At least 90 people have been killed in a government air strike on a bakery in the central Syrian province of Hama, opposition activists say.
The incident took place in Halfaya, a town recently captured by rebels.
If activists’ reports of 90 deaths are confirmed, this would be one of the deadliest air strikes of the civil war.
Rebels have been fighting President Bashar al-Assad for 21 months, with opposition groups saying more than 44,000 people have been killed.
The latest violence comes as the joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, arrived in Damascus to discuss ways to end the unrest.
One activist in Halfaya, Samer al-Hamawi, told Reuters news agency: “There is no way to really know yet how many people were killed. When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground.
“We hadn’t received flour in around three days so everyone was going to the bakery today, and lots of them were women and children. I still don’t know yet if my relatives are among the dead.”
At least 90 people have been killed in a government air strike on a bakery in the central Syrian province of Hama
Unverified video footage purportedly of the incident’s aftermath showed graphic images of bloody bodies strewn on a road outside a partially destroyed building.
Rescuers were trying to remove some of the victims buried beneath piles of bricks and rubble.
Several badly damaged motorbikes could be seen scattered near the site of the attack which had drawn a number of armed men to the area.
Rebels of the Free Syrian Army have been making a concerted push recently to take areas of Hama province.
Five days ago they declared Halfaya a “liberated area” after taking over army positions there.
The rebels want to take control of the whole of Hama and link up the territory they control. As has happened many times before, he says, the government has hit back with massive firepower at the areas it has lost.
The UK-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there had been other air strikes on Sunday, including one on the town of Safira in northern Aleppo province, which killed 13 people.
The Observatory also reported that jets had struck the town of Saqba, just north of Damascus.
Meanwhile Lakhdar Brahimi, on his third trip to Damascus since taking the post, arrived overland from Beirut because of fighting near Damascus airport.
He is expected to meet Syria’s foreign minister and President Assad.
However, Lakhdar Brahimi has made little progress on a peace process so far and it is unclear what new ideas he may be bringing.
The rebels now have a clear sense of victory and will not call off their attacks while they feel success is imminent.
He says the rebels’ primary demand is for President Bashar al-Assad to go and, should that happen, the international community is hoping there may be a chance for negotiations for a peaceful transfer of power.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years.
The event has been banned since 2010 by the South Korean government due to concerns it could escalate tensions between the two countries.
The message at the top reads “peace in the whole world”, but a number of local residents are said to fear it will spark retaliation from the North.
Last year, North Korea warned of “unexpected consequences” if the tower was lit.
Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it allowed Christian groups to light the massive steel tower Saturday. It’s to stay lit until January 2.
Church groups in South Korea have illuminated a giant Christmas tree-shaped tower near the border with North Korea for the first time in two years
Pyongyang views the tower as propaganda warfare, though it has not yet responded to this year’s lighting.
The lighting came 10 days after North Korea placed a satellite into orbit aboard a long-range rocket. South Korea and the U.S. say the launch was a test of banned missile technology.
The tree wasn’t lit last year after officials asked Christians to refrain from doing so to avoid tension following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last December.
With its frosty furniture and glittering white walls, Hotel of Ice Balea Lac in Romania certainly attracts visitors keen to experience the unusual surroundings.
Even the beds are made from ice, so guests best not bring a hot-water bottle.
And they can be certain of having a truly unique stay, as the Hotel of Ice near the glacial Balea Lac in the Romanian Carpathians is rebuilt every year, guaranteeing it never stays the same.
Every winter since 2005 the Hotel of Ice in the Fagaras Mountains is rebuilt from natural materials.
Local craftsmen painstakingly carve huge blocks of ice that have been cut and removed directly from the Balea Lac to construct the walls and are used to raise the walls and snow from the mountain blocks is packed in to keep the walls together.
In 2010 the builders constructed an Ice Bar and the Ice Restaurant at the hotel, which typically has between 10 and 14 rooms, which is situated at an altitude of 2,034m.
But this is not a place for those who feel the cold, as the temperature inside is about -4C – although the hotel offers warm and fleecy blankets for the beds.
With its frosty furniture and glittering white walls, Hotel of Ice Balea Lac in Romania certainly attracts visitors keen to experience the unusual surroundings
The Romanian hotel – the first of its kind in Eastern Europe – offers visitors a North Pole experience where they even sip their drinks from glasses made of ice – so there is no need for ice cubes to keep the drinks cool.
Yet while it offers pillars, tables and chairs made of ice, those wanting to use the toilet will have to leave the hotel to visit ones nearby as the hotel cannot have them inside the structure.
And it’s not just blocks of the frozen stuff – local artists add beauty by carving sculptures in the style of Romanian modernist sculptor, Constantin Brâncuşi, in the hotel.
It even offers a hand-carved ice church nearby.
But arriving at the hotel is not as simple as getting a taxi from the airport to the reception -visitors have to catch a cable car in winter as the road leading to it is inaccessible by road during the winter.
Islamists in Mali have begun destroying remaining mausoleums in the historic city of Timbuktu, an Islamist leader and a tourism official said.
“Not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu,” Abou Dardar, a leader of the Islamist group Ansar Dine, told AFP news agency.
Islamists in control of northern Mali began earlier this year to pull down shrines that they consider idolatrous.
Tourist official Sane Chirfi said four mausoleums had been razed on Sunday.
One resident told AFP that the Islamists were destroying the shrines with pickaxes.
Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th centuries.
It is a UN World Heritage site with centuries-old shrines to Islamic saints that are revered by Sufi Muslims.
Islamists in Mali have begun destroying remaining mausoleums in the historic city of Timbuktu
The Salafists of Ansar Dine condemn the veneration of saints.
“Allah doesn’t like it,” said Abou Dardar.
“We are in the process of smashing all the hidden mausoleums in the area.”
Islamists seized control of Timbuktu in April, after a coup left Mali’s army in disarray.
The news that further monuments were being destroyed came one day after Islamists were reported to have cut the hands off two people.
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, another Islamist group operating in the area, warned that there would be further amputations, AFP reported.
Last Thursday the UN Security Council gave its backing for an African-led military operation to help Mali’s government retake the north if no peaceful solution can be found in coming months.
A day later, Ansar Dine and the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), a Tuareg separatist group, said they were committed to finding a negotiated solution.
Many were wondering why Ashton Kutcher waited 12 months to file for divorce from Demi Moore.
And on Saturday it was suggested that Demi Moore was the one holding up the legal proceedings as she wants a settlement similar to that from first husband Bruce Willis.
TMZ report: “The sticking point in the divorce has been that Demi wanted the same type of settlement from Ashton that she go from Bruce Willis.”
Although Bruce Willis and Demi Moore never revealed their settlement it is thought to have been a large amount.
This theory is just one floating around after Ashton Kutcher waited so long to file for divorce.
