
The Swiss government says the quotas could be extended to 17 more EU countries – in western and southern Europe – from June.
Switzerland has decided to renew restrictions on immigration from eight central and eastern EU countries
When it signed up to the freedom of movement rules in 1999, Switzerland claimed the right enact a “safeguard clause” if the annual influx of workers from countries including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, exceeds a certain number.
The government said it “came to the conclusion that the safeguard clause is one of several measures which can help to make immigration more acceptable to society and compatible with its needs.”
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton criticized the move.
“These measures disregard the great benefits that the free movement of persons brings to the citizens of both Switzerland and the EU,” said a statement from her office.
It said the measures were in violation of the free movement agreement.
EU officials have always told Switzerland it cannot cherry pick only those parts of European policy it likes best.
The Swiss government has come under pressure from both the right-wing People’s Party, and the Green Party, which say immigration has reached unsustainable levels.
Switzerland has low unemployment, high salaries, and a safe currency.
Even before the start of the eurozone crisis, large numbers of highly skilled workers from Germany and France were seeking jobs in Switzerland, our correspondent says, and in the last two years many more have arrived from Spain, Portugal and Italy.
A government statement said the number of people arriving in Switzerland had exceeded the number leaving by up to 80,000 in recent years.
Limiting work permits “can help to make immigration more acceptable to society”, the statement said.
An amateur video has revealed how off-duty firefighter Matt Patterson came to the rescue of 7-year-old Jane Richard in the Boston Marathon terror attack which killed her 8-year-old brother Martin.
Matt Patterson wearing a red T-shirt is seen rushing to the aid of little Jane Richard, who lost a leg in the attack and remains hospitalized in a critical condition.
Jane Richard is seen sitting up and then lying in the middle of the road, moments after standing on the sidelines where she was photographed alongside her brother Martin.
The photograph reveals how Jane and Martin Richard were standing just yards from terror suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Following the bomb attack others are filmed standing around stunned but Matt Patterson leaps into action.
Just before the explosion the firefighter had been enjoying a meal with his girlfriend in a nearby restaurant.
Matt Patterson wearing a red T-shirt is seen rushing to the aid of Jane Richard, who lost a leg in the Boston Marathon attack and remains hospitalized in a critical condition
“This child for some reason just jumped at me – it was tunnel vision,” Matt Patterson said.
“I could see the damage. I could see that she needed a tourniquet. She needed surgery, it was obvious from what I saw.”
“I go up to a business guy and ask for his belt, he hands it over without hesitation. I have to stop the bleeding. I am making the tourniquet and another man comes and I ask him to hold it for pressure. I’m looking up and down the street – looking for where I can bring the child to an ambulance or more care.”
Matt Patterson and the other man ran with Jane Richard to a waiting ambulance. The girl has lost a leg and remains in a critical condition in hospital but is expected to survive her injuries.
Yesterday it emerged Jane Richard is an enthusiastic Irish dancer having attended classes at the Clifden Academy of Irish Dance in Milton since the age of three.
Several Irish dance groups are now raising money to support her.
Author Iain Banks has said the messages of support he has received from fans since announcing he has terminal cancer have been “astounding”.
On 3 April, the 59-year-old Scottish writer announced he was suffering from gall bladder cancer, saying it was “extremely unlikely I’ll live beyond a year”.
Writing on Banksophilia, a website set up by a friend, Iain Banks said: “Good grief! – what an outpouring of love, affection and respect. I honestly had no idea.”
“I feel treasured,” the author added.
“I am deeply flattered and touched, and I can’t deny I’ve been made to feel very special indeed.”
Iain Banks has said the messages of support he has received from fans since announcing he has terminal cancer have been astounding
Iain Banks’ first novel The Wasp Factory was published in 1984 and was ranked as one of the best 100 books of the 20th Century in a 1997 poll conducted by book chain Waterstone’s and Channel 4.
“It’s only the fact that I’ve been able to pre-announce my own demise that has allowed me to realize my portion of that love in full while I’m still around to appreciate it,” Iain Banks wrote.
“Which has got me thinking; I need to tell other writers how much their work has meant to me while they are (and I am) still alive.”
“I think I’ll start with the amazing Mr. Alasdair Gray.”
