Bobby Brown seemed cheesed off on Wednesday as he left the upmarket Italian restaurant La Scala in Beverly Hills, with Alicia Etheridge trying to calm the New Edition singer down.
His new wife’s soothing words seemed to do the trick, as they were soon holding hands and walking merrily together.
Bobby Brown and Alicia Etheridge got married last week at a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii while surrounded by close friends and relatives.
It is said to have been a festive affair, with many of the singer’s children in attendance including 23-year-old Landon, 22-year-old La’Princia, 19-year-old Bobby Jr. and 3-year-old Cassius, his only child so far with Alicia Etheridge.
Bobby Brown seemed cheesed off as he left La Scala in Beverly Hills, with Alicia Etheridge trying to calm him down
A notable absentee was Bobbi Kristina Brown, his 19-year-old daughter with tragic former wife Whitney Houston.
Bobbi Kristina Brown stayed away to shoot scenes with boyfriend Nick Gordon in New York for her forthcoming Lifetime reality series, The Houston Chronicles.
Bobby Brown, 43, was reportedly very disappointed, with a source saying: “Bobby Brown was desperate for her to go to his recent wedding, but she would not return his calls.”
Australian Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice has been criticized for posing in a bikini deemed “too revealing” – but has started a copycat craze of people wearing the outfit.
Triple gold medalist Stephanie Rice posted the picture of her in a two-piece designer swimsuit on Twitter earlier this week.
The bikini – known as the “tomb raider” – had been given to her as a birthday present from the designer Ellie Gonsalves.
But critics blasted for the sports star for showing off in the costume which some claimed was “too sexy”.
One fan tweeted: “Stephanie Rice posting a photo of herself in swimwear has brought disgrace to the Australian swim team and she should be dropped.”
Despite the public backlash, Stephanie Rice left the photo on her Instagram page.
Australian Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice has been criticized for posing in a bikini deemed “too revealing”
There were also claims that by posing in the swimsuit she could have breached a sponsorship contract with Speedo.
However, her management denied that she had broken any rules.
A spokesman said: “No, Stephanie isn’t an ambassador for Ellie Gonsalves, she just loves their stuff.
“She doesn’t have any relationship with Speedo anymore so there are no restrictions there.”
Despite some criticism, the picture sparked a string of spoofs with men posting pictures of themselves in the same costume. Many of them were supporting the swimmer.
Radio presenter Ryan Fitzgerald contacted the makers of the bikini and was sent one to wear. He put the picture online of him and friend Michael Wipfli wearing the swimsuit.
The outfit’s designer Ellie Gonsalves also posted a picture of herself in the costume to show support for her athlete friend.
Ellie Gonsalves label director Vanessa Bryce said that sales of the bikini have soared since Stephanie Rice’s picture was made public.
“We’ve had inquires from all over – the US, Singapore. We’ve sold an extra 60 since the photo ran and sales of other swimwear has also gone up,” she told the Herald Sun.
“Yes, we are preparing a special package of things to send (Rice) after the Olympics to say thank you,” she added.
The controversy is the latest to hit the swimmer, who won three golds at Beijing in 2008 and is the world record holder for the women’s 400m individual medley.
In 2008, Stephanie Rice sparked outrage when a picture of her posing in a skin-tight police costume appeared on her Facebook page.
And in September 2010 she was slammned she wrote “suck on that faggots” after Australia beat South Africa in a Rugby Union match.
Stephanie Rice was criticized for the comments and made a tearful public apology.
The latest outrage comes just days after two of Australia’s male swimmers posed with guns for a picture that was posted on Facebook.
The image, taken in a gun shop in Santa Clara, California, showed Nick D’Arcy with two pistols standing next to Kenrick Monk who is holding two shotguns across his chest.
The photo was removed after condemnation from Swimming Australia. A spokesman said: “Swimming Australia does not condone the posting of inappropriate content on Facebook, Twitter or any social media platform.”
Eva Longoria has split with toyboy Eduardo Cruz for a second time.
Eva Longoria, 37, and the younger brother of Penelope Cruz have split after an on-off relationship which lasted 16 months, a representative has confirmed.
It comes just weeks after the pair enjoyed a romantic holiday in Seville, Spain.
Eva Longoria and Eduardo Cruz, 27, began dating after Eva split with her husband Tony Parker – with who she enjoyed a four year marriage.
They split in March but reunited later on in the spring.
Eva Longoria has split with toyboy Eduardo Cruz for a second time
A source said earlier this year: “It was a mutual decision. They are staying friends. She’s focusing on work and the end of Desperate Housewives.”
Eva Longoria recently revealed she was going on a “new journey” in her life following the end of the TV show, in which she played Gabrielle Solis.
The actress said: “In the moment of doing the last episode, it was bittersweet, it was very emotional to leave this family I’ve had for eight years, our crew and our cast. It was really heartbreaking to know I would never play Gabby again.
“I mean, all of that was really sad, but at the same time, I’m so excited to turn the page and embark on this new journey of my career, of my life.
“You know, <<Desperate Housewives>> [was] all-consuming. It’s year-round filming. It’s always in L.A., you don’t have time to travel, you don’t have time to do movies, you don’t have time to do anything else. So now, I feel like a free bird.”
Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, cut a striking figure as she took a stroll through New York City yesterday.
Ireland Baldwin, 16, wore her tousled hair over one shoulder, reminiscent of her actress mother Kim in her younger days.
White frilly shorts, a baggy navy blue v-necked top and flip flops completed the look as she headed out for lunch with a male friend.
Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, cut a striking figure as she took a stroll through New York City yesterday
Last week, Ireland Baldwin was spotted out with father Alec, 54, not long after his altercation with a New York Daily News photographer outside a court room.
A photograph of the fracas was splashed all over the U.S. newspaper, but Alec Baldwin told The Charlie Rose Show earlier in the week that he was a victim.
“The guy lunged and almost hit me in the teeth with the lens of the camera,” said the actor, who is engaged to yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas.
“So I just pushed the guy away.”
Alec Baldwin’s relationship with his only daughter has come a long way since he left an infamous voicemail for her back in 2007, referring to her as a “rude, thoughtless little pig”.
Ireland Baldwin was the subject of a long drawn-out custody battle after the split between her famous parents, with their divorce finalized in 2002.
EU leaders at Brussels summit have agreed to use the eurozone’s bailout fund to support struggling banks directly, without adding to government debt.
Speaking after 13 hours of talks in Brussels’, EU chief Herman van Rompuy also said a eurozone-wide supervisory body for banks would be created.
Officials said the plans could be finalized during July.
Analysts say Germany appears to have given ground after pressure from Spain and Italy to provide more support.
The two southern European countries had withheld support from an earlier plan to for a growth package worth 120 billion Euros ($149 billion).
They wanted measures to lower their borrowing costs.
