Venus, the minimalist high-tech yacht commissioned by late Steve Jobs, has become embroiled in a row over a disputed bill.
French designer Philippe Starck claims Steve Jobs’ heirs still owe him 3 million euros of a 9 million euro fee for the project, according to Dutch paper Het Financieele Dagblad.
Philippe Starck called in the debt collectors and had the yacht impounded,
The Port of Amsterdam confirmed that the boat is not allowed to leave.
Jeroen Ranzijn, spokesman for the Port of Amsterdam said: “The boat is brand new but there is a 3 million euro claim on it. The parties will have to fight it out.”
Roelant Klaassen, a lawyer representing Philippe Starck’s company, Ubik, told the Reuters news agency that the boat would remain in port pending payment by lawyers representing Steve Jobs’ estate.
“These guys trusted each other, so there wasn’t a very detailed contract,” he said.
Philippe Starck was unavailable for comment.
Venus, the minimalist high-tech yacht commissioned by late Steve Jobs, has become embroiled in a row over a disputed bill
Gerard Moussault, the lawyer representing the owners of the Venus, said: “I cannot comment at all on this, sorry.”
The sleek, 260 ft-long (80 m) aluminium super-yacht cost 105 million euros ($138 million) and was launched in October, at Aalsmeer, The Netherlands.
Philippe Starck is known for his striking designs for the Alessi company, including an aluminium lemon squeezer that is shaped like a spaceship.
He collaborated with Steve Jobs for five years on the project, describing the boat as “showing the elegance of intelligence.”
The vessel is minimalist in style and is named after the Roman goddess of love and its windows measure 3 m (10 feet) in height.
Philippe Starck has said that Venus “looks strange for a boat” but said its shape comes from design ideas he shared with Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in 2011 and never saw his boat go to sea.
Psy’s Gangnam Style has become the first video to clock up more than one billion views on YouTube.
The South Korean dance track was posted online in July, propelling pop star Psy to worldwide fame.
It has inspired hundreds of parody clips, from members of the British army, Thai navy and Minecraft gamers, among others.
YouTube’s owner, Google, said the video had been watched seven million to 10 million times a day on average.
It overtook the previous record holder – Justin Bieber’s music video Baby – on November 24.
“Psy’s success is a great testament to the universal appeal of catchy music – and er, great equine dance moves,” wrote Kevin Allocca, YouTube trends manager, on the service’s blog.
One industry watcher said the fact so many people continued to post their own versions of Gangnam Style had played a huge part in the clip’s success.
Psy’s Gangnam Style has become the first video to clock up more than one billion views on YouTube
“I’ve seen a statistic which reckons the one song will have generated something like $8 million by the end of the year from money that comes directly from YouTube through advertising plus download sales, its uses in adverts and TV programmes,” said Chris Cooke, business editor of the CMU music news site.
“It shows that YouTube – which is a free-to-use as a promotional platform for the music labels – can lead to substantial income.
“Should every artist be trying to think of a funny video that will go viral and be mimicked? I don’t know whether it’s a template that can be copied, but it certainly shows how quickly an eye-catching clip can spread thanks to social networks and YouTube.”
Sir Martin Sorrell – chief executive of advertising giant WPP – paid tribute to the achievement by making a link between Psy and one of the west’s most influential economists.
“Another great example of Theodore Levitt’s <<globalization>> and the power of K-pop,” he said.
D C Han, a South Korean hair stylist who worked in Gangnam before starting a business in London, added that he was proud to see the song become such a massive hit.
“I was amazed” he said.
“K-Pop is getting stronger and stronger, everywhere in Asia they are listening to it – China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. Maybe even in Japan but they might not admit it.”
The irony wasn’t lost on fans when Kim Kardashian signed on to appear in Tyler Perry’s new film Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor in 2011.
Hot on the heels of ending one of Hollywood’s shortest marriages, Kim Kardashian plays social-climber Ava, a preened business woman who loves figure-hugging dresses and lambastes her co-workers for not meeting her standards of style and beauty.
A newly-released trailer for the comedy proves the role isn’t much of a stretch for the star.
Kim Kardashian’s voice narrates the top of the two-and-a-half minute clip.
“We have a billion dollars walking in and out of these offices looking for love.”
The scene opens from a sweeping cityscape to the sprawling offices where Kim Kardashian’s character rips into marriage counselor Judith, played by Jurnee Smollett.
“You have a standard to uphold. That blouse,” she miffs.
“It’s telling it all.”
Kim Kardashian appears in Tyler Perry’s new film Temptation Confessions of a Marriage Counselor
Not to be undone by her image-obsessed colleague, Judith questions Ava’s cotton candy pink dress – not unlike the ones Kim Kardashian is so often seen pouring herself into on her day-to-day outings.
“What’s wrong with my dress?” she squeaks, eyes glazed, head tilted in confusion.
“Can you breathe?” he adversary asks.
Kim Kardashian’s character narrates the arrival of “the largest social media investor since Zuckerberg,” in reference to billionaire Facebook co-founder Mark.
Robbie Jones stars as Harvey, who seduces Judith, an Ivy League educated relationship expert, into considering leaving her husband to be with him.
When the rush of their affair fades, she soon realizes she’s made a mistake.
Vanessa Williams, Brandy Norwood and Eric West also star in the film, described by Perry as “a bold exploration of the intrigue and perils of infidelity”.
Kim Kardashian, 32, took to her blog on Thursday to share the release of the teaser.
“Temptation Trailer is Here!” she wrote.
“I’m so excited to reveal the trailer for the new Tyler Perry movie I am in called Temptation, which debuted on Yahoo! Movies today!
“This has been an incredible experience for me and I’m so excited for the movie to come out on March 29, 2013.”
Principle photography for the film began in Atlanta, Georgia in October, 2011 – the same month Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kris Humphries.
Kim Kardashian is still legally married to Kris Humphries, although she has moved on to date longtime friend, Kanye West.
Her divorce attorney told a judge last month Kim wants to move on with her life but is “handcuffed” to her estranged husband because their divorce case is not yet ready for trial.
As she holidays in Barbados with friends, Rihanna uploaded a picture of herself and Chris Brown holding hands to her Twitter account on Thursday.
Failing to adhere to the notion of the Instagram trend known as throwback Thursday, the 24-year-old opted to post an image of her and Chris Brown, 23, taken only seven days before.
Taking part in the popular activity in which Instagram users post snaps to the application as they reminisce over the past, Rihanna appears to be deeply missing Chris Brown.
In the black and white image Chris Brown’s hand can been seen resting on Rihanna’s thigh as she places her hand over his.
The caption which accompanied the image read: “#THROWBACKtolastTHURSDAY.”
Rihanna uploaded a picture of herself and Chris Brown holding hands to her Twitter account
Last Tuesday Rihanna posted a similar snap to her Instagram account which saw her snuggling with what appeared to be Brown’s tattooed arm.
“Damn……. I miss my n***a #thuglife #BFFlife,” the pop star tweeted to her 27.1 million followers.