Iain Banks wrote that he had recently returned to the UK following a short honeymoon in Venice and Paris with his wife Adele.
His proposal, he revealed with trademark black humor, ended with the words: “Will you do me the honor of becoming my widow?”
Iain Banks cancelled public engagements following his diagnosis and asked his publishers to bring forward the release of his new book The Quarry.
The author also writes sci-fi titles under the name Iain M. Banks. His latest book The Hydrogen Sonata was released last year.
In his latest post, Iain Banks praised his fans as “bright, clever, highly informed and sometimes worryingly more intelligent than me”.
He added that he was, “of course, deeply happy that I have attracted the attentions of a few of our – how can I put this politely? – more rationality-challenged friends”.
Iain Banks had said there was little chance of surgeons being able to remove the tumors in his liver because of how far they had spread, but had since been offered health advice and links to medical trials that “will be looked at seriously”.
The author signed off the message by saying he would continue to write updates “for as long as I’m able”.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was receiving Massachusetts welfare benefits in the lead up to the deadly attacks at the Boston Marathon.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, lived off state aid while his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, worked as a home healthcare worker, sometimes clocking as many as 80 hours a week while her unemployed husband stayed at home, Massachusetts welfare officials revealed on Wednesday.
Ultimately Katherine Russell’s income made the couple ineligible for welfare and they stopped receiving state money in 2012.
Sources who knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev said that though he sported a flashy appearance, he failed to earn very much money for his family and was essentially a stay-at-home dad.
His younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,on the other hand, has been described as more entrepreneurial.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev worked as a home healthcare worker, sometimes clocking as many as 80 hours a week, while her unemployed husband Tamerlan Tsarnaev stayed at home
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was a sophomore at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, attended the school on a scholarship and earned petty cash selling marijuana, sources told the Boston Globe.
Investigators are scrutinizing the Tsarnaev brothers’ source of income, as they probe whether the pair received outside assistance for their attack, either from a radical group or foreign government.
Security experts have noted though that the modus operandi was relatively cheap, estimating that the materials for each of the pressure cooker bombs used at the Boston Marathon attack could have cost a total of $100 each.
It is not known when Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Katherine Russell, the mother of the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, began receiving the aid.
They “were not receiving transitional assistance benefits at the time of the [Boston Marathon blasts]”, Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services spokesman Alec Loftus told the Boston Herald.
Both suspects believed to be behind the bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar, had also received welfare as children.
Their parents, Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, relied on state assistance when they moved to America from the Russian republic of Dagestan.
State officials have been reluctant to discuss whether the Tsarnaevs had received state money when they immigrated to the U.S. in the early 2000s.
Ultimately, after pressure from the press the state welfare benefits office divulged the information to the Boston Herald.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has launched into a bizarre rant in which she claims she does not care if she or her youngest son are to be killed by US authorities.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who now lives in Dagestan, Russia, said in an emotional telephone interview that she believes her sons, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, have been framed for the bombings.
The suspects’ father, Anzor Tsarnaev, has already been interviewed by Russian and American authorities and will make his way to the United States along with his ex-wife as early as Thursday.
Their eldest son, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died after a shootout with police in Watertown, Massachusetts on Friday, while Dzhokhar, 19, is in hospital recovering from a wound to the neck.
“If they are going to kill him, I don’t care,” Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told CNN of Dzhokhar.
“My oldest one is killed, so I don’t care. I don’t care is my youngest one is going to be killed today. I want the world to hear this.
‘And I don’t care if I am going to get killed too. And I will say Allahu akbar!”
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva has launched into a bizarre rant saying she does not care if she or her son Dzhokhar are to be killed by US authorities
While Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was reportedly injured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as he sought to hide from police in a boat parked in a backyard, his mother said she does not believe this account.
“You know what I think? I think now they will try to make my Dzhokhar guilty because they took away his voice, his ability to talk to the world… They did not want the truth to come out,” Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said.
She added that the only reason her sons were targeted was because they were Muslim, adding that she saw footage of Tamerlan Tsarnaev being killed “really cruelly”.
U.S. authorities are on their way to speak with Zubeidat Tsarnaeva in the aftermath of the bombings.
