A pair of glasses dubbed a “privacy visor” has been developed to make the user invisible to hidden cameras using facial-recognition software.
The prototype spectacles have been designed by scientists at Tokyo’s National Institute of Informatics.
The glasses are equipped with a near-infrared light source, which confuses the software without affecting vision.
Law enforcers, shops and social networks are increasingly using facial-recognition software.
Prof. Isao Echizen said: “As a result of developments in facial recognition technology in Google images, Facebook et cetera and the popularization of portable terminals that append photos with photographic information [geotags]… essential measures for preventing the invasion of privacy caused by photographs taken in secret and unintentional capture in camera images is now required.”
The near-infrared light “appends noise to photographed images without affecting human visibility,” he said.
The glasses dubbed privacy visor has been developed to make the user invisible to hidden cameras using facial-recognition software
Prof. Isao Echizen said the glasses, which connect to a pocket power supply, would be reasonably priced, but there are some simpler alternatives.
Heavy make-up or a mask will also work, as will tilting your head at a 15-degree angle, which fools the software into thinking you do not have a face, according to an online guide produced by hacktivist group Anonymous.
In September, following a review by Ireland’s data protection commissioner, Facebook suspended its facial-recognition tool that suggested when users in Europe could be tagged in photographs.
In November, it emerged some shop mannequins were collecting data on shoppers using facial-recognition software.
The EyeSee mannequin logs the age, gender and race of passers-by through a camera hidden behind one eye.
The Kardashian sisters are back with a second Kardashian Kollection at Dorothy Perkins in London.
The new collection includes cobalt blue shift dresses, pretty loose blouses and plenty of polka dots.
The latest capsule Kardashian Kollection arrives at the high-street store at the end of the month but anyone expecting bling is in for a shock – the spring collection is the most muted to date.
A monochrome palette is enlivened by the odd flash of scarlet or cobalt blue, while silhouettes are kept surprisingly simple.
According to Dorothy Perkins, the capsule collection for the New Year boasts pieces that will see you through the party season and straight into spring.
Key looks from their debut collection are echoed in this one with plenty of polka dots in both a chiffon shirt and blazer variety.
But while the clothes are low key, the shoes are most definitely not.
The Kardashian sisters are back with a second Kardashian Kollection at Dorothy Perkins in London
Kim Kardashian’s famous skyscraper heels are very much in evidence – despite her advancing pregnancy – and come complete with bright pops of color and bang-on-trend studs galore.
As for arm candy, the self-made trio have branded their handbags with the iconic Kardashian Kollection symbol.
Styles range from a nude leather tote and frayed festival-chic bag to neon shoulder bags perfect for adding an injection of color to any drab outfit.
Kourtney Kardashian’s bohemian chic can be emulated by teaming simple black platform courts with the polka dot blazer.
To achieve Kim Kardashian’s red carpet glamour a statement color block wedge with the ottoman dress would help you channel the voluptuous star’s look.
If Khloe Kardashian’s look is more your style the smoky print jersey top teamed with the studded court shoe will help you replicate her edgy styling.
This capsule collection comes after the sisters debut collection for the store in November where they injected their va-va-voom style into over 100 pieces including sequined clutch bags, blinging tops and – of course – killer party dresses.
Commenting on the partnership, a spokesman for Dorothy Perkins said at the time: “This was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.
“Knowing how popular they are and the huge interest they attract, it enables our customer to buy in to their lifestyle and emulate their look at a great price.”
The Dorothy Perkins brand has been a feature of our high streets since 1919, and has previously been associated with more demure office and casual wear.
The store has recently re vamped its image though in the hope of attracting a younger, more glamorous crowd, and it doesn’t get more glamorous than the Kardashian sisters.
Police arrived at Chris Brown’s home on Monday after an anonymous call claimed a mother and father were in a fight and the father had raced to another room in the house for a gun.
The Hollywood Hills address was given to authorities but when police arrived at the home they quickly realized it was not only a false alarm, it was rapper Chris Brown being pranked.
According to the website TMZ, police found no evidence of a gunman or any dispute at Chris Brown’s $1.6 million home.
TMZ reports Chris Brown, 23, was not home at the time.
Police arrived at Chris Brown’s home on Monday after an anonymous call claimed a mother and father were in a fight and the father had raced to another room in the house for a gun
The incident is apparently the latest in string of so-called “swatting” incidents – when an anonymous tipster calls in a fake report alleging a serious crime – involving celebrities in Los Angeles.
Kris and Bruce Jenner were allegedly swatted last Friday when someone falsely reported a man with a gun in their Calabasas mansion.
On last night’s episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kim Kardashian lashed out at her sister Kourtney for being what she called a “slob-kabob”.
Kim Kardashian confessed to her best friend Jonathan Cheban: “She literally is like Octomom. It’s so overwhelming, it’s even made me second guess wanting to have kids.”
She added: “I would die if I had kids right now.”
Jonathan Cheban assured Kim Kardashian that she would “be a great mother”, but did imply the 32-year-old ought to start worrying about ageing.
“You act like you literally have 500 kids,” Kim Kardashian told her older sister when she saw her in sweatpants during the afternoon one day.
“Talk to me once you have a child,” Kourtney Kardashian, 33, hit back.
But when she later attempted to wear a printed dress, Kim Kardashian referenced Three’s Company with the words: “That was like, Mrs. Roper status.”
As usual, Kim Kardashian took things too far, when she described Kourtney – and all mothers for that matter – as having “boring and miserable lives”.
She told Kourtney over dinner: “Mom life is so torturous. I have a whole new perspective on how boring and miserable your lives are.
“If you knew how boring you’d become, would you still have had kids?”
On last night’s episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, Kim Kardashian lashed out at her sister Kourtney for being what she called a slob-kabob
A furious Kourtney Kardashian stormed out of the restaurant after the cruel comments and called Kim “a b****”, telling her she can find her “own ride home”.
Kourtney and Kim Kardashian came to blows once again in the parking lot – but this time it was Kourtney’s turn to talk.
“This is the life I want, that I’m happy in,” she fumed.
“I don’t expect you to get it.”
Kim Kardashian finally opened up to sister Khloe, 28, and admitted she acted defensive because she was concerned about her own fertility and ability to have children, wondering aloud if having children was ‘in the cards’ for her.
Kim Kardashian later attempted to apologize over a tearful dinner, but the tables quickly turned and Kourtney ended up being the one comforting her sister.
It was a dramatic episode for Kourtney Kardashian, who also had to deal with her partner Scott Disick being hospitalized.
Thankfully, Scott Disick was just fine, but Kourtney Kardashian was furious at him.
She had banned the father of her children from driving race cars, but mischievous Scott Disick went behind her back and it ended up backfiring.
However in the end the 29-year-old managed to convince Kourtney Kardashian to come and watch him at the race track, and she eventually changed her tune, feeling proud of her man’s skills.
Kourtney Kardashian added: “Also, he looks very handsome in his racing suit.”
Sony has unveiled Xperia Z, the thinnest tablet computer of its kind.
The Android-powered Xperia Z is 0.27in (6.9 mm)-thick. That is 0.01in thinner than Apple’s iPad Mini despite featuring a bigger 10.1in screen.
Sony Xperia z launch coincides with news that LG is releasing a 5 in handset – the Optimus G Pro – making it the latest to offer the so-called “phablet” form factor.
