Saturday morning tattoo artist Kat Von D was announcing her split from boyfriend, DJ Deadmau5, on Twitter.
They were spotted out arm and arm in Los Angeles just days ago.
“Man, I sure was wrong. But at least he made it a no brainer to break that off. #lessonlearned,” Kat Von D wrote.
“Man..I can’t say I didn’t give it my best,” the 30-year-old reality star added.
And in case anyone missed it, she also posted: “Clarification: Deadmau5 and I are no longer together.”
The couple was first spotted out together in September after meeting at a party earlier and immediately announced their relationship to the world via social media sites.
Deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, tweeted: ”Yeah, im love… inb4 I find a f*** to give over the Internet implodes over it 😉 at least I’m happy! Lol” and posted 43 photos of himself on his Facebook page.
Saturday morning tattoo artist Kat Von D was announcing her split from boyfriend, DJ Deadmau5, on Twitter
Kat Von D, real name Katherine von Drachenberg, declared her love for the music producer by giving him a star tattoo below his eye to match her own.
But it seems as though the writing was on the wall for the couple as the sometime model said: “Now, we can get all of the <<I told you so’s>> outta the way…And move on.”
And while it is not clear what caused the break-up, the electro-house DJ is taking full responsibility for the break up on his Facebook page.
“Going to spend a little while screwing my head back on,” he wrote.
“i guess I’m not cut out for relationships right now. and that’s all i really want to dwell on it right now. ill figure it out. no hard feelings.”
Kat Von D was previously engaged to Sandra Bullock’s cheating ex, grease monkey Jesse James, and dated Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx before that.
Former CIA Director David Petraeus has offered an apology over his affair in an email to a friend, saying Friday night that he was “deeply sorry” for the pain he’s cause the nation and his own family, it was revealed today.
David Petraeus’ long-time friend told the Washington Post that the retired general was extremely sorry over his extramarital affair, allegedly with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.
His apology comes as reports show that David Petraeus’ career could have imploded Paula Broadwell allegedly sent threatening e-mails to another woman she suspected of being too close to him.
In fact, the as-yet unidentified woman could be the key to the entire scandal unfolding after it was claimed she contacted the FBI for protection after receiving frightening emails. Agents traced the threats to Paula Broadwell.
However, it is claimed that Paula Broadwell was using David Petraeus’ own Gmail account to send the emails and when the FBI began to investigate an obvious national security issue instead uncovered explicit messages between the two sent from the decorated war hero’s own account – indicating an affair.
Three senior law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case told the Washington Post that when David Petraeus’s name was raised in connection with the threatening emails the FBI thought that security had been breached.
Beginning their investigation into how the Director of the CIA’s personal email had been hacked, the FBI agents instead uncovered evidence that he and 40-year-old Paula Broadwell were involved in an extramarital affair.
FBI investigators first interviewed David Petraeus about what they had found two weeks ago and informed him that no criminal charges would be brought and no-one is thought to have discussed the possibility of his resignation.
But, according to the Washington Post, after an investigation Justice Department officials were unclear what to do next, because no crime had occurred nor breach of security.
Paula Broadwell allegedly sent threatening e-mails to another woman she suspected of being too close to David Petraeus
They contacted James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence and told him they had compromising material about David Petraeus.
James Clapper in turn spoke to David Petraeus and advised him to resign.
“Director Clapper learned of the situation from the FBI on Tuesday evening around 5 p.m.,” the intelligence official said to the Washington Post.
“In subsequent conversations with Director Petraeus, Director Clapper advised Director Petraeus to resign.”
Director James Clapper also added that he did not see the need for an internal investigation by the CIA, citing it as “a very personal matter, not a matter of intelligence”.
On Wednesday evening, Director James Clapper went to the White House and on Thursday morning President Barack Obama was informed.
Later on Thursday, David Petraeus arrived to see the President and offered his resignation, which was accepted on Friday.
The Washington Post has also reported that in an email message to a friend, David Petraeus apologized for his actions.
“He was deeply sorry for the pain he has caused his family,” the friend said.
“He also noted how much he loved his job at the agency. He said he really relished the intellectual challenge there.”
Paula Broadwell’s biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, was written with Vernon Loeb, a Washington Post editor, and published in January.
The resignation comes at a sensitive time. The administration and the CIA have struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others. It was an issue during the presidential campaign that ended with Barack Obama’s re-election Tuesday.
The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a militant terror attack.
It has become clear that the CIA was aware the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the Muslim world.
Michael Morell rather than David Petraeus now is expected to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the assault on the consulate in Benghazi, which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
David Petraeus, who turned 60 on Wednesday, has been married for 38 years to Holly Petraeus, whom he met when he was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. She was the daughter of the academy superintendent. They have two children, and their son led an infantry platoon in Afghanistan.
Selena Gomez was said to have ended her relationship with Justin Bieber over “trust issues” after he was seen with model Barbara Palvin at a Broadway show.
A source confirmed to People magazine that Selena Gomez, 20, was the one who ended the couple’s high-profile romance about a week ago after nearly two years together.
News of the pair’s split comes as Justin Bieber, 18, and Hungarian model Barbara Palvin, 19, were both spotted at the Broadway production of The Lion King musical on Thursday – just 24 hours after they shared the stage at the Victoria’s Secret show.
A source told People: “She broke up with him about a week ago.
“With them being apart so much it got complicated. She had some trust issues. It’s not easy, but the relationship needed to end.”
Selena Gomez was said to have ended her relationship with Justin Bieber over “trust issues”
Although news of their split didn’t break until Friday night, a few hours earlier Selena Gomez hinted there was trouble in paradise with a cryptic tweet as she posted a photo of Justin Bieber with Barbara Palvin in the background.
Selena Gomez captioned it: “….”
News of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s break-up was first reported by E! Online: “Because of their crazy schedules, it was getting harder and harder to maintain a relationship.”
The pair have spent a lot of their relationship apart, with Selena Gomez spending most of the time in the U.S. filming and Justin Bieber touring the world.
The past few weeks, Selena Gomez has been filming a Wizard Of Waverly Place reunion in Hollywood.
Perhaps in a bid to make her ex jealous, Selena Gomez posted a photo of herself and handsome Wizards Of Waverly Place on-screen love interest Gregg Sulkin hanging out on set late on Thursday night.
Selena Gomez wrote: “Shooting at 2am and this is where me and Gregg end up…”
New studies show that, contrary to popular belief, hitting the gym for a half hour or more can decrease your appetite.
One recently published study found that perceived fullness was higher among participants after 12 weeks of aerobic training.
Another study showed that women appeared less hungry on mornings when they walked on a treadmill for 45 minutes compared with mornings they didn’t, Men’s Health reports.
“Exercise can definitely suppress hunger,” Barry Braun, director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told Men’s Health.
Similar links between exercise and lack of appetite were found in studies from 2010, according to Scientific American.
