Twelve adults and a child have been killed in Serbia after a man went on a gun rampage in Velika Ivanca, a village near Belgrade, local media report.
Six men, six women and a two-year-old boy died before the gunman tried to kill himself and his wife. They are now said to be in a serious condition.
Police identified the gunman as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, a 60-year-old war veteran.
Twelve adults and a child have been killed in Serbia after a man went on a gun rampage in Velika Ivanca
The victims were reported to be relatives and neighbors of Ljubisa Bogdanovic, and included his mother and son.
The shootings took place in several houses in Velika Ivanca, about 50 km (30 miles) south-east of capital Belgrade at about 5 a.m. local time.
Local residents said the gunman, armed with a 9 mm handgun, killed his son before leaving the house and shooting dead neighbors, some of whom were still asleep.
“He knocked on the doors, and as they were opened he just fired a shot,” villager Radovan Radosavljevic was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
“He was a good neighbor and anyone would open their doors to him. I don’t know what happened.”
All but one of the victims died instantly, police said.
Serbian police chief Milorad Veljovic, who is at the scene, told RTS that the gunman was “from a peaceful family and had no criminal record”.
“We’re all just stunned,” Milorad Veljovic said.
Ljubisa Bogdanovic is reported to have been made redundant last year. He fought as a Serb soldier in the war in Croatia in 1991.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
In a similar attack in Serbia in 2007, a 39-year-old man shot dead nine people and injured two others in a village in the east of the country.
The root genetic cause of leukaemia has been traced back to early life in the womb, scientists say.
Experts from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, analyzed the entire three billion letter sequence of DNA-coding in identical twins to reveal what sets off the disease.
Researchers hope the findings, published in PNAS journal, could lead to new drugs to fight the condition at source.
Leukaemia is the most common cancer diagnosed in children.
The root genetic cause of leukaemia has been traced back to early life in the womb
Researchers studied twins studied that had the most common form of leukaemia that affects children – acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), which is a cancer of the white blood cells.
It is already known that multiple faulty genes are linked to the condition and that environmental factors probably act as triggers along the way. But the precise sequence of events leading up to a diagnosis of ALL is unclear.
The scientists wanted to find out more about the disease so that, ultimately, a better treatment could be found.
Although ALL is often curable, the medicines used to treat it can cause unpleasant and sometimes severe side effects.
Prof. Mel Greaves and his colleagues decided to study identical twins who shared the same DNA inherited from their parents.
Both twins developed ALL in early childhood, at around four years of age.
By comparing blood and bone marrow samples of the twins in later childhood, the researchers found one genetic mutation identical in both twins – a common leukaemia-causing gene called ETV6-RUNX1.
The scientists reason that this mutation must have arisen in one of the twins while in the womb.
Cells carrying the mutation then spread to the other twin via their shared placental blood circulation.
The identical twins had a total of 22 other mutations, but none of these mutations was shared by both twins, and so they must have accumulated after birth as the disease progressed, say the researchers.
Study co-author Prof. Mel Greaves said: “We were able to sequence the entire human genome. It told us for the first time that this is the key mutation that starts the whole process of leukaemia. The other mutations must have happened after birth.”
President Barack Obama made an emotional plea as he urged lawmakers to vote on gun control legislation that appears to be stalling in Congress.
Speaking in Connecticut where 26 people died in Sandy Hook massacre last year, President Barack Obama said citizens must demand action.
Opinion polls have shown a majority of Americans support a ban on assault weapons and other gun control measures.
But gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), have been lobbying politicians against the bill.
President Barack Obama made an emotional plea as he urged lawmakers to vote on gun control legislation that appears to be stalling in Congress
“The day Newtown happened was the toughest day of my presidency,” Barack Obama said in his speech at Hartford, not far from Newtown, scene of the mass shooting four months ago.
“But I’ve got to tell you, if we don’t respond to this, that’ll be a tough day for me too.”
The Associated Press news agency reports there were tears in Barack Obama’s eyes as he described Newtown parent Nicole Hockley, who has said every night she asks her 6-year-old son Dylan to come to her in her dreams so she can see him again.
“If there’s even one thing we can do to prevent a father from having to bury his child, isn’t that worth fighting for?” Barack Obama asked, amid repeated standing ovations from the crowd.
He called for a vote on his three gun legislation priorities – strengthening background checks on gun buyers, limiting the size of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, and a ban on assault weapons.
However, the US Senate recently ditched the proposed ban on assault weapons and on high-capacity magazines, saying there was not enough support for the measure.
On Monday, Barack Obama said curbing gun violence was more important than partisan politics.
“Connecticut, this is not about me,” he said.
“This is not about politics.
“This is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here that have been torn apart by gun violence.”
Eleven parents of young children who were killed in the Newtown school shooting returned to Washington DC with Barack Obama aboard his official plane, Air Force One.
They are due to lobby members of Congress who have not yet backed the gun control bill.
Barack Obama said: “Nothing’s going to be more important in making sure that the Congress moves forward this week than hearing from them.”
The president criticized Republicans who have threatened to use a procedural tactic known as a filibuster to delay a vote on the gun bill.
Thirteen senators have said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid they would take such action, after he brought the bill to the Senate floor for debate on Monday.
“Some back in Washington are already floating the idea that they may use political stunts to prevent votes on any of these reforms. Think about that,” said Barack Obama.
“They’re not just saying they’ll vote <<no>> on ideas that almost all Americans support.
“They’re saying they’ll do everything they can to even prevent any votes on these provisions. They’re saying your opinion doesn’t matter. And that’s not right.”
Barack Obama’s speech came a week after Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed sweeping gun-control measures into law.
Connecticut follows the states of Colorado and New York in passing tighter state gun laws.
Mary Jo White has been confirmed by the US Senate as the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the body that regulates Wall Street.
Former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White was nominated in January by President Barack Obama to replace SEC chairman Mary Schapiro after she stepped down.
Former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White was nominated in January by President Barack Obama to replace SEC chairman Mary Schapiro after she stepped down
Mary Jo White, 65, built a reputation as a tough crime-fighter serving as attorney for the Southern District of New York.
She spent almost 10 years as the Southern District attorney.
