Two Russian fighter jets have breached Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft, reports say.
Japan lodged a protest after the planes were detected off the northern island of Hokkaido for just over a minute.
The incident happened after Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said he was seeking a solution to a territorial dispute with Russia over a Pacific island chain.
Russia’s military denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed islands.
Shinzo Abe was speaking on the anniversary of an 1855 treaty which Japan says supports its claims to the islands.
The four islands – which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories – are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute.
Because of the dispute, the two nations have not yet signed a peace treaty to end World War II.
Two Russian fighter jets have breached Japanese airspace, prompting Tokyo to scramble its own aircraft
“Today, around 03:00, military fighters belonging to Russian Federation breached our nation’s airspace above territorial waters off Rishiri island in Hokkaido,” the foreign ministry said, quoted by AFP news agency.
Hours earlier, Shinzo Abe told former inhabitants of the disputed islands and their descendents: “In the telephone talks, I told [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin I would make efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution so as to ultimately solve the issue of the Northern Territories.”
In December, Shinzo Abe and Vladimir Putin agreed to restart talks on signing a peace treaty.
Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old woman from Papua New Guinea, has been tortured and burned alive after being accused of using sorcery to kill a young boy, local media report.
Kepari Leniata was stripped, tied up and doused in petrol by the boy’s relatives in Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands, said the National newspaper.
She was then thrown onto a fire in front of hundreds of people.
Police and firefighters were unable to intervene, the paper said.
The Post Courier newspaper said they had been outnumbered by the crowd and chased away. Both newspapers published graphic photos of the incident on their front pages.
Provincial police commander Supt Kaiglo Ambane told the National that police were treating the case as murder and would arrest those responsible.
In parts of the Pacific nation deaths and mysterious illnesses are sometimes blamed on suspected sorcerers. Several reports have emerged in recent years of accused people, usually women, being killed.
Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old woman from Papua New Guinea, has been tortured and burned alive after being accused of using sorcery to kill a young boy
In 2009, after a string of such killings, the chairman of PNG’s Constitutional Review and Law Reform Commission said defendants were using accusations of witchcraft as an excuse to kill people, and called for tougher legislation to tackle the issue.
Local Christian bishop David Piso told the National that sorcery-related killings were a growing problem, and urged the government to “to come up with a law to stop such practice”.
The US embassy in the capital, Port Moresby, condemned the killing as a “brutal murder”, the AFP news agency reports, and evidence of “pervasive gender-based violence” in Papua New Guinea.
“There is no possible justification for this sort of violence. We hope that appropriate resources are devoted to identifying, prosecuting, and punishing those responsible for Ms Leniata’s murder.”
European Union leaders are due to begin a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on its next seven years budget.
High EU expenditure at a time of cutbacks and austerity across the continent is the main issue dividing the 27 member states.
They failed to reach a compromise at a similar summit last November.
The summit will almost certainly demand cuts in EU administration.
However, whatever is agreed still has to go to the European Parliament and MEPs are big backers of EU spending.
The EU Commission – the EU’s executive body – had originally wanted a budget ceiling of 1.025 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion) for 2014-2020, a 5% increase. In November that was trimmed back to 973 billion euros and later revised down to 943 billion euros.
However, with other EU spending commitments included, that would still give an overall budget of 1.011 trillion euros.
The UK, Germany and other northern European nations want to lower EU spending to mirror the cuts being made by national governments across the continent.
Another grouping, led by France and Italy, wants to maintain spending but target it more at investment likely to create jobs.
European Union leaders are due to begin a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on its next seven years budget
French President Francois Hollande told reporters on Sunday that conditions were “not yet in place” for a deal but also signaled that Paris was prepared to make compromises.
Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Paris on Wednesday before attending a France-Germany football match.
Angela Merkel’s spokesman said she and Francosi Hollande had had “a short but intense meeting… to see what kind of agreement could be made”.
angela Merkel – seen as the powerbroker in the summit – has already acknowledged that the talks will be “very difficult”.
In Brussels, a European Parliament spokesman warned that more severe cuts would leave the commission unable to do its job as the EU integrates more deeply in response to the financial crisis.
“How can we imagine that an EU institution can ensure a proper banking union with a budget that is cut by whatever billions in figures we hear, here and there?” said spokesman Olivier Bailly.
“At the moment, there is a need for a reality check between the requests that are sent to the commission, the council, the parliament, or the European Central Bank, and the budget – the means – that are given to these institutions to fulfill their commitments.”
The split in the EU reflects the gap between richer European countries and those that rely most on EU funding.
The argument for higher spending is supported by many countries that are net beneficiaries, including Poland, Hungary and Spain.
Others, mostly the big net contributors, argue it is unacceptable at a time of austerity.
Germany, the UK, France and Italy are the biggest net contributors to the budget, which amounts to about 1% of the EU’s overall GDP.
Analysts say failure to reach an agreement on its seven-year budget would mean the EU falling back on more expensive annual budgets.
Sarai Sierra, the married New York mother who was murdered while on a solo trip to Turkey, had sex the day before she vanished with a man she met on the internet, he has claimed.
“Taylan K” has been interviewed at length by Istanbul police after they discovered his online communication with 33-year-old Sarai Sierra, but he had initially insisted they were just friends.
Now Turkey’s Vatan newspaper has claimed Taylan K told police they had consensual sex a day before Sarai Sierra went missing. The duo had met online months before she left for Turkey on January 7.
It adds yet more intrigue to the circumstances surrounding Sarai Sierra’s death after earlier reports she was hanging out with “a criminal element” before she was killed. The FBI is also reportedly investigating whether she was involved in drug trafficking during her visit to the country.
Taylan K, who first met Sarai Sierra online several months ago when he commented on one of her photographs on Instagram, denied having any part in her disappearance or murder.
