Dance Moms TV personality Abbey Lee Miller has ripped into Honey Boo Boo, saying she needs to lose weight.
Abbey Lee Miller made the controversial comments today – saying the youngster needs to get fit if she wants to win pageants.
The tough-talking choreographer spoke to TMZ, admitting she wasn’t happy with her own weight issues.
But she then went on to blast Honey Boo Boo, saying: “[She] needs to get in shape. She needs to be at a dance studio.
“She needs to be training. She needs to work on her turnout.”
Honey Boo Boo at Georgia’s Miss Sparkle and Shine Pageant
Wednesday night saw the season finale of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo aired on TLC.
During the episode the youngster – real name Alana Thompson – had to be coaxed on stage by her mother June Shannon at Georgia’s Miss Sparkle and Shine Pageant.
“Mama, I think I’m a little chunky today,” Honey Boo Boo said to her mother at the show.
Her mother replied: “You have to stay away from those chicken nuggets,” as they both became concerned the velcro on her pink could come undone.
Prior to her on-stage turn, one of Honey Boo Boo’s sisters described how the junk food-loving seven-year-old was bigger than most of the other pageant contestants.
“Alana’s not your average pageant person. Most of the girls are like twigs. She’s more of a log… or a boulder.”
Honey Boo Boo managed to muster the confidence to get on stage, though, and show off her dress.
“Once she gets into pageant mode she becomes a different child,” her mother June Shannon said from the audience.
Honey Boo Boo missed out on the grand title, but was awarded People’s Choice prize.
Jennifer Hudson, Celine Dion and Usher are among the stars who have been confirmed for a Whitney Houston tribute concert.
They will join other famous faces to honor Whitney Houston, who passed away in February this year.
The one-hour We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute To Whitney Houston concert will be taped in Los Angeles on October 11th and will also feature interviews and footage with the late singer, as well as artists sharing their memories of her.
The televised special will coincide with the November 13th release of a compilation album, I Will Always Love You – The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring 16 of her best-known hits and two previously unreleased songs, including a new duet of I Look To You with R. Kelly, her record label RCA said.
Whitney Houston tribute concert will be taped in Los Angeles on October 11th
In addition to the concert, it was announced yesterday that Lifetime television network would be airing a new series called The Houstons: On Our Own.
The series, to start on October 17th, documents Whitney Houston’s 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, sister-in-law and former manager Pat Houston and mother Cissy, as they deal with life after the singer’s death.
The concert won’t be the first time that Jennifer Hudson has paid tribute to Whitney Houston.
She also performed a heartfelt song at the Grammy Awards shortly after Whitney Houston’s tragic passing.
And speaking previously about her love for Whitney Houston, Jennifer Hudson said: “I admired her style, her look, and above all else, her voice and technique.”
Meanwhile, Celine Dion used Whitney Houston’s death as a warning to other young music stars in a recent interviews.
She told W magazine: “I’ve always been scared of the industry. Why?
“Because I think it’s a place here anything is possible. It’s a <<yes>> place. Especially if you have success.
“I was just in shock when Whitney’s life had been taken because of drugs.
France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said that 9 out of 10 citizens will not see their income taxes rise in the new budget.
He has confirmed that there is to be a new 75% tax rate for people earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million) a year.
Jean-Marc Ayrault has not yet detailed how much taxes will rise for the rest of the top 10%.
It is one of the key policies in what he called “a courageous, responsible budget – a budget of conquest”.
France’s Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said that 9 out of 10 citizens will not see their income taxes rise in the new budget
The government’s priorities were young people, training and cutting 10 billion euros from its spending, he said. This would demand an effort but would be fair, he added.
Official figures on Friday showed that French public debt had hit 91% of GDP between April and June this year.
It was 89.3% at the end of March, which was still well above the eurozone limit of 60%.
Jean-Marc Ayrault pointed out that debt had grown by 30% of GDP in the past five years and that the debt threatened future generations.
He also said that the budget would encourage small and medium businesses and that taking risks would also be encouraged.
In its first budget, the Socialist government repeated its promise to cut the annual deficit to the eurozone limit of 3% of GDP next year.
The deficit this year is expected to be 83.6 billion euros, which is 4.5% of GDP.
Jean-Marc Ayrault said that France was strong when it set itself ambitious targets.
But some analysts said that the targets were too ambitious because they assumed too much growth for the coming years.
They said that tax increases and spending cuts would make it difficult to achieve the 0.8% growth in 2013 and 2.0% growth in 2014 that are predicted by the budget.
Macaulay Culkin was quite the walking canvas on Thursday – as he wandered around New York in jeans slathered in paint.
The actor-turned-artist looked a little dazed as he ambled around with his head down, before jumping into a cab.
Macaulay Culkin, 32, teamed his look with a leather jacket and dirty boots, complete with shades.
He has recently turned his $2 million New York apartment into a painting studio – which might explain the state of his jeans.
Macaulay Culkin was quite the walking canvas on Thursday as he wandered around New York in jeans slathered in paint
Macaulay Culkin recently released a video promoting new art exhibition Leisure Inferno, which runs from September 13 to December 15 at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge gallery.
The former star, who is worth a reported $15 million, created Three Men and a Baby (3MB), an art collective with friends Adam Green and Toby Goodshank.
Explaining how he turned his home into a painting studio, Macaulay Culkin said in the video: “We cleared out everything, laid down plastic and went a little nuts at the art supply store.”
As for the group’s shared vision for their first Greenwich Village gallery show, Macaulay Culkin said: “The sillier and funner, the better.”
