Experts say that people watching their weight should pay close attention to how much alcohol they drink since it is second only to fat in terms of calorie content.
According to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), alcohol makes up nearly 10% of total calorie intake among drinkers.
Having a large glass of wine will cost you the same 178 calories as eating two chocolate digestive biscuits.
And it will take you more than a half hour’s brisk walk to burn off.
Eating or drinking too many calories on a regular basis can lead to weight gain.
But unlike food, alcoholic drinks have very little or no nutritional value.
The “empty calories” in drinks are often forgotten or ignored by dieters, says the WCRF.
Experts say that people watching their weight should pay close attention to how much alcohol they drink since it is second only to fat in terms of calorie content
Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, said: “Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don’t include them when calculating their daily consumption.”
Containing 7 kcal/g, alcohol is only slightly less calorific than fat, which contains 9 kcal/g.
Protein and carbohydrates contain 4 kcal/g and fibre 2 kcal/g.
Men need around 2,500 calories a day, and women around 2,000.
“Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight,” said Kate Mendoza.
It can also reduce your risk of cancer, she said.
Alcohol has been linked with breast, bowel, mouth and liver cancer.
If you don’t want to abstain entirely, there are ways that can help you cut down, including opting for smaller glass sizes, diluting alcohol with soda water or a low-calorie soft drink, alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and keeping a few nights each week booze-free.
WCRF has produced an Alcohol Calorie Calculator for different drinks that shows approximately how much exercise you would need to do to burn off the alcohol calories you consume.
Government guidelines recommend men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day, and women should limit themselves to 2-3 units a day.
A standard 175 ml glass of wine contains about two units and a large 250 ml glass contains about three units.
If you have had a heavy drinking session, you should avoid alcohol for at least 48 hours, experts advise.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is conscious but in a “delicate and complex situation” after a cancer operation in Cuba, says his deputy, Nicolas Maduro.
Vice-President Nicolas Maduro said he had seen Hugo Chavez twice in the past two days.
The 58-year-old president has been in power since 1999 and was elected for a fourth term in office in October.
Hugo Chavez is due to be sworn in for a new term on January 10, but it is unclear if he will be able to attend ceremony.
But Nicolas Maduro angrily denounced speculation the president’s health was failing.
Earlier, Venezuelan cabinet ministers prayed for Hugo Chavez’s recovery during a Mass at the presidential palace in Caracas.
Official New Year celebrations were called off after Nicolas Maduro announced the president had suffered new complications.
Speaking in Havana, Nicolas Maduro said he had visited Hugo Chavez in hospital twice since arriving on Saturday.
“We have faith in God and in the doctors that Hugo Chavez will continue to make progress and sooner or later will emerge from this complex and delicate post-operative state he is in,” he told the Latin American satellite network Telesur.
President Hugo Chavez is conscious but in a delicate and complex situation after cancer operation in Cuba, says his deputy, Nicolas Maduro
But he gave very little further concrete information about the condition of the president, who underwent his operation on December 11.
He said Hugo Chavez gripped his hand “with gigantic force” as they spoke, discussing political matters, the economy in Venezuela and the swearing-in of new governors following regional elections.
He denounced what he called right-wing media rumors about Hugo Chavez’s health as the work of “mentally ill” people, saying they were inventing and manipulating information without respect for the president or his family.
Earlier this year, Hugo Chavez said he had been cleared of a cancer diagnosed in 2011 and was fit to serve out his six-year term.
But on December 11, he went through his fourth cancer operation in Cuba.
There are also many questions about what will happen on January 10 when Hugo Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated.
National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Hugo Chavez’s absence.
But the opposition says such move would be unconstitutional.
The Venezuelan constitutions states that a new election should be called in 30 days should the president not be fit enough to attend his inauguration, the opposition argues.
Indian minister Shashi Tharoor has called on the authorities to reveal the name of the New Delhi gang-rape victim so that a new anti-rape law can be named after her.
Junior Education Minister Shashi Tharoor said unless the parents of the 23-year-old medical student objected, she should be honored.
The victim died over the weekend in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.
The 16th of December attack in a bus has caused a national outcry.
The woman and a male friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.
Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars, then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.
On Tuesday, police sources said the driver of the bus had tried to run her over after throwing her out, but she was saved by her friend, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.
Indian minister Shashi Tharoor has called on the authorities to reveal the name of the New Delhi gang-rape victim so that a new anti-rape law can be named after her
Police are expected to formally charge five of six suspects with murder on Thursday. If convicted, they could face the death penalty, which is rarely carried out in India.
The sixth suspect is reported to be under 18 and a juvenile. Police have ordered a bone test for him to confirm his age.
“Wondering what interest is served by continuing anonymity of the Delhi gang rape victim. Why not name and honor her as a real person with own identity?” Shashi Tharoor wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter late on Tuesday.
“Unless her parents object, she should be honored and the revised anti-rape law named after her. She was a human being with a name, not just a symbol,” he wrote.
Social activist and former police officer Kiran Bedi supported Shashi Tharoor’s idea.
“What Mr. Tharoor has said is maybe unique to India, but is not unique in the world,” Reuters quoted her as saying.
“Many of the American laws… which have been made to perpetuate the memory or the suffering of the victim, only to remember that this is what happened and this is the spirit behind the law… I think it’s a good idea,” she said.
But some critics called Shashi Tharoor’s suggestion “deplorable” and India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party vowed to “oppose any such move”.
On Tuesday, the victim’s ashes were scatted by her family in the river Ganges.
The brutal assault of the woman has sparked massive public outrage in the country.
It led to huge demonstrations with protesters expressing anger over attitudes to women in India and calling for changes to the laws on violence against women.
The Indian government was also heavily criticized for its response to the attack, which many called “slow” and inadequate.
According to official figures, a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours, while women across the country say they are frequently subjected to sexual intimidation and violence.
Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make the city safer for women.
These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.
The government has also set up a committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to recommend changes to the anti-rape law.