Mary Jo White assumes her new role at a critical time for Wall Street, with new rules and regulations being introduced following the financial crisis. But the Senate confirmation only allows for her to complete the remainder of Mary Schapiro’s 5-year term, which ends in June 2014.
There had been some concern about Mary Jo White’s time as a lawyer in private practice representing big corporations. However, she has pledged to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Mary Jo White told the Senate Banking Committee last month that she would aggressively pursue enforcement and hold accountable “all wrongdoers, individual and institutional, of whatever position or size”.
Richard Branson lifted up his kilt to the watching crowd to reveal pants bearing the slogan “stiff competition” as he stepped off the first Virgin plane at Edinburgh airport from Heathrow.
The Virgin Atlantic president performed his latest publicity stunt as he promoted his company’s expansion into Scotland.
“Stiff competition” alluded to Richard Branson’s newly launched domestic service, Little Red, which will now offer Virgin flights between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and London, in direct competition with British Airways.
Richard Branson lifted up his kilt to the watching crowd to reveal pants bearing the slogan “stiff competition” as he stepped off the first Virgin plane at Edinburgh airport from Heathrow
Richard Branson – who had a Scottish grandmother and is married to a Glaswegian – stood on an elevated platform on the windy runway and said it was “great to be in Edinburgh” before he exposed his underwear to a crowd which included Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Speaking after the stunt, the billionaire said he was “enjoying wearing a kilt”.
“Despite the weather it is nice to have a bit of fresh air and it is very comfortable,” he added.
“I’ve got to the age where it is wise to always wear something under my kilt- especially in weather like this.”
This is not the first time Richard Branson has resorted to such uncouth publicity stunts.
The new Little Red service launched yesterday will be the first time Virgin Atlantic has operated connecting flights from Scottish destinations, and Richard Branson said he was “excited” to have been given the airport slots that came available after domestic airline British Midlands was forced out of business.
“We are delighted that we managed to pick up these slots as it means we can offer stiff competition to British Airways,” he said.
“There are a lot of people from around the world who love to fly to Edinburgh and Aberdeen and now we can finally now compete properly with BA and give people the opportunity to travel up here with Virgin.
“I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Scotland.”
The expanded Virgin Atlantic service will create 130 new jobs in Scotland, and is expected to generate £75 million ($118 million) in revenue for the Scottish economy.
Speaking yesterday, Richard Branson said that while he was “thrilled” that Virgin had finally been allowed to expand services to Edinburgh and Aberdeen, he was unhappy that they had been prevented from operating out of Glasgow.
“I would love to be flying to Glasgow as well, but for some bizarre reason the competition authorities, who bequeathed us these slots, didn’t allow us to have the slots to compete with British airways out of Glasgow,” he said.
After reporting losses of up to £135 million ($212 million) over the past two years, Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic’s new Chief Executive, Craig Kreeger, said that the new domestic service was just one part of the company’s plans to push its finances back into the black.
And despite his brazen publicity stunt, Richard Branson was insistent that he would remain on neutral ground over the question of Scottish Independence.
“If Scotland becomes independent they will have an airline that will be delighted to connect them to their neighboring country and if it stays part of Great Britain, we will be equally delighted to have Scottish people use our services to take visits down to little old England,” said Richard Branson.
Either way, Virgin will stay independent of this particular debate.”
First Lady Michelle Obama has admitted that she is already tired of her bangs she debuted in January.
Michelle Obama said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight:“Bangs are a day-by-day proposition. They’re starting to grow out, get a little irritating.”
The first indication that her hairstyle was becoming a burden came about last weekend, when daughter Malia, 14, was spotted adjusting her mother’s hair during the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Michelle Obama has admitted that she is already tired of her bangs she debuted in January
Malia Obama gently smoothed her mother’s hair for the cameras, then leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.
Michelle Obama’s new haircut made headlines when it was first debuted in January, even managing to overshadow the President’s inauguration weekend.
Barack Obama jokingly announced at the start of the festivities: “To address the most significant event of the weekend, I love her bangs.”
The hairstyle became such a talking point that one fan even created a Twitter account called MichellesBangs.
But it appears what at first was a novelty has turned into a burden for Michelle Obama, who has grown tired of her high-maintenance hairstyle.
“It’s fun but you know, I’m like a girl, what’s next?” the First Lady said to the interviewer.
While her husband has been supportive throughout, not everybody been a fan of Michelle Obama’s hair change; designer Karl Lagerfield, for example, famously described them as “a bad idea”.
Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian are two of the most glamorous women in the world and each will give birth to her first child in July.
But…When it comes to maternity style any similarities between the royal and the reality star ends there.
Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian are two of the most glamorous women in the world and each will give birth to her first child in July
Kate Middleton, 31, has always been the epitome of elegance and at six months is still svelte, with a barely-visible Royal bump. She has also stayed loyal to her classic dress style, favoring demure wrap dresses and beautifully tailored coats.
Kim Kardashian, 32, appears to have taken it less easily in her high-heeled stride.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, who is expecting her first baby from rapper Kanye West, always favored fitted outfits which flaunt her curves. Now Kim Kardashian has tried a more subdued style and the result is meltdown.
In ill-fitting shifts, skirts and skyscraper heels, Kim Kardashian looks mumsy and clumsy.
Up to now… Kim Kardashian so badly lost out to Kate Middleton in the battle of the bumps.
Chelsea Clinton says she simply wants her mother to take it easy as speculation swirls over whether Hillary Clinton will run for the White House in 2016.
“Right now, I want her to rest,” Chelsea Clinton said in an interview with Parade magazine.
“Ultimately I want her to make whatever she thinks is the right decision. I always want to help her in any way I can, because I unapologetically and unabashedly am deeply biased toward my mother.”
Hillary Clinton, 65, has said she has no plans for a second presidential bid, but she hasn’t ruled it out. She stepped down as Secretary of State in February.
Hillary Clinton has said she has no plans for a second presidential bid in 2016, but she hasn’t ruled it out
Chelsea Clinton, 33, has been a loyal supporter and advocate for her mother, appearing at her side throughout her ultimately failed bid for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
Democrats argue among themselves whether Hillary Clinton has the desire and energy to go through the grueling campaign process she knows so well.