Back in February – the same month the trio formed – many speculated the former child star had a drug habit or a terrible illness when he stepped out sipping a Red Bull looking emaciated.
Macaulay Culkin’s last acting job was on the TV series Kings back in 2009 and his last film was the dark comedy Sex and Breakfast back in 2007.
At the height of his fame he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple.
Macaulay Culkin once quipped: “I’d made enough money by the time I was 12 to never have to work again.”
Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth welcomed their first child together on Wednesday.
Reese Witherspoon’s representative confirmed the happy news to People magazine.
The couple has named their son Tennessee James.
“Reese Witherspoon and husband Jim Toth welcomed Tennessee James into their family today,” her rep told People magazine.
“Both mom and baby are healthy and the entire family is thrilled.”
Reese Witherspoon and her husband Jim Toth welcomed their first child together on Wednesday
Tennessee James is Reese Witherspoon’s third child – she also has two other children with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, 37, including daughter Ava, 12, and son Deacon, 8.
The former couple and Cruel Intentions co-stars split in 2006 after seven years of marriage.
Reese Witherspoon, now 36, then went on to marry Jim Toth, who is an agent with CAA, in March 2011, during a romantic ceremony at her ranch in Ojai, California.
Last month, the Legally Blonde actress spent a couple of days in a Los Angeles medical facility after it was feared she was going into early labor.
After being discharged, doctors told her to take it easy at home and get plenty of rest.
Reese Witherspoon recently admitted she was planning a career break to raise her baby.
In June, she said: “I’m feeling very round tonight. After I finish [filming] <<The Devil’s Knot>>, I’m going to take a little time off – and go have a baby!”
John Travolta has won the legal battle against Robert Randolph, the author of a book who claims the actor frequented gay bathhouses.
Robert Randolph, author of You’ll Never Spa in This Town Again, has unsuccessfully sued John Travolta for libel.
The author claimed John Travolta and his lawyer conspired to discredit him and his book by spreading lies about his mental health.
A letter fired off and allegedly leaked by John Travolta’s lawyer Marty Singer also stated Robert Randolph’s book was packed with lies.
Subsequently the judge overseeing the case dismissed it yesterday, agreeing with John Travolta and Marty Singer’s lawyer Lynda Goldman.
The judge ruled the letter was a legitimate part of the legal dispute over the book, and therefore protected by the First Amendment.
This means essentially that John Travolta and Marty Singer cannot be sued over the letter. Meanwhile, John Travolta has faced a barrage of gay claims.
John Travolta has won the legal battle against Robert Randolph
Compounded with allegations by a slew of characters citing his inappropriate same sex advances.
In recent months, John Travolta’s sexuality became a hot topic again when he was accused by several men of sexually harassing them.
John Travolta has long remained mum about his sexuality and though he has denied the accusations.
The actor has also yet to speak openly about the allegations of sexual impropriety.
In May, three months after the aforementioned tell-all book was released, two masseurs filed lawsuits.
They claimed he had inappropriately touched them in incidents in Beverly Hills and Atlanta.
Both men whose identities were withheld in court documents dropped their lawsuits later that month.
Now, two more claims have surfaced.
One was from a man who filed an assault-and-battery claim against John Travolta in U.S. District Court on June 21 for an incident he alleges occurred on a cruise ship in 2009.
Fabian Zanzi, a cruise-ship employee, claims John Travolta made unwanted sexual advances toward him and is asking for a jury trial to determine compensation.
The next day, Robert Randolph filed his lawsuit against the actor and his lawyer for libel in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Fabio Jose Silva Coelho, president of Google operations in Brazil, has said the company will take down a controversial YouTube video that led to his brief detention on Wednesday.
In a statement, Fabio Jose Silva Coelho said he was left with no choice after losing a final legal appeal.
A regional judge had ruled that the material slandered a candidate running for mayor next month.
One of the videos has already been withdrawn by the user who posted it.
Fabio Jose Silva Coelho has said that Google will take down the controversial YouTube video that led to his brief detention
Fabio Coelho says the decision, taken by a user who remains anonymous, shows “just what a chilling effect these episodes can have on free speech”.
He was released on Wednesday night after being interviewed by detectives in the city of Sao Paulo.
Police had already made it clear that he would not remain in custody because the offence of which he is accused has “low potential to offend”.
Fabio Coelho argues that Google has no responsibility for the content of videos posted on its site.
But he stresses that the company will follow its guidelines and the legislation of each country.
“If a video is illegal in a particular country, we will restrict access to it, after receiving a valid court order or government complaint,” he said in the statement.
“Because we are deeply committed to free expression, we often push back on requests that we do not believe are valid.”
The videos in question suggest Alcides Bernal – a mayoral candidate in the western city of Campo Grande – is guilty of committing crimes.
Judge Flavio Peren, who sits at a regional electoral court in Mato Grosso do Sul state, ruled the videos violated local election laws.
His order for the videos to be removed was ignored and on Monday he ordered Fabio Coelho’s arrest.
“Late last night [Wednesday], we learned that our final appeal had been denied and so now we have no choice but to block the video in Brazil,” says Fabio Coelho in a statement posted on Google.
“On an even more fundamental level, there is the matter of how money is created in the modern world. If the reference is to the statistics of the Federal Reserve, money held by commercial banks, by the Federal Reserve Banks, or by the U.S. Treasury is not counted in the aggregates; in that sense, money is not manufactured, merely because coins are stamped and paper notes are printed.
Nor does the Federal Reserve System alone create money. Rather, it provides the basis on which the commercial banks (and, now, near-banks as well) are permitted to create money, and applies, through fractional reserve requirements, a limit to the quantity of money that the financial system is permitted to create.