Both devices have only been confirmed for release in Japan, but more details are expected next month.
Mobile World Congress is being held in Barcelona from 25 to 28 February and is a popular time to announce global launches of new smart devices.
Samsung has already said it would show off a new 8 in version of its Galaxy Note tablet family at the event.
Beyond being thin, Sony’s new tablet can also lay claim to being the lightest for its size.
The firm says it weighs 1.1 lb (495 g) – a fraction below the Toshiba Excite 10 LE which previously laid claim to the title.
Sony has unveiled Xperia Z, the thinnest tablet computer of its kind
In addition it is water and dust-resistant – featuring similar plastic covers to protect its ports as are found on the firm’s Xperia Z smartphone which was announced a fortnight ago at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The two Sony devices are designed to work together, allowing photos and other data to be transferred between the phone and tablet using the firm’s “one-touch sharing” facility which is activated by waving the machines close to each other to activate their near field communications (NFC) chips.
“It’s a good product and on the face of it it should do well, but it is hampered by a potential squeeze on the larger tablet segment as a lot of consumers and other manufacturers are moving to the smaller 7in-to-8in form factor – in part because of their cheaper price,” said David McQueen, principal analyst at the Informa Telecoms and Media consultancy.
“So the success of the Sony tablet might ultimately be determined by how much it costs as well as whether the firm bundles some of the content it owns from its music, movie and gaming divisions.”
LG has released 5in handset Optimus G Pro, the latest smartphone maker to offer the so-called phablet form factor
LG’s new handset is effectively a version of its existing Optimus G phone with a bigger, more detailed screen.
It offers 440 pixels per inch (ppi) – matching HTC’s newly-released J Butterfly and Huawei’s Ascend D2.
This density of its pixels allows LG’s handset to be marketed as offering playback of 1080p videos in their full high definition resolution.
However, the trade-off is the screen is power-hungry. LG’s handset features a 3,000 mAh (milliampere-hour) battery as a consequence which is bigger than that of most other smartphones.
“4G high-speed data connections are helping push the adoption of higher definition bigger screens on phones, but I do think it will remain a small, though high-end, segment of the market,” said David McQueen.
Sony and LG’s devices were revealed as part of Japanese network NTT Docomo’s Spring line-up announcement.
It also featured a more unusual handset from NEC Casio featuring two screens.
The Medias W N-05E’s displays are placed on either side of the device, but can also be folded out so that the two 4.3in LCD screens sit alongside each other.
It is the second dual-screened smartphone to be announced in recent weeks – Russia’s Yota unveiled a model in December which features one LCD screen and one e-ink display, which it said would go on sale in the second half of the year.
However, recent history suggests such devices might only appeal to a niche audience.
Samsung, LG and Kyocera are among others firms to have released dual-screened phones over the past two years which only achieved limited sales.
Researchers have been able to trace a line between some of the earliest modern humans to settle in China and people living in the region today.
The evidence comes from DNA extracted from a 40,000-year-old leg bone found in a cave near Beijing.
Results show that the person it belonged to was related to the ancestors of present-day Asians and Native Americans.
The results are published in the journal PNAS.
Humans who looked broadly like present-day people started to appear in the fossil record of Eurasia between 40,000 and 50,000 years ago.
But many questions remain about the genetic relationships between these early modern humans and present-day Homo sapiens populations.
For example, some evidence hints at extensive migration into Europe after the last Ice Age.
And fossil finds from Red Deer Cave, also in China, and Iwo Eleru in Nigeria point to a hitherto unappreciated diversity among Late Pleistocene humans.
The team managed to extract genetic material from an ancient leg bone found in 2003 at the site of Tianyuan Cave outside Beijing.
Analysis of the Red Deer Cave fossils’ DNA showed that they were related to the ancestors of present-day Asians and Native Americans
They managed to extract the type of DNA found in the nuclei of cells (nuclear DNA) and genetic material from the cell’s “powerhouses” – known as mitochondria.
They used new techniques that can identify ancient genetic information from an archaeological find, even when large amounts of DNA from soil bacteria are also present.
Analysis of the person’s DNA showed that they were related to the ancestors of present-day Asians and Native Americans. But the analysis showed that this individual had already diverged from the ancestors of present-day Europeans.
“More analyses of additional early modern humans across Eurasia will further refine our understanding of when and how modern humans spread across Europe and Asia,” said co-author Svante Pääbo, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Research in the last few years has shown that early modern humans interbred with ancient human species such as the Neanderthals and Denisovans as they migrated from Africa and settled across the world.
Around 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals and Denisovans were being replaced by Homo sapiens. Genetic studies of people living at this important crossover period could help scientists understand when and how this interbreeding took place.
The researchers found that the person from Tianyuan cave carried about the same proportion of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA as people in the region today.
World jobless numbers rose by 4 million in 2012 to 197 million and is expected to grow further, the UN labour agency warns.
In a recent report, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said the worst affected were youth: nearly 13% of the under 24s were unemployed.
It said global unemployment was projected to rise 5.1 million this year and by a further 3 million in 2014.
The trend reflected a downturn in economic growth, the document said.
This was particularly the case in developed countries.
World jobless numbers rose by 4 million in 2012 to 197 million and is expected to grow further, the UN labour agency warns
The report – Global Employment Trends 2013 – said that 6% of the world’s workforce were without a job in 2012.
It revealed that long-term unemployment was also growing, pointing out that a third of Europe’s jobless had been without work for more than a year.
Many were giving up, with the report estimating that 39 million people had withdrawn from the labour market.
“An uncertain economic outlook, and the inadequacy of policy to counter this, has weakened aggregate demand, holding back investment and hiring,” ILO director general Guy Ryder said.
The report also called for more funds to be injected in vocational training to equip young people to do the jobs available.
“This is a massive waste of the lives of young people and their talents, and extraordinarily damaging to the people themselves and their societies,” Guy Ryder said.
The ILO pointed out that countries which had retained apprenticeships – such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland – had the lowest levels of youth unemployment.
Lindsay Sandiford, a 56-year-old British grandmother, has been sentenced to death by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
Lindsay Sandiford was arrested at Bali’s airport in May last year after 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) of cocaine was found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine customs check.
The woman, whose last UK address was in Gloucestershire, said she was coerced into bringing the drugs to the island.
Her lawyers said they were “surprised” at the verdict and would appeal.
Lindsay Sandiford was held after a flight from Bangkok, Thailand.
Prosecutors had recommended a 15-year sentence of imprisonment.
But the judges said there were no mitigating circumstances and the defendant did not appear to care about the consequences of her actions.
They said Lindsay Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourism destination and weakened the government’s anti-drugs programme.
Her lawyer said it was very rare that judges delivered a sentence so much harsher than the prosecution had recommended.
The defendant appeared shocked and covered her head with a brown sarong to hide her face from the glare of cameras.
Lindsay Sandiford, originally from Redcar in Teesside, was accused of being at the centre of a ring involving three other Britons.
Last year, Paul Beales was sentenced to four years for possession of drugs and Rachel Dougall was jailed for one year for failing to report a crime.
The drug possession trial of Julian Ponder, from Brighton – who is believed to be Rachel Dougall’s partner – is still taking place. He is alleged to have collected cocaine from Lindsay Sandiford.
Lindsay Sandiford’s case had been taken up by the British human rights charity Reprieve, which said she had been “targeted by drug traffickers who exploited her vulnerability and made threats against her children”.