Also taking part in the social network tradition Chris Brown further fuelled the Rihanna rumor mill on Thursday by posting a loving picture of the pair, sparking claims they may have reconciled.
In fact, the picture is believed to have been taken in Paris, just a day before the pair sensationally split after Rihanna heard Sweet Love rapper Chris partied with scantily-clad female models and lunched with ex Karrauche Tran in Dubai.
Too add further mystery, to what could be seen as a “forgive me” post, Chris Brown deleted the picture after just 15 minutes.
Kelly Osbourne has stripped off to reveal her impeccable bikini body as she graces the cover of Cosmopolitan Body after losing 69 lbs.
Kelly Osbourne, 28, wows in the stills taken by Nicky Johnston, as she admits that she will never become self-obsessed.
Speaking to the magazine Kelly Osbourne said: “I’ll never be the kind of person who thinks, <<I’m so hot>>. I don’t want to be. But I learnt to respect and love myself – something I didn’t think I would ever be capable of.
“At the Emmys last year I had my first moment when I really felt good. I put on my dress and when I looked at myself in the mirror I cried.”
She continued: “Never in my life did I think that Zac Posen would fly in a dress for me that he could have given to any nominee. It fitted me perfectly!”
With her hair pushed to one side in loose curls, Kelly Osbourne places her hands behind her head as she clutches on to a pair of sunglasses.
Wearing a coating of deep cerise lipstick, the Fashion Police show host sports a blue and brown striped bikini top as she accessories with a lavender plastic personalized necklace.
Staring dead into the camera lens Kelly Osbourne pierces her lips as she cuts a beach ready figure.
Kelly Osbourne has stripped off to reveal her impeccable bikini body as she graces the cover of Cosmopolitan Body after losing 69 lbs
In the honest interview Kelly Osbourne revealed that her despite losing 69 lbs, her new size is not the reason for her happiness.
“People think I lost weight and that’s what made me happier. That’s not true; I had to learn to love myself first.
“Losing weight was just one benefit of putting the hard work in and sorting myself out on the inside first through therapy.”
Kelly Osbourne explaining that following therapy she finally learned to just be herself: “That was one of the scariest times of my life. I swear I’ve never felt more naked, because I had to actually be me and couldn’t mask it.”
The Changes singer told the publication that her weight loss will be permanent.
“Working out is not fun, I’m not going to lie and say it is. I sweat my arse off and I’m miserable for the hour I’m doing it but when I’m done, I feel amazing.
“There’s no quick fix and it does take a long time. It drives you mad when you see someone eating chips when you can’t have any, but it’s so worth it.”
She added: “If you want to change your body you can’t just diet; if you do that, you lose weight, then get fat. You’ve got to commit to a whole life change and teach yourself a whole new lifestyle.
“It isn’t fun, but it never will be. I don’t deny myself anything – I still eat chocolate and cake and always will. Everything in moderation.”
“When I started exercising I couldn’t even do one sit-up! By the end of the first week I could do three, and that was a big deal.
“Now I work out every day and I just don’t feel good if I miss it. It’s amazing how quickly your fitness builds, but you have to really want it,” she said.
Moving off the topic of weight, Kelly Osbourne took time to gush over her new found happiness with her boyfriend Matthew Mosshart.
In awe of her boyfriend – who is the brother of The Kills star Alison Mosshart – she said: “I have finally learnt to let somebody love and treat me the way I deserve to be and that’s a great feeling.
“The thing is, if you think you don’t deserve to be treated well, you won’t be. A lot of girls don’t believe they deserve the best and their boyfriends walk all over them. I learnt the hard way.
“But when I met Matthew everything changed and I realized I’d never been in love before.”
Delivery experts have attempted to calculate how Santa would make his impressive delivery to around 760 million children on Christmas night if he didn’t have magic on his side.
Experts from FedEx and UPS shared their calculations with National Public Radio’s Planet Money, estimating the resources they’d need to compete with Santa’s nine reindeer and unknown number of elves.
And it doesn’t come cheap. The delivery firm bosses estimate Santa would need a 12 million-strong operation with workers specializing in areas from sleigh-loading to border control and meteorology and that’s after the presents are wrapped.
Paul Tronsor from FedEx said: “It is really about international business because after all that’s what Santa is really doing here – a massive international operation…Santa is the head of this huge organization, so we expect Santa would need around 12million people. Santa Inc is massive, I don’t know of any company that has the number of employees that Santa does.”
Both companies admit Santa’s workforce probably doesn’t need to meet these exact figures – given he has the unknown advantage of festive magic on his side – but if he didn’t there’s no doubt he would be Chief Executive of the biggest organization on earth.
They predict he would need 46 international facilities each 5.2million square feet with 155 miles of conveyer belt and 9,000 employees working in present-loading alone.
Delivery experts have attempted to calculate how Santa would make his impressive delivery to around 760 million children on Christmas night if he didn’t have magic on his side
They estimate a further 7,000 employees would be needed to tweak his route mid-air, with an extra 100 meteorologists to insure he avoids poor weather and 40,000 to make sure he has the right permits to cross the world’s borders and to deal with customs staff.
Mike Mangeot of UPS says the support staff under Santa’s leadership would span all sorts of professions.
“Whether it would be human resources, finance and accounting, network planning or regulatory compliance…You can’t just fly into a country, you have to get permissions to do that.”
And it’s the sleigh that’s makes the parcel-delivery bosses really envious.
“Santa’s sled has to be absolutely ginormous,” Mike Mangeot adds.
“If you assume conservatively that each of these 760 million children get one present which weighs one pound – that’s 760 million pounds, which would take 295 747 aircraft to haul. Interestingly that is about 50 more 747s than exist in the entire world so these reindeer are doing something impressive on Christmas night.”
What a FedEx Santa would need
12 million members of staff including 100 border experts, 100 meteorologists and 7,000 route planners
46 International packing facilities where he could re-load his sleigh through the night
Each facility would be 5.2million square feet with 155 miles of conveyer belt and 9,000 packing staff
His sleigh would need to carry a weight of at least 760 million pounds which would take 295 747 airplanes to carry
40,000 customs experts to help Santa navigate across the world’s borders
Suzy Favor-Hamilton, a three-time US Olympian who was publicly exposed on Thursday as an elite $600-an-hour escort, has revealed that her husband knew about her double life and tried to put an end to it.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton, a 44-year-old married mother of three, has been working with one of Las Vegas’ top agencies to book “dates” across cities including Las Vegas, Chicago and Houston.
Despite using the name “Kelly Lundy” as she advertised her services through Haley Heston’s Private Collection, her double life has been revealed after she told clients about her real identity, believing there was an unwritten rule they would not speak out.
But now at least one of these clients has contacted The Smoking Gun, which in turn has revealed the details of Suzy Favor-Hamilton’s clandestine career, which she now calls a “huge mistake”.
