June Shannon showed off her slimmer figure and her revamped blonde hairdo on a stroll with daughter Honey Boo Boo in New York.
It seems that June Shannon doesn’t want to admit her ongoing makeover was intentional.
“No, I have not felt no pressure to change,” Mama June told the Huffington Post.
“I was blond about six years ago and I wanted to go back blond, so I went back blond and I loved it.
“I have lost 115 pounds, but that’s because I’m on the go. We love fried food, but I lost that weight because I’m more active doing things.”
June Shannon showed off her slimmer figure and her revamped blonde hairdo on a stroll with daughter Honey Boo Boo in New York
Certainly a walk through Manhattan will provide some healthy exercise, but while June Shannon was content with just walking, Honey Boo Boo was all about a hot dog.
Honey Boo Boo demolished one of New York’s finest as her mother looked on.
The reality star wore a bright pink tutu and matching hooded top with her name written in curly style on the top left hand corner.
Her look was completed with some white gladiator sandals with a cork wedge
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is one of many of the American broadcasters shows to screen in the UK when it launches next month.
The TLC channel will begin to broadcast to the UK on April 30th.
Jay Leno will reportedly receive a $15 million payoff as he steps down as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show months ahead of the end of his contract.
The payout is part of Jay Leno’s deal to leave The Tonight Show – which he has hosted for 22 years – before his contract expires in September 2014, making way for Jimmy Fallon as the new host.
According to the New York Daily News, the payoff – which equates to Jay Leno’s annual salary on the show – is peanuts for the comedian, who makes the biggest bucks for standup in Las Vegas.
As the shake-up was confirmed after weeks of speculation, Jay Leno told Jimmy Fallon he was “counting on” him to keep network ratings high.
In his opening monologue of Wednesday’s show Jay Leno said: “I just have one request of Jimmy. We’ve all fought, kicked and scratched to get this network up to fifth place, okay?
“Now we have to keep it there. Jimmy don’t let it slip into sixth. We’re counting on you.”
Jay Leno will reportedly receive a $15 million payoff as he steps down as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show months ahead of the end of his contract
The replacement move, which had been anticipated for weeks, was announced yesterday and will officially take place following NBC’s broadcast of the Winter Olympics.
Jimmy Fallon will more than double his multi-million dollar salary when he takes over from outgoing host Jay Leno next year on The Tonight Show.
Industry insiders predict that Jimmy Fallon will see the $5 million he gets for fronting The Late Show boosted to $12 million when he goes head-to-head with CBS’ David Letterman and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in February.
Although Jimmy Fallon’s pay packet will be 3 million less than the $15 million Jay Leno takes home, it still represents a massive show of faith in Fallon, who has been working late night television for less than 5 years.
Jay Leno 62, who was temporarily removed from The Tonight Show in 2009 in favor of Conan O’Brien, had made repeated jokes about his bosses and the network in recent weeks while rumors swirled over the latest move.
But he and Jimmy Fallon, 38, presented a united front while announcing the news. They recently made a parody video set to a tune from West Side Story that lampooned their situation.
“The main difference between this and the other time is I’m part of the process. The last time the decision was made without me. I came into work one day and – you’re out,” Jay Leno said, comparing his previous ouster and now.
“This time around there really aren’t any complications like there were the last time,” he added, according to the New York Times.
“This time it feels right.”
Jay Leno also said in a press release: “Congratulations Jimmy. I hope you’re as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you’re the old guy. If you need me, I’ll be at the garage.”
The Tonight Show will be relocated from Los Angeles to New York, where the program started in 1954 when Steve Allen was its host.
Jay Leno – aside from the brief interruption when Conan O’Brien hosted the program – has been the show’s presenter since 1992.
He has routinely been tops in the ratings, even as NBC’s primetime and daytime programming has fallen off.
“I’m glad I’ve kept it No. 1,” Jay Leno said.
“When I started people said, <<Oh the only reason you’re winning is because of ‘ER>>, or <<The only reason you’re winning is because Hugh Grant came on and said that one thing>>. Well, at least now I can say the only reason we’re winning is cause we’re winning.”
After leaving, Jay Leno said he expects to be “back on the road, being a comedian again”.
Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, who also produces Late Night, will take over as producer of the new Tonight Show.
Jimmy Fallon’s replacement at 12:35 a.m. was not named, although Seth Meyers of SNL is considered a strong candidate.
NBC is worried that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, whose show recently started at the 11:35 p.m. time slot, will establish himself as a go-to late night performer for a younger generation if the network didn’t move swiftly to install Jimmy Fallon.
North Korea has shifted a missile with “considerable range” to its east coast, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kim Kwan-jin has announced.
Kim Kwan-jin played down concerns that the missile could target the US mainland, and said North Korea’s intentions were not yet clear.
Pyongyang earlier renewed threats of a nuclear strike against the US, though its missiles are not believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The US is responding to North Korea by moving missile defense shields to Guam.
Meanwhile, Russia said Pyongyang’s attempts to “violate decisions of the UN Security Council are categorically unacceptable”.
“This radically complicates, if it doesn’t in practice shut off, the prospects for resuming six-party talks,” foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement on Thursday.
North Korea has shifted a missile with “considerable range” to its east coast
The talks involving North and South Korea, the US, Russia, China and Japan were last held in late 2008.
Japan said it was co-operating closely with the US and South Korea to monitor North Korea’s next move.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said that although the rhetoric was “increasingly provocative”, Tokyo would “calmly” watch the situation.
Government spokesman Yoshihide Suga earlier told reporters that Japan was braced for a “worst-case scenario”.
The Pentagon said the shield on its Pacific island territory would be ready within weeks, adding to warships already sent to the area.
North Korea has previously named Guam among a list of possible targets for attack that included Hawaii and the US mainland.
Japanese and South Korean reports had suggested the missile being moved by North Korea was a long-range one with a capability of hitting the US west coast.