It says she was held for 10 days without access to a lawyer or translator after her arrest and the Indonesian authorities failed to inform the British embassy during this time.
In response to the sentence, Reprieve’s Harriet McCulloch said: “She is clearly not a drug king pin – she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defence witnesses or even for essentials like food and water.
“She has cooperated fully with the Indonesian authorities but has been sentenced to death while the gang operating in the UK, Thailand and Indonesia remain free to target other vulnerable people.”
Lindsay Sandiford, a 56-year-old British grandmother, has been sentenced to death by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking
During the trial Lindsay Sandiford’s defence lawyer told Denpasar District Court that a history of mental health problems made her vulnerable.
In a witness statement, Lindsay Sandiford apologized to “the Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian people” for her involvement.
She added: “I would never have become involved in something like this but the lives of my children were in danger and I felt I had to protect them.”
In another statement read out in court, her son Eliot said he believed his mother was forced into trafficking after a disagreement over rent money she paid on his behalf.
Indonesia has some of the toughest anti-drug laws in the world, but executions rarely take place.
Most of the 40 foreigners currently on death row in Indonesia have been convicted of drug offences, according to Australia’s Lowy Institute for International Policy.
Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, but there have been no executions in the country since 2008, said the institute said.
The UK Foreign Office says there are currently 12 British nationals facing the death penalty abroad.
It said: “We are aware that Lindsay Sandiford is facing the death penalty in Indonesia.
“We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time.”
It said “repeated representations” about the case were made to Indonesia following her arrest and the foreign secretary had raised the case during the Indonesian president’s state visit in November.
The Foreign Office says its policy is to use “all appropriate influence” to prevent the execution of a British national including “high-level political lobbying when necessary”.
Any pressure by the UK government in Lindsay Sandiford’s case was now likely to occur after the judicial appeals process was complete.
Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood said the verdict was unexpected and “very worrying” and he would seek to raise the sentence with Foreign Secretary William Hague.
“I’m appalled by this development,” he said.
“We had been given encouraging signals by the Indonesian ambassador that Indonesia was moving away from the death penalty, that this was something that was associated with the days of the dictatorship, long since past.”
Meanwhile, Sebastian Saville, the former chief executive of the human rights charity Release, said the sentence was “utterly deplorable”.
But he said: “There are many people executed every year in local countries – Thailand, Cambodia – for much smaller amounts of drugs…. So it does not fall out of the remit for someone caught with 5kg of cocaine to be given the death sentence.”
Sebastian Saville added: “If we took a referendum in this country… should people caught with 5kg of cocaine be executed, yes or no… I think you’d be surprised about the number of yeses, as we live in a world which believes in punishment, not in fixing things.”
4CMenB, a vaccine to protect children against one of the most common and deadly forms of meningitis, has been approved for use in Europe.
The 4CMenB vaccine licensed by the European Commission is the first to cover meningococcal B meningitis – until now vaccines had protected against only some of the bacterial types involved.
About 1,870 people contract meningitis B each year and one in 10 die.
Now the product is licensed in EC countries and it could be bought and used by healthcare providers.
About a quarter of all survivors of meningitis B are left with life altering after-effects, such as brain damage or limb loss.
Children under the age of five are the most at risk from the bacterial infection, which leads to inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
Experts say the jab is likely to be effective against 73% of the different variations of meningitis B.
4CMenB, a vaccine to protect children against one of the most common and deadly forms of meningitis, has been approved for use in Europe
A vaccine against the less common meningitis C has been administered since 1999 and is now widely given to babies in the first year of their life.
It has led to a large fall in the number of cases in people under the age of 20.
Meningitis:
Inflammation of membranes covering brain and spinal cord
It can be caused by viruses or bacteria
Meningitis B is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in Europe
It can also cause septicaemia
There are a number of vaccines that can prevent many cases of viral and bacterial meningitis, including MMR, Meningitis C, PCV and DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccination
The reconciliation between France and Germany after WWII was enshrined in Elysee Treaty signed 50 years ago. But many believe a song, Goettingen, recorded in 1964, did as much to thaw relations.
Can there be many songs that really did change the world?
There have certainly been records which have been immensely popular – and some of those have had a message. But did they really change the hearts and minds of ordinary people? Did they alter politics?
There is one which did, and it’s barely known now.
In 1963, Germany and France were neighbors where the scars of war were still raw.
Germany had invaded France and been repulsed, inch by bloody inch and town by town. Germans were trying to come to terms not just with total defeat, but with how what they thought was their civilized country had perpetrated one of the great crimes of history.
Into this minefield of potential resentment and painful rancor, stepped a slight, soft-voiced chanteuse.
Barbara was her stage name – she had been born Monique Serf in Paris in 1930. She was Jewish and so a target for the Nazis. But, two decades after the end of the war, she travelled to the German city Goettingen, as near to the heart of Germany as you can get.
She fell in love with the city and its people and recorded a paean of praise, first in French and then in German, the language of the former oppressor. She sang of “Herman, Peter, Helga et Hans”. Who had they been, the listener wonders. Her friends? Her lovers?
It captured the hearts of her German audience at the Goettingen theatre. It became a hit.
A street was named after her. The city bestowed its Medal of Honour on her. The citation talks of the song and its “quiet, emphatic plea for understanding”. The song’s popularity, the citation says, “made an important contribution to Franco-German reconciliation”.
The reconciliation between France and Germany after WWII was enshrined in Elysee Treaty signed 50 years ago, but many believe Brabara’s Goettingen did as much to thaw relations
As the song says:
“Of course, we have la Seine
And our Vincennes’ wood,
But God, the roses are beautiful
In Goettingen, in Goettingen.”
And then:
“But children are the same,
In Paris or in Goettingen.
May the time of blood and hatred
Never come back
Because there are people I love
In Goettingen, in Goettingen”.
One of the people in the audience was a student by the name of Gerhard Schroeder.
He would later become Chancellor of Germany and use the words of the ballad in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty of reconciliation between France and Germany, a speech made exactly 10 years ago.
Gerhard Schroeder said: “I was a doctoral student in Goettingen when she came to sing. It went to our hearts, the start of a wonderful friendship between our countries.”
Listening to the song today, it’s easy to understand its appeal then. It remains hauntingly beautiful, a wistful paean of love with a tinge of sadness.
Barbara had much to be sad about. She had suffered sexual abuse from her father, and she had spent the war in flight from the Nazis, leaving Paris for the south and then dodging to hide from collaborators who would have handed her over to her murderers.
With the war over, she returned to Paris and took up singing and piano lessons at the Paris Conservatoire. But it was cabaret to which she was drawn, and the world of Edith Piaf and then Jacques Brel. Her big breakthrough came in the early 60s with Barbara chante Barbara.
And Goettingen. In Germany, Barbara was loved for the love she had extended to them. In France, Barbara was a star. Streets were named after her there too. A stamp had her face on it. When Barbara died in 1997, a quarter of a million mourners went to the funeral.
But all that is just the ephemera of showbusiness – the hits and the publicity and the pictures in the paper of her smoldering in dark glasses.
The part that still matters is that song. After all, which other singer could claim to have changed the world and for the better?
Goettingen was recorded just after one of the big political speeches of the century. President Charles de Gaulle of France went to the German city of Ludwigsburg and addressed the “youth of Germany”, again in their own language.
