The top ten skyscrapers of the year were named yesterday with a stunning New York residential block taking top spot.
Eight Spruce Street, in Manhattan, picked up the Emporis Skyscraper Award where judges chose the best buildings which were completed in 2011.
The 76-storey tower, designed by Frank Gehry, is the 12th largest tallest residential block stretching 265-metres into the sky.
Its stunning design consist of cladding made up of 10,500 stainless steel panels, almost all of them different shapes.
This means that as you move around, its shape constantly changes – with judges saying the building “stands out even in Manhattan’s already remarkable skyline”.
Spruce Street beat a field of 220 in the annual Oscars of Architecture with the 412-metre high Al Hamra Tower in Kuwait taking second place.
The tower was praised for the way it was engineered to take account of the blistering heat with the south facade, with limestone elements cladding a concrete wall, protects the building from the searing desert sun.
Judges were also impressed with both the building’s architectural and functional points of view.
With lifts operating at the speed of an Olympic sprinter, the Al Hamra was praised for its deep sculpted, angled windows in the south wall which give views across the city and peninsula to the desert.
Third place went to the Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, with the huge complex made up of three residential towers, one office tower and one hotel tower which houses the Jumeirah at Etihad Towers hotel.
And the KK100 in Shenzhen, China took top spot with the 441-metre high tower the tallest building ever realized by a British firm.
KK100, designed by Terry Farrell & Partners, has a curved shape which is intended to “evoke a spring or fountain” and therefore symbolize the area’s wealth and prosperity.
The Chinese skyscraper shared fourth spot with the Victoria Tower in Stockholm and Great American Tower in Cincinnati.
Costing $322 million, the 202-metre Great American Tower was inspired by a photograph of a tiara worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.
Emporis, which is a German database of information on building and construction projects, has been holding the awards since 2000.
Last year the Hotel Porta Fira in Barcelona picked up the prestigious award.
TOP TEN TOWERS COMPLETED IN 2011
8 Spruce Street, New York City, 265.1 metres, 76 stories
Al Hamra Tower, Kuwait City, 412 metres, 80 stories
Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, 217.5 – 305.3 metres, 56-79 stories
KK100, Shenzhen, 441.8 metres, 100 stories
Victoria Tower, Stockholm is 117.6 metres, 34 stories
Great American Tower, Cincinnati, 202.69-metres, 41 stories
F&F Tower, Panama City, 242.9 metres, 52 stories
Northeast Asia Trade Tower, Incheon, 308 metres, 68 stories
Reflections at Keppel Bay, Singapore, 120 – 178 metres, 21-41 stories
Tianjin Global Financial Centre, Tianjin, 336.9 metres, 72 stories
Brittni Glass is the woman with whom Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher reportedly spent his final few hours before he went home, shot dead his girlfriend and then took his own life.
Brittni Glass, pictured as she walked to work at an Armani Exchange in Kansas City, enjoyed drinks and dinner with the NFL star before witnesses reportedly saw him enter her apartment building.
The images come as frantic 911 calls made by Jovan Belcher’s mother were also released, revealing the chaotic scene as she begged his girlfriend to “stay with me” after he shot her multiple times.
Just hours before she made the call, Jovan Belcher was awoken by police officers at 2:50 a.m. as he slept outside an apartment block in his car. He told them that he was there to visit his “girlfriend”, yet she was not home, police spokesman Darin Snapp said.
Darin Snapp said Jovan Belcher made a phone call and a short time later, a woman let Jovan Belcher into her building.
While Darin Snapp said police did not question the woman and don’t know who she is, the New York Post identified her as Brittni Glass.
Witnesses have since told police that Jovan Belcher stayed at the apartment until 6:30 a.m., Darin Snapp said.
“I was with him that night, that’s it,” Brittni Glass told the Post.
Brittni Glass, pictured as she walked to work at an Armani Exchange in Kansas City, enjoyed drinks and dinner with Jovan Belcher before witnesses reportedly saw him enter her apartment building
Brittni Glass said they had been together that night but were not in a relationship and would not say where he slept. Police confirmed that several people came forward to tell them about Jovan Belcher’s visit.
Darin Snapp added: “When he was sleeping she may have come home, and he didn’t realize. He was very cooperative and thanked the officers.”
He went off their radar until about 7:50 a.m., when police were called to Jovan Belcher’s home after he had shot and killed girlfriend Kasandra Perkins.
Her body was found on the floor of the master bathroom with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a police incident report.
In 911 calls released by Kansas City police on Wednesday, Jovan Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, begs Kasandra Perkins to stay alive.
“Stay with me, the ambulance is on the way. Stay with me,” she shouts.
She adds to the dispatcher: “She’s still breathing but please hurry. I don’t know how he… They were arguing, please hurry.”
Cheryl Shepherd told dispatchers that Kasandra Perkins was bleeding, “just barely” awake and that it looked as though she was wounded in the back. She said Kasandra Perkins moved when she spoke to her.
When police arrived at the couple’s home at about 7:50 a.m., they found Kasandra Perkins’ body on the floor of the master bathroom with gunshot wounds to her chest, neck and abdomen.
On Wednesday, Cheryl Shepherd told The Associated Press that the days since the shooting have been very difficult – but that she loves her son and the slain girlfriend.
In a brief phone conversation, Cheryl Shepherd, who had been staying with the couple to help out with the baby, said she had a “beautiful relationship” with Kasandra Perkins.
She added that she has been working on funeral arrangements for Jovan Belcher but has not managed to sleep or eat much since the slayings.
Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan still struggles with is the public displays of affection so commonly seen on the silver screen.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had her first screen kiss with actor Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2 in 2006, but admits she is still less than comfortable with the prospect of such intimate scenes.
In an new interview with Sir David Frost, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan said that the scene caused such a stir in India that she even received legal threats following the movie’s release.
She said: “I did it once prominently in the movie Dhoom and it was so topical, and you’ll be surprised, I mean I actually got a couple of notices, legal notices, from some people in the country turning around and saying <<You are iconic, you’re an example to our girls you have led your life in such an exemplary manner, they’re not comfortable with you doing this on screen so why did you?>>.
“And I was like wow, I’m just an actor, doing my job, and here I am being asked to offer an explanation for a couple of seconds in a two, three hour piece of cinema.”
But Aishwarya Rai Bachchan also said that she had many doubts about signing up to appear in Dhoom 2 simply because of the kissing scene.
She said: “It was around the same time that the interest in the western world from Hollywood, or European cinema, English cinema, from the industry there was a lot interest in me and the possibility of me working overseas, and I had already declined a couple of scripts purely on the basis of not being comfortable with the very physical scenes and the kissing because I’d never done that on screen and I just wasn’t very comfortable with the idea. And I was quite sure even my audience was not very comfortable with me doing it on-screen. I was actually quite convinced about it but I still said okay, if I have to go down this path let me first do it in our cinema, in an Indian piece of cinema, and let me see if all my doubts are true, and they were.”
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan had her first screen kiss with actor Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2 in 2006
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan added that while on-screen kisses are becoming more common in Bollywood, it will still be a long time before they become the standard.
She said: “A lot of actors have kissed before that movie, they continue to kiss on screen till this very minute, but public display is not that common in Indian culture. Even our actors, it’s very rare that actors look comfortable in our cinema on screen kissing.
“It almost looks like it’s a planned moment, just to make much ado about a moment or to excite the audience. It’s made into this separate entity from a scene, it’s not very comfortable in our screenplay.”
However, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan explained to David Frost that passion in Bollywood is expressed via different means – through song and dance.
She said: “What the kiss is in the western movies is what our songs do, and that’s where our audience experiences all the emotions that the western audience does when their actors kiss. So that’s a very comfortable space for us but I don’t think the kiss visually has been.