However, experts believe North Korea’s most powerful rocket, which it test-fired last December, has a range of 3,700 miles (6,000 km) and can reach no further than Alaska.
Kim Kwan-jin told MPs in a parliamentary defense committee meeting that the missile had “considerable range”.
“The missile does not seem to be aimed at the US mainland. It could be aimed at test firing or military drills,” he said.
Analysts have interpreted Kim Kwan-jin’s description as referring to the Musudan missile, estimated to have a range up to 2,500 miles (4,000 km). Guam would be within that range.
North Korea is believed to have its main military research centres in the east.
It has test-fired missiles from there before, and its three nuclear weapons tests were carried out in the east.
Despite its belligerent rhetoric, North Korea has not taken direct military action since 2010, when it shelled a South Korean island and killed four people.
In recent weeks North Korea has threatened nuclear strikes and attacks on specific targets in the US and South Korea.
The communist country has announced a formal declaration of war on the South, and pledged to reopen a mothballed nuclear reactor in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
In its latest statement, attributed to a military spokesman, North Korea appeared to refer to continuing military exercises between the US and South Korea in which the US has flown nuclear-capable bombers over the South.
The statement said the “ever-escalating US hostile policy towards the DPRK [North Korea] and its reckless nuclear threat will be smashed”.
North Korea promised to use “cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means of the DPRK” and said the “merciless operation of its revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified”.
The US Department of Defense said on Wednesday it would deploy the ballistic Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) to Guam in the coming weeks.
The THAAD system includes a truck-mounted launcher and interceptor missiles.
US officials recently also announced that the USS John McCain, a destroyer capable of intercepting missiles, had been positioned off the Korean peninsula.
Some analysts say Pyongyang’s angry statements are of more concern than usual because it is unclear exactly what North Korea hopes to achieve.
As well as the angry statements, North Korea has also shut down an emergency telephone line between Seoul and Pyongyang and stopped South Koreans from working at Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.
Kaesong industrial park, one of the last remaining symbols of co-operation between the neighbors, is staffed mainly by North Koreans but funded and managed by South Korean firms.
Hack attacks hitting online services and exchanges dealing in Bitcoins led to a drop in the value of the virtual currency.
Trading on the MTGox exchange, which handles most trades in Bitcoins, was sluggish yesterday as the site fought off an attack.
The attack helped to force a swift fall in the price of Bitcoins.
In addition, the Instawallet website – where people store Bitcoins – is offline indefinitely after an attack.
Hack attacks hitting online services and exchanges dealing in Bitcoins led to a drop in the value of the virtual currency
The value of Bitcoins surged to a new high this week with each one worth about $142. Barely a week ago, each virtual coin was worth only $90.
But Bitcoins dropped sharply in value as the MTGox exchange came under a sustained attack by hackers. The vast majority of trade in Bitcoins takes place via the site.
In a tweet on its Twitter feed, MTGox said it was fighting off a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which involves a site being bombarded with huge amounts of data. The attack was one of several against the site this week.
The attacks, coupled with a spike in trading volumes, combined to cause delays in trades being confirmed and led the value of Bitcoins to drop sharply to about $120.
The attacks could be the work of malicious hackers who were trying to “game” the exchange and manipulate the value of Bitcoins so they could cash in, MTGox said in an interview with ComputerWorld. Attackers are thought to be working to a cycle in which they sell Bitcoins when values are high, then mount an attack that forces prices to crash, buy up the cheaper coins and then let the value climb again.
MTGox said it did not know when or if the attacks would cease but said Bitcoin owners should not panic and sell off as values fluctuated. A spokesman for the exchange added that it was in the middle of rebuilding its trading technology but the new system, which would do a better job of handling the high volume of trades, would not be ready until the end of this year.
In a separate development, Instawallet has shut down “indefinitely” after hackers “fraudulently accessed” its core database. In a statement posted on the Instawallet site it said it planned to open a claim process shortly so people could reclaim their Bitcoin balance.
Dunkin Donuts is testing glazed donut sandwich, a new kind of breakfast sandwich featuring two crisp slices of bacon and a “pepper fried egg”.
The new menu item is appearing in select eastern Massachusetts outlets, according to Dunkin Donuts.
The glazed donut sandwich is said to be a shockingly low 360 calories according to a Dunkin’ spokeswoman speaking to theAtlantic Wire.
Adding up the ingredients, one regular glazed donut according to their website is approximately 260 calories leaving a figured 100 calories’ room for the bacon and egg.
Dunkin Donuts is testing glazed donut sandwich, a new kind of breakfast sandwich featuring two crisp slices of bacon and a pepper fried egg
Dunkin Donuts aren’t any set plans to expand the glazed donut sandwich nationally as of yet, however, with reviews of the item still coming in according to the company.
“We are pleased with the response so far, however, we cannot share any specific sales data. That said, the product has only been in restaurants for two days so we have limited information available,” a Dunkin’ spokesperson told the Wire.
The glazed donut sandwich would be sold at a suggested retail price of $2.99.
Such an item isn’t exactly new, however, at least for other food outlets.
Paula Deen’s The Lady’s Brunch Burger features two Krispy Kreme doughnuts as the buns around layers of ground beef, eggs and bacon.
Other items like donut ice cream sandwiches have been seen at smaller eateries around the country.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will officially re-open the Rijksmuseum next week, marking the end of a painful restoration project.
The work at the Dutch state museum in the heart of Amsterdam ran five years over schedule and millions of euros over budget.
The Rijksmuseum has been closed since 2003. Renovation was delayed by flooding, asbestos and a dispute over access for cyclists.
“It was kind of Murphy’s Law,” says museum director Wim Pijbes.
“What could go wrong, did go wrong.”
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will officially re-open the Rijksmuseum next week, marking the end of a painful restoration project
Wim Pijbes added: “It has been closed for 10 years, but now it can go on for decades.”