Soon after the story appeared online, instantly sparking a furor in the media, Suzy Favor-Hamilton took to Twitter to offer her 3,183 followers her side of the story.
In one missive, Suzy Favor-Hamilton explained that she was initially drawn to escorting “because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life”.
She added: “It provided an escape from a life that I was struggling in. It was a double life.”
In another post, Suzy Favor-Hamilton wrote that the reasons behind her decision to turn to a life of prostitution, while seemingly irrational now, “made sense at the time” and were closely related to depression.
“As crazy as I know it seems, I never thought I would be exposed, therefore never hurting anybody,” she said in one Twitter post.
The Olympian has refused to be labeled a victim, insisting that she knew what she was doing and taking full responsibility for her actions.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton told The Smoking Gun that her husband was the only one who knew about her moonlighting as a prostitute in cities across the country. “He tried, he tried to get me to stop. He wasn’t supportive of this at all,” Suzy Favor Hamilton noted.
She has revealed that she is currently seeking psychological help for her problem.
“I fully intend to make amends and get back to being a good mother, wife, daughter, and friend,” she concluded in her most recent post.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton entered the public eye competing as a middle distance runner in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. She went on to record a Nike TV advert, a swimsuit calendar and carry out Disney promo work.
She now works as a motivational speaker and runs a successful realty company in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Mark, whom she met at college. They have a 7-year-old daughter.
But last December, she began working with Haley Heston’s agency to escape this routine life, she told the Smoking Gun when it caught up with her.
It is not clear how she was introduced to the agency, but she wrote on the website: “I met Haley with the idea of fulfilling a fantasy and only doing it for the short term.
“Well, after my first date, I was hooked, and have been doing my best to visit Las Vegas as often as my schedule allows (I run my own business in my real world life).”
She featured in numerous provocative photographs on her online profile on the website – yet always had her face obscured or hidden from the camera.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton explained: “Discretion is EXTREMELY important to me, hence you will only see blurred photos of my face on this site. I know this is not ideal, but I hope you understand that it is essential for me.”
She also described herself on the profile – which has now been removed – as a “workout fanatic” who enjoyed skiing, biking, hiking, running marathons and traveling.
Suzy favor-Hamilton wrote that she was bisexual so happy to carry out services with couples.
“Working with couples requires special skill and I pride myself in my ability to make a woman feel comfortable and not threatened in any way,” she wrote.
“A date with me will NEVER feel rushed.”
Suzy Favor-Hamilton, a three-time US Olympian, was publicly exposed as an elite $600-an-hour escort
Suzy Favor-Hamilton listed her rates as $600 for an hour, $1,000 for two hours, $4,000 for 12 hours and $6,000 for 24 hours, according to the page seen by the Smoking Gun.
And clients are happy with her services, allowing her to be named as The Erotic Review’s third-ranked “provider” in Las Vegas earlier this month.
In one July 2012 review, a client wrote: “She is worth every penny. I will go bankrupt before I stop seeing her. I hope no one else goes to see her, because I want her all to myself.”
Prostitution is illegal in all of the cities where Suzy Favor-Hamilton has had “dates” arranged by Haley Heston. But she said that she had never considered the legal ramifications of her work.
As well as legal problems, she may also face a backlash from her other employers if they learn that she apparently fitted the “dates” around her demanding work schedule.
At the end of August, Haley Heston said “Kelly” would be able to work in Orange County California. On September 1, Suzy Favor-Hamilton appeared at the Disney Exhibit Hall to speak to runners ahead of the Disneyland Half Marathon the next day, which she ran with her husband.
And in another example, the service said she would be in Vegas between November 29 and December 5. She ran the December 2 Rock n’ Roll Marathon along the Strip.
After being tracked down to a hotel in Las Vegas, Suzy Favor Hamilton eventually admitted she was “Kelly”, and while she called the role “exciting” she acknowledged she had made an error in judgment.
“I take full responsibility for my mistakes,” she said, the Smoking Gun reported.
“I’m not the victim and I’m not going that route. I’m owning up to what I did. I would not blame anybody except myself.”
She added: “Everybody in this world makes mistakes. I made a huge mistake. Huge.”
On Thursday, Suzy Favor-Hamilton tweeted: “I do not expect people to understand, but the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression.
“I cannot emphasize enough how sorry I am to anyone I have hurt as a result of my actions and greatly appreciate the support from family and those closest to me. I fully intend to make amends and get back to being a good mother, wife, daughter, and friend.”
She said that she had not second guessed telling clients about her real identity and called herself “too trusting”. Suzy Favor-Hamilton said she expected all clients to honor a silence code.
Of the client Suzy Favor Hamilton suspected of going to the media, she said: “He totally broke all the rules by outing me.”
But she explained that she would not be revealing his identity to his loved ones as: “I don’t want to be like him. Because he is scum. And I will not become scum to make myself feel good.”
The revelation will come as no shock to her husband, who already knows of her side-career, she said. He repeatedly tried to make her stop, but she had refused.
Suzy Favor-Hamilton added that she had recently started therapy to come to terms with what she had done.
The couple does not appear to be suffering any financial hardship, according to court and municipal records.
But Suzy Favor-Hamilton has spoken of struggles in the past, including how she suffered from postpartum depression after her daughter’s birth in 2005.
Her brother Dan also killed himself in 1999 and, when she ran in the 1500-meter final at the Sydney Olympics the following year, she purposefully fell when runners overtook her as she was ashamed she could not win the medal in his memory.
Fresh clashes have broken out in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on the eve of the second leg of voting in the country’s constitutional referendum.
Police fired tear gas as thousands of Islamists were met by a smaller group of protesters near a large mosque.
The Islamists back President Mohamed Morsi and his draft constitution. Opponents say the document has been rushed and does not protect minorities.
Alexandria voted in the first leg of a referendum that has split the nation.
The capital, Cairo, has also voted. Seventeen of the 27 provinces will cast ballots on Saturday.
Islamists in favor of the draft had called for a large rally outside the Qaed Ibrahim mosque in the centre of Alexandria.
They chanted “God is Great” and “With blood and soul, we redeem Islam”.
A smaller group of opponents chanted anti-constitution slogans and the two sides threw stones at each other.
Police formed lines to keep the groups apart and fired tear gas, with the unrest subsiding after about 90 minutes.
The state news agency Mena quoted the health ministry as saying that 32 people had been injured.
Last week an ultraconservative cleric was trapped in a mosque in Alexandria for 12 hours as his supporters battled opponents outside.
Some 250,000 security personnel have been deployed nationwide to try to keep order during the referendum.
Turnout for the first round of voting was reported to be low – just above 30%. Unofficial counts suggested some 56% of those who cast ballots voted “yes” to the draft.
The opposition has complained of a number of cases of fraud.
Analysts believe Saturday’s leg will favor a “yes” vote as the areas to vote are considered in general to be more conservative.
Egypt’s latest crisis began on November 22, when Mohamed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree, stripping the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.