Within that limit, it is the private banking institutions that are overwhelmingly the creators of money.
Money is created when loans are issued and debts incurred;money is extinguished when loans are repaid.
A loan from a bank creates a deposit which the borrower may draw upon for the payment of obligations; the payee is the new holder of new money.
Some existing money in circulation must be acquired by the borrower to repay the capital of the loan; when that is returned to the bank it is withdrawn from circulation.”
[…]
Let me explain to you exactly what I mean. Tomorrow, you go down to your local bank and borrow $10,000. As we’ve already seen, there is actually no money in the bank, except for a few miscellaneous savings accounts and CDs plus whatever balances exist at any given moment in the banking system’s checking accounts. So to complete your transaction, the bank creates $10,000 and credits it to your checking account (Author’s note: It is allowed to do this by statute, not by Law. Actually illegal or not, this action is totally immoral. And it is a little more brazen than what I am portraying. The bank really steals the “note” you sign at the bank and converts it to the bank’s asset).
In return for the creation of this so-called money, you execute a note for $10,000 at 10% interest, due in one year and present it to the bank. The bank creates the $10,000 by a stroke of a pen and puts it in your account, basing the $10,000 on the promissory note you turned over to the bank, which is actually the only legal tender in this transaction (Author’s note: The bank actually takes your created money, the promissory note, and loans it back to you!) Did you ever wonder why banks required you to have an account? It is the only way they can create the money! In one year to the day, you return to the bank and pay them the $10,000 back. This completes the bookkeeping on the original creation of $10,000. It was created one year ago, and it is destroyed by your return of the funds.
A plane heading for the Everest region has crashed in Nepal’s capital, killing all 19 people on board, local officials say.
The plane, operated by Sita Air, came down minutes after take-off from Kathmandu. Officials said it crashed into a river bank and caught fire.
Sixteen passengers and three crew were on board the twin-engine prop plane.
Police and aviation officials, however, said that seven Britons, five Chinese nationals and seven Nepali nationals were on the plane, including the three Nepalese crew.
The plane, operated by Sita Air, came down minutes after take-off from Kathmandu
The cause of the crash is not yet known, however the general manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, said in a statement that the plane had struck a bird.
He said air traffic control contacted the pilot after noticing an unusual manoeuvre minutes after take-off. The pilot said his plane had hit a vulture, the statement said.
The plane had been heading for Lukla, the hub for trekking in the Everest region.
Police spokesman Binod Singh told the AFP news agency that “the pilots seem to have tried to land it safely on the banks of the river but unfortunately the plane caught fire”.
Images showed burning wreckage at the crash site and dozens of rescue and security personnel.
British mountaineer Alan Hinkes said he had taken the flight from Kathmandu to Lukla many times and that problems usually occurred at the Lukla end.
“The landing strip in Lukla is a bit like an aircraft carrier with a mountain at the end of it, with a 1,000ft drop at the end of the runway. Normally crashes happen at that end,” he said.
He added: “It is not the safest place to fly, I must admit, but it is what you have to do to get into the mountains.”
Aviation accidents involving small aircraft are not uncommon in mountainous Nepal.
In May, 15 people were killed when a plane crashed trying to land at an airport in the north of the country.
And in September 2011, 19 people were killed when a Buddha Air plane crashed during a flight to view Mount Everest.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man linked to anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims that sparked riots across the Muslim world, has been held without bond after a hearing in Los Angeles, California.
A judge said Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was a flight risk and cited a pattern of deception when making his ruling, Reuters news agency reported.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was investigated for violating probation terms after he was released from prison in 2011 for bank fraud.
He has not been detained over the contents of the inflammatory video.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Christian originally from Egypt, allegedly produced the 14-minute trailer for the film Innocence of Muslims. He had been in hiding after the release of the video.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has been held without bond after a hearing in LA
After his 2010 conviction, he was sentenced to 21 months in prison and, under the terms of his probation, he was banned from using computers or accessing the internet for five years without an officer’s permission.
US Central District Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal said: “the court has a lack of trust in this defendant at this time”.
Assistant Attorney Robert Dugdale said the court believed Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was flight risk.
“He has every incentive to disappear,” he said.
A clip from the US-made film was dubbed into Arabic, provoking widespread anger for its disrespectful portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
The film was made on a very low budget, with insults and offensive inferences to the Prophet Mohammad and Islam crudely dubbed on afterwards.
Earlier, the Obama administration had requested Google, the company that owns YouTube, to remove the clip. The technology firm refused, saying the film did not violate its rules.
The clip was uploaded to YouTube in July, but violence only broke out on 11 September, after Arabic TV stations broadcast it.
The clip has not broken any laws in the US, where freedom of speech is enshrined in the constitution’s first amendment.
Four Americans, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya earlier this month.
Meanwhile, some of the actors in the video have come forward to say they were misled. They said had been hired to appear in a film called Desert Warriors, which did not mention Islam or the Prophet Muhammad in the script.
Curiosity rover has only been on the surface of Mars seven weeks but it has already turned up evidence of past flowing water on the planet.
The robot has returned pictures of classic conglomerates – rocks that are made up of gravels and sand.
Scientists on the mission team say the size and rounded shape of the pebbles in the rock indicate they had been transported and eroded in water.
Researchers think the rover has found a network of ancient streams.
The rocks, which were described in a media briefing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, were likely laid down “several billion years ago”. But the actual streams themselves may have persisted on the surface for long periods, said Curiosity science co-investigator Bill Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley.
“We would anticipate that it could easily be thousands to millions of years,” he told reporters.