He added that he sent her a message on the day she vanished and asked her to meet, but she never responded. Police have taken a blood and sperm sample from Taylan K and 21 others.
Sarai Sierra’s body was found stashed by Istanbul’s ancient city walls on Saturday, more than a week after she failed to catch her flight home. Police said she died from a blunt force trauma.
She was found with a head wound and a blanket near her body. She was wearing jeans, a jumper and a jacket, and still had her earrings and a bracelet on, but her iPhone and iPad were missing.
The claims come on the same day as a source familiar with her murder investigation has suggested she had been hanging out with “a criminal element” while on the trip.
FBI agents investigating the killing do not believe she had only travelled to the country to take pictures, as her family has claimed.
“The first people she met up with were a criminal element,” the source told the New York Post.
“There are some witness reports that she was seen with sketchy characters.”
Authorities are now trying to verify these claims amid reports that her casket will be sent back to the US on Thursday, the Post reported.
Among various lines of inquiry investigators are looking into a possible connection to drug trafficking.
Sarai Sierra, who had been unemployed and had declared bankruptcy in 2005, had also travelled to Amsterdam and Munich while on the trip, which was her first time leaving the United States.
She had initially planned to visit the country for three weeks, but after 12 days she posted online that she had to cut the trip short.
Her family, including her devastated husband Steven Sierra, have said Sarai went to the country because of the photo opportunities. They say she used her iPad and iPhone to shoot the images.
To pay for her funeral, her family began selling some of her images online on Tuesday and soon had enough to cover her expenses.
The photos remain on sale online and any other profits will go to her two young sons, who are nine and 11, her family wrote on the website.
Photographs on sale include images taken during her time in Istanbul and pictures of New York City. They are being sold as canvases, framed prints, greeting cards and iPhone cases for $39.95 each.
“Sarai’s passion for photography and love for capturing the beauty we see in culture, architecture and scenery was her reason for traveling to Istanbul,” her brother, David Jimenez, wrote on the site.
David Jimenez added this afternoon: “Thank you for all the support in purchasing Sarai’s pictures. Quick update, all expenses for Sarai’s funeral have been paid for!
“From here on out any picture of hers that you purchase will NOT be going towards her funeral. All funds will be going to her children. Thank you for your support. David.”
Sarai Sierra, the married New York mother who was murdered while on a solo trip to Turkey, had sex the day before she vanished with a man she met on the internet
The outpouring of support comes hours after Sarai Sierra’s devastated husband, Steven, revealed how he is consumed with sadness at his wife’s death.
Steven Sierra, 40, left their home in Staten Island for Istanbul last week to help search for his wife, after she failed to get on a flight back to the U.S. on January 21 – but the trip ended in heartbreak.
“I’m heartbroken,” Steven Sierra said. He was married to Sarai for 14 years. “This is something you never want to imagine, and it’s something I’d never want anyone to experience.
“You have so many plans, so many dreams with the person you deeply love. You look forward to many years together and there are so many things you haven’t fulfilled with that person, and now those won’t be fulfilled,” he told the New York Daily News.
His two sons, who are aged 9 and 11, still do not know their mother is dead. Steven Sierra told the Daily News he is waiting until he returns home to tell the boys face-to-face.
Turkish police hope DNA samples from 21 people being questioned in the case will be key to finding the perpetrators, according to state run media.
Sarai Sierra’s mother told the Today show: “It was such a shock when we heard. She was supposed to come back and she didn’t.
“Her little boys do not know, their father will talk to them once he gets back. We will all be present for this.
“It was the first time she was going overseas after getting into photography college. She wanted to go there and take pictures of bridges and the history of the city.”
Sarai Sierra had left for Istanbul on January 7 to explore her photography hobby, her family said.
She was in regular contact with friends and relatives, and had told them she would visit Galata Bridge, which spans Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterway, to take photos.
CBS News reported that shortly after Sarai Sierra’s body was discovered, a woman came forward and told police she had seen a white car parked near the city walls as she was driving there the night of January 29, Anadolu reported.
The eyewitness said a man was trying to remove “something” from the car, at which point she caught a glimpse of a woman’s hand.
The news came after police in Istanbul detained and released a man who was one of the last in contact with the missing mother, who vanished the same day she planned to meet up with him.
The man only identified as “Taylan” on social media sites was taken into police custody after questioning on the disappearance of the woman.
Turkish news reports said Sarai Sierra had arranged to meet her contact, “Taylan”, on Galata Bridge she wanted to photograph the day she went missing.
It was about a mile from Sarai Sierra’s hostel, Dogan news agency reported but it’s not known if the meeting had actually taken place.
“We did not meet that day, but we had met before,” Taylan told police while adding that it was four months ago that they met for the first time online, Turkish paper the daily Hürriyet reports.
Authorities scoured security camera images near to the bridge to see if the meeting did in fact take place, the news agency said.
Last week, Turkish police released security camera footage showing missing Sarai Sierra at a mall near her hostel hours before she disappeared.
Sarai Sierra can be seen eating lunch and walking through the mall on January 20 – a day before she was supposed to catch a flight back home.
Her family last heard from Sarai Sierra on January 21, when she was supposed to start her journey home, but she never checked into her flight.
Rihanna accompanied Chris Brown to a LA court for his probation hearing over 2009 assault of her.
According to sources on TMZ, Rihanna, 24, “blew Chris a kiss and said some supportive words to him before he entered the courtroom”.
Chris Brown, 23, was in court to hear allegations from the Los Angeles prosecutors office that he may have lied about completing his community service.
TMZ reports the judge ordered Chris Brown to meet with his probation officer in Los Angeles within 48 hours to discuss the allegations.
The judge scheduled another hearing on April 5 due to needing “more time” to review the evidence presented by Los Angeles prosecutors. Chris Brown also needs to speak to the probation officers.
