Jessica Simpson confirmed the rumors that she was expecting her second child as she tweeted a picture that showed just how big her bump has already become.
In the picture Jessica Simpson is standing in front of a mirror with an iPhone in a bikini and robe – that is fully open – and her bare bump and ample cleavage are in full view.
Jessica Simpson accompanied the picture with the caption: “Bumpin’ and Proud.”
The image comes as Jessica Simpson graces the cover of the upcoming issue of the Weight Watchers magazine.
The singer and designer flaunts the results of her 50 lb weight loss on the January cover of the diet programme’s periodical, in which she talks about how she slimmed down after the birth of daughter Maxwell.
Jessica Simpson confirmed the rumors that she was expecting her second child as she tweeted a picture that showed just how big her bump has already become
Former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin, who resigned after alleging that the Miss USA contest had been fixed, says she is stunned by a ruling that she must pay the pageant organization $5 million for defamation.
Sheena Monnin said that the “most logical course” would be to contest the arbitrator’s ruling but she is considering her options.
Arbitrator Theodore Katz says Sheena Monnin’s allegations that finalists had been selected in advance were false, harmful and malicious and cost the pageant, owned by billionaire Donald Trump, a $5 million fee from a potential 2013 sponsor.
Sheena Monnin points to a Miss USA contract clause giving top pageant officials the power to pick the top five finalists and the winner, but a company official calls that a catch-all that’s never been used.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump was victorious in a lawsuit he filed against Sheena Monnin, who called the Miss USA pageant “fixed” and “trashy” after she failed to make the semifinals of the beauty contest this summer.
The eventual winner of Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, beat 88 other beauty queens on December 20 to take the Miss Universe title from Leila Lopes of Angola at the Planet Hollywood casino in Las Vegas.
Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, sued Sheena Monnin for defamation after she alleged in June that a fellow contestant in the competition had seen a list of the top five winners before the finalists were named on stage.
A U.S. District Court Magistrate ruled in favor of the Miss Universe Organization, awarding it $5 million in damages and stated Sheena Monnin’s statements “showed a reckless disregard”.
Sheena Monnin accused Miss Universe Organization of rigging the competition when she resigned from her position in mid June.
She claimed Karina Brez, who was representing Florida at the contest in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 3, recited the top five women after seeing a list of their names backstage.
In a Facebook post announcing her resignation, Sheena Monnin wrote: “Apparently the morning of June 3rd [Karina Brez] saw a folder lying open to a page that said <<FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012>> and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in.
“After the Top 16 were called and we were standing backstage she hesitantly said to me and another contestant that she knew who the Top 5 were. I said ‘who do you think they will be?”
She said that she didn’t “think” she “knew” because she saw the list that morning.
“She relayed whose names were on the list. Then we agreed to wait and see if that was indeed the Top 5 called that night. After it was indeed the Top 5 I knew the show must be rigged.”
Former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin, who resigned after alleging that the Miss USA contest had been fixed, says she is stunned by a ruling that she must pay the pageant organization $5 million for defamation
Miss Universe Organization vehemently denied the claims and said that Sheena Monnin had cited the new rules allowing transgender contestants as her reason for resigning.
Donald Trump also denied the claims and proceeded with the lawsuit against Sheena Monnin, who he believed was suffering “loser’s remorse”.
“I did see her for about a second. I never felt that she had a chance,” Donald Trump told the Today show over the summer.
“I know what I heard, and I know what I in turn witnessed… so I’m prepared to continue to march forward,” Sheena Monnin responded on Today.
“I feel an injustice has been done, not only to the other people who were not in the top five, but to the thousands of pageant girls across the country who competed, believing this is an honest system.”
But Karina Brez has also come forward to deny she made the claims seriously.
“Backstage during the pageant, I did see a piece of paper with names on it and like most people in such frenetic circumstances, joked that they must be the names of the final contestants,” she said.
“It was a throwaway comment, in the stress of the pageant, and was never meant as fact. The list I saw didn’t even have the eventual winner on it.”
Sheena Monnin told Today she believes Karina Brez changed her story out of fear.
“She looked a little bit scared because she had just seen something that would potentially, drastically change the reputation of the Miss Universe Organization,” she said.
“This is a big deal.”
The latest accuser, who was not identified, said Karina Brez had appeared “very, very flustered and upset” as the top 15 girls were announced.
“I thought it might be because she didn’t make the top 15 cut, but at that point she was able to reveal to me at least four of the five names who went on to be the top girls,” the contestant told FOX News.
“She couldn’t remember the fifth because she was so upset. Several of the girls then started hearing through the grapevine about a list; a lot of people were upset.”
“A lot of the girls now are very upset about how Pennsylvania is being treated and aggressively attacked by an organization that claims to empower women,” Sheena Monnin said.
The top 15 girls are decided by preliminary judging in the days before the broadcast, and fan voting determines the 16th. The top ten, top five and winner are decided in the live show, a rep said.
The scores for the competition are believed to be entered into a computer system as the show is live. These results are monitored and verified by Ernst & Young.
“In accordance with the rules of the competition, Ernst & Young’s tabulation of the judges’ votes which determined the final five contestants did not occur until after the evening gown competition had been completed,” a representative said.
Judge Joe Jonas tweeted after the accusations: “All I can say… Is the Miss USA competition was NOT rigged. Miss [Rhode Island] USA won fair and square.”
The pageant named Olivia Culpo, a 20-year-old cellist, the winner after she made it clear that she embraced all beauty queens – transgender or otherwise – during the interview portion.
In the dreaded final question round, Olivia Culpo was faced with the most difficult question of the night: “Would it be fair for a person born a man to be named Miss Universe after becoming a woman?”
Olivia Culpo never stumbled as she embraced the Miss Universe Organization’s recent decision to admit transgender contestants.
“I do think that would be fair,” she said.
“But I could understand how people could be apprehensive to take that road.”
It is an opinion that Sheena Monnin does not share. In her resignation email, she wrote: “I refuse to be part of a pageant system that has so far and so completely removed itself from its foundational principles as to allow and support natural born males to compete in it.
“This goes against ever moral fiber of my being. I believe in integrity, high moral character, and fair play, none of which are part of this system any longer.”
The body of Adam Lanza, the man who killed 27 people – including 20 children and his own mother – at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has been claimed for burial.
Adam Lanza shot himself in the head inside Sandy Hook Elementary School, ending a bloody shooting tragedy that has gripped Newtown, Connecticut.
Multiple reports said that Adam Lanza’s body was claimed several days ago by a person who did not wish to be identified.
Connecticut’s chief medical examiner Wayne H. Carver II told the Hartford Courant that the location of Adam Lanza’s burial will not be made public.
When asked by the paper if Adam Lanza’s father, Peter Lanza, who claimed the body, Wayne H. Carver would not comment.
A spokeswoman at the medical examiner’s office told The Associated Press she could not release any details about the status of Adam Lanza’s remains.