JLS have announced that they are splitting up after five years together.
In a statement on their official website the former British X Factor boy band thanked their fans.
“We wanted to make sure that you heard it from the four of us, that we have decided to bring our time as a band to an end,” the statement said.
The band also said they would put together a final album, Goodbye; The Greatest Hits, with a new single to coincide with a farewell tour.
“Goodbye; The Greatest Hits Tour will be the last time that we will perform together as a four and we want to make sure that this tour is the best ever and that we end on a high!
“We will always remain brothers and friends and we will always be your boys.
“Thanks to all of you guys, your support, your dedication and you have changed our lives forever. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you.”
JLS have announced that they are splitting up after five years together
JLS first appeared on The X Factor in 2008 finishing second to Alexandra Burke and are made up of Oritse Williams, Marvin Humes, J.B. Gill and Aston Merrygold.
In their time together they have had five number one singles and released four studio albums.
JLS’s debut album is the third biggest-selling X Factor debut ever behind Leona Lewis and One Direction.
One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson tweeted: “Sad to hear about JLS. Wish them all the best of luck in what they go on to do.”
The band will continue to work on the JLS Foundation after they spilt up. The charity was started three years ago.
“As always we will continue to support each other and we hope you will enjoy watching us grow individually in our new chapters going forward. We want to look at this final year as a celebration of all that we have achieved together.
“We hope you can look back and remember all the great moments that you have been responsible for.”
J.B. tweeted to fans: “I also know you will all take this in different ways but we will always be there for you guys even though we are no longer a group!!J x.
“Roll on the greatest hits tour!! The next chapter has begun, watch this space…hehe J x.”
Over their career, JLS have sold more than six million records, won two Brit awards in 2010 and five Mobo awards.
Marvin Humes, 28, married Saturdays singer Rochelle Wiseman last year and they are expecting their first child.
The group launched their own range of condoms and Aston Merrygold is a judge on Sky’s Got To Dance series.
J.B. Gill has developed an interest in farming.
Ahead of their farewell tour they are also playing several festivals across the UK in June, July and August.
Beyonce has banned professional photographers from her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in an apparent attempt to prevent the release of unflattering pictures after Super Bowl experience.
No photo credentials are to be granted for her concerts, Beyonce’s UK publicist has confirmed, and instead she’s hired her own snapper, Frank Micelotta, to capture her in action – and her best angles.
Fstoppers.com revealed Beyonce’s company Parkwood Entertainment is giving out three to five pre-approved images shot to media after the show.
The photography ban comes after it was widely reported back in February the singer’s publicist had asked agencies or websites to remove “unflattering” photos of Beyonce during the energetic performance at the Super Bowl.
However, bloggers fear that the move by Beyonce’s camp may backfire, with publications and websites instead buying in pictures from fans and amateurs.
“They thought by not letting photographers in, they will have full control over the photos shown in the media,” F-Stoppers blogger Noam Galai writes.
“Huge mistake. Now not only is the mainstream media showing unflattering photos of her, they are showing bad-quality unflattering photos of her.”
Noam Galai, a professional photographer, believes that “unflattering photographs published of the star at the Super Bowl were the result of pressure to get snaps of the event out quickly with no time for much sorting or retouching”.
Beyonce has banned professional photographers from her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in an apparent attempt to prevent the release of unflattering pictures after Super Bowl experience
He adds: “But in almost any other event, such as normal concerts, photographers have time to go through the images, get rid of the bad ones and send out the absolute best. Generally speaking, no one wants to post bad pictures.
“Banning professional photographers from all shows is simply stupid. Beyonce needs to use the media to her advantage, not fight it. Playing games with the media will cause more harm than good.”
Meanwhile, a Beyonce-approved video has been released to fans and unsurprisingly, she looks great in every frame.
The singer shows off snippets of three songs, a glimpse at her various designer costumes and a look at some of the dance moves and sweeping spectacle of the whole show.
The video starts with Beyonce’s rising to the stage in her white Ralph & Russo one-piece to the opening beats of Run The World (Girls).
She shouted: “How y’all doing… I want you to put your fists up.”
After a few bars of the song, there is a brief shot of her controversial “nipples” gold bodysuit designed by The Blonds.