Herman van Rompuy said the new proposals would break the “vicious circle” between banks and national governments.
Although Germany appears to have compromised, Chancellor Angela Merkel has managed to ensure that Brussels has more control over the finances of eurozone countries, something she had wanted.
The deal came about after new French President Francois Hollande appeared to throw his weight behind Italy and Spain.
“I’m here to try to find rapid solutions for those countries facing pressure from the market, despite having made huge efforts to balance their budgets,” the socialist French president said.
EU leaders at Brussels summit have agreed to use the eurozone's bailout fund to support struggling banks directly, without adding to government debt
The new growth package, announced by Herman van Rompuy, is made up of:
• A 10 billion-euro boost of capital for the European Investment Bank, expected to raise overall lending capacity by 60 billion Euros
• Targeting 60 billion Euros of unused structural funds to help small enterprises and create youth employment
• A pilot launch of EU project bonds worth 4.5 billion Euros for infrastructure improvements, focusing on energy, transport and broadband.
In Brussels, both Italy and Spain were pushing the eurozone bloc to agree steps to reduce the interest rates the two countries have to pay.
Spanish 10-year government bonds were trading at yields above 6.9% on Thursday, coming close to the 7% considered unaffordable.
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said debt sustainability was a pressing problem.
“We are paying rates that are too high to finance ourselves and there are many Spanish public institutions that cannot finance themselves.”
Spanish and Italian leaders are worried that their countries could soon – in effect – be shut out of international markets and forced to seek assistance.
Angela Merkel has warned there is no “magic formula” to solve the crisis.
Several EU leaders want individual countries’ debts guaranteed by the whole eurozone, for instance in the form of centrally issued eurobonds.
But Angela Merkel told the German parliament on Wednesday that eurobonds were “the wrong way” and “counter-productive”, adding: “We are working to breach the vicious circle of piling up debt and breaking [EU] rules.”
She said to loud applause: “Joint liability can only happen when sufficient controls are in place.”
Stronger competitiveness was the condition for sustained growth, the chancellor said.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on his arrival at the summit that eurozone countries had some “hard decisions” to make.
When asked about plans for transferring more budgetary powers to the EU level, he said he shared “people’s concerns about Brussels getting too much power”.
European authorities have also unveiled proposals such as the creation of a European treasury, which would have powers over national budgets. The 10-year plan is designed to strengthen the eurozone and prevent future crises, but critics say it will not address current debt problems
Shenzhou 9 spacecraft carrying three Chinese crew members has returned to Earth following a 13-day mission.
Images of the capsule landing in Inner Mongolia at 10:05 local time (02:05 GMT) were shown live on television.
The astronauts carried out a successful manual docking with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module and performed a series of experiments while in space.
The mission is a key step towards China’s goal of building a space station by 2020.
Shenzhou 9 spacecraft carrying three Chinese crew members has returned to Earth following a 13-day mission
Crew member Liu Yang hit the headlines around the world for being the first Chinese woman in space.
The crew of the Shenzhou 9 capsule successfully carried out the country’s manual docking manoeuvre earlier in the week.
The delicate procedure, which involves bringing together two orbiting vessels travelling at thousands of miles an hour, was mastered by the USSR and US space teams in the 1960s.
The crew also carried out automatic docking of the two crafts during their mission.
The three astronauts returned to the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft on Thursday and performed a manual separation from the space laboratory.
They touched down in Inner Mongolia’s Siziwang county, with the capsule deploying a parachute to slow its approach.
All the astronauts were in good health, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft was launched on 16 June.
Kim Kardashian looks just like her mother Kris Jenner in new stills released from L’Uomo Vogue.
Kim Kardashian, 31, is the mirror image of the famous Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, 56.
The reality star wears a racy animal skin dress in one seductive set up and in another, wears a blazer, shirt and pussy-bow – which is one of Kris Jenner’s signature looks.
Kim Kardashian looks just like her mother Kris Jenner in new stills released from L'Uomo Vogue
Other images show Kim Kardashian ever the glamour-queen, wrapped in a feathered gown and clutching an embossed blazer shut as she ducks through a fury of flashbulbs, oversized sunglasses shielding her eyes.
The shoot was filmed on the streets of Los Angeles in May by photographer Francesco Carrozzini and styled by contributing fashion editor Rushka Bergman.
Kanye West was also on the set, keeping an eye on proceedings from behind the scenes.
Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest known samples of pottery in southern China.
The US archaeologists involved have determined that fragments from a large bowl found in Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province, are 20,000 years old.
The discovery, published in the journal Science, is the latest in recent years that have pushed back the invention of pottery by 10,000 years.
It is thought that the bowl was a cauldron to cook food, or possibly to brew alcohol.
Until recently, the majority view was that pottery bowls and drink receptacles were invented after the emergence of agriculture, when people began to stay in one place for long periods.
Part of the reasoning was that pottery items are large and breakable, and so not a useful technology for hunter-gatherer societies that moved from place to place in search of food.
But in the past 10 years, researchers have found instances of pottery pre-dating agriculture.
Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest known samples of pottery in southern China
One possible reason for the invention of pottery is that 20,000 years ago the Earth was the coldest it had been for a million years.
According to the lead researcher, Prof. Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University, pottery cauldrons would have enabled people to extract more nutrition from their food by cooking it.
“Hunter-gatherers were under pressure to get enough food,” he said.
“If the invention is a good one, it spreads pretty fast. And it seems that in that part of southern China, pottery spread among hunter-gatherers in a large area.”
Prof. Gideon Shelach of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem speculates that there may also have been a social driver for the invention of pottery.
“People were gathering together in larger groups and you needed social activities to mitigate against increased tensions,” he said.
“Maybe those potteries were used to brew alcohol.
“It used to be thought that the beginning of pottery was associated with agriculture and sedentary lifestyle,” he added.
“Yet here we find it 8,000 years or more before this transition. This is a very puzzling situation.”
The archaeological team estimates from fragments of the bowl that it was 20cm high and 15-25 cm in diameter.
Prof. Ofer Bar-Yosef is keen to discover what these ancient people were cooking 20,000 years ago. He believes that whatever it was it was either steamed or boiled in the bowl.
“It’s probably not the first wok,” he said.
“Cooking with oil began later.
“We think it was used for cooking with water, so it is more like a caldron.”
Reg Traviss, the former boyfriend of the late singer Amy Winehouse, has been charged with rape.
Reg Traviss, 35, faces two counts of rape and will appear before magistrates next month.
He had been seeing the singer for more than a year when she died at her home in Camden, north London, last July.
The film director has been behind movies including Psychosis, which featured Charisma Carpenter and Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins.
Reg Traviss, who was charged under his full name Reginald, was arrested on April 5 by the Metropolitan Police in relation to an allegation of rape reported on January 18.