Those findings raise an important question: If workouts make people want to eat less, then why do so many people who repeatedly exercise still have trouble losing weight?
“In most studies, there is a poor correspondence between appetite and actual food intake,” Barry Braun said. Translation: just because you might not feel as hungry as usual after a workout, that doesn’t mean you won’t eat too much after a workout nonetheless.
So, how should exercise fanatics avoid the pitfalls of hitting the gym and gaining unwanted weight still?
By cutting back on food rewards after a workout and keeping a food log for at least a week.
Studies show that simply logging your meals can help you cut down on overeating.
Holly Petraeus, the now humiliated wife of former CIA chief David Petraeus, sit just feet away from his mistress Paula Broadwell in June of last year, it was revealed today.
At the time of the photograph it is thought that the affair between the 60-year-old four-star general and his 40-year-old biographer was still continuing despite both being married with children.
And in a massive irony, both women are watching David Petraeus sit before the Senate Select Committee that confirmed his position as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency – the job he resigned from yesterday as a direct result of his affair.
But despite the public shaming of David Petraeus, one senior military source who worked with the former CIA Director leaves little room for doubt where those loyal to the general stand.
Blaming David Petraeus’ biographer and reported mistress, Paula Broadwell, for his downfall, the unnamed individual said that the 40-year-old author and West Point graduate went out of her way to “get her claws in him”.
Depicting Paula Broadwell as obsessed with using David Petraeus to further her own career, the unidentified source describes the married mother of two as a “shamless self-promoting prom queen”.
According to an interview the figure gave to businessinsider.com, Paula Broadwell latched onto David Petraeus soon after they met at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2006 as she was wrapping up her Master’s degree.
Holly Petraeus, the now humiliated wife of former CIA chief David Petraeus, sit just feet away from his mistress Paula Broadwell in June of last year
Claiming that Paula Broadwell used their shared backgrounds as West Point graduates and counterinsurgency experts to become close to David Petraeus, the source known as “James Downing” says that when news of the affair broke he realized immediately who it was with.
“It’s one of those things that, as soon as the announcement was made, I knew in an instant who it was,” said James Downing.
“Everything made sense. Who had exclusive access to him? Who wrote the hagiography on his life? Who framed their entire existence around his persona?”
Unflatteringly comparing her to Paula Jones the former Arkansas state employee who sued President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994, the source claims to have known Paula Broadwell for six years.
“When she started work on the bio she called me for background on one of the general’s previous deployments,” said James Downing.
“I probably gave her four hours or so, and we stayed in touch after that by email and an occasional phone call.”
However, over the course of those years and through her unfettered access to David Petraeus, James Downing claims that she underwent a dramatic shift in her personality.
“Over that time, she went from someone very likeable to a shameless self-promoting prom queen,” he said.
“A very disturbing shift in how she carried herself.
“If she knew P4 [Petraeus] was going to make an appearance at an event, she’d crash it without an invitation (she actually did this at the wedding of some close friends of mine) and photo bomb[ed] sic everyone there.”
The senior source who claims to know both parties, even made allowances for the retired four-star general whose policies allowed the U.S. to make a measured withdrawal from Iraq in 2011.
Even despite the Washington Post reporting that current and former U.S. military officials long had suspicions of David Petraeus being involved in infidelities.
“You’re a 60 year-old man and an attractive woman almost half your age makes herself available to you – that would be a test for anyone,” said James Downing.
Nate Silver, a New York Times blogger and celebrity numbers wiz, is set to make millions for his spot-on election prediction.
Nate Silver, the 34-year-old statistician who developed his own formula for predicting presidential outcomes, bet MSNB morning host Joe Scarborough $2,000 that Barack Obama would win the election on November 6.
Both men agreed to donate their winnings to charity.
Nate Silver won and is now poised to take in far more than his initial bet, Business Insider reports.
Nate Silver, who started his career analyzing baseball players’ performances, earned $700,000 for a two book deal with Penguin after calling the 2008 presidential election, according to the New York Observer.
Nate Silver, the 34-year-old statistician who developed his own formula for predicting presidential outcomes
On Election Day Business Insider proposed that Nate Silver could potentially double those earnings in 2012 with more book deals and high-paid speaking gigs if he were to successfully call the election again.
In addition to blogging for the New York Times, Nate Silver is the founder of his own much-read blog FiveThirtyEight.com.
Nate Silver was the topic of a Today show segment on Friday after successfully predicting Barack Obama’s win.
“He’s becoming a bit of a celebrity,”Today show host Andrea Canning told viewers.
“President Obama may have been the big winner this week, but coming in a close second: New York Times blogger, statistician and self-described geek, Nate Silver.”
Barack Obama has won the presidential vote in Florida – widening his electoral victory margin over Republican rival, Mitt Romney.
The vote count in the only state which had not declared a result from Tuesday’s election gave Barack Obama 50% to Mitt Romney’s 49.1%, according to Florida state department figures.
Barack Obama has now won 332 electoral college votes – Mitt Romney has 206.
The slow count brought back memories of the bitterly contested recount in 2000.
The Sunshine State’s famous “hanging chads” sparked a crisis in that year’s Bush-Gore election, eventually leading to a Supreme Court ruling that installed George W. Bush in the White House.
The figures released by the Florida state department suggest Barack Obama won 4,236,032 votes out of a total of 8,471,095 cast – 73,858 more than Mitt Romney and well above the 0.5% difference which would have triggered an automatic recount.
The result will not come as a surprise to either President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney – it has been assumed that the president would win since late on Tuesday.
But it is significant nonetheless as it further strengthens President Barack Obama’s negotiating position when it comes to doing deals with Republicans in Congress.
And because there are so many Latino voters in the state, the result will also reinforce the message that Republicans need to do more to win the Hispanic vote.
Barack Obama has won the presidential vote in Florida, widening his electoral victory margin over Mitt Romney
Exit polls suggest that Florida’s Cuban Americans voted for the Democratic Party in record numbers.
The newly re-elected Barack Obama has said the wealthy must pay more taxes under any political settlement to avert a looming budget crisis.
He has urged Congress to act against the so-called fiscal cliff, a package of tax rises and spending cuts due early next year.
But in a dueling news conference on Friday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said tax rises would not be acceptable.
Budget analysts warn the US will tip into recession unless a deal is struck.
Barack Obama has repeatedly called for the affluent to pay more, but such a plan is anathema to Republicans.
The fiscal cliff would see the expiry of George W. Bush-era tax cuts at the end of 2012, combined with automatic, across-the-board reductions to military and domestic spending.
Florida’s problems began even before Election Day, with lengthy queues reported during the early-voting period.
Democrats launched a legal challenge against a Republican-backed measure to limit the period during which voters could cast ballots before the election, from 14 days to eight.
They said it was a blatant attempt to suppress Democratic turnout – Florida’s African-American voters have tended to cast ballots early in previous elections.