“To you all I extend my congratulations,” he said.
“I congratulate you for being young.”
He had spent much of the war in London as the exiled leader of the Free French and returned to France as the Germany enemy was forced out – so his speech in German was important. The historians mark it as significant.
France and Germany are marking the 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty that helped to reconcile the two former foes.
The German and French leaders have been holding talks in Berlin and there will also be a joint session of the two countries’ parliaments.
The Elysee Treaty was signed by Charles de Gaulle of France and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963.
Despite ups and downs in the relationship, Berlin and Paris have been key shapers of the European Union.
Charles De Gaulle described Europe as “a coach and horses, with Germany the horse and France the coachman”, and the co-operation between the two nations has been the foundation stone of the European project.
To celebrate what has been described as a festival of friendship, France and Germany are issuing stamps, coins and other items of memorabilia.
France and Germany are marking the 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty that helped to reconcile the two former foes
French flags will be flying beside those of Germany in Berlin.
Later on Tuesday, more than 500 French lawmakers will travel to the German capital for the session with the Bundestag.
There will also be a joint cabinet dinner and a concert.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande held talks behind closed doors.
Angela Merkel said in her weekly podcast on Saturday that she felt “a very great closeness” with Germany’s neighbor.
“When we have come together, then mostly a good new solution has come out of it,” Angela Merkel said.
However, the two countries remain at odds on several issues, including how to deal with the eurozone crisis.
President Francois Hollande – who is pushing for fresh spending to bolster growth – believes that the Germans are wrong to place such emphasis on austerity and cutting deficits.
On Francois Hollande’s side there is also still bitterness that Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Nicolas Sarkozy so openly during last year’s French presidential elections, our editor says.
The ongoing crisis in Mali is also likely to test the two countries’ relationship.
While Paris has deployed troops in West African nation to halt the advance of Islamist insurgents, Berlin has been reluctant to be drawn deeply into the conflict.
Israel has begun voting in a general election, with polls suggesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will return to office but with a reduced majority.
Benjamin Netanyahu said the choice was between parties that would lead to “a divided and weak Israel or a united and strong Israel”.
Analysts say he is likely to form a new right-wing coalition.
Unlike previous elections, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has not been high on most parties’ campaign agendas.
Social and economic issues have emerged as key concerns among voters in the run-up to the polls.
According to final opinion polls, the joint electoral list of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of his former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman will win about 32 seats. That would be 10 fewer than their combined total from the previous election but still enough to form a majority with right-wing parties.
Other right-wing and religious parties are expected to give Benjamin Netanyahu a majority of about 63 seats in the 120-member Knesset (parliament).
Benjamin Netanyahu called early elections last October after his coalition failed to agree the annual budget.
His joint party ticket has consistently led opinion polls, but recently lost support to a new ultra-nationalist party, Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home).
Israel has begun voting in a general election, with polls suggesting PM Benjamin Netanyahu will return to office but with a reduced majority
Some 1,000 polling stations opened on Tuesday at 07:00 local time and will close at 22:00. About 5.66 million people are eligible to vote.
For the first time the public is able to follow the counting of ballots in real time on a government website, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reports.
Final results are expected by Wednesday morning, after which coalition talks that could take several weeks will begin.
Speaking at his final campaign appearance in Jerusalem on Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu said he was confident of a late surge in support.
“I have no doubt that many, many people will decide at the last minute to come home to Likud-Yisrael Beitenu.
“I have a good feeling. And at the last minute, I appeal to each and every citizen going to the ballot box: Decide for whom you are going to vote – for a divided and weak Israel or for a united and strong Israel and a large governing party.”
Likud-Beitenu’s right-wing dominance has been challenged by Habayit Hayehudi, led by millionaire businessman Naftali Bennett – Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief-of-staff.
Naftali Bennett has advocated annexing large parts of the occupied West Bank and rejected the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“I pray to God to give me the power to unite all of Israel and to restore Israel’s Jewish soul,” Naftali Bennett said on Monday during a campaign appearance at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
Habayit Hayehudi is forecast to take up to 14 seats and become the third-largest party in the Knesset.
The second-largest party is expected to be Labour, which currently has eight seats but is predicted to make a comeback with about 17, due in large part to growing anger over the rising cost of living.
Labour’s leader, Shelly Yachimovich, has ruled out joining a coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
The new secular centrist party, Yesh Atid (There is a Future), led by TV personality Yair Lapid, and centrist Hatnua (The Movement), led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, are also set to do moderately well. Both leaders have said they would consider joining a Netanyahu-led coalition.
Dannielyn Birkhead, Anna Nicole Smith’s 6-year-old daughter, showed her mother’s memory is living on through her on Sunday as she went backstage at Broadway show Annie.
With her blonde hair, button nose and big eyes, Dannielyn Birkhead showed she is looking much like the late actress and model.
Dannielynn Birkhead looked very stylish in a leopardskin coat to wrap up against the cold weather and happily posed for snaps with her photographer father Larry as the pair went backstage at The Palace Theatre in New York City.
Larry and Dannielynn Birkhead also posed with the musical’s cast members, including Lilla Crawford who plays Annie, with Larry lifting up the growing little girl for the snapshot.
Dannielyn Birkhead is well on her way to getting as confident as her late mother in front of the camera. She recently appeared in an advertising campaign for Guess Kids.
“Dannielynn has always looked up to her mom’s image and I think that this is kind of Dannielynn’s way of paying tribute to her mom in her own special way,” 39-year-old Larry Birkhead told Good Morning America last November.
“To see her mom’s picture next to hers as a Guess girl and say, <<Hey, I was a Guess Kids girl, my mommy was a Guess girl>>, that might be her only connection with her mom.”
Dannielyn Birkhead, Anna Nicole Smith’s 6-year-old daughter, showed her mother’s memory is living on through her on Sunday as she went backstage at Broadway show Annie
Anna Nicole Smith, the buxom reality TV star and former Playboy model who struggled with prescription drug problems, was found dead in a Florida hotel room in February 2007, aged 39.
The official cause of death was an accidental overdose of nine prescription drugs, including Valium and Atavan.
Anna Nicole Smith’s death followed the devastating loss of her 20-year-old son Daniel Smith just six months earlier, three days after his mother gave birth to Dannielynn.
Daniel Smith died after an accidental overdose of the drug methadone with the antidepressants Lexapro and Zoloft.
Since Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic death, Larry Birkhead has devoted himself to giving his daughter a stable, balanced life.
When asked whether he was concerned about what Dannielynn might learn about her mother’s life when she gets older, Larry Birkhead said: “I hope that she understands that no one’s perfect and people have triumphs and people have tragedies. And her mom really soldiered on and she came from nothing and you know, lived her dream.
“But I also want to make things a cautionary tale, and give her the tools that she needs to where she has the opportunities that her mother and Anna’s son, Daniel won’t have.”
President Barack Obama made an emotional tribute to First Lady Michelle Obama last night as they danced at the inauguration balls to celebrate the beginning of his second term.
The Obamas appeared on stage at the Washington Convention Center to wild cheering and thunderous applause from thousands of people. First Lady Michelle Obama’s choice of dress was finally revealed – a dramatic, red chiffon and velvet gown by Jason Wu. The designer had also created her dress for the 2008 ball.