The short promo also features Beyonce in her red Alon Livne gown, a black fringed ensemble and back to the Ralph & Russo number.
Beyonce is then seen flying over the crowd on a rig in her navy blue catsuit Dennis Kolpodinos as she sings Love On Top.
During the 90-second clip, there is Beyonce’s signature wind machine blowing her hair off her face and lots of wide shots to include the audience.
She ends the video by slowing the pace down for Halo, which sees snippets of her outfits, ending with Beyonce in the blue catsuit sitting with her eyes closed on stage.
Beyonce’s tour kicked off in Serbia on April 15 and is set to resume in Paris on Wednesday night.
The 65-gig tour comes to the UK on Friday and will arrive in the U.S. in June.
It appears that Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has a criminal record and is a confessed shoplifter.
According to a police report from 2007, Katherine Russell was arrested that year for stealing $67 worth of clothing from an Old Navy store in Warwick, Rhode Island.
And in an intriguing twist, Katherine Russell, who was 18 at the time, told officers she was married though she was living at parent’s North Kingstown home and did not meet Tamerlan Tsranaev until some two years later.
The startling revelation of this tawdry incident raises fresh questions over the past and character of the “all-American girl” “brainwashed” according to her friends, by her fanatic husband.
Katherine Russell, no 25, was arrested along with an unnamed female minor on 26 June 2007. Then, the police report states, she was “skinny” with hazel eyes and red or auburn hair – now firmly concealed by the Hijab. She is described as unemployed and married.
Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, the widow of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has a criminal record and is a confessed shoplifter
Old Navy store security guard Linda Lewis stopped the girls having watched Katherine Russelll and her companion enter the store, select several items and put them in their handbags.
In 2011 Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, was charged with stealing several designer dresses worth $1,600 from a store in suburban Natick.
Katherine Russell’s foray was hardly on the same scale. She took five items valuing $67; her friend took three with a total item of $125.
She was placed in handcuffs and taken to Warwick Police Department.
According to the store Loss Prevention Agent Linda Lewis: “They admitted to shoplifting the items and handed the over without further incident.”
Katherine Russell was summonsed to appear at Kent County Courthouse where her charge was dismissed on paying a $200 fine and doing community service.
That fall Katherine Russell enrolled in a Communications course at Suffolk University, Boston, an act that led to her meeting Tamerlan Tsranaev in a nightclub and the relationship that would ultimately derail her college dreams completely.
The minaret of Umayyad Mosque, one of Syria’s most famous, has been destroyed during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo.
The state news agency Sana accused rebels of blowing up the 11th-Century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque.
However, activists say the minaret was hit by Syrian army tank fire.
The mosque, which is a Unesco world heritage site, has been in rebel hands since earlier this year but the area around it is still contested.
Last October Unesco appealed for the protection of the site, which it described as “one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim world”.
Images posted on the internet showed the minaret reduced to a pile of rubble in the mosque’s tiled courtyard.
The minaret of Umayyad Mosque, one of Syria’s most famous, has been destroyed during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo
Other parts of the mosque complex – which dates mostly from the 12th Century – have been badly damaged by gunfire and shell hits.
A report by Sana said fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group had destroyed the once famous landmark.
It quoted an official source saying that “terrorists… placed explosive materials in the minaret and the mosque’s southern door and set them off”.
However, Aleppo-based activist Mohammed al-Khatib, quoted by AP news agency, said a tank shell had “totally destroyed” the 45 m (148 ft) minaret.
The mosque has suffered extensive damage during months of fighting, with antique furnishings and intricately sculpted colonnades affected.
Reports say some ancient artefacts have also been looted, including a box purported to contain a strand of the Prophet Muhammad’s hair.
However, rebels said they had salvaged ancient handwritten Koranic manuscripts and hidden them.
Earlier, rebels and government forces reportedly clashed near Aleppo as they fought for control of a military airbase.
Rebels took a key military position outside the Minnigh airport on Tuesday and launched another raid on Wednesday, according to opposition activists with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“The rebels, who have laid siege to the airport for months now, entered it for the first time around dawn,” Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based activist group, told AFP news agency.
Heavy fighting was taking place in the grounds, he added.