On Wednesday, Johannes Vermeer’s The Milkmaid was re-hung, making it the last major work to return to the museum.
The painting sits in the Gallery of Honour, a breathtaking cathedral to the Dutch Golden Age, showcasing works by Rembrandt, Jan Steen and Franz Hals.
The old masters draw the eye, but so do the intricately decorated ceilings and pillars that frame them – all painstakingly recreated after being painted over in the post-war years.
In the halls flanking the grand gallery, the decoration is more modern. British artist Richard Wright, a former Turner Prize winner, has dusted the ceilings with almost 50,000 stars, hand-painted in a swirling, shifting constellation.
It all serves to set up the Rijksmuseum’s biggest star – Rembrandt’s Night Watch.
A gigantic Baroque painting of 17th Century city guards teeming with drama and movement, it is the only work to be hung in its original place.
“Everything has changed,” says Taco Dibbits, the museum’s director of collections.
“We have more than one million objects and we used to display them by material. You had a gallery for glass, a gallery for porcelain, a gallery for paintings.
“Now we have mixed all the media and presented the visitor the story of art from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century.”
The Rijksmuseum’s paintings mingle amongst cabinets, kitchenware, magazine covers, dolls’ houses and pottery in a splendid, higgledy-piggledy array.
It illustrates the cross-pollination between decorative and visual art – for instance, how Japanese prints inspired a Parisian vase-maker, whose designs prompted Van Gogh to paint Amandelbloom In Bloel (Almond Tree In Bloom) – but it also presents some striking juxtapositions.
In the 20th Century Gallery, a kitsch German chess set, with snipers as pawns and a Panzer tank for the kings, is vaguely comedic, until visitors notice the Auschwitz prison uniform worn by 16-year-old Dutch girl Isabel Wachenheimer, which hangs silently nearby in grim disapproval.
In total, there are 800 years of Dutch history retold in more than 8,000 objects across the Rijksmuseum’s 80 galleries.
There is a brand new entrance hall in the shape of a voluminous atrium, flooded with natural light from the five-storey-high glass ceiling.
Wim Pijbes describes it as Amsterdam’s equivalent to Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall – a free-to-enter public auditorium which will host performances, parties and new exhibits.
By tunnelling under a cycle path that runs through the centre of the museum (the proposed closure of which caused uproar) it unites the east and west wings for the first time. It also created a few headaches.
“We found beautiful new spaces, but being below the building means you dig into water,” Wim Pijbes says.
In fact, with Amsterdam already under sea level, digging down meant the Rijksmuseum flooded. Workers floated around in dinghys as they fought the water table.
Even now, skeptics wonder if the museum is jeopardizing its collection.
“For foreigners, it is really frightening to be under sea level, and even more frightening to have the collection below sea level,” says Wim Pijbes.
“But for the Dutch, it’s everyday life.”
He insists that “complex engineering work” means the lower galleries are safe. But these aren’t the only measures taken to protect the artworks.
The museum is newly illuminated by 3,800 individual LED lights, which lack the paint-destroying heat and UV rays of incandescent bulbs.
They were installed by Dutch lighting specialists Philips, who also claim the LEDs enhance the viewing experience.
Visitors will get to decide for themselves when the Rijksmuseum throws open its doors on April 13.
After the gala opening, hosted by the abdicating Queen, the first day’s entry will be free. After that, the directors predict more than two million people will come to the gallery every year, restoring it as one of Europe’s most important museums.
President Barack Obama has decided to give 5% of his salary back to the government to show solidarity with the federal workers who took pay cuts during the sequester.
According to White House sources, Barack Obama will surrender 5% of his compensation in an effort to do his part during the period of fiscal cutbacks, the Associated Press reported.
The president’s move comes as hundreds of thousands of public service workers will be sent home without pay for a number of days over the next six months in an effort to cut spending.
President Barack Obama will give 5 percent of his salary back to the government to show solidarity with the federal workers who took pay cuts during the sequester
The US President’s annual salary is $400,000, meaning that a 5% pay cut would amount to $20,000 for the year.
That said, it is unclear whether Barack Obama will extend this measure so that it lasts a year, and he will only likely continue it as the sequester is in effect.
As a result, the cut will be retroactive, starting at the beginning of this month as that is when the sequester went into effect.
The cut will amount to about $1,666 per month.
Barack Obama isn’t the only politician making an effort to show solidarity with his lesser-paid colleagues, as a bevy of other Democrats have done the same.
According to USA Today, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his deputy director Ashton Carter have announced that they will not accept a portion of their salaries during the period of the sequester.
They did not specify how much of their salary they will be giving up.
Senators Claire McCaskill and Mark Begich- both Democrats- have publicly stated that they will be making similar gestures. Cynics could take issue with Mark Begich’s involvement, as he announced plans to work with Republican Senator Tom Coburn to figure out areas to cut the projected $85 billion in spending that is needed to help fix the country’s financial crisis.
Adding to his possible motives, it also comes the year before he is up for re-election in Alaska.
There have not been any reports of Republicans making similar gestures.
A McDonald’s outpost in Winchendon, Massachusetts, is demanding a bachelor degree in a call-out for a full time cashier.
It used to be high school drop outs flipping burgers at McDonald’s but now the applicants must have 1-2 years of cashier experience before they’ll be trusted with the Big-Mac-selling responsibility, according to the advert.
“Get a weekly paycheck with a side order of food, folks and fun,” the independent McDonald’s franchise boasts.
A McDonald’s outpost in Winchendon, Massachusetts, is demanding a bachelor degree in a call-out for a full time cashier
In the ad, uploaded on jobdiagnosis.com, the Winchendon McDonald’s restaurant says it wants “friendly people… to smile while serving lots of guests daily”, and declares “work with your friends or make some new ones!”.
