Just thirteen months after announcing their divorce, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa confirmed on Friday that they have chosen to get back together.
“We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled. Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future together,” read the statement, which Vanessa Bryant posted on her Instagram account.
Kobe and Vanessa Bryant have been starting off the new year on the right foot and have been shamelessly posting photographs – and kind words – of each other on their social media profiles.
Kobe Bryant only joined Twitter on January 4, but he’s already managed to share an image of his wife sending him a big kiss.
Last week Vanessa Bryant shared her love for her husband on her Instagram, which she launched in December.
“Happy New Year Everyone!” the post began.
“My hope is for everyone to have a blessed, healthy, happy 2013 full of joy and laughter. I’m thankful for the 99% of fans that have expressed love and support for my family and I.”
Just thirteen months after announcing their divorce, NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa confirmed on Friday that they have chosen to get back together
Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce from Kobe in December 2011, but the proceedings were never finalized.
The former dancer was apparently fed up after Kobe Bryant allegedly cheated on her multiple times with other women.
The couple’s relationship has been up and down, and sent reeling when Kobe Bryant was arrested in 2003 for sexual assault on a 19-year-old employee of a Colorado hotel.
While that case was eventually dropped, Kobe Bryant did admit to a sexual encounter with his accuser.
Kobe Bryant married Vanessa in 2001 at Dana Point, California, when he was 21 and she was 18, and reportedly without a prenuptial agreement.
But she reportedly had a change of heart about their split early last year.
Three months after announcing their divorce the couple were photographed kissing by the locker rooms at a Lakers game in February.
Over the summer, Vanessa Bryant took her kids with her to London to cheer her husband as he competed in the Olympics.
And things appeared to have been back to normal by Christmas, as the family shared an intimate holiday portrait with friends and family.
In the centre of the smiling photograph was a seated Kobe Bryant firmly grasping the hand of his wife, who showed off her slender figure in a $2,200 low-cut green velvet Gucci dress.
Despite the reconciliation the couple still needed to shed some baggage and sold one of their three homes in Orange County, California.
The 6,000 square foot mansion closed its sale on Tuesday for $3.22 million, nine years after the couple purchased the home together for $2.65 million.
As the couple worked through their divorce the home had been transferred solely to Vanessa Bryant, who listed it for sale in September for $3.75 million.
Britney Spears has split from her fiancé Jason Trawick after a one-year engagement.
Britney Spears and Jason Trawick announced their engagement in December 2011, after confirming they were dating in May 2010.
A source said the pair had been sleeping in separate bedrooms and their once strong relationship had fizzled into more of a friendship.
Britney Spears, 31, said in a statement: “Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I’ll always adore him and we will remain great friends.”
Jason Trawick added: “As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever.”
Britntey Spears’ representative Jeff Raymond said: “Britney Spears and Jason Trawick have mutually agreed to end their one-year engagement.
“As two mature adults, they came to the difficult decision to go their separate ways while continuing to remain friends.”
Jason Trawick also acted as Britney Spears’ manager, and the pop star has now changed management, indicating the pair are also severing ties in their business relationship. Jason Trawick has reportedly resigned as Britney Spears’ co-conservator, but her father Jamie Spears will remain as conservator.
Further reports claim Jason Trawick has already moved out of the home the couple shared together, according to Radar Online.
It comes the same day as Britney Spears confirmed she had quit her role as a judge on the X Factor.
Britney Spears has split from her fiancé Jason Trawick after a one-year engagement
According to the official statement released on Friday, Britney Spears put in her resignation for the talent competition series on the same day.
“I had an incredible time doing the show and I love the other judges and I am so proud of my teens but it’s time for me to get back in the studio,” she said, referring to her eighth album.
“Watching them all do their thing up on that stage every week made me miss performing so much! I can’t wait to get back out there and do what I love most.”
However, her team has reportedly already begun “serious talks” for lucrative sitcom and Las Vegas concert deals.
According to TMZ, Britney Spears and her people have been in serious negotiations with one of the Caesars group properties for “a while”.
Britney Spears is likely being wooed to star in her own long-running show at the Colloseum at Caesar’s Palace since that is where Cher and Celine Dion also held residencies.
Celine Dion scored $100 million a year to headline her show and her previous A New Day show grossed more than $400 million over five years.
Cher also struck a lucrative deal with the casino where she performed for three years at $60 million a year.
An insider noted that Britney Spears could probably rake even more than either of the other pop legends in her deal.
Her team is also reportedly looking into possible sitcom appearances.
A Radar Online source said: “Britney’s manager, Larry Rudolph, is reading television scripts that the singer could accept. Britney’s dad, Jamie feels that having his daughter on a sitcom would be a good fit for her.
“Britney needs to be kept busy, and a structured environment such as a television sitcom would be a natural fit for her. She actually has very natural comedic talents and is very funny, in an airhead sort of way.”
Simon Cowell, 53, was reportedly disappointed with his $15 million contracted employee on the talent competition since he wanted “crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney”.
According to Us Weekly, the network “paid all that for her to say <<amazing>> and offer half-claps” for her four protégées.
The December 20 second season finale was watched by only 9.6 million viewers, down 18% from the first season finale.
The Greek parliament has approved a series of unpopular tax rises aimed at boosting revenue in line with Athens’ commitments to international creditors.
The measures, approved overnight, introduce a new top tax rate of 42% for Greeks earning more than 42,000 euros ($56,000) a year.
Corporate rates also go up and the tax base now includes low-earning farmers.
Greece has been kept solvent by huge rescue loans from its EU partners and the IMF since May 2010.
The Conservative-led government insists the new measures, designed to raise up to 2.3 billion euros this year, are fair.
“We are not in favor of taxes,” Deputy Finance Minister Giorgos Mavraganis said.
“But in the current situation we must lead the country out of its impasse.”
The Greek parliament has approved a series of unpopular tax rises aimed at boosting revenue in line with Athens’ commitments to international creditors
The changes are part of an overall package approved in November to allow Greece to qualify for further bailout funds.
But the opposition says the tax rises will increase hardship for ordinary Greeks. The main opposition Radical Left Coalition says austerity has “demolished the country’s middle classes”.
Deep spending cuts and job losses have triggered street unrest across Greece in recent years.
Hundreds attended the funeral of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson who also created science-fiction series Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Stingray in Reading, UK, on Friday.
Gerry Anderson has been remembered as a “visionary of the future” by family and friends.
Gerry Anderson, from Henley-on-Thames, died last month, aged 83.
Fans travelled from across the country, as well as from overseas to be at the funeral which featured tributes from former Thunderbirds cast and crew.
The service at Reading Crematorium was followed by a reception in Henley-on-Thames.
There was standing room only inside the chapel with the service relayed on speakers to more than 100 people outside.
They included mother and son Robert and Maria Zyderveld, who travelled from the Netherlands.
Robert Zyderveld said: “I’ve been a fan of Gerry Anderson’s TV shows for about 18 years.