The decree spurred protests and clashes between Mohamed Morsi’s supporters and opponents.
Under pressure, the president revoked much of the decree but only after a constituent assembly had voted through the draft constitution and it had been put to the referendum.
The opposition had demanded the referendum be postponed, saying the assembly had approved the draft despite a boycott by liberals, secularists and Christians, who believe it does not adequately protect women, freedom of expression or religion.
The opposition did not, however, call a boycott, instead urging its members to vote “no”.
If the constitution passes, elections must take place within three months. In the meantime, legislative powers would remain with Mohamed Morsi.
People across the US have observed a moment of silence one week after gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Bells in Newtown tolled 26 times – for each victim of the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Adam Lanza, 20, carried out the attack at 09:30 EST after killing his mother. He later shot himself dead.
The moment of silence comes as the main US gun lobby group, the NRA, is set for a news conference on the shootings.
Funerals for those killed have taken place throughout the week, and continue in Newtown on Friday.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has asked people throughout the state to join the moment of silence, and churches in many other states have said they will join in ringing their bells 26 times.
The governor, with his deputies, marked the moment on the steps of Edmond Town Hall in Newtown.
Governor Dannel Malloy has called Friday a “day of mourning” and invited the governor of other states to participate in the acts of remembrance.
President Barack Obama said he would observe the tribute to the shooting victims privately.
Since the mass shooting, the Obama administration has indicated that it will look for ways to tighten gun laws in the wake of the attack.
People across the US have observed a moment of silence one week after gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Vice-President Joe Biden has been assigned to lead the response to the Sandy Hook massacre, and Barack Obama has demanded a set of “concrete proposals” within a month.
Speaker of the House John Boehner has said the Republican-controlled chamber would consider new proposals.
In Washington on Friday, influential National Rifle Association (NRA) is due to hold a news conference on Friday morning after remaining largely silent in the aftermath of the shooting.
Representatives of the group will speak at 10:45 EST.
On Tuesday, the group issued a statement saying: “Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting.”
But the group said it would offer “meaningful contributions” to make sure such tragedies do not happen again.
The guns used in the shooting had been legally bought by the gunman’s mother, Nancy Lanza.
The incident has seen some pro-gun congressmen say the mass shooting has prompted them to change their views on whether guns should be regulated more strictly in the US.
Meanwhile California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who has been an advocate for tighter gun laws, said she would introduce new legislation when Congress meets for the first time in the new year.
But there is no bipartisan consensus on the issue, with some arguing that teachers in schools should be armed in order to better defend students if a shooting occurs.
Catherine Deneuve has defended fellow movie star Gerard Depardieu over his move to Belgium.
In an open letter Catherine Deneuve voiced fury that another actor, Philippe Torreton, had attacked Gerard Depardieu for leaving France “with a load of dosh”.
Catherine Deneuve said “he [Gerard Depardieu] is a great actor and you’re just expressing your resentment”. She starred with Gerard Depardieu in several classic French films.
Gerard Depardieu has criticized the Socialist government for its new 75% wealth tax.
Next year, the top rate of income tax in France is due to become 75% on earnings above 1 million euros ($1.3 million). Belgium’s highest tax rate is currently 50%.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has condemned Gerard Depardieu’s decision as “shabby”.
Catherine Deneuve has defended fellow movie star Gerard Depardieu over his move to Belgium
In her letter, headlined “Monsieur Torreton…” in the left-wing daily Liberation, Catherine Deneuve accused Philippe Torreton of “pettiness”.
“To take aim at his physique! His talent! This <<mess>>you speak of – what right do you have, what democratic motive do you claim as grounds for your dirty condemnation?”
Gerard Depardieu, 63, announced earlier this month that he was moving just over the French border to the small Belgian town of Nechin.
Catherine Deneuve starred with him in some landmarks of French cinema, including The Last Metro and, more recently, the Franco-Belgian comedy, Potiche.
On Wednesday another star of French cinema, Brigitte Bardot, also defended Gerard Depardieu, saying he was the victim of “unfair vilification”.
“Even if he is a fan of bullfighting, that does not prevent him being an exceptional actor who represents France with a unique fame and popularity,” said Brigitte Bardot, a campaigner for animal rights.
On Thursday the row spread to Russia where President Vladimir Putin addressed the actor’s move abroad during his marathon annual news conference.
Vladimir Putin told a big live audience: “I’m sure the French authorities did not want to offend Mr. Depardieu. But if he’d like to have a Russian passport, consider it settled.”
At least 39 people have been killed in Kenya in fresh clashes between rival communities in the Tana River district, police say.
The attack by ethnic Pokomo farmers on an Orma village, Kipao, came in the early hours of the morning, they say.
Thirteen children and six women were among those killed.
Police say the latest attack was revenge for the killing of more than 100 villagers earlier this year, but some say the raids are political.
Elections are due in March 2013.
Police say that there have been casualties on both sides. Houses were reportedly burnt and villagers cut down with machetes.
Some victims bled to death as they were unable to be treated in time.
“About 150 Pokomo raiders attacked Kipao village, which is inhabited by the Ormas, early on Friday. The Ormas appeared to have been aware and were prepared,” Robert Kitur, Coast Region deputy police chief, told reporters.
He said police were pursuing the raiders, who used firearms, spears, machetes and arrows.
Villagers in the area have fled their homes in fear of revenge attacks, aid workers say.
The Red Cross say they know of at least 30 dead and 30 others seriously wounded, including a one-year-old child. More than 40 houses were set ablaze.
Search teams are said to be combing the area around Kipao, looking for further victims.
Police reinforcements and emergency officials are being flown to the scene, while the wounded are being taken to the port city of Mombasa for treatment.
In August, the two communities clashed after members of the Orma community were accused of grazing their cattle on land that the Pokomo say is theirs.
Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in the coastal region.
Police, who have been camping out in the remote region, have been trying to disarm the two groups.
Tensions between the two communities have risen in recent days, they say.
Many suspect a political motive lies behind the attack.
Following the violence in August and September, an MP from the region, Assistant Livestock Minister, Dhadho Godhana, was arrested for inciting violence. He denies the charges.
The UN says the clashes may be related to the redrawing of political boundaries ahead of next year’s general election.
The last election in 2007 was marred by widespread clashes, in which more than 1,300 people were killed.
Four prominent Kenyans have been charged by the International Criminal Court over that violence.
Two of them have formed an alliance to contest the March election – their trial is due to begin a month later in The Hague.
Mila Kunis has been targeted in an anti-Semitic rant by a politician in her native Ukraine.
According to gossip website TMZ.com, Jewish organizations around the globe are furious that Igor Miroshnichenko said Mila Kunis, 29, was not a true Ukrainian and called her a “zhydovka”.
The statement translates as “dirty Jewess” and is reportedly a derogatory word against Jewish people that was used during the Holocaust, TMZ said.
Protests have broken out in recent days after the Ukrainian Justice Ministry ruled that using the term to describe a Jewish person was legal, turning back a petition demanding that the offensive word be banned from the public sphere.