Curiosity rover has already turned up evidence of past flowing water on Mars
Satellites at Mars have long captured images of channels on the planet’s surface that were cut by some kind of flow, assumed to be liquid water. Curiosity’s discovery at its landing site in the equatorial Gale Crater provides the first real ground truth for those observations.
By luck, the rover just happened to roll past a spectacular example of the conglomerate. A large slab, 10-15 cm thick, was lifted out of the ground at an angle.
“We’ve named it Hottah,” said rover project scientist John Grotzinger. The name refers to a lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The team is using names from this region to catalogue objects at Gale.
“To us it just looked like somebody came along the surface of Mars with a jackhammer and lifted up the sidewalk that you might see in downtown LA at a construction site,” he joked.
Scientists are now studying the images of the pebbles in the rock. The sizes and shapes will give them clues to the speed and distance of the ancient water flow.
The discovery site lies between the northern rim of the crater and the huge mountain that rises up from its central plain.
Previous orbital imagery of the region had hinted there might have been a water feature there. Curiosity’s conglomerates support that hypothesis.
The current interpretation is that the rover is sitting at the head of an alluvial fan of material that washed down through the crater wall and across the plain, cutting many individual streams. Researchers even think they can identify the particular valley at the rim where the water entered the crater, and they have named it Peace Vallis.
There is an eagerness also to study the chemistry of the conglomerates because that will give an indication of the nature of the water – its pH value, for example – and that will provide some clues as to what the environment at the time might have looked like.
At the moment, the rover is heading towards a location dubbed Glenelg. Scientists think this will give them the best access to the rocks of interest.
NASA’s $2.6 billion mission touched down on the Red Planet on 6 August (GMT).
Much of the time since then has been spent commissioning the immensely complex, six-wheeled machine and its suite of 10 instruments.
Curiosity is funded for one Martian year (two Earth years) of study. It will try to determine in that time whether past environments at Gale Crater could ever have supported microbial life.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have sparked speculation they were never legally married after failing to lodge divorce documents almost a year after splitting.
Demi Moore announced she was ending her marriage in November and Ashton Kutcher has moved on with new love Mila Kunis.
Now new reports have hinted that perhaps the couple were never ever officially married to begin with.
Sources have told Radaronline that the former couple’s Kabbalah wedding was merely a “symbolic ceremony and not a legal marriage”.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher have sparked speculation they were never legally married after failing to lodge divorce documents
The couple wed in September 2005 in a ceremony attended by 150 guests, including Demi Moore’s ex-husband Bruce Willis.
After the pair split last year following allegations that Ashton Kutcher, 34, cheated on Demi Moore with party girl Sara Leal, the 49-year-old actress released a statement saying ending the marriage with “great sadness and a heavy heart”.
Immediately after the announcement, Ashton Kutcher posted his own statement on Twitter.
He wrote: “I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi.
“Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and Light, AK.”
Despite their dignified statements, Demi Moore was reportedly gearing up to battle it out over their $290 million fortune after enduring public humiliation because of his alleged infidelity.
According to reports, Demi Moore is worth $150m, while Ashton Kutcher’s fortune is said to be worth $140 million.
Greece’s finance minister Yannis Stournaras says the three parties in the country’s governing coalition have reached a “basic agreement” on the austerity package for 2013-14.
The measures are likely to be presented to Greece’s international lenders on Monday before going before parliament.
The cuts are necessary if Greece is to continue receiving bailout funds.
Earlier, Greece announced plans to sell most of its 34% stake in the gaming monopoly Opap.
Yannis Stournaras said there were “very few details left to work out” on the austerity package.
Greek governing coalition agreement comes the day after 50,000 anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Athens
The deal comes the day after 50,000 anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Athens.
The spending cuts are reported to be worth at least 11.5 billion euros ($14.8 billion) and are a condition for Greece to receive the next 31 billion-euro installment of its international loans.
The Greek government hopes to be able to present a final package of measures to the summit of eurozone finance ministers on 8 October.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the world to draw a “clear red line” over Iran’s nuclear programme.
In a speech at the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu said time was running out to stop Tehran from having enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb.
Israel and Western countries suspect Iran is seeking such a capability. Tehran says its programme is peaceful.
Earlier, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas asked the General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians’ UN status.
Benjamin Netanyahu told delegates at the annual meeting of the assembly that Iran could have enough material to make a nuclear bomb by the middle of next year, and a clear message needed to be sent to stop Tehran in its tracks.
In a speech at the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu said time was running out to stop Tehran from having enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb
“Red lines don’t lead to war, red lines prevent war,” he said.
“Nothing could imperil the world more than a nuclear-armed Iran.”
He said sanctions passed over the past seven years had not affected Tehran’s programme. “The hour is very late,” he told delegates.
“The Iranian nuclear calendar does not take time out.”
He said he was convinced that faced with a “clear red line, Iran will back down”.
He added that he was confident the US and Israel could chart a common path on the issue.
On Tuesday, in his own address to the General Assembly, US President Barack Obama stressed the US would “do what we must” to stop Tehran acquiring nuclear arms.
However, while the Obama administration has not ruled out a military option, it says sanctions and multilateral negotiations with Iran must still be given time to work.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was not prepared to commit to drawing “red lines”.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western countries of nuclear “intimidation”.
“Continued threat by the uncivilized Zionists [Israel] to resort to military action is a clear example of this bitter reality,” he told the General Assembly.
In his own speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas focused largely on the Palestinians’ UN status, saying he would continue to seek full membership.
But he said negotiations had begun with “regional organizations and member states” aimed at adopting a resolution making Palestine “a non-member state of the United Nations during this session”.