“I always said that if I had the chance to be at his funeral, I would travel there no matter how far.
“It was a truly beautiful service and a great tribute to the man.”
Hundreds attended the funeral of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson in Reading, UK, on Friday
A full-size replica of FAB1 – Lady Penelope’s pink Rolls Royce – was also on show outside the chapel.
Owner Melvin Jarvis drove from Leicestershire the night before to be at the service.
He said: “It still turns heads even after having owned it for a few years.
“I have to try and drive it away from motorways usually to avoid too many people driving alongside trying to take pictures of it while they’re driving.”
A replica of Thunderbird 2 featured among the floral tributes on top of Gerry Anderson’s coffin.
Son Jamie Anderson was among the coffin bearers and read a eulogy during the service.
He said: “I have never been more proud of my father than the day he faced up to his battle with Alzheimer’s.
“He battled it head-on and came out very publicly speaking about how it had affected his life.”
Gerry Anderson was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2010 – a condition which worsened in the months before his death.
He became a supporter of the Alzheimer’s Society and helped raise the charity’s profile at fundraising events across the country.
During the funeral, arrangements of the Thunderbirds theme tune and Aqua Marina from Stingray were played.
Thunderbirds first aired on TV screens in 1965 with the action filmed in a studio on the Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire.
Shane Rimmer, the voice of Thunderbird pilot Scott Tracy, said: “It was a truly unique experience.
“Gerry’s office was like the Oval Office at The White House at times, such was the mystique of the place.
“Thunderbirds really broke a mould as it was one of the first TV shows that had appeal on both sides of the Atlantic.”
Asha, the budget smartphone line from Nokia, is outselling its premium handset offering, the Windows-run Lumia, by over two to one.
Nokia’s quarterly results, published on Thursday, revealed the total number of both Asha and Lumia devices sold in the last three months of 2012 was 14 million. Only 4.4 million were Lumias.
There have also been rumors that Apple may offer a lower-priced iPhone model.
Reports that a senior Apple executive denied this have been withdrawn.
“We forecast that by 2016, 31% of the global overall handset market will be low-end smartphone,” said Ian Fogg, principal analyst at IHS.
“An entry-level smartphone is very different from a high-end smartphone,” he said.
“Smaller, cheaper devices have processors from two or three years ago, they have small screens with low resolution, and weaker cameras. They can all do email and the web but gaming and browsing is a much better experience on the higher end phones.”
Asha, the budget smartphone line from Nokia, is outselling its premium handset offering, the Windows-run Lumia, by over two to one
However, the difference in cost to the consumer is significant.
“Apple still play out at the premium end of the market,” said Ian Fogg.
“Can they remain profitable and successful being in a small part of the handset market or do they need to be a bigger player to get the economies of scale right?”
“Apple makes high quality products, it doesn’t make cheap products,” he added.
“That doesn’t rule out Apple creating a cheaper iPhone that still has high quality components. Look at the iPod range – they started with a premium price product, then they added the mini, the nano, the shuffle – they went to a range of products hitting different price points.”
Ian Fogg pointed out that there are currently variations of the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 available at different prices.
“Their strategy has been to reuse previous generation model rather than build a new model,” he said.
“Apple, I’m sure, is evaluating that strategy. Is it better to use a tried and trusted design that they know how to manufacture and that the consumer understands, or is it better to design a new model that hits that price point?”
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE announced plans to launch a lower-end smartphonerunning on Mozilla’s Firefox operating software in Europe this year.
“I think Apple should be more aggressive with its smartphone range,” said Ian Fogg.
“I think the strategy they have had of reusing previous year’s models has been quite smart, but there is also an opportunity to design a new product that hits that low price point.”
Thanks to the popularity of international best seller Fifty Shades Of Grey, one in ten women between the ages of 25 and 54 consider cold and complicated Christian Grey the most perfect fictional gentleman.
But Pride And Prejudice’s dashing Mark Darcy – who was initially similarly cold and complicated to Elizabeth Bennett – won the most votes overall, and has been voted the perfect fictional gentleman overall in the nationwide poll of British women.
Jane Austen’s upper-crust character, brought to life by actor Colin Firth in the 1995 hit BBC mini-series, was named number one by almost a third (29.60%) of British women polled.
Mark Darcy was followed by suave British spy James Bond (12.4%), first made world famous by handsome Scot Sean Connery in the 1962 movie Dr. No.
Thanks to best seller Fifty Shades Of Grey, one in 10 women between the ages of 25 and 54 consider Christian Grey the most perfect fictional gentleman
Five other actors went on to play the debonair secret agent, with Daniel Craig the latest with his most recent box office smash Skyfall.
And proof that women love a prince in real life or fantasy, the stock character Prince Charming was third, stealing one tenth of the vote.
The research of 1,000 women across the UK was commissioned by Johnson Cleaners in a bid to find who and what makes a gentleman in both fiction and reality.
While noble Noah from tear-jerker The Notebook, played by the dishy Ryan Gosling, was the most popular fictional gentleman with women under 25.
And a quarter of women of all ages told researchers they wished their partner or husband was more like their favorite celebrity gentleman. This rose to a third of women in Northern Ireland.
Paul Ogle, MD of Johnson Cleaners, said: “It is clear that many women love an old fashioned gentleman, either in fiction or reality. The qualities that make a gentleman are timeless and classic, just like the celebrities that came top of our research.”
But this figure drops to five per cent of all women in the UK insisting the infamous Christian Grey was their perfect fictional gent. But that’s still some 1.25 million ladies.
Sally Frith from Gloucestershire, UK, is a massive fan of musical Les Miserables.
In 25 years Sally Frith has notched up 957 visits to see the famous musical on stage and has possibly spent more than £50,000 ($80,000) in doing so.
“I think it is one of the greatest musicals ever written,” she said.
“I love the story, love the songs and everything about it, and I’ve got to know quite a few cast members over the years.”
In fact, Sally Frith reckons she has seen 25 different casts in total, with favorite performances from Alfie Boe in the role of Jean Valjean and Matt Lucas as innkeeper Thenardier.
But what does the cast think of her devotion?
“Some are quite shocked and some have heard from other cast members that I’m a regular visitor, but on the whole the majority of the cast are lovely,” Sally Frith said.
More than 60 million people have seen Les Miserables over the past three decades, in more than 40 countries and in more than 20 different languages.
The record-breaking hit musical is based on Victor Hugo’s 19th Century novel.
In 25 years Sally Frith has notched up 957 visits to see the famous musical on stage and has possibly spent more than £50,000 in doing so
“I have always been a fan of the theatre, and everybody was raving about Les Miserables when it first came out in 1985,” said Sally Frith.
“Eventually, three years later, I managed to get tickets to see the show, fell in love with it, went to see it again, and it just grew from there.”
Sally Frith has seen the show mainly in London, but also at Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester and as far afield as Sweden and New York.