At one point, the delay sparked tabloid speculation the pair were never legally married. There were also rumors they were locked in a bitter battle over their huge fortune.
Ashton Kutcher, 34, filed the papers Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences, according to People magazine.
Ashton Kutcher, who is now dating Mila Kunis, isn’t seeking spousal support nor is he asking the court to deny 50-year-old Demi Moore any.
He has hired divorce lawyer Laura Wasser to represent him.
Laura Wasser has previously worked for high-profile clients including Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian, Heidi Klum and Angelina Jolie.
Demi Moore was reportedly the one holding up the legal proceedings in her divorce from Ashton Kutcher as she wants a settlement similar to that from first husband Bruce Willis
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s six year marriage came to an end amid claims he had an affair with 22-year-old San Diego-based administrative assistant Sara Leal.
While Ashton Kutcher moved on with 29-year-old Mila Kunis in July, Demi Moore struggled to cope with the split.
She entered rehab in February soon after collapsing at her Beverly Hills home.
Her relationship with her three daughters with ex-husband Bruce Willis’ – Rumer, 24, Scout, 21, and Tallulah, 18, – has also come under strain this year.
Sources say they have grown tired of her constant partying and erratic behavior.
The girls had initially supported their mother following her divorce from Ashton Kutcher because they believed she was “distraught” but were allegedly “mortified” when she started going out with one of Rumer’s friends Vito Schnabel recently.
But Demi Moore was dumped by the 26-year-old toyboy earlier this month after she enjoyed a week of wild partying at Art Basel in Miami.
Ashton Kutcher is currently one of the highest paid star on TV and earns $700,000 per episode. He is estimated to be worth around $140 million.
While Demi Moore’s career has slowed down, she earned big money during the peak of her career.
The actress, whose films include A Few Good Men and Indecent Proposal, is estimated to be worth around $150 million.
Until recently no fashionista would be seen dead in seasonal patterned sweater, but now the kitsch style is a must-have for designers and celebrities alike.
How did Christmas sweaters become so popular?
They might be embroidered with reindeer, or snowflakes, or a cheerful Father Christmas.
Knitted from variety of garish woollen hues, they look as though they are being worn to please a kindly but sartorially clueless grandmother.
Once any self-respecting young adult would have been horrified to open their wrapping paper and find they had been gifted such a garment.
But somehow Christmas sweaters have become not just acceptable, but cool – the gaudier the better.
Fashionable chains like Urban Outfitters and Topshop stock entire ranges of sweaters gaily adorned with holly, fir trees and so on.
Celebrities as diverse as Kanye West, Cheryl Cole, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Matt Damon, Samantha Cameron and Snoop Dogg have all been pictured in various woollen improvisations on the theme.
Quite why trend-setters have decided that Andy Williams and Bing Crosby crooning festive ditties before a roaring fire, represent the ne plus ultra of style is surely one of fashion’s more baffling mysteries.
For most people in the UK, the arresting visual impact of the Christmas jumper first registered when Renee Zellweger’s protagonist of the 2001 film Bridget Jones’s Diary was introduced to her suitor, Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy, as he wore a roll-neck affair adorned with a giant reindeer’s head.
In North America, the trend was already getting well under way. Ugly Christmas sweater parties – in which attendees compete to wear the vilest seasonal pullover – are thought to have first been held by students in Vancouver around the turn of the millennium.
The craze quickly spread across the continent. Undergraduates would scour their parents’ wardrobes and second-hand clothes shops looking for the most hideous festive tops they could find.
A mini-industry of retailers sourcing or manufacturing especially tasteless garments quickly mushroomed.
Adam Paulson, a 30-year-old from Crown Point, Indiana, discovered this could be a profitable enterprise when he formed the online store uglychristmassweaterparty.com in 2006 with two friends.
“The more stuff on the sweater, the more glittery and jangly it is, the more it will sell,” he says.
But somewhere along the line the Christmas jumper phenomenon ceased to be about looking as dreadful as possible – a sort of yuletide version of Halloween – and became something that esteemed fashion designers and High Street shoppers alike could buy into.
Until recently no fashionista would be seen dead in seasonal patterned sweater, but now the kitsch style is a must-have for designers and celebrities alike
The change in emphasis has been attributed to the rise of that much-maligned archetype, the hipster – the young urban bohemian, attired in self-consciously quirky thrift-store clothes. Their visual aesthetic – tight jeans, over-sized glasses, garish second-hand T-shirts – was exemplified in the films of Wes Anderson and, in the UK, parodied in the Channel 4 satire Nathan Barley.
This subculture, growing in enclaves like Portland, Oregon, Williamsburg, New York and London’s East End, was quickly appropriated by the mainstream.
The hipsters’ fondness for all things twee and retro – baking cupcakes, riding fixed-wheel bikes, using Polaroid cameras instead of digital – meant Christmas jumpers could be re-cast as modish.
“The whole hipster movement definitely helped,” says Adam Paulson.
“It started off with college-age kids. Now it’s work parties.”
In the UK, where ugly sweater parties had never quite caught on in the same way, the onset of the phenomenon was perhaps more sudden.
The popularity of Danish thriller The Killing – whose heroine, Sarah Lund, sported an array of knitwear, some of it snowflake-patterned – added to the garment’s allure.
But even now, it isn’t enough just to buy any old Christmas jumper, says former Clothes Show presenter Caryn Franklin.
To look fashionable, she says, one had to be doing it for the right reasons.
“It’s hipsters that can wear it – they give it some edge,” adds Caryn Franklin.
“The cooler brands like Topshop or Urban Outfitters can do it. But If Marks and Spencers were selling them, they wouldn’t have the same credibility.”
It’s this idea that a simple pullover must be accessorized with a raised eyebrow has turned some against Christmas jumpers.
“It’s not the jumpers I mind, it’s the claim of <<irony>>,” writes Guardian fashion columnist Hadley Freeman, casting the UK’s fondness for such garments as proof that many British men are “ashamed of genuine emotion”.
But Jonathan D. Fitzgerald, author of Not Your Mother’s Morals: How the New Sincerity Is Changing Pop Culture for the Better, believes there is nothing ironic at all about patterned woollens.
Instead, he argues Christmas jumpers and, more generally, the hipster preference for everything retro and vintage are deeply rooted in a longing for the heartfelt and the sincere.
While individuals might insist they are wearing a sweater ironically to give themselves an emotional get-out, Jonathan D. Fitzgerald believes that deep down they are expressing a longing for the comforting certainties of a traditional Christmas.
“Nostalgia is a huge hipster virtue,” he says.
“This isn’t about irony, it’s about kitsch.
“This is about looking back to something nostalgic – <<Oh, my mom used to wear sweaters like that>>. It’s only people who are afraid to express the fact that they enjoy it who say it’s ironic.”
