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.
At least 41 people have died in the province of Buenos Aires after heavy rains caused flash floods in Argentina.
One of the heaviest storms recorded moved through the province hitting capital Buenos Aires and the city of La Plata.
In La Plata, between 300 mm (12 in) and 400 mm of rain fell in a few hours.
At least 41 people have died in the province of Buenos Aires after heavy rains caused flash floods in Argentina
At least 35 people were killed in La Plata, said provincial governor Daniel Scioli, adding that the city “has never seen anything equal” to it.
Daniel Scioli said city authorities had been discovering the bodies as the flood waters slowly receded.
At least another six people had died in the city of Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
About 280,000 people remain without power in Buenos Aires province, according to figures given by National Planning Minister Julio de Vido.
“Our job is focused on restoring service, but we’re going to wait until the equipment dries to guarantee the safety of the electricity workers, because we don’t want any deaths,” said Julio de Vido.
Daniel Scioli said that many of those who died in La Plata were drowned or electrocuted after taking shelter in their cars in the suburb of Tolosa.
“We are giving priority to rescuing people who have been stuck in trees or on the roofs of their homes,” he added.
Some 2,500 people have been evacuated from their homes.
La Plata’s oil refinery was flooded and then had to close due to a fire. YPF, the company which runs the facility, said “an extraordinary accumulation of rainwater and power outages in the entire refinery complex” caused the fire.
In Buenos Aires, one of those who died was a worker for the city’s underground system who was electrocuted while trying to pump water from a flooded station.
Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri said about 350,000 people had been affected by the torrents of rain.
Thousands of cars were carried away by floods and hundreds of families had to be evacuated from their homes.
Buenos Aires authorities said it was the heaviest April rainfall in a century.
The Rolling Stones are to perform in London’s Hyde Park for the first time after 44 years.
Their outdoor concert will take place on July 6, a week after The Rolling Stones’ first appearance at the Glastonbury festival.
The Rolling Stones famously played in the Hyde Park just two days after death of guitarist Brian Jones in July 1969.
The Rolling Stones are to perform in London’s Hyde Park for the first time after 44 years
At the first Hyde Park gig, a legendary free concert for an estimated 250,000 people in 1969, Mick Jagger wore a white dress on stage and read a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem dedicated to Brian Jones. Thousands of butterflies were then released into the air.
Unlike in 1969, this year’s show will not be free – but ticket prices have not been announced. The group angered some fans when they charged up to £406 for shows at the O2 arena last year.
The Hyde Park show – part of Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time Hyde Park – will come a week after The Rolling Stones headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Sir Mick Jagger, 69, said he would phone U2 singer Bono for advice following the Irish band’s 2011 performance.
“<<Don’t do it!>> might be his advice, but it’s a bit late for that,” Mick Jagger joked.
“It is quite a difficult gig,” he added.
“U2 had terrible weather and that didn’t help. You have to learn from their experiences.”
Bono later said U2 gave a disappointing performance at the festival because they were “a bit freaked out” by the conditions and the singer wore the “wrong shoes” for the stage.
The Rolling Stones have also announced a North American tour, beginning in May, but with more recovery time between gigs than in previous years.
“You gotta pace yourself,” Mick Jagger said.
“We have enough time before we come back to England, so we’ll be well recovered.”
But he said the group had no current plans to tour the rest of the world.
The Rolling Stones will be supported in Hyde Park in July by The Vaccines, The Temper Trap and Gary Clark Jr.
Shah Rukh Khan has performed at the opening of the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the eastern city of Calcutta.
Nine teams will play 72 Twenty20 matches over 54 days.
Players from around the world will compete in the world’s richest cricket league.
Shah Rukh Khan has performed at the opening of the sixth edition of the IPL in Calcutta
Eleven Sri Lankan cricketers will play in the tournament despite a political row which has seen them banned from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Tuesday’s spectacular opening ceremony took place at the Salt Lake Stadium and featured top Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Paduokone and international rap artist Pitbull.
The 105-minute show also featured flying drummers, colorful balloons, percussionists and fireworks.
Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone performed dance numbers from hit films, while Pitbull sang some of his hit songs.
The Kolkata Knight Riders, owned by Shah Rukh Khan, will play the first match of the tournament on Wednesday against the Delhi Daredevils.