Late on Monday, the authorities in Delhi launched a new telephone helpline for women in distress. The 24-hour helpline number 181 will operate out of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s office and will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city.
But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as second-class citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.
With the announcement of Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy, the showbiz world has been sent into fervour, speculating about names, the unborn child’s sex and what he or she might look like.
But of course another big question is… where did Kim Kardashian and boyfriend Kanye West seal the deal?
One likely location where they may have conceived is Italy. Kim Kardashian was there with her man around three months ago where she enjoyed a romantic break ahead of her 32nd birthday.
On Sunday – just hours before Kanye West broke the baby news with a shout out to his “baby mama” while live in concert in Atlantic City, Kim Kardashian posted her second best moment of 2012 on her blog, describing her “amazing” October trip (she is yet to post her No.1 moment of 2012).
Kim Kardashian recalled: “We started the trip in Rome, saw the Colosseum, went to the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel.
“Then we went to Florence, where we stayed in this gorgeous castle, did some sightseeing and shopped around town. Then for my birthday we spent the day in Venice. Just amazing!! Xo.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West during a romantic trip in Italy to celebrate her 32nd birthday on October 2012
Certainly sounds like the recipe for love and the perfect backdrop to make another Kardashian baby.
Kim Kardashian is believed to be roughly around the 12 mark period.
On Monday Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were spotted for the first time since their pregnancy news as they headed through Los Angeles International Airport bound for Las Vegas.
It seems that Ice-T has resolved all of his issues with his glamour wife Coco Austin as they both toasted the New Year in style at a party at LAX club in Las Vegas.
Coco Austin, who is currently starring in Vegas striptease Peepshow, took the night off to spend time with her musician husband, draping herself around him as they posed for photographs.
True to her trademark style, the 33-year-old left very little to the imagination in a thigh-skimming, silver mini-dress with an eye-popping neck line.
Making the most of her assets, the incredibly curvy Ice Loves Coco star seemed keen to remind everyone of just why she is famous as she nearly spilled out of the delicate, sheer dress.
Coco Austin wore her bleach blonde hair in perfectly curled ringlets which fell down her back and certainly didn’t stint on the make-up for the big night, adding bright pink lipstick and pink eye-shadow.
Ice-T has and Coco Austin toasted the New Year in style at a party at LAX club in Las Vegas
Ice-T was a little more covered up, looking dapper in a tuxedo as he kept one eye on his blonde bombshell of a wife at all times.
As the party got underway, Coco Austin added a Happy New Year head band on her head and sipped from a glass of her champagne.
She puckered up as her husband went in for a kiss to ring in 2013, and the pair looked as loved up as ever as they attempted to put split rumors to bed.
Just a few weeks ago, Ice-T was rocked when photos of Coco Austin cuddling up to AP.9 surfaced, and he vented his anger on Twitter.
While the couple looked decidedly back on during New Year’s Eve, rumors circulates that Ice-T was contemplating splitting from Coco Austin.
A team of scientists have said they believe an old gourd contains the blood of France’s King Louis XVI.
Louis XVI was killed by guillotine by French revolutionaries more than 200 years ago, on 21 January 1793.
The scientists said the DNA is very similar to genetic material from what is believed to be the mummified head of an earlier French king, AFP reports.
After Louis XVI’s beheading many spectators were reported to have dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood.
The piece of fabric had been placed in a dried, hollowed-out gourd, leaving blood stains.
The squash was decorated with images of revolutionary heroes and the words: “On January 21, Maximilien Bourdaloue dipped his handkerchief in the blood of Louis XVI after his decapitation.”
The revolutionary souvenir has been in the hands of an Italian family for a century.
The team of experts from Spain and France has published its findings in Forensic Science International journal.
A team of scientists have said they believe an old gourd contains the blood of France’s King Louis XVI
Analysis of DNA taken from blood traces found inside the vegetable container had already revealed that it probably matched someone of Louis’ description but scientists could not prove it belonged to the beheaded king as they had no genetic material from any of his relatives.
However, the team managed to find a rare genetic signature shared with DNA from a mummified head believed to belong to Louis’ 16th Century predecessor, Henri IV, who was killed in 1610.
In 2010, scientists said the head belonged to Henri’s, saying it shared the same physical features as those illustrated in contemporary portraits of the king.
French forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier told AFP that the study revealed that both of those sampled “share a genetic heritage passed on through the paternal line. They have a direct link to one another through their fathers”.
Co-author of the report, Carles Lalueza Fox, of the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva in Barcelona, was quoted as saying that it was “about 250 times more likely that the [owners of the] head and the blood are paternally related, than unrelated”.
The deadline for voting for 2013 Oscar nominations has been extended after some people experienced problems with a new online voting system.
Some of the academy’s 6,000 members had reported trouble logging into the voting website, while others said they found it confusing.
Organizers said the deadline would be extended by 24 hours to January 4.
It is the first time voting has been allowed online. It was previously conducted strictly via postal ballots.
However, the new system still allows members to choose between voting electronically or sticking with the traditional method.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to around 10 academy members who reported either password issues or concerns the website could be hacked.
The deadline for voting for 2013 Oscar nominations has been extended after some people experienced problems with a new online voting system
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, whose 2004 film Super Size Me was nominated for the best documentary Oscar, tweeted last week that he was not able to log on to vote electronically.
“The password they sent didn’t work for my login – and they couldn’t email me a new login, only snail mail,” the director said.
It is thought the deadline extension will help members who return from their Christmas holidays this week and experience problems voting online.
The additional day would allow either new passwords to be emailed, or for paper ballots to be sent out and returned.
“By extending the voting deadline we are providing every opportunity available to make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible,” the academy’s chief operating officer, Ric Robertson, said.
Nominations for this year’s awards will be announced on January 10 – two weeks earlier than usual.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the move would “provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films”.
The winners will be named at a Los Angeles ceremony on February 24.