It is a four hour journey in total – more than 100 miles (161 km) each way on the train from her bungalow in King’s Stanley near Stroud – to the Queen’s Theatre in London.
The musical’s managing director, Nicholas Allott, of Cameron Mackintosh Ltd, said ever since Les Miserables opened it had attracted many audience members who had returned “over and over” to see it.
“These members of our fan base are the lifeblood of the show and are one of the reasons we are rapidly approaching our 30th year in the West End,” he said.
Sally Frith’s love of the show, which started in 1988, has also fuelled a similar passion among her family and friends.
If her mother does not travel with her, then she has friends she turns to including one who goes with her regularly and has seen the musical about 300 times.
Amongst her memorabilia she counts many photos of herself with cast members, as well as hundreds of tickets and programmes, T-shirts, mugs, videos, cassette tapes and more.
Sally Frith avoids thinking about what her hobby has cost over the years as it is “probably too much to mention”.
“They worked it out once and it was about £40,000 but that was a long time ago. So it is probably about £50,000 now at least,” she said.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the film adaptation had received nine BAFTA nominations including Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman being recognized in the lead actor and supporting actress categories.
The film is now out on general release and will Sally Frith be going to see it?
“Of course,” she says, excited about her planned trip to the cinema on Monday.
“I will have to look at it with a totally different mind-frame because it’s going to be a film, not a stage version, but from what I’ve heard it’s going to be absolutely mind-blowing.”
Rather than sharing a designer bag named after Pippa herself, Carole Middleton and her daughter Pippa both have their own version of Modalu handbag.
And either they aren’t ashamed to commit the fashion faux pas of looking identical – or didn’t liaise on how the other was accessorizing before leaving the house – as they both stepped out together carrying their Modalu bags today.
Carole and Pippa Middleton carried black versions of the “Pippa Grab” with gold detailing as they visited the National Portrait Gallery to see the unveiling of the official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The only difference was that Pippa Middleton’s bag had a mock crocodile skin effect. The bag is available to buy in various colors at a cost of £195 ($310) from Modalu’s website and retailers including John Lewis. A smaller version is also available for £169 ($270).
Rather than sharing a designer bag named after Pippa herself, Carole Middleton and her daughter Pippa both have their own version of Modalu handbag
Pippa Middleton, 29, was first seen carrying a grey style of the bag by the then little-known designers Modalu the day after the Royal Wedding. The brand were keen to capitalize on the new-found fame of Kate Middleton’ sibling, who was propelled into the spotlight thanks to her tightly-fitted bridesmaid gown, and re-issued the bag as the “Pippa”.
Today, Pippa Middleton teamed the bag with her outfit choice of a purple wrap coat and black Russell and Bromley boots. Meanwhile, Carole Middleton, 57, wore a black skirt and top under a blue jacket and kept out the chill with a black scarf.
From the toilet in The Shard you can marvel at landmarks including the Tower of London and HMS Belfast as you gaze across the River Thames.
The toilet is on the 68th floor of the £2 billion ($3 billion) development, 800 ft up the 1,016 ft high skyscraper, western Europe’s tallest, which opens to visitors next month
Most people, however, will be enjoying the spectacular 40-mile views from the official viewing areas.
The opening day for the attraction, known as The View from the Shard, February 1 is sold out as is the second day, despite tickets costing up to £24.95 ($39) for adults and £18.95 ($30) for children.
In the viewing areas visitors will be able to look through special telescopes known as Tell: scopes. These are particularly useful if visibility is poor as they show not only a live “as it is” image but, at the push of a button, what a clear-day view would be as well as a sunset view and a night view.
Those using the telescopes will, by focusing on a particular landmark, receive audible information about it.
From the toilet in The Shard you can marvel at landmarks including the Tower of London and HMS Belfast as you gaze across the River Thames
The View from the Shard chief executive Andy Nyberg said: “This is the only place you can see the whole of London at once and, as such, is a natural starting point for exploring the UK’s capital.”
Comment from spokesman about the “loo with a view”: “The main toilets for The View from The Shard are located on level 1 of the attraction.
“A limited number of these <<loos with a view>> are available on Level 68 for those that need them, however they are not normally open for general use.”
Organizers say there should not be queues, but to amuse those waiting to go through security, special, cheeky, murals have been created.
Showing 140 famous Londoners in playful juxtapositions, the murals depict the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a Pearly King and Queen, London Mayor Boris Johnson shining the shoes of a top-hatted former mayor Ken Livingstone and the Queen – with corgi – riding on a scooter.
The Shard is part of redevelopment of the London Bridge area. The glassy, triangular-shaped Shard has 600,000sq ft of offices, three floors of restaurants and a 200-room Shangri-La hotel which is due to open this summer.
There are also 10 luxury apartments which are expected to go for as much as £50 million ($80 million) each and which are expected to be let out.
Maria Sharapova has been slammed and branded “irresponsible” for releasing Sugarpova, a line of high-sugar sweets.
Maria Sharapova’s Sugarpova range comes in 12 different flavors and has an average of 84 g of sugar per bag – the equivalent of 21 teaspoons or two cans of Coca Cola.
Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova, who is currently in Australia for the Australian Open, has been criticized by child psychologists for the “inappropriate” launch of a “playful” and “flirty” junk food line that is particularly targeted towards young girls and women.
A website mission statement from the brand reads: “Sugarpova is a premium candy line that reflects the fun, fashionable, sweet side of international tennis sensation Maria Sharapova.
“Maria has created her own candy business to offer an accessible bit of luxury, interpreting classic candies in her own signature style.
“A long time candy lover with a surprising sweet tooth, Maria is bringing a new level of quality to the candy category through fun, unexpected types and shapes – with playful names to match. Wrapped up in a beautiful package, it’s both style and substance, just like founder Maria Sharapova.”
Maria Sharapova, ranked number two in the world, says: “I’ve always had a sweet tooth. And I am not exaggerating one bit. My earliest memory of candy is being a little girl back in Russia and asking my parents for a lollipop after a good practice on the tennis court. It was that little treat I looked forward to. And here I am many years later hoping to get a sweet treat after a good practice.”
Maria Sharapova has been slammed for releasing Sugarpova, a line of high-sugar sweets
The sweets come in 142 g bags, filled with an average of four servings of five sweets – but it would take an extraordinary amount of self-control for most people to stick to a meager five.
Each “serving” contains 120 calories and approximately 19 g of sugar, the equivalent of five teaspoons or half a can of Coke.
Perhaps more pertinently, each bag – which costs $5.99 and is currently only available in the US – is packed with some 480 calories and 80 g of sugar – in some cases as many as 84 g, the equivalent of 21 teaspoons or two cans of full-fat Coca Cola.
Corrina Langelaan, campaigns manager for The Parents’ Jury, an Australian organization which campaigns for responsible advertising and promotion of food, told Australian news website news.com.au: “Maria Sharapova is a hugely influential athlete, admired by parents and children alike.