Jane Henson, the Muppets designer and ex- wife of puppets creator Jim Henson, has died aged 78 after a long battle with cancer.
Jane Henson helped design many puppets for the Muppet Show, whose characters include Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, and also worked as a puppeteer.
A statement from the Jim Henson Company – owned by the couple’s five children – described Jane Henson as an “integral creative and business partner” in the Muppets.
Jane Henson, the Muppets designer and ex- wife of puppets creator Jim Henson, has died aged 78 after a long battle with cancer
Jane Henson, born in New York in 1934, died at her home in Connecticut.
She met future husband Jim Henson in a puppetry class at the University of Maryland in the mid-1950s and the pair created the five-minute TV sketch show Sam and Friends, a precursor to the Muppets that featured an early incarnation of Kermit.
Sam and Friends first aired in 1955 and ran for six years, with Jane Henson giving up puppetry in the early 1960s to raise the couple’s children. However, she went on to make occasional appearances in Sesame Street, which featured some of their creations.
The Muppet Show made its TV debut in 1976 and has enjoyed enduring popularity. The 2011 film The Muppets won an Oscar and was a box office hit.
British actor Ricky Gervais is playing the lead role in the sequel The Muppets… Again, which is due out next year.
Jane Henson separated from her husband in 1986, four years before his death from infection-induced organ failure aged 53.
She went on to found the Jim Henson Legacy to preserve his artistic contributions.
Javaris Crittenton, a former NBA player and one time Georgia Tech basketball star, was indicted Tuesday on a slew of murder and gang charges.
Javaris Crittenton, 25, and his cousin, Douglas Gamble, were charged in a 12-count indictment in the death of Julian Jones from Atlanta and the attempted murder of a man, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office said.
Julian Jones, a 22-year-old mother of four, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in southwest Atlanta while walking with a group of people in August 2011. Authorities say that incident and a second shooting were gang-related.
Officials say the shootings may have been retaliation after Javaris Crittenton was the victim of a robbery in which $50,000 worth of jewelry was stolen.
Javaris Crittenton, a former NBA player and one time Georgia Tech basketball star, was indicted Tuesday on a slew of murder and gang charges.
In April 2011, Javaris Crittenton was robbed at gunpoint of a diamond watch, a diamond necklace, an iPhone and other valuables, and prosecutors say the NBA player was determined to avenge the heist.
Javaris Crittenton, a former Georgia Tech guard, was a first-round draft pick of the Lakers in 2007 and has also played for the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies.
The sportsman was suspended for 38 games during the 2009-10 season for pulling a gun in the Wizards’ locker room.
While nursing an injury, Javaris Crittenton and Gilbert Arenas were involved in a dispute stemming from a card game on a team flight.
Gilbert Arenas brought four guns to the locker room and set them in front of Javaris Crittenton’s locker with a sign telling him to “PICK 1”.
Javaris Crittenton then took out his own gun.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge on January 25, 2010, and received probation.
After being released on bond in the 2011 shooting, Javaris Crittenton was arrested in February 2012 for speeding in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale and refusing to get out of his Porsche when police told him to. Authorities said he also refused to sign his speeding ticket.
Javaris Crittenton’s attorney, Brian Steel, says his client is not guilty in the shooting.
“Mr. Crittenton and I look forward to proceeding to a jury trial, where the jury will be able to hear and see all of the evidence and reach a lawful, just, and proper verdict of not guilty,” Brian Steel said Tuesday night, adding that he disputes the notion the ex-NBA player was involved in any gang activity.
Prosecutors say Javaris Crittenton joined the notorious Mansfield Gangster Crips, a Los Angeles gang, shortly after being drafted by the Lakers.
“This is very concerning to our office that gang activity extends beyond the street level, but actually ventures into professional sports and what type of message that actually extends to the young people here in the city of Atlanta,” said Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Gabe Banks, according toAtlanta Journal-Constitution.
On August 19, 2011, police say Julian Jones was walking with a group of people outside her Macon Drive home in southeast Atlanta when she was shot in the hip in a drive-by shooting. The woman later died during surgery.
Authorities believe Javaris Crittenton was in the black Chevrolet Tahoe and that he was retaliating for the April 21 jewellery robbery in which he believed a person on the sidewalk was responsible.
Initial reports suggested Julian Jones was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Later reports said she knew the two men.