India is rolling out an ambitious plan for a cash payout of subsidies to the poor in 20 districts, officials say.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the scheme would benefit more than 200,000 people initially, and would cover the entire country by the end of 2013.
Authorities say it will bring the country’s poorest citizens “into the mainstream”.
But opposition parties have accused the government of “bribing the voters” ahead of the 2014 general elections.
The government plans to disburse 3,200 billion rupees ($58 billion) under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
Under the scheme, money meant for recipients of 29 welfare programmes – mainly related to scholarships – will be transferred to bank accounts linked to their unique identification numbers in 20 districts from January 1st. It will be extended to 11 more districts from February 1st and 12 districts from March 1st.
India is rolling out an ambitious plan for a cash payout of subsidies to the poor in 20 districts
“This is indeed a game-changer for governance, the manner in which we govern,” P. Chidambaram told reporters on Monday, a day before the launch of the scheme.
“This is a game-changer in which we account for money. It is a game-changer in the manner in which the benefit reaches the beneficiary without any intermediation by any human being,” he added.
The finance minister said that at this stage the scheme would not cover subsidies for food, fertilizer, diesel and kerosene because the government was proceeding with a “great degree of caution”.
“We will look at transferring all subsidies and benefit through this scheme but we have to do it slowly. We are not going to rush into anything and then find that the system cannot cope with it,” he said.
Under the scheme, those living below the poverty line will receive between 30,000 rupees ($542) and 40,000 rupees ($723) per year in lieu of nearly 30 welfare programmes, including scholarships and pensions.
Officials say it will reduce waste while ensuring federal welfare money reaches those who need it most.
Analysts, however, say implementing the scheme may not be easy as only 222 million people in India have so far enrolled into a biometric identity scheme, most poor families do not have bank accounts and many villages do not have a bank.
Indian authorities say around 360 million people currently live in poverty. But one estimate suggests around three-quarters of India’s 1.21 billion people live below the poverty line.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West certainly weren’t keeping a low profile in the wake of baby news as they spent New Year’s Eve partying in Las Vegas, reportedly earning a staggering $450,000 for their efforts.
Pregnant Kim Kardashian, who confirmed that she was expecting just hours before jetting to Vegas, hid her figure under a sheer lace dress by Welsh designer Julien McDonald as she posed next her boyfriend on the red carpet at the Mirage Hotel.
Clearly over-the-moon about her pregnancy, Kim Kardashian was happy to chat to press and pose for photographs ahead of the blow-out New Year’s Eve party.
The reality star – who is around three months pregnant and due at the end of June – shied away from her usual cleavage-baring outfit, instead opting for a more demure, black midi dress.
Even through the knee-length dress had sheer paneling, her curves were cleverly hidden under strategically placed lace, offering no hint of a bump.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West weren’t keeping a low profile in the wake of baby news as they spent New Year’s Eve partying in Las Vegas
Proving just how loved up the parents-to-be are, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West cosied up on the red carpet, clearly delighted that they’ve been able to share their happy news with the world.
Kim Kardashian wore her hair in a stylish side plait and added muted make-up, creating a wide-eyed look with large, false lashes.
Even though they’re going to be focusing on starting a family this year, that clearly doesn’t mean that the couple are going to be shirking their work commitments.
Instead of seeing in 2013 with an intimate evening, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West happily made their appearance at the pricey party at 1 Oak Nightclub, where tickets are $125 for women and $150 for men, while it’s $3000 to hire a table.
When the clock struck midnight, the loved up couple held each other close and had a passionate kiss in front of a sea of people.
Looking ecstatically happy, Kim Kardashian through her head back and laughed during the countdown, her arms wrapped around Kanye West.
The couple were joined by friends including John Legend and Lance Bass, who partied in the VIP area.
In a fascinating new book, Robert Lustig, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California, expounds a whole new scientific theory about eating too much.
Robert Lustig argues that the urge to overeat and lounge around doing nothing is not a sign of weakness.
It is, he says, a hormonal issue, triggered by eating too much sugar.
He points the finger of blame at the hormone leptin, which acts like an appetite thermostat.
As one of two “hunger hormones” in the body, leptin works to decrease the appetite (its partner, ghrelin, increases appetite).
When you have had enough to eat, your fat cells release leptin, which effectively dulls the appetite by instructing the brain that it’s time to stop eating.
Professor Robert Lustig warns that our sweet tooth is sending this process haywire.
SUGAR TRICKS YOUR BRAIN
For many years scientists thought obesity could be caused by a shortage of leptin – thinking that without adequate levels, overweight people simply never received the message that they were full.
But more recent studies have shown that obese people have plenty of leptin (in fact, the fatter you are, the more of it you appear to have), but are more likely to be “leptin-resistant”.
This means the cells in the brain that should register leptin no longer “read” the signals saying the body is full, but instead assume it is starving – no matter how much food you continue to eat.
In panic, the brain pumps out instructions to increase energy storage – instigating powerful cravings for high-fat, high-sugar foods because these are the easiest and most immediate forms of energy – and conserve energy usage, by dampening any urge to get up off the sofa and go for a run.
The food cravings are made even more intense – and impossible to resist – because leptin is supposed to dampen the feeling of pleasure and enjoyment you get from food by suppressing the release of the brain chemical dopamine, helping to decrease appetite.
But if you are leptin-resistant, food never stops tasting delicious, no matter how much of it you eat.
This, says Prof. Robert Lustig, is why many overweight people find it so hard to stop eating, and why diets so often fail.
THE HUNGER HORMONE
Scientists have been struggling to work out what causes leptin resistance.
But now Prof. Robert Lustig and his team have been able to show – in repeated studies on humans – that too much sugar in the diet is to blame.
High sugar diets lead to spikes in the hormone.
This is needed to clear sugar out of the blood and into storage as fat.
But repeated insulin spikes, due to a high sugar diet, can lead to a condition called “insulin resistance” (when the cells have been so bombarded by insulin they no longer respond to it).