Reg Traviss, the former boyfriend of the late singer Amy Winehouse, has been charged with rape
Rebecca Mundy, a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “I have authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Reginald Traviss with two counts of rape.
“The alleged offences took place between 29 December 2011 and 1 January 2012.”
The lawyer from the CPS London Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit added: “The decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.”
Reg Traviss will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 17.
Last year, Reg Traviss revealed him and Amy Winehouse, who died aged 27, had been planning to get married.
He admitted that he still hadn’t come to terms with the fact she has gone.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Reg Traviss said: “What felt surreal was not the cameras and the craziness but losing somebody, just like that. One minute I was speaking to her, the next she was gone.
“You might say we were halfway through a conversation in our life together and then, suddenly, she disappeared.”
Charlize Theron has kept her new haircut hidden under an array of hats in recent weeks but she finally decide to ditch the head wear and embrace her shaved look.
Charlize Theron, 36, was spotted in Namibia this week with her son Jackson, revealing her dramatic buzz cut in all its glory for the first time.
The South African actress and her little son Jackson wore coordinated red tops as they were spotted whizzing through the city.
Charlize Theron was spotted in Namibia this week with her son Jackson, revealing her dramatic buzz cut for the first time
Charlize Theron chopped of her trademark long blonde locks earlier this month to play Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth film in the post apocalyptic series.
She will feature opposite Tom Hardy, who fills the role made famous by Mel Gibson, and she said she cannot wait for the cameras to roll.
The star said: “I feel like the original <<Mad Max>> created such a vivid world, that to go back and re-imagine it and kind of replay in that sandbox sounds like fun to me.
“George really created a female character that I’ve never read anything like this. I mean, I’m scared (expletive)!
“I’m very excited about it; I’m (expletive) dying! It’s been three years; it’s time to skin this cat already!”
Navsop, a new positioning system made by UK defence firm BAE Systems, has been developed to complement or even replace current technologies such as GPS.
Navsop relies on the same signals used by mobile phones, TVs, radios and wi-fi rather than navigation satellites.
BAE Systems says Navsop could help find victims inside buildings during a fire and locate stolen vehicles hidden in underground car parks.
It could also be used in a war if the sat-nav system was turned off.
For now, the prototype is a big box-like piece of hardware placed in the back of one of BAE’s cars, which sports a radio antenna on the roof.
But once out on the market, it will be as tiny as a GPS dongle is today – a bit bigger than a coin – says Ramsey Faragher, principal scientist at the BAE Advanced Technology Centre in Chelmsford, near London.
“Let’s be clear – for Navsop to start working, you have to have a GPS signal, to know where you are on the face of the Earth,” he says, sitting in the back of the car as it drives along Chelmsford’s streets.
“But if the GPS signal disappears, we’ll still be able to navigate,” he adds, pointing to the computer screen depicting a map with a dotted line showing the vehicle’s location.
Navsop relies on the same signals used by mobile phones, TVs, radios and wi-fi rather than navigation satellites
The device works by picking up all the available signals nearby, heavily relying on medium wave radio frequencies.
This is the same part of the spectrum used by radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi more than a 100 years ago, who opened the world’s first telegraph in the same city.
GPS (global positioning system) uses signals coming from satellites spinning around the Earth, some 20,000 km (12,427 miles) away.
By the time these signals reach the surface of our planet, they are extremely weak and unable to be picked up by receivers, for instance, inside buildings.
They may also suddenly disappear, says Ramsey Faragher.
“Our society has now become hugely dependent on GPS,” he adds.
“The European Commission determined that 800bn euros [$995bn; £642bn] of the European economy is dependent on either precision navigation or precision timing from GPS – the aviation industry, the shipping industry, agriculture, telecommunications, all need GPS to function.
“And that’s why it’s important to have back-up systems in case GPS signal is not available.”
For instance, there have been cases when criminals have stolen cars and used GPS jammers bought over the internet to prevent the vehicles’ owners from trying to locate them.
There are also natural space events such as solar flares that result in a release of a very large cloud of charged particles, which, once they hit the Earth’s atmosphere, can prevent GPS signals from coming through cleanly.
But mobile phones, radios and TVs use signals that are a lot more powerful than those from navigation satellites, as they are broadcast from only a few kilometres away, and cannot be jammed.
So Navsop uses them instead.
“We are not saying that our technology should necessarily replace GPS, but rather complement it,” says Ramsey Faragher.
“If the GPS signal is there, by all means, use it. If not, we say that with Navsop, you can determine your position anyway.”
And this could be useful in a variety of scenarios – from precisely determining the position of trains in tunnels to locating victims trapped in buildings after explosions or earthquakes.
It would also be useful to the military in case one side deliberately switches off GPS to prevent its adversary from locating its units.
BAE Systems says that for now, it is not clear when the technology will be put on the market, but in principle it could be used by countries developing other sat-nav technologies.
Currently, Russia has Glonass, and China is building Beidou, also known as Compass.
The European Union and European Space Agency are developing Galileo, a separate 20 billion-euro project.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform (ObamaCare) act is constitutional.
The court upheld a core requirement known as the “individual mandate” that Americans buy insurance or pay a fine.
Of the nine justices on the bench, Chief Justice John Roberts’ vote was decisive in the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in favor of the law.
The ruling comes months before the US election, with Republicans vowing to push for a repeal of the bill.
Healthcare is a deeply polarizing issue in the US and Republicans strongly opposed Barack Obama’s legislation.
The state of Florida, along with 12 other states, filed a legal challenge to the bill minutes after Barack Obama signed The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law in March 2010.
They were later joined by 13 more states, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and several individuals.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform (ObamaCare) act is constitutional
Speaking afterwards, President Barack Obama called the court’s decision a victory for the country, saying people would not need to “hang their fortunes on chance” or fear financial ruin if they became sick.
Barack Obama said it was “time to move forward”, and that he would continue to implement and improve the healthcare law.
He added: “We will be better off because we had the courage to pass this law.”
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the healthcare bill was “bad law yesterday, it’s bad law today”.
“This is a time of choice for the American people. If we’re going get rid of ObamaCare we’re going to have to replace President Obama. My mission is to make sure we do exactly that.”
He called “ObamaCare” a tax rise that would add to the national debt, a “job-killer”, and said it would put the federal government “between you and your doctor”.
Congressional leaders also responded quickly to the verdict. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said: “We’ve passed plenty of terrible laws around here that were constitutional.”
On the Senate floor, he said the only way to fix the law was “full repeal”.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, disagreed: “Now that this matter is settled, let’s move on to other things. Like jobs.”
The mandate was eventually upheld by the justices, citing the taxation powers granted to Congress by the US constitution.
Chief Justice John Roberts said: “We do not consider whether the Act embodies sound policies. That judgment is entrusted to the Nation’s elected leaders.
“We ask only whether Congress has the power under the Constitution to enact the challenged provisions.”
