Oprah Winfrey has lost 25 lbs in just six weeks, it was revealed today, shedding much of the weight she had gained over the past 18 months due to the pressures of running her OWN network.
The secret to Oprah Winfrey’ success, sources say, is a lean, low-calorie diet implemented by her new chef.
The fast results were also thanks to the fact that she has resumed her regular treadmill workouts with trainer Bob Greene, they added.
“Oprah has absolutely flipped for the new chef,” a source told the National Enquirer.
“The personalized diet Oprah’s been following uses a combination of fruits and vegetables, fish, chicken and lean meat.
“It’s low in fat and calories, but still leaves her feeling full.”
It is a positive turn for the star, who has spoken publicly about her struggle to maintain a healthy weight.
Once rakishly thin in 1988, Oprah Winfrey's weight has been a yo-yo ever since, not helped by a thyroid problem, diagnosed in 2008, that caused the scales to soar to 200 lbs
Once rakishly thin in 1988, Oprah Winfrey’s weight has been a yo-yo ever since, not helped by a thyroid problem, diagnosed in 2008, that caused the scales to soar to 200 lbs.
Oprah Winfrey, now 58, wrote at the time in O Magazine: “The thyroid diagnosis felt like some kind of prison sentence. I was so frustrated that I started eating whatever I wanted – and that’s never good. My drug of choice is food. I use food for the same reasons an addict uses drugs: to comfort, to soothe, to ease stress.”
Now, though, it appears that she has struck the right balance of a healthy, lean diet that does not feel restrictive, and a workout programme that is equally sustainable.
“Deep down, Oprah knew she had the willpower to lose it again if she took the right approach, and she’s finally found a plan she really likes,” the National Enquirer’s source explained.
“This program is a lifestyle change and it stresses eating the right kind of foods to sustain energy and good health.”
Have you ever wondered why your Big Mac never looks like the one advertised on the menu?
McDonald’s has created a short video to show customers how they prepare their tasty meals for an advertising photo shoot.
The fascinating footage starts by introducing Canadian director of marketing Hope Bagozzi who holds up a tablet with a question from one customer Isabel M.
Isabel asks: “Why does your food look different in the advertising than it does in the store?”
Hope Bagozzi says that it is a question she gets asked a lot and promises to reveal all.
She starts by buying a Quarter Pounder with Cheese at a nearby branch of McDonald’s before hopping into a car which takes her to advertising agency Watt International.
McDonald’s has created a short video to show customers how they prepare their tasty meals for an advertising photo shoot
A photographer and food stylist then set about making the burger look like it would in one of their adverts.
The process is painstaking as they deconstruct and rebuild the sandwich so that all the ingredients are visible. At one point they even syringe on the ketchup so it will be picked up by the camera.
The finished burger looks more like the advertised meals but it’s still not perfect.
In reality Watt International makes all their burgers from scratch in their own kitchen – using McDonald’s ingredients.
Hope Bagozzi meets Noah – a food stylist – who shows her how to expertly prep the different components to make them look as delicious as possible.
Despite all efforts to get it looking as close to perfection as possible the burger is then photographed and Photoshopped to get rid of any discrepancies.
Lesley Brown, the woman who gave birth to the world’s first test tube baby, has died aged 64.
Lesley Brown, who lived in Whitchurch, Bristol, UK, made history in July 1978 when her daughter Louise was born at Oldham General Hospital.
She had been trying for a baby with her husband John for nine years before she became the first woman to give birth following IVF treatment.
Lesley Brown died at the Bristol Royal Infirmary on 6 June with her family by her side, it has been announced.
She successfully conceived following pioneering treatment by Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards.
Lesley Brown leaves behind daughters Louise and Natalie, who were both born following IVF treatment, her stepdaughter Sharon and five grandchildren.
Her husband died five years ago.
Lesley Brown, the woman who gave birth to the world's first test tube baby, has died aged 64
A private funeral service was held in Bristol on Wednesday morning.
Louise Brown said: “Mum was a very quiet and private person who ended up in the world spotlight because she wanted a family so much.
“We are all missing her terribly.”
Dr. Patrick Steptoe and Prof. Robert Edwards set up the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge two years after Louise Brown’s birth. It has now become a leading centre for IVF treatment.
Speaking on behalf of Prof. Robert Edwards and the team at the clinic, chief executive Mike Macamee said: “Lesley was a devoted mum and grandmother and through her bravery and determination many millions of women have been given the chance to become mothers.
“She was a lovely, gentle lady and we will all remember her with deep affection.”
Speaking in 2008, Lesley Brown said she had been so desperate to have a baby that she was willing to put up with anything to give birth.
At the time, she said: “I’m just so grateful that I’m a mum at all because without IVF I never would have been and I wouldn’t have my grandchildren.”