Mila Kunis has yet to respond to the politician’s remarks.
Mila Kunis has been targeted in an anti-Semitic rant by Ukrainian politician Igor Miroshnichenko
The actress opened up about her early childhood growing up in the Ukraine earlier this year.
She said: “My whole family was in the Holocaust. My grandparents passed and not many survived.
“After the Holocaust, in Russia you were not allowed to be religious. So my parents raised me to know I was Jewish.
“You know who you are inside. When I was in school you would still see anti-Semitic signs.
“One of my friends who grew up in Russia, she was in second grade. She came home one day crying. Her mother asked why and she said on the back of her seat there was a swastika.
“This is a country that obviously does not want you.”
When Mila Kunis was 7, her parents Mark, a mechanical engineer, and mum Elvira, a physics teacher, decided to move to the US with Mila and her brother Michael.
North Korea has announced it arrested US citizen Pae Jun Ho for unspecified alleged crimes on November 3rd.
Pae Jun Ho entered the country as a tourist, state media reported.
Some reports from South Korea have said the man is a Korean American who operates a travel company and went to the North guiding a group of tourists.
In recent years North Korea has arrested and released several US citizens, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism.
State media said Pae Jun Ho was subject to criminal proceedings.
North Korea has announced it arrested US citizen Pae Jun Ho for unspecified alleged crimes on November 3rd
“In the process of investigation, evidence proving that he committed a crime against the DPRK was revealed,” state news agency KCNA reported.
“He admitted his crime.”
It also said the man had met officials from the Swedish embassy. Sweden represents US interests in North Korea because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations.
The arrest comes amid tension between the US and North Korea over a recent North Korean rocket launch.
Despite all the predictions of Mayan apocalypse, the world will probably not end by December 22. How will the believers cope when life carries on?
The clock strikes midnight, the hallowed date arrives and, once again, the apocalypse fails to turn up on schedule.
For such a cataclysmic event, the projected end of the world has come around with surprising regularity throughout history.
Each time a group of believers has been left bewildered at the absence of all-consuming death and devastation.
If they’ve taking the warnings seriously enough, they will have sold their homes, abandoned earthly civilisation’s material trappings and braced themselves for the arrival of a new era.
The latest date to herald widespread alarm is December 21, which marks the conclusion of the 5,125-year “Long Count” Mayan calendar.
Around the world, precautions are being taken.
Panic-buying of candles has been reported in China’s Sichuan province. In Russia, where sales of tinned goods and matches have surged, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has urged his countryfolk to remain calm.
Authorities in the French Pyrenees are preparing for an influx of believers to the mountain Pic de Bugarach, where rumors have spread that UFOs will rescue human gatherers.
And one doesn’t have to belong to a sect to find these predictions compelling. Humankind’s ongoing fascination with the apocalypse is evident in mainstream popular culture.
Films like 2012, Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow all packed out multiplexes by depicting threats of global catastrophe. The Left Behind novels about a “post-rapture” world have reportedly sold more than 70 million copies.
If precedent is any guide, however, December 21 is likely to prove an anti-climax. Since the dawn of civilization, humans have often been gripped by certainty that the world was about to end.
The Romans panicked at predictions their city would be destroyed in 634 BC. Millennial fears gripped Europe ahead of the year 1000 AD. During the English Civil War, groups like the Fifth Monarchists believed the end was nigh.
More recent apocalypses have panned out in much the same way. Followers of Nostradamus braced themselves for the arrival of the “King of Terror” in “1999 and seven months”. US television evangelist Pat Robertson forecast that “something like” a nuclear attack would occur in late 2007.
The California radio preacher Harold Camping set a date for the end of the world no fewer than six times, settling on 22 October 2011 – a day which, historians may recall, was distinguished by an absence of fire and brimstone.
Despite all the predictions of Mayan apocalypse, the world will probably not end by December 22
For those who paid heed to their dire warnings, learning that life will in fact carry on as normal might be expected to be a deeply traumatic experience.
Surprisingly, however, groups which predict the end of the world have quite a good record of carrying on after the world is supposed to have ended, says Lorne Dawson, an expert in the sociology of religion at the University of Waterloo.
“The vast majority seem to shrug off the failure of prophecy fairly well,” he says.
Of 75 groups identified by Dawson which predicted the apocalypse, all but six remained intact after catastrophe failed to materialize.
Indeed, many have gone on to flourish. Jehovah’s Witnesses are viewed as having predicted some form of end several times and yet still have more than seven million followers.
The Seventh Day Adventists, who have an estimated 17 million members, grew out of the Millerites, whose failed apocalyptic forecast in 1844 became known as the Great Disappointment.
The seminal study into this phenomenon came in the 1956 text When Prophecy Fails, in which psychologist Leon Festinger recounted how he and his students infiltrated a group who believed the world was about to end with members being rescued by a flying saucer.
When both the apocalypse and the UFO failed to materialize, Leon Festinger found, the leader declared that the small circle of believers had “spread so much light” that God had spared the planet. Her followers responded by proselytizing the good news among non-believers in what Leon Festinger saw as a classic case of cognitive dissonance.
In a similar exercise, psychiatrist Simon Dein spent time with a small community of Lubavitch Hassidic Jews in Stamford Hill, north London. For years many Lubavitchers had believed their spiritual leader Menechem Mendel Schneerson, known as the rebbe, was the messiah.
According to their theology, he would herald the end of civilization and usher in a new age. Their faith was tested, however, when the rebbe passed away in New York in 1994.
“I was there at the time he died,” says Simon Dein.
“They were crying. They were mourning. There was a great sense of denial – he couldn’t die. Would he reveal himself?”
But, Simon Dein says, these Lubavitchers did not give up their belief system. Very quickly, they took up the idea he was still alive and could not be seen, or that he would somehow rise from the dead.
“There are very heated tensions between those who believe he’s alive and those who believe he’s dead, but his death doesn’t seem to have diminished the number of people in the group,” Simon Dein says.
According to Dawson, the 200 Lubavitcher families in Stamford Hill had the most crucial trait necessary to keep a group together after a failed apocalypse – a strong sense of community.
“If the group itself has been pretty cohesive, it’s been free of schism and dissent, they can get through,” he says.
Also important, he believes, is the presence of a decisive leadership who can offer a swift explanation.
“If rationalization comes quickly, the group can withstand ridicule from outside,” he adds.
Some leaders, such as Camping on several occasions, simply offer a new date for the apocalypse. Others apologize to their members for getting the scheduling wrong.
Tragically, some take more drastic action. The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were found in 1997. They had taken their own lives in the belief they would reach a UFO following the Hale-Bopp comet.
Most, however, find a peaceful way to adjust.
“When you have invested so much in a belief, you have a very strong interest in salvaging something from it,” says Philip Jenkins, a historian of religion at Baylor University in Texas.