Analysts say losing control of the airport would be a strategic blow for the government.
The Free Syrian Army has been trying to seize a number of airbases in the area to disrupt regime supply routes.
Enrico Letta appears set to become Italy’s new prime minister, after being asked by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a broad coalition government.
The appointment of Enrico Letta, currently deputy leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, could see the end of two months of parliamentary deadlock.
An inconclusive general election in February left the country in political limbo.
Enrico Letta, 46, said he would aim to change the course in Europe on austerity.
“European policies are too focused on austerity which is no longer enough,” he said, following the closed-door meeting with the president in Rome.
He also said he had accepted the post knowing that it was an enormous responsibility and that Italy’s political class “has lost all credibility”.
Enrico Letta must now form a cabinet that can win cross-party support and a vote of confidence in parliament, possibly this weekend.
Factions from across the political spectrum, including former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing People of Freedom Party (PDL), have indicated that they are ready to form a coalition under a figure like Enrico Letta.
However, Silvio Berlusconi’s party and the Democratic Party (PD) differ on a number of issues.
Enrico Letta appears set to become Italy’s new prime minister, after being asked by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a broad coalition government
PDL National Secretary Angelino Alfano warned that his group would not take part in a government unconditionally.
Enrico Letta, once a member of the former centre-right Christian Democrats, is seen as moderate of the left. His uncle, Gianni Letta, has been Silvio Berlusconi’s chief-of-staff for 10 years.
A broad political alliance would again make Silvio Berlusconi a major influence.
This awkward coming together of bitter rivals is seen as the only way to end the parliamentary stalemate and put an administration in place.
But it is a forced political marriage that may not last long.
Enrico Letta’s candidacy for prime minister came about after the PD leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, announced his resignation last week.
He had ruled out working with Silvio Berlusconi and faced a party rebellion over his choice for Italian president.
The third strongest political force to come out of February’s election, former comedian Beppe Grillo’s Five Star movement, could not be persuaded to join a coalition and is expected to be in opposition.
With the Italian economy still struggling, the new government will be expected to try to implement a limited range of economic and institutional reforms.
Among its priorities will be an effort to re-shape the current election law. The aim would be to ensure that future general elections would deliver more emphatic, clear-cut results.
Enrico Letta’s appointment follows the swearing-in on Monday of President Giorgio Napolitano, who berated his country’s feuding politicians.
Taking up an unprecedented second term, he told the assembled MPs that they had been guilty of a long series of failings and that their inability to implement key reforms had been “unforgivable”.
Giorgio Napolitano has threatened to resign if no administration is formed.
A US study at Texas Christian University suggests that menus displaying the exercise needed to burn calories in meals can help people consume less.
The research team found that diners given this extra information ordered and ate less calorific food than other customers.
Knowing it takes two hours of brisk walking to burn off a cheeseburger may be more of a warning than being told how many calories it contains, the researchers say.
The researchers now plan larger trials.
Dr. Meena Shah and Ashlei James divided 300 volunteers aged 18 to 30 randomly into three groups.
One received a menu without any calorie information, another menus with the calories displayed, and the third menus that showed both calories and the amount of exercise needed to burn them off.
All of the menus offered the same choice of food and drink, which included burgers, sandwiches, salad, chips, soft drinks and water.
A US study at Texas Christian University suggests that menus displaying the exercise needed to burn calories in meals can help people consume less
Calories:
Calories (kcal) are a measure of the amount of energy in food
Exercising burns calories
An average man needs about 2,500kcal a day
An average woman needs about 2,000kcal a day
The values can vary depending on age and levels of physical activity
The study assumed a brisk walking pace of 3.5 mph (5.5 km/h)
None of the volunteers was aware of the reason for the study and the researchers took into account hunger levels when interpreting their findings.
The group given the menus with the extra information about how much brisk walking would be needed to burn off the food ordered and ate much less than the group who had menus with no calorie information.
They consumed 100 fewer calories, on average, as a result.
Dr. Meena Shah said: “This is the first study to look at the effects of displaying minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories on the calories ordered and consumed.
“This study suggests there are benefits.”
The researchers say brisk walking is something nearly everyone can relate to.