A private funeral was held earlier this month in New Hampshire for his mother, Nancy Lanza, who was shot to death in her bed on the morning of the school shooting rampage.
Police have not offered a motive for the killings.
The body of Adam Lanza, the man who killed 27 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, has been claimed for burial
Earlier this week, it was revealed that scientists have been asked to study Adam Lanza’s DNA to see if has an “evil” gene that led him to carry out the massacre.
The study, which will look at any abnormalities or mutations in his individual DNA, is believed to be the first of its kind ever carried out on a mass murderer. The massacre prompted President Barack Obama to look into new gun controls and banning assault rifles such as AR-15 Bushmaster used by Adam Lanza in his rampage.
The study of the killer’s DNA was been ordered by Wayne H. Carver – who carried out the post-mortems on all the victims.
He has contacted geneticists at University of Connecticut’s to conduct the study.
Geneticists said they are likely looking at Adam Lanza’s DNA to detect a mutation or abnormality that could increase the risk of aggressive or violent behavior.
They could analyze Adam Lanza’s entire genome in great detail and try to find any unexpected mutations.
Arthur Beaudet, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said the University of Connecticut geneticists are most likely trying to “detect clear abnormalities of what we would call a mutation in a gene”.
He added: “Or gene abnormalities and there are some abnormalities that are related to aggressive behavior.
“They might look for mutations that might be associated with mental illnesses and ones that might also increase the risk for violence.”
Arthur Beaudet, who is also the chairman of Baylor College of Medicine’s department of molecular and human genetics in Houston, Texas said geneticists should be doing this type of research because there are “some mutations that are known to be associated with at least aggressive behavior if not violent behavior”.
“I don’t think any one of these mutations would explain all of (the mass shooters), but some of them would have mutations that might be causing both schizophrenia and related schizophrenia violent behavior,” Arthur Beaudet said.
“I think we could learn more about it and we should learn more about it.”
Arthur Beaudet said studying the genes of murderers is controversial because there is a risk that those with similar genetic characteristics could possibly be discriminated against or stigmatized.
But he said the research into Adam Lanza would be helpful even if only a “fraction” may have the abnormality or mutation.
“Not all of these people will have identifiable genetic abnormalities,” Arthur Beaudet told ABC News.
“By studying genetic abnormalities we can learn more about conditions better and who is at risk and what might be dramatic treatments,” Arthur Beaudet said, adding if the gene abnormality is defined the “treatment to stop” other mass shootings or “decrease the risk is much approved”.
Although known to be shy and social inept Adam Lanza had not shown any violent streak although he was known to spend hours in the basement of his home playing violent video games.
North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-il died after flying into a fit of rage when he was told that a major dam project had sprung a leak, it emerged on Sunday.
Kim Jong-il collapsed during a briefing about a flagship hydro-electric power plant but managed to order “severe punishments” for those responsible before he died.
Secretive North Korea had reported his death on December 19 2011 – two days late – saying the leader suffered a heart attack while travelling on his personal train to a field inspection.
North Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported: “After being briefed about the leak, Kim Jong-il lambasted officials and ordered them to repair it.
“He rushed to make an on-site inspection of the facility unable to contain his anger and died suddenly.”
The plant in Huichon, Jagang Province, was built to solve the chronic power shortage in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, meeting around half of the city’s energy needs.
Kim Jong-il was said to have visited the dam at least eight times since construction began in 2009.
State media claimed the “heroic task” of building the plant was finished in three years – seven years ahead of schedule.
Kim Jong-il died after flying into a fit of rage when he was told that a major dam project had sprung a leak
The dam is reported to be more than 300ft high and 1,800ft wide and capable of storing 850 million cubic metres of water.
An anonymous source said the problem was more than “just a crack”, and added: “The safety of the entire dam was in question.”
The news was the “final straw” for Kim Jong-il, who had also been told about serious defects in other key steel and textile projects.
The dictator, who was believed to have been 70 and had ruled the country for 17 years, had been treated by French specialists for a stroke caused by alcohol and stress.
The country’s new leader, Kim Jong-il’s son, Kim Jong-un, did not attend a ceremony in April marking the completion of the power plant to show he was still angry that it had led to his father’s death.
But Kim Jong-un has visited the site at least four times since taking over the country and is pushing ahead with construction projects of his own.
Meanwhile, power cuts continue in the capital, where temperatures fall below freezing in the winter.
The hall where the late leader’s embalmed remains lie in state is one of the few properties which are granted round the clock electricity – while many impoverished people go hungry and cold.
North Korea also marked the anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death earlier this month, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets days after the country tested a long-range rocket.
The satellite it was carrying reached orbit before falling from the sky but has been hailed a success by the regime.
While we may not know their names, anonymous writers have long shaped our worldview, says Brooke Magnanti, who wrote as blogger Belle de Jour.
How do we know who’s written the words we love to read?
The obvious answer is by the name on the cover. But the tradition of anonymity subverts any easy answers.
“As someone who spent six years writing under a pen name, the topic of anonymity is fascinating to me. When I started blogging as Belle de Jour it was for practical self-protection – I didn’t want to risk my career in science by people knowing I was also a call girl,” says Belle de Jour.
There are all kinds of reasons for wanting to be anonymous, and they started thousands of years before humankind even imagined blogs and the internet.
From the earliest times, we have told stories and tales, histories and thoughts. But even though sharing our experience of the world is a human universal, wanting to be recognized for that isn’t.
At many times in history, being known for what you write has carried a high price. Laws from imperial Rome to 17th Century England made it possible for rulers to execute those who criticized them and their actions.
Harsh laws are in place even today, as those tweeting and blogging during the various Arab Spring uprisings can attest. Anonymity can save your life.
Literature mavens tease out real lives from the mischievous games authors have used to hide themselves. While we are well acquainted with the Bronte sisters today, they originally published under the names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
Jonathan Swift got someone else to write out his manuscripts so his handwriting wouldn’t be recognized by the printer. Swift saw it as part of the fun to keep people guessing.
“If there’s one thing the history of literary anonymity teaches you, it’s that very often anonymity has nothing to do with wanting to stay hidden,” says John Mullan, professor of English at University College London.
Anonymity is a useful tool for people whose lives are outside the mainstream. Letting go of your name frees you to tell a truth that many people never see, or try desperately to ignore. It gives certain things more weight, a kind of everywhere-and-nowhere sense where the reader feels they might even be reading the inner thoughts of someone they know. It’s a powerful tool.
In the internet age, we have become increasingly concerned about the effects of anonymous online commentary. Anonymous bloggers can have enormous global audiences. “Trolls” can bring criticism straight to the computer screens of the people they disagree with. These trends are solidly in the tradition of literary anonymity – from unsigned political tracts to biting satirical graffiti, we’ve seen it all before.
While we may not know their names, anonymous writers have long shaped our worldview, says Brooke Magnanti, who wrote as blogger Belle de Jour
In the UK today anonymity still has a place, and being unmasked is one risk of going anonymous. Policeman Richard Horton found his email had been hacked when the Times exposed him as the author of the blog Nightjack.