“In our endeavor, we do not seek to delegitimize an existing state – that is Israel – but rather to assert the state that must be realized – that is Palestine.”
Currently, the Palestine Liberation Organisation only has “permanent observer” status. Last year, a bid for full-member status failed because of a lack of support at the UN Security Council.
The change would allow Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates. It would also improve their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court.
Last year, Palestinians joined the UN cultural agency Unesco, despite Israeli and US opposition.
Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his country’s opposition to “unilateral declaration of statehood”.
Social network Facebook has begun deleting fake page “likes”, independent data suggests.
According to Pagedata, many of the site’s most “liked” pages suffered large drops in numbers on Wednesday.
The move follows the social network’s admission that 8.7% of its users are not “real”, many having been set up by spammers who use them to artificially make pages appear more popular.
The issue poses a problem for Facebook as it seeks to expand its targeted advertising service.
Facebook’s shares have slumped from their initial public offering of $38 in May to $20.62 on Thursday.
Facebook has begun deleting fake page likes
In a blog post written in August, Facebook said: “A <<like>> that doesn’t come from someone truly interested in connecting with a page benefits no-one.”
Technology news site The Verge, citing Pagedata‘s statistics, noted that some of the most popular pages on Facebook had suddenly shed significant numbers of users.
The page for Texas HoldEm Poker, one of the site’s most popular, shed 96,317 “likes” on Wednesday – compared with net gains of about 20,000 each day for the previous month.
Other prominent pages also saw a drop in numbers, including those of pop singers Rihanna (-28,275), Eminem (-15,420) and Lady Gaga (-34,326).
Facebook would not confirm that the purge was happening, but could not provide an alternative explanation for the drop in numbers.
Promoting online engagement with brands is a key component of Facebook’s business model, in which it uses key information – such as age, gender and location – to target certain advertisements at specific recipients.
However, this system is increasingly coming under threat from a black market of fake “likes”, sold in bulk in order to falsely boost a brand’s figures.
A simple search brings up a host of websites offering large numbers of Facebook fans or “likes” – as well as followers on Twitter and views on YouTube.
Wang Xuemei, a prominent Chinese forensic scientist, has cast doubt on the official version of the death of British businessman Neil Heywood, which triggered a huge political scandal in China.
Wang Xuemei said there was little evidence Neil Heywood died from cyanide poisoning.
Neil Heywood was found dead in a hotel room in November 2011.
Last month the wife of a prominent Chinese politician was found guilty of murdering him by poisoning.
However, the account given in court of how Gu Kailai killed Neil Heywood does not tally with cyanide poisoning, according to Wang Xuemei, who works for China’s top prosecutor’s office.
Wang Xuemei said there was little evidence Neil Heywood died from cyanide poisoning
Cyanide poisoning would have caused lightning-fast asphyxia, spasms and a heart attack and turned his skin and blood bright red, which investigators would easily have spotted, she says.
A simple test for cyanide is also standard forensic practice in China, but none was presented in court, she adds.
Wang Xuemei says she believes Gu Kailai did have a motive to kill Neil Heywood and suggests that she used another poison to try and kill him.
No post-mortem examination was carried out on Neil Heywood’s body, which was cremated.
Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence, and her husband Bo Xilai, previously one of the most powerful figures in the ruling Communist Party, has been suspended from his position on the Politburo.
Gu Kailai’s aide, Zhang Xiaojun, was jailed for nine years for his part in the murder, while the regional police chief, Wang Lijun, received a sentence of 15 years for abuse of power and other offences.
The trials were closed to foreign journalists and no scientific evidence to show Neil Heywood was poisoned has been made public.
The new claims come just weeks before a crucial once-in-a-decade leadership change expected at a party congress this autumn.
From the very start there have been doubts about the official version of Neil Heywood’s death in a hotel room in Chongqing last November.
Initially the cause was said to be alcohol poisoning or a heart attack.
But in February, Wang Lijun fled the city after falling out with Bo Xilai and claimed that Neil Heywood had been murdered.
Bo Xilai’s supporters have claimed from the start that he is being framed by his political enemies.
Japanese magazine Numéro had airbrushed out Karlie Kloss’ prominent ribs in a photoshoot.
The original photo, shot by Greg Kadel and released by his studio, showed the 20-year-old model leaning back with her hands behind her head.
But the image that made its way onto the pages of the magazine’s October issue, Karlie Kloss’s ribs, sternum and prominent collar bones had been smoothed over.
Some have criticized the move, saying that that the images of Karlie Kloss show a slender model with normal ribs for a slim person leaning backwards – and suggest that the airbrushing by Número was over-zealous.
But to the editors of Numéro magazine, what may have seemed heavy-handed to some was likely a pre-emptive move to avoid the sort of furor that arose last time Chicago-born Karlie Kloss appeared naked in a magazine.
In a shoot for Vogue Italia with Steven Meisel last December, images showing Karlie Kloss’s protruding hip bones and minuscule waist sparked heated debate after they appeared on pro-anorexia websites.
Karlie Kloss printed in Numéro magazine
The photos were replicated across the globe on myriad so-called Thinspiration sites, websites where vulnerable women and men post images and words that they believe will help them to lose weight to be more like their icons. Eating disorder associations spoke out to say that Karlie Kloss’s slight frame could have a negative effect on impressionable girls.
Karlie Kloss in the original shoot
As soon as Vogue Italia learned that the images had appeared on the pro-anorexia sites, they pulled them from their own website.
Some months later, Vogue Italia’s editor Franca Sozzani admitted during a speech she gave to students at Harvard University that “fashion becomes one of the causes” of anorexia.