Her blocked fallopian tubes meant getting pregnant naturally was impossible.
In 1976, she heard about new research and was referred to Dr. Patrick Steptoe, after which she agreed to the experimental procedure.
Although other women had been implanted with fertilized eggs, Lesley Brown was the first to achieve a pregnancy which went beyond a few weeks.
Police have detained a gunman who held four people hostage at CIC bank in the southern city of Toulouse, France, for almost seven hours.
The man initially demanded money but when he was refused, a shot was fired and the hostages taken.
Claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda, he demanded to speak to the elite Raid police unit that killed Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah nearby in March.
He freed two hostages before police stormed the bank and detained him.
The gunman was said to have been wounded in the thigh, but not seriously. His two remaining hostages are not thought to have been harmed.
The man went into the branch of the CIC bank at 10:10 local time (08:10 GMT), taking the manager and three other people hostage.
The area around the bank was cordoned off and two nearby schools were closed.
Special police units from the GIPN (Groupe d’intervention de la police nationale) arrived from Marseille and Bordeaux.
Police have detained a gunman who held four people hostage at CIC bank in the southern city of Toulouse
No officers from Raid – which has its headquarters north of Paris, about 600 km (400 miles) from Toulouse – were deployed to the scene.
A police union source told the regional newspaper Ouest-France it was not clear whether the man’s claim about al-Qaeda was “serious or a fantasy”.
More than four hours into the siege, police said a woman hostage had been freed in exchange for food and water. A second woman was released some time afterwards.
Public prosecutor Michel Valet told reporters that the man “wishes to let it be known that he is not acting for money, but for religious reasons”.
The hostage-taker was believed to be around 30 years old and known to the authorities, Toulouse newspaper La Depeche reported. He was from Castres, to the east of Toulouse, and one source told the paper he was a schizophrenic who had broken off his treatment.
His sister, who was brought to the scene during the afternoon to help in negotiations, revealed that her brother was not religious and had been in and out of social care since childhood.
After almost seven hours, the siege came to an end. Three explosions had been heard, possibly stun grenades, shortly before news emerged of the gunman’s arrest.
The gunman had come out of the building with one of the two hostages, reportedly threatening him with a gun, prompting the special police unit to launch its assault.
He was shot in the thigh, La Depeche reported, before being arrested. He was then taken to hospital.
The bank in which the drama unfolded is a few hundred metres from Mohamed Merah’s flat, in an area adjacent to the barracks where Raid police were based during the March siege that ended in his death.
Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent, killed seven people in three separate attacks before he was shot dead by police. His victims included three children and a teacher at a Jewish school, and three soldiers.
Mohamed Merah filmed his attacks and sent the footage to police.
He was shot dead by a police sniper on 22 March after commandos stormed his flat.
Mohamed Merah was suspected to have had an accomplice within the Muslim community.
In the wake of the shootings, the French authorities set up an investigation into whether Mohamed Merah had accomplices and into possible Islamist indoctrination practices in prisons.
They have shown zero tolerance to anyone known to have used Islamist internet sites or to have had links to a fringe al-Qaeda group to which Mohamed Merah is said to have belonged.
On 7 June, a man armed with a shotgun took hostage a security guard at the French weather service, Meteo France. The hostage-taker fired several shots and was seriously injured when police returned fire.
Angelina Jolie is certainly in need of regular touch-ups for her latest role and was spotted being pampered on the set of Maleficent in Buckinghamshire today.
Angelina Jolie, 37, has taken on the role of evil sorcess Maleficient in an adaptation of Sleeping Beauty and to do so, she has undergone something of a transformation.
The actress was seen in the middle of a field today in full costume as she continued to film scenes for the upcoming Disney movie.
Wearing a long brown cape and black horns, Angelina Jolie was spied having her make-up retouched by a female artist while a male member of the crew dealt with her long brunette hair.
It was only yesterday that fans got a sneak peek of Angelina Jolie’s character and what they can expect from the fairytale film.
Wearing a leather horned headdress, and yellowed contacts, Angelina Jolie was also given a bit of help in the cheek department with the addition of some Lady Gaga-style cheek prosthetics.
Angelina Jolie is certainly in need of regular touch-ups for her latest role and was spotted being pampered on the set of Maleficent in Buckinghamshire
Angelina Jolie plays the title role in the updated version of Disney’s 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty and of her costuming she said: “We’re experimenting with different things. But the horns are the horns – you can’t deny them. You have to have horns.”
In this updated version, the focus of the film centres on the events that hardened Maleficent’s heart, leading her to curse the baby Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), played by Elle Fanning.
Angelina Jolie told EW: “It’s not anti-princess, but it’s the first time they’re looking at this epic woman.
“I hope in the end you see a woman who is capable of being many things, and just because she protects herself and is aggressive, it doesn’t mean she can’t have other [warmer] qualities.”