If Jonathan D. Fitzgerald is correct, even the most achingly fashionably urban trendsetters are still hoping for a cosy family festive season.
It’s enough to make you buy a new jumper to celebrate.
According to South Korean officials, North Korea’s recent rocket launch shows it has the ability to fire a rocket more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles).
The estimate, which would potentially put the Western US in range, was based on an analysis of rocket debris.
However, there was no confirmation that the North had the re-entry technology needed to deliver a missile.
Experts believe North Korea is also years away from gaining the ability to mount a nuclear bomb on a missile.
North Korea launched the Unha-3 rocket on December 12, in defiance of sanctions and international warnings.
It was the first time the North had made successful use of a three-stage rocket to put a satellite into orbit, and observers said it appeared to mark a step towards fielding an intercontinental range ballistic missile.
“As a result of analyzing the material of Unha-3 [North Korea’s rocket], we judged North Korea had secured a range of more than 10,000km in case the warhead is 500-600kg,” a South Korean defence ministry official told journalists.
The official said the type of oxidizer container that was found from the first stage of the rocket launch would rarely be used by countries with advanced space technology.
“Welding was crude, done manually,” the official said.
North Korea’s recent rocket launch shows it has the ability to fire a rocket more than 6,200 miles
South Korea would not be able to tell whether the North had the technology to achieve re-entry until debris from the second and third stages of the rocket launch was analyzed, the defence ministry said.
“As the additional pieces are salvaged, we will be able to look deeper into the function and structure of North Korea’s long-range rocket,” an official was quoted as saying by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Experts believe many more rocket and nuclear tests will be necessary before North Korea can boast a credible delivery system.
North Korea insists the rocket it launched is part of a civilian space programme.
The North has been happy declare itself a nuclear power and it frequently threatens neighboring countries, and the US, with massive retaliation for perceived slights.
The UN Security Council condemned this month’s rocket launch.
It said it violated two UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from missile tests, passed after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
The rocket was celebrated extravagantly in North Korea, with a mass rally held in the capital, Pyongyang.
The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, called for the development and launching of “a variety of more working satellites” and “carrier rockets of bigger capacity” at a banquet to mark the launch on Friday, North Korean state media reported.
An anonymous “Secret Santa” donor called the Walmart store in Hastings Michigan and requested to pay for all customer purchases that have been put on hold pending full payment.
The donor gave the store a $10,000 check and 43 customers had their layaways completely paid for.
The full payment was about $7,800, local news station 24 Hour News 8 reported.
The Walmart store gave the remaining $2,200 to a local charity.
“The fact that we have a customer willing to come to our store in Hastings and pay off layaways for other customers in the neighborhood, we’re very grateful,” one of the store’s assistant managers, Derek Waddle, told a reporter.
“We had one lady who we thought fainted on the phone. When they told her her layaway had been paid off, there was no response for a few minutes,” said assistant manager Carla Jiles.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m so elated that it was paid off.”
A Secret Santa donor called the Walmart store in Hastings Michigan and requested to pay for all layaways
Last year, another “Secret Santa” donated money to pay off three layaway bills at a Kmart store in Michigan’s Plainfield Township, according to 24 Hour News.
The generous offer sparked similar gestures across West Michigan and other parts of the U.S., including a $5,000 gift to pay off layaways at a Kmart store in Hastings.
This year’s donation in Hastings was another recent “act of kindness” following the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14.
Since then compassionate citizens around the world have been coming up with ways to help others, both within Newtown and outside.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who committed suicide after answering a hoax phone call about Kate Middleton, made two attempts to kill herself last winter and had been prescribed antidepressants.
Jacintha Saldanha, who took her own life days after the call from Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, attempted to commit suicide last December with an overdose of pills during a family visit to India.
She survived after being rushed to hospital but tried to commit suicide again just nine days later by apparently jumping from a building.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, spent several days in intensive care before receiving psychiatric treatment and being prescribed a course of powerful antidepressants for nine months.
Along with the previous suicide attempts, reported in an Indian newspaper, members of Jacintha Saldanha’s family have revealed that the nurse was so ashamed after taking the hoax call earlier this month that she did not tell her husband or children about it before her death, despite speaking to them by phone several times.
Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged with a scarf at her living quarters at the King Edward VII’s Hospital in Central London on December 7.
Three days earlier, Jacintha Saldanha was the duty nurse who answered the prank call from Mel Greig and Michael Christian, and transferred it to a colleague.
That nurse revealed confidential medical information about pregnant Kate Middleton, who was being treated at the hospital for acute morning sickness. The call was broadcast in Australia and made headlines around the world.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who committed suicide after answering a hoax phone call about Kate Middleton, made two attempts to kill herself last winter and had been prescribed antidepressants
Yet the closest Jacintha Saldanha came to telling her husband she was at the centre of the story was when she told him to watch the news, claimed family members in her home town of Mangalore, southern India.
“The first her husband knew that she was the victim of the hoax call was when police told him she was dead. Nobody in the family knew,” said her younger brother Naveen Saldanha, 42.
“They spoke several times that week but she did not tell him or the kids anything about it.”
The latest insight into the nurse’s state of mind came as British police confirmed yesterday they had passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether any offences had been committed.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian could be charged with attempting to obtain medical details by deception. Further charges could be brought against Australian radio station 2Day FM if it is found to have broadcast the prank without the permission of the participants.
Although Jacintha Saldanha’s family have previously said she did not have a history of depression, new reports suggest she has been battling the condition since at least December last year.
That month, Jacintha Saldanha, her accountant husband Benedict Barboza, 49, their son Junal, 17, and adopted daughter Lisha, 14, attended a family wedding in Shirva, 30 miles north of Mangalore. But on December 30, just days after the devout Catholic family celebrated Christmas, Jacintha Saldanha is believed to have taken an overdose of pills. She was rushed to a private hospital in Mangalore, where she was treated for “self-harm”.
On January 8 this year, she is believed to have attempted suicide again and was treated at Father Muller Medical College Hospital for head injuries suffered in a “fall”.
She was kept in intensive care for several days and then admitted to the psychiatric ward of the hospital, where she was treated for depression.
Jacintha Saldanha was discharged three days later and given a nine-month course of anti-depressants. Her family was warned there was a risk that she may attempt suicide again.
Her medication would have finished in September. It is not known if she was prescribed any more or if staff at King Edward VII’s knew of her fragile condition.
Last night, her brother, an engineer in Mangalore, said: “We didn’t know about the first incident, but we knew about the second incident at Father Muller.”
He refused to give further details.
Mr. Saldanha said Jacintha spoke to her husband by telephone on the evening of the prank call, which was made at 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 4, but did not tell him about her involvement. He added that she spoke to her husband and children twice the following day, but still did not reveal anything, though she told Benedict Barboza to watch the news.