“She has a role to play in promoting healthy lifestyles and, with childhood obesity on the rise globally, spruiking a confectionary range smacks of irresponsible marketing.”
Jeff Rubin, who created the brand with Maria Sharapova, said that athletes marketing “healthy” and “organic” sweets was misleading, because the athletes themselves eat sugary snacks.
Speaking to The Candy Industry, he said: “For me, someone who’s been going to over 20 years of candy shows, we see different athletes at every show, selling an organic version of something or a healthy version of something or a natural version of something, when we all know that they all have sweet tooth and what they really love is gummies and sour.”
Garnier’s new campaign for their Fructis range features three images of three different men, each sporting enormously long beards.
But when you look a little closer you realize that they aren’t beards – they are in fact the long tresses of three women, each posing chest-to-chest with the men to create a very hairy optical illusion.
In order to stress that Garnier’s Fructis products are unisex, the beauty brand teamed up with Swiss advertising agency Publicis Zurich and photographers Billy & Hells to create a series of gender-bending photos.
Garnier’s Fructis products are unisexGarnier Fructis for every hair typeGarnier Fructis
The photographers positioned three tough-looking men against walls, then placed three women with long hair – one blonde, one brunette, one auburn – in front of them, creating the impression that the women’s cascading locks are in fact the men’s beards.
All of the models are wearing black T-shirts and dark jeans or trousers, and the women have wrapped their arms around the back of the men, meaning that their smaller bodies are almost entirely invisible.
The man then places his hands in the belt loop or back pocket of the woman’s trousers, suggesting that they are in fact his legs. The three print visuals are branded with German words which translate as: “For every hair type.”
The Photoshop Disasters websiteposted a link to fashion website Romwe, where they had posted a pair of red trousers for sale at $79.99 on the most unfeasibly long, skinny pair of legs.
Not only is it practically impossible to have legs that thin and still be able to wear platforms that heavy without them snapping, but the image from top to bottom looks unreal – even perhaps entirely computer-generated (it wouldn’t be the first time a site had used a computer-generated model to advertise their wares: step forward H&M).
Even the wooden floorboards the model is standing on have seemingly fallen foul of an over-zealous airbrush.
It was in technical terms what Photoshop experts would name a “bodge job”.
The Photoshop Disasters website posted a link to Romwe showing a pair of red trousers on the most unfeasibly long, skinny pair of legs
None of the other models on the site, which seems to be based in the U.S. but ships globally, seem to have had their photographs doctored in this way, so it’s a mystery how the girl in the red trousers came about.
It’s not the only rogue skinny leg we have seen lately either. In December last year, Gucci’s Explore The Digital Flagship campaign, a model clad in a pink suit was left with a leg so slender it was likened to that of a flamingo.
PS Disasters wrote of the fail: “If you’re going to slather your model in flamingo-pink, try to avoid giving her the legs of one too.”
Family members of the people who perished alongside Jenni Rivera in a gruesome plane crash last month have just filed a lawsuit – blaming the plane’s owners for negligence.
They are also going after Jenni Rivera’s company for money, calling the plane “a bucket of bolts”.
Relatives of Arturo Rivera (Jenni Rivera’s publicist),Jacobo “Jacob” Yebale(her makeup artist), Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez (her stylist), and Mario Macias Pacheco (her lawyer) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Starwood Management, the owner of the Learjet that was carrying Jenni and her entourage when it crashed into the mountains of Northern Mexico, killing everyone on board.
Family members of the people who perished alongside Jenni Rivera in a plane crash last month have just filed a lawsuit, blaming the plane’s owners for negligence
According to the lawsuit, the families claim Starwood negligently allowed the plane to take off that fateful day – among other things, they say the 78-year-old pilot was not licensed to fly “passengers for hire”. They also say the pilot didn’t have an instrument flight rule license, something that was necessary at 35,000 feet.
The families are also suing Jenni Rivera’s company for the same negligence. They want unspecified damages.
As we reported the DEA has been investigating Starwood Management and its planes for a while now, and even seized two of the company’s planes early last year.
Jenni Rivera’s plane – a 1969 Learjet 25 – had reportedly logged 43 years worth of flights and been previously damaged in an accident back in 2005. An exec at Starwood said the plane was perfectly maintained.
Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera had ties to one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels before she was killed last month in a plane crash, a shocking report have claimed.
A witness reportedly came forward with claims that Jenni Rivera, known as “La Diva de la Banda”, was connected to the Beltran-Leyva cartel, which is regarded as one of the country’s most feared criminal syndicates.
The report by the Reforma newspaper also accused Rivera of performing at private events for the cartel and its one-time boss, Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez, who was arrested in 2010.
In one instance, La Barbie mortified Jenni Rivera when he kicked her as part of a practical joke, according to Reforma.
The witness statements made in 2009, also alleged that Jenni Rivera used cocaine and ecstasy.
The capture of Edgar Valdez – a Texas-born drug kingpin who got his nickname from his fair complexion – was seen as a major coup in the government’s desperate battle against drug traffickers.
Before he was caught, Edgar Valdez had been battling for control of the cartel after its leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a 2009 December shootout with marines in Cuernavaca, a favorite weekend getaway south of Mexico City.
Jenni Rivera died on December 9 in a plane crash after she had performed in Monterrey, Mexico.
Also on Thursday, family members of the other plane crash casualties filed a lawsuit against the jet’s owners for “negligence” in letting the plane take off.
TMZ reported that the family of Jenni Rivera’s publicist Arturo Rivera, her lawyer Mario Macias Pacheco, Her stylist Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez and her makeup artist Jacobo Yebale filed the wrongful death suit against Starwood Management.
A similar lawsuit has also been filed against Jenni Rivera’s company.
Jenni Rivera had ties to one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels before she was killed last month in a plane crash
Jenni Rivera was in the process of buying the doomed private jet from business executive Christian E. Esquino Nunez, who owns Starwood.
Christian E. Esquino Nunez is wanted for questioning regarding his ties to the plane, and has been convicted of drug-trafficking and counterfeiting government inspection stamps.
RadarOnline.comreports that Christian E. Esquino Nunez also has ties to a Tijuana drug cartel, and has also been accused of trying to sneak the son of late Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi into Mexico.
Court records show that Christian E. Esquino Nunez obtained details from aircrafts and forged details so as to mark up aircraft prices, thinking the models had fewer miles on them or had more maintenance work than they actually had.
Christian E. Esquino Nunez’s current whereabouts are unknown.
The plane carrying the superstar plunged from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at more than 600 miles an hour, Mexico’s top transportation official says.
Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico’s secretary of communications and transportation, revealed the first detailed accounts of the moments leading up to the crash that killed Jenni Rivera and six other people aboard their Learjet on Sunday in northern Mexico.
According to Gerardo Ruiz Esparza told Radio Formula the plane hit the ground 1.2 miles from where it began falling, and plummeted at a 45 degree angle.
“The plane practically nose-dived,” he said.
“The impact must have been terrible.”