She discussed the industry’s reliance on imagery that glorifies extreme thinness, to the point where we now accept such aesthetic standards as entirely normal, and something to aspire to.
Franca Sozzani explained: “One of the reasons why a girl starts a too-strict diet is the necessity to correspond to an aesthetic standard which rewards thinness.
“And the current inclination to embrace a female beauty standard that exalts thinness has devastating consequences on many adolescents’ eating habits.”
Karlie Kloss, who says having been compared to Elle Macpherson (she has already been dubbed the new “Body”) gave her “goosebumps”, says her slim figure is down to years of ballet, which she gave up after she was told she was too tall to become a professional dancer.
She told Vogue earlier this year: “You are physically up for scrutiny by everyone and you hear everyone’s opinion. You have to grow thick skin and that only comes with time and learning.”
Lady Gaga took to the stage in her usual array of skimpy outfits in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
Lady Gaga, 26, who has become an advocate for curvy girls after recently gaining 25 lbs, confidently strutted around in her tour costumes, which includes a leather g-string and fishnet tights get-up.
It comes just days after Lady Gaga, who has battled bulimia and anorexia, took to social media to launch a sub-section of her site, called Body Revolution.
As well as the series of half-naked images, Lady Gaga wrote: “Today I join the BODY REVOLUTION. To Inspire Bravery. And BREED some m$therf**king COMPASSION.”
The page continues: “My mother and I created the BORN THIS WAY FOUNDATION for one reason: <<to inspire bravery>>.
“This profile is an extension of that dream. Be brave and celebrate with us your <<perceived flaws>>, as society tells us. May we make our flaws famous, and thus redefine the heinous.”
Lady Gaga performs in Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday
Lady Gaga recently said she’s happier than ever with her body, especially because partner Taylor Kinney is a huge fan of her new fuller figure.
Writing on her blog, she said: “My boyfriend prefers me curvier.
“When I eat and am healthy and not so worried about my looks. I’m happy. Happier then I’ve ever been. I am not going to go on a psycho-spree because of scrutiny. This is who I am. And I am proud at any size.”
Lady Gaga also thanked her fans for supporting her during her struggles and giving her the self-confidence she has always needed.
She wrote: “My weight/loss/gain since I was a child has tormented me. No amount of help has ever healed my pain about it. But you have.”
Lady Gaga recently revealed the reason behind her weight increase was down to her father’s restaurant in New York.
She said: “I love eating pasta and I’m a New York Italian girl. That’s why I have been staying out of New York.
“My father opened a restaurant. It’s so amazing … it’s so freaking delicious, but I’m telling you I gain five pounds every time I go there.
“So my dad wants me to eat at the restaurant, and I’m like, <<I’ve got to go where I can drink green juice>>. “
It may take a sharp mind to work for Google, as author William Poundstone claims that the search giant requires its applicants to answer perplexing trivia questions and riddles.
William Poundstone claims to have unlocked the secret of acing an interview at Google and other top technology firms, and is revealing his secrets in a new book.
In Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google, William Poundstone describes several interview questions that he claims that his tips will increase an applicant’s chances of not only getting hired by Google, but anywhere.
He told ABC News: “HR departments are running scared, asking themselves, <<How can we make sure our questions have predictive power for how well someone will do on the job?>>”
William Poundstone claims that Google requires its applicants to answer perplexing trivia questions and riddles
William Poundstone outlines several of the brain teasers that are said to be used by actual Google interviewers, from “How much toilet paper would you need to cover Texas” to “Can you swim faster in water or syrup?”
He told ABC News that whether a job applicant can answer the question or not, it’s best to ask follow up questions to show that you recognize what is being asked.
Google would not comment on William Poundstone’s book, but some are quick to point out that the interview questions that have been circulating the web for several years are works of fiction.
Gayle Laakmann McDowell, the founder of CareerCup.com who has worked at Google, Microsoft and Apple, wrote in a 2010 blog post that “brain teaser”-esque questions are simply not used by Google.
He wrote: “Whatever the original source is, these questions are fake. Fake fake fake.”
GOOGLE’S BRAIN BUSTERS
Why are manhole covers round?
How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?
How much toilet paper would you need to cover Texas?
You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown in a blender. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?
How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?
How many vacuum cleaners are made a year?
Using only a four-minute hourglass and a seven-minute hourglass, measure exactly nine minutes – without the process taking longer than nine minutes.
Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco.
How would you devise an evacuation plan for San Francisco?
What number comes next in this pattern? 10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66
Can you swim faster in water or in syrup?
A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?
Barnes & Noble is set to take on Amazon and Apple with two new versions of its Nook tablet unveiled today, joining an already crowded marketplace.
The new devices are a Nook HD tablet with a 7-inch screen, starting at $199, and a Nook HD+ with a new 9-inch screen, starting at $269.
In addition to new HD screens and a lighter body, Barnes & Noble is also increasing the services the Nook offers, adding a video purchase and rental service, allowing users to maintain different “profiles” and making it easier to browse titles in its book and magazine stores.
New York-based Barnes & Noble, the largest traditional U.S. bookseller, has invested heavily in its Nook e-reader and e-books.
Barnes and Noble CEO William Lynch unveils the new NOOK HD plus, left, and NOOK HD in New York
Barnes & Noble will continue to sell its smaller black-and-white e-reader, called the Nook Simple Touch, for $99, and a backlit Nook Simple Touch for $139.
The Nook HD runs on Google’s Android 4.0 system and includes Barnes & Noble’s own app store and browser. It is an upgrade to the hardware and services offered by its previous tablets, the Nook Tablet and Nook Color, which Barnes & Noble is phasing out.