For Philip Jenkins, the appeal of leaders preaching the impending apocalypse down the ages has always been about far more than the specifics of their prophecies.
“It’s a kind of rejection of the order of the world as it is,” he says.
“It’s to do with imagining something far better. After it becomes apparent that the new order isn’t going to come, there are ways of adjusting the message.”
For true believers, the saga is only just beginning when the clock hands reach 12.
Thousands of people across the world have been preparing for what they believe will be the end of the world on December 21, according to a Mayan prophecy.
The date is the apparent end of the “long count” calendar of the ancient Mayan civilisation.
Believers have gathered in Mexico near Mayan ruins, and in other supposedly spiritual places around the world.
Chinese police have arrested hundreds of members of a Christian group who apparently believe the prophecy.
Last year, experts said a new reading of the calendar revealed that it did not in fact predict the apocalypse.
Many believe the date in fact marks the start of a new era in the calendar.
However, among some the date is still being taken as heralding the end of the world.
Magical sites for the end of the world
Hundreds of spiritualists gathered in the city of Merida in Mexico, about an hour and a half from the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.
One spot thought by some to destined to escape the end of the world is the mountain of Bugarach in southern France.
One spot thought by some to destined to escape the end of the world is the mountain of Bugarach in southern France
However, those preparing for the end of the world were reported to be far outnumbered by journalists.
The Turkish town of Sirince, another site reputed to be safe from the end of the world, saw similar scenes on Thursday.
Hundreds of reporters were wandering aimlessly around the beautiful town of 570 inhabitants, the AFP news agency reported.
However, hotels around the Rtanj mountain in Serbia, a site rumored to have magical powers, were booked out for the big date.
“I do not really believe that the end of the world is coming, but it is nice to be here in case something unusual happens,” Darko, a 28-year-old designer visiting from Belgrade, told AFP.
In China, police have arrested almost 1,000 members of a Christian group which has predicted that Friday will usher in three days of darkness.
The group, called Almighty God, apparently urged its members to overthrow communism.
State media terms Almighty God an “evil cult”, the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong group.
The belief has gained considerable popularity in China, where the film 2012 was a box office hit.
A farmer in Hebei province, Liu Qiyuan – not a follower of Almighty God – has built seven survival pods which can contain 14 people each.
The pods, made of fibreglass, float on water and can survive storms.
Liu Qiyuan told the AFP news agency: “If there really is some kind of apocalypse then you could say I’ve made a contribution to the survival of humanity.”
To calm anxieties, police in Beijing have posted an online notice telling people that “the so-called end of the world is a rumor”.
Republicans have cancelled a tax vote in the US Congress, less than two weeks before a deadline for budget reform.
Republican House speaker John Boehner proposed the bill, which would have raised taxes on high earners. But right-leaning Republicans rejected it.
Analysts say the rejection has weakened John Boehner’s position in negotiations with the White House.
Politicians need to agree fiscal rules by January 1st 2013, or steep tax rises and deep spending cuts will take effect.
Analysts say the so-called fiscal cliff could take the US into recession.
Despite the failure of the vote, major stock markets were little changed, as most analysts had expected this to be a long, drawn out process. European markets were down in the first half hour of trading, but by less than 0.5%.
John Boehner said he had been unable to garner sufficient votes to secure passage of the bill.
Although it would have ensured a tax cut for 99.8% of Americans, it would have imposed a rise on those earning more than $1 million.
He said in a statement that the bill “did not have sufficient support from our members to pass”.
Shortly after, the White House said President Barack Obama would work with Congress.
The White House statement said it was “hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly”.
Republicans have cancelled vote on John Boehner’s fiscal cliff Plan B, less than two weeks before a deadline for budget reform
Earlier on Thursday, the House narrowly passed a companion bill that would cut domestic spending while protecting the defence budget.
The House is controlled by the Republicans, but the Senate is Democrat-led.
John Boehner’s plan would have had little chance of passing a Senate vote.
Analysts say it was in effect an effort to tell the US public that the Republicans should not be blamed if a deal could not be reached.
But some believe that the White House has now been strengthened by John Boehner’s failure.
White House spokesman Jay Carney earlier said John Boehner’s plan was a “multi-day exercise in futility at a time when we do not have the luxury of exercises in futility”.
John Boehner announced the bill on Tuesday, saying he would bring forward a measure that extended Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $1 million per year – but would not address the automatic spending cuts.
On Wednesday, the Republican leadership added a companion bill that would replace the automatic cuts with a proposal to remove cuts from defence and government operating budgets. They would be offset by reductions elsewhere in the budget.
The proposal would cut food stamps, benefits for federal workers and some social services programmes.
Barack Obama had sought tax rises for the wealthy, but was pushing for a lower threshold of $400,000.
He also offered a change to the way Social Security cost of living adjustments are made for some recipients, cuts from government healthcare programmes and a two-year extension of the debt ceiling.
John Boehner’s office called the proposal “a step in the right direction” but not fully “balanced”.
Analysts have painted a grim picture of the consequences of going over the cliff, with some warning that the impact could push the US back into recession.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in its latest economic outlook that the recession from the cliff could become global.
French actress Eva Ionesco is suing her mother Irina Ionesco for taking pictures of her when she was 11-year-old – and passing them to Playboy.
Eva Ionesco was the youngest ever model in Playboy magazine.
Now her photographer mother Irina Ionesco has been ordered to pay 10,000 euros in damages to Eva for taking the pictures of her in the 1970s, when she was between 4 and 12.
The court in Paris also ordered Irina Ionesco to hand over negatives of the pictures to her daughter Eva Ionesco, who said she had suffered a “stolen childhood” because of the photographs.
However, th court rejected Eva Ionesco’s demand for 200,000 euros ($263,000) in damages and for her mother to be barred from profiting from the photographs.
Irina Ionesco was well-known in the 1970s for her photographs, especially the controversial ones of her daughter, which appeared in a number of publications including European editions of magazines Playboy and Penthouse.
The photographs of Eva Ionesco, now 47, were taken in the 1970s between the ages of 4 and 12 by her photographer mother Irina Ionesco.
Eva Ionesco became the youngest model to appear nude in Playboy when she featured aged 11 in an October 1976 edition.
Her photographs as a child were also published in Penthouse. Her lawyer Jacques-Georges Bitoun told the court that the 1970s “were an era when paedophile networks still had a lot of influence”.
“How can one open the legs of a four year old girl and take a snap?” he said.
“If art is photographing a child in these positions, I understand nothing of art,” he said.
Then he added: “The child is never presented as a child but as a disguised prostitute.”
Irina Ionesco’s lawyer Rene-Jean Ullmann argued that the 1970s were a “more permissive” time and spoke of the actress’s alleged “hatred for her mother”.
Eva Ionesco publicized the bizarre details of her relationship with her mother in her 2011 film My Little Princess, starring Isabelle Huppert.
She made her movie debut at the age of 11 in 1976, playing a child in Roman Polanski’s movie The Tenant. In 1977 her mother lost custody of her children and Eva Ionesco was brought up by the parents of footwear designer Christian Louboutin.