“We can’t generalize to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group,” Dr. Meena Shah added.
They will present their findings at the Experimental Biology 2013 meeting in Boston.
Fashion designer Jeremy Scott has created three limited edition models for Smart Car, titled Smart ForJeremy.
Jeremy Scott, 38, whose trademark wings have adorned Swatch watches and high-top Adidas sneakers worn by the likes of Kanye West since 2008, has taken on a larger creative project with the Smart Car.
Made of transparent fiberglass, rocket-shaped wings serve as the car’s brake lights; and the luxurious interior includes diamond-stitched upholstery and a leather-wrapped dashboard
With prices ranging from $43,000 to $53,000, Jeremy Scott’s Smart Car costs nearly twice as much as the standard Smart Fortwo that they are based on, according to Fox News.
Jeremy Scott, whose name is synonymous with punk, has created custom outfits for Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Katy Perry; and is the first designer to make changes to a vehicle’s exterior body.
The hardest part of the project, the fashion designer said, was keeping it a secret for an entire year.
After he gave Smart his initial hand-drawn sketch, it took eight months to fully develop the car – working with the Smart Design Division at the Mercedes-Benz Cars Advanced Design Studios in Carlsbad, California.
Fashion designer Jeremy Scott has created three limited edition models for Smart Car, titled Smart ForJeremy
Jeremy Scott’s idea, described by Smart designer Gorden Wagener as a “veritable fireball of creativity”, was “to make something that would be a fetish design object”.
The wheel rims are made of shiny chrome, because, “being a fashion person, I like to look at myself a lot”, Jeremy Scott remarked. Meanwhile, the interior emulates a “luxurious handbag”.
Black velour floor mats with white leather borders and a Jeremy Scott signature completes the distinctive interior look.
Jeremy Scott said he was thrilled to see his Smart ForJeremy concept, which debuted at last year’s LA auto show in November, become a production reality.
He said: “I wanted to design something out of the ordinary, something that expressed my dreams and fantasies and that transferred my fashion ideas to automotive design.
“I see myself driving this car and can well imagine my friends and cool people all over the world loving the unique design of this Smart.”
Production of the Smart ForJeremy, which will be offered with three powertrain options: 55kW EV, 60kW Brabus EV, and 75kW Brabus 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol, is scheduled to begin later this month.
Annette Winkler, head of Smart, said: “I really look forward to cruising the city in this item of haute couture.”
The family of Chinese graduate student Lu Lingzi, 23, attended a memorial service at Boston University for their daughter, who was killed in the Boston Marathon attack.
Hundreds of people, including state Governor Deval Patrick, joined Lu Lingzi’s father and her aunt who had travelled from Shenyang, China, to repatriate their daughter’s remains.
The family of Chinese graduate student Lu Lingzi attended a memorial service at Boston University for their daughter
“She’s gone but our memories of her are very much alive,” said her father, Lu Jun, who spoke in his native tongue and was followed by an English interpreter.
“An ancient Chinese saying says every child is actually a little Buddha that helps their parents mature and grow up.”
The Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 killed three and injured more than 200, 48 of whom were still in hospital, three in a critical condition, according to Reuters.
At least 14 people lost all or part of a limb and three of them lost more than one.
Doctors say every one of the people injured in the Boston Marathon blasts who made it to a hospital alive now seem likely to survive.
On Saturday estimates of the injured jumped from 180 to 264 as people with delayed health issues arrived at hospital.
Nick Martin, a spokesman for the health commission, explained the sudden jump across 26 hospitals.
The Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 killed three and injured more than 200, 48 of whom were still in hospital, three in a critical condition
“One of the best examples is hearing issues,” Nick Martin said.
“People might have first thought their hearing problems would be temporary.”
Others sought delayed care for minor shrapnel wounds.
The injured include several people who arrived with legs attached by just a little skin, a 3-year-old boy with a head wound and bleeding on the brain, and a little girl riddled with nails.
Even a transit system police officer whose heart had stopped and was close to bleeding to death after a shoot-out with the suspects now appears headed for recovery.
Three people died in the terror attack at the Boston Marathon finish line: Martin Richard, 8, Krystle Campbel, 29, and Lu Lingzi, 23.