Mr. Saldanha said he believes his sister did not tell her family in the UK or India about the hoax as she felt ashamed.
Benedict Barboza became slightly concerned when his wife did not call on Thursday, December 6, but believed she was busy with nursing classes.
On Friday morning, he called a colleague of Jacintha Saldanha to check on his wife. Hours later, he was told of her death by officers from Avon and Somerset Police.
Last week, the body of Jacintha Saldanha was flown back to India and buried according to her wishes in the village of Shirva.
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez appeared to officially confirm they are back on when they were spotted kissing at the airport in Salt Lake City recently.
Justin Bieber, 18, and Selena Gomez, 19, dubbed Jelena by their supporters, looked very loved up as they snuggled in a chair, with Selena sat on Justin’s lap.
The pop star has his hand on the actress and singer’s waist, and she wears a smile as he leans in for a sweet smooch.
The smitten image was obtained byRadar Online, and an eyewitness told the website: “They were very affectionate with each other.
“They were kissing on and off and they just sat together and talked and looked totally in love.”
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez appeared to officially confirm they are back on when they were spotted kissing at the airport in Salt Lake City recently
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were wrapped up for their Utah getaway, with Justin in a blue padded coat and Selena in a khaki number, while they both sported black jeans and knitted hats.
Selena Gomez was spotted arriving in Los Angeles on Friday sporting the same outfit, although Justin was nowhere to be seen.
It was a double date for the couple, who reportedly spent the trip with Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Harry Styles.
Two days earlier, Justin Bieber, was spotted hopping on a private jet in Van Nuys, California, with a female companion presumed to be his 20-year-old girlfriend.
It comes after a secret meeting took place between the on-again off-again lovebirds earlier this week.
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez first split in November, but were rumored to have gotten back together only to split again.
However, as they canoodled while waiting to catch a flight on Saturday it looked like any issues the duo may have once had have now dissolved.
According to Perez Hilton, the reason behind the most recent parting was down to Justin Bieber’s growing friendship with Selena Gomez’s ex-boyfriend.
Selena Gomez was apparently livid when she found out her ex Nick Jonas had been hanging out with Justin Bieber like old friends.
British researchers have found that an experimental “Trojan-horse” cancer therapy has completely eliminated prostate cancer in experiments on mice.
The team hid cancer killing viruses inside the immune system in order to sneak them into a tumor.
Once inside, a study in the journal Cancer Research showed, tens of thousands of viruses were released to kill the cancerous cells.
Experts labeled the study “exciting,” but human tests are still needed.
Using viruses to destroy rapidly growing tumors is an emerging field in cancer therapy, however one of the challenges is getting the viruses deep inside the tumor where they can do the damage.
“There’s a problem with getting enough virus into the tumor,” said Prof. Claire Lewis from the University of Sheffield.
She leads a team which uses white blood cells as “Trojan horses” to deliver the viral punch.
British researchers have found that an experimental Trojan-horse cancer therapy has completely eliminated prostate cancer in experiments on mice
After chemotherapy or radiotherapy is used to treat cancer, there is damage to the tissue. This causes a surge in white blood cells, which swamp the area to help repair the damage.
“We’re surfing that wave to get as many white blood cells to deliver tumor-busting viruses into the heart of a tumor,” said Prof. Claire Lewis.
Her team takes blood samples and extract macrophages, a part of the immune system which normally attacks foreign invaders. These are mixed with a virus which, just like HIV, avoids being attacked and instead becomes a passenger in the white blood cell.
In the study, the mice were injected with the white blood cells two days after a course of chemotherapy ended.
At this stage each white blood cell contained just a couple of viruses. However, once the macrophages enter the tumor the virus can replicate. After about 12 hours the white blood cells burst and eject up to 10,000 viruses each – which go on to infect, and kill, the cancerous cells.
At the end of the 40-day study, all the mice who were given the Trojan treatment were still alive and had no signs of tumors.
By comparison, mice given other treatments died and their cancer had spread.
Prof. Claire Lewis said: “It completely eradicates the tumor and stops it growing back.”
She said it was a “ground-breaking” concept, but cautioned that many remarkable advances in treating mice failed to have any effect in people.
According to unofficial and preliminary results, Egyptians appear to have approved the controversial new constitution in a referendum.
Results reported by Egyptian state media suggest that some 63% backed the charter over two rounds of voting.
Critics say the document, which has triggered mass protests, betrays the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
President Mohamed Morsi’s mainly Islamist supporters say it will secure democracy and encourage stability.
Official results are not expected until Monday, after appeals are heard. If the constitution passes, parliamentary elections must take place within three months.
Turnout was put at about 30%. The opposition said voting in both rounds of voting had been marred by abuses.
Violations in the second round on Saturday ranged from polling stations opening late to Islamists seeking to influence voters, the opposition said.
On Saturday, ballots were being cast in the 17 provinces that did not vote in the first round on December 15. Some 25 million people were eligible to vote.
The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement said early on Sunday that, with most votes counted, more than 70% were in favor.
The opposition National Salvation Front also said the “yes” vote appeared to have won.
In the first round, on December 15, turnout was reported to be just above 30% with unofficial counts suggesting some 56% of those who cast ballots voted in favor of the draft.
Opponents have said the draft constitution fails to protect the freedoms and human rights that they sought in the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s rule last year.
They accuse the president of pushing through a text that favors Islamists and does not sufficiently protect the rights of women or Christians, who make up about 10% of the population.
Egypt’s official state news agency Mena said that at least two judges had been removed for encouraging voters to cast “yes” ballots.
According to unofficial and preliminary results, Egyptians appear to have approved the controversial new constitution in a referendum
One Egyptian, 19-year-old law student Ahmed Mohammed, said he voted “yes” because Egypt “needs a constitution to be stable”.
But at the same polling station in Giza, south-west of the capital, 50-year-old housewife, Zarifa Abdul Aziz, said: “I will vote <<no>> a thousand times. I am not comfortable with the Brotherhood and all that it is doing.”
As voting took place on Saturday, the country’s Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki announced his resignation.
Mahmoud Mekki, a former judge who was appointed vice-president in August, said the “nature of politics” did not suit his professional background.
Over the past month, seven of President Mohamed Morsi’s 17 top advisers have resigned.
Mahmoud Mekki said he had tried to resign on November 7, but his decision had been delayed by the Israeli conflict in Gaza and President Mohamed Morsi’s controversial decree on November 22 granting himself sweeping new powers.
His resignation statement indicated he had no prior knowledge of the decree, which stripped the judiciary of powers to question the president’s decisions.
After an outcry, the president revoked much of the November 22 decree, but he refused to back down on the draft constitution.