“It’s getting there, I mean now it’s become very, very common so I think, I think, I still think our audience is getting comfortable with it, but I don’t think universally.”
Ignatius IV (Hazim), the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Syria, has died in neighboring Lebanon at the age of 92.
Syria’s state news agency, Sana, reported that Patriarch Ignatius died in Beirut’s St George’s hospital on Wednesday after suffering a stroke.
His remains would be brought from Lebanon to Syria for burial, it added.
Ignatius had led the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East, the largest Arab Christian Church in the Middle East, since 1979.
There are believed to be about a million members, the majority of whom are Syrians.
The Church is one of 14 autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox patriarchates, third in honorific rank after the churches of Constantinople and Alexandria.
Since the 14th Century, the patriarch has resided in Damascus.
Ignatius IV Hazim, the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Syria, has died in neighboring Lebanon at the age of 92
Patriarch Ignatius was born in 1920 in the village of Murhada, near Hama.
In 1961, he was ordained Bishop of Palmyra, in central Syria. Nine years later, he became Metropolitan of Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast.
Syria’s minority Christian community has not joined the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Many Christians are fearful for their future if the country’s majority Sunni Muslim community chooses an Islamist leadership to replace decades of secular rule.
Cathay Pacific says a flight attendant who felt tempted to throw coffee on Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has lost her job.
The Thai cabin crew member had reportedly posted on Facebook that Paetongtarn Shinawatra was “the daughter of my enemy”.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra is said to have been on a flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong.
A statement by the airline said the attendant was no longer an employee. It did not say if she quit or was sacked.
Cathay Pacific said that it said it regretted the “unfortunate incident” and that it intends to personally apologize to the passenger in question.
The statement also said it had investigated the matter thoroughly and concluded that the incident was “unauthorized”.
Cathay Pacific says a flight attendant who felt tempted to throw coffee on Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has lost her job
Thaksin Shinawatra lives abroad after being ousted in a coup in 2006, but remains a polarizing figure in Thailand. His sister Yingluck Shinawatra is currently prime minister. Paetongtarn Shinawatra is one of his three children.
According to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper, the flight attendant’s Facebook post said: “I never expected that [Paetongtarn] was on board today. I immediately told my flight manager I could not work knowing the daughter of my enemy was on the plane.
“I called my personal adviser asking if it would be all right to throw coffee at Paetongtarn, but was told that this could breach Hong Kong’s laws,” she is reported to have posted.
The attendant has not made any public comment as yet.
Citigroup announces it is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide in an efficiency drive, with most of the jobs being lost in its consumer banking division.
The bank said the move, which will see its headcount shrink by 4%, would cost it about $1 billion in pre-tax charges.
Shares in the bank rose 7% following the announcement.
The move comes two months after the bank’s former chief executive, Vikram Pandit, suddenly resigned.
Michael Corbat took over from Vikram Pandit as chief executive.
The bank said the $1 billion charge would be recorded in its fourth-quarter figures for this year.
It said it would also add another $100 million in charges to the first half profits for 2013.
Citigroup announces it is cutting 11,000 jobs worldwide in an efficiency drive, with most of the jobs being lost in its consumer banking division
Citigroup said the changes would leave it $900 million better off in 2013 and a further $1.1 billion the following year.
The company said that about 25% of the charges for the fourth quarter related to its securities and banking division, with another 10% in transaction services.
Another third would come from reductions in its global consumer banking division, where 6,200 positions would be cut.
The banking group said it would be selling or scaling back consumer operations in Pakistan, Paraguay, Romania, Turkey and Uruguay.
Other countries affected by the changes would be Brazil, Hong Kong, Hungary, South Korea and the US.
It is also closing branches in Greece and Spain, countries hard-hit by the eurozone crisis.
It intends to focus on the 150 cities that have the highest growth potential in consumer banking.
After the changes, Citi said it would have more than 4,000 retail branches around the world.
At the time of Vikram Pandit’s sudden departure, the bank’s chairman, Michael O’Neill, said the departure was not due to any “strategic, regulatory or operating issue”.
Vikram Pandit left the bank with a settlement of more than $15 million.
He resigned a day after Citi reported an 88% drop in quarterly profits to $468 million.
Besse Cooper, the US woman listed as the world’s oldest person, has died aged 116.
Besse Cooper died peacefully on Tuesday at a nursing home near Atlanta, Georgia, said her son, Sidney Cooper.
She had recently been ill with a stomach virus, he added.
The Tennessee-born teacher had had her hair set on Tuesday morning and watched a Christmas video, but then suffered breathing problems, said Sidney Cooper. She was put on oxygen but died a short while later.
“With her hair fixed it looked like she was ready to go,” Sidney Cooper told the Associated Press news agency.
Besse Cooper, the US woman listed as the world’s oldest person, has died aged 116
Besse Cooper was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest person in January 2011.
The following May, Guinness discovered that a Brazilian woman, Maria Gomes Valentin, was 48 days older, but she died the following month.
Born in Tennessee, Besse Cooper moved to Georgia during World War I to look for work as a teacher.
Her funeral was likely to be held later this week, her son said.
Guinness said Besse Cooper is succeeded as the world’s oldest living person by fellow American Dina Manfredini from Iowa, who is 115.
The oldest person ever was French-born Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 before dying in 1997.
Branislav Milinkovic, Serbian ambassador to NATO, has died after jumping from a multi-storey car park in Brussels airport.
The Serbian government confirmed that Branislav Milinkovic, 52, had died on Tuesday, but did not give details. It paid tribute to his work.
Emergency services were called to the scene, but were not able to revive him, sources at Brussels airport said.
Prosecutors in Brussels say they are treating Branislav Milinkovic’s death as a suicide.
He is thought to have been at the airport on Tuesday evening to meet Serbia’s deputy foreign minister and other officials who had arrived in Brussels for diplomatic talks.
The incident happened at around 18:00 local time.
After talking with colleagues, Branislav Milinkovic suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat told the Associated Press.
Branislav Milinkovic, Serbian ambassador to NATO, has died after jumping from a multi-storey car park in Brussels airport
Earlier on Tuesday, Branislav Milinkovic had seemed “completely normal, talking to journalists in the corridors of NATO”, a Serbian journalist in Brussels told the AFP news agency.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened” by the news.
“Ambassador Branislav Milinkovic was a highly respected representative of his country and will be missed at NATO headquarters,” Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
Serbia is not a member of NATO but it does have a mission at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels because it belongs to the Partnership for Peace programme, which helps countries co-ordinate on defence and security issues.
Branislav Milinkovic had been an ambassador since 2009.
He had previously worked as a journalist and was an active opponent of Serbia’s former leader Slobodan Milosevic. Branislav Milinkovic leaves behind a wife and a six-year-old son.
Rival protesters in Egypt have clashed outside the presidential palace in Cairo, as unrest grows over a controversial draft constitution.
Petrol bombs were thrown and a number of people were injured, amid reports of shots being fired.
Supporters of President Mohamed Morsi dismantled tents set up outside the presidential palace by Morsi critics.
Vice-President Mahmoud Mekki has said a referendum on the draft will go ahead on 15 December despite the unrest.
But he indicated that changes could be made after the vote, saying the “door for dialogue” remained open.
He urged critics of the draft document to put their concerns in writing for future discussion.
Critics say the draft was rushed through parliament without proper consultation and that it does not do enough to protect political and religious freedoms and the rights of women.
The draft added to the anger generated by Mohamed Morsi passing a decree in late November which granted him wide-ranging new powers.
On Wednesday afternoon, supporters of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement rallied outside the presidential palace, where the mainly secular opponents of the president were already staging a protest.
The pro-Morsi group chanted “The people want to cleanse the square” and “Morsi has legitimacy”, AFP news agency reported.