But Governor Rick Scott said the measure, passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature in 2011, aimed to limit voter fraud.
The early-voting period officially ended last Saturday. Election supervisors in Miami-Dade and other counties did open up voting for several hours on Sunday.
But after being swamped by voters, one polling office in Miami-Dade County temporarily shut its doors. Some in line began to shout: “Let us vote!”
There was also a technical error with an automated phone system that told more than 12,500 voters in another county that the election was on Wednesday.
Florida was not alone in reports of lengthy Election Day queues. Voters waited for hours in states such as Virginia, New York and Washington DC.
Four-star general David Petraeus was a star on the battlefield, commanding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but his impeccable judgement failed him when he engaged in an extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell that led to his downfall as CIA Director.
Celebrated as a scholar and a warrior, the 60-year-old Princeton graduate is admired as much for his intellect as he was his tactical ability and charisma on the battlefield.
Seen as one of the top American leaders of his generation, David Petraeus became known as an “A list” celebrity, is credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of all-out civil war and had a career so stellar he once seemed on course for the US presidency.
After his revolutionary counter-insurgency tactics saved Iraq, David Petraeus oversaw battlefield success in Afghanistan commanding a surge of 30,000 troops ordered by President Barack Obama in late 2009.
“I don’t think he was professionally overrated. His were genuine accomplishments,” said James Carafano, a war historian with the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
Senator John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate and the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Friday that David Petraeus is one of “America’s greatest military heroes”.
“His inspirational leadership and his genius were directly responsible – after years of failure – for the success of the surge in Iraq,” John McCain said.
Indeed, as the U.S presidential campaign heated up in 2011, there was genuine talk of the war-hero running as part of a Republican ticket, potentially as vice-president.
The rumors continued up until August of this year, when the White House was forced to deny a report that President Barack Obama feared Mitt Romney stumping for the then CIA chief as his running mate.
In fact, at the time of his nomination to the CIA post, some Washington insiders had said the White House wanted to find a high-profile position for David Petraeus to ensure he would not be recruited by Republicans as a challenger to the 2012 Obama-Biden ticket.
However, ever the loyal soldier, David Petraeus repeatedly distanced himself from ambitions of elected office.
“I am not a politician, and I will never be, and I say that with absolute conviction,” David Petraeus said on NBC’s Meet the Press in August 2010.
When he was nominated to lead the CIA there were some concerns in intelligence circles that the high-profile four-star Army general might not be able to lead from the shadows as appropriate for a spy chief.
But once he took over the head office at the U.S. spy agency, David Petraeus kept a decidedly low public profile.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, expressed regret about the resignation of “one of America’s best and brightest” and said it was an “enormous loss” for the country.
“At CIA, Director Petraeus gave the agency leadership, stature, prestige and credibility both at home and abroad. On a personal level, I found his command of intelligence issues second to none,” Dianne Feinstein said.
After accepting his resignation about a year-and-a-half after nominating David Petraeus to the CIA post, Barack Obama said: “By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end.”
David Petraeus was sworn in as CIA chief in September 2011 by Joe Biden with his wife Holly at his side
In 2010, David Petraeus stepped into the breach as the new commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to replace General Stanley McChrystal who was fired by Obama in a scandal over an article in which McChrystal and his aides made mocking comments about the president and some of his top advisers.
In 2009, David Petraeus was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and underwent radiation treatment. The media-friendly general joked at that time at a Washington event that reporters were only gathered “to see if the guy is still alive”.
David Petraeus, born in Cornwall, New York, lives in Virginia with his wife Holly. They have two grown children, a son who was an Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, and a daughter.
Known for his intensely competitive nature, David Petraeus graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1974, was the top of his 1983 class at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and went on to earn a doctorate in International Relations at Princeton in 1987.
His commands included the legendary 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and during that campaign he quickly secured the north of the country around Mosul.
The soldier headed up the American efforts to train Iraqi security forces and eventually returned to the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to write his counterinsurgency manual – which is now required reading.
From that point onwards he became the logical choice for President George W. Bush to lead his “surge” in January 2007 which allowed the United States to completely withdraw from Iraq four-years later.
David Petraeus’s wife, Holly, is an activist and volunteer who champions military families, and she continued that work after her husband retired from the military and moved to the CIA.
Holly Petraeus currently is assistant director of the office of service member affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she tries to keep unscrupulous lenders from taking advantage of military personnel.
The bureau was championed by Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, who was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts this week.
Holly Petraeus is the daughter of four-star General William Knowlton, who was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point when Petraeus was a cadet.
She briefed the press at the Pentagon on her efforts recently and was introduced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who called her “a true friend of the Department of Defense and a dedicated member of our military family”.
David Petraeus has four Defense Distinguished Service Medal awards, three Distinguished Service Medal awards, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, and the State Department Distinguished Service Award.
A colleague of former CIA director David Petraeus offers some revealing details on how Paula Broadwell “got her claws into him”.
The unidentified senior military source told Business Insider that David Petraeus’s biographer, Paula Broadwell, relentlessly followed the married general to private events and “went from someone very likeable to a shameless self-promoting prom queen” in the years she spent profiling him for her book, All In.
“The timing of the rumors of the administration throwing him under the bus after the election is suspect, but in the end I believe she got her claws – so to speak – in him,” that source said.
“He had enough honor to know that a cover-up is much worse than a public admission.
“As a result, I think he can recover and continue to be a player on the national stage, but she’s toast. Her reputation is unrecoverable, in my opinion.”
David Petraeus was caught by investigators after exchanging sexually explicit emails with his 40-year-old mistress and bombarding her with thousands of messages even after she had broken off the affair.
The racy communications between the four-star general and Paula Broadwell were uncovered when the FBI began an investigation after suspecting corruption between the pair.
David Petraeus resigned on Friday after confessing to cheating on his wife of 37 years, Holly.
He issued a statement acknowledging the affair after President Barack Obama accepted his resignation, which was announced by the CIA soon after.
“After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” he said in the statement.
“Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours. This afternoon, the president graciously accepted my resignation.”
David Petraeus biographer, Paula Broadwell, relentlessly followed the married general to private events and went from someone very likeable to a shameless self-promoting prom queen
After being sworn in as CIA Director on September 6th, 2011, Paula Broadwell broke up with David Petraeus, but he continued to pursue her, sending her thousands of emails over the last few months – raising questions about his judgement which led in part to his resignation.
Paula Broadwell, who spent three years doing researching for her book, had extensive access to David Petraeus in Afghanistan. Yet sources told NBC it is unlikely she will face criminal charges after the alleged hacking, stressing that David Petraeus himself is under no investigation.
Sources at the FBI said that the investigation of the former CIA boss began in spring of this year and that federal agents pored over his emails from that point and from when he was stationed in Afghanistan between July 4th 2010 and July 18th 2011.