Rihanna and Chris Brown then left the courtroom “arm in arm” with Brown looking “dejected”, added TMZ.
Earlier, the couple had left Chris Brown’s home together with the star carrying his suit under his arm.
Rihanna wore sunglasses and kept her head down with her long hair partially covering her face.
The couple were also accompanied by Chris Brown’s mother Joyce Hawkins amid allegations that Brown “lied about completing community service hours”, which formed part of his probation deal.
Rihanna accompanied Chris Brown to a LA court for his probation hearing over 2009 assault of her
Chris Brown’s lawyer Mark Geragos and the Richmond Virginia Police Department have vociferously denied the allegations.
Mark Geragos gave a news conference after the hearing on Wednesday where he said: “I have never had a client who has been tortured like Chris Brown has.”
He added that Rihanna had been in court to “support” Chris Brown and was unimpressed with the allegations.
“[She’s] completely supportive,” he said.
“She thinks it’s utterly ridiculous to him.”
Expressing his fury at the District Attorney’s Office, Mark Geragos said: “The D.A. is paralyzed with the thought his probation will be terminated. If that happens they won’t be able to jock him around like they’ve been jocking him around.”
Chris Brown was in court following allegations by L.A. prosecutors on Tuesday that there is no credible evidence he completed his community service sentence for beating Rihanna, and citing several other incidents that they say point to anger management issues with the singer.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed a motion which focuses on issues with Brown’s community labor in Virginia, citing numerous discrepancies and claiming the R&B singer was essentially unsupervised.
Chris Brown is reported by E! News to have slammed the allegations on his Instagram account, writing: “I can handle the hate but enough is enough yo! ‘Im a human being and I honestly think I deserve respect i’m sick of being accused…I’m just tired of this sh**.”
CBS sent a Wardrobe Advisory to all attendees and performers in advance of the 55th Annual Grammys, which will be broadcast this Sunday.
Asking that all talent appearing on camera “adhere to Network policy concerning wardrobe”, the email stipulated that “buttocks and female breasts [must be] adequately covered”.
The email which was leaked to Deadline and came attached with an image of Pink performing in a barely-there costume at the 2010 Grammys, added: “Thong type costumes are problematic.
“Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack.
“Please be sure the genital region is adequately covered so that there is no visible <<puffy>> bare skin exposure,” it stated.
The requirements, directed mostly at female awards attendees, also include the specific instruction to “avoid sheer see-through clothing that could possibly expose female breast nipples”.
And even gowns with plunging necklines aren’t safe for the guidelines, which says: “Bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic.”
CBS sent a Wardrobe Advisory to all attendees and performers in advance of the 55th Annual Grammys, which will be broadcast this Sunday
It remains to be seen if the celebrities, used to getting maximum publicity for wearing minimum clothing, will follow suit.
However, those modest few who like to use the red-carpet as a sounding board for meaningful (or provocative) statements will also have to tow the line.
CBS stated in capital letters: “OBSCENITY OR PARTIALLY SEEN OBSCENITY ON WARDROBE IS UNACCEPTABLE FOR BROADCAST.”
It continued: “Finally, The Network requests that any organized cause visibly spelled out on talent’s wardrobe be avoided. This would include lapel pins or any other form of accessory.”
June Shannon has revealed that she’s lost more than 100 lbs in the past two years without dieting or hitting the gym.
Honey Boo Boo’s mother said that she tipped the scales at 365 lbs back in January 2011 and now she weighs a lighter 263 lbs.
Revealing her weight-loss secrets June Shannon, a 33-year-old mother-of-four, toldTMZ: “With the show I’ve been more active. They have me running around and going different places… I guess it’s paying off.”
“I haven’t done any surgeries… no diet pills… never went to the gym,” she insisted.
June Shannon certainly hasn’t changed her eating habits.
On her reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Mama June is regularly seen tucking into giant plates of food, with her favorite family dish being Sketti – a saucy combination of spaghetti, ketchup and butter.
June Shannon has revealed that she’s lost more than 100 lbs in the past two years without dieting or hitting the gym
A recent episode also showed how June Shannon’s Thanksgiving menu featured 15 cans of vegetables, 12 cans of cranberry sauce and a large turkey coated with a gallon of butter.
“Just like all my other recipes, butter and sugar makes everything taste better,” she exclaimed as she prepared the gut-busting feast.
However, recently June Shannon has been trying to shake up her appearance.
While she had greying curls pulled back off her face in previous episodes, June Shannon appeared on screen last month with a new shoulder-length blonde hairdo.
She also sported a tanned complexion, completing the transformation.
One imagines that the makeover was inspired by the family’s newfound fame – as June Shannon is photographed wherever she goes.
June Shannon returns to screens on Sunday at 8 p.m. with another holiday special titled A Very Boo Christmas.
During the installment June Shannon takes her family to the flea market to find Christmas deals and also teaches them the joy of re-gifting.
The assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid outside his home this morning has prompted violent protests in Tunisia.
Relatives say Chokri Belaid was shot in the neck and head on his way to work.
Chokri Belaid was a prominent secular opponent of the moderate Islamist-led government and his murder has sparked protests around the country, with police firing tear gas to disperse angry crowds.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has condemned the killing and is cutting short a visit to France to return home.
He has also cancelled a scheduled appearance at a summit in Egypt to return home.
Tunisia is currently gripped by political crisis as talks on a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle to include a wider range of parties in a coalition led by the Ennahda party have broken down.
This is the first time a political leader has been assassinated since the Arab Spring uprising of January 2011, in a country where political assassinations are rare.
Speaking in front of the European Parliament on his visit to Strasbourg, President Moncef Marzouki said the murder of Chokri Belaid should not affect Tunisia’s revolution.
“There are many enemies of our peaceful revolution. And they’re determined to ensure it fails,” he said.
Referring to Chokri Belaid as a “long-standing friend”, he said his “hateful assassination” was a threat.