Stones and petrol bombs were thrown, before the Morsi supporters dismantled some of the tents set up by their opponents.
There were also reports of gunfire. Witnesses reported seeing a number of wounded people.
AFP said the anti-Morsi group had fled the area.
In a joint news conference, Mohamed ElBaradei, Amr Moussa and other leading opposition figures said they held Mohamed Morsi fully responsible for the violence.
Mohamed ElBaradei said they were “ready for dialogue, however we are ready to go to the streets”.
In a news conference broadcast earlier on state television, Mahmoud Mekki said there was “real political will to pass the current period and respond to the demands of the public”.
But he said there “must be consensus” on the constitution, and that “the door for dialogue is open for those who object to the draft”.
“I am completely confident that if not in the coming hours, in the next few days we will reach a breakthrough in the crisis and consensus,” he said.
He proposed that the opposition put their concerns about particular parts of the constitution into writing, but that this was “not a formal initiative but a personal idea”.
There are mixed messages coming from the government.
It has spoken about the need for dialogue for some time but has offered few concrete concessions which would end the crisis, he adds.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of anti-Morsi demonstrators besieged the palace, clashing with police who fired tear gas.
Eighteen people were slightly injured in the brief burst of violence, the official Mena news agency reported.
At one point, the security forces issued a televised statement saying President Mohamed Morsi had left the building.
Many of those gathered outside the palace, in the suburb of Heliopolis, chanted slogans similar to those directed against the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak during the uprising in February 2011.
President Mohamed Morsi adopted sweeping new powers in a decree on November 22nd, and stripped the judiciary of any power to challenge his decisions.
Mohamed Morsi, who narrowly won Egypt’s first free presidential election in June, says he will give up his new powers once a new constitution is ratified.
Jazz legend and composer Dave Brubeck has died in Connecticut hospital, aged 91.
The musician, whose recordings included Take Five and Blue Rondo a la Turk, was once designated a “living legend” by the US Library of Congress.
Dave Brubeck died on Wednesday morning in hospital in Connecticut, his manager Russell Gloyd told the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
The musician, who played with the likes of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald would have turned 92 on Thursday.
He enjoyed phenomenal success with The Dave Brubeck Quartet in the 1950s and ’60s, selling millions of albums.
Their 1959 album, Time Out, was significant for its use of uncommon, complex time signatures – influenced by the pianist’s classical training.
Jazz legend and composer Dave Brubeck has died in Connecticut hospital, aged 91
The record spawned Take Five, the biggest-selling jazz single of all time – and used as the theme tune to several TV programmes throughout the years, including Channel 4’s Secret Life of Machines, and NBC’s Today programme.
It was, however, the one track on the album not written by Dave Brubeck himself, having been composed by his long-time saxophonist Paul Desmond.
The song was a staple of the band’s live set for the rest of their careers, with each musician leaving the stage one at a time after their respective solos, until only drummer Joe Morello was left.
Although Dave Brubeck disbanded the quartet in 1967 to enable him to concentrate on composing, they reconvened regularly until Paul Desmond’s death in 1977.
The musician had several other touring bands over the years, and three of his sons would regularly join him in concert in the 1970s.
Born in California, Dave Brubeck once planned to be a vet, but his mother played the piano, and gave him an interest in music.
He once joked that he suspected he’d been introduced to the instrument while still in the womb.
The future cover star of Time Magazine had a formal music education, and it was his teacher, the French composer, Darius Milhaud, who encouraged him to turn to jazz.
Dave Brubeck went on to compose some 250 jazz pieces and songs. He also wrote music for ballet (Points of Jazz), orchestral works (Elementals), oratorios (The Light in the Wilderness) and other sacred music.
Dave Brubeck is survived by his wife, Iola; four sons and a daughter; as well as grandsons and a great granddaughter.
Mitt Romney and his wife Ann were pictured shopping at their local bulk warehouse Costco near their home in La Jolla, California on Tuesday.
The couple stocked up on bottled water, pretzels, fruit snacks, Dixie cups and paper towels. Mitt and Ann Romney also seemed to be preparing for Christmas as their carts had a few rolls of gift wrap and a toy car that will likely be a present for one of their 18 grandchildren.
Overlooking no details, they even remembered to pick up a box of Bisquik for pancakes on Christmas morning.
The Romney’s fondness for the discount membership club is no secret, as they frequently talked about their trips to Costco during the campaign trail.
Cynical political analysts cried foul, saying that the they were trying to use their mentions of the budget store as a way to help lessen the public perception that the former governor was out of touch with the “common man” because of his great wealth.
The family’s affinity for the store seems genuine, however, as Ann Romney repeatedly boasted that it was the easiest- and most fiscally responsible- way to feed her large family.
When the couple’s five sons, their wives and all of their children come over for dinner, the total number of Romneys at the various dinner tables can easily add up to 30 people.
Mitt Romney and his wife Ann were pictured shopping at their local bulk warehouse Costco near their home in La Jolla
During an interview on the Rachael Ray show during the campaign, Ann Romney told the celebrity chef how she always has her route mapped out before she goes in the store.
“Wholesale shops are big, you have to go with a game plan before you start,” she said at the time.
During that appearance, Ann Romney talked a great deal about how she buys the store’s produce- both fresh and frozen- and stocks up on desserts.
But the pictures from their Tuesday trip to the California store reveal that she and Mitt Romney focused more on the non-perishables this time.
It looks like in addition to picking up some Christmas presents for the kids, the couple may have also gotten a puffy black jacket for Mitt Romney, as one was seen hanging off the side of his cart.
He tried to blend in during the trip, and was dressed casually in khaki shorts, a navy athletic shirt a baseball cap and sneakers, but his black sunglasses inside the store may have been a bit conspicuous.
Ann seemed relaxed but made less of an effort to blend in with the masses as she accessorized her black leisurewear with a hot pink scarf.
The former presidential candidate has laid low ever since he lost the election, relaxing with his family in La Jolla, taking time out to see the latest edition of the Twilight saga and accompanying his grandchildren to Disneyland.
Mitt Romney briefly popped back up on the political radar when he had lunch with President Barack Obama in the White House last week, though he did not speak to reporters after the meeting and only one joint photo was released.
As of Monday, Mitt Romney officially has an income again, since he announced yesterday that he will be re-joining the board of directors of the hotel chain, Marriott.
Board members receive an annual salary of $60,000 as well as $110,000 in company stock as compensation for their efforts.
Mitt Romney served on the board of the company from 1993 to 2002 when he resigned to serve as governor of Massachusetts.
He re-joined the board in 2009 and resigned again in January 2011 as the campaign heated up with the seemingly-unending process of Republican primaries.
Jay-Z was filmed taking the New York underground to his latest gig, surrounded by his entourage of man-mountain bodyguards, producers and a film crew.
Jay-Z, 43, starts a near riot when he enters the Canal Street Station, ticket in hand.
He is first seen passing a sign to the J/Z subway line to Brooklyn, the line that he rode home as a child and later named himself after
But when he boards the line for the Barclays Center and sits down on the only available seat, a grey-haired woman on the adjoining seat asks: “Are you famous?”
Jay-Z, who is worth nearly $500 million, has sold approximately 50 million albums and received 14 Grammy Awards for his work, responds: “Not very famous, you don’t know me. But I’ll get there some day.”
He adds: “My name is Jay, what’s your name?”
“Ellen,” she smiles.
“What do you do?”
“I make music,” he replies before explaining that he has just completed eight shows and was en route to the Barclays Center to perform the last.
“Fabulous,” Ellen replies.
“And you are getting on the subway. I’m proud of you.”
Jay-Z talks to old lady on subway and she has no idea who he is
She then asks him to repeat his name.