While it may be tricky to score the clearly competitive role, it’ll be worth it, according to the chain.
The successful applicant has the chance to work their way up the company ladder, the ad insists, boating impressive “advancement opportunities”.
The McDonald’s website also lists the full time position in Spanish, but doesn’t give a salary.
A management position also listed starts at $10 an hour, with a sign on bonus if the applicant has previously worked at a McDonald’s branch.
With colleges churning out more graduates and youth unemployment at 11.5%, youth advocates reckon the unusually high qualifications McDonald’s is demanding are a sign of the times.
“Sadly we’ve taxed-and-spent our way to an economy in which there’s intense competition for just about any job… and young people are getting screwed over even worse than the country overall,” Evan Feinberg, president of the Washington-based youth advocacy group Generation Opportunity, told the Washington Examiner.
Former cyclist Lance Armstrong is planning to return to competitive sport as a swimmer.
Lance Armstrong, 41, has entered the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships in Texas this weekend.
The sportsman is able to compete as US Masters Swimming events are not subject to USA or World Anti-Doping Agency codes.
Former cyclist Lance Armstrong is planning to return to competitive sport as a swimmer
Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after deciding not to defend doping charges filed against him in August 2012.
He is scheduled to compete in freestyle races over 500 yards, 1,000 yards and 1,650 yards at the event held in his home city of Austin.
Lance Armstrong will compete with swimmers his own age or older. His first race, the 1,650 yards freestyle, takes place on Friday.
US Masters Swimming executive director Rob Butcher said he had not received any objections to Lance Armstrong competing in the event.
“The purpose of our organisation is to encourage adults to swim,” Rob Butcher told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.
Lance Armstrong was charged by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in June 2012 with using performance-enhancing drugs.
The cyclist filed a lawsuit against the organisation the following month, accusing it of “corrupt inducements” to other cyclists to testify against him.
However, Lance Armstrong then announced he would not fight the charges and was given a life ban by USADA.
In January, Lance Armstrong confessed to taking performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins between 1999 and 2005 in a television interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, whose scripts for Howards End and A Room With A View earned her two Oscars, has died at home in New York at the age of 85.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala made more than 20 films with producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory over 40 years.
The writer also won the Booker Prize for her 1975 novel Heat and Dust, meaning she was the only person to have won an Oscar and the Booker.
Novelist Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, whose scripts for Howards End and A Room With A View earned her two Oscars, has died at home in New York at the age of 85
Born in Germany, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala fled the Nazis as a schoolgirl in 1939 with her parents and brother to begin a new life in Britain. She spent much of her life in India.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had been suffering from a pulmonary disorder and is survived by husband Cyrus and daughters Renana, Ava and Firoza-Bibi.
After meeting her future husband in London, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala moved with him to his native India in the 1950s, where she was visited by Isamil Merchant and James Ivory to ask if they could make a film of her 1960 novel The Householder.
She agreed to write the screenplay and it was to mark the beginning of a fruitful partnership.
The trio’s films included A Room With a View and Howards End, for which Ruth Prawer Jhabvala collected the Academy Award in 1987 and 1993 respectively. Both were adapted from novels by EM Forster.
The novelist was nominated for a third Oscar in 1994 for the script for The Remains of the Day.
Actress Emma Thompson, who starred in The Remains of the Day and Howards End, said of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala in 1993: “She’s a novelist, so she understands the art of adapting novels better than most anyone else.
“She understands the process, the <<buzz of implication>> that surrounds words… Ruth understands it completely.”
The German economy slowed to “near stagnation” in March 2013, while France’s recorded its biggest contraction for four years, according to a Markit survey.
The Markit composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which measures both the manufacturing and services sectors, declined to 50.6 in Germany last month, from 53.3 in February.
Any figure above 50 indicates growth.
France’s reading fell to 41.9 points, its worst since March 2009.
For the eurozone as a whole, the index fell to 46.5 from 47.9 in February.
The Markit composite PMI, which measures both the manufacturing and services sectors, declined to 50.6 in Germany last month, from 53.3 in February
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the latest data painted a gloomy picture.
“The [eurozone] recession is deepening once again as businesses report that they have become increasingly worried about the region’s debt crisis and political instability,” Chris Williamson said.
“The unresolved election in Italy was commonly cited as a key factor clouding the economic outlook in March, and the botched bail-out of Cyprus could well filter through to a further worsening of business sentiment across the region in April.”
Chris Williamson added that the weak showing from Germany “suggests that the only source of bright light in an otherwise gloomy region has once again begun to fade”.
Germany’s index reading was the worst in the country for three months.
Single-day passes for this year Lollapalooza music festival sold out in less than two hours on Wednesday, April 3.
The single-day tickets for Lollapalooza 2013 in Chicago’s Grant Park went on sale at 10 a.m., and by 11:45 a.m., the promoters announced tickets had sold out.
Three-day passes also sold out last month, in less than three hours; VIP passes sold out on Tuesday.
Single-day passes for this year Lollapalooza music festival sold out in less than two hours
The only tickets left for Lollapalooza 2013 are through pricey Travel Packages, which include three-night stays at Chicago hotels, plus general admission or VIP tickets for the festival. Prices for Travel Packages begin at $1,599 for general admission tickets for two people, and run as high as $9,299 for VIP platinum packages for two people.
Running from August 2 to August 4, Lollapalooza is being headlined this year by Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, Mumford & Sons, The Cure, Phoenix, Postal Service, Vampire Weekend, New Order, the Lumineers, and Queens of the Stone Age.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced it will dramatically expand the country’s money supply, as it tries to stimulate the economy growth.
The Japanese central bank vowed to boost an asset purchase programme and meet a 2% inflation target in two years, after a two-day meeting, the first chaired by new governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest, has been battling more than a decade of falling prices.