Gerardo Ruiz Esparza did not offer any explanation of what may have caused the plane to plummet, saying only that: “The plane fell from an altitude of 28,000 feet … It may have hit a speed higher than 1,000 kph [621 mph].”
Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said the pilot of the plane, Miguel Perez Soto, had a valid Mexican pilot’s license that would have expired in January.
Photos of a temporary pilot’s certificate issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and found amid the wreckage said that Miguel Perez Soto was 78.
Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said there is no age limit for flying a civil aviation aircraft, though for commercial it’s 65.
Mexican authorities were performing DNA tests Tuesday on remains believed to belong to Jenni Rivera and the others killed when her plane went down in northern Mexico early Sunday morning.
Investigators said it would take days to piece together the wreckage of the plane carrying Jenni Rivera and find out why it went down.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help investigate the crash of the Learjet 25, which disintegrated on impact in the rugged terrain in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico.
The 43-year-old California-born Jenni Rivera known as the “Diva de la Banda” died as her career peaked. She was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television.
Besides being a singer, Jenni Rivera appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and was filming the third season of “I love Jenni”, which followed her as she shared special moments with her children and as she toured through Mexico and the United States.
The Learjet 25, number N345MC, with Rivera and her handlers aboard, was en route from Monterrey to Toluca, outside Mexico City, when it was reported missing about 10 minutes after takeoff.
The US trade deficit widened unexpectedly in November, after a rise in the import of consumer goods.
Figures from the Commerce Department showed that the gap widened by 16% to $48.7 billion. The markets were expecting the deficit to shrink.
The deficit was the widest recorded since April last year.
Imports increased by 3.8%, the largest rise in eight months, to $231.3 billion. The value of exports increased by 1% to $182.6 billion.
Imports of consumer goods rose by $4.6 billion. Analysts say this is a sign that the US retail sector is growing stronger, with rising consumer spending.
The US trade deficit widened unexpectedly in November, after a rise in the import of consumer goods
France is ready to stop Islamist militants who control northern Mali if they continue their offensive, President Francois Hollande has said.
However, President Francois Hollande said France would only act under UN authorization.
Francois Hollande was responding to a plea by Malian President Dioncounda Traore for help to counter a renewed rebel offensive.
Earlier, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for the rapid deployment of an African-led international force to Mali.
Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali in April 2012.
They have enforced an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.
Analysts say Western nations are concerned that Mali’s north could become a base for terrorists to plan and launch international attacks.
The UN has approved plans to send some 3,000 African troops to Mali to recapture the north but they are not due to arrive until September.
“They (rebels) are trying to deliver a fatal blow to the very existence of this country,” Francois Hollande said.
“France, like its African partners, cannot accept this. I have decided that France will respond, alongside our African partners, to the request from the Malian authorities.
“We will do it strictly within the framework of the United Nations Security Council resolution. We will be ready to stop the terrorists’ offensive if it continues.”
France is ready to stop Islamist militants who control northern Mali if they continue their offensive, President Francois Hollande has said
Diplomatic sources said Francois Hollande and Dioncounda Traore would meet for talks in Paris next Wednesday.
It is not clear what form French intervention might take, but one possibility is the use of air strikes if the rebels advance on the strategic central town of Mopti.
Speaking shortly before Francois Hollande’s address, French War Veterans Minister Kader Arif appeared to rule out a speedy deployment of French troops to Mali.
“There is clearly an emergency but… there’s no point in rushing in,” said Kader Arif.
“At the same time, there can be no kind of engagement that could take place in this emergency without taking account of the international scale.”
Earlier this week, the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine said it had entered the key central town of Konna and intended to advance further south.
The army has refused to comment on the claim.
Following its emergency meeting on Mali on Thursday, the UN Security Council called for a “rapid deployment” of the African force and expressed “grave concern” at the capture of Konna by “terrorists and extremist groups”.
UN diplomats in New York said President Dioncounda Traore had appealed for help to Paris and to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
“It basically said <<Help, France>>,” the US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters in describing the letter.
US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered a review of the 787 Dreamliner plane after a series of incidents put a question mark over the safety of Boeing’s flagship plane.
The review by the FAA will look at the design and manufacture of the planes.
It is not clear whether the planes in the air at the moment will be grounded.
An electrical fire, a brake problem, a fuel spill and cracks in the cockpit’s windshield have affected Dreamliner flights in the past week.
“We are absolutely confident in the reliability and performance of the 787,” Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.
“We are working with the FAA and our customers to ensure we thoroughly understand any introductory issues that arise.
“While we take each issue seriously, nothing we’ve seen in service causes us to doubt the capabilities of the airplane.”
FAA has ordered a review of the 787 Dreamliner plane after a series of incidents put a question mark over the safety of Boeing’s flagship plane
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is one of the most advanced aero planes ever created. Much of it is made from very strong, light carbon-fibre composite material.
However, a spate of technical issues has hurt its image. On Friday, two new problems were found, adding to Boeing’s woes.
On Friday, All Nippon Airways reported a crack in the window on the pilot’s side of the cockpit. It caused no problems for the 237 passengers and nine crew on a flight from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Matsuyama, but the return flight was cancelled
The same airline said another Dreamliner flight, shuttling between Haneda and the southern Miyazaki prefecture, experienced a delay due to an oil leak from a generator inside an engine
On Wednesday, ANA cancelled a 787 flight from Yamaguchi to Tokyo because of a brake problem
On Tuesday, Japan Airlines cancelled a Boston to Tokyo flight after about 40 gallons (151 litres) of fuel spilled
An electrical fire broke out on board a Japan Airlines Dreamliner on Monday shortly after it landed in Boston, following a flight from Tokyo
Last year, a United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing because of an electrical problem
In December, Qatar Airways grounded one of its 787 Dreamliners after several manufacturing faults caused electrical problems similar to those that affected the United plane.
Last month, the head of Qatar Airways criticized Boeing over several manufacturing faults that have resulted in the grounding of one of its three 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Boeing has delivered 50 of the 787s, starting in late 2011, and has orders for nearly 800 more. To get through the backlog, Boeing is increasing production to build 10 of the planes per month by the end of the year.
By comparison, it builds more than one 737, Boeing’s best seller, every day.
The first official painting of the Duchess of Cambridge has been unveiled this morning and provoked a dismayed reaction.
It was painted by the artist Paul Emsley and took several months using a technique of building thin layers of oil and glazes on canvas.
Kate Middleton sat for the artist twice. Paul Emsley also worked from a series of photographs he took of Catherine.
The portrait is due to go on show on Friday afternoon at London’s National Portrait Gallery, of which the duchess is patron.
Paul Emsley was chosen to paint the portrait by the gallery’s director, Sandy Nairne. Kate Middleton, who studied history of art at St Andrews University, was also involved in the selection process.
Kate Middleton, 31, whose pregnancy was announced by the Royal Family last month, sat for the artist in May 2012 at his studio, and again in June at Kensington Palace.