“Jay. Jay-Z,” he replies.
Then the penny drops and Ellen exclaims: “Oh, you’re Jay-Z. I know about Jay-Z.”
It was a touching vignette that reveals how the barrier of fame can be broken down with a few small words.
Ellen is in fact Ellen Grossman, a successful Brooklyn-based artist herself.
The episode is part of a 24-minute documentary about the opening of Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center, posted by Jay-Z’s culture website Life+Times.
The video takes viewers behind the scenes of his string of gigs at the venue, with footage of rehearsals and the live shows, climaxing at the center on September 28.
Jay-Z said that performing in his hometown was better than performing at the Grammys, Glastonbury or Coachella. He yelled to the crowd of 18,000: “Nothing feels like tonight!”
The arena was full of exciting concertgoers, as the chaotic crowd made way to their seats after waiting outside to enter the building. Jay-Z emerged onstage as a video about Brooklyn’s history played in the background.
He opened with his songs about Brooklyn – Where I’m From and Brooklyn Go Hard. He also performed two songs from fellow Brooklynite Notorious B.I.G. He then held a moment of silence for the late rap veteran.
He told the crowd when B.I.G.’s Juicy played: “Sing loud so he can hear you in heaven.”
The rapper is the co-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, who play at the new arena.
King Edward VII hospital, which is treating Kate Middleton, has released private details about her condition to two prank callers from Australian radio station 2Day FM.
The King Edward VII Hospital in central London has launched an investigation into the extraordinary stunt by Mel Greig and Michael Christian – and St James’s Palace is understood to be furious at what happened.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles to obtain intimate medical information about pregnant Kate Middleton, who is suffering from acute morning sickness. The transcript in full:
Receptionist: Hello, good morning, King Edward VII Hospital
Female presenter (Mel Greig, impersonating the Queen): Oh, hello there. Could I please speak to Kate please, my granddaughter?
Receptionist: Oh yes, just hold on ma’am
Male presenter (Michael Christian, impersonating Prince Charles): Are they putting us through?
Greig: Yes
Christian: If this has worked it is the easiest prank call we have ever made. Your accent sucked by the way, I just want you to know
[Both laughing]
Greig: I’m not used to playing old an 80-year-old
[Phone picked up]
Greig: Kate, my darling. Are you there?
Nurse: Good morning ma’am, this is the nurse speaking, how may I help you?
Greig: I’m just after my granddaughter Kate. I want to see how her little tummy bug is going?
Nurse: She’s sleeping at the moment and she has had an uneventful night. And sleep is good for her. She’s been given some fluids [part removed due to patient confidentiality]. She’s stable at the moment.
[Part removed due to patient confidentiality]
Mel Greig and Michael Christian pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles to obtain intimate medical information about pregnant Kate Middleton
Greig: I’ll just feed my little corgis then. When is a good time to come and visit her, because I’m the Queen and I need a lift down there?
[In background: Mummy, mummy]
Charles! When can you take me to the hospital, Charles?
Christian: When will it be alright to come down and see her? Maybe in the morning or something if that’s OK?
Nurse: I would suggest that any time after nine o’clock would be suitable because the doctor will be in the morning and will just be getting her freshened up. I would think any time after nine.
Christian: Is Wills still there or has he gone home? I haven’t spoken to him yet.
Nurse: He went home probably at about nine o’clock last night, to be fair.
Christian: Lovely, but are they all ok? Everything is alright?
Nurse: [Removed due to confidentiality]
Christian: Of course, it’s hardly the palace is it?
Greig: It’s nothing like the palace, is it Charles? When are you going to walk those bloody corgis?
Christian: Mummy, I’ll go and take the dogs outside.
Greig: I need to go visit Kate in the morning. My dear, thank you so much!
Nurse: You are very welcome
Greig: Goodbye!
Nurse: Goodbye!
[Both presenters burst into laughter]
Greig: She was giving real information.
Christian: Mummy I think they just believed everything we just said.
Joe Mullins, the forensic expert who has scientifically forecasted how the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s little boy or girl could look, said it is sure to be “adorable”.
Washington based Joe Mullins has taken all the best features of the Royal couple and morphed them together.
And with their piercing blue eyes, clear complexion and Kate Middleton’s thick dark locks, the child could be a Royal beauty.
But, boy or girl, it is unlikely to have the blonde hair of its paternal grandmother, Diana Princess of Wales, he said.
Joe Mullins studied recent photographs of the couple and used the latest computer technology to predict how the child may look during their formative years.
If the couple have a son, the boy is expected to inherit many of William’s features.
Joe Mullins has included the famous Windsor ears and William’s slightly receding hairline.
A daughter is predicted to closer resemble Kate Middleton, with a high forehead, heart shaped face and long brown hair.
In the past he has taken the faces of other well known couples and imagined how their children may look, and has carried out magazine work where he “ages” celebrities such Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
But it seems some people are not so hopeful for the couple’s offspring.
Popular website Morph Thing creator Charanjeet Kondal has taken William and Kate’s more “unique” features and morphed them into what they would look like combined.
And less flattering images are a far departure from the glossy American images released by Joe Mullins – showing a child with thinner hair and slightly protruding ears.
While they are not as polished as those produced by the US artist, they do still bear a striking resemblance to the couple as children.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had been hoping to keep the news they were expecting a baby to themselves until Christmas Day.
But after Kate was admitted to hospital with extreme morning sickness, sparked by a rare condition called Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), they had little choice but to make the announcement.
Kate Middleton, 30, who is thought to be between six and eight weeks pregnant, was taken to the hospital just after lunch on Sunday by her husband and put on a drip to stop her becoming dehydrated.
But the news delighted millions around the world – including their own families.
Sources say she appeared to be responding well to treatment and there was “no cause for alarm”.
However, doctors at the King Edward VII Hospital in central London have taken the precautionary step of keeping her in for the next few days.
Joe Mullins is a highly respected forensic artist based in Washington.
He trained as a graphic designer before joining police doing both age progressions of missing children and facial reconstruction from the skull.
His work has helped trace countless missing children over the 11 years he has worked in forensics.
But when he is not hard at work in the serious day job, he enjoys creating “fun but scientific forecasts” forecasting how celebrities will look when they are older and how their children might look.
Joe Mullins said he took recent pictures of the Duke and Duchess, and took account of their coloring, and predominant genes and outstanding features, such as Kate’s olive skin, William’s ears, and their clear complexions.
While he tries to make then as “cute as possible” he says it is all highly scientific.
He said the future king or queen of England was bound to be “adorable” and added: “For Kate and William’s baby – I think there is a lot of good genes in the mix there.
“There is a science behind the process. The darker features are more dominant with Kate’s olive skin and dark hair. I would say you are not going to get a fair skinned baby with blonde hair and blue eyes – like Diana.”
He added: “Over the years I have done lots of different celebrities.
“I did Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt when they were married and I have done a few of Angelina Jolie.
“When I did Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise I did the child as a boy, but the image actually does look a lot like Suri.
“My day job means I have acquired a skill which means it is always in the ball park.
“I was inspired after seeing some other versions of celebrities children that were done. I remember thinking ‘those things look scary. I could do something more accurate.
“My interpretation of Kate Hudson’s son Ryder Robinson (son from her first marriage to Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson) was pretty much spot on.
“It’s all forensic art based on family hereditary going backward to make these fun baby images or forward to depict what children will look like now and get them back home to where they belong.”
A South Korean court has jailed a North Korean spy reportedly ordered to attack the eldest son of late leader Kim Jong-il, officials say.
The unidentified man, charged with falsely defecting so as to gather information, was jailed for four years.
The man had spent a decade in China tracking down North Korean defectors before coming to the South, the court said.