“This is a letter being sent to us that we will refuse to open. We reject that message and we will continue to unmask the enemies of the revolution,” said the president, who was to participate in the summit of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation in Cairo on Thursday and is instead returning home directly from Strasbourg.
The assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid outside his home this morning has prompted violent protests in Tunisia
According to AFP news agency, people torched the premises of the Ennahda party in the central town of Mezzouna, and ransacked the party’s offices in the mining town of Gafsa in protest at Chokri Belaid’s death.
In Tunis, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who had gathered outside the interior ministry, it reports.
Crowds had been chanting they want a “second revolution”.
Police also fired tear gas at demonstrators in Sidi Bouzid, the town where the revolution that toppled Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali from the presidency began a little more than two years ago, AFP reports.
It is not known who is responsible for the attack on the politician.
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said his murder was an “act of terrorism” and promised to pursue all efforts to “immediately” arrest the murderer.
Chokri Belaid was the coordinator of the left-leaning Democratic Patriots party, part of a group of opposition parties which has been challenging the government since it came to power following the country’s first post-Arab Spring election in October 2011.
“This murder robs Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices,” French President Francois Hollande said in a statement.
On Saturday, Chokri Belaid accused “mercenaries” hired by the Ennahda party of carrying out an attack on a Democratic Patriots meeting.
The Paris-based France 24 TV station has reported that Chokri Belaid reportedly received recent death threats.
It said that he died in hospital after being shot by “three men in a black vehicle”.
“My brother was assassinated. I am desperate and depressed,” Chokri Belaid’s brother Abdelmajid Belaid told AFP.
Correspondents say that although Chokri Belaid’s party did not have a large share of the election vote, it spearheaded popular concern over the rising level of political violence in Tunisia.
British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, who was renowned for his contributions to 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Star Wars films, has died at the age of 98.
Largely self-taught, Stuart Freeborn’s six-decade career saw him create make-up and prosthetics for such cinematic legends as Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers.
One of his most famous creations was Yoda, the diminutive Jedi master first seen in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.
Stuart Freeborn based Yoda’s look on Albert Einstein, as well as his own features.
Born in 1914 in Leytonstone, east London, the young Stuart Freeborn resisted his insurance broker father’s attempts to have him follow in his footsteps.
Stuart Freeborn began his film career at the Denham studios in the 1930s, where he worked under the auspices of Alexander Korda.
“I never stopped from that moment,” said the make-up artist, who soon found himself working with such leading stars of the day as Marlene Dietrich and Vivien Leigh.
When war broke out in 1939, Stuart Freeborn temporarily gave up his fledgling career to train as a fighter pilot, only to almost lose his life to Asian flu and haemophilia.
The war years saw him work on the prosthetics used to transform Roger Livesey into a balding, pot-bellied blusterer in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.
British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, who was renowned for his contributions to 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Star Wars films, has died at the age of 98
Another notable success came in 1948 when he devised the make-up that Alec Guinness used to portray Fagin in David Lean’s film of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.
With its large beaked nose, hooded eyelids and extravagant facial hair, the characterization was accused by some of being an anti-Semitic caricature.
Stuart Freeborn continued working with Sir David Lean, travelling with him to Sri Lanka for the filming of his 1957 war epic The Bridge on the River Kwai.
The shoot was a dramatic one for the make-up artist, who almost perished in a car accident that claimed the lives of his fellow passengers.
Stuart Freeborn went on to work with director Stanley Kubrick, designing the three different faces sported by Peter Sellers in Cold War satire Doctor Strangelove.
That led to him designing the apes seen in the Dawn of Man sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a laborious two-year process that at one stage saw comedian Ronnie Corbett participate in make-up tests.
The 1970s saw Stuart Freeborn make a vital contribution to the Star Wars universe, for which he helped create such enduring characters as Chewbacca, Jabba the Hutt and Yoda.
Stuart Freeborn’s son Graham became a make-up artist in his own right, working alongside his father on the Star Wars and Superman films.
Stuart Freeborn’s death was confirmed by Nick Maley, a family friend who worked as his assistant in the 1970s.
Femme Assise Pres d’une Fenetre (Woman Sitting Near a Window), one of Picasso’s portraits of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, has been sold for £28.6 million ($45.7 million) at Sotheby’s.
Picasso’s 1932 piece was the centrepiece of Tuesday night’s auction.
Helena Newman from Sotheby’s said: “This portrait is a striking and notably modern-looking work from one of the artist’s most celebrated periods.”
In total, the impressionist and modern art sale raised £121 million ($194 million).
It was the second-highest haul for a Sotheby’s evening sale in that category in London, with 18 lots selling for more than £1 million ($1.6 million).
Another highlight saw three pieces by Austrian artist Egon Schiele Liebespaar fetch a combined total of £14 million ($22.4 million).
His 1914 Selbstdarstellung mit Wally (Lovers – Self Portrait with Wally) was sold for £7.9 million, a record price for a work on paper, while Self Portrait in Green Shirt with Eyes Closed went for £5.1 million.
Woman Sitting Near a Window, one of Picasso’s portraits of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, has been sold for £28.6 million at Sotheby’s
Elsewhere, Claude Monet’s water lily painting Nympheas avec reflets de hautes herbes, which dates from 1914-17, sold for £9 million and his snow scene Le Givre a Giverny realized £8.7 million – much higher than the £4-6 million estimate.
“Bidders, both new to the market as well as seasoned buyers, reacted with great enthusiasm, in particular to the selection of impressionist works that were considered to be the strongest offering in many years,” said Helena Newman.
On the Picasso sale, which saw a final bid of £25.5 million, rising to £28.6 million with the buyer’s premium, Helena Newman added: “We are delighted that this stunning and monumental portrait, which is part of the defining series that introduced his ‘golden muse’ to the public eye, fetched such a strong price.