The News International newspaper named him in 2009 after the High Court refused to grant him anonymity. Horton was issued a warning by his employers Lancashire Constabulary after his award-winning blog exposed the realities of modern-day policing.
He sued the paper in October 2012 and was paid £42,500 ($68,000).
Joe Klein, formerly anonymous author of Primary Colors, the 2002 novel about a US President caught in a sex scandal, suffered a backlash from fellow journalists for denying, and then having to admit, he’d written the book.
Many had guessed that Joe Klein was the author but he repeatedly denied it – and even staked his journalistic credibility on his denial in an interview.
I went to great lengths to remain anonymous, including complicated contracts involving a shell company held in other people’s names, encrypted email and more. But in the end it is always about relationships rather than technology. A writer who lets the secret slip to the wrong person will find the precautions simply don’t matter.
So what did I learn? Well, first of all, the effects of anonymity are more important for the anonymous writer than they are for the audience. We’d still be dotty over Jane Austen’s books if, like her contemporary audience, we never knew her name.
The writing has enough authority and detail to carry us along in her inner world. Knowing her name, where she lived, and seeing the piecrust table where she painstakingly wrote out her manuscripts is interesting, but it’s trivia. It’s not what makes her novels sing.
Losing anonymity, if you’re alive when it happens, can be a double-edged sword for a writer. The risks a writer took when they chose anonymity don’t go away when they’re named. But it does expose them to the people who gave their words an audience.
“In my own experience, this has meant not only can I connect with like-minded folks, but I’m now also able to answer those critics who sneered I couldn’t possibly be real. That hasn’t put them off continuing to criticize, of course, but it’s great fun finally to be able to answer back,” Belle de Jour says.
And in the end, it turns out Anonymous is one of our greatest writers.
“From the medieval period to the modern period there have been authors who have enjoyed playing with and experimenting with anonymity, and it never really goes out of fashion,” says Marcy North, author of The Anonymous Renaissance: Cultures of Discretion in Tudor-Stuart England.
Anon was, as Virginia Woolf noted in one of her final unpublished essays, “the voice that broke the silence of the forest”. Elsewhere she suggested that “Anonymous was a woman”. For anonymity has definitely been widely used by women throughout the ages, whether they’re writing about relationships, sex or anything else.
Without Anonymous, there are so many classics we would not have had – Gawain and the Green Knight, virtually all of the Bible and other religious texts.
Anon is allowed a greater creative freedom than a named writer is, greater political influence than a common man can ever attain, and far more longevity than we would guess.
Belle de Jour
Brooke Magnanti wrote under this nom de plume about working for an escort agency to earn money to study for a PhD
Her pseudonym means “beauty of the day” and alludes to 1928 novel and 1967 film of the same name
Brooke Magnanti revealed her identity in the Sunday Times in November 2009, saying: “I don’t want this massive secret over me anymore.”
She is now a research scientist, writer and blogger
In an interview in October 2012 Brooke Magnanti called for prostitution to be decriminalized
Belgium invented the praline in 1912 and soon became known for making the best chocolates in the world. But 100 years on, the supremacy of local chocolatiers is under threat from international competition.
The smell of warm, melted cocoa is wafting around the kitchen as Ryan Stevenson meticulously pipes a rich, buttery filling into dozens of delicate chocolate shells.
Tall and slim with a ginger beard, the 36-year-old grew up in Toowoomba, Australia.
Since moving to Brussels in 2005, he has twice won the title of Belgian Chocolate Master. In 2009, he took the Best Praline prize as a finalist in the World Chocolate Masters competition.
“I am not actually a chocolatier by trade, I trained as a pastry chef,” he says, with a grin.
So how did he end up becoming one of Belgium’s most sought-after chocolatiers?
“It’s a long story,” he says.
“I originally studied to become an actuary, a statistician who works out insurance premiums. But I found it boring and couldn’t imagine working in an office all day.”
He soon realized he preferred his part-time job in a bakery to university, and sought out experience in hotels and patisseries in Munich and London, before finally arriving in Brussels. He found himself a Belgian wife and started working at his father-in-law’s cake shop Le Saint Aulaye as well as entering cookery contests.
“I started with pastries, but here there is such a strong culture of chocolate that whenever I needed to do a competition, it was always chocolate-based. It is a good product to work with – I mean, everyone loves a Belgian chocolate!”
Despite abandoning his background in mathematics, he says his analytical mind helps him develop new recipes and understand the technical processes of making good chocolate – for example, melting the mixture at the right temperature and keeping out air bubbles.
After many long nights practicing his craft, he won his first Belgian Chocolate Master Award in 2008. But he claims the second time he won the prize was most rewarding “because by then the Belgians knew it wasn’t a beginner’s luck”.
“It was actually a very good feeling being Australian and winning here in Brussels,” he says, smiling.
“I think it’s because I took all the expertise of the Belgians and I beat them at their own game.”
Ryan Stevenson isn’t the only foreigner making a big impact on the Belgian chocolate scene.
Yasushi Sasaki, from Japan, runs a popular patisserie in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a quiet residential part of Brussels.
He is often described as someone who crafts chocolate with the precision of a sushi chef. The label seems fitting the moment you step inside the store’s simple exterior. Its glowing glass counters are packed with colorful sweet treats that resemble works of art.
“Belgian chocolatiers should absolutely be worried about international competition from people like me,” he argues.
“We can do things just as good as them and put our own spin on things as well. I agree that we could pose a threat.”
Since moving to Brussels in 2005, Ryan Stevenson has twice won the title of Belgian Chocolate Master
Popular amongst Belgium’s food blogging community, he reached the finals of the World Chocolate Masters in 2005, losing out to Pol Deschepper, the last Belgian to win the competition. Frank Haasnoot, from the Netherlands, picked up the most recent biennial prize in 2011.
“I am very happy that international chefs from other countries are proud of using Belgian chocolate and choosing this product to excel in their careers,” says Pascale Meulemeester, of Barry Callebaut, the Belgian chocolate giant that runs the contest.
But surely there is resentment amongst Belgian chocolatiers, who are missing out on the limelight?
“I suppose there is competition, although really it is a healthy, friendly rivalry. International chefs working within and outside Belgium all help export our ideas and products to other countries, which is a good thing.”
She believes that Belgium’s history of confectionery will ensure its chefs continue to remain amongst the best in the world.
“When you have this as a business in your country for 100 years, you see a consistency and quality in execution. That brings Belgians an advantage and that is something that is not to be underestimated.”
The country’s love of chocolate goes back to the 19th Century, when cocoa was shipped home from Congo, which had become its new African colony.
The Belgian chocolate industry became world famous following the invention of the praline, a chocolate shell with a soft centre. The man who came up with the idea, Jean Neuhaus, is often referred to as Belgium’s most famous chocolatier, although he was born in Switzerland.