Prof. Robert Lustig believes insulin resistance triggers leptin resistance, and, crucially, he has discovered that by reducing insulin levels it is possible to improve “leptin signalling” (the brain’s ability to read leptin), stop cravings, put the brakes on food consumption – and trigger weight loss.
In his new book Fat Chance, Professor Lustig explains that leptin resistance – and sugar – is at the root of the obesity epidemic.
He believes 1.5 billion overweight or obese people in the world suffer from this condition – and is convinced that the problem can be tackled by targeting insulin.
In his studies, many participants took insulin-lowering drugs, but the professor says similar results can be achieved by a few small lifestyle changes – notably reducing sugar in your diet.
The professor has a heavyweight background in endocrinology (the study of hormones), as both a medical doctor and academic.
He used organized trials to study the role the brain plays in governing appetite and activity levels and found that patients who had damage to the hypothalamus (the area of the brain that controls energy levels) could not lose weight, but somehow gained weight even when restricted to a near-starving 500 calories a day.
Robert Lustig realized that a similar process could be happening with obese adults and set out to investigate a potential solution.
His studies revealed that the roles of leptin and insulin are intertwined, and bind to cells in the same area of the brain – the hypothalamus.
The real reason you eat too much
SWEET FOOD LEAVES YOU WANTING MORE
A high sugar diet can trigger leptin resistance even if you are just slightly overweight. This is because sugar triggers a spike in insulin.
While leptin activates biochemical reactions that send “satiety signals” to the brain, insulin can very effectively block these signals, resulting in no satiety, no sense of fullness, and uncontrolled eating of high fat, high sugar foods.
This is leptin resistance, and leaves the brain “blind” to leptin signals, so it still thinks we’re hungry.
Even worse, in healthy people, one of the things leptin should do is to tell the brain to reduce insulin production. It does this by dulling appetite and thus reducing food intake (so cutting the body’s need to produce yet more insulin to deal with the food).
But if you have too much insulin and you are leptin-resistant this doesn’t happen, and insulin levels rise ever higher, creating a vicious cycle.
Robert Lustig believes that our high sugar diets cause continually stimulated insulin production.
He says the insidious creep of insulin resistance means that our bodies now produce double the insulin for every teaspoon of sugar consumed compared to 30 years ago.
He says insulin resistance is now so widespread, it affects the majority of overweight people and even as many as 40% of those who are normal weight (if they eat too much sugar and refined carbohydrates like white flour, bread, pasta and rice).
And leptin resistance becomes more of a problem with increasing body size. “Plump people might have a little leptin resistance, but the morbidly obese will have a lot,” he says.
WHY ONE CHOCOLATE IS NEVER ENOUGH
The sweet, processed food that makes up so much of the modern diet (much of it disguised as ‘low fat’ and therefore healthy) has addictive qualities – particularly for those caught up with leptin resistance.
When we eat food, the brain chemical dopamine is released, creating a feeling of pleasure and reward, explains Prof. Robert Lustig.
Then leptin kicks in to suppress the release of dopamine, so that we get less reward, and therefore we stop eating.
But, he adds, if you’re leptin-resistant, the dopamine won’t be suppressed properly, and it remains at high levels in the brain, and “floods” the brain cells.
After many meals (over a period of about three weeks) brain cells may start to become “tolerant” to these persistently high levels of dopamine.
They build up resistance, meaning that higher and higher amounts of dopamine are needed to trigger a reward signal.
As a result, you may feel compelled to eat greater quantities to achieve the same sense of satisfaction. This can swiftly turn into sugar addiction.
Insulin also works to clear dopamine from the brain, gradually blunting the reward felt for further food.
But if you’re insulin-resistant too, the brakes won’t work, and the reward impetus continues unabated.
This, Prof. Robert Lustig believes, explains why many people can want, and apparently enjoy, never-ending quantities of food even when energy stores were long ago full – for example over the Christmas period.
He fears insulin resistance (and therefore leptin resistance) may also start in the womb, and that exposure to high sugar diets – via the mother – may trigger genetic changes that increase a baby’s risk of insulin and leptin resistance in later life.
But he adds: “At the end of the day, it is what you eat (and of course, how much of it) that puts the final nail in the coffin.”
A BIG FAT LIE
Conventional wisdom and government policy still blame dietary fat for our ever-rising obesity levels (and horrific heart disease statistics).
However, Prof. Robert Lustig is part of the band of obesity specialists who question the validity of the hugely influential research conducted in the Fifties, which identified dietary fat as the trigger for weight gain and heart disease.
The seminal Seven Countries study by U.S. epidemiologist Ancel Keys in the Eighties demonized fat, triggering a massive change in food manufacture.
In an effort to make low fat food more palatable, many manufacturers raised the carbohydrate level, adding quantities of sugar to almost everything (both sweet and savoury).
For instance, a small pot of low fat yoghurt can contain as much as four teaspoons of sugar, and even wholemeal bread hides two teaspoons per loaf.
Gradually tastes and eating habits have changed, Robert Lustig says, resulting in growing populations worldwide inadvertently hooked on easy-to-eat high sugar foods.
As he puts it: “The obesity epidemic was born in the aftermath of this seemingly logical and well-meaning, yet tragically flawed understanding of our biochemistry.”
Mercifully, it is not all doom and gloom.
“Obesity is a hormonal problem and hormones are alterable,” says Prof. Robert Lustig.
He recommends simple steps that can lower your leptin levels.
These include reducing sugar in every recipe by a third, increasing your fibre intake, and taking just 15 minutes of activity every day.
Crystal Harris has finally become Mrs. Hefner, saying her vows to Hugh Hefner in a much smaller ceremony.
Crystal Harris, 26, spent New Year’s Eve tweeting her excitement about the impending nuptials, including an image of a flower covered bower in front of just two dozen chairs.
Hugh Hefner shared a picture of him and his bride, tweeting: “Crystal & I married on New Year’s Eve in the Mansion with Keith as my Best Man. Love that girl!”