South Korean media also said he had admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam.
The South Korean court said that the 50-year-old man – who has a son who still lives in the North – became a spy after he was threatened by North Korea’s spy agency.
He defected to South Korea this year, citing poverty, but later told investigators that he was a spy.
Local media reports citing prosecutors say the man also admitted he had been told by North Korean authorities to attack Kim Jong-nam.
He reportedly went as far as hiring a taxi driver to run Kim Jong-nam over in 2010, but the plot went no further.
Kim Jong-nam is thought to have fallen out of favor with Kim Jong-il in 2001 after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport
Kim Jong-nam is thought to have fallen out of favor with Kim Jong-il in 2001 after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
Bypassed in favor of his youngest half-brother for succession, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il has maintained a low profile overseas. He was quoted by Japanese media in 2011 as saying he opposed ”dynastic succession”.
He was thought to have been living in Macau but media reports indicate he may have moved to Singapore.
The court said that it had taken the spy’s co-operation into consideration. But it said “stern punishment” was required given the extent to which he could have “greatly compromised the country”.
The court added that he “seriously violated human rights of North Korean defectors”, as he was trying to get them to return to their country.
A hoax call from Australian radio station 2Day FM presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, has been made to King Edward VII hospital where Kate Middleton is being treated for morning sickness.
King Edward VII hospital in London said a nurse had discussed the Duchess of Cambridge’s condition with an Australian radio station and deplored the “foolish prank”.
Hospital’s chief executive said confidentiality was taken seriously and telephone protocols are under review.
Two radio presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, last night tricked staff at the Duchess of Cambridge’s hospital into giving a full update on her condition.
In an extraordinary stunt that provoked fury, the Australian 2Day FM presenters impersonated the Queen and Prince Charles and found themselves talking to pregnant Kate’s private nurse.
A nurse tells Mel Greig and Michael Christian that the Duchess is about to be “freshened up”, saying: “She’s sleeping at the moment and she has had an uneventful night.
“She’s been given some fluids, she’s stable at the moment.”
Australian 2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian impersonated the Queen and Prince Charles and found themselves talking to pregnant Kate Middleton’s private nurse
King Edward VII Hospital in central London today verified that the call was genuine but criticized it as “a foolish prank call that we all deplore”. The stunt triggered global outrage.
The presenters started the show by claiming they have the phone number of the King Edward VII Hospital and call it, claiming they want to “speak to Kate”.
It came as Prince William left his wife’s beside last night after a six-hour vigil and for the first time in more than 24 hours finally felt able to offer a smile.
Kate Middleton was said to be feeling better, but will continue to receive treatment for the next few days.
The Duchess has been on a drip in hospital after being admitted on Monday with an acute – and potentially dangerous – form of morning sickness.
St James’s Palace said yesterday: “The Duchess of Cambridge is continuing to feel better. She and the duke are immensely grateful for the good wishes they have received.
“She will remain in hospital at present and will continue to be treated for hyperemesis gravidarum.”
In spite of William’s obvious concern, the couple may be forced to spend the first months of Kate’s pregnancy apart if her medical condition does not improve.
The condition that the duchess, who is believed to be only eight weeks pregnant, has been diagnosed with can last for the first five months of pregnancy – sometimes even for the entire duration.
It may require regular hospital treatment because it can lead to severe dehydration, putting mother and baby at risk.
A spokesman for Prince William and Kate Middleton said he would be making no comment on the prank.
The death toll from powerful Typhoon Bopha battering the southern Philippines has risen to about 200, as rescue teams arrive in affected areas.
At least 156 people are known to have died in Compostela Valley province alone when Typhoon Bopha struck eastern Mindanao, local officials said.
Rescuers have reached most areas, but have had difficulty getting to some isolated communities.
Many were evacuated ahead of the storm, now over the western island of Palawan.
Typhoon Bopha is expected to move out into the South China Sea on Thursday.
Compostela Valley province was said to be the hardest-hit area. Neighboring Davao Oriental province was also badly affected, with reports of about 50 people killed.
In Andap village, in Compostela Valley, water and mud rushed down mountainous slopes to engulf a school and a village hall serving as evacuation centres.
At least 43 people were killed there, with more reported missing and injured – including soldiers sent to help with evacuations.
The death toll from powerful Typhoon Bopha battering the southern Philippines has risen to about 200, as rescue teams arrive in affected areas
“The waters came so suddenly and unexpectedly, and the winds were so fierce – that compounded the loss of lives and livelihood,” Compostela Valley Provincial Governor Arturo Uy told Reuters news agency.
He said water catchment basins for farms on top of the mountains had given way because of the torrential rains, sending down large volumes of water.
He added that the cost of damage to agriculture and infrastructure in Compostela Valley province could reach at least 4 billion pesos ($98 million), with the typhoon destroying 70-80% of plantations – mostly bananas for export.
Julius Rebucas, whose mother and brother were caught in flash floods in Compostela Valley, said: “The last thing my mother said was <<I love you>>. It’s sad because I no longer have a family.”
Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon said roads to dozens of towns were impassable because of fallen trees and collapsed bridges, and getting into them was like “running an obstacle course”.
She said initial reports indicated that in one town, Cateel, 95% of the buildings had been damaged. Twenty-three people had drowned or were buried under fallen trees or buildings there, she said.
Across the affected provinces, rescuers have also pulled out dozens of people from the mud, many of whom are now being treated in evacuation centres and hospitals. Most suffered facial wounds or limb injuries.
Dozens of domestic flights and ferry services in the central and south of the country were suspended, and schools and businesses were closed while the storm passed.
Bopha comes a year after Typhoon Washi killed more than 1,300 people in the southern Philippines.
The storm devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on the island’s north coast.
Many of those who died were sleeping as Typhoon Washi caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to landslides. Entire villages were washed away.
Kate Middleton’s pregnancy will be the most scrutinized, most photographed and most copied pregnancy the world has ever seen.
In this celebrity-obsessed, internet age, it is certain that every decision mother-to-be Kate Middleton makes until her baby’s birth will prove to be a trend-setting one – analyzed and imitated across the globe.
Kate Middleton’s bump itself will become the focus of attention for a gawping world as people look for scintillas of cheer among stories of economic austerity and international sabre-rattling.
Indeed, the little prince or princess will have considerable influence even before they take their first breath in the land over which they’ll one day reign.
Long gone are the days when well-heeled women chose to hide during their so-called “confinement”.
When Kate Middleton married into the Royal Family, she accepted that her every move would be forensically watched.
As such, she will doubtless be cast in the leading role as Queen of the Yummy Mummies.
The Duchess can therefore hardly resort to the occasional slummy day like most mothers-to-be – wearing a “tent-dress” to cover a growing tummy, or pulling on a size 14 jumper over maternity jeans.
In any case, the figure of the naturally svelte Kate Middleton will for some months be considerably slimmer than the average woman’s, so she won’t have to wear maternity clothes for a good while.
When she does want to adapt her wardrobe, she can conveniently turn to Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen – her wedding dress designer who is due to have a baby in February. If anyone can make fashionable coats and dresses with a tactfully high waistline, it is her.
But more thorny issues will eventually arise – for no one’s decisions are more contentious than a pregnant mother’s. Natural birth (probably) or Caesarean? Home (highly unlikely) or hospital?
William and Harry were born in the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s in Paddington, West London. Kate Middleton is expected to follow suit by using the private wing of an NHS hospital, and the Lindo has just been refurbished.
The private Portland Hospital in central London is the celebrity favorite but doesn’t have the adult intensive-care facilities of a large teaching hospital. No risks, however tiny, are going to be taken here.
Once the birthing suite has been chosen and Kate Middleton has a few months on her hands, there will be plenty of other choices to make concerning the care of the newest heir to the throne.