“In recent years in particular we have witnessed the remarkable allure of Picasso’s portraits of Marie-Therese to collectors.
“La Lecture sold for £25 million – double its pre-sale estimate – in Sotheby’s February 2011 sale, and Nature Morte aux Tulipes selling in Sotheby’s November 2012 sale for £41.5 million.”
Marie-Therese Walter, who Pablo Picasso called his “golden muse”, was the artist’s mistress from 1927 to 1935. Their relationship began when he was 45 and she was just 17.
Pablo Picasso and Marie-Therese, who had a daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso, split when Picasso found a new mistress, Dora Maar.
Marie-Therese Walter was the focus of several portraits by the post-impressionist, including the 1932 work La Reve (The Dream).
Beyoncé’s half-time performance at this year Super Bowl failed to pull in more viewers than Madonna’s record breaking 2012 appearance.
In fact, fewer people watched Sunday night’s thrilling Super Bowl than the previous two championship games, according to figures released on Tuesday.
Although Beyoncé, who prepared for five months for the hotly anticipated gig, reunited Destiny’s Child and sung live, viewing figures showed the 31-year-old was watched by 104 million viewers, compared to Madonna’s audience of 112.5 million.
Nielsen, a company that tracks the ratings, reported the actual game drew 108.4 million viewers, which is a drop from last season’s tally of 111.3 million viewers.
Madonna’s performance in 2012, which sparked controversy after M.I.A swore at cameras, was criticized on Twitter but its lavish nature – the slot featured CeeLo Green, Nicki Minaj and LMFAO – meant the show was certainly noticed.
Nearly half of all households that own a television were tuned into Sunday’s game, the company added.
The showdown, where the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers, scored a 46.3 rating and 69 share in its overnight ratings.
For the Nielsen measurement, one ratings point represents 1,147,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 114.7 million TV homes.
The share means that 71% of TVs that were on at the time were tuned to the Super Bowl.
At CBS’ request the ratings figure from Sunday night did not include a 30-minute period when there was a partial power outage in the Superdome.
But viewership actually increased after the power outage, as the game measured a 52.9 rating during its final moments, CBS noted.
Beyoncé’s half-time performance at this year Super Bowl failed to pull in more viewers than Madonna’s record breaking 2012 appearance
Not surprisingly, Baltimore ranked first among cities watching the championship game.
The game drew a 59.6 rating and share of 83 there.
In second place was New Orleans, where the game was played. The contest drew a 57.1 rating and a 77 share.
San Francisco did not rank in the top 10 cities for viewership.
The network also drew criticism by the Parents Television Council for not moving quickly enough to edit out a profanity said by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco shortly after the game.
Joe Flacco was caught by microphones describing his team’s victory as “f****** awesome”.
The game also illustrated the explosive growth of second screen activity.
The company Trendrr TV, which tracks activity on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, estimated there were 47.7 million social media posts during the game.
That compares to 17 million during the 2012 Super Bowl and just 3 million the year before that.
Last year’s Super Bowl, when the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots, drew a Nielsen rating of 47.8 and had a share of 71.
The only non-Super Bowl to have reached the 100-million viewer benchmark was the series finale of MASH in 1983.
Cissy Houston has opened up about daughter Whitney and her decision to write a book about the late superstar.
Talking from New York to Daybreak on Wednesday, as the one year anniversary of Whitney Houston’s death approaches, Cissy Houston reveals that her daughter “wanted a normal life but she became a star”.
Whitney Houston’s mother also reveals that her daughter’s fate could have been different if she hadn’t met Bobby Brown, and that she wrote the book “to let people know the real Whitney”.
Cissy Houston, 79, who was also a singer, begins her discussion about her daughter, who was found dead on February 11 2012, by saying: “She was everything to me. She was a wonderful, giving person.”
She went on to speak about how her daughter really just wanted to be the girl next door but she couldn’t live the life of a normal person once she became a star.
When Lorraine asks her: “And even though she was a superstar, you think she maybe wanted the quiet life?”
Cissy Houston replies: “Yes, that’s what she really wanted. She always said, <<All I wanted to do was sing>>. But she came and God blessed her. And she was happy about that but only sometimes I guess.”
The conversation soon turned to Whitney Houston’s much-talk about marriage to Bobby Brown and whether her life would have been different if she had never had met him.
Agreeing with this sentiment, Cissy Houston replied: “I really do. She just happened to fall in love I guess with someone that really wasn’t for her. They were from two different worlds.”
At the time of Whitney’s death Cissy Houston said that she felt angry about what had happened, but a year on her feelings have changed.
“I’m not angry, I’m not angry any more. I was angry that my daughter was dead,” she said.
It wasn’t just Cissy Houston who suffered after Whitney’s death, the singer’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown is still coming to terms with what happened.
Cissy Houston admitted: “She’s grieving.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown is reportedly not too happy about the book’s publication and when prompted on this, her grandmother answered: “She’s a person and has a mind of her own. And she’s grieving.”
But at the end of the day Cissy Houston just wants her daughter to be remembered in a good light.
When asked by Lorraine how she would like her daughter to be remembered, Cissy Houston said: “That she was one of the greatest singers that lived, and she was a wonderful person.
“She gave to charities. I’d just like for her to be remembered for the songstress that she was.”
Tweeting about her grandmother’s book Remembering Whitney, Bobbi Kristina Brown wrote: “ANYTHING concerning my grandmothers Book I & @nickdgordon OF COURSE personally have NOTHING 2 do with I ask you pls RESPECT that Haven’t read & won’t.”
Nick Gordon is Bobbi Kristina Brown’s adoptive brother who she is now in a relationship with.
Flight attendant Tatiana Kozlenko, who posted a picture of herself giving her passengers the finger, has been sacked by Aeroflot airline.