Barack Obama paid tribute to his wife saying that although he was often criticized as President, “nobody disputes the quality of the First Lady”. The couple then danced as Jennifer Hudson sang Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together.
The Obamas were scheduled to attend two glitzy occasions on Monday evening. That’s far fewer than the ten they attended after the 2009 inauguration, though this year’s events are still expected to draw around 40,000 people.
Barack Obama spoke briefly and offered his deep gratitude to the military, saying: “I have no greater honor than being your commander-in-chief.”
The president then spoke to troops in Afghanistan via video-link, telling them: “You will be on our minds tonight and every single night until our mission in Afghanistan is completed.”
He promised them they would get the equipment and support they need.
Barack Obama made an emotional tribute to First Lady Michelle Obama last night as they danced at the inauguration balls to celebrate the beginning of his second term
Barack Obama then turned his focus to Michelle to whom he paid glowing tribute as First Lady and his wife.
He continued: “I’ve got a date with me here. She inspires me every day. She makes me a better man and a better president. The fact that she is so devoted to taking care of our troops and our military families is just one more sign of her extraordinary love and grace and strength. I’m just lucky to have her.”
The First Lady’s choice of the same dress designer surprised many as she had returned to Jason Wu, whose career was made by her decision four years ago. She teamed the red gown with shoes by Jimmy Choo and a diamond ring by Kimberly McDonald.
Jason Wu told Women’s Wear Daily that he was completely surprised by Michelle Obama’s decision to wear another of his designs.
He said: “Mrs. Obama likes to keep her secrets. She fooled me again.”
The Inaugural Ball saw performances from Alicia Keys, Black Violin, Brad Paisley, Far East Movement, FUN., members of the Glee cast, John Legend, Katy Perry, Maná, Smokey Robinson, Soundgarden, Stevie Wonder and Usher.
The Commander-In-Chief’s ball for members of the Armed Forces were entertained by Alicia Keys, Brad Paisley, Chris Cornell, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson and Marc Anthony.
The President’s second inauguration sees the lowest number of official balls in 60 years. Obama cut back this year’s festivities to two balls and a concert honoring military families as an effort to reduce government spending in line with current economic conditions.
Alicia Keys took to the stage in a backless, floor-length, sequined gown where she sang an altered version of her hit Girl On Fire for President Obama. Her performance was followed by Mexican band Mana.
Jennifer Hudson who sang Al Green classic Let’s Stay Together to the first couple looked slender and glamorous in a form-fitting black gown with plunging neckline and sparkling platforms.
Vice-President Joe Biden appeared with his wife Jill who was glamorous in a blue silk dress by Vera Wang. The couple danced as Jamie Foxx sang the Ray Charles’ song I Can’t Stop Loving You before pairing off with young members of the military.
Earlier today, President Barack Obama urged Americans to stand together to secure prosperity and freedom for the entire nation as he was sworn in to his second term as president at his spectacular inauguration ceremony in Washington D.C.
President Barack Obama, who was sworn in for his second term at a spectacular ceremony in front of the nation today, was looking decidedly well rested as he approached the podium, with not a wrinkle in sight.
Barack Obama’s smooth skin was so clear and glowing that it appeared as though a sweep or two of bronzer had been applied, with CNN commentators remarking he “looks five years younger”.
While some questioned whether Barack Obama had employed the help of a makeup artist, his smooth complexion may simply be down to his New Year vacation to Hawaii with his family.
It may also reveal his relief following the fiscal cliff deal, which was secured earlier this month.
Barack Obama, who was sworn in for his second term at a spectacular ceremony in front of the nation today, was looking decidedly well rested as he approached the podium, with not a wrinkle in sight
Barack Obama had interrupted his vacation to return to the United States to save the country plunging over the fiscal cliff, and returned to Hawaii on New Year’s Day until January 6.
The return trip to his native Hawaii adds an estimated $3 million the President’s air travel tab – which will total more than $7million by the time the First Family returns to the White House later this month.
Barack Obama was not the only guest at the ceremony who raised eyebrows for his bronze complexion – Speaker of the House John Boehner also looked decidedly orange as he spoke at the Inaugural luncheon.
Mikel Ruffinelli, a 420-pound mother of four from Los Angeles, has the world’s widest hips, measuring a staggering eight-foot in circumference.
At just five-foot-four, Mikel Ruffinelli, 39, is substantially wider than she is tall, but says she wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I love my shape and I see no reason to diet because I don’t have health problems,” explains Mikel Ruffinelli, who has a proportionally small 40-inch waist.
“Men don’t fancy skinny girls, they like an hourglass figure.”
While the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Beyonce will probably all agree, they don’t have to face the kind of challenges that Mikel Ruffinelli does on a daily basis.
As well as having to walk through most doors sideways, Mikel Ruffinelli drives a truck because she can’t fit into a car. At home, the woman with the widest hips in the world has to sit in steel-supported chairs and sleeps on a 7ft-wide bed.
Her biggest fan is her husband, Reggie Brooks, a 40-year-old computer technician. They’ve been married 10 years and Mikel Ruffinelli says that he finds her unusual shape sexy and tells her every day just how beautiful she is.
Mikel Ruffinelli hasn’t always been plus-sized, as a teenager she was quite athletic and weighed 140-pounds although she did have big hips – a trait she says that runs in her family.
Mikel Ruffinelli has the world’s widest hips measuring 8 ft in circumference
At 22, she had her first child, Andrew, now 19, from a previous relationship, and that is when she started gaining the weight. From 182-pounds and a size 14, she piled on the pounds until she was 238-pounds and a size 18.
Then Mikel Ruffinelli meet Reggie Brooks and over the next decade had three more children: Destynee, 13, Autumn, 9, and Justyce, 7. Her hips ballooned as she reached 420 pounds and a size 30.
“I put it down to my pregnancies. I don’t see why else the weight would go to my hips, although, I do eat lots,” she told Closer.
Mikel Ruffinelli, who is studying for a psychology degree, has a healthy appetite and typically consumes 3,000 calories a day.
“It sounds like a lot to have 3,000 calories, but for someone my size, it’s not really.
“I might have a breakfast of two eggs with sausage and bacon and a handful of potatoes. Lunch is fried fish and French fries, but dinner’s my big meal,” she said.
“I like to make barbecue chicken with rice or mash. I have a big portion – but I’m not greedy. I snack on peanuts, granola bars and crisps.”
As she has gotten older, Mikel Ruffinelli says she had grown more comfortable with her shape and size.
“In the past, I was self-conscious about my hips and tried milkshake diets, but they didn’t work. As I got older, I learned to love my body and now I’m not afraid to show it off.”
Over the past 5 years as her confidence has grown she has taken to modelling for a Big Beautiful Women website and earns up to $1000 per shoot.
Mikel Ruffinelli says: “I mostly wear lingerie. I have two seamstresses who make my outfits, although I can easily find clothes for my top half, it’s the bottoms that are a problem.”
She also makes an effort to be healthy and while running on land is problematic, she enjoys water aerobics.
Over the years Mikel Ruffinelli has grown accustomed to people staring and making sarcastic comments, but has learned to just ignore them.
“I don’t want to get bigger, but I don’t want to lose my curves. I look great. I hope I inspire women to think, <<She’s happy with her body and I can be too!>>.”
Mathematician Nick Trefethen claims that those who are short of stature may be fatter than they thought.