Chris Brown further fueled the Rihanna rumor mill on Thursday by posting a loving picture of them together, sparking claims they may have reconciled.
In fact, the picture is believed to have been taken in Paris, just a day before the pair sensationally split after Rihanna heard Chris Brown partied with scantily-clad female models and lunched with ex Karrauche Tran in Dubai.
To add further mystery, to what could be seen as a “forgive me” post, Chris Brown deleted the picture after 15 minutes.
But thousands of Twitter users retweeted the snap, which shows Rihanna wearing a red fur coat, which she was seen wearing on December 10 in Paris, the same day Chris Brown was spotted leaving her hotel room in the City of Lights.
Rumors swirled that the star was trying to elicit forgiveness from his on-again off-again lover after she posted a series of vitriolic Twitter comments about being single.
After weeks of happy texts aimed at Chris Brown and photos of the pair together, Rihanna wrote: “Examine what you tolerate”, “Goodbye muthaf*****”, “You give, you get, then you give it the f*** back” and “Claps for the basic b****** (sic)”.
Chris Brown further fuelled the Rihanna rumor mill on Thursday by posting a loving picture of them together, sparking claims they may have reconciled
In between posting raunchy images of herself, Rihanna followed it up, musing: “Never underestimate a man’s ability to make you feel guilty for his mistakes.”
Of course, Rihanna can not be with Chris Brown as she is currently holidaying in a luxury beach front villa in Barbados.
It isn’t clear if Chris Brown wants to get back together with Rihanna or simply remind her of the fun they had together. Since they first split in 2009, Rihanna often referred to her ex as her “best friend”.
Meanwhile Karrauche Tran’s best friend Christina Milian, 31, claims Karrueche has always been Chris Brown’s “girlfriend” despite Chris previously announcing they had split last October.
When asked about her friend’s relationship status with the 23-year-old R&B star, The Voice USA star said last week on The Wendy Williams Show on Friday: “You know what, from what I’ve always known, she’s his girlfriend.”
Gerard Depardieu was spotted stocking up on his favorite cheese before flying to Italy – sparking rumors that he has finally left France for good after publicly renouncing his citizenship.
Gerard Depardieu, 63, was wheeled out of Ciampino Airport in Rome after publicly slamming the introduction of a new top rate of tax in France in January 2013.
It is unclear whether the actor famous for his roles as Cyrano de Bergerac and Astérix the Gaul’s sidekick Obélix, is just on a short break in Rome or if he is on his way to Belgium, where it is rumored he will settle.
In an angry letter, published in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Gerard Depardieu said he had been “insulted” by France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault who called him pathetic for wanting to leave France for Belgium to avoid the new 75% top rate of tax.
Gerard Depardieu wrote: “I was born in 1948.
“I started working aged 14, as a printer, as a warehouseman, then as an actor, and I’ve always paid my taxes.”
Gerard Depardieu was spotted stocking up on his favorite cheese before flying to Italy, sparking rumors that he has finally left France for good
Over 45 years, Gerard Depardieu said, he had paid 145 million euros in tax, and to this day employs 80 people.
Last year he paid taxes amounting to 85% of his income.
“I am neither worthy of pity nor admirable, but I shall not be called <<pathetic>>,” he concluded, saying that he was sending back his French passport.
Under French President François Hollande’s tough new budget measures to tackle a €37million deficit, France will tax income over €1million at 75% of January 1.
The Belgian Foreign Minister has given carte blanche to anyone planning to follow in Gerard Depardieu’s footsteps and move to Belgium in an attempt to escape higher French taxes.
“If other French people want to come to Belgium, I’m not at all opposed,” Didier Reynders said in an interview with Le Figaro.
US President Barack Obama has been named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for 2012, allowing him the honor for the second time in four years.
TIME magazine cited Barack Obama’s historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation’s changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.
“He’s basically the beneficiary and the author of a kind of new America – a new demographic, a new cultural America that he is now the symbol of,”TIME editor Rick Stengel said as he announced the choice on the Today show on Wednesday.
“He won re-election despite a higher unemployment rate than anybody’s had to face in basically 70 years. He’s the first Democrat to actually win two consecutive terms with over 50 per cent of the vote. That’s something we haven’t seen since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”
The “Person of the Year” accolade is given to the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and news throughout the year for good or for ill.
Barack Obama was named as Person of the Year in 2008, with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and The Protester filling the years in between.
Barack Obama has been named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for 2012, allowing him the honor for the second time in four years
This year, Barack Obama edged out Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education, for the honor. She was named as runner up.
“Since October her message has been heard around the world, from cramped classrooms where girls scratch out lessons in the dirt to the halls of the U.N. and national governments and NGOs, where legions of activists argue ever more vehemently that the key to raising living standards throughout the developing world is the empowerment of women and girls,”TIME wrote in a profile.
Other finalists included Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and Higgs boson physicist Fabiola Gianotti.
In its latest edition and cover story, TIME explained its decision to name Barack Obama as the winner.
“We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Barack Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America,” the editors wrote.
“In 2012, he found and forged a new majority, turned weakness into opportunity and sought, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union.”
In a cover story, TIME‘s White House correspondent Michael Scherer explained the “Obama effect”.
“It could be measured – in wars stopped and started; industries saved, restructured or reregulated; tax cuts extended; debt levels inflated; terrorists killed; the health-insurance system reimagined; and gay service members who could walk in uniform with their partners,” he wrote.
Michael Scherer added that after this year’s election, Barack Obama started working on a “40,000-foot” list of issues to tackle in his second term in the White House.
The list included climate change, the soaring cost of college, electoral reform and prison reform.
Michael Scherer also spoke about his personal attributes – and how Republicans struggled to be negative against him.
“There was almost nothing that would stick to this guy, because they just liked him personally,” Mitt Romney deputy campaign manager Katie Packer Gage told the magazine.
President Obama appears in never seen before pictures as being caught unaware as he walks out of the Oval Office by none other than Spider-Man – or at least a very mini version of Spider-Man.
The intimate photograph taken by White House photographer Pete Souza shows Barack Obama joking around with one of this staffer’s children, who – dressed up as the super hero – pretends to shoot a spider web at the president – who in turn reacts by pretending he is caught up in the imaginary trap.
It is just one of the many behind-the-scenes pictures Pete Souza takes every year which show a more down-to-earth and touching side of the man who has just been named as TIME‘s Person of the Year for 2012. It is the second time he has had the honor in four years.
Barack Obama caught in the web of Spider-Man in never seen before picture
Other pictures released by Pete Souza, some of which have been seen before, show Barack Obama enjoying touching moments with his family – a loving father hugging his daughters Malia and Sasha at this year’s DNC, an affectionate husband pulling his First Lady Michelle tight as they watch a sunset over Chicago city skyline at Lake Michigan and as a big kid running around a swimming pool with a large water gun while daughter Sasha squirts water at him.