Haruhiko Kuroda had previously said he would do “whatever it takes” to drive growth.
The Bank of Japan has announced it will dramatically expand the country’s money supply, as it tries to stimulate the economy growth
“The BOJ will conduct money-market operations so that the monetary base will increase at an annual pace of about 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen [$645 billion to $755 billion],” the BOJ said in a statement.
This increase in the money supply is expected to stoke inflation.
Many analysts have said that falling prices discourage people from spending, and companies from investing, and that has trapped Japan in a cycle of sluggish growth and recession.
The yen fell against the US dollar, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose 2.2% on the central bank’s decision, indicating markets were reacting positively to the stimulus measures.
“The measures announced overall were bold, and more than what had been expected,” said Hiroshi Maeba, from UBS in Japan.
“The markets clearly saw that the BOJ did all it can at this point and responded accordingly.”
PM Shinzo Abe, who was elected last year, has been pushing for the BOJ to do more to help the economy.
His plan, a combination of big government spending as well as an aggressive central bank asset buying programme, has been dubbed Abenomics.
Haruhiko Kuroda, who was nominated by Shinzo Abe for the top job at the central bank, is seen as sharing those views, which are a departure from the BOJ’s previous stance.
On Thursday, the central bank said it would also increase its purchases of Japanese government bonds to a total of 50 ttillion yen, a move aimed at bringing down interest rates and spurring lending.
The BOJ also extended the average maturity of the bonds it purchases from three years to seven years. Finally, the bank said it would also buy relatively riskier assets such as exchange-traded funds and real estate trust funds.
The decisions passed with unanimous votes from the board of the BOJ, an indication that this would mark the beginning of Haruhiko Kuroda’s shift towards more aggressive monetary easing.
However, some observers have expressed concern that this new strategy will leave Japan, which already has the largest debt pile of any industrialized nation, even more in the red.
A Japanese study of nearly 37,000 people, published in the online journal BMJ Open, said balding men were 32% more likely to have coronary heart disease.
However, the Japanese researchers said the risks were less than for smoking or obesity.
A shifting hairline is a fact of life for many men. Half have thinning hair by their 50s and 80% have some hair loss by the age of 70.
A Japanese study of nearly 37,000 people said balding men were 32 percent more likely to have coronary heart disease
Researchers at the University of Tokyo sifted through years of previous research into links between hair loss and heart problems.
They showed that hair that went thin on the crown was associated with coronary heart disease. This was after adjusting for other risk factors such as age and family history.
However, a receding hairline did not seem to affect the risk.
Dr. Tomohide Yamada, of the University of Tokyo, said: “We found a significant, though modest, link between baldness, at least on the top of the head, and risk for coronary heart disease.
“We thought this is a link, but not as strong as many other known links such as smoking, obesity, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.”
He said younger men losing hair on the top of their head should focus on improving their lifestyle to ensure they keep their heart healthy.
However, Dr. Tomohide Yamada said there was not enough evidence to suggest screening bald men for heart problems.
Any explanation for the link is uncertain.
There are ideas about increased sensitivity to male hormones, insulin resistance and inflammation in blood vessels affecting both the heart and the hair.
One in five men and one in eight women dies of coronary heart disease which is caused by blood vessels that nourish the heart becoming blocked.
Connecticut lawmakers have approved gun control measures, which campaigners say are the strictest in America, following December Sandy Hook massacre.
The new restrictions include a ban on new high-capacity magazines and background checks on all gun buyers.
President Barack Obama and gun control advocates say the measures are needed to curb an epidemic of gun violence.
Connecticut lawmakers have approved gun control measures, which campaigners say are the strictest in America, following December Sandy Hook massacre
In December 2012, gunman Adam Lanza in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Gun rights groups argue the legislation – which was approved by both the senate and lower house in Connecticut – would not have prevented the Newtown school shooting.
Connecticut assembly passed the legislation after more than 13 hours of debate.
In Washington, the US Congress is set to debate new gun control legislation this month.
Gun control in Connecticut became a predominant political issue after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his way into Sandy Hook primary school with a high-powered rifle legally purchased by his mother – whom he also killed.
The killings also reignited national debate on gun control, and led to President Barack Obama making gun safety one of the defining issues of his second term, which started a month after the shooting.
Barack Obama plans to visit Connecticut on April 8 as his proposed gun control measures in Congress appear to have stalled. Correspondents say the president will use it to increase pressure on lawmakers in Washington.
Gun control measures passed by Connecticut on April 4 include:
an expansion of the state’s assault weapons ban
background checks for all prospective firearms purchasers, including in private transactions
a ban on the sale or purchase of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds
a registry of weapons offenders
a state eligibility certificate to purchase a rifle or shotgun that involves a psychiatric commitment check
“This is a new and historic model for the country on an issue that has typically been the most controversial and divisive,” Connecticut Senate President Donald Williams was quoted by local media as saying at the end of a 6-hour debate in the lower house on Thursday morning.
The approval of the bill by both houses of the Connecticut assembly came after weeks of negotiations between Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, who said they were determined to produce a bipartisan bill in response to the tragedy.
North Korea has announced today that its army had received final approval to launch “merciless” nuclear strikes against the US.
The General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said it was formally notifying Washington that US threats would be “smashed by… cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means”, according to a statement published by the official KCNA news agency.
“The merciless operation of [our] revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified.
“The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” the statement read, adding that it could occur “today or tomorrow”.
North Korea has announced today that its army had received final approval to launch “merciless” nuclear strikes against the US
The North Korean move came just hours after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea presented a “clear and present danger” to the US and its allies after days of escalating rhetoric.
Hawaii and Guam would also be outside the range of its medium-range missiles, but the US bases in South Korea and Japan may be vulnerable.
Chuck Hagel issued a statement after US stealth bombers were seen patrolling the border between North Korea and South Korea as part of military exercises which have inflamed tensions in the region.