Tatiana Kozlenko put the snap up on her personal page on Vkontakte, one of Russia’s most popular Facebook-style social networks.
Within hours the snap – which appears to show the arm of an air hostess giving the finger to an airplane cabin full of passengers – had clocked up dozens of “likes”.
But the image then went viral after it was posted on Twitter and reTweeted by hundreds of users.
Aeroflot airline bosses soon found out about the photo and fired Tatiana Kozlenko.
Flight attendant Tatiana Kozlenko, who posted a picture of herself giving her passengers the finger, has been sacked by Aeroflot airline
Aeroflot – who announced the sacking on their Twitter account – said: “Posting this photo shows Tatiana’s attitude towards passengers and her duties. She acknowledged her fault when she spoke to her managers.”
But Tatiana Kozlenko claims it isn’t her arm in the snap – or even one of her airline’s planes.
She admitted that she tagged herself in the photo, which doesn’t show anyone’s face – but claims it isn’t her.
“I don’t consider myself guilty! The photo was added to my page, I only tagged myself on it!!! The hand isn’t mine, the plane is not my company’s!!! I don’t understand what they spoil my life for!!! I’m asking you for help and support!!” she said on her Vkontakte page.
Kris Humphries’ lawyer Marshall Waller has filed new divorce documents accusing Kim Kardashian, who is expecting her first child in June with boyfriend Kanye West, of trying to use the situation to speed up a settlement.
The attorney states Kris Humphries had nothing to do with her “unplanned pregnancy” and it should have no impact on their litigation.
According to gossip website TMZ.com, the documents say: “What is really going on here is that an <<urgency>> in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy, something [Humphries] had nothing to do with, is perceived by [Kim Kardashian] as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial.”
Kris Humphries’ lawyer also allegedly took a further swipe at Kim Kardashian, 32, by adding a footnote after the word “pregnancy” that reads: “Indeed, why would [Kim] plan to get pregnant in the midst of divorce proceedings?”
Their split has dragged on for more than a year, despite their marriage lasting a mere 72 days, because they continue to disagree about how to end their marriage.
Kris Humphries wants an annulment on grounds of fraud, while Kim Kardashian, through her lawyer Laura Wasser, denies that she married him under false pretences and wants a divorce.
Kris Humphries’ lawyer Marshall Waller has filed new divorce documents accusing Kim Kardashian, who is expecting her first child in June with boyfriend Kanye West, of trying to use the situation to speed up a settlement
Radar Online reports that the documents also state Kris Humphries’ desire for further delay in the trial because key witnesses have yet to be deposed and he has not received documents he says he needs.
The website reports that Kris Humphries wants raw footage of episodes of the Kardashian reality shows and records from Ryan Seacrest Productions, E! Entertainment Productions, and Bunim-Murray Productions but none have been turned over.
The documents state: “Indeed, if as Ms. Wasser asserts there really is <<no evidentiary support>> to support Humphries claims, why don’t they just give us the access we want? What are they hiding? What is there in the raw footage of this televised courtship, 72 day marriage and resultant breakup that they are so afraid of us discovering?”
While Laura Wasser wants to set a divorce trial for March, Kris Humphries would be unable to attend proceedings then due to his NBA basketball schedule and would not be available until “May or June”, according to the court papers.
Films built around existing characters from the Star Wars universe are being developed alongside the new trilogy of films, the Disney studio has revealed.
“We are working on a few stand-alone films… derived from great Star Wars characters,” Disney CEO Bob Iger told the CNBC channel on Tuesday.
The films, written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg, will be released between 2015 and 2021, he continued.
Star Wars: Episode VII, directed by JJ Abrams, is due out in 2015.
Disney bought George Lucas’s Lucasfilm company for $4.05 billion last year, saying it was committed to at least three new films.
The first of these, Star Wars: Episode VII, will be scripted by Michael Arndt, the Oscar-winning writer of Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine.
Bob Iger outlined the studio’s plans with CNBC ahead of a call with analysts to discuss the Disney company’s latest financial results.
Films built around existing characters from the Star Wars universe are being developed alongside the new trilogy of films
Despite seeing a slight dip in its quarterly earnings, the CEO said the studio was “confident about the year ahead, as well as our ability to create continued long-term growth”.
While speaking to CNBC, Bob Iger admitted there had been “speculation” about “some stand-alone films” that would not form “part of the overall saga”.
“We still plan to make Star Wars 7, 8 and 9 roughly over a six-year period of time starting in 2015,” he went on.
“But there are going to be a few other films released in that period of time too.”
Lawrence Kasdan has a long association with Lucasfilm, having worked on the scripts of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – the second and third installments of the first Star Wars trilogy.
Simon Kinberg’s own screenwriting credits include comic book sequel X-Men: The Last Stand, Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Guy Ritchie’s 2009 Sherlock Holmes film.
Tuesday’s announcement was preceded by a report on the Ain’t It Cool News site that the first stand-alone film would focus on the diminutive Jedi master Yoda.
“Word is Yoda is first,” wrote website founder Harry Knowles in a posting that also mentioned such other Star Wars staples as bounty hunter Boba Fett and slug-like gangster Jabba the Hutt.
Nina Agdal stars in an advert for Carl’s Jr. which aired during the most coveted commercial slot of the year – the Super Bowl.
Nina Agdal, 20,can be seen devouring a burger while oiled up in a black string bikini on the beach.
The Danish beauty alternates between lathering herself in tanning lotion and tucking into the fast food chain’s Charbroiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich.
There are plenty of sexy shots of Nina Agdal’s ample bosom and pert bottom as she reclines on the sand.
Nina Agdal chows down on the charbroiled burger while taking her bikini top off to get a better tan line.
She later is seen making her way into the ocean for a swim without the top of her two-piece.