Jean Neuhaus has become one of the country’s most famous global brands along with Callebaut, Cote d’Or and Leonidas. But one of Belgium’s most famous companies, Godiva, was bought by the Turkish business Yildiz in 2007. Current internationally renowned chocolatiers include Pierre Marcolini, Dominique Persoone and Jean Galler.
“Belgium’s recipe for success so far comes from training within the industry, good ingredients and unique tastes,” says Pascale Meulemeester.
Strict rules mean that any chocolates labelled as Belgian must be produced within the country.
“French chocolate is typically darker, less sweet and has more subtle flavors going on. Switzerland’s signature chocolate is milk.
“Belgium has taken all of these influences but also developed our chocolate-making technique and the artisan industry,” he says.
Belgian food critics are also quick to defend one of their country’s key food industries.
“Just because one [non-Belgian] chef happens to win a few prizes, sponsored by a chocolate brand, I don’t think Belgian chocolatiers should start to quake in their boots,” says Veerle de Pooter, a magazine writer who has also worked as a chef for the country’s federal government.
“I’ll start worrying when customers actually start preferring non-Belgian chocolate.”
That seems a long way off. There are around 2,000 chocolate shops in Belgium and annual exports are close to two billion euros according to CAOBISO, an association representing the chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industries of Europe. Only Germany sells more chocolate abroad.
“We must not forget that Belgian chefs have also travelled elsewhere for inspiration – for example, a decade ago a lot of them were going to the Catalan region of Spain, not for chocolate but for other foods,” says Willem Asaert, a food writer for publications across Belgium, Holland and France.
“So it’s okay for international chocolatiers to come here to get ideas, learn the trade and develop their own signature. This won’t be the end of the Belgian chocolate industry. On the contrary, it’s just the proof that we are the best area in the world when it comes to chocolate.”
The next World Chocolate Masters is set to take place in November 2013, in Paris, with entrants representing 20 different countries.
Ryan Stevenson won’t be competing this time. Having twice been selected as Belgian Chocolate Master, he is ineligible to compete any more in the World Chocolate Masters.
Instead, he is one of the judges. He says he has made peace with the fact that he will never be crowned World Chocolate Master.
“It’s okay, it’s part of life. I was the first guy in Belgian to get the national prize twice so I’ve got to be pleased with that.”
Ryan Stevenson’s focus now is on developing his own chocolate line, but there is still one last contest he has set his sights on, Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie in Lyon, France. The competition sees national teams made up of a chocolatier, pastry chef and ice cream maker given 10 hours to prepare a range of desserts.
“I know I’ve got one last win within me, but we’ll just have to see how the time goes with my business.”
One thing is for sure, he has no plans to return home to his native Australia.
“Where I come from it’s too warm, the chocolate melts straight away!”
Five elephants have been killed after being hit by a passenger train in the eastern Indian state of Orissa.
The animals were hit when their herd was crossing railway tracks in the Rambha forest area, a railway spokesman, RN Mohapatra, said.
The state’s wildlife department said its warning asking trains to slow down because elephants were moving in the area was ignored.
Nearly 300 elephants have been killed in Orissa in the past five years.
Five elephants have been killed after being hit by a passenger train in the eastern Indian state of Orissa
Most of the deaths have been blamed on accidental electrocutions, poaching, poisoning by farmers to prevent them from damaging crops and being run over by trains.
The state government recently set up a committee to monitor elephant deaths.
While elephants are worshipped by many in India, shrinking habitat has led to increased conflict with people and the deaths of many of the protected animals.
There are around 26,000 wild elephants in India, where it is a heritage animal.
Biblical names are out and pop culture is in for America’s newborns – if 2012’s list of most popular baby names are anything to go by.
The once hearty trend of parents naming their babies after Biblical scripture has shown a steady decline in recent years according to an annual baby name report by BabyCenter.com.
What can be gathered in supplement shows a perhaps surprising uptick in inspiration from pop culture such as erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey, TV show Downton Abbey and even Apple electronics.
Among names taken from the Bible for 2012 there were just three boys’ names among the list of top 10 – Ethan, Noah and Jacob – while none made the top 10 list for girls.
That’s a stark contrast from 12 years ago when Biblical names dominated the top 10 list, in 2000 it being: Michael, Jacob, Matthew, Joseph, Joshua, and Andrew.
For girls in 2000 it was Hannah, Sarah and Elizabeth.
If any trend can be seen this year one could blame at least one other book Americans are reading right now.
From EL James’ Fifty Shades of Grey, first name Grey shot up 155 spots. Anastasia rose 43 spots and Elliot – Christian Grey’s brother – went up by 14%.
If any Downtown Abbey fans received visits from the Stork this year, they may be mutually held responsible for an increase in the names Branson (by 32%), Charlie (23%), Elsie (29%), and Daisy (27%). Names Edith, Sybil, Robert, Cora, Isobel and Violet also rose.
Biblical names fall out of favor in US as top 10 boys and girls names revealed
Perhaps further showing the times – contrasting back when actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay musician Chris Martin named their baby “Apple” surprising many who had never heard of the fruit and widespread computer manufacturer used as a name – Apple rose 15% this year.
Adding to the Apple iPhone, iPad, iMac buzz, the name Siri – Apple’s computer generated assistant – climbed by 5% while Mac for boys jumped by 12%.
All three names are still deep down on the list, however, with Apple taking 3,204th place, Siri taking 1,427th, and Mac taking 624.
Musicians Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s uniquely named Blue Ivy Carter also perhaps stirred a rise in names Blue and Ivy which both saw an increase this year – Blue by 51% and Ivy by 27%.
Though Blue is still down on the list hitting 2,571th place, Ivy rose to 157th place.
Among this year’s most popular names, Aiden tops list of top 10 for the eight year in a row while Sophia continues to hold her own among the girls’ 10 for the fifth year running.
Kim Kardashian is expecting her first child with her boyfriend Kanye West.
The pregnancy was revealed by Kanye West onstage during a concert in Atlantic City on Sunday night as Kim Kardashian watched.
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.
KimKardashian, 32, and Kanye West, 35, were last seen together on Christmas Day when they attended a basketball game to watch Kim’s brother-in-law Lamar Odom play with his new team The Clippers.
Kanye West was seen carefully attending to his girlfriend and holding her hand as they sat side by side in the front row. They left at half time, with Kim Kardashian later tweeting that she felt “unwell”.
“In bed with the flu all day. Praying this goes away fast!” the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star wrote.
Kim Kardashian is still married to her estranged second husband Kris Humphries. The pair’s divorce has been prolonged as the basketball star has insisted on a court case, claiming the marriage should be annulled as it was “fraud”.
After the news of Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy broke late on Sunday her excited family took to Twitter.
Kim Kardashian is expecting her first child with her boyfriend Kanye West
Sister Kourtney Kardashian wrote: “Been wanting to shout from the rooftops with joy and now I can! Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!”
And little sister Kendall Jenner added: “Whos excited about the KIMYE babbyyy?! 😀 weeee.”