Crystal Harris had earlier written: “Today is the day I become Mrs. Hugh Hefner. Feeling very happy, lucky, and blessed.”
The model has changed her name on the social networking site to Crystal Hefner.
She was dubbed a “runaway bride” by the 86-year-old mogul after she called off their engagement just days before their wedding in June 2011.
Crystal Harris and Hugh Hefner married on New Year’s Eve at Playboy mansion
After their split, Crystal Harris revealed she had only been intimate with him once – and very briefly.
She admitted sex with the octogenarian lasted “like two seconds”, adding: “Then I was just over it. I was like, <<Ahhh>>. I was over it.
“I just like, walked away. I’m not turned on by Hef, sorry.”
Crustal Harris continued: “He doesn’t really take off his clothes. I’ve never seen Hef naked.”
Despite her comments, the pair reconciled in May this year.
Hugh Hefner recently said he wants to stay with Crystal Harris until he dies and insisted he doesn’t care about the 60-year age difference between them.
He tweeted: “The dramatic age difference between Crystal & me really doesn’t matter. Whatever time I have left, we want to spend together.”
Hugh Hefner has been married twice previously, to Mildred Williams from 1949 to 1959 and Kimberley Conrad from 1989 to 2010.
French President Francois Hollande says he still plans to raise the top rate of income tax after his 75% plan was struck down on technical grounds.
In a national address on New Year’s Eve, Francois Hollande said the law would be redesigned, adding, “we will still ask more of those who have the most”.
However, the president did not mention the 75% figure, leading some to speculate that the move would be watered down.
Francois Hollande also promised “all efforts” towards cutting unemployment.
The number of jobless broke the three-million barrier for the first time this year, prompting Francois Hollande to say the trend must be reversed.
He has been criticized for lacking direction, and his popularity levels have plummeted, since he took power in May.
Francois Hollande says he still plans to raise the top rate of income tax after his 75 percent plan was struck down on technical grounds
Francois Hollande acknowledged the “serious and legitimate” concerns of the public, and that there had been “fits and starts” in his first six months.
But the president insisted France would emerge from the financial crisis “sooner and stronger” than expected because of action by his government.
“We’ve set the course – jobs, competitiveness and growth – and I will not deviate. It’s the future of France,” he said.
The Socialist president said he would resubmit his flagship policy of raising income tax for those earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million) a year.
It was rejected by the Constitutional Council on Saturday because, unlike other forms of income tax, it was to be applied to individuals rather than households.
Francois Hollande said while the law would be “redesigned” its objective would remain the same – that those who could afford to do so should pay more to France’s effort to tackle its deficit.
The policy has angered France’s business leaders and the right-wing opposition, who say it discourages entrepreneurship and wealth-creation. It has led to some wealthy citizens, like the actor Gerard Depardieu, to say they would emigrate.
While the measure is popular with Francois Hollande’s supporters on the left, some analysts think it may be dropped or watered down, possibly by raising the income level at which it is paid.
“I suspect this tax will be shelved,” Philippe Gudin, an economist for Barclays and a former French treasury official, told Reuters news agency.
“For the [low amount of] revenue it would raise, the outcry it has provoked and the damage it has done to France’s image, it would be more sensible if it were quietly buried.”
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned “unregulated capitalism” for contributing to world tension, in 2013 New Year address to worshippers.
The Pope also thanked the world’s peacemakers and said humanity had “an innate vocation for peace”.
The Roman Catholic Church leader spoke at a Mass in the Vatican, then greeted a crowd outside St Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Benedict deplored “hotbeds of tension and conflict caused by growing instances of inequality between rich and poor”.
Those “hotbeds” also grew out of “the prevalence of a selfish and individualistic mindset which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism”, as well as “various forms of terrorism and crime”, he said.
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned unregulated capitalism for contributing to world tension, in 2013 New Year address to worshippers
The 85-year-old pontiff delivered a prayer for peace to the crowd in St Peter’s Square after his homily at Mass.
“The peacemakers are many, but they are not loud. As leaven in dough, they raise humanity according to God’s plan,” he said.
Comparing the new year to a journey, he prayed that it “may lead on a path to peace for every person and every family, for each country and for the whole world”.
At least sixty people have been crushed to death and more than 200 injured during New Year festivities in Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan, officials say.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday near a stadium in the central Plateau area of the city where a fireworks display was held.
The cause of the stampede is not yet clear. It occurred as people were heading home after the event.
Most of the dead are believed to be children aged between eight and 15.
The death toll is expected to rise.
The crush happened near the entrance to the stadium after the fireworks ended at about 02:00 local time.
According to some reports, thousands of people were trying to leave the stadium at the same time as another large crowd was trying to get in.
“In the crush, people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd,” Lt. Col. Issa Sako, head of the military rescue effort, told public television.
At least 60 people have been crushed to death and more than 200 injured during New Year festivities in Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan
The site is littered with abandoned clothes and blood stains.
Relatives have gone there to get news of missing loved ones.
The distraught mother of a 9-year-old boy told local media: “I have just seen all those bodies, but I can’t find my son.”
The 65,000-capacity Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium was named after the founding president of Ivory Coast.
The fireworks event had been organized to celebrate the recently re-established peace.
The night before the tragedy, the stadium hosted a concert by Chris Brown.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is making “excellent progress” after a blood clot was found between her brain and skull, doctors say.
Doctors said Hillary Clinton will make a full recovery and will be released from hospital once a blood-thinning dosage has been set.
Hillary Clinton, 65, was admitted to a New York hospital on Sunday, having suffered a concussion earlier in the month when she fainted and fell over.
She is due to stand down before President Barack Obama begins his second term.
Doctors said an MRI scan on Sunday had revealed the formation of a “right transverse sinus venous thrombosis” – a clot in the vein behind Hillary Clinton’s right ear in the space between the brain and the skull.
“It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage,” said Dr. Lisa Bardack and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, who were treating Hillary Clinton at New York’s Presbyterian hospital.