David Petraeus met Paula Broadwell in 2006 at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as she was finishing up her Master’s degree there.
Paula Broadwell, who served in the military for more than a decade, lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her radiologist husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, and their two young sons, Lucien and Landon.
It has been reported Justin Bieber has split from girlfriend Selena Gomez.
The news comes after Justin Bieber was apparently seen “chatting up” models backstage at the Victoria’s Secret show on Wednesday.
Ironically for Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber was seen taking 19-year-old Hungarian fashion model Barbara Palvin to see The Lion King on Broadway.
And it seems this could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, as E! Online are reporting the couple has gone their separate ways.
According to a source, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez broke up about a week ago, last being spotted together on October 20.
An insider said: “Because of their crazy schedules, it was getting harder and harder to maintain a relationship.”
Amongst claims they split last week, Selena Gomez angrily posted a picture on her Twitter page showing Justin Bieber with his rumored new squeeze Barbara Palvin in the background on Thursday.
The text the 20-year-old posted alongside it was a mysterious: “…”
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez split after he took Barbara Palvin to Broadway show
To add even more spice to the story, it has emerged the fashion model attacked Selena Gomez star earlier this year.
In a webchat 11 months ago Barbara Palvin offered to sing her fans a song of their choice, but added: “I don’t like Selena Gomez by the way…”
But it seems she was trying to take back the insult, as when fans tweeted her about the video, Barbara Plavin told them: “I do like her as an actress! she is talented!:) i did that ustream a year ago. just forget it.:)”
However, Barbara Palvin was not shy to post images of her and the star at the high profile fashion show, and next to one where she is in her dressing gown with him, she said: “Okay sooo because u guys were askin for it! with @justinbieber! you were great tonight!”
Barbara Palvin also posted an image where she is posing with Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun and director Alfredo Flores.
Additionally, Barbara Palvin later wrote: “The Lion King,” with a heart symbol alongside it, however she was clearly referring to the 18-year-old hunk on Friday morning when she posted on Twitter: “hey everyone. please calm down. he is all yours!! 🙂 please :).”
Despite all the speculation, Justin Bieber, who was seen appearing in concert in New York on Friday evening, has been keeping mysteriously quiet on the subject.
Justin Bieber was spotted getting flirty with various Victoria’s Secret models on Wednesday night after performing at the catwalk show.
But Selena Gomez seems to be moving fast too if her own online postings are anything to go by.
On Thursday night Selena Gomez tweeted a cozy snap of herself lying down next to British star Gregg Sulkin as they filmed until the early hours of the morning on location in Hollywood, where they are shooting their Wizards Of Waverly Place reunion movie.
The news may be received well by fans of Justin Bieber, who have been unpleasant towards Selena Gomez since they started dating in early 2011, frequently attacking her via the Internet.
Selena Gomez has said in the past of the comments: “It hurts, it really does. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything wrong. I’ve been best friends with him for a very long time.
“It does hurt my feelings a lot, but I try not to focus on it.”
Jon Stewart’s interview with Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus’ mistress, on The Daily Show in January was more than a little awkward.
David Petraeus stepped down Friday after confessing to cheating on his wife of 37 years, Holly – calling his behavior “unacceptable” for a senior administration official.
But before all that, back in January, biographer-turned-mistress Paula Broadwell appeared on the show to pitch her book All In.
About three and a half minutes into the clip, Jon Stewart and Paula Broadwell talk about how the two got chummy while in Afghanistan.
While embedded, said Paula Broadwell, she and David Petraeus would go running in the mountainous Afghanistan capital of Kabul while interviewing Petreaus for her book.
But it started in Washington, D.C.
“I was among the students invited by the school to meet with the general at a dinner afterward, because of my military background,” she explained.
“I introduced myself to then–Lieutenant General Petraeus and told him about my research interests; he gave me his card and offered to put me in touch with other researchers and service members working on the same issues.”
Paula Broadwell added that this was not a one-off as he often “does a lot of mentoring”.
As she pursued her PhD in public policy in 2008, Paula Broadwell contacted David Petraeus to ask if she could interview him and they kept in touch via email.
“A few months into my research, General Petraeus, who was then leading Central Command, invited me to go for a run with him and his team along the Potomac River during one of his visits to Washington,” she wrote.
“I figured I could interview him while we ran.”
She explained that, after earning varsity letters in cross-country and indoor and outdoor track, she wanted to test him to see if he could keep up with her as she interviewed him.
“Instead it became a test for me,” Paula Broadwell she said.
“As we talked during the run from the Pentagon to the Washington Monument and back, Petraeus progressively increased the pace until the talk turned to heavy breathing and we reached a six-minute-per-mile pace. It was a signature Petraeus move.”
Paula Broadwell appeared in January on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote David Petraeus biography
She insisted that these mile-long runs together were nothing out of the ordinary.
“This is a typical mechanism for him to get to know young people,” she said.
“He’s done it throughout his life. That was the foundation of our relationship.”
Jon Stewart then asks if other people in his embed “resent [David Petraeus’] success” and reputation.
“He realizes he’s seen as an extremely ambitious individual. You want somebody who’s ambitious and driven, and who has a will to win. … He goes all-in to what he does.”
Apparently, Paula Broadwell, 40, goes “all in”, too.
Ambition is also second-nature to Paula Broadwell, who practically strives out loud.
According to her book, Paula Broadwell received a degree in political geography and systems engineering from West Point, where she was ranked No. 1 over all in fitness in her class. In high school, she was valedictorian and homecoming queen. She’s even been model for a machine gun manufacturer, reported The New York Times.
“I was driven when I was younger,” Paula Broadwell was quoted as saying on her official Web site, which was taken down Friday.
“Driven at West Point where it was much more competitive in that women were competing with men on many levels, and I was driven in the military and at Harvard, both competitive environments.
“But now, as a working mother of two, I realize it is more difficult to compete in certain areas. I think it is important for working moms to recognize that family is the most important.”
In her biography on the Penguin Speakers Bureau Web site says that she is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
A self-described “soccer mom” and an Ironman triathlete, Paula Broadwell became a fixture on the Washington media scene after the publication of her book about David Petraeus. In a Twitter message this summer, she bragged about appearing on a panel at the Aspen Institute, a policy group.
“Heading 2 @AspenInstitute 4 the Security Forum tomorrow! Panel (media & terrorism) followed by a 1v1 run with Lance Armstrong,” she wrote.
“Fired up!”
At six minutes into the chat, Paula Broadwell brings up her husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, when discussing whether or not David Petreaus would run for president.
“My husband wants me to say he is, because it’ll sell more books,” she says.
“I’m sorry, honey! I couldn’t do it!”
“That was the most awesome sellout I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jon Stewart says.
“So integrity’s running in the whole family, I guess.”