Paul Emsley said she had expressed a desire to be portrayed as her natural self, rather than her official self.
The artist described his work as simple.
“I don’t have lots of things in the background. I do like large faces, I find them strong and contemporary,” he said.
“I’m interested in the landscape of the face, the way in which light and shadow fall across the forms. That’s really my subject matter.
“To have anything else in there is really just an interference.”
The artist’s other subjects have included the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and the author V S Naipaul. In 2007 Paul Emsley won the BP Portrait Award for his depiction of fellow artist, Michael Simpson.
Paul Emsley said it was easier to work from photographs.
“I’m always worried about the sitter – are they cold, are they hot, are they comfortable?” he said.
“Photography today is so accurate and so good that it’s really so much easier just to take photographs and work from them.”
Originally Paul Emsley had planned to produce an unsmiling portrait. But on meeting the duchess he changed his mind.
“I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling. That’s really who she is, I think,” he said.
He also knew he wanted to make a feature of Kate Middleton’s hair.
“Everyone, I think, recognizes her partly through her lovely hair,” he said.
“I’ve altered the color of the eyes slightly to match the color of the blouse and the blue background.”
The painting took three-and-a-half months to complete and was presented to the portrait gallery’s trustees in November.
The first official painting of Kate Middleton has been unveiled this morning at London’s National Portrait Gallery
Sandy Nairne said it was an “exciting moment” to display the first commissioned public portrait of the duchess.
He added that she was grateful to the duchess for giving up her time for the sittings and to Paul Emsley for creating a “captivating contemporary image”.
The portrait, called HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, will be displayed as part of the National Portrait Gallery’s Contemporary Collections.
Critics slammed the “rotten” picture by Paul Emsley after it was unveiled at London’s National Portrait Gallery, saying it looked “nothing like Kate in real life”.
Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak called the portrait “pretty ordinary… He made her look older than she is and her eyes don’t sparkle in the way that they do and there’s something rather dour about the face”.
Paul Emsley- who is famous for dividing opinion with his extraordinarily realistic, almost “photographic” style – was commissioned by the gallery after Kate Middleton chose him from a shortlist.
Kate Middleton and husband Prince William visited the gallery early this morning ahead of a public viewing, and she was said to be “thrilled” with the results of her latest royal rite of passage.
Since joining the Royal Family Kate Middleton has become one of the most scrutinized women on the planet – and her portrait is sure to cause controversy.
Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, said today: “Fortunately, the Duchess of Cambridge looks nothing like this in real life.
“I’m really sad to say this is a rotten portrait.”
The head and shoulders portrait shows the Duchess, who celebrated her 31st birthday on Wednesday, staring directly out of the picture with a “serious but serene” expression on her face.
Kate Middleton is wearing a bottle-green pussy bow blouse imagined by the artist and a pair of earrings that were a wedding gift.
Paul Emsley, who has also painted Nelson Mandela, was apparently keen to capture her “charm, serenity and intelligence” as well as her “sparkling green eyes”.
At first glance the Duchess, who celebrated her 31st birthday this week, looks far older than her years.
There are shadows and creases under her eyes while her famous brunette locks have a strangely coppery tinge to them.
Her mouth is set in a grimace rather than the promised enigmatic smile.
Paul Emsley had said: “The Duchess explained to me that she would like to be portrayed naturally – her natural self as opposed to her official self. She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person.
“After initially feeling it was going to be an unsmiling portrait, I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling – that is really who she is.”
Kate, Prince William and the entire Middleton family – Carole, Michael, James and Pippa – went for a private viewing of the portrait this morning before it was publicly unveiled.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were first to congratulate the artist on his work.
“I thought it was brilliant,” said Kate Middleton, who showed no sign of her 12-week bump in a deep red Whistles dress.
“It’s just amazing. Absolutely brilliant.”
Kate Middleton spent 10 minutes studying the portrait before gesturing with her hands, indicating that she was particularly pleased with the way he had captured her around her mouth and nose.
“Thank you,” added the polite royal, who met the 65-year-old artist with his wife Susanne and one of his daughters, Maria, in a separate room after viewing the portrait privately away from him.
“I had such a fun day at the studio,” Kate Middleton told Maria.
Prince William, wearing a dark suit, was equally enthusiastic.
“It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful,” he told Paul Emsley.
The Duchess is patron of the NPG in London, which has been keen to commission a picture of her for some time.
The gallery drew up a shortlist of four potential painters and Kate Middleton, who graduated from St Andrew’s University with a 2:1 in history of art, personally plumped for Paul Emsley.
Her portrait is situated in Room 37, next to a famous installation showing a video of a sleeping semi-naked David Beckham. It has been donated to the gallery by supporter Sir Hugh Legatt.
It is the same ground-floor gallery that holds a picture in oils of her husband Prince William and his younger brother, Prince Harry, which was unveiled there in 2010.
The two princes posed in full military regalia for artist Nicky Philipps for their first official depiction.
Prince Harry later joked that he was “a little too ginger and William had way too much hair” but declared himself otherwise pretty pleased with the result.
Sharon Osbourne has launched an attack on Lady Gaga, accusing the singer of being desperate for attention after openly criticizing her daughter, Kelly.
Sharon Osbourne published a letter to Lady Gaga on Thursday after Kelly and Gaga traded barbs.
“I am calling you a bully because you have 32 million followers hanging on your every word and you are criticizing Kelly,” Sharon Osbourne writes, asking: “Are you so desperate that you needed to make this public?”
The controversy erupted after Kelly Osbourne made comments about Lady Gaga’s weight gain late last year.
Speaking to Alan Carr for his Channel 4 chat show, Kelly Osbourne said: “I think she is pregnant because she has been covering up this part of her body recently and I have been noticing that a lot.”
Kelly Osbourne was referring to a photo of Lady Gaga wearing a burka to a London Fashion Week event.
“And her style has changed and you can’t bleach your hair blonde when you are pregnant,” she added.
Lady Gaga’s furious “little monster” fans responded with frightening death threats, prompting Sharon Osbourne to write the singer’s manager.
In an email to Vince Hebert sent on Thursday, Sharon Osbourne reminds him that she wrote last year about Lady Gaga’s fans bullying Kelly online, and complains that he “never really responded”.
“Well, it’s continuing again. I want you to read the blog below from a Lady Gaga fan,” she continues.
Sharon Osbourne includes a tweet: “Little Monster David @LilMonsterMaren @MissKellyO LITTLE MONSTER ARTPOP : Kelly Osbourne needs to kill herself”, with a link to a vitriolic post aimed at her daughter, calling her “an ugly whore” who “deserves to be hit by a car and die of AIDS”, while asking others to fill in the blank of what they think of Kelly.
Cruel taunts flood the page.
Sharon Osbourne continues: “I thought that Gaga was a main campaigner against bullying.