However, many see Hillary Clinton as a prohibitive favorite whose head start would be so big that other potential candidates might starve for funds and attention.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll in January found that 67% of Americans held a favorable view of Hillary Clinton, which is her highest rating since the poll began measuring her popularity in the 1990s.
The poll has been held through Hillary Clinton time as First Lady, her eight years in the Senate representing New York and her time as Secretary of State.
“It’s hard to overstate the breadth and depth of enthusiasm for a Hillary run,” said Doug Hattaway, a former campaign aide of Hillary Clinton and now a Washington-based consultant.
Hillary Clinton built a national base of supporters in 2008, when she lost a hard-fought nomination fight to Barack Obama, and she’s widely respected after her turn heading the State Department, Doug Hattaway said.
“A lot of donors, volunteers and potential campaign workers will wait to hear what she decides before committing to other candidates,” he said, although “anyone with their eye on 2016 is already working on it.”
Mo Elleithee, a top spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign, said it’s much too early to know.
“My advice to everyone is to chill out,” Mo Elleithee said.
“There’s no need for all this breathless anticipation at this point.”
In the Parade interview, Chelsea Clinton also spoke out about how her grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, encouraged her to get involved with her family’s work.
“She thought I wasn’t doing enough with the opportunity I’d been given to be Chelsea Clinton,” Chelsea Clinton said.
“I’d chosen to kind of live in the recesses, to work very hard and try to be a good person.
“I hadn’t planned on or expected to have a public dimension in my life. But I was starting to feel like I had a responsibility to at least try to make more of a difference.”
In a recent interview with CNN, Halle Berry admitted that she didn’t expect to fall pregnant at her age.
Halle Berry, 46, who already has 5-year-old daughter Nahla with her former boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, said: “This has been the biggest surprise of my life, to tell you the truth. Thought I was kind of past the point where this could be a reality for me. So it’s been a big surprise and the most wonderful.”
Halle Berry admitted that she didn’t expect to fall pregnant at her age
When asked to confirm if she was expecting a boy, the actress said: “I don’t know, I don’t know. But [the baby is] healthy!”
Halle Berry announced a philanthropic campaign Monday called Watch Hunger Stop that includes raising money through the sale of a version of Michael Kors’ best-selling Runway watch. For each $295 watch sold, 100 meals will be provided to children through the U.N. World Food Programme.
Halle Berry and Michael Kors are planning to visit places together where the meals will be sent. They could land in Africa, in Syria, perhaps Central America.
The actress, who is expecting her first child with fiancé Olivier Martinez, said in an exclusive joint interview Saturday with Michael Kors: “I hope we go while I’m pregnant, so I can talk about prenatal care.”
Ellen Kardashian, Robert Kardashian’s widow, is being sued by Kris Jenner and the Kardashian siblings for copyright infringement.
The reality stars filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Los Angeles last week against Ellen Kardashian.
They claim Ellen Kardashian “sold their property, such as family photos and writings, to a publishing outlet this past January”.
“Today’s filing should serve as notice that they will vigorously defend their rights when forced to do so,” the Kardashians’ lawyer Marty Singer told The Hollywood Reporter.
The items are said to detail the Kardashians’ lives before they found fame and have featured in magazines Life & Style and In Touch.
Ellen Kardashian, Robert Kardashian’s widow, is being sued by Kris Jenner and the Kardashian siblings for copyright infringement
The February 4 issue of In Touch magazine featured an article titled “The Secret Kardashian Diaries” while Life & Style magazine included a piece with the headline: “Feature on the life struggles of the Kardashians including Khloé Kardashian”.
Ellen married Robert Kardashian two months before he died of cancer in 2003 after dating for around five years.
The widow is alleged to have retained some of her husband’s possessions including his diary and family photographs and licensed portions of the diaries to Bauer Publishing, which owns the magazines.
In their lawsuit, Kris Jenner and Kardashian siblings accuse Ellen Kardashian of a “despicable and unlawful scheme to hold in secret and convert, and now exploit… private personal and copyright protected” material.
The complaint alleges that Robert Kardashian bequeathed the “bulk of his personal tangible and intangible property” to his four children, including Robert Kardashian Jr.
The Kardashians claim that the diary and family photo albums are “incontestably” their inheritance and property.
They allege that Ellen Kardashian has kept her late husband’s belongings “with the express intent to one-day capitalize and exploit the valuable property and celebrity of the famous Robert Kardashian”.
Kris Jenner and her children are now requesting their return.
When Ellen Kardashian filed for bankruptcy back in 2010, she was required to list all assets and property of value but did not list her possession or ownership of the diaries or photographs.
The new lawsuit alleges that Ellen Kardashian cannot claim “any ownership interest” because she failed to disclose the items in the bankruptcy process.
The publication of excerpts of Robert Kardashian’s diary in the magazines was, according to the lawsuit, an effort by Ellen to “peddle and exploit, and disclosed to tabloid and other media, the private and valuable personal papers of Robert Kardashian”.
It asserts that the widow was paid for an interview and provided purported rights to the photographs.
The siblings are now demanding at least $500,000 in damages.
The new filing appears to be somewhat of an about turn from the Kardashians who called into question the existence of the diaries when excerpts were first published.
The family’s representative released a statement, saying: “We have no knowledge of these diaries existing and these accusations are ridiculous and not true.”
Ellen Kardashian received volleys of insults from the sisters after she leaked the diaries she claimed were penned by the late lawyer, in which he says their mother Kris Jenner was guilty of physically abusing Kim.
In the diaries, Robert Kardashian supposedly claims Kris Jenner, 57, kicked, beat and threatened to kill Kim as their 12-year marriage collapsed.
Ellen Kardashian has previously claimed her late husband was not the biological father of Khloe.
She said during an interview: “These are authentic handwritten journals I have shared, that my late husband Robert Kardashian so carefully wrote during 1989 and 1990 at a most trying and touching time of his life. They are my personal possession and he left them to me on his passing.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were confronted by Femen activists in Hanover, Germany.
Femen activists, who strip off to highlight a range of issues, including women’s rights, press freedom and domestic violence were dragged kicking and screaming from the premises by security guards.