The royal nursery at Apartment 1A, Kensington Palace, is probably being refurbished at this moment – overseen by Kate.
Among the apartment’s 20 rooms, which once saw late-night louche parties hosted by Princess Margaret, there is plenty of room for live-in maternity nurses and nannies.
These might play a less central role than they once did in royal circles, as hands-on parenting will be Kate Middleton’s goal, but they will still be on call.
They will perhaps be vetted by the upmarket firm Kensington Nannies, which charges a finder’s fee of £2,500 ($3,800), but ideally will come with word-of-mouth recommendations.
Kate Middleton’s pregnancy will be the most scrutinized, most photographed and most copied pregnancy the world has ever seen
William and Kate could talk to soon-to-be near neighbors Hugh and Rose van Cutsem. He is a financial consultant, and their daughter Grace was a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding.
Rose van Cutsem had a third child in January. Or they could consult the Duchess of Cornwall’s children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes, who both have children and live in West London.
Then there is the question of a Christian name, and several middle names, for the future monarch. If it’s a girl, will Diana be in there somewhere? Or Carole? The chosen moniker will spawn endless imitators, while the Christening will be a national event.
Prince William was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace, and we can expect something similar this time. Two tiers of Fiona Cairns’s wedding cake from 2011 are waiting.
The role of godparent will be hotly contested.
The couple will probably choose five or six from three groups: royal relations, trustworthy Sloane friends and media-savvy celeb types.
The obvious choices are, of course, that glamorous pair Pippa Middleton – no one can plan the infant’s parties better, and don’t forget the Baby Shower range from her parents’ firm Party Pieces – and Prince Harry, the racy uncle incarnate.
Farther removed but still in the royal running could be a Spencer relation, such as Diana’s brother Charles’s blonde daughter Lady Kitty, or Princess Beatrice or Eugenie.
From the second group, there’s Hugh van Cutsem or his three brothers – long-time pals of Wills and Harry – who are all tall, handsome and reliable. There are the Waley-Cohens – Gold Cup-winning jockey and dental entrepreneur Sam and his wife Bels – and Thomas van Straubenzee, William’s lively surveyor friend from Ludgrove prep school who is engaged to aristocratic tennis coach Lady Melissa Percy.
This tweedy lot can lay down fine wine and polish up the guns for the royal youngster’s first shoot.
But if the Cambridges want a “fun” choice, they might ask nightclub owner Guy Pelly or Richard Branson’s daughter Holly, who would ensure a lifetime of discreet holidays at her father’s retreats in Verbier and on Necker Island.
In the meantime, there will be no more desirable product placement than on this celebrity royal baby.
By Royal Appointment or not, firms will be queuing up to send their cashmere outfits, sheepskin-lined papooses and eco-friendly baby bottles to Kensington Palace, in the hope they may be photographed with the royal tot – sparking a sell-out in the process.
So what will catch Kate Middleton’s eye as she flicks through the catalogues?
A West London baby can’t show its face without a Bugaboo pram, starting at more than £700 ($1,000). And if any baby should have a top-of-the-range version, with alloy wheels and “sports-car fabric” designed by Viktor & Rolf, surely it’s this one.
That said, it would be a shame if the infant did not also have a traditional Silver Cross “Balmoral” pram – the type Prince Charles was wheeled around in by his nanny – for strolls in Kensington Gardens.
Here, Kate Middleton could participate in organized buggy walks (to keep you fit), or she could go to South Kensington for Gymboree – music and play.
The vast U.S. retailer Whole Foods Market in Kensington High Street sells all manner of organic baby food, chlorine-free baby wipes and socially acceptable snacks, such as organic rice cakes. Minutes from Kensington Palace, this is the mothership of organic health-food shops – where else for baby’s first mango mash?
One of the defining issues for the Duke and Duchess will be where to send Junior to school. West London mothers will be talking of little else for years to come – local applications will spike on the merest rumor.
Nurseries and schools will be deciding whether to gently suggest a visit or to wait for the Palace to call.
Nurseries within walking distance of Kensington Palace are The Minors in Pembridge Square – William went to the original establishment in Chepstow Villas, then called The Mynors – and Ladbroke Square, a long-established safe haunt of the British upper classes.
There is the celebrity-friendly Acorn in Lansdowne Crescent but it is a bit further away and may be a little glitzy for the Cambridges.
Then, after two years in a gingham smock, infant Wales will have a choice of prep schools to scoot to.
For single-sex, there is William’s old school, Wetherby in Notting Hill (much more academic now than it ever was in William’s day) and its sister school for girls, Pembridge Hall.
Both are familiar paparazzi territory: the school runs have featured Elle Macpherson, Elizabeth Hurley and Claudia Schiffer.
Their children have now moved on but the Beckhams went on a tour last week.
After drop-off, the mothers who don’t work pile into the coffee shops on Notting Hill Gate, where they discuss each other. The gilded educational establishments their children attend require application at birth, but William and Kate could shock us all and go for a state school such as St Mary Abbot’s, a C of E primary that is probably the closest school to Kensington Palace and attended by the children of David Cameron and Michael Gove.
Depending on your viewpoint, sending a Wales there would be admirably unsnobby or the taking up of a place by someone whose family could easily afford to opt out of the state system.
Forget George Osborne’s Autumn Statement and manufacturing-output figures. Buggy makers, private schools, and bootee peddlers are all hoping that Little HRH might give the British economy the boost it so badly needs.
Ashton Kutcher was spotted earlier this year filming scenes in character as late Apple founder Steve Jobs, revealing snippets of just how alike he is to the tech wizard.
Now Ashton Kutcher’s transformation has been shown off in its entirety thanks to the first official photo for the upcoming biopic being released.
And his appearance will startle most fans thanks to his similarity to Jobs, who passed away last October.
Ashton Kutcher can be seen posing with his dated hair style and beard to complete his look as Steve Jobs.
The actor casually sits on a desk carrying his old fashioned reading glasses while close attention has been paid to detail, including old computers sitting in the background.
Ashton Kutcher, 34, is taking on the icon in jOBS, which tells the story of Steve Jobs’ pioneering life.
Ashton Kutcher’s transformation into Steve Jobs has been shown off in its entirety thanks to the first official photo for the upcoming biopic being released
Earlier this year Ashton Kutcher was spotted filming the biopic about the technology genius at Loyola Marymount University in LA.
Ashton Kutcher looked a million miles away from his normal appearance as he recreated the movements and image of the late Steve Jobs.
Everything from the side parting hairstyle to the tight lipped mouth mirrored the way the founder of Apple looked.
Ashton Kutcher was seen on set clasping his hands together just like Steve Jobs always did, and he appeared to have even copied the way he walked with his shoulders slightly slouched.
He was dressed in Steve Jobs’ trademark running trainers with jeans, a white shirt and a black sleeveless cardigan.
And even his co-star Josh Gad, who plays Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in the project, has been astounded by his transformation.
Josh Gad told UsWeekly: “Ashton is going to blow a lot of people away. His performance was absolutely transformational.
“If he looked any more like Steve Jobs, I think it would just confuse a lot of people . . . It’s that uncanny.”
The new promotional shot comes as it has been revealed he could soon encounter an awkward run in with his ex-wife Demi Moore.
It has been announced that he is expected at the Sundance festival in Utah in January alongside Demi Moore.
Ashton Kutcher will be there with jOBS standing as the closing night film of the festival, while Demi Moore’s movie Very Good Girls will also premiere during the festivities.
CBS boss Len Moonves has spoken out about the extraordinary rant unleashed by actor Angus T. Jones on the set of Two and a Half Men and admitted that they now have “other plans” for the show.