Despite a successful long-range rocket launch in December, it is believed North Korea is years from developing an inter-continental ballistic missile that could strike the mainland United States, AFP reported.
Chinese troops have been placed on a heightened state of alert along the country’s frontier with North Korea after a series of warlike statements and actions from the pariah state.
North Korea today blocked South Korean workers from entering jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex which is one of the few signs of positive relations between the neighboring countries.
The move to bar South Koreans from going to work at the Kaesong factory zone comes a day after North Korea announced that it would re-open a nuclear facility which has been closed since 2007.
Heidi Klum helped save her son Henry and two nannies from a terrifying riptide in Hawaii over Easter.
Supermodel Heidi Klum, 39, was relaxing in Hawaii on Easter Sunday with her children and boyfriend Martin Kristen when their holiday took a frightening turn for the worse.
She and her bodyguard lover were forced to rescue her 7-year-old son Henry and two of the family’s nannies when they got swept away in the ocean.
Heidi Klum was running towards to the water and dragging them from the surf to safety, moments after her boyfriend had pulled them from the waves.
Heidi Klum, her bodyguard turned boyfriend Martin Kristen and her four children had been holidaying in Honolulu for several days over the Easter break
The supermodel was walking along the sand before she realized that Henry was in trouble.
Breaking into a run, she started to point frantically at the water.
Wasting no time Martin Kristen immersed himself in the treacherous waves and began to pull Henry and the terrified looking nannies to safety.
It wasn’t long until Heidi Klum herself was at the water’s edge and dove right in to get stuck in with the rescue.
First Heidi Klum grabbed her eldest son who was struggling to stay above the surf, while Martin Kristen and one of the nannies crawled back on to the sand, visibly gasping for breath.
Satisfied that Henry was safe, she jumped back into the water and swam to rescue the other nanny.
Once safe, Martin Kristen and the nannies lay on the beach taking the time to catch their breath once again.
Speaking about the incident in a statement to Us Weekly Heidi Klum said: “We got pulled into the ocean by a big wave. Of course, as a mother, I was very scared for my child and everyone else in the water.
“Henry is a strong swimmer and was able to swim back to land. We were able to get everyone out safely.”
Heidi Klum, her bodyguard turned boyfriend Martin Kristen and her four children, Leni, 8, Henry, Johan, 6, and Lou, 3, had been holidaying in Honolulu for several days over the Easter break.
The first signs of dark matter, a mysterious component of the Universe, have been observed during a $2 billion experiment on the International Space Station (ISS).
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) surveys the sky for high-energy particles, or cosmic rays.
The AMS – a particle physics machine nicknamed the “Space LHC” in reference to the Large Hadron Collider here on Earth – has seen evidence for what could be dark matter colliding with itself in a process known as “annihilation”.
However, astronomers stress that a precise description of this enigmatic cosmic constituent is still some way off.
“It could take a few more years,” said AMS deputy spokesman Roberto Battiston, a professor of physics at the University of Perugia, Italy.
“But the accuracy that AMS is displaying is far greater than past experiments, so we’re getting closer to unveiling the cause of the particle events we’re detecting,” he said.
The AMS has seen evidence for what could be dark matter colliding with itself in a process known as annihilation
Dark matter accounts for most of the mass in the Universe.
It cannot be seen directly with telescopes, but astronomers know it to be out there because of the gravitational effects it has on the matter we can see.
Galaxies, for example, could not rotate the way they do and hold their shape without the presence of dark matter.
AMS has been hunting for some indirect measures of dark matter’s properties.
It counts the numbers of electrons and their anti-matter counterparts – known as positrons – falling on to a battery of detectors.
Theory suggests that showers of these particles should be produced when dark-matter particles collide somewhere in space and destroy each other.
In a paper in the journal Physical Review Letters, the AMS team reports the observation of a slight excess of positrons in the positron-electron count – an outcome expected of these dark matter annihilations.
The group also says the positrons fall on the AMS from all directions in the sky with no particular variation over time.
This is important because specific locations or timing variations in the signal could indicate a more conventional source for the particles, such as a pulsar (a type of neutron star).
AMS was placed on the ISS in 2011. The longer it operates, the better its statistics will be and the more definitive scientists can be in their statements.
Lead spokesman, Prof. Sam Ting, said the AMS Collaboration would proceed slowly and cautiously.
“It took us 18 years to do this experiment and we want to do it very carefully,” he told a seminar at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva.
“We will publish things when we are absolutely sure.”
The Physical Review Letters paper reports the positron-electron count in the energy range of 0.5 to 350 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).
The behavior of the positron excess across this energy spectrum fits with the researchers’ expectations. However, the “smoking gun” signature would be to see a rise in this ratio and then a dramatic fall. This has yet to be observed. Only more data from above 350 GeV will resolve this issue.
“With time, we should be able to tell you whether it drops off very quickly, in which case it will be the result of dark matter collisions – which means we’ve found dark matter; or that it drops off very slowly which means the positrons come from pulsars,” Prof. Sam Ting explained.
“At the moment we do not have enough particle events.”
Getting a definitive detection and nailing some of its properties would open up dark matter to further study.
AMS is just one of several techniques being used by researchers to try to uncover the nature of dark matter.
There are laboratories on Earth that are attempting to make more direct detections as the elusive particles pass though containers of the elements xenon or argon, held deep underground.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), too, is involved in the hunt. It hopes to produce dark matter particles in its accelerator.
A precise description of this mysterious component is now an urgent objective for modern physics.
Normal matter, the material we can see with telescopes (all the stars and galaxies), contributes just 4.9% of the mass/energy density of the Universe.
Dark matter is a far bigger constituent, making up 26.8%. This figure was recently raised following studies of the cosmos by the European Space Agency’s Planck telescope.
The value is now nearly a fifth up on previous estimates.