Two men with Julian Jones fled and were not injured, and investigators believe one of those men was the intended target.
Julian Jones’ boyfriend of ten years, Harel Butler, told AJC he planned to propose to her the same night she was shot.
Less than a week before Julian Jones’ death, authorities say the NBA player shot at but missed Demontinez Stephens, the brother of a man believed to be a member of a local Bloods gang affiliate called R.O.C. Crew.
Prosecutors also believe that while running with the Mansfield gang, Javaris Crittenton was a witness to another murder in California, the fact of which may come out during the trial.
He has been free on $230,000 bond since his 2011 arrest.
Javaris Crittenton, an Atlanta native, was a standout at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and later went on to average 14.4 points per game at Georgia Tech before being selected 19th overall by the Lakers, Patch Cascade reported.
As a college freshman, Javaris Crittenton helped lead Georgia Tech to a 20-12 record and a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 2007 before going pro the following year, according to WSB-TV.
During his two seasons with the NBA, Javaris Crittenton averaged 5.3 points per game in a total of 113 games played with three different teams.
Lady Gaga starts walking again for the first time since hip surgery in February.
Lady Gaga, 27, was spotted strutting into a Bikram yoga class in New York’s East Village on Monday.
However, at one moment she was seen being pushed out of the class in her Louis Vuitton wheelchair.
Lady Gaga starts walking again for the first time since hip surgery in February
Lady Gaga, who is back from Chicago after celebrating her birthday in the city with boyfriend Taylor Kinney last week, has been left reliant on a wheelchair after having an operation to repair a labral tear on her right hip two months ago.
The singer has been recuperating in style with the help some very extravagant accessories.
As well as her designer Louis Vuitton ride, Lady Gaga has also been pictured in a lavish 24-carat gold plated wheelchair, which she commissioned from luxury brand Mordekai.
Ken Borochov – who is the creative genius behind Mordekai – designed the wheelchair and although he has worked with Lady Gaga before he was shocked to receive such an unusual request.
In an official statement, Ken Borochov previously said: “I certainly wasn’t expecting that phone call and have never done a wheelchair but am always up for a challenge and was thrilled to create what I affectionately dubbed the <<Chariot>>, a chair fit only for a queen.”
Lady Gaga was forced to cancel the remaining 25 dates of her Born This Way Ball US tour after sustaining the hip injury.
The Born This Way tour began in Seoul, South Korea on April 27, 2012 and was originally due to end in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on March 20, 2013.
Scottish author Iain Banks has revealed today that he has late stage gallbladder cancer and is unlikely to live for more than a year.
Iain Banks, 59, posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year, would be his last.
The writer’s novels include The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, Complicity and the Culture series.
Scottish author Iain Banks has revealed today that he has late stage gallbladder cancer and is unlikely to live for more than a year
The statement said Iain Banks’ health problems came to light when he saw his doctor, suffering from a sore back.
Iain Banks was diagnosed with jaundice, before further tests established the full extent of his illness.
The writer said in the same statement that he had asked his partner Adele to marry him and was now on a short honeymoon.
Iain Banks, who lives in North Queensferry, Fife, said he had cancelled all future public engagements.
“The bottom line now, I’m afraid, is that as a late-stage gall bladder cancer patient, I’m expected to live for ‘several months’ and it’s extremely unlikely I’ll live beyond a year.
“So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.”
The author said the disease had spread to both lobes of his liver, and possibly his pancreas and lymph nodes.
Iain Banks added that there was little chance of surgeons being able to remove the tumors because of how far they had spread.
He has asked his publishers to bring forward the publication of his new book to “give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.”
Born in Fife, Iain Menzies Banks studied at Stirling University before publishing his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984.
He has alternated between mainstream and science fiction novels, which he wrote under the name Iain M. Banks.
In 2008, Iain Banks was named one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 in a list compiled by The Times.
News of his illness was described as “terribly sad” by First Minister Alex Salmond.
A website, called Banksophilia, has been created for friends and fans to leave messages for Iain Banks.
Edinburgh Book Festival tweeted: “Such sad news. Iain Banks our thoughts are with you and your loved ones.”
The Scottish Book Trust added: “We’re all shocked and saddened by Iain Banks’ news. We send our best wishes to him, his family and friends.”