As one women tried to push through to Vladimir Putin she was blocked by his aides – her back was painted with words directed against the Russian president.
The members of the women’s rights group Femen, which has staged protests against Russia’s detention of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot around Europe, appeared as Vladimir Putin visited a trade fair in Hanover with Angela Merkel.
Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel were confronted by topless Femen activists in Hanover
They stripped off to the waist and shouted slogans calling Vladimir Putin a “dictator” before being covered up and bundled away by security men.
However, a smiling Vladimir Putin shrugged off the protest and said: “As for the action, I liked it.”
“You should be grateful to the girls, they are helping you make the fair more popular.”
But Angela Merkel was not amused, saying: “Whether one has to resort to such an emergency measure in Germany and can’t say one’s piece some other way, I have my doubts.”
It seems that the Kremlin were not so impressed by the demonstration as Vladimir Putin.
“This is ordinary hooliganism and unfortunately it happens all over the world, in any city. One needs to punish [them],” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Vladimir Putin’s arrival at the trade fair on Sunday also drew protesters, some of whom were dressed in striped prison uniforms.
“Stop political terror,” read one banner.
Angela Merkel told Vladimir Putin in a speech at the fair on Sunday that Russia needed “an active civil society” including freedom for non-governmental organizations, after a wave of controversial state inspections of foreign-funded NGOs in Russia.
The German chancellor had promised to raise what she called “controversial subjects” with the Russian leader, after coming under pressure to voice Berlin’s unease over the crackdown on NGOs, Moscow’s support of the Syrian government and its criticism of the German-orchestrated financial bailout of Cyprus.
Femen was founded in Kiev in 2008 to protest against Ukraine’s booming sex industry. At their first demonstration members appeared clothed carrying banners reading “Ukraine is not a brothel!”.
Femen has since gone from strength to strength with 150,000 members worldwide and branches across Europe and even in highly conservative countries such as Egypt.
During a televised interview last week First Lady Michelle Obama accidentally called herself a single mother.
Michelle Obama was talking about healthy foods as part of her ongoing Let’s Move! initiative and made the slip when she was discussing how the demands of raising a family can leave little time for nutritious cooking in a CBS interview.
First Lady Michelle Obama accidentally called herself a single mother
“Believe me, as a busy single mother,” Michelle Obama said, before quickly correcting herself: “Or I shouldn’t say single – as a busy mother.”
Michelle Obama’s remarks came the same day that the President was criticized for remarking that California’s Kamala Harris is the ‘best looking attorney general’ in the country.
Though Michelle Obama did not comment on her husband’s gaffe, she did try explaining her slip-up by adding: “Sometimes, you know when you’ve got the husband who’s president it can feel a little single. But he’s there.”
Though Barack Obama is obviously busy, leaving much of the child-rearing on Michelle’s shoulders, she does have a good idea about what she is talking about.
When Barack Obama was a Senator and living in Washington, D.C. during the work week, Michelle raised the two young girls on her own in Chicago.
Annette Funicello, one of the original Mouseketeers of the 1950s Mickey Mouse Club and a star of numerous 1960s “beach party” films, died Monday at the age of 70, the Walt Disney Co. announced.
Annette Funicello “died peacefully from complications due to multiple sclerosis, a disease she battled for over 25 years,” at a California hospital, the Disney statement said.
“We are so sorry to lose Mother,” her three children said in a statement.
“She is no longer suffering anymore and is now dancing in heaven. We love and will miss her terribly.”
Annette Funicello, one of the original Mouseketeers of Mickey Mouse Club, died at the age of 70
Annette Funicello was just 13 when she was selected by Walt Disney himself to be one of the original Mouseketeers of the Mickey Mouse Club, the 1950s television variety show aimed at children.
She had a background in dance and quickly became one of the most popular Mouseketeers.
Annette Funicello “was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mouseketeer, and a true Disney Legend”, Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger said.
She remained with Disney after leaving the “Mickey Mouse Club,” appearing in TV shows including Zorro (1957), The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca (1958) and starring in the Disney feature films The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and The Monkey’s Uncle (1965).
The most enduring images of Annette Funicello, though, may be of her in a bikini, her primary wardrobe when she co-starred with teen idol Frankie Avalon in beach party movies in the early 1960s.
Walt Disney saw Annette Funicello dancing the lead in Swan Lake at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank when she was 13. Disney asked her to audition for a new children’s TV series he was developing called The Mickey Mouse Club.
Kim Kardashian shows off her baby bump in a newly-released trailer for Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 8 aired on Sunday night following the season finale of Kourtney & Kim Take Miami.
Pregnant Kim Kardashian, who last night was seen revealing her baby news to sister Kourtney on their spin-off E! show, takes the stage again.
In this one-minute clip, the hormonal reality star is seen baring her bump, chowing down on junk food, before breaking down during a particularly stressful hospital visit.
The first image of Kim Kardashian’s sonogram will be revealed in Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 8
The cameras were on hand to capture 32-year-old Kim Kardashian – who is in the midst of a bitter divorce from husband of 72-days Kris Humphries – bursting into tears while etherized on a bed, with mother Kris Jenner squeezing her hand in support.
The first image of Kim Kardashian’s sonogram is also flashed up during the trailer.
Elsewhere Kim Kardashian digs into junk food, along with her brother Rob, who is currently on a slim-down mission after piling on 40 lbs.
The new series looks set to explore Rob Kardashian’s battle of the bulge, with the trailer showing a glimpse of his exercise regime as he hauls himself off on a hike.
Kim Kardashian’s sister Kendall Jenner, 17, is taken to a shooting range by her father Bruce in the clip.
It comes after Bruce Jenner gets into a row with wife Kris for bringing a gun into the house.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 8 airs on E! from June 2.
Spanish singer and actress Sara Montiel died Monday, April 8, at the age of 85.
Considered a legend of Spanish cinema and one of the first to make it to Hollywood, Sara Montiel, whose name was Maria Antonia Abad Fernandez, died at her home in Madrid after suffering a blackout, but so far her cause of death is unknown, according to her biographer, Peter Villora.