Jon Stewart summed up Paula Broadwell’s book by saying: “I would say the real controversy here is, is he awesome or incredibly awesome?”
A short time later, according to The New York Times, Paula Broadwell challenged Jon Stewart to a push-up contest, which she won handily. Jon Stewart had to pay $1,000 to a veterans’ support group for each push-up she did beyond his total. Paula Broadwell said that he wrote a check for $20,000 on the spot.
New reports claim that Paula Broadwell’s husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, sent a letter to New York Times advice column The Ethicist back in July that revealed he knew of her affair with CIA Director David Petraeus.
That intriguing possibility has been raised after canny observers dug out the July 13th edition of Chuck Klosterman’s The Ethicist and pointed to extraordinary coincidences between one readers letter and the now scandalous love tryst.
Writing about a deepening relationship he knew his wife was having with a “government executive” whose job “is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership” the anonymous man offers up what could be considered in hindsight as striking information.
The letter writer explains that “exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort”, and asks The Ethicist whether it is OK for him to “suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project”.
Indeed, he seems pained to make it clear he believes the mission “must succeed” and wants to know if he should confront his wife in some way and “finally force closure” or if he should “suffer in silence for the next year or two”.
The reader tells The Ethicist that has “watched the affair intensify over the last year” – which matches the timeline of the affair from August 2011 until around several months ago.
However, some have questioned whether the coincidences are just that and if the letter really was penned by Scott Broadwell.
Slate writer Allison Benedikt asked: “What government executive is not having an affair with some guy’s wife?”
Another writer with the publication added: “Would anyone really repeatedly refer to heading the CIA as a <<project>>? Doesn’t sound quite right.”
Those supporting the belief that the letter came from Scott Broadwell, point to Chuch Klosterman’s insightful reply to the anonymous man’s dilemma.
He tells the letter writer that he should tell his wife he wanted to separate, “just as you would if she were sleeping with the mailman”.
He claims there is no reason to reveal the affair in a public fashion, but having offered this clear-cut advice he goes slightly further.
“The fact that you’re willing to accept your wife’s infidelity for some greater political good is beyond honorable,” replied Chuck Klosterman on July 13th to the letter.
“In fact, it’s so over-the-top honorable that I’m not sure I believe your motives are real.
“Part of me wonders why you’re even posing this question, particularly in a column that is printed in The New York Times.
“I halfway suspect you’re writing this letter because you want specific people to read this column and deduce who is involved and what’s really going on behind closed doors (without actually addressing the conflict in person).
“That’s not ethical, either.”
Paula Broadwell served in the military for more than a decade, lives in Charlotte with her radiologist husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell
Heartbroken Husband or Whistleblower? The New York Times Letter in Full
“My wife is having an affair with a government executive. His role is to manage a project whose progress is seen worldwide as a demonstration of American leadership. (This might seem hyperbolic, but it is not an exaggeration.)
I have met with him on several occasions, and he has been gracious. (I doubt if he is aware of my knowledge.) I have watched the affair intensify over the last year, and I have also benefited from his generosity.
He is engaged in work that I am passionate about and is absolutely the right person for the job. I strongly feel that exposing the affair will create a major distraction that would adversely impact the success of an important effort.
My issue: Should I acknowledge this affair and finally force closure? Should I suffer in silence for the next year or two for a project I feel must succeed?
Should I be <<true to my heart>> and walk away from the entire miserable situation and put the episode behind me?” NAME WITHHELD
Pope Benedict XVI has approved the launch of a new Latin language college in the Vatican.
The Pontifical Academy for Latin will promote the knowledge and study of the language from classical times to the present day, said the Vatican.
Pope Benedict said the Church was the “guardian and promoter” of Latin and that a good understanding of it was more important than ever.
The Church officially abandoned the use of Latin in Masses in the 1960s.
But Pope Benedict has taken steps to make it easier for priests to say Mass in Latin, rather than their local language, if their more traditionalist congregations demand it.
Issuing his decree, he said that since the early days of Christianity, the Church had made Latin “her own language”, and that it was still held in high regard.
A good understanding of it was more important than ever, Vatican Radio quoted him as saying, but having only a “superficial” knowledge of it could be detrimental to the philosophical and theological training of future priests.
The Pope said the academy – which would also have an online presence – would also address a renewed interest in Latin and classical culture worldwide.
“Such interest is all the more significant because it involves not only the academic world, but also young people and scholars from very diverse nations and traditions,” he said.
Millions of Pakistan’s poorest families will get cash sums if their child attends school, in a scheme announced ahead of a day of action for Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl shot by the Taliban.
Under the scheme, funded by the World Bank and UK, families would reportedly get $2 a month per child in school.
The news came as the UN held “Malala Day”, in the name of Malala Yousufzai, 15, a Pakistani education campaigner.
She is recovering in the UK after she and two others were shot in October.
Saturday has been declared a global day of action in Malala’s name aimed at getting school places for 32 millions girls around the world who are not attending classes.
The Waseela-e-Taleem programme was announced in Islamabad by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and special UN envoy for global education, Gordon Brown.
“Malala’s dreams represent what is best about Pakistan,” said Gordon Brown, the former UK prime minister.
Millions of Pakistan’s poorest families will get cash sums if their child attends school, in a scheme announced ahead of a day of action for Malala Yousafzai
The initiative aims to enroll three million of the poorest children in education in the next four years and, according to Reuters, will see poor families receive $2 a month per child in primary school.
The cash will be distributed through the government’s Benazir Income Support Programme, designed to give small cash payments to needy families.
Those in the programme already receive $10 a month for basic expenditure, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people around the world have signed an online petition calling for Malala Yousafzai to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The UK government has also been urged to back the campaign, with advocates saying she represents those denied an education.
Doctors in the UK city of Birmingham, where Malala Yousafzai is being treated, say she is making progress.
Malala Yousafzai and two other schoolgirls were attacked as they returned home from school in Mingora in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan on October 9th.
The gunman who boarded the van in which she was travelling asked for her by name before firing three shots at her.
In early 2009 she wrote an anonymous diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban, who had banned all girls in her area from attending school.
A Vatican court has convicted computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti of helping Pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele to leak information from confidential papal documents.
Claudio Sciarpelletti, 48, was given a suspended sentence of two months for obstruction of justice.
He was accused of aiding former butler Paolo Gabriele while working as a computer technician in the Vatican.
Paolo Gabriele was given an 18-month prison sentence this month after he admitted passing documents to a journalist.
Claudio Sciarpelletti had worked for the past 20 years in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and was responsible for the maintenance of all computers.
His lawyer said an anonymous tip-off led Vatican police to search Claudio Sciarpelletti’s desk last May – finding an envelope addressed to Paolo Gabriele containing copies of sensitive documentation that had been leaked to the Italian media.
He had been charged with aiding and abetting Paolo Gabriele in leaking the document.