Nina Agdal stars in an advert for Carl’s Jr. which aired during Super Bowl
As she lounges on a towel, Nina Agdal is approached by an extremely sunburnt male suitor, who compliments her “nice sandwich”.
A voiceover then says: “Sometimes, you don’t want to get fried.”
Nina Agdal has revealed: “I had some bites but had to spit some out, too. I think I went through around 50 sandwiches that day, if not more! But I still ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”|
She added: “It’s just me in a bikini, hanging out in Maui, Hawaii, and I brought my fish sandwich, I’m just hanging out on the beach, and this guy comes up – and I think I’m rejecting him – even though he’s really cute and sunburned.”
After Carl’s Jr. announced that Nina Agdal would star in their Super Bowl ad, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 2012 rookie of the year quickly gained 26,000 Twitter followers in less than 12 hours.
Nina Agdal told Fox:“It’s crazy – my Twitter is blowing up. The reaction has been very, very positive.”
The advert bodes well for Nina Agdal if she is set to cover the next issue of Sports Illustrated, as former cover girl Kate Upton has also starred in a commercial for Carl’s Jr.
Britney Spears is set to sign a deal for a Las Vegas residency as she has been in talks with two casinos.
Sources say Britney Spears, 31, is poised to sign with Planet Hollywood in a deal that is thought to have been brokered by her ex-fiancé and former agent Jason Trawick.
Britney Spears’ longtime manager Larry Rudolph told Extrathat a Las Vegas show is close to being announced, revealing: “We are in deep negotiations and I’d be shocked if it didn’t happen. Hoping to have a deal done very soon.”
A formal announcement is expected in the next few weeks – despite fears from fans over the toll such a gig could take on Britney Spears.
It is thought that her ex-fiancé Jason Trawick, whom Britney Spears split from last month, has helped to broker the deal with Planet Hollywood as he is good friends with boss Robert Earl, as is Britney’s manager Larry Rudolph.
Jason Trawick was Britney Spears’ former agent and was also joint co-conservator of the star’s person, which once gave him the authority to make decisions about her general well-being, such as food, clothing, travel and medical care, alongside her father Jamie.
Although, he excused himself from the legal relationship after their split.
Britney Spears is set to sign a deal for a Las Vegas residency as she has been in talks with two casinos
One of the Caesars Palace casinos is also believed to be in talks with Britney Spears – despite the fact its spokeswoman recently said there were no openings in their superstar lineup of Elton John, Shania Twain, Rod Stewart and Celine Dion.
Emily Wofford, public relations director for Caesers Entertainment, said that the venue was “packed every weekend” for months and that the firm is “engaged with a number of today’s top artists in discussions regarding headlining residencies at our venues in Las Vegas”.
Although Britney Spears isn’t on the list at the moment, Emily Wofford said her company is “always interested in having artists with the caliber of Britney Spears performing at our theatres”.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to be fined a total of about £400 million ($625 million) by UK and US regulators as a result of the LIBOR scandal.
The head of RBS’s investment banking arm since 2008, John Hourican, is also expected to step down.
However, there is no suggestion he was involved in the scandal.
RBS is accused of colluding with other banks to rig LIBOR rates during the global financial crisis. Barclays and UBS have already received fines.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the UK government had made it clear to RBS that the fines should be paid from staff bonuses, saying that neither taxpayers nor bank customers should bear the cost.
The government has an 81% stake in RBS following the part-nationalization of the bank during the financial crisis.
“The problem is that these are global banks and if they’ve committed breaches of the law in the US they have to be punished accordingly,” said Vince Cable.
“It is absolutely galling for UK taxpayers to be asked to stump up for it.”
But he acknowledged that the government could not force RBS to act, despite its majority stake.
RBS is expected to be fined a total of about $625 million by UK and US regulators as a result of the LIBOR scandal
In a statement released on Wednesday morning, RBS said it was still in “late-stage settlement discussions” with US and UK authorities over “potential settlements”.
“Although the settlements remain to be agreed, RBS expects they will include the payment of significant penalties as well as certain other sanctions,” the bank said.
Those discussions are taking place with the Financial Services Authority in the UK, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Department of Justice.
The greater proportion of the fines are expected to be imposed by the US authorities.
Swiss bank UBS admitted to wire fraud charges against its Tokyo office as part of its £940m settlement with international regulators in December.
Barclays, the first bank to admit to its role in rigging LIBOR, paid a total of £290 million ($460 million).
John Hourican, who earned £3.5 million ($5.5 million) for last year’s work, is expected to lose his bonus for 2012 along with his position as head of RBS’s investment bank. He is also expected to forego £4 million ($6 million) of bonuses from previous years, in order to help pay the expected fines.
John Hourican is the highest profile casualty at the bank since it emerged last year that dozens of bankers had willfully manipulated the key interest rate.
LIBOR, a daily average of borrowing costs announced by a panel of London-based banks, is used to calculate payments on hundreds of trillions of dollars-worth of financial contracts.
Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid has been shot dead outside his home in the capital, Tunis, his brother and officials say.
They say that Chokri Belaid was shot in the neck and head on his way to work.
Chokri Belaid was the co-ordinator of the left-leaning Democratic Patriots party.
Tunisia is gripped by a political crisis as talks on a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle to include a wider range of parties in a coalition led by the Ennahda party have broken down.
“My brother was assassinated. I am desperate and depressed,” Chokri Belaid’s brother Abdelmajid Belaid told the AFP news agency.
It is not known who is responsible for the attack on the politician.
On Saturday Chokri Belaid accused “mercenaries” hired by the Ennahda party of carrying out an attack on a Democratic Patriots meeting.
Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid has been shot dead outside his home in the capital, Tunis
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner fell has been proved to be even faster during his historic skydive last October than was originally thought.
Subsequent analysis has revealed that Felix Baumgartner attained a speed of 1,357.6 km/h (843.6 mph) when he leapt from his stratospheric balloon.