The text was rushed through by a constituent assembly dominated by Islamists and boycotted by liberal and left-wing members, and facing a threat of dissolution by the country’s top court.
Egypt has seen large demonstrations by both sides, which have occasionally turned violent, ever since.
Under rules drawn up by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, up to 10 films can be shortlisted for its best picture prize when its nominations are announced on January 10, 2013.
These are the movies that are most likely to be up for the Academy’s top award, and assess their chances of recognition in other categories.
1. Argo
Ben Affleck won an Oscar in 1998 for the screenplay he co-penned with fellow actor Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting.
In the decade that followed, some dubious decisions saw his leading man status wane as his friend’s rocketed.
But in recent years Ben Affleck has cannily reinvented himself as a film-maker of promise and some distinction.
Argo, his third feature after Gone Baby Gone and The Town, is his most ambitious to date, dramatizing as it does a CIA attempt to spirit US diplomats out of Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.
The fact this real-life, recently declassified rescue operation involved a phantom film production effectively casts Hollywood as the hero of the piece.
That, and Ben Affleck’s “comeback kid” story makes it a solid bet for best picture. Ben Affleck, who also appears in the film, is expected to receive another nomination in the director category.
On the acting front, Argo‘s best hopes of another citation lie with Alan Arkin for his entertaining turn as a cantankerous producer.
Having been named best supporting actor in 2007 for Little Miss Sunshine, however, the 78-year-old shouldn’t need to write an acceptance speech.
2. Django Unchained
Under normal circumstances, Quentin Tarantino’s slavery-era western would seem a sure-fire bet for Oscar consideration.
In the wake of the tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, though, Django Unchained’s graphic mayhem has seen it attract censure in a reopened debate on movie violence.
The elderly, more conservative contingent of the Academy membership might balk at rewarding such a bloodily visceral film in this charged political climate.
So while it may get a decent amount of nominations, not least for Quentin Tarantino’s typically florid screenplay, its actors probably stand a better chance of accolades than the film they star in.
Three years ago Christoph Waltz won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role as an urbane Nazi in Quentin Tarantino’s previous feature, the World War II caper Inglourious Basterds.
The Austrian could be in line for the same prestigious award for his role in Django Unchained as a loquacious bounty hunter.
Yet the smarter money is on co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, whose atypical portrayal of a sadistic slave-owner could finally give the three-time Oscar nominee a reason to leave his seat.
3. Life of Pi
Were there an Oscar for best performance by a computer-generated 3D tiger, Ang Lee’s adaption of Yann Martel’s Booker prize-winner would be the runaway winner.
As it is, Life of Pi will probably have to content itself with a best picture nomination and a few more citations in the technical categories.
Its captivating use of CGI to realize Yann Martel’s fantastical tale of a young Indian sharing a lifeboat with various zoo animals makes it an obvious contender for the visual effects award.
Ang Lee, meanwhile, is likely to get a best director nomination. The Taiwanese film-maker previously won the award in 2006 for bringing another literary work, Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, to the screen.
Under rules drawn up by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, up to 10 films can be shortlisted for its best picture prize when its nominations are announced on January 10, 2013
4. Lincoln
Argo‘s main competition for the best picture Oscar looks likely to come from Steven Spielberg’s respectful, hefty tribute to one of America’s most revered presidents.
Concentrating on the final few months of Honest Abe’s life and his fight to pass a bill abolishing slavery, it’s a big film about a big subject from one of Hollywood’s biggest directors.
Daniel Day-Lewis already has two Oscars, for 1989’s My Left Foot and 2007’s There Will Be Blood.
Yet there seems to be little resistance to the idea of giving him another for a dignified portrayal of Lincoln that has seen him showered with superlatives.
Sally Field’s performance as Abe’s devoted wife and Tommy Lee Jones’ turn as a wily political contemporary are likely to be included in the best supporting actor and supporting actress categories.
Steven Spielberg, meanwhile, will not be denied a seventh nomination for best achievement in directing.
5. The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson’s drama about a cult leader and his troubled chief acolyte has the weight of producer Harvey Weinstein behind it.
Even with this Hollywood powerhouse fighting its corner, though, a best picture nod is by no means certain.
Joaquin Phoenix’s public pooh-poohing of the awards race earlier this year will have undoubtedly damaged both his chances and those of the film.
The Academy has recognized his co-stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in previous years, however, and will likely do so again for their supporting performances.
6. Les Miserables
Musicals used to be the toast of Oscar night. But it has been a decade since one of that ilk – 2002’s Chicago – was named best picture.
The producers of Les Miserables, the long-awaited film adaptation of the international stage sensation, will be hoping it bucks that trend.
Tom Hooper’s film has been well-received critically and is nominated for four Golden Globes.
That should be enough to secure it a number of Oscar nods, including one for best film.
Hugh Jackman, who hosted the Oscar telecast in 2009, should expect to receive a best actor nomination for his sturdy turn as the heroic Jean Valjean.
Anne Hathaway, meanwhile – another former Oscar presenter – is widely considered a best supporting actress shoo-in for her tear-jerking turn as the tragic Fantine.
7. Silver Linings Playbook
Romantic comedies tend to get overshadowed at Oscar time by meatier dramatic fare. Yet David O Russell’s follow-up to 2010’s The Fighter could be the exception.
It is a film voters may take to their hearts, especially in a year where lighter offerings have been thin on the ground.
Its ace in the hole is Jennifer Lawrence, a rising star who has combined roles in critically acclaimed awards bait with eye-catching performances in lucrative movie franchises – notably this year’s The Hunger Games.
Glamour, smarts and talent are a potent mix and could see the 22-year-old rewarded with a best actress Oscar.
Robert De Niro, too, could receive a supporting actor nod for his quirky role as an incorrigible gambler. If this happens, it would be the seventh nomination of his career.
8. Zero Dark Thirty
A relative late-comer to this year’s awards race, Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker may have some catching up to do.
This dramatization of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden also arrives trailing controversy for its depiction of terrorist suspects being interrogated and tortured.
If the Academy wanted to make itself appear relevant and contemporary, though, it could do worse than honoring a film that draws so vividly on recent events.
Kathryn Bigelow should get a best director nomination for her daring, while her leading lady Jessica Chastain is probably Lawrence’s most formidable rival for the best actress trophy.
The film’s title, incidentally, is a military term for half past midnight, the local time at which Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was raided by US Navy Seals.
The 85th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on February 24, 2013.
British researchers suggest that eating meals as a family improves children’s eating habits – even if it only happens once or twice a week.
It is recommended children eat five portions of fruit and vegetables per day – about 400g.
The Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health study found those who always ate together achieved this – but those who only did sometimes came close.
Watching parents and siblings eat teaches good habits, experts said.
This study looked at just under 2,400 children at 52 primary schools in south London.