Dark energy is the component that contributes most to the mass/energy density of the Universe at 68.3%. Dark energy is the name given to the force thought to be accelerating the expansion of the Universe. Its character is even more obscure to science than dark matter.
The 911 call from Buckwild star Shain Gandee’s friend, who found his dead body in an SUV with two others after they died from carbon monoxide poisoning, has been released.
Shain Gandee’s friend tells the 911 dispatcher they have been looking for the men for two days and explains their car is stuck in the mud.
The 3-minute tape, which was obtained by TMZ, captures the frantic moment the caller realizes that his friend is dead.
He starts off quite upset but reasonably calm but as the call goes on, he becomes more frustrated before eventually breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably after the dispatcher asks him who is in the car.
Shain Gandee and two other men died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the SUV they were riding in became partially submerged in deep mud
Meanwhile, Parallel Entertainment and Zoo Productions – who produce MTV reality show Buckwild – announced yesterday they would pay for all of Shain Gandee’s funeral expenses ahead of his funeral on Sunday.
An autopsy confirmed that Shain Gandee and two other men – his uncle David Gandee, 48, and Donald Robert Myers, 27 – died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the SUV they were riding in became partially submerged in deep mud.
Shain Gandee’s death 911 call transcript:
“I have an emergency I have three dead people on top of Sol Lane. They were missing persons…Gandee.
“We are up on a hill, they are up in a hill in a mud hole in their Bronco, we have been looking for them for two days, oh my god, oh my god…
“Oh Jesus, they’re dead, Oh my God…
“All three are inside the vehicle. It’s David Gandee and Shain Gandee (sobs).”
“Does it look like…what happened? Does it look like a gun or anything has been used?”
“No, they’re stuck in the mud hole.”
“Does it look like someone has done anything to them? They’re definitely not breathing?”
Lindsay Lohan showed off a number of large angry bruises on her legs as she sunbathed on a Brazilian beach on Tuesday.
Lindsay Lohan, 26, who has been joined in Brazil by a large entourage and boyfriend Avi Snow, spent her day off by herself, soaking up the rays and paddling in the sea.
Last week Lindsay Lohan was spotted hiding under a table on the dirty floor of a Sao Paolo nightclub with her head in her hands
The painful-looking bruises could well have occurred during one of Lindsay Lohan’s nights out in Rio, where she’s spent the last week partying and working.
Last week Lindsay Lohan was spotted hiding under a table on the dirty floor of a Sao Paolo nightclub with her head in her hands, after another raucous night.
After soaking up the last few rays on the beach Lindsay Lohan returned to her hotel to get ready for her flight home.
Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool have been convicted of plotting to kill British singer Joss Stone.
Junior Bradshaw, 32, and Kevin Liverpool, 35, both from Longsight, Manchester, UK, were found guilty of planning to rob and murder Joss Stone at her home in Devon.
Both men had travelled to Devon in June 2011 armed with weapons and notes detailing their plans to behead the singer.
Kevin Liverpool was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months at Exeter Crown Court.
Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool have been convicted of plotting to kill British singer Joss Stone
Judge Francis Gilbert QC told the plotter: “It was your scheme.
“This may have been the crazy scheme of a crazy person… but it was a very real plan.”
The sentencing of Junior Bradshaw has been adjourned for psychiatric reports.
The jury took just over four hours to reach unanimous verdicts on charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to rob.
Speaking outside court, Joss Stone’s mother Wendy Joseph said: “Joss would like to thank everyone for their support and all their good wishes.
“The whole family is relieved the trial is over and these men are no longer in a position to cause harm to anyone.”
Supt Steve Parker, Devon and Cornwall Police’s senior investigating officer on the case, said: “I’ve got no doubt that Liverpool and Bradshaw intended to harm Miss Stone and that without the vigilance of the public and the good work of our officers, they represented a serious threat to her.”
Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool set off from Manchester in the early hours of June 13, 2011.
Their Fiat Punto was laden with weapons including a samurai sword, hammers and knives.
When they arrived in East Devon they drove around for several hours attempting to find Joss Stone’s house, stopping to ask a postman for directions when they got lost.
Joss Stone, who grew up in the area, was at home at the time.
The men were eventually reported to police by suspicious residents in Cullompton.
When officers examined the car and found it full of weapons Junior Bradshaw and Kevin Liverpool were arrested and later charged.
Supt Parker said: “I am aware that as a result of this incident [Joss Stone] has reviewed her security arrangements, but I am sure she will continue to be a prominent and popular member of her local community.”
During the trial, the prosecution said notes written by Kevin Liverpool showed the accused wanted to behead Joss Stone and dump her body in the river because of her links to the Royal Family.
Joss Stone was a guest at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
During sentencing, Judge Francis Gilbert told Kevin Liverpool: “It is clear from your text messages on your phone that from as early as November 2010 you had been planning to rob someone of what you hoped would be in excess of £1 million.
“By January 2011… you had identified Joss Stone as the target.
“You had no reason to target her except that she was a wealthy young woman as she was a successful singer.
“You assumed that as she was a friend of the Royal Family she would be able to give you money of that sort of amount.”
The judge also said Kevin Liverpool, whom he branded as “dangerous”, had recruited Junior Bradshaw into his plot.
He said he was considering passing a hybrid sentence on Junior Bradshaw, involving a custodial term which would most likely be served in a secure psychiatric unit.
During the trial the jury was told that Junior Bradshaw suffered from disorganized schizophrenia.
Giving evidence he said he had never heard of Joss Stone until his arrest and thought he was just on a day out with his friend.
Rutgers University in New Jersey has bowed to pressure to sack its head basketball coach Mike Rice over footage of him physically abusing players and screaming homophobic slurs.
The dismissal of basketball coach Mike Rice from Rutgers University was effective immediately, a college spokesman said.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and NBA star LeBron James were among those who condemned Mike Rice’s conduct.