Oxford academic Nick Trefethen believes the body mass index (BMI) formula traditionally used to work out if someone is overweight is flawed – and he has come up with his own.
And he found short people are actually more overweight than they think they are, while tall people are not as overweight as they are being told.
Prof. Nick Trefethen says the existing formula falls down because it underestimates how much natural bulk taller people have.
As a result, it overestimates how well-padded short people should be. By his theory, singer Lily Allen, who is just 5ft 2in, is not as slim as she might be led to believe.
While his calculations tip the scale in favor of model Sophie Dahl, who stands 5ft 11in. The BMI formula is used by doctors up and down the country to work out if someone is overweight or obese and so at risk of problems from high blood pressure to heart disease.
A BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 is normal. Less than 18.5 would see a person classed as underweight, while 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight.
Oxford academic Nick Trefethen believes the BMI formula traditionally used to work out if someone is overweight is flawed
A mark of 30 or above means a person is obese. It is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared and tells someone if they are of a healthy weight, underweight, overweight or obese.
But under Prof. Nick Trefethen’s new version, the weight in kilograms is multiplied by 1.3. The answer is then divided by a person’s height to the power of 2.5, rather than height squared.
The professor insists his formula is far from simply an academic exercise – as the results could affect millions of people.
Roughly speaking, each person 6ft tall would lose a point from their BMI reading. Those who are 5ft, however, would see the new formula add a point – enough to send them from being merely overweight to obese.
Experts already question the use of BMI as an indicator of health as it fails to distinguish between muscle and fat and can lead to athletes at peak fitness being deemed obese.
Prof. Nick Trefethen said it would be wrong for him to push for his formula to be adopted, but he says the NHS should justify its use of the current calculation.
He said: “The NHS relies on the BMI pervasively in all of its public discussions of obesity. We deserve an explanation of what justification they have for using this formula.”
While womenswear designers have taken a step into preventing scarily skinny models on the catwalk, it seems the same cannot be said for those behind men’s fashion collections.
A photo of a shockingly thin male model on the catwalk at YSL was tweeted by blogger Poppy Dinsey, the founder of website What I Wore Today.
“Woefully irresponsible model casting at YSL yesterday,” Poppy Dinsey wrote, before adding: “Speechless.”
The photo of the emaciated model prompted a barrage of responses from other Twitter users, most of whom tweeted their support and horror YSL’s use of the gaunt model.
But in a disturbing twist, others weighed in favor of looking extremely thin, with one user – who outs herself as “pro ana” in her Twitter handle – arguing that despite appearances, Poppy Dinsey should have made clear that he “ISN’T ill”.
She added: “Have you thought how he’d feel if he saw this? He has absolutely NOTHING wrong.”
“I have had hundreds of replies but haven’t seen a single response that says they think it looks healthy or acceptable, although plenty of fashiony friends enjoyed the collection itself – which people seem to be forgetting about,” said Poppy Dinsey.
“What did upset me was the number of people who said the model was <<disgusting>> – I made a point of saying you can’t assume that the model has an eating disorder.
“I have been to hundreds of fashion shows so I’m never particularly surprised by the latest <<shock model picture>> but casting directors have to take some responsibility.
“A model may well be healthy, but if someone looking at the pictures will assume the opposite, why not cast someone who doesn’t create such controversy?”
Shockingly thin male model on the catwalk at YSL
The gaunt-faced model is a far cry from the healthy-looking male models who have dominated the industry in recent years.
High-earning male models such as David Gandy, Gabriel Aubry and Andrés Velencoso have set an industry standard geared towards the fit and healthy rather than the emaciated.
But the appearance of the emaciated model suggests times could be changing and that’s worrying -particularly at a time when male anorexia or “manorexia” is becoming more widespread.
According to recent figures released by eating disorders charity, B-EAT, the number of male anorexics, previously thought to total just 10% of total sufferers, has shot up.
Male sufferers now account for a quarter of all disordered eating cases but often find themselves struggling with the disease alone thanks to a lack of awareness about the disease and how it affects men.
“All too often eating disorders are seen as a young girl’s illness,” says B-EAT spokeswoman, Leanne Thorndyke.
“There is still a great deal of misunderstanding and stigma surrounding these serious psychiatric conditions which makes it even more difficult for a male to admit to having the problem and seeking help.”
And, while the sight of models such as the one seen at YSL aren’t directly to blame, according to Leanne Thorndyke, they certainly don’t help.
“The fashion industry doesn’t cause eating disorders. It does, however, have a powerful influence that is highly toxic to some vulnerable people.
“People have told us these images alone do not cause their eating disorder but it can make it harder for people to recover.”
Poppy Dinsey: “It’s unfair on the fashion industry to say that all designers are peddling an unhealthy ideal, as the majority of designers and casting directors will be doing their utmost to only book healthy models.
“Catwalk models aren’t like your average attractive guy or girl from school – they fit a very narrow ideal of height and weight and some people are just naturally that thin.
“The problem is, impressionable people across the world see these images and aspire to be like this – when it would take nothing short of starvation to achieve the same shape – and that’s forgetting they’re probably four inches too short to model anyway.”
Honey Boo Boo’s mother, June Shannon, rustled up a Thanksgiving feast for the family during the last episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo reality show.
June Shannon’s menu featured 15 cans of vegetables, 12 cans of cranberry sauce and a large turkey coated with a gallon of butter.
Talking about the generous helping of cranberry jelly – which she sprinkled with one pound of sugar – June Shannon told viewers: “They get their fruit, plus they don’t get a [urinary tract] infection.”
The mother-of-four added: “I’m not no Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker or nothing like that. It’s going to be what it is and hopefully something turns out right.
“Just like all my other recipes, butter and sugar makes everything taste better.”
Instead of using fresh goods June Shannon said she bought everything, including the vegetables, in cans.
She also admitted that she doesn’t follow recipes and often throws ingredients together to create a “multi-meal”.
Despite her unconventional methods, her family appeared to enjoy her culinary creations.
“Cranberry jelly is the most perfect food. It’s just the perfect color.
“Can shape food is the most perfect food for eating. This is the food of the gods,” Honey Boo Boo explained.
Honey Boo Boo’s mother, June Shannon, rustled up a Thanksgiving feast for the family during the last episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo reality show
After preparing the Thanksgiving meal June Shannon sat down to enjoy the spread with her family, wearing a turkey-shaped headdress.
The clan sat outdoors as they ate, enjoying the fall sunshine.
In another scene during the one hour holiday special, Honey Boo Boo seemed overjoyed as she unveiled a scarecrow version of her larger-than-life mother.
Honey Boo Boo, 7, proudly presented “Junecrow” complete with a “blonde wig, big head, vajiggle jaggle [and a] forklift foot”.
She even dressed the towering hay bale design in one of June Shannon’s outfits.
Honey Boo Boo and her three teenage sisters told viewers that “it’s got to have four tummies and big old thighs”.
However, when June Shannon saw the finished creation she insisted that it didn’t look anything like her.
In an attempt to make her feel better about herself her partner of 8 years, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, added: “It looks beautiful.”
Later in the show the family is seen visiting a local farm in McIntyre, Georgia.
Honey Boo Boo was shown how to milk cows and goats as her mother June Shannon watched smiling.
“It tastes like regular milk,” Honey Boo Boo said as she enjoyed the fruits of her labor.