Khloe Kardashian wrote: “KIMYE!!!!! Keeping secrets is hard with so many family members! Especially when you are so freaking excited!!!!! LOVE is everything!!!!”
Khloe Kardashian‘s husband Lamar Odom tweeted: “I’m excited for Kanye and my sister! There’s nothing like bringing life into this world!
“Let’s keep Gods blessings coming!”
And Grandma-to-be Kris Jenner added: “I’m a happy girl !!!!!!!!! Wowza!”
Kanye West spent the Christmas period with Kim Kardashian’s family, who have welcomed him with open arms.
Kim Kardashian has also become close to Kanye West’s family after being he took her to visit them in Oklahoma City while visiting his mother Donda West’s grave last month.
Since Kim Kardashian and Kanye West began dating in April they have rarely been apart.
Despite the shortness of their relationship, the two have been friends for years.
It has even been speculated that the rapper had been in love with Kim Kardashian back in 2009, when he appeared to refer to her in his track Knock You Down.
At the time the song was penned, Kim Kardashian was in a relationship with NFL star Reggie Bush, whom she went on to date on and off for three years.
The song includes the lines: “You was always the cheerleader of my dreams… To seem to only date the head of football teams… And I was the class clown that always kept you laughing… We were never meant to be, baby we just happened.”
He then goes on to rap: “You should leave your boyfriend now.”
And in December 2010, Kanye West was on hand when Kim Kardashian filmed her music video Jam (Turn It Up).
In scenes later broadcast on her reality show Kris Jenner was seen jokingly criticizing Kanye West for eyeing up Kim Kardashian, telling him: “Don’t be looking at her a**.”
Not one to miss a beat, quick-witted Kanye West replied: “I’ve never seen it actually.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that her country’s economic climate in 2013 will be “even more difficult”.
In her New Year message, Angela Merkel also cautioned that the eurozone debt crisis was far from over.
However, she did say that reforms designed to address the roots of the problem were beginning to bear fruit.
Angela Merkel’s comments appeared to contradict German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who said last week that the worst of the crisis was over.
In a taped interview to be broadcast later on Monday, Angela Merkel urged Germans to be more patient.
“I know that many people are naturally concerned going into the new year,” she said.
“The economic environment will not in fact be easier but rather more difficult next year. But we shouldn’t let that get us down; rather it should spur us on.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that her country’s economic climate in 2013 will be even more difficult
She linked future German prosperity to a prosperous European Union.
“For our prosperity and our solidarity, we need to strike the right balance,” Angela Merkel said.
“The European sovereign debt crisis shows how important this balance is.
“The reforms that we’ve introduced are beginning to have an impact. Nevertheless we need to have further continued patience. The crisis is far from over.”
In an interview with the German newspaper Bild last week, Wolfgang Schaeuble cited positive developments in Greece and France, saying: “I think the worst is behind us.”
Germany – Europe’s largest economy – has been the paymaster in the eurozone crisis, a move unpopular with many German voters and some conservative MPs in Angela Merkel’s coalition.
Analysts say most Germans remain wary of eurozone bailouts but generally approve of Angela Merkel’s handling of the crisis.
In October, the German government slashed its forecast for economic output in 2013 to 1.0%, compared to 1.6% previously anticipated.
The country’s central bank has said Germany may even come close to recession early in the new year.
Nevertheless, Angela Merkel underlined that Germany in 2012 had the lowest unemployment since reunification in 1990.
US Congressional leaders have one more day to stop the threat of steep tax rises and spending cuts, known as the “fiscal cliff”, after talks ended with no deal.
Senators will continue to seek a compromise deal on Monday to send to the House of Representatives.
Failure to reach agreement by January 1 could push the US back into recession.
Earlier, President Barack Obama increased pressure on Republicans to accept a deal, blaming them for the deadlock.
He said their “overriding theme” was protecting tax breaks for the rich.
Talks ended on Sunday with no deal after a day that saw Republican and Democratic senators wrestle over detail and seek to shape a final bill.
Sticking points included the fate of expiring Bush-era tax cuts, an estate tax and steep cuts in spending known as the sequester.
If no agreement is reached on Monday, senators are expected to be given the chance to vote on a fallback plan proposed by President Barack Obama.
That would renew tax cuts on earnings under $250,000 and extend unemployment benefits, but does not address the steep spending cuts.
US Congressional leaders have one more day to stop the threat of fiscal cliff after talks ended with no deal
The current stand-off has its roots in a failed 2011 attempt to tackle the government debt limit and budget deficit. Republicans and Democrats agreed then to postpone difficult decisions on spending until the end of 2012, and imposed a threat of compulsory cuts if no deal was reached by December 31.
Analysts say that even if a deal is reached on the fiscal cliff, it will do little to reduce the original problem of the deficit and the government debt limit, raising the prospect of further political in-fighting early in the new year.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell were locked in negotiations over the weekend.
The two senators appeared to admit not long before the 15:00 deadline that negotiations were at a standstill, with their two parties still divided over core ideological issues about tax and government funding.
Senator Harry Reid said the Democrats were as yet unable to make a counter-offer to an apparent Republican proposal to slow cost-of-living increases for social security recipients, known as “chained CPI”.
Meanwhile Senator McConnell said he had asked Vice-President Joe Biden for help in breaking the deadlock.
“I’m concerned with the lack of urgency here. There’s far too much at stake,” he said.
“There is no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point – the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest or courage to close the deal.”
In his interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, broadcast on Sunday, Barack Obama said the priority was to ensure taxes do not rise for middle-class families, saying that would “hurt our economy badly”.
“That’s something we all agree on. If we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the <<fiscal cliff>>,” he said.
There is also debate over where to set the threshold for tax rises. Democrats say the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for all Americans except the richest – those with annual earnings of more than $250,000.
Republicans – some of whom have pledged never to vote for increased taxes – say the deficit is a consequence of excessive government spending.
They want the tax threshold set higher, at around $400,000, and for revenue to be raised by economic growth and cuts in social security and other services states are legally bound to provide.
Japan’s coast guard has detained a Chinese fishing boat for allegedly fishing inside Japanese waters, Chinese officials say.
The boat was seized on Saturday near Japan’s Kagoshima Prefecture, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Chinese consulate in Fukuoka, Japan.
The captain had admitted entering Japanese waters, Xinhua said.
Japan’s coast guard has detained a Chinese fishing boat for allegedly fishing inside Japanese waters
The incident comes months after anti-Japanese protests in Chinese cities over disputed islands near Taiwan.
The captain and two crew members have been taken to Kagoshima for questioning while six other sailors remained on board the boat, which comes from Fujian province in south-east China, Xinhua said.
A Chinese consulate official has been sent to Kagoshima to visit the crew members, the report added.
Relations between Japan and China have been strained over the disputed islands, known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.
Japan controls the islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Close to strategically important shipping lanes, the waters around the islands also offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized in New York with a blood clot, officials say.
Hillary Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this month after fainting and falling down.