Sara Montiel, also known as Sarita Montiel or Saritisima, starred in hundreds of films and was a beauty icon for a generation. She lived a troubled love life and became famous for smoking cigars on stage when she sang.
“She was both actress and singer. But being an actress was her life’s dream,” said Peter Villora.
She began her career in Mexico in the late 40s with such successful films as Women’s Prison.
Sara Montiel soon made the leap to Hollywood, where she shot a supporting role in the legendary western Vera Cruz in 1955 alongside actors like Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster.
Sara Montiel died at her home in Madrid after suffering a blackout
Her second film in the US was the musical Serenade, with the tenor Mario Lanza and Joan Fontaine starring as Vincent Price.
“She had the greatest international impact of all Spanish stars in cinema until Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz broke more barriers,” said the Spanish actor Jose Sacristan.
In her native country, where she had enjoyed little success before traveling to Mexico, Sara Montiel rose to stardom with The Last Couplet in 1957, one of the highest-grossing films in the history of Spanish cinema. For her next film, The Violetera, Sara Montiel collected more than a million dollars, something unheard of in those days.
After the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Sara Montiel left cinema and appeared in musicals, starring in vaudeville theaters and television.
One of her hallmarks was smoking cigars on stage, a habit that then seemed reserved only for men. Sara Montiel said it was Ernest Hemingway who taught her to smoke.
Sara Montiel was married three times, once to film director Anthony Mann and to two Spanish businessmen. For many years it was rumored she had affairs with Ernest Hemingway and iconic film stars like James Dean.
British chemists have found a new way to halve the fat of chocolate using liquids which does not change the “mouthfeel”.
Low-fat preparations of chocolate are well known, but their textures tend not to match the real thing.
A report at an American Chemical Society meeting described a method using the popular gelling agent agar to make tiny “sponges” that displace fat.
British researchers at University of Warwick said water, fruit juice or even alcohol could replace up to half the fat.
When used with alcohol, Stefan Bon said they were like “tiny vodka jellies”.
British chemists have found a new way to halve the fat of chocolate using liquids which does not change the mouthfeel
What has held up such chemistry is making what is known as an emulsion – a thorough blend of materials that do not tend to mix, such as oil and water.
Normal chocolate gets much of its velvety feel from an emulsion of fat globules suspended within the solid.
Replacing those is tricky – any substitutes have to remain dispersed throughout the chocolate as it is heated and cooled to a solid, and they have to remain small.
Dr. Stefan Bon said that the smooth texture of chocolate requires that the globules be smaller than about 30 millionths of a metre across – about half the width of a human hair.
The Warwick team first published an attempt to crack the problem in a 2012 paper in the Journal of Materials Chemistry.
That formulation made “armored” spheres of liquid, using two materials – fumed silica, a form of the same material from which sand is made, and chitosan, a compound derived from shellfish.
That solution required that the liquid be slightly acidic, so the team used fruit juices.
“That was exciting because it had the combination of fruit juice and chocolate, and everybody went wild on it,” said Dr. Stefan Bon.
“Then some people – especially in the UK – said: <<but can we do alcohol?>>
“We’ve been working very hard in the lab to make a system that can do that – instead of these armored systems we then thought we could make tiny little vodka jellies.”
The new approach is simpler to carry out and more versatile in the replacements it can employ.
It also avoids any concerns consumers may have with the nano-structured fumed silica, or dietary restrictions on eating shellfish products.
“So you can stick to your fruit juice if you want, but you can also make a vodka-based chocolate bar, which is exciting – obviously not very healthy, but exciting,” Dr. Stefan Bon said.
On a healthier note, Stefan Bon added that using the method with other liquids could lead to significantly reduced sugar content as well.
“It opens the route to different types of confectionery candy that can be placed on the shelf next to everything else that’s out there already,” he said.
A guide to the extraordinary life and career of the first British female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher:
Who was Margaret Thatcher?
Margaret Thatcher, born Margaret Hilda Roberts in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 13 October 1925, was the longest-serving British prime minister in modern times and the first woman to lead a major Western democracy. She won three successive general elections and spent a total of 11 years in Downing Street, from May 1979 to November 1990.
What did Baroness Thatcher achieve?
British society changed almost beyond recognition during the Thatcher years, as heavy industry closed and a new free market economy was born. The political philosophy she established still dominates British politics to this day. But critics say the changes came at the price of a more divided society and the destruction of traditional working-class communities.
Margaret Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister in modern times and the first woman to lead a major Western democracy
What about on the international stage?
Margaret Thatcher joined forces with US president Ronald Reagan to pioneer a new form of dynamic free-market conservatism, which has since taken root around the world. Her support for reforming Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev arguably hastened the end of the Cold War and the spread of democracy to former Eastern Bloc states.
What was Margaret Thatcher’s background?
The younger of two daughters, Margaret Hilda Roberts was born in 1925 in Grantham, a small market town in eastern England. Her father, Alfred, owned a grocer’s shop and was involved in local politics. She went to an all-girls grammar school, before studying chemistry at Oxford University. She then trained as a barrister, specializing in tax. She married divorced millionaire businessman Denis Thatcher and had two children – twins Carol and Mark.
How did Lady Thatcher get into politics?
She owed her lifelong passion for politics to father Alfred, who was on the local council in Grantham. At Oxford in the mid 1940s, she became the first female president of the university’s Conservative association. In 1959, at the age of 34, she was elected as an MP, for the north London seat of Finchley, in an era when female politicians were still a rarity.
How did Margaret Thatcher become prime minister?
Margaret Thatcher had a rough ride after Tory leader Ted Heath made her education secretary in 1970. She was dubbed “Thatcher the milk snatcher” after her decision to end free school milk for older primary school pupils. The prospect of her becoming party leader, let alone prime minister, seemed a distant one. But after the Tories lost the second 1974 general election there was a hunger in the party for a different approach and to the surprise of many, herself included, she defeated Ted Heath in a 1975 leadership election. Four years later she was elected prime minister with a Commons majority of 43.
What were the key moments of her early years in power?