A majority of justices agreed that the penalty individuals must pay if they refuse to buy health insurance falls within Congress’ power to levy taxes, upholding the “individual mandate”.
“The mandate can be regarded as establishing a condition – not owning health insurance – that triggers a tax – the required payment to IRS,” Justice John Roberts wrote.
The government’s main argument was that the law was legal under Congress’ ability to regulate “interstate commerce” – but a majority of justices did not agree with this view.
Four dissenting justices said that limits on the power of Congress to regulate commerce and raise taxes “cannot be such as will enable the Federal Government to regulate all private conduct and to compel the States to function as administrators of federal programs.”
“That clear principle carries the day here,” they added.
In an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the dissenting justices went further, to say: “In our view, the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.”
While the court described the penalty as a tax, it did not invoke a law that could have prevented the justices from ruling on the case.
Under a law called the Anti-Injunction Act, taxes cannot be legally challenged until after they have been levied. This could have delayed a verdict till 2015 – after the “individual mandate” comes into effect and the first round of penalties have been paid.
They were also not required to rule on the issue of “severability”, which would determine whether other parts of the healthcare law could stand even if the mandate was struck down.
In addition to the individual mandate, the Supreme Court was asked consider another part of the law that deals with the expansion of Medicaid, a government healthcare programme for low-income citizens.
The court ruled to limit that provision but did not strike it down altogether, saying Congress could place conditions on the use of federal funds.
“What Congress is not free to do is to penalize States that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said.
Lady Gaga is understood to pay record price for a gown by her late friend Alexander McQueen.
Lady Gaga have set a new high for a McQueen, bidding £85,250 ($136,400) in a sale which saw her facing rival bids from institutions and couture collectors from around the world.
She was among bidders, from 21 countries, who paid almost half a million pounds for items from the personal collection of Daphne Guinness which was sold at Christie’s.
The lots went for four times the original estimate and the record price was for an ivory silk tulle empire line gown, entitled The Girl Who Lived In The Tree.
Another McQueen – a metallic silver mini-dress dating from 2008, the year before he committed suicide – also beat the previous record, fetching £79,250 ($126,800).
Daphne Guinness was auctioning items from her personal collection to raise funds for the Isabella Blow Foundation, which she set up in memory of her friend to support emerging fashion talent.
Lady Gaga is understood to pay record price for a gown by her late friend Alexander McQueen
The auction’s purpose was to launch and raise funds whilst supporting new and emerging talent in the sphere where art and fashion meet – a realm championed by Daphne Guinness.
With the help of Christie’s specialists, Daphne Guinness selected pieces to be auctioned from her personal wardrobe which embody her personal style, most of which were acquired by Daphne directly from the designers themselves.
Exceptional designs by the likes of McQueen, Chanel, Balenciaga, Gareth Pugh, Christopher Kane, Lanvin, Lacroix, Prada, Gucci, Alaia and others featured in the sale.
Fashionista Isabella Blow killed herself in 2007 by swallowing a bottle of weed killer, and her own extensive wardrobe – sold to settle debts on her estate – was bought in its entirety by Daphne Guinness to keep it intact.
Lady Gaga has spoken of her admiration for Daphne Guinness and Isabella Blow in the past.
She said in one interview: “Isabella and Daphne are two exceptional human beings, women, icons.
“Daphne, like Isabella, is a huge source of inspiration for me. I cherish them both. It is as if we are all cut from the same cloth.”
The top lot of the sale was a photograph of Daphne Guinness taken by Mario Testino for a 2008 British edition of Vogue magazine, which was sold for £133,250 ($213,200).
Avant-garde and quintessentially quirky British designer Alexander McQueen was found dead in his Mayfair apartment in February 2010, days before London Fashion Week.
His death shocked the fashion industry and he left a legacy behind him.
Daphne Guinness said: “This cause is close to my heart. I am genuinely touched by the response it has generated, and truly excited for the future of the Isabella Blow Foundation.
“I’m overwhelmed by how many bidders took part this evening and I’m particularly moved by Lady Gaga’s support for the foundation. I like her very much, and it’s lovely to see the nascent beginnings of something that may help other people.”
Christie’s confirmed that Lady Gaga was a bidder but was unable to provide further details of the items she purchased, but judging from Alexander McQueen’s stunning range of gowns, she left the auction with a one-of-a kind piece.
The whole collection went for £467,800 ($748,500), including buyer’s premium.
Other items on sale came from designers such as Chanel, Gareth Pugh, Lacroix, Prada and Gucci.
EU leaders at Brussels summit are examining how to ease the eurozone debt crisis amid competing visions about how to revive the worst-hit economies.
As the Brussels summit opened, French President Francois Hollande made a new plea for EU solidarity and Spain warned that its borrowing costs were too high.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel scorned talk of pooling eurozone debt, saying it would require more budget rigor.
But there appears to be broad agreement on new measures to stimulate growth.
On arrival at the summit, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said “these are hard decisions for the eurozone countries to make and we should be encouraging them to go ahead”.
But when asked about plans for transferring more budgetary powers to the EU level David Cameron said: “I… in many ways share people’s concerns about Brussels getting too much power.”
European authorities have unveiled proposals such as the creation of a European treasury, which would have powers over national budgets.
The 10-year plan is designed to strengthen the eurozone and prevent future crises, but critics say it will not address current debt problems.
EU leaders at Brussels summit are examining how to ease the eurozone debt crisis amid competing visions about how to revive the worst-hit economies
Spanish 10-year government bonds were trading at yields above 6.9% on Thursday morning, coming close to the 7% considered unaffordable.
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said debt sustainability was a pressing problem.
“We are paying rates that are too high to finance ourselves and there are many Spanish public institutions that cannot finance themselves.”
Spanish and Italian leaders are worried that their countries could soon – in effect – be shut out of international markets and forced to seek assistance.
The debate about short-term fixes could become very bitter indeed.
Angela Merkel has warned there is no “magic formula” to solve the crisis.
Several EU leaders want individual countries’ debts guaranteed by the whole eurozone, for instance in the form of centrally issued eurobonds.
But Angela Merkel told the German parliament on Wednesday that eurobonds were “the wrong way” and “counter-productive”, adding: “We are working to breach the vicious circle of piling up debt and breaking [EU] rules.”
She said to loud applause: “Joint liability can only happen when sufficient controls are in place.”
Stronger competitiveness was the condition for sustained growth, the chancellor said.
Francois Hollande believes eurobonds should be a eurozone priority for helping countries like Italy and Spain bring their borrowing costs down.
But Angela Merkel continues to insist that before anything is done to increase the burden on German taxpayers, building blocks towards greater fiscal, banking and, eventually, political union must be put in place.
There is certainly a chance that the summit will take a small step on a path that would partly deal with the fundamental weaknesses in the eurozone.