At the time, she was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.
Hillary Clinton is due to stand down as secretary of state before US President Barack Obama officially begins his second term in January.
Doctors discovered the clot during a follow-up examination on Sunday, her spokesman Philippe Reines said.
“She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours,” he said.
“They will determine if any further action is required.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized in New York with a blood clot
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 this month.
Hillary Clinton, 65, is known for her 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 that she only intended to serve one term in the post.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has suffered “new complications” after a cancer operation in Cuba, his vice-president Nicolas Maduro has said.
In a televised address from Havana, Nicolas Maduro said Hugo Chavez continued to be in a “delicate state”.
Hugo Chavez underwent his fourth cancer operation on December 11 in Cuba but suffered a respiratory infection.
The president – who has been in power since 1999 – won another term in October’s election.
Nicolas Maduro did not give details about Hugo Chavez’s condition but said the latest complications were connected to the respiratory infection.
“We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about,” he said.
“The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the [Venezuelan] people about his current health condition.
“The state of health of President Chavez continues to be delicate.”
He added that the treatment was “not without risk.”
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has suffered new complications after cancer operation in Cuba
Nicolas Maduro, appearing solemn, spoke alongside Hugo Chavez’s eldest daughter, Rosa, his son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, and Venezuelan Attorney General Cilia Flores.
The vice-president said he would remain in Havana “for the coming hours” but did not specify how long.
Late on Sunday, Venezuela’s Information Minister 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 Chavez.
It is now three weeks since Hugo Chavez has been seen or heard from in person.
There continues to be huge secrecy surrounding his precise condition.
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.
However, opposition leaders say postponing the inauguration would be unconstitutional.
The constitution states that if there is an “absolute absence” of the president, elections must be held within 30 days.
Hugo Chavez has said that, should his health fail, Venezuelans should vote for Nicolas Maduro in fresh elections.
Officials have never disclosed the type or severity of Hugo Chavez’s cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011.
Italian Nobel prize-winning neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini has died at the age of 103.
Rita Levi-Montalcini lived through anti-semitic discrimination under fascism to become one of Italy’s top scientists and most respected figures.
She won acclaim for her work on cells, which furthered understanding of a range of conditions, including cancer.
In 1986 Rita Levi-Montalcini shared the Nobel Prize for medicine with biochemist Stanley Cohen for research carried out in the US.
Her niece, Piera Levi-Montalcini, told La Stampa newspaper that she had died peacefully “as if sleeping” after lunch.
Her aunt had continued to carry out several hours of research every day until her death, she said.
Italian Nobel prize-winning neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini has died at the age of 103
Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in 1909 to a wealthy Jewish family in the northern city of Turin, where she studied medicine.
But after she graduated in 1936 the fascist government banned Jews from academic and professional careers, and Rita Levi-Montalcini set up a makeshift laboratory in her bedroom, experimenting on chicken embryos.
“She worked in primitive conditions,” Italian astrophysicist Margherita Hack told Italian TV.
“She is really someone to be admired.”
Rita Levi-Montalcini’s family lived underground in Florence after the Germans invaded Italy in 1943. She later worked as doctor for the allied forces that liberated the city, treating refugees.
From 1947 Rita Levi-Montalcini was based for more than 20 years in the US, at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. There she discovered nerve growth factor, which regulates the growth of cells.
Rita Levi-Montalcini later worked at the National Council of Scientific Research in Rome.
Her research was recognized to have advanced the understanding of conditions including tumors, malformations and senile dementia.
In 2001 Rita Levi-Montalcini was nominated to the Italian upper house of parliament as a senator for life, an honor bestowed on some of Italy’s most distinguished public figures.
She was an ambassador for the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and founded the Levi-Montalcini Foundation, which carries out charity work in Africa.
Rita Levi-Montalcini never married, saying her life had been “enriched by excellent human relations, work and interests”.
In a 2009 interview she said: “At 100, I have a mind that is superior – thanks to experience – than when I was 20.”
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti praised Rita Levi-Montalcini’s “charismatic and tenacious” character and her lifelong battle to “defend the battles in which she believed”.
Social network founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is celebrating his first Christmas with wife Priscilla Chan after the couple tied the knot on May 19, laughed and joked during private surfing lessons on the island of Maui.
Priscilla Chan looked relaxed in a sporty, red one-piece while her billionaire husband lugged his own surfboard and worked on his tan in a pair of board shorts.
Mark Zuckerberg, 28, took time out from his role as chairman and CEO of Facebook to relax with his 27-year-old wife on the Hawaiian island, a popular tourist spot for surfing and windsurfing.
The couple chatted easily with other beach-goers before taking to the waves, where Priscilla proved herself to be an accomplished surfer.
The Zuckerbergs married in May with a ceremony in the billionaire’s backyard in Palo Alto, California. It was a joint celebration to mark Priscilla Chan’s graduation from medical school.
They honeymooned in Italy where they were pictured taking in the beauty of Rome’s Sistine Chapel and tucking into pasta in low-key restaurants.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan celebrate their first Christmas as married couple in Hawaii
The couple have been dating since 2003 after meeting in line for the bathroom at a frat party at Harvard University.
The beach snaps are a rare glimpse of a notoriously private couple – a luxury which was also accidentally breached by a member of Mark Zuckerberg’s own family last week.
His sister Randi posted a picture of her family jokingly reacting to Facebook’s new Poke application, and someone tweeted the picture out to the public.
She later complained that her privacy was breached on Twitter. The incident comes as Facebook has long been accused of taking advantage of users’ privacy concerns.
In the photo, Randi’s younger siblings and parents are seen in what appears to be their family home in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Researchers have found that heels can “emphasize femininity” and change the way the entire body moves, including the pelvis, hips, legs, knees, feet and even the shoulders.
Scientists at the University of Portsmouth found that women wearing heels were rated as more attractive than when wearing flat shoes, even when those making the judgement are unable to see faces or bodies.
The study appears in the scientific journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
Researchers wrote that “evolution may partly explain the continuing popularity of high heels as an article of the female wardrobe”.
“If wearing high heels emphasizes some sex-specific aspects of the female form they may make women more attractive, and one motivation, which may be conscious or unconscious, for wearing heels is that it is part of mate selection,”The Independent on Sunday reports.
Researchers have found that heels can emphasize femininity and change the way the entire body moves
As part of the research women were filmed walking for four minutes wearing identical flat shoes and 6 cm heels.
All women who took part in research had an average of around 10 pairs of heels, which they wore at least once a week.
To ensure the women were rated on how attractive they were purely based on their high heels researchers used a technique called point-light display which highlights points of the body with lit markers.
It means the judges would see only the patterns of these lights as the woman walks.
Men and women viewed 30-second video clips of the walkers in high heels and flat shoes moving towards them and rated them on femininity and attractiveness.
In each case the women were rated as more attractive in heels.
Women judges also rated them as more attractive than the men did.