Margaret Thatcher was determined to revive Britain’s ailing economy but her choice of medicine – squeezing inflation and clamping down on public spending and borrowing – led to a far worse downturn than most had predicted. Unemployment soared above three million as large chunks of Britain’s manufacturing and heavy industries closed down. England’s inner cities saw riots in 1981. Her refusal to do a U-turn – as her predecessor Ted Heath had done – meant she appeared to be heading for defeat at the next election. The Falklands War – when she sent a naval task force to retake the South Atlantic islands invaded by Argentina – and Labour’s leftward lurch are both credited with helping her win that second election.
What about Margaret Thatcher’s second term?
Margaret Thatcher was re-elected by a landslide in 1983, in a wave of post-Falklands patriotic fervour. But her second term saw more turmoil – including one of the longest and most bitter industrial disputes in British history in the 1984 miners’ strike. In October of that year, with the strike still under way, the IRA attempted to murder Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet by bombing her hotel during the Conservative Party conference in Brighton. The economy improved towards the end of her second term as free market reforms and the sale of state assets gathered pace.
What about her third term?
A second landslide followed in the 1987 general election, with Margaret Thatcher returning to Downing Street with a 102 seat majority, becoming the longest continually serving prime minister since Lord Liverpool in the early 19th Century. Her third term was marked by an increasingly hard line on Europe, and the continuation of economic reforms with privatization and the further growth of home and share ownership.
How did Margaret Thatcher’s premiership come to an end?
In one of the most dramatic episodes in political history, Margaret Thatcher was ejected by her own MPs three years after her 1987 election victory amid public anger over a new tax system for local government, dubbed the poll tax. The resignation of ultra-loyal Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe, over her increasingly skeptical stance on Europe, finally triggered her downfall after senior Conservatives told her she would lose a leadership election. She never lost an election.
What were Margaret Thatcher’s key domestic reforms?
Seeking to tame inflation through monetarist economic policy, curbing union power, selling off nationally owned monopolies, liberalizing the stock market and introducing the right-to-buy for council tenants.
What is Margaret Thatcher’s legacy?
Britain would probably be a very different place today without Margaret Thatcher. Her bold free market reforms and curbs on union power – that caused so much controversy in the 1980s – are now accepted as conventional wisdom by all mainstream British political parties. The centre ground of British politics shifted to the right as a result of her time in power.
Margaret Thatcher is, furthermore, a global icon and role model for female politicians and, with Ronald Reagan, one of the towering figures of the political right.
She suffered from poor health for several years before her death.On 21 December 2012, she underwent an operation to remove a growth from her bladder.
Margaret Thatcher died on 8 April 2013 in London following a massive stroke. Her spokesman, Lord Bell, confirmed her death at 12:52 BST (11:52 UTC) by press release.
British housewife Lindsay Sandiford has lost her appeal against her death sentence in Bali for drug trafficking, a Bali High Court spokesman has said.
The Bali High Court upheld the sentence handed down to Lindsay Sandiford in January.
Lindsay Sandiford, 56, from Gloucestershire, UK, says she was coerced into smuggling 4.8 kg (10.6lb) of cocaine.
The housewife was arrested after a flight from Thailand in May 2012 and accused of being at the centre of a drugs ring.
Following her conviction earlier this year, the prosecution recommended 15 years imprisonment but a panel of judges later sentenced Lindsay Sandiford to death by firing squad.
Lindsay Sandiford has lost her appeal against her death sentence in Bali for drug trafficking
The appeal judges ruled the original decision was “accurate and correct,” the court spokesman said, adding that Lindsay Sandiford would be informed of the decision as soon as possible.
The high court, sitting in the island’s capital Denpasar, gave her 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court starting from the day she is informed of the verdict.
If the Supreme Court rejects her appeal, Lindsay Sandiford can seek a judicial review of the decision from the same court. After that, only the country’s president can grant her a reprieve.
It was not game over for Lindsay Sandiford but it would be a long process, with many death row drug smugglers languishing in jails for up to 10 years.
There are currently 71 prisoners convicted of drug charges on death row in Indonesia and 41 of them are foreigners.
Last month, the authorities in Indonesia carried out their first execution for more than four years. Adami Wilson, a Malawi national convicted of drugs smuggling, was executed by firing squad north of Jakarta.
The British embassy in the Indonesian capital issued a statement: “We are disappointed to hear Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal has been refused by the High Court in Bali. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly made representations to the Indonesian government on this matter.
“We will continue to provide consular assistance to her at this difficult time.”
At the end of January, Lindsay Sandiford lost a legal bid in the UK to get the British government to fund a lawyer for her appeal in Bali.
It had been said she was urgently in need of funding to pay for an “an adequate lawyer” because her family had exhausted all their available resources.
But the Foreign Office’s policy of not providing legal representation to British nationals overseas was backed by judges.
Lindsay Sandiford’s case has been taken up by the British human rights charity, Reprieve, which said Sandiford was “targeted by drug traffickers who exploited her vulnerability and made threats against her children”.
She is originally from Redcar in Teesside but her last UK address was in Gloucestershire. She was arrested after a flight from Bangkok and was accused of being part of a drugs ring involving three other Britons.
One of the Britons, Julian Ponder, 43, from Brighton, was jailed for six years in January after being cleared of smuggling but convicted of possessing 23 g of cocaine.
The two other Britons were also cleared of trafficking; one received a sentence of four years for possession and the other a one-year term for failing to report a crime.
Margaret Thatcher, UK’s first female prime minister, has died at 87 following a stroke, her spokesman has announced today.
Lord Bell said: “It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning.”
Margaret Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
PM David Cameron called Baroness Thatcher a “great Briton” and Queen Elizabeth II spoke of her sadness at the death.
Margaret Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990
Downing Street said Lady Margaret Thatcher would be accorded the same status of funeral as the Queen Mother and Princess Diana, but will not lie in state, in accordance with her own wishes.
Lady Thatcher, born Margaret Roberts, became the Conservative MP for Finchley, north London in 1959, retiring from the Commons in 1992.
Having been education secretary, Margaret Thatcher successfully challenged former Prime Minister Edward Heath for her party’s leadership in 1975 and won general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987.
Margaret Thatcher’s government privatized several state-owned industries. She was also in power when the UK went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.