“Vince, I’m leaving it in your hands to do the right thing here. One tweet from Gaga can change this whole situation. I’m not asking her to deal with this directly but she if she could tweet something to her fans about being more respectful that may end this. I’m sure she doesn’t condone her fans saying such hideously offensive things.”
Vince Hebert responds with a curt: “I’m on it.”
Next, Lady Gaga, real name Stefanie Germanotta, responds in the form of an open letter on LittleMonsters.com, addressing Kelly Osbourne and stating she wished the television star had reached out to her personally.
“As the head of the Born This Way foundation with my mother Cynthia we would like to respond,” she writes, contending that it is part of her mission in life to “work towards a kinder and braver world with our community of followers”.
Sharon Osbourne has launched an attack on Lady Gaga, accusing the singer of being desperate for attention after openly criticizing her daughter, Kelly
Lady Gaga notes Kelly Osbourne has “chosen a less compassionate path”, and criticizes her work as a correspondent on E!’s Fashion Police, calling it “rooted in criticism, judgment, and rating people’s beauty against one another”.
“Your show breeds negativity, and over the years has even become comedic in nature. It glorifies you and Joan Rivers pointing in the camera, laughing, and making jokes about artists and celebrities as if we are zoo animals,” she continues.
Referring to Kelly Osbourne’s weight loss over the years, she asks: “To see you blossoming into a beautiful slender woman who makes fun of others for a living is astounding. Why not help others? Why not defend others who are bullied for their image and share your story?”
Lady Gaga says she has met Kelly Osbourne in person, calling her “lovely”, and asks that they both do their part do their part ‘to set a standard of respect, compassion, and love’.
Sharon Osbourne responded with her own open letter on Facebook, not taking Lady Gaga’s words in kind.
“I am perplexed as to why you would go public with an open letter,” she writes, calling it “hypocritical and full of contradictions”.
“How sweet that you have empathy for my daughter, as you feel that she has taken a less passionate path in life,” she continues.
Sharon Osbourne goes on to criticize Lady Gaga’s fashion choices, stating she was “sickened” when she saw the singer’s infamous meat dress at the 2010 MTV Music Video Awards.
“When I see you wearing fur, and using it as a fashion statement, the fact that defenseless animals have been killed so you can get your picture in the press is abhorrent to me,” Sharon Osbourne writes, asking: “Shouldn’t you be teaching your “little monster” fans to respect animals and life?”
The matriarch refuses to justify Kelly Osbourne’s career choices, and slams her for making the issue public.
“By your actions to Kelly right now, you have shown me that you are nothing more than a publicly seeking hypocrite and an attention seeker. You know it would have been much more dignified of you to do this privately. I am calling you a bully because you have 32 million followers hanging on your every word and you are criticizing Kelly in your open letter. Are you so desperate that you needed to make this public?”
Sharon Osbourne continues: “In closing, stop wearing fur, stop looking for publicity, and stop using your fans to belittle not just Kelly but an endless stream of celebrities. A word from you would stop all the hideous, negative and vile threats from your <<little monsters>>. Let me know if you want to continue this debate. I’m an open playing field for you my darling. Sincerely, Sharon Osbourne.”
Lady Gaga and her mother had not issued comment at press time.
Nastassja Kinski has praised her half-sibling Pola for her courage in reporting that their late father Klaus abused her as a child.
Pola Kinski said she had been abused between the ages of 5 and 19 by the actor, who died in 1991 after a career making some of Germany’s most notable films.
Actress Nastassja Kinski was quoted by Bild newspaper as saying she was “deeply shocked” by the revelations.
But she was proud, she added, that her sister Pola Kinski had found the strength to speak out.
Pola Kinski, 60, made the revelations in an interview published by Stern magazine on Thursday, ahead of the publication of her autobiography.
Klaus Kinski acted in spaghetti westerns before starring in films by director Werner Herzog which included Aguirre The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982).
Revered by many for his film work long after his death, he was also famous for his numerous sexual liaisons with adults.
Nastassja Kinski has praised her half-sibling Pola for her courage in reporting that their late father Klaus abused her as a child
“My sister is a heroine, because she has freed her heart, her soul and also her future from the weight of the secret,” Nastassja Kinski said.
“This is a difficult moment for me. I am on my sister’s side, I support her. I am deeply shocked.”
Nastassja Kinski, 51, whose films include Roman Polanski’s Tess and Paris Texas by Wim Wenders, said she had read Pola’s words and wept.
Pola’s book Kindermund, she argued, would help “all the children, adolescents and mothers who fear their father and swallow this fear to hide it in the depths of their souls”.
Pola Kinski, herself an actress, spoke to Stern ahead of the release of her autobiography.
She said she had decided to speak out about the abuse because of the continuing adulation for her father.
“The terrible thing is that he once told me that it was completely natural, that fathers all over the world did that with their daughters,” Pola Kinski said.
“He was paying for me to be his little sex object, placed on silk cushions.”
A biographer of Klaus Kinski, Christian David, said there had been rumors about the relationship between the actor and Pola for years before this week’s revelations.
Microsoft is switching off its Windows Live Messenger service on March 15.
On March 15 Messenger log-ins will no longer work and users must turn to Skype, said Microsoft in an email sent to all Messenger users.
The email also encouraged users to update to Skype and familiarize themselves with the service before the switch-off.
The service switch is a consequence of Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype in October 2011 for $8.5 billion.
In November 2012, Microsoft announced that it was switching off Live Messenger in early 2013 but gave no firm date. At the same time, Microsoft made it possible for Messenger users to talk to and swap messages with contacts via Skype.
Microsoft is switching off its Windows Live Messenger service on March 15
To help people migrate before March 15, Microsoft has added an upgrade button to its desktop Messenger that when clicked uninstalls Messenger and puts Skype in its place.
Until the switch-off date Messenger would work as it always did, said Microsoft.
The Windows Live Messenger instant messaging program was known as MSN Messenger when it first launched in 1999. The service is believed to be used by about 300 million people every month.
China is the only nation in which Messenger will keep operating, because it is run under licence there.
Japan’s government has approved a fresh 10.3 trillion yen ($116 billion) stimulus package in an attempt to spur a revival in its economy.
The package will include infrastructure spending, as well as incentives for businesses to boost investment.
Tokyo estimates that the stimulus will boost Japan’s economy by 2% and create 600,000 jobs.
Japan’s economy has been hurt by a dip in exports amid slowing global demand and subdued domestic consumption.
The world’s third-largest economy is currently in a recession, having contracted for two quarters in a row.
“Unfortunately, the previous administration failed to work out how to boost growth and expand the economic pie,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
“It is vital that we have an economic strategy that can create jobs and raise incomes to sustain growth.”
Included in the spending package are plans to rebuild areas devastated by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, support for regional economies, and more investment in education and social security.
Shinzo Abe, who took office in December, has promised to take aggressive measures to help put the economy back on a growth track.
Among those has been a pledge to take measures to weaken the yen.