It is about 15 km/h (10 mph) above what was initially reported.
Felix Baumgartner’s stated aim was to become the first person to break the sound barrier unaided by a vehicle. This he did. His final Mach number was 1.25.
But although his vertical velocity has been revised upwards, the 43-year-old’s jump altitude has been corrected downwards slightly.
The additional analysis shows Felix Baumgartner stepped out of his special capsule at 38,969.4m (127,852.4ft), a reduction from the previous estimate of 39,045 m (128,100 ft).
Felix Baumgartner’s “space jump” was made over the New Mexico desert, US, on October 14. Millions across the world followed his progress on internet video feeds as he climbed slowly into the sky in his 55-storey-high helium balloon, before making a rapid, 10-minute descent to Earth, with just under five of those minutes spent in freefall.
The biggest moment of drama came when he went into a spin as he hurtled towards the ground, turning at a maximum rate of 60 revolutions per minute.
He had to use all the skills picked up in more than 2,500 career skydives to recover a stable configuration and complete the dive safely.
Felix Baumgartner’s feats bettered the marks set 50 years previously by Joe Kittinger.
The now-retired US Air Force colonel leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 31,300 m (102,800 ft), but his top speed was just short of the sound barrier.
Joe Kittinger, now an octogenarian, was integral to Felix Baumgartner’s team, providing the Austrian with advice and encouragement throughout the project.
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner fell has been proved to be even faster during his historic skydive last October than was originally thought
Although the jump had the appearance of a stunt, Felix Baumgartner and his group of experts continually stressed its high scientific relevance.
The researchers said it provided invaluable data for the development of high-performance, high-altitude parachute systems, and that the lessons learned would inform the development of new ideas for emergency evacuation from vehicles, such as spacecraft, passing through the stratosphere.
“Together, we proved that a human in freefall can break the speed of sound returning from near space, going through a transonic phase and landing safely on the ground,” said Dr. Jonathan Clark, a former space shuttle flight surgeon and the Red Bull Stratos medical director.
“That was a big part of the programme, and monitoring the mission was a meaningful event in aerospace medicine and physiology.”
The revised data will now be submitted to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the official world body that oversees these types of records:
Maximum Vertical Speed*: 1,357.6 km/h (843.6 mph/Mach 1.25)
University of Duesseldorf in Germany has voted to strip Education Minister Annette Schavan of her doctorate after an investigation into plagiarism allegations.
The University of Duesseldorf’s philosophy faculty decided on Tuesday that she had carried out “a deliberate deception through plagiarism”.
Annette Schavan has denied the claims and said she will appeal.
An earlier plagiarism row brought an end to the political career of Germany’s defence minister in 2011.
Large parts of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s 2006 legal dissertations were found by Bayreuth University to have been copied and he stood down before it issued its damning verdict in May 2011.
Using the same words as Duesseldorf’s Heinrich Heine University, it concluded that he had “deliberately deceived”.
When Annette Schavan became the second minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to be accused of copying her doctorate, in this case by an anonymous blogger, she insisted she had never “knowingly falsely cited any sources” and promised to respond to the accusations.
But the faculty committee concluded that her work, which dealt with the formation of conscience, included a “substantial number of unaccredited direct quotes from other texts”.
In a statement declaring the doctorate invalid and withdrawing it from Annette Schavan, the faculty head Bruno Bleckmann said they had “decided by secret ballot, by 12 votes to two, with one abstention”.
University of Duesseldorf in Germany has voted to strip Education Minister Annette Schavan of her doctorate after an investigation into plagiarism allegations
Annette Schavan, 57, was said to be on a five-day education and science co-operation trip to South Africa. Education minister since 2005, Annette Schavan is described as a close colleague of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Her lawyers reportedly rejected the university’s ruling and said Annette Schavan would appeal.
When the university announced its inquiry, Annette Schavan said she had no intention of standing down.
But the investigation into one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s closest allies is seen as potentially awkward months before Germans vote in federal elections.
The popular German newspaper Bild said the news was a bitter blow to the chancellor, and wondered whether Angela Merkel would need to find a new education minister at the start of her election campaign.
Security guards have seized a man who tried to hit Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as he visited a mosque in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Video of the incident shows a man shouting “coward” as he strikes out.
It is not clear what the motive was – some reports suggested it was against Iran’s support for Syria’s government.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the first Iran leader to visit Egypt since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Showing the sole of a shoe is a grave insult in the Arab world.
The Iranian leader is attending a summit of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation, a loose grouping of 57 mainly Muslim countries.
Egypt’s new Islamist President Mohamed Morsi has sought to follow an independent path on foreign policy and travelled to Tehran soon after coming to power last year.
However, so far his talks with Iran about its policy towards Syria have had little impact.
Tuesday’s incident occurred as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was leaving Cairo’s Al-Hussein mosque.
Video released by Turkish news agency Anadolu shows a man straining forward in the crowd with a shoe in his hand, striking out several times.
A witness quoted by AFP news agency said the man had booed and pushed a bodyguard.
The man, believed to be Syrian because of his accent, was reportedly arrested by police after being restrained by security guards.
Security guards have seized a man who tried to hit Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as he visited a mosque in the Egyptian capital Cairo
While the motive for the attack was unclear, the visit of the president of solidly Shia Muslim Iran has caused some friction
in mainly Sunni Muslim Egypt.
Outside the mosque, four youths waved placards scrawled with slogans against Iran over its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
There was embarrassment earlier on Wednesday when one of Egypt’s top Sunni Muslim clerics, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, publicly criticized Shia Islam at a meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, told the Iranian leader not to interfere in the internal affairs of Sunni states and condemned the “spread of Shia-ism in Sunni lands”.
He singled out Bahrain, where Iran is accused of stirring up unrest among the Shia majority against the Sunni monarchy.