Talking about her connection with animals she said that people often refer to her as “Dr. Boolittle”.
Back at home June Shannon decided to test the family on their knowledge of holiday traditions and the history behind Thanksgiving. It turned out to be a challenge for everyone.
June Shannon’s oldest daughter, Anna, declared: “Christopher Columbus went to the New World in 1930-something and that’s where he met Pocahontas.”
And when asked: “What do you know about the first Thanksgiving?”, Honey Boo Boo replied: “Turkeys” before adding: “The Indians lost everything and just got a crappy meal – and casinos.”
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo returns with a clips special on February 10, followed by a Christmas special on February 17, both at 8:00 p.m. EST on TLC.
US President Barack Obama has told the American people to “seize the moment”, in a speech in Washington DC inaugurating his second term.
After taking the oath of office, Barack Obama said America’s possibilities were limitless as it emerged from a decade of war and a long economic crisis.
Barack Obama, 51, who is the 44th US president, was sworn in to his second term by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Hundreds of thousands of people thronged the National Mall ceremony.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, along with dozens of senators, congressional leaders and other dignitaries attended the event at the US Capitol.
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama laid out his vision for the next four years.
“This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience,” he said.
“A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are limitless.”
He added: “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.”
Barack Obama has told the American people to seize the moment, in a speech in Washington DC inaugurating his second term as US president
In a roughly 18-minute address, Barack Obama called for “collective action” to preserve American freedom, which he linked to social and economic equality.
“We, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it,” he said.
“We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.”
Without making specific policy recommendations, Barack Obama said the US must overhaul the tax code, reform its education system, revamp the voting system, and address climate change.
“Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms,” he said.
He also alluded to the struggles of women, racial minorities and gays to win social equality, saying “the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still”.
And after four years of hyper-partisan struggle, during which he has repeatedly tussled with Republicans, Barack Obama challenged Washington to change the tone of its politics.
“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” he said.
As he was sworn in on Monday, Barack Obama placed his left hand on Bibles owned by legendary American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and President Abraham Lincoln.
According to the words prescribed by the US Constitution, Barack Obama swore he would “faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”.
Vice-President Joe Biden also publicly took the oath.
Barack Obama was also sworn in at a small White House ceremony on Sunday, as the US Constitution dictates presidential terms begin on 20 January.
Following Monday’s ceremony, Barack Obama will have the traditional lunch with US lawmakers in the capitol building’s Statuary Hall.
The president is also expected to walk at least part of the parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House.
The zone surrounding the National Mall in the US capital is in virtual lockdown, with movement of people and vehicles tightly restricted.
White tents, trailers and generators line the parade route, while nearby buildings have been adorned with red, white and blue bunting.
Officials estimate about 700,000 people were to attend the inauguration, down significantly from 2009, when about 1.8 million people witnessed Barack Obama be sworn in as America’s first black president.
In the evening, the Obamas will don formal evening attire for several lavish inaugural balls in Washington.
About 260,000 people attended George W. Bush’s second inauguration ceremony in 2005.
Lizzy Jagger, daughter of rock legend Mick Jagger and supermodel Jerry Hall, is the face of the new Skiny campaign – her second season with the cult Austrian intimates brand.
Lizzy Jagger, 28, joins a host of international supermodels who have also fronted Skiny campaigns through its 26 year history, including Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen and Laetitia Casta.
Showcasing underwear and loungewear, Lizzie Jagger shot the campaign in South Africa and the whole of the collection is based around the Out of Africa/safari vibe, under the tag line “Who Scares?”.
Lizzie Jagger modeled from Playboy in 2011 and just a few months ago got naked with a fish to highlight unsustainable fishing.
But the model hasn’t been pushed to her limits yet.
Lizzy Jagger is the face of the new Skiny campaign
The “Who Scares?” campaign sees Lizzy Jagger and her fellow models riding zebras, fearlessly facing rhinos and bumping along dirt tracks in a four wheel drive.
The Skiny brand labels itself as “playful and fresh” and “with a great sense of fun”. The underwear is made of cotton with statement prints, basic colors and bold brights.
The brand values good shaping and incorporate “smooth, seamless and shapely designs” for “the ultimate T shirt bras”.
They also incorporate loungewear into the collection, reworking cotton basics with new prints and bold colourways.
Talking about the brand and products, Lizzy Jagger said: “It’s just my kind of underwear – pretty, sexy, comfortable, versatile and well made.
“Also Skiny uses a lot of natural fabrics, which is important to me.”
Regarding her friends and family’s reactions to the pictures, Lizzy Jagger said: “My friends, my sister Georgia and my mum think they are really cheeky.”
Skiny is available on Amazon and swimwear will be launching later in the year.
British film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner has died, aged 77, his wife Geraldine has confirmed.
Born in Hampstead, London in 1935, Michael Winner directed more than 30 films, including Death Wish and Scorpio.
Michael Winner was also famous for his barbed restaurant reviews, written for The Sunday Times under the banner Winner’s Dinners.
He had been ill for some time. Last summer, he said liver specialists had given him 18 months to live.
Paying tribute to her husband, Geraldine Winner said: “Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous.
“A light has gone out in my life.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber said he would “deeply miss” his friend, writing on Twitter: “True originals come rarely in a lifetime.”
Comedian John Cleese added: “I have just heard the very sad news about Michael. He was the dearest, kindest, funniest and most generous of friends.
“I shall miss him terribly.”
Michael Winner’s former editor at The Sunday Times, Andrew Neil, said: “So sad to hear of death of my old mate Michael Winner. One of life’s great characters.”
A law graduate from Cambridge University, Michael Winner had written about film for local papers and, later, the NME, before he joined Motion Pictures Limited as a writer and editor in 1956.
By 1962, Michael Winner had directed his first full-length movie, Play it Cool, a pop musical starring Billy Fury, at Pinewood Studios.
He established his own film company, Scimitar, in the mid-1960s and made a number of satirical films starring Oliver Reed, including The System and I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘Is Name.
But he became more well-known for his action movies, especially the violent Death Wish series, starring Charles Bronson as an architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are murdered.
Speaking to The Big Issue last year, Winner said he knew the film would be his epitaph.
“When I die, it’s going to be <<Death Wish director dies>>,” he said.
“I don’t mind though – Death Wish was an epoch-making film. The first film in the history of cinema where the hero kills other civilians.
“It had never been done before. Since then it has been the most copied film ever. Tarantino put it in his top 10 films ever made.”
Death Wish director Michael Winner has died aged 77
In later years, Michael Winner also directed and starred in a series of commercials for a car insurance company featuring the catchphrase: “Calm down dear!”
It was fuel to the fire of critics who felt Michael Winner was a brash, sexist oaf, but he insisted it was all done with a hefty dose of irony.
“If you create this comedy character of wealth and opulence swanning around, people hate you,” he told The Independent in 2010.
“But the ones who hate me don’t get me at all. They don’t get the joke.”
For his entry in the 2012 edition of Who’s Who, Michael Winner listed his interests as “eating, being difficult, making table mats, washing silk shirts” and “doing Pilates badly”.
Michael Winner was also a charity campaigner, who established The Police Memorial Trust after the fatal shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.
That led to the erection of the National Police Memorial in central London, which honors officers killed in the line of duty.
Michael Winner was reportedly offered an OBE for his charity work in 2006 but turned it down, saying: “An OBE is what you get if you clean the toilets well at King’s Cross station.”