Japan’s government has approved a fresh $116 bn stimulus package in an attempt to spur a revival in its economy
A weaker Japanese currency bodes well for the country’s exporters as it makes their goods less expensive to foreign buyers and also helps boost their profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.
The yen has weakened nearly 12% against the US dollar since November last year on hopes of such moves. It was trading close to 88.97 yen against the US dollar in Asian trade on Friday.
The government said that it would continue to keep a watch on the currency’s movements and “respond as appropriate”.
Japanese shares rose on the news of the stimulus with the Nikkei 225 index gaining 1.4%.
The Japanese government also hopes the latest stimulus spending will help to tackle deflation. Japan has been fighting deflation, or falling prices, for many years. It has been a big hurdle in policymakers’ attempts to boost domestic demand because consumers tend to put off purchases in the hope of a better deal in the future.
However, some analysts said the stimulus was only a short-term solution to Japan’s economic issues.
They said that while such an big amount of money being injected into the economy was likely to help spur growth, further steps were needed to sustain it in the long run including measures to help exporters and reforms aimed at boosting domestic consumption.
“So far what we have seen is measures to kick-start the economy,” said Martin Schulz of Fujitsu Research Institute.
“But once the stimulus boost is over, the coffers will be empty again and Japan will have no more money to spend.”
Japan’s exports have been hurt by a slowdown in demand from key markets such as the US, eurozone and China.
While sales to the US and eurozone have been hit by economic issues in those markets, those to China have been affected by a territorial dispute between the two countries.
China is Japan’s biggest trading partner and is also among the fastest growing consumer markets.
Martin Schulz said Japan needed to improve its relations with China to help its exporters’ sales in the country, not least because demand from the US and eurozone is likely to remain subdued in the near term.
On the domestic front, Japan needs to ease regulations in key sectors such as construction, healthcare, retail and agriculture to make them more attractive for investors, Martin Schulz added.
A 10 ft (3 m) scrub python was battling to retain its grip on the wing as a Qantas plane made its way between the Australian town of Cairns and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
It held on the whole 1hr 50 min flight.
But on arrival in Port Moresby, ground crew found the snake had died.
Passengers first became aware of the reptile 20 minutes after take-off. A woman pointed out the python to fellow passengers and cabin crew.
At first only its head was visible, but as it tried to manoeuvre itself back to safety, its whole body was exposed. Time and again it tried to pull itself back into the shelter of the wing, but the wind was relentless.
The wind speed was 250 mph (400 km/h) and the temperature -12C.
The snake’s body was hammered against the engine, leaving blood stains on the white paint.
A 10 ft scrub python was battling to retain its grip on the wing as a Qantas plane made its way between the Australian town of Cairns and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea
One passenger, Robert Weber, a website designer in Cairns, told the Sydney Morning Herald: ”The people at the front were oblivious to what was going on but the passengers at the back were all totally focused on the snake and how it might have got on to the aircraft.
”There was no panic. At no time did anyone stop to consider that there might be others on board.”
The president of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, Paul Cousins, said: ”It appears as though the snake has initially crawled up inside the landing bay, maybe housed himself in there, and then crawled into the trailing ledge flap assembly.”
Scrub pythons are Australia’s longest snakes. They feed on rodents and often conceal themselves in enclosed space to ambush their prey. The wing of a stationary aircraft may have appeared a likely place to this particular snake.
Amazon has launched AutoRip, a service that stores free digital versions of CDs bought via its store.
AutoRip, which is only available in the US, will automatically keep a digital copy of eligible CDs in a customer’s cloud storage account.
Customers will be able to access the music via Amazon’s Cloud Player on the web or via tablet and smartphone apps.
Online retailer Amazon has drawn up a catalogue of 50,000 CDs that are eligible for AutoRip.
The catalogue has been compiled from those albums that have proved most popular with Amazon customers in the last 15 years.
The list includes Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, Thriller by Michael Jackson and 21 by Adele.
Amazon has launched AutoRip, a service that stores free digital versions of CDs bought via its store
Any customer who has bought a CD in the catalogue from Amazon since the firm started trading in 1998 will be eligible to get a free MP3 copy of it. Amazon said it anticipated creating copies of millions of CDs.
“When we picked those 50,000 titles we focused on having a substantial majority of our physical CD sales covered,” said Steve Boom, head of digital music at Amazon in a statement.
The service potentially makes it much easier for people to build up a library of digital music. Before now most CD owners had to rip the songs themselves to create digital versions.
The Amazon Cloud Player can be accessed a web browser, as well as on Android phones, iPhones, Kindle Fire tablets and other devices.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to take market share from arch-rival Apple’s iTunes music store.
The Cupertino giant has similar cloud storage services for music and leads the market with more than 50% of the market share, while Amazon has less than 15%. Google offers a similar service.
Astronomers have spotted NGC 6872, the largest known spiral galaxy, by accident.
A team was looking through data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) satellite for star-forming regions around a galaxy called NGC 6872.
But they were shocked to see a vast swathe of ultraviolet light from young stars, indicating that the galaxy is actually big enough to accommodate five of our Milky Way galaxies within it.
The find was reported at the 221st American Astronomical Society meeting in the US.
NGC 6872, a galaxy about 212 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo, was already known to be among the largest spiral galaxies.
Near it sits a lens-shaped or lenticular galaxy called IC 4970, which appears to have crashed through the spiral in recent astronomical times.
Rafael Eufrasio of the Catholic University of America and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and the European Southern Observatory in Chile were interested in a number of regions away from the galaxy.
“I was not looking for the largest spiral – it just came as a gift,” said Rafael Eufrasio.
NGC 6872, a galaxy about 212 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo, was already known to be among the largest spiral galaxies
Galex – a space telescope designed to search for the ultraviolet light that newly born stars put out – hinted that NGC 6872 was made much larger in size by the collision.
The team went on to use data from a range of other telescopes including the Very Large Telescope, the Two Micron All-Sky Survey and the Spitzer space telescope – each of which sees in a particular set of colors, in turn evidencing stars of varying ages.
They found the youngest stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy’s enormous spiral arms, getting progressively older toward the centre.
That suggests a wave of star formation that travelled down the arms, set off by the collision with IC 4970, with the newest stellar neighborhoods pushing the galaxy into the top spot in terms of size.
“It’s been known to be among the largest for two decades, but it’s much larger than we thought,” explained Rafael Eufrasio.
“The galaxy that collided with the [central disc of NGC 6872] splashed stars all over the place – 500,000 light years away.”
Besides being one for the record books, NGC 6872 updates the catalogue of known galaxy smash-ups, demonstrating how dramatically galaxies can be changed and added to by collisions.
“It shows the evolution of galaxies in the larger context of the Universe – how the large galaxies we had before were accreted from small clumps in the early Universe,” Rafael Eufrasio said.
“We’re just seeing one example of two interacting galaxies but in the past that happened much more often – that’s how the big [spiral galaxy] discs we have were probably formed. Putting that in a larger context, it’s a very cool system.”