A second experiment – asking judges to guess whether the person walking towards them was a man or woman – saw women wearing flat shoes twice as likely to be viewed as a man.
It was also discovered that an average woman walked more quickly in heels, changing from 106 to 110 steps a minutes, but with shorter strides – from 1.24 to 1.20 metres.
The researchers wrote: “Women in high heels walked in a fashion more characteristic of female gait. The results are consistent with the idea that wearing high heels makes women look more attractive, and added: ‘Fashions by their very nature are ephemeral, but fashions that endure, such as high heels, may emphasize sex-specific aspects of the body.”
Kate Middleton is facing the prospect of never becoming Prince William’s Queen.
MP John Hemming is attempting to ensure all spouses of reigning monarchs are officially known as Prince or Princess Consorts, with an amendment to the repeal of ancient royal primogeniture laws.
The wives of ruling Kings currently become Queen Consorts but the husbands of female monarchs have no right to any title – which is why the current Duke of Edinburgh is not known as King Philip.
The Liberal Democrat’s Early Day Motion says the Duchess of Cambridge would lose out on being called Queen Catherine when her husband William is crowned King, reported the Sunday Express.
“It’s not right that a Queen Regnant is treated as less important than a King Regnant,” he told theSunday Express.
“It seems sensible we resolve this issue when dealing with the primogeniture issue.”
Kate Middleton is facing the prospect of never becoming Prince William’s Queen
The proposal also means Camilla would become Princess Consort when Prince Charles becomes King – which Clarence House has always insisted upon, following the couple’s previous divorces.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill was told by the Lord Chancellor in 1954 that Philip had no right to any title despite his wife Elizabeth II becoming Queen – but he was later given the title of Prince.
The current difference in title rights dates back to the custom of male primogeniture, which has meant that male heirs have traditionally leapfrogged their older sisters in the line of succession.
But a new law to ensure the first child of the Duke and pregnant Duchess of Cambridge will succeed to the throne regardless of gender is being fast-tracked through Parliament.
Ending gender discrimination in the line of succession will involve changing some of the oldest laws on the Statute Book, including the Treason Act 1351, which was originally written in Norman French.
President Barack Obama pledged this morning to put his “full weight” behind a legislative gun control package aimed at avoiding another Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Barack Obama voiced skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the December 14th deadly assault in Connecticut which claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six teachers.
In his boldest terms yet, Barack Obama vowed to rally the American people around an agenda to limit gun violence and said he still supports increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and high capacity clips or magazines.
“It is not enough for us to say. This is too hard so we’re not going to try,” Barack Obama said.
“So what I intend to do is I will call all the stakeholders together. I will meet with Republicans. I will meet with Democrats. I will talk to anybody.
“I think there are a vast majority of responsible gun owners out there who recognize that we can’t have a situation in which somebody with severe psychological problems is able to get the kind of high capacity weapons that this individual in Newtown obtained and gun down our kids. And, yes, it’s going to be hard.”
Barack Obama’s comments come as the schoolroom shooting has elevated the issue of gun violence to the forefront of public attention.
Six adults also died at the school. Authorities say the shooter killed himself and also killed his mother at their home.
The slayings have prompted renewed calls for greater gun controls. The National Rifle Association has resisted those efforts vociferously, arguing instead that schools should have armed guards for protection.
“I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools,” the president said.
“And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem.”
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Barack Obama voiced skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the December 14th deadly assault in Connecticut which claimed the lives of 20 first graders and six teachers
Barack Obama said he intended to press the issue with the public.
“Will there be resistance? Absolutely there will be resistance,” he said.
“The question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away. It certainly won’t feel like that to me.
“This is something that – you know, that was the worst day of my presidency. And it’s not something that I want to see repeated.”
Besides getting gun violence legislation passed next year, Barack Obama also listed immigration as a top priority for 2013 as well as deficit reduction.
A big deficit reduction deal with Republicans proved elusive this month and Obama is now hoping Senate Democratic and Republican leaders salvage a scaled back plan that avoids across the board tax increases for virtually all Americans.
He issued a defense of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who has been mentioned as one of the leading candidates for new secretary of defense.
Chuck Hagel, who opposed President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq, has been criticized in conservative circles for not being a strong enough ally of Israel.
Many liberals and gay activists also have banded against him for comments he made in 1998 about an openly gay nominee for an ambassadorship.
Barack Obama, who briefly served with Chuck Hagel in the Senate, stressed that he had yet to make a decision on a secretary of defense but said called Hagel a “patriot”.
“He is somebody who has done extraordinary work both in the United States Senate,” he said.
“Somebody who served this country with valor in Vietnam. And is somebody who’s currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job.”
Barack Obama noted that Chuck Hagel had apologized for his 14-year-old remark.
“And I think it’s a testimony to what has been a positive change over the last decade in terms of people’s attitudes about gays and lesbians serving our country,” he said.
With her blonde pixie crop, pale skin and heavily made-up eyes, Tali Lennox is the spitting image of her mother Annie Lennox in her Eighties prime.
Tali Lennox, 19, dropped out of the progressive King Alfred School in North London two years ago to pursue a modeling career.
She has since worked for Prada, designers Mark Jacobs and Christopher Kane, and was the face of Karen Millen’s Spring-Summer 2012 campaign.
In her latest assignment, for the February issue of Tatler, Tali Lennox is seen posing with the soup tin on her head. In another shot she shows off her long legs in a pair of tiny black and white striped shorts.
But this could be one of Tali Lennox’s last modelling jobs – she has moved from London to New York to live on her own and decide what to do next.
With her blonde pixie crop, pale skin and heavily made-up eyes, Tali Lennox is the spitting image of her mother Annie Lennox in her Eighties prime
Tali Lennox says: “I don’t really want to do fashion shows again, to be honest. I’ve been extremely lucky, but I’m not 6ft tall and I don’t look like [the supermodel] Gisele.”
She could move into art: at the Notting Hill home she used to share with her mother – whose hits include Who’s That Girl? – she painted downstairs in a house that was decorated with works by Francis Bacon and other eminent artists. Last year, her self-portraits featured in an exhibition at London gallery Whisper, owned by Ronnie Wood’s son James.
Tali Lennox says: “I’ve already sold one piece, which is really flattering.”
Her father is the Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann, Annie Lennox’s second husband. They divorced in 2000.
Annie Lennox, 58, was married again in September, to South African gynaecologist Mitch Besser.
Snapchat said such “reverse engineering” was always going to be possible.
Using a widely available file-browsing computer program Katie Notopoulos, a staff reporter at Buzzfeed, found that Snapchat and its Facebook equivalent Poke could be used to copy videos temporarily stored on handsets before the apps have been used to view them.
The ability to send video via Snapchat was introduced on 14 December.
When videos were loaded but not opened Katie Notopoulos discovered it was possible to get at and view these copies when users connected their iPhone to a computer and used a file browser to look through its internal memory.