But the court decided that he was guilty only of obstruction of justice, because he had changed his version of events several times during the investigations.
Paolo Gabriele’s trial heard that he had used the photocopier in his shared office next to the Pope’s library to copy thousands of documents, taking advantage of his unrivalled access to the pontiff.
He later passed some of the documents to journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
Gianluigi Nuzzi released a best-selling book this year, entitled His Holiness, largely based on the confidential papers and detailing corruption, scandals and infighting.
Its publication sparked the hunt for the source of the leaks inside the Vatican, leading to Paolo Gabriele’s arrest.
Police said they had found thousands of documents at Paolo Gabriele’s home, including some original papers bearing the Pope’s handwriting. Some had the instruction “destroy” written by the Pope in German on them.
Paolo Gabriele confessed to taking the papers, but said he believed the Pope was being manipulated and hoped to reveal alleged corruption at the Vatican.
He told his trial that he did not see himself as a thief, but admitted he was guilty of “having betrayed the trust of the Holy Father, whom I love as a son would.”
The Vatican has dismissed suspicions of a wider plot, saying that Paolo Gabriele acted alone in obtaining the documents and giving them to the journalist.
Paolo Gabriele is serving his prison term in a special detention room inside the Vatican police station.
The Vatican authorities were worried that if he were to be moved into an Italian prison he might be subject to pressure to reveal secrets which might cause further embarrassment to the Pope.
The contoversial resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus on Friday threatens to undermine next week’s hearings into the deadly attack at the U.S. Consulate in Libya, at which he was scheduled to testify.
David Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA following revelations he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell and acknowledging that he “showed extremely poor judgment”.
The highly-decorated general, 60, had recently traveled to Libya and the Middle East, and was to testify about the Benghazi attack next week behind closed doors to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Fears have also emerged as his resignation comes at an extremely sensitive time. The administration and the CIA have struggled to defend security and intelligence lapses before the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.
It was an issue during the presidential campaign that ended with Barack Obama’s re-election Tuesday.
David Petraeus had led the CIA for only 14 months. His sudden departure threatened to usher in a period of instability at the spy agency, which is grappling with a leveling off in its budget after a decade of steady increases.
The agency is also fending off questions about its performance before and after the attack that led to the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi, Libya.
U.S. officials insisted that the CIA’s handling of the Benghazi incident had nothing to do with David Petraeus’ decision to resign.
The CIA has come under intense scrutiny for providing the White House and other administration officials with talking points that led them to say the Benghazi attack was a result of a film protest, not a militant terror attack.
It has become clear that the CIA was aware the attack was distinct from the film protests roiling across other parts of the Muslim world.
Michael Morell rather than David Petraeus now is expected to testify at closed congressional briefings next week on the September 11 attacks on the consulate in Benghazi.
According to the New York Times, David Petraeus told the White House of the affair, only one day after Barack Obama secured a second term in the White House.
The president did not immediately accept it, aides told the Times, and only reluctantly agreed to it on Friday.
David Petraeus resigned as head of the CIA following revelations he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell
News Corps’ Rupert Murdoch was one of masses who took to Twitter to voice his opinion. The 81-year-old Aussie wrote: “Petraeus resignation. Timing, everything suspicious. There has to be more to this story.”
Chiming in with her own conspiracy theory, conservative talk show radio host Laura Ingraham wrote: “CIA Chief Petraus resignation…something about this stinks to high heaven.”
She added: “COINCIDENCE?! Petraeus is set to testify NEXT week at a closed door session on Capitol Hill about Benghazi. Did BHO push him out? This stinks!”
But some, like Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, reacted to the news in a very forgiving fashion.
“Turns out Petraeus is (sic) human being. And of course we definitely can’t have human beings in government!” she wrote.
For the director of the CIA, being engaged in an extramarital affair is considered a serious breach of security and a counterintelligence threat.
If a foreign government had learned of the affair, the reasoning goes, David Petraeus or the person with whom he was involved could have been blackmailed or otherwise compromised. Military justice considers conduct such as an extramarital affair to be possible grounds for court martial.
Failure to resign also could create the perception for the rank-and-file that such behavior is acceptable.
At FBI headquarters, spokesman Paul Bresson declined to comment on the information that the affair had been discovered in the course of an investigation by the bureau.
In a statement from the president, Barack Obama said: “I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission.”
But there is no indication that he broke any agency rule in connection with his admitted affair, sources familiar with the matter said.
The CIA has no broad rule banning officials from engaging in extramarital affairs, though if discovered, liaisons by CIA personnel with suspected foreign agents would pose security problems for a U.S. spy.
Barack Obama, who accepted David Petraeus’ resignation in a phone call with him Friday afternoon, said that Michael Morell, the agency’s long-time deputy director, would serve as acting CIA chief.
Michael Morell, who is well respected at both the White House and on Capitol Hill, had previously served as acting director following the departure of former CIA chief Leon Panetta.
He is a leading candidate to be David Petraeus’ permanent successor, sources said.
Other possible candidates being discussed on Capitol Hill include John Brennan, Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser; Obama national security adviser Thomas Donilon; and former congresswoman Jane Harman, who chaired the House intelligence committee.
David Petraeus’ resignation also adds a new vacancy on Barack Obama’s national security team. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will leave after Barack Obama’s first term, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is widely expected to leave as well.
David Petraeus’ wife, Holly, has been an advocate for U.S. veterans and head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Last month, David and Holly Petraeus appeared together at a reception at the Canadian Embassy in Washington to celebrate the premiere of the Ben Affleck film Argo, which chronicles a successful operation in which the CIA and Canadian diplomats smuggled a group of U.S. officials out of Tehran during the 1979-80 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.
In a letter to the CIA workforce, David Petraeus said that he met with Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday and asked “to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position”.
“After being married for 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair,” David Petraeus wrote.
“Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”
Barack Obama, who was re-elected to a second term on Tuesday, said in a statement that he accepted David Petraeus’ resignation, praising him for his work at the CIA and for leading U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The sudden and dramatic turn of events appeared to end the public career of a widely admired man who played a key role in the Iraq war, led the U.S. Central Command and commanded U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
David Petraeus’ name had circulated speculatively as a possible Republican presidential nominee before Barack Obama tapped him as CIA chief. Before taking the CIA post, he retired as an Army general after nearly four decades of military service.
Former CIA Director David Petraeus sent his mistress Paula Broadwell a sexually explicit email about having sex under a desk and continued to pursue her even after she had broken off the affair it has been revealed.
The racy communications between the married four-star general and his lover, Paula Broadwell, were uncovered when the FBI began an investigation after they suspected corruption between the pair.
Instead the FBI found evidence of a potentially compromising affair for America’s top intelligence official which would have been a breach of national security requirements and led to David Petraeus’ dramatic resignation yesterday.