Angus T. Jones, 19, who branded the show “filth” in a now viral religious video, is thought to want to show up for the rest of his schedule after January there have been murmurs show bosses are not keen to have him back for a new season as a main character.
And now Len Moonves has confirmed that they’re resolving the issue of Angus T. Jones’ status.
“I don’t know what our status is with him,” Len Moonves told the Wall Street Journal.
“We took this boy who started with us when he was eight years old, and it seemed to be what happens with child stars over the course of time.
“He’s now making $300,000 per week, which is not a bad salary for a 19-year-old kid, and he went on a religious channel and urged people not to watch the show because it was filth. By the way, he’s still collecting his $300,000 a week,” Len Moonves laughed.
And when asked if they were looking for another “half man”, Len Moonves replied: “We have other plans. I don’t think it’s quite been resolved, but after going through what we went through with Charlie Sheen, this is a piece of cake.”
And it might not be too hard for the show to “resolve” Angus T. Jones the way of Charlie Sheen as EWare reporting that if he had the typical non-disparagement clause in his contract, he’s obviously in violation.
Angus T Jones, who branded Two And A Half Men filth in a now viral religious video, is thought to want to show up for the rest of his schedule after January
A source close to the star told People: “Angus expects to report to work after the holiday break in January.
“He intends to honor his contract through the end of the season.”
Angus T. Jones’ character Jake joined the army at the end of season 9 and has only appeared in a few episodes of the current season.
“He won’t be in every episode,” the source added says of the remaining season 10 episodes.
“How much they use him will be up to [creator] Chuck Lorre. The intention wasn’t ever for him to be in every ep this year anyway. Now it might be less.”
Network CBS has yet to pick up the show for season 11.
But sources told E!: “Should Two and a Half Men be renewed, it’s unlikely that Jones will return as a series regular. You might see him for a few guest spots.”
Those closest to Angus T. Jones, who is a Seventh Day Adventist, say the teenager doesn’t want to risk turning into troubled Charlie Sheen so became involved in the church.
“Part of the reason Angus is so wary of the [TV] industry and so involved with the church is that he’s seen what’s happened to Charlie [Sheen] front and center.
“He doesn’t want to end up like that. Who would?” the family friend told E!.
Angus T. Jones issued a statement apologizing, in the most tenuous sense, for making a video branding Two and a Half Men “filth” then entreating viewers to switch off from the show that made him both rich and famous.
In his statement, Angus T. Jones, 19, speaks up for his bosses on the CBS show, by saying: “Chuck Lorre, Peter Roth and many others at Warner Bros. and CBS are responsible for what has been one of the most significant experiences in my life to date.”
The document obtained by TMZ continues: “I thank them for the opportunity they have given and continue to give me and the help and guidance I have and expect to continue to receive from them.”
Without actually taking back anything he said, the teenager attempted to appease his cast: “I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.”
Meanwhile, Christopher Hudson – the Seventh Day Adventist guiding Angus T. Jones – denied that he was exploiting the actor, as the young star’s mother Carey fears.
Christopher Hudson, who is believed to be in his 40s, confirmed that he recorded the video in the actor’s trailer on the set of Two and A Half Men last week.
Angus T. Jones – who makes $350,000 per episode playing Jake Harper – was seen urging fans to “turn off” the show, saying it would damage their brains.
Pippa Middleton and Prince Harry played a key role when Kate and William walked down the aisle and now they are favorite to become godparents to royal couple’s child.
It is no secret the siblings are two of the most important people in the young couple’s life and if the royal tradition of appointing the best man and maid of honor from their wedding is observed they will definitely be offered the roles.
Joe Little, Managing Editor of the Majesty royal magazine, said his money would be on the siblings: “I think Harry and Pippa are very likely.
“As you know most people have just one or two godparents. But in royal circles you have a lot more, certainly William had quite a team.
“I rather think they won’t have quite so many – perhaps four. Harry would take care of the royal connection and Pippa would take care of the Middleton side.
“There are few options amongst their close friends. The van Cutsems and the van Straubenzees certainly.”
Thomas van Straubenzee has been one of the Prince’s closest friends since they first met at Ludgrove Prep School.
Tom, also known as “Van”, accompanied the Prince on his first official tour to New Zealand and William and Prince Harry are patrons of a memorial fund dedicated to his brother Henry, who was killed in a car crash in 2002.
Edward, Hugh, Nicholas and William van Cutsem are close family friends from Norfolk who have known the Prince since childhood.
Three-year-old Grace van Cutsem – who almost stole the show at the Royal Wedding when she was pictured clapping her hands over her ears during a noisy RAF fly past – is William’s god-daughter and the son of Rose Astor and Hugh Van Cutsem, a friend of William and Harry.
Joe Little added: “William is a godfather of several children, one of whom was Grace van Custem, the little bridesmaid covering her ears on the balcony on their wedding day.
“Quite possibly the favor will be returned to them.
“I would say Harry and Pippa, a Van Cutsem, and maybe one of Kate’s close chums from school and that might be it.
“In the past there have been a shed load more godparents, both royal and non royal, but I don’t think they will want do things on such a grand scale. That was then and this is now.
“Whoever it is it would have been given careful consideration. It would be a huge honor to be the godparent of a future King or Queen.”
Pippa Middleton and Prince Harry played a key role when Kate and William walked down the aisle and now they are favorite to become godparents to royal couple’s child
Bookmakers are already offering odds on who will take on the important role with Pippa Middleton and Prince Harry being odds on favorites.
The couple’s first child will push Prince Harry into fourth place in the line of succession to the throne – even if they have a girl.
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s child would move into third place, become more important than Harry and not be subject to the centuries-old law of primogeniture, which puts male heirs ahead of women.
He or she will leapfrog Harry by being be the first born of first-in-line Prince Charles’s first son.
The baby will be third in line to the throne regardless of gender after Prime Minister David Cameron agreed a deal with other Commonwealth countries to change the rules on the royal line of succession which means male heirs will no longer be given priority.
This means that in the 15 other countries where the Queen is head of state the rules must be changed.
It had been feared there could be a constitutional crisis if the Royal couple had a baby girl before the law was changed.
But the announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting the couple’s first child – third in line to the throne – has come after the deal was agreed.
In October 2011, David Cameron announced that the 16 Commonwealth countries where the Queen is head of state had agreed to give female royals the same rights of succession as their brothers.
“Put simply, if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were to have a little girl, that girl would one day be our queen,” David Cameron said.
The changes mean that, for all descendants of the Prince of Wales, younger sons will no longer take precedence over an elder daughter in the line of succession.
Members of the Royal Family who marry a Roman Catholic will also in future be able to succeed to the Crown.
And an ancient and unused rule saying descendants of George II are supposed to gain the consent of the monarch to marry will only apply to the first six people in the line of succession.
The law was brought in following the Glorious Revolution – when a Dutch invasion helped overthrow a Papist king – so that a Catholic could never sit on our throne again.
It also means that the Princess Royal, the Queen’s second born, is just tenth in line to the throne behind her younger brothers Andrew (fourth) and Edward (seventh).
The 15 other countries where Elizabeth II is queen are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Soloman Islands, Tuvalu, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Kitts and Nevis.
The Commonwealth leaders also agreed to overturn the 1701 Act of Settlement, which means that only the Protestant heirs of the Electress Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of James I, can become king or queen.
The Queen hailed the deal on changing the rules as the 53 Commonwealth countries met last year, saying she wanted the theme of allowing women to play a full part to last for years.
She said: “The theme this year is Women As Agents of Change.
“It reminds us of the potential in our societies that is yet to be fully unlocked and it encourages us to find ways to allow all girls and women to play their full part.
“We must continue to strive in our own countries and across the Commonwealth together to promote that theme in a lasting way beyond this year.”