Simon Cowell has confirmed he is dating TV presenter and model Carmen Electra.
Simon Cowell – who has been spotted on numerous dates with Carmen Electra – has admitted he is smitten with the 40-year-old beauty but insisted she is not his girlfriend yet.
The 53-year-old music mogul opened up to Ryan Seacrest on Wednesday about their budding romance, saying: “She’s not my girlfriend. We’re people who date. She’s adorable, isn’t she?”
Carmen Electra, who was once married to basketball star Dennis Rodman and rocker Dave Navarro, previously revealed she had fallen for Simon Cowell after she filled in as a guest judge on Britain’s Got Talent.
She said: “He’s so cute. He is adorable. He’s actually a sweetheart… I really liked him. I think he’s really cool.
“Now, obviously, he’s in [Los Angeles] with X Factor and we started to hang out and we became friends … I think he’s a great guy.”
Simon Cowell has confirmed he is dating TV presenter and model Carmen Electra
Simon Cowell’s last relationship was with makeup artist Mezhgan Hussainy, whom he broke off his engagement from last year.
Simon Cowell and Carmen Electra were first spotted enjoying a flirtatious dinner at Los Angeles restaurant Cecconi’s in September.
An onlooker said at the time: “They were getting very cosy. They were holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes – and then they started making out.
“They were with other friends at the restaurant but didn’t seem to mind.”
Family and friends have paid their final respects to Jenni Rivera, ten days after the Mexican-American singer’s death in a plane crash.
Jenni Rivera’s children were among 6,000 mourners who attended the service at Gibson Amphitheatre, Los Angeles.
Jenni Rivera was born in California in 1969 to Mexican parents and sold more than 15 million records of norteno and banda music.
The singer died when the plane she was travelling in came down in northern Mexico on 9 December.
Dressed in white, Jenni Rivera’s family led the memorial service as images of the singer played on three large screens.
“We’re not here to mourn the death,” her son Michael, 21, told more than 6,000 mourners who packed the theatre for the service lasting nearly two-and-a-half-hours.
“We’re here to celebrate the life and graduation of a singer, an entertainer, a diva, a fighter, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and more than anything, a mother – the best mother.”
Michael Rivera then called for 27 seconds of silence for the victims of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
Family and friends have paid their final respects to Jenni Rivera, ten days after the singer’s death in a plane crash
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Jenni Rivera was known as the “diva de la banda”. She sold about 15 million albums and earned a slew of Latin Grammy nominations during her 17-year career.
Most of her music was about her misfortunes in love and she was especially well-loved by her fans for the way she talked openly about her troubles.
“Jenni made it OK for women to be who they are,” said her manager, Pete Salgado.
“Jenni also made it OK to be from nothing, with the hopes of being something.”
Jenni Rivera’s second husband, Juan Lopez, died in 2009, six years after the couple divorced in 2003.
Their youngest child, 11-year-old Johnny, said: “Mama, I’ve been crying so much these last few days. I miss you so much.
“I hope you’re taking care of my dad and I hope he’s taking care of you, too.”
Among the mourners to attend the service were Mexican singers Marco Antonio Solis and Ana Gabriel and actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Kate del Castillo.
Thousands of fans lined up to lay white roses on top of Jenni Rivera’s bright red coffin at the end of the service.
One fan, Veronika Flores, drove nearly eight hours from her home in Woodland, California, to be united with other fans at the service.
“I just came to say goodbye to a Latina woman, La Gran Senora,” she said, using the name of one of Rivera’s popular songs.
The family asked that Latin radio stations play Jenni Rivera’s song La Gran Senora at noon Thursday in her honor.
Jenni Rivera recently divorced her third husband, Esteban Loaiza, a professional baseball player who has played for the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The plane crash in Nuevo Leon on December 9 which killed Jenni Rivera and six others remains under investigation.
President Vladimir Putin has defended a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, which has been proposed by the Russian parliament.
Vladimir Putin said the bill, a response to the US Magnitsky Act which bars entry to Russian alleged human rights violators, was “appropriate”.
Russian officials, he said, were not allowed to sit in on US cases involving the mistreatment of Russian children.
In a marathon news conference, Vladimir Putin also restated his views on Syria.
The president also spoke about relations with fellow ex-Soviet states Ukraine and Georgia and sought to dispel speculation about his health.
A number of cases where Russian children have apparently been mistreated by US adoptive parents have made headlines in Russia.
Vladimir Putin said he still needed to read the Russian bill in detail, though he backed it in principle.
The rate of adoption in Russia is low. Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, nearly a third of them by Americans.
“The State Duma’s response may be emotional, but I consider it to be appropriate,” Vladimir Putin said, referring to Russia’s lower house.
Vladimir Putin called the Magnitsky Act “unfriendly”. The act replaced the US Jackson-Vanik amendment, which dated back to the Cold War.
President Vladimir Putin has defended a ban on Americans adopting Russian children, which has been proposed by the Russian parliament
“They have replaced one anti-Soviet, anti-Russian law with another… That is very bad. This, of course, in itself poisons our relations,” Vladimir Putin said.
He said the US had its own human rights abuses to address, pointing to mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo in Cuba and Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
Moscow, Vladimir Putin said, had “practically no interests” in Syria but did not want to see “mistakes” made in Libya repeated. Libya, he said, was “falling apart” as a result.
In 2011 Libyan rebels supported by Western air strikes ousted Col Muammar Gaddafi. The campaign was backed by a UN resolution, but Russia, a longstanding ally of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, has blocked a similar resolution on Syria.
Vladimir Putin said Syrians themselves needed to agree how to live in the future, and a military intervention would be “inappropriate”.
Asked about relations with Georgia, Vladimir Putin said he had seen “positive signals, very restrained so far” from the new coalition government led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, which defeated allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili at elections.
Russia, however, would not revoke its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, Vladimir Putin said.
Asked to explain a last-minute decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to cancel a trip to Moscow on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin said there were some economic problems to be resolved such as disagreement over import quotas.
But he denied that at issue was Ukraine’s reluctance to join a Moscow-led Customs Union linking Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia’s long-term gas contract with Ukraine was not in dispute now but he said Ukraine had made a “strategic mistake” by refusing to lease its gas pipeline network to Gazprom and other European operators.
He pointed out that Russia was now developing gas export infrastructure outside Ukraine: the Nord Stream pipeline in the North Sea, Blue Stream in the Black Sea and the recent launch of the South Stream undersea pipeline project, which will deliver Russian gas directly to the Balkans.
Vladimir Putin, 60, dismissed media reports about the state of his health.
“I can give a traditional answer to the question about my health: dream on,” he said.
Last month there were reports that Vladimir Putin, a keen sportsman, was suffering from a bad back.
He dismissed suggestions he was “authoritarian”.
“Had I considered a totalitarian or authoritarian system preferable, I would simply have changed the constitution, it was easy enough to do,” Vladimir Putin said.