David Petraeus stepped down yesterday after confessing to cheating on his wife of 37 years, Holly – behavior he explained was ‘unacceptable’ for a senior administration official.
The affair was uncovered after the FBI launched an investigation into the biographer, Paula Broadwell, for allegedly hacking into the former general’s email, NBC News and Slate reported.
Paula Broadwell, who researched the book All In for three years, had extensive access to David Petraeus in Afghanistan
Paula Broadwell, who researched the book All In for three years, had extensive access to David Petraeus in Afghanistan. Yet sources told NBC it is unlikely she will face criminal charges after the alleged hacking, stressing that David Petraeus himself is under no investigation.
He first met Paula Broadwell six years ago when he addressed students at Harvard University, where she is a researcher, and they eventually got to know each other better during mile-long runs.
Paula Broadwell, who served in the military for more than a decade, lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her radiologist husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, and their two young sons, Lucien and Landon.
A new study suggests that woman’s menstrual cycle affects the severity of respiratory symptoms, potentially worsening conditions such as asthma.
Norwegian researchers studied almost 4,000 women, and found worse symptoms around ovulation.
Writing in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, they said it may be possible to adapt women’s medication.
All the women studied had regular menstrual cycles lasting 28 days or less, and none were taking hormonal contraceptives.
Of those studied, 28.5% were smokers and 8% had been diagnosed with asthma.
Wheezing symptoms were worse between days 10 to 22 of cycles, with a slight dip near the point of ovulation for most.
Shortness of breath was worse on days seven to 21, again with a slight fall around ovulation.
The study found it was not just women diagnosed with asthma who experienced these symptoms and variations.
Coughing was worse following ovulation for those with asthma, those who were overweight and smokers.
When an individual woman has her period is determined by complex hormonal processes over the course of her cycle.
Throughout, levels of different hormones rise and fall – and body temperature rises around ovulation.
The researchers suggest that these fluctuations may have direct effects on airways. and indirect effects on inflammatory responses to infection.
Writing in the journal, the researchers led by Dr. Ferenc Macsali, of the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, said: “We found that respiratory symptoms varied significantly during the menstrual cycle.
“There were large changes in symptom incidence through the cycle for all symptoms.”
They also found “pronounced” symptom variations during the menstrual cycle in women with asthma, and say the findings suggest women might need tailored medication regimes.
“Adjustment of asthma medication to the menstrual cycle may potentially improve the efficacy of asthma treatment and reduce disability and health costs related to asthma in women.”
Dr. Ferenc Macsali added: “Our results point to the potential for individualizing therapy for respiratory diseases according to individual symptom patterns.
“Adjusting asthma medication, for example, according to a woman’s menstrual cycle might improve its efficacy and help reduce disability and the costs of care.”
South Korean city of Suwon has opened what it says is “the world’s first toilet theme park”.
The Restroom Cultural Park has a museum displaying Roman style loos, European-style bedpans, and ancient Korean flush toilets, as well as fun facts about human waste and a sculpture garden dedicated to squatting figures.
To answer the question on everyone’s mind – What the…? – we should first look at a little background on Suwon city.
This city located outside of Seoul is well known for two things. First, the great Hwaseong Fortress ranks among UNESCO’s world heritage and has ruins which run throughout the city. Second is their recently deceased mayor who was known affectionately as Mr. Toilet.
Mr. Toilet’s greatest passion was improving the conditions of Korea’s public toilets by teaching people about the importance of proper toilet maintenance. Around the time of the World Cup in Korea there was a surge of public awareness aimed at improving the conditions of public toilets spearheaded by the mayor. His crowning achievement was a house erected in 2007 in the shape of a giant toilet in Suwon which is operated by the World Toilet Organization.
South Korean city of Suwon has opened what it says is the world’s first toilet theme park
The effort was a huge success and the people of Suwon now boast many of their public restrooms as sightseeing spots. Following Mr. Toilet’s death, the citizens donated money to build this commode themed wonderland in his honor.
Details of the park are sketchy at the moment and it’s not sure if this is so much a “theme park” in the sense of roller coasters and giant mice of simply a park with many toilet related displays around.
The park is said to exhibit various public toilets, ancient roman toilets, European toilets from the Middle ages, and even a flushing toilet said to exist in Korea 1000 years ago. Also you can find some bronze statues of people doing the deuce complete with strained expressions on their faces which leads me to believe the sculptor isn’t getting enough fiber.
Author Helen Fielding has begun work on a third Bridget Jones novel, 13 years after its predecessor.
With a new film and a musical based on the singleton in the pipeline, Helen Fielding turned to the world of texting and Twitter to help her write a new “scenario for Bridget”.
“I’m having a lot of fun, and it’s very funny and it’s making me laugh,” she said.
Bridget Jones was born out of a weekly column in The Independent in 1995.
The first two books, Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Edge of Reason, sold more than 15 million copies and inspired two films, with Renee Zellweger in the starring role.
After living in Los Angeles for much of the past decade, Helen Fielding returned to London two years ago with her two children – and it was then that she rediscovered the voice of Bridget.
“After the unexpected success when it first came out, I was startled by the whole thing,” she said.
“When I first wrote it I didn’t think anyone would read it. It was just a column in the Independent, so it was very easy to write and be very honest – and then I got all self-conscious because I knew so many people would read it.”
Author Helen Fielding has begun work on a third Bridget Jones novel, 13 years after its predecessor
However, in spring of 2011, Helen Fielding hit upon a way forward.
“I had new stuff I wanted to say and things that were making me laugh,” explained Helen Fielding.
“Things that didn’t exist when I wrote the last Bridget, like emails really, and texting, the way life is lived through texting and Twitter, and a whole new idea for a phase of her life.”
“It’s more like <<number of Twitter followers: 0. Still no followers. Still no followers>>. But she has grown up,” explained Helen Fielding, who revealed the book will be set in present day London.
“My life has moved on and hers will move on too,” she said.
“She’s still trying to give up [drinking and smoking], she’s still on a diet.
“She’s trying a bit harder, and is a bit more successful, but she’s never really going to change.”
Admitting she is scared by the idea of bringing out a new book, Helen Fielding claims she is still getting great enjoyment from writing it: “If people laugh as much reading it as I am while writing it, then we’ll all be very happy.”
The second film adaptation, The Edge of Reason, was released in cinemas eight years ago, with a further film sequel Bridget Jones’ Baby due for release in early 2013.
Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are set to return as Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver.
Helen Fielding said it has taken a long time to get the film right, describing it as “a different, earlier story, not based on a novel – it started with some columns I wrote in the Independent about six years ago.
“I think with a third installment [of the film] the stakes are very high. We all go back a long way, we’re all really fond of each other and everyone really wants to get it right, but that means there are a lot of voices, a lot of writers.
“Getting Bridget right, I always think it’s like a little duck – in the end it needs to skim effortlessly along the surface, but underneath the legs are going really, really fast.”