The director had experienced a run of ill-health since eating a bad oyster on holiday in Barbados in 2007. It gave him the rare bacterial infection Vibrio vulnificus, which kills 95% of its victims within 48 hours.
Michael Winner was on the brink of death five times and underwent a gruelling 19 operations, including the removal of three tendons, leaving him with mobility difficulties.
Later, he picked up the E coli virus from a steak tartare, and was hospitalized eight times in the last few months of his life.
But he continued to write his weekly column for The Sunday Times until December 2, 2012, signing off with the headline: “Geraldine says it’s time to get down from the table. Goodbye.”
Michael Winner met his wife Geraldine 56 years ago, but did not marry until 2011 in a small ceremony witnessed by actor Michael Caine and his wife Shakira.
Geraldine Winner said her husband had died on Monday at his home in Kensington, London, where she had been nursing him.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates plans to spend his fortune for the eradication of poliomyelitis, a viral disease that has taken a countless number of lives.
Worth an estimated $65 billion, Bill Gates, 57, a college dropout, says he wants to do more for others and sees this as one way of giving back to the world that made him so successful.
“I’m certainly well taken care of in terms of food and clothes,” Bill Gates told the Telegraph in London.
“Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organization and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.”
Bill Gates will deliver the BBC’s Dimbleby Lecture later this month, using the value of young human beings as his central theme.
In that speech Bill Gates will talk about every child having the right to a healthy and productive life. He will also explain how technology and innovation can help the world reach that goal.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates plans to spend his fortune for the eradication of poliomyelitis, a viral disease that has taken a countless number of lives
So far Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, 48, have given away $28 billion of their fortune through their charitable foundation, with more than $8 billion of it to improving global health.
“My wife and I had a long dialogue about how we were going to take the wealth that we’re lucky enough to have and give it back in a way that’s most impactful to the world,” Bill Gates told the Telegraph’s Neil Tweedie.
“We’re focused on the help of the poorest in the world, which really drives you into vaccination. You can actually take a disease and get rid of it altogether, like we are doing with polio.”
Some 12 million children under the age of five died ten years ago in 1992, while in 2011 the number of child deaths was just under seven million, or 19,000 per day, according to statistics from the United Nations.
The leading causes of death are pneumonia at 18%, pre-birth complications at 14%, diarrhoea at 11%, complications during birth at nine per cent and malaria at 7%.
A September report from the United Nations Children’s Fund stated that four-fifths of “under-five deaths” in 2011 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
“Given the prospect that these regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa, will account for the bulk of the world’s births in the next years, we must give new impetus to the global momentum to reduce under-five deaths,” UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the report.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will spend another $1.8 billion in the next six years to accomplish the couple’s goal.
“All you need is over 90% of children to have the vaccine drop three times and the disease stops spreading,” said Bill Gates.
“The number of cases eventually goes to zero.
“When we started, we had over 400,000 children a year being paralyzed and we are now down to under 1,000 cases a year. The great thing about finishing polio is that we’ll have resources to get going on malaria and measles.”
Renesys monitoring experts have noticed that a high-speed fibre-optic cable connecting Cuba to the global internet appears to have finally been activated.
Cubans currently rely on satellite connections – which are expensive and slow – to get online.
But the cable, which has been in place since 2011, has shown the first signs of activity, Renesys said.
Curiously, researchers noted traffic via the cable seemed only to be flowing into the country, not out of it.
“In the past week, our global monitoring system has picked up indications that this cable has finally been activated, although in a rather curious way,” wrote Doug Madory, Renesys’ senior researcher.
He explained that in the past week it had been noted that Telefonica, the Spanish telecoms company, had begun appearing in their data for Cuba.
But Renesys’ data is a strong indicator that the cable is beginning to show signs of life – be it over five years since its original inception.
A high-speed fibre-optic cable connecting Cuba to the global internet appears to have finally been activated
A joint project between the state-owned telecommunications companies of both Venezuela and Cuba, the Alternative Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra America cable – known more succinctly as Alba-1 – had been hit by numerous delays before being completed in 2011.
But users were left in the dark as to why they were unable to get themselves hooked up to the connection, and were forced to make do with the high-latency connections provided by satellite.
But in the past week, much lower latencies – meaning faster connections – have been observed in the country, a strong indicator that the cable was now in use.
But Doug Madory stressed: “These aren’t exactly low latencies. Our measured latencies to Cuba are still quite high, albeit improved.
“The fact that the latencies to Cuba from many locations around the world have dropped below 480ms [milliseconds] means that the new Telefonica service cannot be entirely via satellite.
“However, if it were solely via submarine cables, we would expect latencies from many nearby countries to be less than 50ms.”
Doug Madory speculated that the activation of the cable may be a sign the country is becoming “freer and more open” – particularly as the cable first showed signs of activity on the same day as rules about exit visas were changed.
He went on to say that he did not believe there to be a China-style censorship firewall in place for Cuban internet users.
“In countries where we see latencies are impacted by censorship regimes, we often see a diurnal [daily] pattern in latencies,” he said.
“This is due to traffic slowing during busy times when everyone is awake and using the Internet, and the censorship software is struggling to keep up.
“When looking at the distributions of these [Cuban] latencies over time, I see no diurnal pattern.”
Despite the country’s lacklustre internet, an online community has taken shape in the recent years. Most notably, blogger Yoani Sanchez rose to fame as a dissident blogger who wrote about life in Cuba.
Yoani Sanchez used to email blog entries to friends outside of the country to publish online.
Her writing led to her being arrested in October last year as she prepared to cover the trial of politician Angel Carromero.
French and Malian troops have seized the key towns of Diabaly and Douentza from militant Islamists, France’s defence minister has said.
French warplanes have bombed suspected Islamist positions around both towns since France launched a military operation in Mali on January 11.
A column of French and Malian troops entered Diabaly, said an AFP news agency reporter with the soldiers.
France has sent some 2,000 troops to help Malian forces fight the militants.
It has called on West African countries to speed up the deployment of a regional force of more than 3,000.
An Islamist group in Nigeria has said it carried out an attack last week which killed two Nigerian troops as they prepared to deploy to Mali.
Ansaru said it targeted the troops because the Nigerian military was joining efforts to “demolish the Islamic empire of Mali”.
French and Malian troops have seized the key towns of Diabaly and Douentza from militant Islamists
Nigeria has pledged to send 1,200 troops to Mali, with the first 50 deployed on Thursday.
Togolese and Senegalese soldiers make up the remaining 100 troops already in Bamako, AFP reports.
Mali’s Islamist fighters fled Diabaly, about 400 km (250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, on Friday.
On Monday, French soldiers from the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment as well as parachutists and Malian troops entered the town after reconnaissance flights by Gazelle helicopters, according to an AFP reporter who was with the soldiers.
They had set out at dawn from the nearby government-controlled town of Niono.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that Diabaly was now under the control of French and Malian troops, AFP reports.
The central town of Douentza, about 800 km (500 miles) from Bamako, had also been recaptured, he was quoted as saying.
Army commanders had earlier expressed fears that Islamists fleeing Diabaly had planted landmines.
On Sunday, Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was seeking “total reconquest” of northern Mali.
“We will not leave any pockets of resistance,” he told French television.
The Islamist groups currently control a vast area in the Sahara Desert, larger than France.