Videos sent via smartphone app Snapchat, which should disappear after a few seconds, can be preserved with easy to find tools
If videos were not viewed, she found, they were stored in a folder called “tmp” by Snapchat or “mediacard” on Facebook’s Poke. Copying the files in these folders to a hard drive stopped them being automatically deleted.
Snapchat is also available on Google Android phones. Katie Notopoulos did not try to find out if videos were preserved in the same way on such smartphones. However, earlier in December Snapchat did issue a patch for a bug that put permanent versions of unwatched videos into the media gallery on Android phones.
Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel told Katie Notopoulos that those who enjoyed the service the most would not go to such lengths to view videos.
“There will always be ways to reverse engineer technology products – but that spoils the fun!” he wrote.
Facebook later added that: “While Pokes disappear after they are read, there are still ways that people can potentially save them… because of this, people should think about what they are sending, and share responsibly.”
An orchestra of young musicians from a Paraguayan slum has been touring South America, using instruments constructed entirely from recycled materials.
They pulled them from the rubbish dump around their homes.
Landfill Harmonic is heartwarming film featuring a unique orchestra in Paraguaymade up entirely of instruments made from scrap heap rubbish.
The Recycled Orchestra is the creation of Favio Chávez, a landfill worker and musician from Paraguay.
The film, a teaser for which has been published online, features Favio Chávez and an inspiring group of children beating the odds in the poverty stricken town of Cateura.
Cateura exists virtually on top of a landfill site where residents make their livings recycling and selling other people’s rubbish.
An orchestra of young musicians from a Paraguayan slum has been touring South America, using instruments constructed entirely from recycled materials
Situated along the banks of the Paraguay River, 1,500 tons of waste is dumped in the area each day.
But despite the critical levels of pollution and the threat to their health residents of Cateura manage to find the most positive of uses for the rubbish.
Inspired to do something to help the impoverished families, Favio Chávez began using the trash in the landfill to create instruments for the children.
“One day it occurred to me to teach music to the children of the recyclers and use my personal instruments,” explains 36 year-old Favio Chávez, who worked as an ecological technician at the landfill.
“But it got to the point that there were too many students and not enough supply. So that’s when I decided to experiment and try to actually create a few.”
The documentary is directed by Graham Townsley.
The instruments in the orchestra are made from a whole range of old and broken electrical appliances. By using them whole or in part they have been put back together to create new musical instruments that have a unique sound.
A video of Moscow plane crash has emerged showing how close one motorist came to becoming another victim of the deadly event.
At least four Russians died when a passenger airliner overshot a runway and broke into pieces Vnukovo airport.
Officials said up to eight people were on board the Tupolev-204 – flight number RWZ9268 – as it rolled off the runway at Vnukovo airport and burst through a perimeter fence onto a highway.
And this incredible video shows how a casual weekend drive could have resulted in catastrophic consequences.
The driver’s camera captures the moment the plane crashes into the highway, and you can even make out one the plane’s wheels hurtling into the vehicle in front.
After a screeching of brakes and loud impact noise, the driver casually brings the car to a halt by the side of the road.
State television news channel Vestishowed a photo of the wrecked plane’s fuselage with the livery of the low-cost Russian Red Wings airline. Its nose, including the cockpit area, appeared sheared off.
A video of Moscow plane crash has emerged showing how close one motorist came to becoming another victim of the deadly event
Two people were found dead at the scene, while a third victim, a 27-year-old woman, died on the way to hospital. Three others were severely injured.
The captain and co-pilot were among those killed, reported Interfax.
Interior Ministry officials believe the cause of the crash could be pilot error. Light snow was falling in Moscow at the time.
The plane was flying in from Pardubice, in the Czech Republic after dropping off tourists and then returning to its home Moscow base with just crew on board.
A criminal case over possible flight safety violations has been launched, said official spokesman of Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said.
The preliminary cause of the accident is pilots’ error, he added.
Early reports say the jet, crashed at around 16:35 local time after being forced to make a second landing attempt.
It rolled out from the runway into Kievskoye Highway, fell into three pieces and caught fire over 100 square meters.
It has been claimed that vehicles used by Vnukovo firefighters were being repaired so the first emergency crews to appear on the scene arrived at least than 50 minutes after the blaze broke out.
One motorist told Interfax: “There was a front part of the plane lying on half of the highway, the right wing attached to it was on fire.”
Another said: “The body of the plane was off the road. It grasped my attention that the plane body was not much damaged and inside, where the passengers should sit, there was nobody, the seats were empty.”
Prior to Saturday’s crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995. The plane is a twin-engine mid-range jet with a capacity of about 210 passengers.
Vnukovo, on the southern outskirts of Moscow, is one of the Russian capital’s three international airports.
The Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus has been cremated in the capital, New Delhi.
The ceremony came hours after a plane chartered by the Indian government brought her body back to the city.
The 23-year-old medical student died in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.
The attack sparked two weeks of protests about gender attitudes in India, and calls for changes to laws on rape and violence against women.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the head of India’s governing Congress party Sonia Gandhi were at the airport when the plane landed at about 04:15.
A convoy carrying a gold-colored coffin and the victim’s parents then drove towards the Janakpuri district of Delhi where she had been living.
The private funeral was held amid tight security.
The government has been heavily criticized for its response to the attack and remains anxious about a backlash, with police still cordoning off the heart of the capital to prevent demonstrations.
Sonia Gandhi has promised to fight what she called India’s shameful social mindsets that lie behind such crimes.
Six men arrested for the December 16 rape have been charged with murder. If convicted, they face the death penalty.
On Saturday evening, candlelit vigils were held across India to mourn the woman and express anger and sorrow at her death.
Large areas of Delhi were sealed off and hundreds of armed police and riot troops deployed as news of the victim’s death spread.
Protests continued in Delhi on Sunday, with a peaceful demonstration where people painted slogans and tributes on a large white canvas.
“This incident should open our eyes to the fact that we need to raise our children right, we need to raise the people right,” said protester and social worker Murphy John.
He said he did not agree with calls for the death penalty for convicted rapists, fearing it would encourage murder so victims could not report crimes.
The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore said the woman “passed away peacefully” early on Saturday.
The Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus has been cremated in New Delhi
Hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said she had suffered severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.
Indian PM Manmohan Singh said he was “very saddened” by the woman’s death, and that the angry public reaction was “perfectly understandable”.
He called on politicians and the public to set aside “narrow sectional interest” and work together to make India “a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in”.
The woman – a medical student whose identity has not been released – and her 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.
Friends told the AFP news agency the couple were in a relationship and had been planning to marry in the next few weeks.
“They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi,” said her neighbor, Meera Rai.
According to the reports, the couple were attacked after the man objected to another group of men taunting her.
Police said the woman was raped for nearly an hour. Both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.
The assault sparked angry protests about the general conditions for women in India, and about what is seen as an inadequate police response to rape allegations.
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.
But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as secondary citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.
UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences to the woman’s family, saying in a statement that he “utterly condemns this brutal crime”.
“Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated,” the statement said.
“Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected.”