The third film has been delayed over script issues – and the musical is still very much a work in progress, according to Helen Fielding.
“It’s been huge fun and will take ages because musicals do. It’s herding butterflies, people move off and then come back together again but I think it’s going to be fantastic when it does happen.”
Iraq has decided to cancel a $4.2 billion deal to buy arms from Russia because of concerns about “corruption”, an Iraqi government advisor has said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has launched an investigation into the deal, said his spokesman.
The purchase – said to include attack helicopters and missiles – was only signed off in October.
Iraq has been rebuilding its armed forces since the end of US-led combat operations against insurgents.
Announcing the cancellation of the purchase on Saturday, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki told AFP news agency that “when Maliki returned from his trip to Russia, he had some suspicions of corruption, so he decided to review the whole deal”.
“There is an investigation going on, on this,” he added.
The sale would have made Moscow – the main supplier of arms to Iraq under Saddam Hussein – the country’s second-biggest arms supplier after the US.
There has been no word from Russia about the cancellations.
In early October, Nouri Maliki said in a speech that he did not want Iraq to be “part of someone else’s (arms) monopoly.”
But he faced criticism from political opponents who questioned buying from Russia, when multiple deals with the US had been signed.
One Iraqi MP suggested that counterterrorism operations – the stated aim of the purchase – required improved intelligence, and not the 30 Mi-28 attack helicopters that were reported to be part of the deal.
The contracts were announced to some fanfare on 9 October after talks between the two countries’ prime ministers near Moscow.
At the time the deal was agreed, analysts suggested that while it was clear Iraq wanted to diversify its weapons purchases, buying from Russia would only encourage the sense in Washington that the US is somehow “losing Iraq”.
Nouri Maliki – who said he was seeking “quick contracts to fight terrorism” – warned even before he left that anything he signed might be scuttled by parliament.
EU talks about 2013 budget have collapsed, after negotiators from the EU and member states were unable to agree on extra funding for 2012.
The EU Commission and European Parliament had asked for a budget rise of 6.8% in 2013.
But most governments wanted to limit the rise to just 2.8%.
The failure of the talks will dent hopes of agreement on the 2014-2020 budget, which is up for discussion later this month, correspondents say.
Friday’s dispute was over an extra 9 billion euros ($12 billion) in “emergency funding” for 2012, to cover budgets for education, infrastructure and research projects.
But Germany, France and other governments questioned the funding, and eight hours of talks produced no agreement.
“Under these conditions, we felt that negotiations which hadn’t really begun by six o’clock in the evening couldn’t reasonably be expected to finish during the night,” said the parliament’s lead negotiator, Alain Lamassoure.
At the European parliament, UK Conservative MEPs clashed with Parliament President Martin Schulz, a German Social Democrat, over the extra 9 billion euros shortfall for 2012.
In 2012 the budget was 129.1 billion euros, a 1.9% increase on 2011.
Among the schemes facing a shortfall this year is the Erasmus student exchange programme.
It has allowed nearly three million young Europeans to study abroad since it was launched 25 years ago.
In an open letter to EU leaders on Friday more than 100 famous Europeans, including film directors and footballers, warned that “thousands could miss out on a potentially life-changing experience”.
Friday’s talks did produce a declaration of political will to provide 670 million euros to earthquake victims in Italy, but no agreement on how to finance it, the European Parliament said.
It said that if no agreement on the 2013 budget could be reached in the next 21 days, the European Commission would look to revise its budget proposal.
The UK’s Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Clark, said the EU needed to practice “fiscal discipline”.
“The UK and a number of other countries were very clear from the outset that the Commission and the European Parliament should not be asking taxpayers for billions of extra euros when the spending in member states is being reduced,” he said.
The UK government, led by the Conservatives, has also objected to a proposed increase in the multi-year budget for 2014-2020, threatening a veto if necessary.
An EU summit aimed at reaching a deal on that budget will be held on 22-23 November.
Kourtney Kardashian decided to treat her son Mason to some early Christmas presents at London’s most famous toy store, Hamleys.
The reality star treated her son Mason to a trip to Hamleys on Friday, bringing her partner Scott Disick along for the fun outing.
But Kourtney Kardashian, 33, seemed to have forgotten that she wasn’t in the States anymore, as she tried to pay for her purchases with American dollars.
Kourtney and her sister Kim Kardashian, 32, have been in London to launch their new clothing range, Kardashian Kollection.
Before the family got to the checkout, little Mason had great fun playing in the store.
The three-year old seemed particularly in awe of the store’s large model railway, getting his father Scott Disick, 29, to help him get a better look.
Kourtney Kardashian, however, looked far less impressed but played to doting mother when they came across a smaller train set.
Kourtney Kardashian treated her son Mason to a trip to Hamleys on Friday, bringing her partner Scott Disick along for the fun outing
Looking like he was in Santa’s grotto, Mason dotted around the store, picking up toys and playthings including a stuffed reindeer.
And Kourtney Kardashian’s eldest child seemed to have done pretty well out of the trip as she left with a very large Hamleys shopping bag.
But as they went to pay for the items, Mason got a little confused and gave the cashier a $100 bill instead of British pounds.
But Mason got to have one of his presents, as he carried a toy killer whale whilst the whole family made their way out of the shop.
Kourtney Kardashian’s youngest child Penelope – born back in July – must have been left with a babysitter and not her sister Kim.
Kanye West’s squeeze had left the Dorchester Hotel earlier in the day to take part in a photo shoot in Central London.
Scott Disick had only just arrived in the capital today, to support his partner with the launch of the Kardashian Kollection for Dorothy Perkins.
Last time Scott Disick visited London he wanted to gain some regal stature, so it’s no surprise that after the trip the family headed over to Buckingham Palace.
Fears are growing Matthew McConaughey is taking it too far as he continues to shed weight for a role as an AIDS victim in a forthcoming film, The Dallas Buyer’s Club.
Matthew McConaughey, 42, looked gaunt and unwell as he made his way through a Los Angeles airport as he jetted out to New Orleans on Friday.
The actor was aiming to lose 30 pounds from his already lean but muscular frame to play Ron Woodroof in The Dallas Buyer’s Club.
However, it looks like Matthew McConaughey may have lost even more than that as he shuffled through security at LAX.
He certainly looked almost unrecognizable from the snake-hipped muscleman who lit up screens this year in stripper movie Magic Mike.
The Dallas Buyer’s Club starts filming next week and follows what happened when Ron Woodroof was given six months to live after contracting the disease in 1986.He ended up spending the next six years smuggling medicine into the U.S. to help himself and fellow sufferers.
The heterosexual, homophobic electrician died in 1992 after illegally smuggling HIV drugs not approved in the States.
Jared Leto has just been cast in the film, which will also star Jennifer Garner.
He is to play Rayon, a cross-dressing fellow AIDS patient who meets Ron Woodroof in the hospital.