But in the absence of major short-term action, he explains, borrowing costs for countries such as Spain and Italy are likely to remain painfully high, making the eurozone’s financial situation strained for a long time to come.
Angela Merkel said progress had been made on a pact for growth and she hoped European leaders would adopt a 130 billion-euro ($162 billion) stimulus package.
Francois Hollande, who was elected French president on an anti-austerity ticket, said on Thursday there were “points in common on growth”.
“Merkel has moved in the direction I wanted,” he told French TV channel France 2.
Adding that he and the German leader had also agreed on the financial transaction tax, he said they still needed to find agreement “on stability”.
“There are ongoing discussions, it’s normal,” he said.
“We need to act in support of the countries which need it: Spain and Italy.”
Ann Curry is going to tell her viewers this morning that she is leaving NBC’s Today Show and is giving up her co-host chair.
In an interview with USA Today, Ann Curry admitted it is “going to be a bit of a tough day” as she ended over a week of speculation about her future.
“I’m going to have to tell our viewers. That’s what makes me more emotional than anything. I don’t want to leave them. I love them. And I will really miss them.”
Leaving with a reputed $10 million pay-off, Ann Curry, 55, will remain at NBC with a new title – Today Show anchor-at-large and NBC News national/international correspondent.
Negotiated by her lawyer Robert Barnett, her new contract to remain at the Peacock Network lasts “a significant amount of time” but she has not disclosed the size of her new salary, reputed to be as much as $20 million a year.
Ann Curry described the moment that she was called into NBC News president Steve Capus to receive the bad news about her position as co-host of Today after little more than a year as anchor.
“I walked into his office expecting to say goodbye,” said Ann Curry.
“Steve sat me down and told me I’m not done and he convinced me there is far more to do.”
Ann Curry is going to tell her viewers this morning that she is leaving NBC's Today Show and is giving up her co-host chair
Creating a seven-person roving news team for Ann Curry, the soon-to-be former Today show anchor will now travel the world to report on the world’s biggest stories.
She will produce pieces for NBC Nightly News, Dateline and Today.
However, despite her cushioned manoeuvre out of the morning show hot-seat, Ann Curry admitted to USA Today that the rumors and reporting over the past week hurt.
“I don’t know who has been behind the leaks, but no question they’ve hurt deeply,” she said.
The main reason for her removal at Today is thought to be her lack of on-screen chemistry with co-host Matt Lauer.
However, Ann Curry was adamant that was unfair.
“You know, Matt and I have had great on-air chemistry for 14 years, been part of the No.1 winning team for a history-making number of years,” she said.
“That said, I just finished my freshman year as co-host.
“In every single co-host’s first year, there have been kinks to be worked out and perhaps I deserve as much blame for that as anyone.”
Ann Curry has also taken the blame from many at NBC for the Today show’s ratings decline.
The program lost the top spot among network morning shows this spring to ABC’s Good Morning America, a position it had held, unbroken, since 1995.
“I know I am not to blame for the ratings worries,” replied Ann Curry.
“And my bosses have said to me there are many factors involved.”
Reports surfaced last Wednesday that Ann Curry, who took over the anchor chair June 9, 2011, would be removed from her spot as Matt Lauer’s co-host before the network’s Olympic coverage begins next month.
In April GMA broke the 16 year winning streak of the Today show as the No.1 rated morning show and in the week of May 21 Today lost to their rival by 33,000.
Ann Curry has been criticized for not being as flexible or quite as quick-witted as Matt Lauer or Katie Couric, who had the hosting job for 15 years before leaving in 2006.
“We had a many-year run in first place in total viewers and it got snapped, but since then, every week in the past month we’ve started a new streak,” said NBC News president Steve Capus.
“There’s nobody complacent around here.
“We’re aggressive and we’re going to continue to evolve the broadcast and this one of the moves, but it’s not the only move in response to all of that.”
While Ann Curry will take some time off after her final appearance on Today, she will be back on U.S. screens reporting from the Olympics in London and then return to her love of foreign reporting.
“In my secret heart of hearts, I see this as a thrilling opportunity. To have a ticket to every big story in the world – no small matter,” said Ann Curry.
Speaking about what it has been like to work alongside Matt Lauer for the past year, Ann Curry was enthusiastic.
“Well, we’ve had a terrific relationship for all these years, and he’s such a star,” said Ann Curry.
“Obviously he’s considered the golden boy of morning television. He’s so good when you sit next to him; it’s hard not to be helped by that.
“He’s funny and glib, and he knows how the show works. It’s been my honor in this last year to sit next to him.”
Barack Obama’s wide-ranging healthcare reform bill, which is seen as a key achievement of his presidency, is facing its moment of judgement in the US Supreme Court.
The law, dubbed ObamaCare, passed in 2010, requires all Americans to obtain health insurance or face a penalty fine.
But conservative opponents of the president say that “mandate” is illegal under the terms of the US constitution.
The justices are expected to rule on Thursday, and could cut the mandate or strike down the whole law.
The debate over healthcare is a fiercely polarizing issue in the US, and a verdict either way is expected to have a major impact on the race for the White House.
Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, are just five months away from the presidential election.
The president maintains a slender lead in some polls, but is facing a stiff challenge from Mitt Romney and conservative opponents, amid a rocky economic outlook.
ObamaCare, passed in 2010, requires all Americans to obtain health insurance or face a penalty fine
Mitt Romney told a rally near Washington DC on Wednesday that if the Supreme Court did not quash the law he would “repeal and replace” the bill if he won the White House.
The bitter debate over the legislation has touched such partisan issues as state and individual rights, federal deficits, end-of-life care, and abortion and contraception funding.
The nine-member Supreme Court has several options.
It could decide that it is too early to rule on the case, as many of the law’s provisions – including the mandate to buy health insurance – do not come into force until 2014.
It could also dismiss the challenge to the mandate on a technicality, ruling that the penalty constitutes a tax lawfully imposed by Congress. Few observers expect the court to choose this option.
The meat of the case concerns the challenge to the individual mandate, which the justices could decide oversteps Congress’ right to regulate interstate commerce.
Analysts say that questioning from several conservative justices during oral arguments at the court in March revealed a deep level skepticism on the bench.
The court could decide to strike down the mandate and send the bill back to Congress to find a way to make the rest of it work. It could also overturn the entire law, ruling that the need to buy health insurance is integral to the legislation.
The Supreme Court is composed of nine justices, five seen as conservatives and four as liberals. It has delivered several divisive wafer-thin majority rulings in recent years, prompting criticism from liberals.
A 5-4 ruling in 2010 known as Citizens United changed campaign finance laws in the US to allow unrestricted fund-raising by independent groups not directly affiliated with candidates.
A recent study by the Pew Research Center found public approval of the court at its lowest level since records began in 1987.
The healthcare law – officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but commonly dubbed ObamaCare by opponents – was passed in 2009 without a single Republican vote in Congress, and signed into law by President Obama in June 2010.