The secretary of state was said to be in good spirits and “engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff,” added the doctors in a statement.
Doctors discovered the clot during a routine follow-up MRI scan on Sunday, said her spokesman, Philippe Reines, adding that she was being treated with anti-coagulants.
At the time of her faint, Hillary Clinton was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.
Hillary Clinton is making excellent progress after a blood clot was found between her brain and skull
Hillary Clinton is due to give evidence before a Congressional committee in January in connection with the attack in September on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
The US ambassador to Libya and three American officials were killed in the incident.
Hillary Clinton was appointed secretary of state at the start of Barack Obama’s first term, in January 2009.
Her most recent foreign trip was to Dublin earlier in December: she is renowned for keeping a gruelling travel schedule.
She is the most travelled secretary of state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job, the Associated Press says.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama nominated Senator John Kerry – the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
Hillary Clinton has repeatedly said she only intended to serve one term in the post.
The US Senate has decided to approve a deal to avert general tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff”.
The bill, which raises taxes for the wealthy, came after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans.
The House is due to consider it later. Spending cuts have been delayed for two months to allow a wider agreement.
Congress missed the deadline to pass a bill, but few effects will be felt as Tuesday is a US public holiday.
Tax cuts approved during the presidency of George W. Bush formally expired at midnight.
Without approval in the House, huge tax rises for virtually all working Americans will kick in automatically.
Analysts warned that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, the resulting reduction in consumer spending could spark a new recession.
The compromise deal reached on Monday seeks to avoid this by extending the tax cuts for Americans earning under $400,000 – up from the $250,000 level Democrats had originally sought.
A huge spending cut that would see $1.2 trillion shorn from the federal budget over 10 years has been deferred for two months, allowing Congress and the White House to reopen negotiations.
The Senate approved the compromise bill by 89-8.
The US Senate has approved a deal to avert general tax hikes and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff
“If we do nothing, the threat of a recession is very real,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said.
“Passing this agreement does not mean negotiations halt, far from it.”
In addition to the income tax rates and spending cuts, the package includes:
• Rises in inheritance taxes from 35% to 40% after the first $5m for an individual and $10m for a couple
• Rises in capital taxes – affecting some investment income – of up to 20%, but less than the 39.6% that would prevail without a deal
• One-year extension for unemployment benefits, affecting two million people
• Five-year extension for tax credits that help poorer and middle-class families
President Barack Obama welcomed the Senate vote.
“Leaders from both parties in the Senate came together to reach an agreement that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support today that protects 98% of Americans and 97% of small business owners from a middle class tax hike,” he said in a statement.
“While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said: “It took an imperfect solution to prevent our constituents from a very real financial pain, but in my view, it was worth the effort.”
Many of the Republicans who dominate the House dislike the deal and may stand on their principle.
Speaker John Boehner said the House would consider the deal but left open the possibility of amending the Senate bill – which would spark another round of legislation.
“Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members… have been able to review the legislation,” John Boehner and other House Republican leaders said in a statement.
The current House can legislate until Wednesday, when it is replaced by a new chamber chosen during last November’s election.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delivered a new year’s message on state TV, the first such broadcast for 19 years.
Kim Jong-un, in power since 2011, spoke of the need to improve the economy and also to reunify the Koreas, warning that confrontation only led to war.
The speech came less than a month after the conservative Park Geun-hye was elected president of South Korea.
In 1994, Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, spoke on radio and TV. His son, Kim Jong-il rarely spoke in public.
In addition to KimJong-un’s televised address, new year’s messages were issued in the form of a joint editorial by North Korea’s three main newspapers.
Kim Jong-un said 2013 would be a year of creations and changes, calling for a “radical turnabout” that would transform the impoverished, isolated state into an “economic giant” and raise living standards.
But while he said confrontation between the North and the South should be removed, Kim Jong-un stressed that military power remained a national priority.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delivered a new year’s message on state TV, the first such broadcast for 19 years
“The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country,” he said.
The message coincides with UN Security Council discussions on how to punish Pyongyang for a recent long-range rocket launch.
Under Kim Jong-un’s leadership, North Korea has conducted two long-range rocket launches – actions condemned by the US and Pyongyang’s neighbors as banned tests of missile technology.
The launch in April failed, but December’s attempt appears to have been a success, placing a satellite into orbit.
The US, Japan and South Korea are seeking a response in the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from missile tests after nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Kim Jong-un saw in the new year by watching a musical performance with his wife, North Korean state media reported.
Revelers in Times Square welcomed in 2013 with a spectacular display of fireworks and confetti as they watched the famous Waterford crystal ball make its annual descent to mark the New Year.
They were in good company, as world famous artists like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Psy performed at the Crossroads of the World.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by the Radio City Rockettes on Monday night to kick off the festivities, with a crowd of approximately one million spectators crammed into the neighborhood to witness the magic of the 108-year-old tradition.
Tourists stood in Times Square for the better part of the day, braving the frigid New York City weather to spend New Year’s Eve under the dazzling lights of the theater district in midtown Manhattan. However, the event is often avoided by native New Yorkers, who tend to favor quieter and warmer celebrations.
A blocks-long line of bundled-up revelers with New Year’s hats and sunglasses boasting “2013” formed hours before the first ball drop in decades without Dick Clark, who died in April and was to be honored with a tribute concert and his name printed on pieces of confetti.
Security in Times Square was tight, with a mass of uniformed police and plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd. With police Commissioner Ray Kelly proclaiming that Times Square would be the “safest place in the world on New Year’s Eve”, officers used barriers to prevent overcrowding and checkpoints to inspect vehicles, enforce a ban on alcohol and check handbags.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke briefly with Ryan Seacrest ahead of the night’s festivities about the conspicuous absence of the late great Dick Clark.
He wished Ryan Seacrest a happy new year, and joked that he hoped he would be invited after this next year. Michael Bloomberg, having now served three terms in office, cannot pursue another term.