However, Barnes & Noble faces a tough battle.
Seven out of every 10 tablets sold in the second quarter were iPads, according to IHS iSuppli.
Amazon.com has a 4.2% share of the tablet market, while Barnes & Noble has a 1.9%, according to iSuppli.
However, experts say the bookseller is in with a chance.
“If the decision the consumer is making is whether to buy based on hardware, these new Nooks will beat out Amazon,” said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.
“But that’s not the decision every consumer is going to make – hardware is only as good as the services the hardware enables.”
So far, Amazon offers more services, James McQuivey said, with a bigger app store, and more extensive video library, not to mention Amazon’s vast product offerings and its Amazon Prime free-shipping service.
In an attempt to measure up, Barnes & Noble is launching a video service that lets users buy and watch movies and TV shows on their mobile devices and televisions.
The offerings will come from major studios including HBO, Sony Pictures, Viacom and Warner Brothers. Scrapbook and catalog browsing features have also been added.
One wild card working in Barnes & Noble’s favor this holiday: Wal-Mart and Target, increasingly threatened by Amazon’s online retail operations, won’t carry the Kindle. The retailers will sell Barnes & Noble’s Nooks, as well as other tablets like the iPad.
“This is going to be a lot of fun to watch over the next year,” James McQuivey said.
The new Nooks are available for pre-order online and in stores beginning on Wednesday and will begin shipping in late October and begin arriving in stores in early November.
British plus-size women’s fashion and lifestyle magazine SLiNK cover features a 3D photograph of gorgeous Australian model Bree Warren, a UK size 14, which is the minimum requirement for all models featured in the publication.
The cover of SLiNK magazine’ seventh issue shows Bree Warren – who works for Models 1+ and has just finished her journalism degree – wearing a furry Marimodo gilet, a body from ASOS Curve, and cuff and rings by Imogen.
Inside the magazine is further 3D editorial, with photographs of Bree Warren modelling a selection of clothes and accessories from both high street brands and independent high-end designers.
Readers can fully appreciate the photos – all of which are taken by Roberto Aguilar – by wearing the free 3D glasses provided with the edition.
The cover of SLiNK magazine’ seventh issue shows Bree Warren wearing a furry Marimodo gilet, a body from ASOS Curve, and cuff and rings by Imogen
The theme of the edition is Freedom, exploring everything from the change in a woman’s freedom after she has children, to how the changes in the Middle East have affected women in the region.
The editor of SLiNK, Rivkie Baum (a size 16-18 26-year-old), said the 3D technique was employed “to create a sensational selection of images with a military theme that truly come to life”.
She added: “The issue is The Freedom Issue and as our lead story we wanted something fierce and fresh with a military spin.
“We worked with a lot of mainstream PR agencies for this shoot, especially with young designers whose samples would work for both a girl of size 14 and a straight size model.
“We find emerging designers are keen to work with models of various sizes. We wanted this shoot to really be about pushing boundaries of what <<plus size>> modelling and fashion should be about.”
As well as the 3D shoot the edition also features a beauty section, shopping pages and extra editorial shoots, including a beautiful lingerie shoot.
SLiNK, which won the award for Best Plus Size Magazine 2011 at the 100% People Awards, was founded “to show that plus-size models can do anything a straight size model can”.
The fashion inside can always be found up to a size 22, often a 32.
The concept for the publication was Rivkie Baum’s, a graduate from the London College of Fashion in Design and Pattern Cutting and a creative at Models 1.
Her aim was to promote healthy lifestyle, body confidence and body acceptance to the 4.9 million women in the UK who wear a size 18+.
Rivkie Baum said: “SLiNK is a shining light in a world that frowns on plus size women.
“Using models who are a size 14+, SLiNK’s ethos is to show their readers that being fuller-figured is no barrier to obtaining both an on-trend wardrobe and a fabulous lifestyle.”
SLiNK magazine has run online for one year and is now available to purchase via the company’s website.
The most ambitious goal of medical researchers is to find ways to prevent diseases. Methods to accomplish that goal do exist for certain illnesses, but are rare for others. Two recent medical studies on the molecular level exemplify the effort of the scientists to contribute to strengthening it against organ failure and to immunizing the body against viruses.
Avoiding a bad heart condition
In the US, 1.5 million people suffer from a heart attack each year of which one third is killed by it. Scientists of the Lund University in Sweden have now discovered a way to reduce the risk of a heart attack through a vaccination. The researchers have developed a therapy which leads to the production of antibodies attacking the accumulation of fat deposits in the arteries. Such therapies are often the result of comprehensive research collaborations on an international level, and also rely on the recommendation by the antibody supplier, which provides the appropriate kits for long-term clinical studies. The promising research results are hoped to lead to an introduction of the antibody therapy within the next five years.
A vaccine against cervical cancer
The vaccination Cervarix was approved in various European countries and the US between 2007 and 2009. It has been a great success as it immunizes the body against certain types of the Human Papillomavirus which were proved to be the cause of genital warts and cervical cancer by the German researcher Harald zur Hausen. Since its approval, many young girls and boys have got the three necessary injections and have thereby reduced their risk to fall ill to cervical, vaginal, penile, vulvae and anal cancer.
New results in the prevention of cervical cancer
In order to optimize the vaccine, scientists continue studying its effects in relation to the virus. It has been found out recently that even people who do not get the shot may profit from it through the phenomenon of herd immunity. It is related to the fact that vaccinated people do not transmit the virus to their potentially unvaccinated sexual partners and thereby help reduce the circulation of the virus. Hence, the virus may disappear or get extinct over time. This fact, however, should not prevent young people from getting vaccinated themselves. After all, one does not always know if a sexual partner is immunized or not.