Her comments were taken as a sign that the Queen approves of the reform.
Some experts are predicting that Kate Middleton and Prince William will end up with twins – and if they do, there could be more than just the usual parenting headaches ahead for the royal couple.
No mother of a future monarch has given birth to twins in Britain since the 15th century – so nobody is quite sure what will happen if Kate Middleton makes history and produces a brace of infants next summer.
And if she does, the intriguing question is: which of the children will end up on the throne?
Normally, of course, this would be little cause for discussion during a royal pregnancy. But the debilitating symptoms currently suffered by Kate Middleton in the King Edward VII Hospital in central London point to hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition experienced slightly more often by women expecting twins.
If it did prove to be the case that Kate Middleton was carrying two children, and she gave birth to them naturally, the rule of primogeniture that has dictated the royal succession for centuries would mean that if the twins are boys, the first-born would ascend the throne.
And until recently, if the twins were boy and girl, it would be the boy who got to wear the crown. But under new legislation, if Kate Middleton gives birth to a mixed pair, it will be the first-born who succeeds – no matter their gender.
All that seems straightforward. But if Kate Middleton were to require either an emergency or an elective caesarean, then things get very much more complicated.
Some experts are predicting that Kate Middleton and Prince William will end up with twins
Last year, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark – that country’s next monarch – gave birth to twins.
There was some anxiety beforehand that her babies might have to be delivered by caesarean section, leading to speculation that it would be the obstetrician who chose which child to deliver first and thus which would eventually rise to the throne.
Happily, she didn’t have to go through with a caesarean section birth, and gave birth to Prince Vincent, the nation’s future monarch, 25 minutes ahead of his sister, Princess Josephine.
Were those circumstances to arise here and a caesarean be required, the task of picking who would be the future king or queen would fall, in theory, to Alan Farthing – the royal gynaecologist still better known as the former fiancé of murdered BBC presenter Jill Dando.
Alan Farthing, 47, now a distinguished figure in the world of obstetrics, has held the royal post since 2008, and experienced himself the joy of fatherhood for the first time early last year when his wife Janet, 33, gave birth to a boy.
But while he will be more than prepared for the challenges ahead, it’s unlikely Alan Farthing would want to shoulder the responsibility of choosing whom he brought into the world first. Which begs the question – who would?
Would it be Prince William, who’s expected, like most modern fathers, to be present at the birth? Would the royal family have to revert to the odd practices of yesteryear, where a government minister had to be present at the accouchement to act as an observer and ensure everything was above board?
Last time that happened to a future monarch was in 1926, when the present Queen was born and home secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks was required to be present, albeit in an adjoining room. Should that be the case again next year the job will fall to Theresa May, the present home secretary.
Faced with the prospect of choosing which twin became the heir, the Cambridges would be able to consider various precedents set when similar situations have arisen.
Their friend the Marquess of Cholmondeley faced such a situation three years ago when his twin sons were born by caesarean. In the end, his ancient title went to his first-born, Alexander, who now bears his father’s courtesy title Earl of Rocksavage; his twin is more simply known as Lord Oliver Cholmondeley.
What Kate and Wills can’t do is draw on any recent experience in either family tree, for there’s almost no history of twins in William’s extended family, and a trawl back through Kate’s rich and varied ancestry comes up with very few examples – and none in recent times.
Should Kate actually prove to be carrying twins, though, she will hope they find better fortune than the last pair of royal infants. In 1430, King James I of Scotland’s wife Queen Joan gave birth to two boys. The first, Alexander, was named as the heir to the throne and given the title Duke of Rothesay – a title still carried today by William’s father as Prince of Wales.
The second twin, James, would have expected an easy life – except that within a year his elder brother had died and he assumed the Rothesay title. By the time he was six, his father had been assassinated and he rose unsteadily to the Scottish throne as King James II of Scotland.
We no longer live in such unsettled times, but for William and Kate, there will still be an element of uncertainty – until they know for certain whether they have twins on the way or not.
A new video on YouTube shows how what appears to be a fully formed Rubik’s cube is in fact a two dimensional color drawing that tricks the brain into believing it has three dimensions.
The optical illusion is called anamorphosis, which plays on how our brains make sense of the world and causes us to see something from one angle only that might not necessarily be there.
Presented from the appropriate angle, or sweet spot, the viewer looks at the right angle and suddenly what was once a straight forward drawing becomes a three dimensional object – even though your brain knows it isn’t.
Offered contradictory information, the brain simple reassembles the painting into what it expects it to be, but all the viewer has to do to re-set reality is to step an inch off your position.
A new video on YouTube shows how what appears to be a fully formed Rubik’s cube is in fact a two dimensional color drawing that tricks the brain into believing it has three dimensions
Created by YouTube illusionist extraordinaire Brusspup, the Rubiks cube, shoe and question mark are all positioned on the table alongside regular objects.
However, when the video begins, the photo-realistic images are rotated allowing the viewer to experience the anamorphosis.
Recognized since the Renaissance, anamorphosis demonstrates how the brain can be fooled into seeing things that aren’t really there.
NATO has approved the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries along Turkey’s border with Syria.
The long-expected move emerged from a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, and amid growing fears that Syria could use chemical weapons.
NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the ministers had “unanimously expressed grave concerns” about the use of chemical weapons.
Syria has said it would never use such weapons against its own people.
The meeting of the 28-member Western military alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels follows a request from Turkey to boost its defences along the border.
NATO has approved the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries along Turkey’s border with Syria
In a statement, NATO said it had “agreed to augment Turkey’s air defence capabilities in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey and to contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along the alliance’s border”.
Recent intelligence assessments have indicated Damascus is contemplating using ballistic missiles, potentially armed with chemical warheads.
Speaking after the meeting, Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters that the foreign ministers had “unanimously expressed grave concerns” about the reports, saying: “Any such action would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law.”
He would not give further details on the deployment, but said it would ensure effective protection of Turkey against any missile attack, whether carrying chemical weapons or not.
NATO officials have previously made clear such a move would be purely defensive.
India has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ahead of elections in which officials accused of corruption were set to be appointed.
The IOC has declared the Indian Olympic Association election, which was set to take place on Wednesday, void.
“The election process has been tarnished since the start,” said IOC official Pere Miro.
The ban prevents athletes competing for India, which won six medals at London 2012, at future Olympics.
Two officials expected to be elected to senior IOA positions are closely linked to corruption allegations relating to Delhi’s hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Lalit Bhanot, who spent 11 months in custody last year on corruption charges linked to the event, was set to be elected unopposed to the post of secretary general.
Abhay Singh Chautala was expected to be the IOA’s new president and he has close links to former incumbent Suresh Kalmadi, who is on bail over similar charges.
The IOA’s ban also means its funding from the IOC will be effectively ended, while no Indian officials can attend Olympic meetings.
India has been suspended by the IOC ahead of elections in which officials accused of corruption were set to be appointed
“They are not entitled to have elections and, if for some reason they go ahead, this will not be recognized,” added Pere Miro, who is in charge of IOC relations with national Olympic committees.
“This is because this is part of a full problem: many different interferences, many governmental rules and their own bad interpretation of IOA statutes.”
The IOA has been directed by a Delhi court to hold the elections adhering to the Indian government’s sports code, while the IOC wants the governing body to abide by the Olympic charter.
But Chautala insists the ban is “wrong and completely unilateral”.
“We’d go to the IOC again and explain to them the actual situation and the details of the election. This ban was completely thrust on us,” he said.
India’s only individual Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra believes the IOA deserves to be suspended.
“Bye bye IOA, hope to see you again soon, hopefully cleaner!” shooter Bindra, who won Beijing 2008 gold in the men’s 10m air rifle, said on Twitter.