In a statement on the Downing Street Twitter feed, PM David Cameron said: “It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher’s death. We’ve lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher. Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family.”
Kim Kardashian had another unflattering choice of maternity wear with a salmon pink dress that billowed dramatically at the hips as she attended church with her mother Kris Jenner on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Kim Kardashian, 32, who is six months pregnant, wore a floaty dress with the bottom tapered in.
The reality star showed off ample cleavage in the low-cut frock, while the draping material of her dress concealed her pregnant belly for the most part.
Kim Kardashian completed the look with stylish beige sandals and a brown suede handbag.
Kim Kardashian had another unflattering choice of maternity wear with a salmon pink dress that billowed dramatically at the hips as she attended church with her mother Kris Jenner
She wore her long dark hair straight and loose over her shoulders and shielded her eyes with giant aviator sunglasses.
Kim Kardadshian attended church with her mother Kris Jenner, who opted for a low-key look in black skinny jeans, a white blazer and black trainers.
Kris Jenner and her daughter walked closely together as they chatted while making their way into the church.
Kim Kardashian has received criticism for her unflattering maternity style, which has regularly consisted of either ill-fitting baggy clothing or tight, skimpy attire.
Much of the clothing has made her appear bigger than what she is, which became especially clear when she posted a Twitter snap of her bare baby bump on Saturday.
The star looked surprisingly slender in black leggings and a white T-shirt, suggesting that her weight gain hasn’t been as severe as it has seemed.
Kim Kardashian recently took to her blog to respond to criticism of her maternity style.
“I saw some comments that were so critical!” the reality star wrote on Friday.
“It’s funny because Kourtney warned me that when I get pregnant people’s opinions will be on an all time high and everyone will chime in. So I now see what she means.”
Kim Kardashian added: “I saw some comments that the skirt is too tight for the pregnancy and that’s ridiculous! I bought this skirt a few sizes bigger and there is plenty of room.”
North Korea has announced today it is withdrawing all its workers from the joint-Korean Kaesong industrial zone and suspending operations there.
The move follows weeks of warlike rhetoric from Pyongyang after it was sanctioned by the UN for carrying out its third nuclear test in February.
Kaesong industrial park was established almost a decade ago and had been a symbol of co-operation between North and South Korea.
However, a North Korean official said it could now be closed permanently.
In a statement, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the decision “cannot be justified in any way and North Korea will be held responsible for all the consequences,” the AFP news agency reports.
Kaesong complex, just over the border in North Korea, employs more than 50,000 North Korean workers but is funded and managed by South Korean firms.
North Korea has announced today it is withdrawing all its workers from the joint-Korean Kaesong industrial zone and suspending operations there
Pyongyang has already banned South Koreans from entering, but during a visit to the site, Kim Yang-gon, secretary of the party’s Central Committee, said North Korea would now “temporarily suspend the operations in the zone and examine the issue of whether it will allow its existence or close it”.
The North’s KCNA news agency quoted Kim Yang-gon as saying that South Korea and the US “insult the country’s dignity and make the zone a starting point of war”.
“How the situation will develop in the days ahead will entirely depend on the attitude of the South Korean authorities,” Kim Yang-gon said.
The statement made no reference to the nearly 500 South Koreans who are in Kaesong as managers.
One South Korean told the Associated Press he had heard nothing about the order from the North Korean government.
“North Korean workers left work at six o’clock today as they usually do. We’ll know tomorrow whether they will come to work,” he said.
Earlier, South Korean officials played down reports that the North could be about to carry out a nuclear test.
A defense ministry spokesman said the widely reported activity detected at the Punggye-ri underground test site appeared to be routine and that there was “no indication that a nuclear test is imminent”.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said such a nuclear test would be a “provocative measure”, and warned that North Korea cannot continue “confronting and challenging the authority of the Security Council and directly challenging the whole international community”.
Russia and China have called for calm and a return to dialogue.
Speaking during a visit to Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that as a neighbor of North Korea his country was “worried about the escalation” of tensions.
Vladimir Putin warned there was a risk of a conflict on the Korean peninsula which would make the Chernobyl nuclear disaster “seem like a child’s fairy tale”.
The UN imposed tough sanctions on North Korea following its third nuclear test on February 12.
Pyongyang has responded by issuing almost daily threats to use nuclear weapons and saying it would restart its nuclear reactor.
North Korea has also shut down an emergency military hotline between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Last week it warned it would not be able to guarantee the safety of foreign embassy staff after April 10, and that countries should begin evacuating their diplomatic staff.
North Korea’s state media have been broadcasting a continuing diet of war and retribution with programmes about biochemical war, nuclear war and military preparations dominating the listing.
However, some analysts have suggested that the rhetoric is in large part designed to shore up the standing of a young, inexperienced leader, Kim Jong-un.
Meanwhile, Japan’s defence ministry said the country’s armed forces have been ordered to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory.
Over the weekend, the US cancelled a scheduled test of its Minuteman III ballistic missile, citing concerns that it could be misinterpreted by Pyongyang.
Kelly Clarkson arrived at this year ACM Awards in a complementary purple fit and flare dress but as she took to the stage at the event, her costume change wasn’t quite as flattering.
The 48th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Kelly Clarkson’s light blue mid sleeve mini dress appeared a tad too small on the 30-year-old American Idol star.
Kelly Clarkson’s light blue mid sleeve mini dress appeared a tad too small on the 30-year-old American Idol star
Bunching up around her middle area, the fabric of the attire appeared restrictive.
Nonetheless, Kelly Clarkson beamed as she performed her hit song Don’t Rush at the star-studded awards show.
Earlier Kelly Clarkson arrived at the event on the arm of her fiancé Brandon Blackstock.
She looked pretty in her purple dress which she wore with nude colored tights and a pair of peep toe polka dot platform heels.
Kelly Clarkson accessorized with a black clutch bag and wore her blonde locks out in a straight style.
Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s remains are to be exhumed, forensic experts have announced.
Chilean authorities want to establish whether Pablo Neruda died of cancer or was poisoned on the orders of country’s former military ruler General Augusto Pinochet.
Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize winner who died in 1973, was a member of the Communist Party and a staunch supporter of ousted Chilean president Salvador Allende.