Revelers in Times Square welcomed in 2013 with a spectacular display of fireworks and confetti as they watched the famous Waterford crystal ball make its annual descent to mark the New Year
Twenty minutes before the Waterford ball was scheduled to fall, Taylor Swift performed I Knew You Were Trouble, wearing a slim-fitting metallic red jacket and skin-tight leather pants. Her famous golden curls were tamed instead into a sleek blowout.
She then went straight into her other single, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
South Korean rapper Psy, who turned 35 today, wore a furry white coat and slim black turtleneck to perform his hit Gangnam Style, which has taken the world by storm with its infectious chorus.
He was joined by fellow rapper MC Hammer for a mash-up of Gangnam Style and Can’t Touch This.
In addition, Carley Rae Jepsen performed her song of the summer, Call Me Maybe.
Spectators enjoyed hourly shows in anticipation of the midnight finale. At midnight, the Times Square ball, covered with 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles and illuminated by more than 32,000 colored LEDs, will drop to mark the official start of 2013 in the U.S.
The star-studded lineup promises onlookers a show like no other but this year marks the sad absence of Dick Clark, the TV presenter whose legendary Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve has been a favorite on U.S. televisions every December 31 since its inception in 1974.
Dick Clark passed away in April at the age of 82.
He had already been training his heir apparent, radio personality, American Idol host and NBC correspondent Ryan Seacrest, and Seacrest will take the helm at the show tonight, carrying on Dick Clark’s legacy.
In advance of the midnight celebration, thousands of New Year’s revelers have already begun to pack into the waiting pens in Times Square to witness the annual tradition, as a crowd of one million people is set to make their way to the block party extraordinaire.
The waiting pens, set up to avoid a crowd surge, have been erected starting at West 40th St. and go all the way up to Central Park South around 59th St.
Police presence in the Broadway tourist trap is already intense but with the influx of visitors, law enforcement will be out in full force. Trash cans have already been removed, mail boxes sealed and handbags and vehicles are regularly being checked.
Venezuela’s cabinet ministers got together to pray for the recovery of President Hugo Chavez, who is in Cuba recovering from cancer operation.
They took part in a mass held at the presidential palace in Caracas.
Official New Year celebrations were called off on Sunday after Vice-President Nicolas Maduro announced that Hugo Chavez had suffered new complications.
The 58-year-old president is due to be sworn in for a new term on January 10th.
“The government is united, we are all praying for his health to recover so he can return to our country,” said Federal District governor Jacqueline Farias.
Elsewhere in Caracas, at the San Francis church, some 300 people attended another mass for Hugo Chavez.
Correspondents in Caracas describe the end-of-year atmosphere as subdued, yet calm.
Hugo Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, was elected in October for a fourth term in office.
Earlier this year, he said he had been cleared of a cancer diagnosed in 2011 and was fit to serve out his six-year term.
But on December 11, Hugo Chavez went through his fourth cancer operation in Cuba.
Venezuela’s cabinet ministers got together to pray for the recovery of President Hugo Chavez, who is in Cuba recovering from cancer operation
It is now three weeks since Hugo Chavez has been seen or heard from in person.
There are also many questions about what will happen on January 10, when Hugo Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated.
National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Hugo Chavez’s absence.
But the opposition says such move would be unconstitutional.
The Venezuelan constitutions states that a new election should be called in 30 days should the president not be fit enough to attend his inauguration, the opposition argues.
Vice-president Nicolas Maduro went to Cuba on Saturday to meet Hugo Chavez.
In a televised announcement from Havana on Sunday, he said that the president had “suffered new complications” and that his health state remained “delicate”.
“We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about,” he said.
He added that the treatment was “not without risk.”
Following Nicolas Maduro’s announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas appeared in a special programme on Venezuelan TV, calling on Venezuelans not to believe rumors about the president’s health.
Late on Sunday, Ernesto Villegas said a government-organized New Year’s Eve concert in central Caracas had been cancelled and he urged Venezuelans to pray for President Hugo Chavez.
Hugo Chavez’s career:
Born in 1954
1992: Leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Perez
1999: Takes office after winning election
2006: Wins another six-year term as president
2011: Reveals he is being treated for cancer and has two operations in Cuba
2012: Has two more operations
October 2012: Re-elected for another term as president
American climbers Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk have become the first in the world to conquer the Shark’s Fin – a lethal 20,000ft pinnacle.
Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk spent 12 days scaling up the jagged near vertical point on Meru Central in the Himalayas.
Dubbed one of the hardest climbs in the world, dozens of professional climbers had been defeated by the tricky summit – with one breaking both legs during an attempt. But the American climbers successfully negotiated the 20,700ft climb – sleeping in a hanging tent thousands of feet above the ground.
American climbers Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk have become the first in the world to conquer India’s Mount Meru Shark’s Fin
Reality star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West have received messages of congratulations after it was revealed they are expecting their first child together.
Kim Kardashian’s family were the first to reveal their delight over Twitter with Kourtney posting: “Been wanting to shout from the rooftops with joy and now I can! Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!”
It seems the family have been dying to share the happy news and Khloe Kardashian, 28, posted: “Keeping secrets is hard with so many family members! Especially when you are so freaking excited!!!!! LOVE is everything!!!!”
The X Factor host, who is said to have been trying for a baby with her husband Lamar Odom since their wedding in 2009, also retweeted a post from the basketball star.
It read: “@RealLamarOdom: I’m excited for Kanye and my sister! There’s nothing like bringing life into this world! Let’s keep Gods blessings coming!”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have received messages of congratulations after it was revealed they are expecting their first child together
Kris Jenner, who is already a grandmother to Kourtney Kardashian’s two children Mason and Penelope, simply posted: “Im a happy girl !!!!!!!!! Wowza!,” before adding “Oh BABY BABY BABY!!”
Kim Kardashian’s little sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner also spoke of their delight at welcoming another little member into their family.