Parents and fieldworkers compiled food diaries at school and at home, ticking off all the foods and drinks a child had in one 24-hour period.
Parents were also asked questions about their attitudes to fruit and vegetables, such as “On average, how many nights a week does your family eat at a table?” and “Do you cut up fruit and vegetables for your child to eat?”
The study found 656 families said they always ate meals together at a table, 768 sometimes did, while 92 families never did so.
Children in the “always” group ate five portions of fruit and vegetables, compared with 4.6 in the “sometimes” group and 3.3 in the “never”.
That equates to the always group eating 125g more fruit and veg, and the sometimes group eating 95g more a day than the
never group.
Eating meals as a family improves children’s eating habits, even if it only happens once or twice a week
Seeing parents eat fruit and vegetables – and cutting up portions for children both boosted their intake.
The researchers say that, while this study gives a picture of eating habits on one day, it was able to investigate the diets of a large, diverse population.
Meaghan Christian, who conducted the study as part of her PhD, said: “Modern life often prevents the whole family from sitting round the dinner table, but this research shows that even just Sunday lunch round the table can help improve the diets of our families.”
She added: “We spend a lot of time looking at interventions at school. But this is showing how important parents are in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption.”
And Prof. Janet Cade, of the University of Leeds’ school of food science and nutrition, who supervised the study, said: “Watching the way their parents or siblings eat and the different types of food they eat is pivotal in creating children’s own food habits and preferences.”
She added: “Since dietary habits are established in childhood, the importance of promoting the family meal needs to be more prominent in public health campaigns.”
Azmina Govindji, of the British Dietetic Association, said: “Eating habits developed in childhood die hard, and eating at a table with the family instead of in front of the TV helps reduce chances of mindless eating, which can increase the likelihood of obesity.
“This study reinforces the view that children learn more from what we do than what we say, so it’s the role modelling that helps shape their future habits.”
Azmina Govindji, a practicing dietitian, added: “If children are eating better in childhood, they are more likely to make healthier choices in adult life – and since food directly impacts risks of conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, eating together as a family seems like a small price to pay.”
With this easy decorating tip, you and your kids can turn a batch of homemade or store-bought cupcakes into a festive treat.
What you’ll need
Cooled cupcakes (baked from your favorite recipe)
White icing
Grated coconut
Green gumdrops
Sugar, for sprinkling gumdrop leaves
Red candy for holly berries (M&Ms work well)
Christmas Cupcakes
How to make it
Frost the cupcakes with snowy white icing and top with grated coconut.
Then use a rolling pin to flatten green gumdrops on a piece of waxed paper sprinkled with sugar. Use an aspic cutter or butter knife to cut out holly leaf shapes.
Arrange two or three leaves and a few red candy “berries” on top of each cupcake, pressing them into the rosting just enough to hold them in place.
Egypt’s vice-president Mahmoud Mekki has announced his resignation on the day the country completed its voting in a controversial referendum on a draft constitution.
Mahmoud Mekki, a former judge who was appointed vice-president in August, said the “nature of politics” did not suit his professional background.
Polls have now closed in the second leg of the referendum, which is widely expected to approve the draft.
However, opponents say this will not end the country’s unrest.
They say the constitution favors Islamists and betrays the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak last year.
President Mohamed Morsi and his supporters say the document will secure democracy.
Late on Saturday, state television announced that the central bank governor, Farouq al-Uqdah, had also resigned from his post. However, a cabinet official later denied the report.
Mahmoud Mekki announced his resignation just hours before the end of voting in the second round of the referendum.
He said, in a statement read on television: “I realized a while ago that the nature of politics does not suit my professional background as a judge.”
Mahmoud Mekki, 58, said he had tried to resign on 7 November but that circumstances had forced him to remain.
The Israeli conflict in Gaza and President Mohamed Morsi’s controversial decree on November 22 granting himself sweeping new powers delayed his decision.
Mahmoud Mekki’s resignation statement indicated he had no prior knowledge of the decree, which stripped the judiciary of powers to question the president’s decisions.
He appeared to be giving the impression that he was unhappy with not being consulted on key decisions.
If, as expected, the draft constitution is passed, there may have been no role for Mahmoud Mekki as the document does not require the president to appoint a vice-president.
Egypt’s vice-president Mahmoud Mekki has announced his resignation on the day the country completed its voting in a controversial referendum on a draft constitution
Seven of Mohamed Morsi’s leading advisers have resigned over the past month, many indicating they had not been consulted over the president’s moves.
After an outcry, the president revoked much of the November 22 decree, but he refused to back down on the draft constitution.
The text was rushed through by a constituent assembly dominated by Islamists and boycotted by liberal and left-wing members, and facing a threat of dissolution by the country’s top court.
Egypt has seen mass demonstrations on both sides ever since.
However, voting in the second stage of the referendum appears to have gone relatively smoothly.
Some 250,000 security personnel were deployed nationwide to keep order.
Polling stations had been scheduled to close at 19:00 but remained open until 23:00. Voting was also extended in the first leg.
Ballots were cast in the 17 provinces that did not vote in the first round on 15 December.
Unofficial results are expected to come in over the next few hours.
Turnout was reported to be just above 30% in the first round, with unofficial counts suggesting some 56% of those who cast ballots voted in favor of the draft.
Official results are not expected until Monday, after appeals are heard. If the constitution passes, parliamentary elections must take place within three months.
Analysts suggest the document will be passed.
Egyptians casting votes in favor of the charter said they were voting for stability.
In the town of Fayoum, “yes” voter Hanaa Zaki told the Associated Press news agency: “I have a son who hasn’t got paid for the past six months. We have been in this crisis for so long and we are fed up.”
Opponents of the draft say it fails to protect the freedoms and human rights they sought in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Some have also complained about the role given to Islamic clerics and what they say is a lack of a clear commitment to equality between men and women.
“I’m voting <<no>> because Egypt can’t be ruled by one faction,” Karim Nahas, a 35-year-old stock market broker voting early on Saturday in Giza, told Reuters news agency.
Opposition activists say there will be more unrest whatever the outcome.
One voter in Ikhsas village, Marianna Abdel-Messieh, agreed.
“Whether this constitution passes or not, there will be trouble,” she told AP.
Pope Benedict XVI has decided to pardon his former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for stealing confidential papers.
The Pope visited Paolo Gabriele in prison to personally inform him of the decision, the Vatican said in a statement.
In October the former butler was found guilty of stealing and copying the Pope’s documents and leaking them to an Italian journalist.
Paolo Gabriele said he acted out of love for the Church.
“This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison in order to confirm his forgiveness and to inform him personally of his acceptance of Mr. Gabriele’s request for pardon,” the Vatican statement said.