The poet died aged 69 just 12 days after Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s coup against Salvador Allende.
Pablo Neruda’s family maintains that he died of advanced prostate cancer.
Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize winner who died in 1973, was a member of the Communist Party and a staunch supporter of ousted Chilean president Salvador Allende
In 2011, Chile started investigating allegations by his former driver and personal assistant, Manuel Araya, that Pablo Neruda had been poisoned.
Manuel Araya says Pablo Neruda called him from hospital, and told him he was feeling sick after having been given an injection in the stomach.
His allegations are backed by the Chilean Communist Party, which says that Pablo Neruda did not exhibit any of the symptoms associated with the advanced cancer he is reported to have died from.
Members of Chile’s Medical Legal Service began to dig up Pablo Neruda’s grave on Sunday.
Pablo Neruda is buried next to his wife Matile Urritia in the garden of their home on Chile’s Pacific coast in Isla Negra, some 75 miles west of the capital, Santiago.
A nephew of Pablo Neruda, Rodolfo Reyes, said the family wanted to know the truth “regardless of whether he died of natural causes or was murdered”.
Pablo Neruda, best known for his love poems, was a close friend of the socialist president Salvador Allende.
After Salvador Allende was toppled in the 11 September 1973 coup, the poet arranged to go into exile in Mexico, where he was expected to join the opposition to the military rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
Historian Fernando Marin is one of those who thinks Pablo Neruda’s plans to go abroad, and his sudden death, were linked.
“No one doubts that there was a plane waiting for Pablo Neruda at Pudahuel airport when he died,” according to Fernando Marin.
“He had a urinary infection and an adenoma [benign tumor] on his prostate according to the medical tests, but he wasn’t going to die,” Fernando Marin told Reuters news agency.
More than 3,000 people were disappeared and killed under Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s military rule between 1973 and 1990.
Wikileaks has published a new collection of more than 1.7 million of US diplomatic and intelligence documents from the 1970s.
The documents include allegations that former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi was a middleman in an arms deal and the first impressions of eventual British PM Margaret Thatcher.
The records have not been leaked and are available to view at the US national archives.
Wikileaks says it is releasing the documents in searchable form.
Wikileaks has published a new collection of more than 1.7 million of US diplomatic and intelligence documents from the 1970s
Much of the work has been carried out by the website’s founder Julian Assange while he has been holed up at the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Julian Assange took refuge in the embassy last June to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations that he assaulted two female ex-Wikileaks supporters in 2010.
He denies the allegations, and has said they are politically motivated and part of a smear campaign against him and his whistle-blowing website.
Wikileaks made headlines around the world in 2010 after it released more than 250,000 leaked US cables.
Julian Assange told Britain’s Press Association that the latest collection, entitled the Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), reveal the “vast range and scope” of US diplomatic activity around the world.
The data comprises diplomatic cables, intelligence reports and congressional correspondence running from the beginning of 1973 to the end of 1976.
Much of the correspondence is either written by or sent to Henry Kissinger, who was US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser during that period.
It includes claims, being widely reported by the Indian media, that Rajiv Gandhi – of India’s most famous political family – was employed by the Swedish firm Saab-Scandia as it tried to sell its Viggen fighter jet to India.
Rajiv Gandhi was working as a commercial pilot and not in politics himself at the time.
A US diplomat is quoted in a February 1976 cable as saying: “We would have thought a transport pilot is not the best expert to rely upon in evaluating a fighter plane, but then we are speaking of a transport pilot who has another and perhaps more relevant qualification.”
Rajiv Gandhi became India’s prime minister in 1984 and was assassinated in 1991.
Saab-Scandia did not win its bid to sell Viggen fighter jets to India; the contract went to Britain’s Jaguar planes.
Another cable, dated February 1975, from London sets out “some first impressions” of new leader of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher.
The diplomat wrote that “she has a quick, if not profound, mind, and works hard to master the most complicated brief”.
Margaret Thatcher is “crisp and a trifle patronizing” with the media, but “honest and straight-forward” with her colleagues, “if not excessively considerate of their vanities”, the diplomat wrote.
“The personification of a British middle class dream come true,” she is the “genuine voice of a beleaguered bourgeoise [sic], anxious about its eroding economic power and determined to arrest society’s seemingly inexorable trend towards collectivism”, the cable said.
The diplomat noted she had “acquired a distinctively upper middle class personal image”, which might damage her chances of becoming prime minister, but said she should not be underestimated.
US scientists say carnitine, a chemical found in red meat, helps explain why eating too much steak, mince and bacon is bad for the heart.
Their work has been published in the journal Nature Medicine and showed that carnitine in red meat was broken down by bacteria in the gut.
This kicked off a chain of events which resulted in higher levels of cholesterol and an increased risk of heart disease.
Dieticians also warned there may be a risk to people taking carnitine supplements.
US scientists say carnitine, a chemical found in red meat, helps explain why eating too much steak, mince and bacon is bad for the heart
There has been a wealth of studies suggesting that regularly eating red meat may be damaging to health.
Saturated fat and the way processed meat is preserved are thought to contribute to heart problems. However, this was not thought to be the whole story.
“The cholesterol and saturated fat content of lean red meat is not that high, there’s something else contributing to increases in cardiovascular risk,” said lead researcher Dr. Stanley Hazen.
Experiments on mice and people showed that bacteria in the gut could eat carnitine.
Carnitine was broken down into a gas, which was converted in the liver to a chemical called TMAO.
In the study, TMAO was strongly linked with the build-up of fatty deposits in blood vessels, which can lead to heart disease and death.
Dr. Stanley Hazen, from the Cleveland Clinic, said TMAO was often ignored: “It may be a waste product but it is significantly influencing cholesterol metabolism and the net effect leads to an accumulation of cholesterol.
“The findings support the idea that less red meat is better.
“I used to have red meat five days out of seven, now I have cut it way back to less than once every two weeks or so.”
He said the findings raised the idea of using a probiotic yogurt to change the balance of bacteria in the gut.
Reducing the number of bacteria that feed on carnitine would in theory reduce the health risks of red meat.
Vegetarians naturally have fewer bacteria that are able to break down carnitine than meat-eaters.