Polls suggest many Americans would be pleased to see the law overturned.
However, individual elements of the bill are popular, and some people are opposed because they do not think it goes far enough.
The bill has already enabled millions of Americans aged under 26 to obtain health insurance by staying on their parents’ coverage for longer than previously allowed.
Patients with pre-existing medical conditions have also been able to obtain health insurance since the passage of the law.
Turkey begins rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns deployment along its border with Syria after last week’s downing of a fighter jet.
Columns of military vehicles have been seen moving from military bases to the border, close to where the jet crashed.
The F-4 Phantom went down in the sea after entering Syrian airspace and being hit by a missile. The pilots are missing.
Meanwhile, explosions have been reported outside a court complex in central Damascus.
Syrian state TV said there had been a “terrorist explosion” in the car park of the palace of justice and witnesses spoke of a thick plume of smoke in the area.
There was no word of casualties but opposition activists said ambulances were heard heading to the scene.
There are also reports of clashes in the Damascus suburb of Douma, where activists say four people have been killed.
Turkey begins rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns deployment along its border with Syria after last week’s downing of a fighter jet
Turkey’s decision to reinforce its border with Syria comes two days after PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a change in terms of its military engagement.
He told parliament that Syria was a “clear and present threat” and any game that is dangerous and “military element” that approached the Turkish border from Syria would be treated as a threat and a military target.
Extra troops have been sent to the area and Turkish TV has shown pictures of a small convoy of trucks carrying anti-aircraft guns into a military base near the border town of Yayladagi.
According to local reports, other military vehicles have travelled to the border town of Reyhanli in Hatay province.
More than 33,000 refugees have fled Syria and have crossed the border into the province.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul is due to discuss the heightened tensions with Syria at a National Security Council meeting on Thursday.
Russia and other major powers are considering a proposal from UN envoy Kofi Annan for a national unity government to lead political change in Syria.
Moscow has agreed to back the plan which, according to Western diplomats, proposes a cabinet including members of the opposition and government, but no-one who would undermine its credibility.
The idea will be discussed on Saturday by the UN Action Group on Syria.
Although Western diplomats say President Bashar al-Assad would not be part of any unity government, his future role in Syria is not spelled out in Kofi Annan’s proposal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that President Bashar al-Assad’s future had to be decided through a “Syrian dialogue by the Syrian people themselves”, adding that Saturday’s Geneva conference could not dictate the terms of a unity government.
President Bashar al-Assad has described Syria as being in a “real state of war” and the UN’s deputy envoy to Syria said on Wednesday that the violence “had reached or even surpassed” the levels seen in April when Kofi Annan’s ceasefire plan was agreed.
The UN says at least 10,000 people have been killed since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. In June, the Syrian government reported that 6,947 Syrians had died, including at least 3,211 civilians and 2,566 security forces personnel.
Model Kate Upton became a household name overnight, and this year landed the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition.
But new images show Kate Upton wasn’t always so open about showing off her body.
In photos taken from the model’s high school yearbook, her celebrated body is covered with a button down shirt.
Kate Upton’s high school friends, who knew her just three short years ago as their fellow classmate, tell how her success seems to have blossomed overnight – shocking them all.
For they remember a flat-chested teenager who was “nerdy looking”.
Speaking candidly, a fellow classmate of Kate Upton’s from Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Florida, remembers the supermodel as a B average student who was the opposite of the “it” girl at school.
Kate Upton’ school friends remember a flat-chested teenager who was “nerdy looking”
Wearing a white oxford shirt paired with a khaki kilt as her school uniform, Kate Upton, now 20, was required to go to church services everyday and her favorite pastime was riding horses.
But while nearly every man on this planet would love to date her today, Kate Upton surprisingly didn’t have any dates as a schoolgirl.
“Kate was the bridge between the popular crowd and the losers,” tells Kate’s high school classmate.
“She wasn’t really outgoing and she definitely wasn’t the prettiest girl in school.
“She was very slim, flat chested and sort of nerdy looking – I’m not sure she ever had a boyfriend in school.”
But three years on, you can bet every guy from her high school class is kicking themselves for not jumping at the opportunity to date the world’s hottest supermodel.
“I remember Kate being in and out of class a lot, traveling and trying to make it as a model,” tells her classmate.
“She was never overly confident or annoying about it, but one day she just left school and never came back.
“It was almost like she blossomed overnight and grew into this beautiful woman, never to be heard from again.
“Now, talking to all the guys from our class, we’re all regretful that we never asked her out.”
Kate Upton’s stardom has seen her land on the cover of several big name magazines, most recently men’s quarterly, GQ.
During the shoot Kate Upton recently revealed that she endured a slight mishap.
The model explained what happened in her interview, saying: “For the GQ photo shoot, we were on the ride where the seat spins while the actual ride is spinning, and I’m wearing a one-piece.
“All of a sudden the whole entire top falls off! I’m holding myself, laughing, turning bright red, but a lot of people are watching, so they kicked us out of the Santa Monica Pier – it was so embarrassing.”
A scientific research published in France has revealed that Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain traces of alcohol.
The revelation will cause concern among those who chose the carbonated soft drink for religious, health or safety reasons.
According to tests carried out by the Paris-based National Institute of Consumption (INC) more than half of leading colas contain the traces of alcohol.
These include the brand leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola, while it is mainly only cheap supermarket versions of the drink which are alcohol-free.
French magazine 60 Million Consumers publishes the results of the tests in its latest issue.
They suggest that the alcohol levels are as low as 10 mg in every litre, and this works out at around 0.001% alcohol.
But the figures will still be enough to upset the thousands of Muslims who regularly drink Cola because their religion forbids them from drinking alcohol.
A scientific research published in France has revealed that Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain traces of alcohol
Those who are teetotal and drink Coke regularly will also be worried, as will those who choose it as an alternative to alcohol when they are driving.
Of 19 colas tested, the nine which did not contain alcohol were made by brands including Auchan, Cora, Casino, Leader Price and Man U-Cola.
Ten which had traces of alcohol in them included Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola Classic Light and Coke Zero.
Michel Pepin, scientific director for Coca-Cola France, said: “It is possible that traces of alcohol come from the process of making Coca Cola according to its secret recipe.”
He insisted, however, that Coca-Cola drinks were provably “soft” and recognized as such “by the government authorities in which they are sold”.
Michel Pepin added: “Furthermore, the Paris Mosque has provided us with a certificate stating that our products can be consumed by the Muslim community in line with the religious opinions of the Committee of the Mosque of Paris.”
A spokesman for Pepsi acknowledged that “some soft drinks can contain minute traces of alcohol because of the ingredients used”, although “the Pepsi Cola recipe does not contain alcohol”.
Both companies suggested that natural fruit can ferment and produce minute traces of alcohol.
Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by the American John Pemberton and was originally patented as a medicine which could cure everything from headache to impotence.
It went on to dominate the international soft drinks market and is now a US icon sold in more than 200 countries.
However, caffeine is widely considered to be the main stimulant contained in the drink, along with vast amounts of sugar which have come to associate it with a range of health problems including obesity.
Every can of Coke contains approximately 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Martin Taylor, the former chief executive of Barclays, says the bank has engaged in “systematic dishonesty”.
It comes after Barclays was fined $450 million for trying to manipulate interest rates at which banks lend to each other.
Martin Taylor, who was chief executive of the bank from 1994 to 1998, said that Barclays’ deception looks like a deliberate strategy as it had been going on for years.
Other banks are also being probed.
The chief executive of Barclays, Bob Diamond, has come under pressure to resign.
Barclays has said its actions “fell well short of standards”.
In response, chief executive Bob Diamond and three other top executives at the bank are to give up their bonuses this year.
Investigators say that Barclays’ traders lied to make the bank look more secure during the financial crisis and, sometimes – working with traders at other banks – to make a profit.
Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement at the FSA, which imposed fines alongside the US financial regulator, said: “We have a number of investigations that are ongoing.
“Obviously we need to look at each case on its own particular facts but the initial indications are that Barclays was not the only firm that was involved in this.”
The US Department of Justice also said criminal investigations into “other financial institutions and individuals” was ongoing.
Martin Taylor, the former chief executive of Barclays, says the bank has engaged in "systematic dishonesty"
Other big names believed to be under investigation include Citigroup, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Barclays’ misconduct relates to the daily setting of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR).
These are two of the most important interest rates in the global financial markets and directly influence the value of trillions of dollars of financial deals between banks and other institutions.
They can also affect lending rates to the public, for instance with some mortgage deals.
It is not yet clear whether Barclays staff actually succeeded in manipulating the interest rates to the bank’s advantage and therefore whether it had any impact on borrowers.
While the FSA said only that the Barclays employees had attempted to do so, the US Department of Justice said that on some occasions they did affect the LIBOR and EURIBOR rates.
The fine imposed on Barclays is part of an international investigation into the setting of interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.
Each day the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) and the European Banking Association publish the LIBOR and EURIBOR rates by taking an average of the estimated rates submitted to them by leading banks.
Between 2005 and 2008, the Barclays staff who submitted estimates of their own interbank lending rates were frequently lobbied by its derivatives traders to put in figures which would benefit their trading positions, in order to produce a profit for the bank.
And between 2007 and 2009, during the height of the banking crisis, the staff put in artificially low figures, to avoid the suspicion that Barclays was under financial stress and thus having to borrow at noticeably higher rates than its competitors.
The FSA pointed out that Barclays traders were quite open about their routine attempts to lobby their colleagues who submitted the bank’s estimate of its borrowing costs to the BBA.
It was particularly concerned because it appeared to be “accepted culture” among some staff.
“Requests to Barclays’ submitters were made verbally and a large amount of email and instant message evidence consisting of derivatives traders’ requests also exists,” the FSA said.
In one instance, a trader recounted a conversation in which he had “begged” the submitter to put in a lower LIBOR figure.
“I’m like, dude, you’re killing us,” he said.
His manager replied: “Just tell him to… put it low.”
In turn, the staff submitting the data would respond to the traders’ requests.
“For you…anything,” said one.
“Done… for you big boy,” said another.
And: “I owe you big time… I’m opening a bottle of Bollinger.”
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has resigned following his side’s disastrous Euro 2012 campaign.
Dutch team was beaten in all three of their matches in the tournament and finished bottom of Group B.
Bert van Marwijk, 60, refused to answer questions about his future last week but his departure has now been confirmed by the Dutch FA.
Bert van Marwijk led the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final in which they were beaten by Spain in extra time.
“I have severe doubts, but have decided to take this step anyway,” Bert van Marwijk said in a statement.
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has resigned following his side's disastrous Euro 2012 campaign
The head of the KNVB (the Dutch FA), Bert van Oostveen said: “The KNVB are grateful to Van Marwijk. I personally had a very good feeling about our co-operation.
“Of course it is sad to part early, but we must be realistic.”
The Netherlands won nine of their 10 qualifying matches for Euro 2012, rising to the top of the FIFA world rankings in August 2011.
But drawn in the “Group of Death” with Denmark and eventual semi-finalists Germany and Portugal, they lost three consecutive competitive games for the first time in their history.
A 1-0 opening defeat by Denmark was followed by 2-1 defeats against Germany and Portugal.
The performances were in stark contrast to their displays at the 2010 World Cup, in which the Dutch took maximum points in Bert van Marwijk’s first tournament as coach.
The Dutch went on to reach the final, but Bert van Marwijk’s negative tactics in a bad-tempered game against Spain led to criticism from the media and Dutch legend Johann Cruyff.
Bert van Marwijk, who has previously coached Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund, had taken over from Marco van Basten in 2008 and had a contract that ran until 2016.
The Netherlands have a friendly against Belgium on 15 August before starting their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign against Turkey in September.
When you apply for home owner’s insurance, one of the questions that you’ll be asked is whether or not you (or any family member) is a smoker.
If you’re a non smoker, most home owner’s insurance policies will give a discount of 10%.
As with all insurance, policy premiums are determined through studies on the risk factors that certain groups of people exhibit. Those that are found to be part of a riskier group usually have to pay more money for the same amount of insurance. Studies show that homes owned by smokers are more likely to have home owner’s insurance claims against them than non smokers.
When you apply for home owner's insurance, one of the questions that you'll be asked is whether or not you (or any family member) is a smoker
1. Smokers burn down houses. There are over 20,000 residential fires a year caused by cigarettes. Since smokers are the ones that have cigarettes, the act of smoking increases the risk that a house will burn down.
2. Smokers tend to have riskier overall habits than non smokers. These riskier habits can lead to more home owner’s insurance claims than non smokers.
3. Because smokers need matches or lighters for their habit, this means that children in the house are likely to have more access to these than children living in houses with non smokers. This increases of an accidental fire started by the children.
Before you put your house on the market, it is advisable to make it more attractive to potential buyers.
Today is a buyers market and they can pick and select which is the best property and demand lower prices.
Change the way you think, see selling a home is rather like entering a competition where the best presented home wins.
The smell of tobacco and a home owner smoking during a viewing will without a shadow of doubt put people off buying a home. Even hardened smokers don’t like a house to smell of smoke. Do not underestimate the negative affect it may have on a potential buyer, houses with smokers are harder to sell and that’s the bottom line. Smoking yellows the paintwork and embeds into the carpets and walls. Discarded cigarettes in a garden makes a home feel used and tired. Families will not want to bring their children up ion house that has suffered from smoking.