Pope Benedict XVI has decided to pardon his former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is serving an 18-month jail sentence for stealing confidential papers
Following Paolo Gabriele’s conviction by a Vatican court, officials said he was likely to be pardoned by the pontiff.
In November the court convicted a computer expert, Claudio Sciarpelletti, of helping leak the papal documents.
Claudio Sciarpelletti was given a suspended sentence of two months.
Paolo Gabriele’s trial heard that he had taken advantage of his access to the pontiff to photocopy thousands of confidential documents.
He later passed some to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who this year released a best-selling book detailing scandals and infighting within the Vatican.
Paolo Gabriele confessed to taking the papers, but said he believed the Pope was being manipulated and hoped to reveal alleged corruption at the Holy See.
A giant pink neon heart now adorns the European Parliament building in Brussels in memory of the late dissident playwright and Czech president Vaclav Havel, who died last year.
Vaclav Havel’s Czech fans are encouraging people to roll up their trouser legs in a comic gesture to honor Havel.
As Czech president, Vaclav Havel wore trousers which were “noticeably short”, the trouser campaign website says.
Vaclav Havel was widely admired for his long struggle against communist repression.
The trouser gesture is “humorous, non-violent but significant and perhaps even very Czech-like”, the campaign group says.
A giant pink neon heart now adorns the European Parliament building in Brussels in memory of the late dissident playwright and Czech president Vaclav Havel
The neon heart in Brussels, measuring 15 m by 17 m (50 ft x 56 ft), adorned the facade of Prague Castle before the end of Havel´s second presidential term in December 2002.
Its creator, Jiri David, was inspired by a small, hand-written heart which Vaclav Havel used to place after his signature, a statement from MEPs in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group says.
It is described as a symbol of Vaclav Havel’s commitment to human rights, peace and democracy.
Vaclav Havel died at the age of 75, having guided Czechs and Slovaks through the turbulent 1989 Velvet Revolution and democratic transformation. He was elected Czechoslovak president in December 1989, then led the Czech Republic after the split with Slovakia.
Supporters of the late Ahmed Shah Masood, a resistance fighter who led opposition to the Afghan Taliban, plan to transport the neon heart to Kabul next September to honor Masood, who was assassinated on 9 September 2001. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were blamed for the bomb blast which killed him.
Italian parliament has been dissolved by President Giorgio Napolitano following caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti’s resignation.
The move paves the way for elections, now confirmed for 24-25 February.
Mario Monti, brought in last year to form a technocratic government, stepped down on Friday after MPs passed his budget.
It followed the withdrawal of support from former PM Silvio Berlusconi’s party. Silvio Berlusconi is to run again. Mario Monti has not unveiled his plans.
After meeting political leaders, President Giorgio Napolitano told reporters: “I have just signed the decree for the dissolution of parliament.”
He called for a “measured and constructive electoral campaign”.
Soon after, the cabinet announced that the election would be held over two days, on 24-25 February.
Mario Monti, who remains head of an interim administration until the elections, is expected to announce on Sunday whether he will run again.
Italian parliament has been dissolved by President Giorgio Napolitano following Prime Minister Mario Monti’s resignation
Although the economist and former European commissioner cannot stand for election himself as he is already a senator for life, there is speculation that he could become the unofficial leader of a centrist coalition and return as a minister.
Since taking office in November 2011, Mario Monti and his non-party team of ministers have implemented economic austerity measures in the form of spending cuts and tax hikes.
In his last speech before his resignation, Mario Monti said the last 13 months had been “difficult but fascinating”.
“The work we did… has made the country more trustworthy… more competitive and attractive to foreign investors,” he told foreign diplomats in Rome.
The election was triggered after Silvio Berlusconi’s party withdrew its support from Mario Monti’s government, accusing it of following policies that “were too German-centric”.
The three-times prime minister has said he intends to campaign on an anti-austerity platform, pledging to cut taxes and create jobs.
But the polls show Silvio Berlusconi is trailing a centre-left alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani, which broadly supports a continuation of Mario Monti’s economic programme while pledging to ease some of the pressure on the poorest members of society.
According to 56-year-old model Yasmina Rossi, the secret of looking good over 50 is cheaper – and easier – than any of us realized.
All that’s needed, says the Miami-based M&S campaign star, is a healthy diet, minimal exercise and plenty of rapeseed oil for your hair and skin.
“There is no big secret,” Yasmina Rossi told the Sunday Times’ Style magazine.
“All I have ever done is to eat organic food – long before it became trendy.
“I take oil and use it on my skin: I put rapeseed oil on my hair. I scrub my skin once a week with olive oil and fine sugar. I eat an avocado a day and good organic meat and fish.”
The grey-haired French-born model is currently starring in the M&S Christmas ad campaign and has previously worked for YSL, Hermes, Jil Sander and Macy’s.
According to 56-year-old model Yasmina Rossi, the secret of looking good over 50 is cheaper and easier than any of us realized
Unusually, Yasmina Rossi began modelling in her late twenties – the age at which most models retire – after 10 years as a stay-at-home mother.
A mother of two with two grandchildren, Yasmina Rossi’s career took off at the age of 45, when she relocated to New York.
There, Yasmina Rossi starred in ad campaigns for Macy’s, AT&T and Mastercard, before landing the M&S job back in Europe.
Despite working in a looks and youth obsessed industry, Yasimina Rossi says she’s happier with her looks now than she was in her twenties.
“I like the way I look now more than how I looked 20 years ago,” she revealed.
“My body is nicer and I feel happier than when I was 20.”
Holding back the years, Yasmina Rossi continued, is easy when you eat a good diet and don’t overdo the exercise.
“This is very important. And don’t take medicine if possible. Go with nature instead of fighting it – this is the rule for everything.”
Five-year-old Sarah Redden has secured a burgeoning fan base after releasing a rap tribute to NFL star Colin Kaepernick.
Sarah Redden from Dayton, Ohio, posted a YouTube video titled Kaepernicking on December 14 and to date it has scored more than 300,000 hits.
In the recording the blonde youngster is seen imitating the San Francisco 49ers quarterback dressed in a number 7 shirt with faux tattoos covering her upper arms.
“Wearing No 7 like Colin Kaep, talking Super Bowl wins, he’s bringing them back,” Sarah Redden raps.
Talking about what inspired the song, she told CBS13: “I just like singing and I just like making songs.
“The 49ers and the Steelers have always been my favorite teams.”
According to Sarah Redden, she wrote the lyrics and produced the video with the help of her brother.
She cites the U.S. rapper Wiz Khalifa as one of her musical inspirations.
Five-year-old Sarah Redden has secured a burgeoning fan base after releasing a rap tribute to NFL star Colin Kaepernick
After watching Sarah Redden’s Kaepernicking recording, one viewer wrote: “This little girl is a STAR! The backward hat, tats, spittin rhymes. So cute!”