Kendall Jenner, 17, asked her fans who was excited about the happy news posting: “Whos excited about the KIMYE babbyyy?! 😀 weeee.” (sic)
15-year-old Kylie Jenner uploaded a snap of Kim Kardashian and Kanye west along with the words: “Congrats to this beautiful couple. I love you guys.”
The pregnancy was revealed by Kanye West onstage during a concert in Atlantic City on Sunday night, Kim Kardashian was in the audience.
The rapper said “stop the music”, then announced “make noise for my baby mama right here”, with a wide smile. Kanye West’s announcement prompted a flurry of excited tweets from the audience.
The two have been dating for eight months. They have previously denied pregnancy rumors.
Kim Kardashian is thought to be around the 12-week mark.
Her family aren’t the only ones who have been quick to pay tribute to the happy couple.
Pop star and X Factor judge Demi Lovato wished the pair well and tweeted: “So happy for you @KimKardashian.. Love you SO much and I’m so excited to babysit!! Miss you girly.. Once again… SO happy for you!!! Xox.”
It seems that congratulations were not limited to those who know the reality TV star TOWIE‘s Joey Essex and WAG Danielle O’Hara also posted messages of congratulations to a happy story.
Oscar-winning sound editor Michael Hopkins, who worked on films including the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the 2005 King Kong remake, died in a rafting accident in New Zealand.
Michael Hopkins, 53, from Greytown, New Zealand, died after being thrown from his raft on Sunday, police said.
He won Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2003 and King Kong in 2006.
Michael Hopkins also worked on Blade Runner, Superman, Octopussy and Transformers.
He first worked with director Peter Jackson on his 1992 movie Braindead, and was also part of Jackson’s team for Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners as well as the three Lord of the Rings epics.
Oscar-winning sound editor Michael Hopkins, who worked on films including the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the 2005 King Kong remake, died in a rafting accident in New Zealand
Michael Hopkins shared his two Oscar wins and one further nomination with US collaborator Ethan Van der Ryn.
The accident happened in the Waiohine River on New Zealand’s North Island. His two rafting companions both survived.
Police Senior Sergeant Carolyn Watson said: “Police would like to thank all those who assisted in the recovery of Mr. Hopkins and the rescue of his companions, particularly the jet boat operator who came to our aid and, at considerable risk to himself, was able to rescue the female.
“All three were wearing life jackets, wetsuits and helmets at the time and it appears that Mr. Hopkins got into trouble after they were ejected from the raft in a fast flowing eddie.”
Talking to yourself in public is seen as an embarrassing habit – the preserve of the slightly batty, such as the woman in the town centre pushing a supermarket trolley full of bin bags and shouting about the end of the world.
Such is our awkwardness about speaking out loud that it’s often cited that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness.
Yet the reality is that most of us have an internal “voice”, one that guides, encourages, chides and reprimands.
This voice remains in our heads nearly all the time, but on occasion – sometimes without even realizing it – we open our mouths to marshal it. Now there’s some science to explain why.
In her book, My Stroke of Insight, neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor argues that speaking out loud is a way of your conscious brain giving a clear set of instructions to your other-than-conscious brain, thereby making your mind more focused.
“It’s a powerful instrument,” she writes.
So powerful that we automatically use it as children. As social psychologist Gary Woods says, “self-directed speech” in children forms an essential part of development, particularly in infancy.
“Children instinctively talk to themselves – it’s how they learn,” Gary Woods says.
Talking to yourself out loud is sane
Rapidly, though, we’re taught that talking out loud is socially unacceptable and we shut up.
But according to Gary Woods – who confesses that he talks to himself – this is a mistake.
“I find vocalizing your thoughts can be very productive,” he says.
“It not only can help focus the mind and crystallize our thoughts, but it can provide emotional and psychological relief.”
So it appears that talking to yourself is a sign not of madness, but of healthy “mind management”.
And if nothing else, talking to yourself does have one distinct advantage – at least you know someone’s listening.
It seems that Gerard Butler is now well and truly part of a couple, as he showed up to the Capri Film Festival with girlfriend Madalina Ghenea in tow on Sunday.
Gerard Butler and Madalina Ghenea, who have been dating since earlier this year, stayed close to each other as they posed for photographs, their styles completely in sync.
Rumors abound that the couple will jet from Italy to Scotland to celebrate Hogmanay with Gerard Butler’s family on Monday, and it looked like they were already in the party spirit as they celebrated the fifth day of the film festival.
Although Gerard Butler has become known as a lothario since breaking into Hollywood, after being linked to a number of high-profile women, it seems that he has settled down with Madalina Ghenea as the pair have become inseparable.
It seems that Gerard Butler is now well and truly part of a couple, as he showed up to the Capri Film Festival with girlfriend Madalina Ghenea in tow on Sunday
Romanian supermodel Madalina Ghenea looked understated but chic as she accompanied her man who was promoting his forthcoming film, Olympus Has Fallen.
She wore a modest, knee-length black dress, paired with thick black tights and a relatively conservative pair of dark stilettos.
Maintaining her demure and slightly retro look, the 24-year-old added a stylish navy blue coat over her outfit and wore a small black handbag on one arm.
Madalina Ghenea kept her make-up natural and wore her dip-dyed hair tousled and relaxed over her shoulders as she draped herself around her boyfriend.
Clearly enamored with Gerard Butler, Madalina Ghenea grinned as they wandered along the road together, keeping her eyes on him as much as possible.
The 48-year-old Scot looked just as stylish as his young girlfriend, keeping it simple in a pair of dark trousers, a grey T-shirt and a black tailored jacket.
After posing on the red carpet, the pair headed into the party, where Gerard Butler got up on stage to present the director of his new film, Antoine Fuqua, with an award.
While he’s spent the last few weeks promoting his latest film Playing For Keeps, which hits cinemas on New Year’s Day, it seems the A-lister is already gearing up for the release of his next blockbuster.
In Olympus Has Fallen, Gerard Butler is back to his best as a former Secret Service agent who is trying to prevent a terrorist attack on the White House.