The fact is when a home becomes harder to sell for any reason the home owners has to face the fact that they may have to reduce the asking price. It may well be that a smokers home is harder to sell and therefore this will have to be reflected in the price. Once more when a non smokers buys a house from a smoker they may feel that carpets and redecorating are necessary and may use these facts to negotiate the selling price.
Smoking does not sell houses
Selling a home does not require making major improvements such as adding a conservatory or refitting the kitchen, these features are unlikely to add as much value to your house as you might think. Even redecorating should only be done if absolutely necessary, as it will take time and money, and the new owners taste is unlikely to be the same as yours.
It is actually the small touches which make a difference and which will make your property stand out from the rest. Firstly the parking and garden area should be neat and tidy, as this is the first impression that the prospective buyer will get of the house.
Household Insurance for Smokers
When you apply for home owner’s insurance, one of the questions that you’ll be asked is whether or not you (or any family member) is a smoker. If you’re a non smoker, most home owner’s insurance policies will give a discount of 10%.
As with all insurance, policy premiums are determined through studies on the risk factors that certain groups of people exhibit. Those that are found to be part of a riskier group usually have to pay more money for the same amount of insurance. Studies show that homes owned by smokers are more likely to have home owner’s insurance claims against them than non smokers.
1. Smokers burn down houses. There are over 20,000 residential fires a year caused by cigarettes. Since smokers are the ones that have cigarettes, the act of smoking increases the risk that a house will burn down.
2. Smokers tend to have riskier overall habits than non smokers. These riskier habits can lead to more home owner’s insurance claims than non smokers.
3. Because smokers need matches or lighters for their habit, this means that children in the house are likely to have more access to these than children living in houses with non smokers. This increases of an accidental fire started by the children
The myth says that women can pile on the pounds when expecting a baby, but the evidence tells a different story.
Anyone who’s been pregnant will tell you how friends or family members regularly push food towards them, saying: “Go on! Help yourself! You’re eating for two now!”
Women who have spent their life worrying about their weight often find themselves thrilled or relieved that at last there’s a good reason not to worry about what they eat. For once, they argue, it’s allowed… and surely it’s good for the baby if you eat plenty?
Unfortunately when you begin to look at the evidence, this doesn’t appear to be the case.
The belief that eating for two is a good idea results in up to a third of women putting on amounts of weight medically considered to be excessive. Not only is this weight hard to lose after the baby’s born, but it can lead to more serious consequences.
There is an increased risk of high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. It can also affect the birth itself with a higher rate of interventions, including caesarian sections and even an increased, though still rare, risk of stillbirth.
The myth says that women can pile on the pounds when expecting a baby, but the evidence tells a different story
Professor Jane Ogden, a health psychologist at Surrey University, UK, has found that some women feel that pregnancy legitimizes the amount they want to eat. If so, there is a danger that becoming accustomed to eating for two can make it hard to return to eating for one after childbirth, or later if you’re breastfeeding.
Getting people to take notice of any guidelines is another matter. A lot of women say they feel perpetually ravenous while they’re pregnant, so it’s not surprising that they eat more.
The American Dietetic Association’s review of interventions to help women avoid excessive weight gain during pregnancy found that some worked and others didn’t. In Finland, women ate more fresh fruit and vegetables as a result of the advice, but didn’t put on less weight. In the US some interventions did work, except when women were obese before they became pregnant.
Other studies in Native American Cree communities in Canada found that nutritional advice had only a modest effect. And a recent review of different interventions found those that encouraged women to eat a healthy diet were more effective in terms of maternal weight and obstetric outcomes than those recommending walking and other types of light exercise.
What if someone’s eating for three or even four because they’re expecting twins or triplets? Do they need to eat significantly more? Perhaps not.
If a woman is carrying more than one foetus her metabolic rate is 10% greater, causing her to use up calories faster. And some diets recommend women expecting twins or triplets eat up to 4,000 calories a day. That’s as much as the British forces are advised to consume on duty in Afghanistan, but this doesn’t take into account that pregnant women are likely to be slightly more sedentary than fighting soldiers.
What’s also true is that women expecting twins or triplets who don’t put on enough weight are more likely to have very small babies. But although women are sometimes told to eat a great deal of extra calories, it’s not clear where the evidence for exactly how many comes from.
Worryingly, a systematic review of studies in 2011 couldn’t identify a single randomized controlled study that compared normal diets with special high calorie diets. Without direct comparison of normal diets with special high calorie diets, who’s to say which advice is correct?
So putting aside the question of the multiple births, how much extra should people try to eat when they’re pregnant?
In the US, the Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant women eat three meals and two snacks a day. That sounds like plenty until you look at the number of calories recommended: an extra 340 calories a day during the second trimester and 452 calories a day in the third.
That is the equivalent of a normal diet plus two eggs during the middle months of pregnancy and two chocolate digestives plus some garlic bread in the third. It’s hardly eating for two. As the London obstetrician Patrick O’Brien puts it: “You’re eating for one and a bit.”
US researchers say smokers could one day be immunized against nicotine so they gain no pleasure from the habit.
They have devised a vaccine that floods the body with an antibody to assault nicotine entering the body.
A study in mice, published in Science Translational Medicine, showed levels of the chemical in the brain were reduced by 85% after vaccination.
Years of research are still needed before it could be tested on people.
However, lead researcher Prof. Ronald Crystal is convinced there will be benefits.
“As far as we can see, the best way to treat chronic nicotine addiction from smoking is to have these Pacman-like antibodies on patrol, clearing the blood as needed before nicotine can have any biological effect.”
US researchers say smokers could one day be immunized against nicotine so they gain no pleasure from the habit
Other “smoking vaccines” have been developed that train the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine – it is the same method used to vaccinate against diseases. The challenge has been to produce enough antibodies to stop the drug entering the brain and delivering its pleasurable hit.
Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have used a completely different approach, a gene-therapy vaccine, which they say is more promising.
A genetically modified virus containing the instructions for making nicotine antibodies is used to infect the liver. This turns the organ into a factory producing the antibodies.
The research team compared the amount of nicotine in the brains of normal mice with those that had been immunized. After being injected with nicotine, the vaccinated mice had nicotine levels 85% lower.
It is not known if this could be repeated in humans or if this level of reduction would be enough to help people quit.
Prof. Ronald Crystal said that if such a vaccine could be developed then people “will know if they start smoking again, they will receive no pleasure from it due to the nicotine vaccine, and that can help them kick the habit”.
He added: “We are very hopeful that this kind of vaccine strategy can finally help the millions of smokers who have tried to stop, exhausting all the methods on the market today, but find their nicotine addiction to be strong enough to overcome these current approaches.”
There are also issues around the safety of gene therapy in humans that will need to be answered.
If such a vaccine was developed it could also raise ethical questions about vaccinating people, possibly in childhood, before they even started smoking.