While another added: “Oh my gosh this is like the most cutest thing ever! I can’t help but just smile all the way through. She knows more about football than I do.”
NFL Fox also gave the rap song its seal of approval, and Sarah Redden revealed today via Twitter that the TV network will be including it in the 49ers pregame show on December 23.
This week Colin Kaepernick was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, after becoming the third quarterback in history to throw four touchdown passes in a game.
Sarah Redden said she thinks “he’s a great football player”, and she enjoys watching him on TV.
Sarah Redden’s next rap video Niner Nation is set to come out in January.
Mariacarla Boscono’s four-month-old daughter Marialucas has made her modelling debut for Givenchy, becoming the fashion house’s youngest model.
In a black and white campaign shot bright-eyed Marialucas is seen tucked firmly under her mother’s arm, looking away from the camera.
Commenting on the shot Mariacarla Boscono, 32, told Style.com: “When I look at this photo, I feel blessed with all the magic that surrounds me – my loves, my affections.”
The image was captured by photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld styled the shoot.
Mariacarla Boscono’s four-month-old daughter Marialucas has made her modelling debut for Givenchy, becoming the fashion house’s youngest model
Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci, who has known Mariacarla Boscono for more than 15 years, said he wanted to focus on family and “real people”.
“They are people I love and who love me, it’s about family – something that is difficult to find in today’s world, it’s about real people, only taking the best of their personalities, with no effort,” he explained.
Kate Moss, Francisco Peralta, artists Marina Abramovic and Jared Buckhiester and Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares also appear in the spring / summer 2013 campaign.
Italian-born Mariacarla Boscono sparked attention earlier this year when she posed nude with her eight-month baby bump for Love magazine.
Shortly after the image was released she gave birth.
Mariacarla Boscono told Style.com that the love she feels for her daughter is “so special and overwhelming that words would not be enough” to describe.
Marialucas is Mariacarla Boscono’s first child with her husband Andreas Patti.
As well as being Givenchy’s longtime muse, 5ft 10in Mariacarla Boscono has starred in dozens of campaigns for brands including Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Lanvin.
Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys married on Friday in a secret ceremony.
The bride wore her mother’s simple wedding dress. For the groom, the only nod to his wild side was his bright pink socks.
The Rolling Stones guitarist, 65, made the 34-year-old theatre producer his third wife in a brief ceremony in the eighth-floor penthouse suite at the Dorchester hotel in central London.
Sally Humphreys looked every inch the blushing bride as she arrived at her wedding reception at The Dorchester on Friday in a traditional white gown with new husband Ronnie grinning in his navy suit clutching a packet of cigarettes.
The bride accessorized her three-quarter length sleeved off-white dress with a ruby red heart necklace and bright lipstick.
Her layered taffeta gown complimented her slim figure while Ronnie Wood looked dapper in his tailored suit with checked detail.
The low-key ceremony was attended by close family and friends and in a secret location.
According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, the couple was spotted leaving the ceremony looking blissfully happy together.
Ronnie Wood picked his former Faces bandmate Rod Stewart as his best man at the private celebration for family and friends.
Rod Stewart was accompanied by his wife Penny Lancaster, while Leah Wood, 34, Ronnie Wood’s daughter by second wife Jo was also in attendance.
Eldest son Jesse, 36, was joined by his pregnant Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton while younger son Tyrone, 29, was also there to watch his dad tie the knot.
Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys married on Friday in a secret ceremony
Famous guests included Sir Paul McCartney accompanied by wife Nancy Shevell, who looked stunning in a green and fuchsia wrap around dress.
The pair left their reception around 8:30 p.m. with the bride looking demure in a salmon pink dress and tailored coat, the newlyweds treated onlookers to their first public kiss as man and wife.
After knowing Ronnie Wood for several years, Sally Humphreys has previously gushed about her romance with the Start Me Up performer.
But the pair kept everyone on their toes after telling fans they would marry in early 2013.
Sally Humphreys said: “Ronnie was married and then Ronnie wasn’t married. I have had boyfriends, then I didn’t have a boyfriend. It had to wait until everyone was clear. But I definitely feel like I have ended up in the right place.”
Ronnie Wood has been married twice before, firstly to Krissy Findlay – the mother of his son Jesse – from 1971 to 1978.
He split from his second wife Jo, 57, in 2008 after an alcohol-soaked affair with 21-year-old cocktail waitress Katia Ivanova.
Following that there was a liaison with Brazilian model Ana Araujo, with whom he split after growing tired of her obsession with fame and a short-lived fling with promotions girl Nicola Sargent, 25.
Ronnie Wood’s divorce from Jo, to whom he was married for 24 years, was finalized last year.
In the candid interview with the Evening Standard earlier this year, Sally Humphreys admitted that she’s not really a fan of the age difference between her and her husband-to-be.
She said: “There is an age gap. I would prefer it if there wasn’t but there is but maybe I’m a bit older and he’s a bit younger at heart.”
And putting the negative criticism from their naysayers to rest, Sally Humphreys said that she believes the gap of three decades will serve them well.
PSY’s Gangnam Style has been the hit of the year and also one of the most parodied thanks to its accompanying video, but this one is performed by suburban housewives.
A group of British wives and mothers from Buckinghamshire got together to perform their own version of the song by South Korean musician PSY, complete with their own lyrics.
The women sing “mop! mop! mop! We’ve got housewife style!” as they are filmed dancing in skimpy outfits in their kitchens and rapping around Waitrose.
Their lyrics include the lines: “We don’t know, why you would go for less, older woman they are by far the best, we’ve got housewife style!” and “load the dirty dishes, feed the hungry cat, we’re supersonic women and sexy too at that”.
The tongue-in-cheek footage shows that the women can juggle cooking, cleaning and reading Fifty Shades of Grey around running “six people’s lives” – and still being sexy.
The video, which you can view below, was produced and directed by Lizzie Allen who enlisted her friends to take part to raise money for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer. As well as being filmed at their homes in Bucks, they also shot scenes around the county in affluent areas including Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and the Waitrose store in Chesham.
A spokesman for the supermarket said they “were thrilled that these glamorous ladies had lots of fun filming the hilarious video outside our shop”.
Housewives Gangnam Style was produced and directed by Lizzie Allen who enlisted her friends to take part to raise money for the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer
And while the scenes of them gyrating with their mops and posing in a hot tub may make their children cringe, it’s certainly working at raising money for the good cause.
So far, £1,499 ($2,300) has been raised via their Just Giving page and they hope to raise much more as the video gains in views.
“We’ve joined together to raise money for breast cancer research through Breakthrough Breast Cancer. We have no fundraising target – we would just like to make as much money as possible! Your donation can really help to prevent and treat this horrible disease that affects so many of us,” Lizzie Allen writes on the page.