On top of that, it has to be noted that there are still some oncogenic types of the Human Papillomavirus which are not covered by the current vaccines. It therefore remains the challenge of the scientists to develop serums to cover a broader range of HPV virus.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe wants to hold elections in March 2013 with a referendum on a new constitution this November, court papers reveal.
His long-time rivals in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have condemned this timetable as “unrealistic”.
The two sides are unable to agree on a draft constitution, which is supposed to be in place before the new election.
Until now, Robert Mugabe, 88, has always insisted that the elections should be held this year.
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe wants to hold elections in March 2013
The MDC, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, backed by South African mediators, insists that a new constitution is in place before the new polls to ensure they are free and fair.
President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980, denies accusations that previous elections were rigged in his favour.
Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the previous election, in 2008, citing systematic attacks on his supporters by the army and pro-Mugabe militias.
With the uncertainty pushing Zimbabwe’s economy into freefall, the pair then agreed to form a power-sharing government.
Robert Mugabe’s proposed election timetable was included in court papers in a case about when to hold by-elections.
The Supreme Court had ordered that by-elections for several vacant parliamentary seats be held by 1 October. However the president has appealed against the ruling, saying it would cost too much money when wider elections are expected soon.
This is by no means a fixed date for Zimbabwe’s long-awaited elections, but it is a sign of growing urgency.
But it was immediately rejected by MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora.
“The date for the election, especially, is unilateral, unrealistic and has no scientific or legal basis,” he told the AFP news agency.
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai would be expected to face each other in the poll, which is supposed to be held by next year.
Herbert Lom, best known for playing Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther films, has died aged 95.
The Czech-born, London-based actor starred opposite Peter Sellers in several films as Inspector Clouseau’s irritable boss.
Herbert Lom appeared in more than 100 films during his 60-year acting career, including such classics as The Ladykillers, Spartacus and El Cid.
His family said he died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday.
Herbert Lom was best known for playing Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther films
Herbert Lom also portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte on two occasions. One of them came in the 1956 screen adaptation of Tolstoy’s War And Peace, also starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda.
He first appeared as police chief Charles Dreyfus in 1964’s A Shot In The Dark, a character who became increasingly mentally unstable as a result of Inspector Clouseau’s incompetence as the films went on.
Herbert Lom was born Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru in Prague in 1917, where he grew up and attended the city’s university.
He began acting on stage and screen in Czechoslovakia, before leaving for England at the start of World War II.
Herbert Lom trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before making his English language acting debut in 1940 film Mein Kampf – My Crimes.
He was offered a seven-year contract with Twentieth Century Fox and secured several lead roles in the 1940s, including Napoleon in The Young Mr. Pitt.
In the 1950s he played opposite Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in Ealing comedy The Ladykillers and opposite Robert Mitchum and Rita Hayworth in Fire Down Below.
Herbert Lom made a specialty of playing the sinister character in a string of low-budget horror films including a number of Hammer studio productions, playing the Phantom in their production of The Phantom of the Opera.
Those parts persuaded director Blake Edwards to give him his most famous role as Inspector Clouseau’s long-suffering boss in several of the Pink Panther movies.
“It was a godsend when I was offered the part,” he said of the role.
“But it did become a double-edged sword as people started to associate me with Dreyfus.”
Herbert Lom married Dina Schea in 1948, whom he divorced in 1971, and had a daughter with potter Brigitte Appleby.
He also wrote two novels alongside his acting career: Enter A Spy published in 1971 and Dr. Guillotine in 1993.
Hrbert Lom’s later acting career saw him work with director David Cronenberg in a 1983 adaptation of Stephen King novel The Dead Zone, opposite Christopher Walken.
Coco Chanel was famously credited with inventing the little black dress, but she is also responsible for another wardrobe staple – the little black jacket.
Hip-length and boxy in style, the Chanel LBJ was originally launched in 1954 when it was radically different from the nipped-in shape of the Dior jackets popular at the time.
Chanel’s woman was modern and emancipated and the style reflected this.
Her versatile tweed, braid-trimmed, silk-lined jacket sat just-so on the body, the bottom hem weighed down with a thin brass chain.
Variations on the same design are shown each season and sell for thousands – couture versions are still made at the fashion house’s atelier on Paris’ Rue Cambon.
This month, the jacket is the subject of an exhibition which will run at London’s Saatchi Gallery (October 12-28) and includes 113 photographs of celebrities such as Alexa Chung, taken by Chanel’s creative director, Karl Lagerfeld.
“The jacket I photographed is the most classic one,” Karl Lagerfeld explains.
“The closest to the original one Mademoiselle Chanel created.”
The Chanel LBJ was originally launched in 1954
THE LITTLE BLACK JACKET EXHIBITION
Saatchi Gallery is opening its doors to Chanel’s photographic exhibition dedicated to Karl Lagerfeld’s latest book, The Little Black Jacket.
Opening in October, and following the lead of Tokyo, New York, Taipei and Hong Kong, this exhibition underlines the brand’s values of creativity, modernity and excellence.
Featuring 113 iconic photographs of Karl Lagerfeld, modelled on a range of friends and models of the brand, each photo is unique.
From Lily Allen donning a cape to a draped look on model Stella Tennant, or even transformed into a vest on model Edie Campbell, each photo reflects the individual style of each woman.
The Little Black Jacket: CHANEL’s classic revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld will be available worldwide in bookshops this autumn.
The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday 12th October to Sunday 28th October 2012.