Rutgers University has sacked head basketball coach Mike Rice over footage of him physically abusing players and screaming homophobic slurs
Mike Rice apologized on Wednesday, saying there was no excuse for his actions captured on video.
He was recruited in 2010 to be head basketball coach at Rutgers, which finished last season near the bottom of their league, the prestigious Big East Conference.
“I’ve let so many people down: my players, my administration, Rutgers University, the fans,” Mike Rice told ABC News in an interview outside his home on Wednesday.
“My family [are] sitting in their house just huddled around because of the fact that their father was an embarrassment to them.”
Featuring clips shot between 2010 and 2012, the video aired on sports network ESPN shows Mike Rice shouting obscenities, hurling balls at team members, as well as kicking and grabbing them.
Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti reportedly viewed the footage late last year.
The university then suspended Mike Rice for three games, fined him $75,000 and ordered him to attend anger management classes.
On Wednesday, Rutgers President Robert Barchi said in a statement on the university website: “Coach Rice’s abusive language and actions are deeply offensive and egregiously violate the university’s core values.”
Robert Barchi added that the video revealed a “chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behavior”, which led to his dismissal.
The decision to fire Mike Rice comes amid mounting pressure at both state and national level for the university to take action.
Governor Chris Christie said in a statement that he was “deeply disturbed” by the footage.
“This was a regrettable episode for the university, but I completely support the decision to remove Coach Rice,” he said.
New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said the coach’s conduct was “unbecoming of our state”.
Sheila Oliver called for an investigation into why Rutgers decided not to fire Mike Rice when it first became aware of the video.
One of the most famous basketball players in the US, the Miami Heat forward LeBron James, tweeted: “If my son played for Rutgers or a coach like that he would have some real explaining to do and I’m still gone whoop on him afterwards! C’mon.”
Athletic director Tim Pernetti apologized for not taking more robust action when the footage first came to his attention.
“I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice,” he said in a written statement.
Saying that Rutgers had considered firing him at the time, Tim Pernetti added: “I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong.”
Baidu, dubbed China’s Google, is working on its own smart glasses technology, a project similar to Google’s Glass.
A Baidu spokesman said the glasses would be able to search by using facial recognition.
Kaiser Kuo told Reuters that Baidu, China’s largest search engine, had not yet decided whether the glasses would be made commercially available.
“We experiment with every kind of technology that is related to search,” Kaiser Kuo said.
A leaked image taken at Baidu’s offices show a person wearing a headset matching the description of Baidu Eye
Like Google Glass, the Baidu glasses – reportedly known internally as Baidu Eye – consist of a small LCD screen attached to a slim headset.
A leaked image taken at Baidu’s offices show a person wearing a headset matching the description – but Baidu would not confirm if it was Baidu Eye.
Some early reports had suggested that news of the technology was in fact an April Fool’s joke – but while some reports on April 1st were embellished, there was truth behind the rumours.
Kaiser Kuo said that the technology makes the most of Baidu’s considerable expertise in facial recognition.
“What you are doing with your camera, for example, taking a picture of a celebrity and then checking on our database to see if we have a facial image match, you could do the same thing with a wearable visual device.”
Such words are likely to alarm those worried about the capabilities of this type of technology.
Campaign group “Stop the Cyborgs” has called for limits on when the headsets can be used.
Jay Leno will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, NBC has officially announced.
The move in February 2014, which was widely anticipated, will see the show relocate from Los Angeles to New York.
NBC also said Lorne Michaels, the renowned producer of Saturday Night Live, will produce The Tonight Show.
Jay Leno will be replaced by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show
NBC head Steve Burke said the network was making the change while the show was at the peak of its ratings.
“Jimmy Fallon is a unique talent and this is his time,” Steve Burke said.
NBC used the same strategy when handing the show over to Jay Leno from Johnny Carson, its previous host.
Jimmy Fallon will reportedly begin on The Tonight Show during NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics, when the network expects to see a spike in its audience.
Correspondents say NBC executives were concerned a rival late-night show hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on the ABC network would make gains among the crucial younger audience if Jimmy Fallon’s move did not happen quickly.
This is the second time in recent years NBC has sought to replace Jay Leno, who has hosted The Tonight Show from Los Angeles since 1992.
In 2009, NBC handed the show over to Conan O’Brien, but the move backfired and the network reinstalled Jay Leno.
This time, Jay Leno has congratulated Jimmy Fallon on the promotion.
“I hope you’re as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you’re the old guy,” Jay Leno said in a statement.
“If you need me, I’ll be at the garage.”
Meanwhile, in a reference to his current show Late Nightwith Jimmy Fallon, which begins at 00:30 ET, Fallon said: “I’m really excited to host a show that starts today instead of tomorrow.”
The Pentagon has decided to move an advanced missile system to the Pacific island of Guam as a precaution following threats by North Korea.
The US Department of Defence said it would deploy the ballistic Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) in the coming weeks.
Pyongyang has threatened to target South Korea and the US in recent weeks.
The Pentagon has decided to move an advanced missile system to the Pacific island of Guam as a precaution following threats by North Korea
The North Korean warlike rhetoric follows new UN sanctions and joint military drills by the US and South Korea.
The Thaad system includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles, and AN/TPY-2 tracking radar, together with an integrated fire control system.
The Pentagon said in a statement the missile system would be moved to Guam as a “precautionary move to strengthen our regional defence posture against the North Korean regional ballistic missile threat”.
“The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and stands ready to defend US territory, our allies, and our national interests,” the statement added.
In recent weeks, North Korea has mentioned military bases in the US territory of Guam and the US state of Hawaii as possible targets.
“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks, present a real and clear danger,” said Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, in his first major speech on Wednesday since taking up his post.
Chuck Hagel added that Pyongyang had also threatened the interests of South Korea and Japan.