As a woman who is used to dividing opinion, Angelina Jolie was clearly attracted to taking on such an “imperfect” character.
Angelina Jolie said: “It sounds really crazy to say that there will be something that’s good for young girls in this, because it sounds like you’re saying they should be a villain. [Maleficent] is actually a great person. But she’s not perfect. She’s far from perfect.”
Angelina Jolie was seen taking her family to see musical Wicked based on the novel by Gregory Maguire while in London, which similarly tells the story of the Wicked Witch Of The West before she turns bad.
“In general, it’s a very good message to say, <<Let’s look at something from the other side>>. But then also, what our challenge will be – and the script writer [The Lion King and Alice in Wonderland’s Linda Woolverton] has already cracked it – is not to simplify it, not to just reverse the story but tell a bigger story that doesn’t point the finger [at Princess Aurora] either.”
According to the popular fairytale, Maleficent was angry that she wasn’t invited to the beautiful Princess’s christening, and as a result cursed the infant to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die before the end of her 16th birthday.
Other stars signed up to the film include Miranda Richardson, who will play Queen Ulla, and Juno Temple, as Thistletwit, one of the three fairies tasked with taking care of Aurora in a cottage in the woods – which, going on the set, may now be a tent in a small settlement.
She is joined by Imelda Staunton will play fairy Knotgrass and Lesley Manville who will star as fairy Flittle.
But it is still unclear who will play Prince Philip, Aurora’s love and the man who defeats Maleficent, although as other characters’ names have been changed, it could well be Control star Sam Riley, who is billed to play Diaval.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have made the U.K. their temporary home and have been seen on family outings to the theatre and stores.
Crew member have been busy erecting tepee style tents, stoves over open fires, crumbly brick walls and horse-drawn carts.
And while they work to make the set look perfect for their star, security guards with huge Rottweilers patrol the perimeter.
The film will be directed by Robert Stromberg and is set for release on March 14, 2014.
Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter, will not only look the part at the upcoming London Olympic Games, she will be living like her fellow competitors, too.
Zara Phillips, Princess Anne’s daughter, is to be given no special treatment, it has emerged, staying in the Olympic village and sharing the same security and transport as other athletes.
On Monday, Zara Phillips, 31, told of her excitement at the prospect of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Usain Bolt during her stay.
Zara Phillips, who missed out on two previous Olympics due to injuries to her horse, promised to give her “best performance” in front of a home crowd in London.
Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter, will not only look the part at the upcoming London Olympic Games, she will be living like her fellow competitors, too
She said: “Obviously it will be great to be part of the Olympics and get the atmosphere and the buzz of being a part of it.
“A lot of the time, the equestrian is quite far out so they’ve made a really big effort this time to try and have us part of the Olympics and benefit from that.”
Zara Phillips, who will ride as part of the five-strong eventing team at Greenwich Park, around six miles from the main Olympic park, said Her Majesty had been delighted when she told her that she had made the Olympic team.
The former sports personality of the year missed out on Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 after her then horse, Toytown, suffered late injuries.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed because we’ve still got a few weeks to go and we all know what horses are like,” she said.
Equestrian performance director Will Connell said the eventing team would stay in the Olympic village – and was adamant their royal member would be well protected by the security put in place by Olympics organizers.
Spencer West from Toronto, Canada – who lost his legs when he was just five years old – reached the summit of the 19,341ft high Mt. Kilimanjaro on Monday after a slow, gruelling and awe-inspiring trek.
Spencer West, 31, was born with sacral agenesis, a genetic disorder that left his lower spine poorly developed and his legs permanently crossed.
He had his legs removed below the knees at the age of three and, two-years-later, had them amputated to below his pelvis.
Medical experts told the courageous Canadian he would never be a functioning member of society but he has continued to defy doctors his entire life.
Spencer West trained for a year to scale the tallest peak in Africa without legs and set off on June 12 with best friends David Johnson and Alex Meers.
Spencer West reached the summit of the 19,341ft high Mt. Kilimanjaro on Monday after a slow, gruelling and awe-inspiring trek
The trek to the top took seven days, hiking through Tanzania’s jungles, snowfields and deserts – and Spencer West was forced to make 80% of the journey on his hands, only hopping in a custom-made wheelchair when the terrain allowed.
The trio made it to the final approach on Sunday and rose the following morning for the ascent to Uhuru Peak.
They reached the top at 11.15 a.m. after an exhausting seven hour hike.
Only 50% of people who attempt to scale the mountain make it to the top – and Spencer West described the moment he reached the summit as “incredible”.
He said: “The summit sign seemed almost like a mirage.
“We looked around and realised that, after seven grueling days of relentless climbing, after 20,000 feet of our blood, sweat, tears and vomit we had actually made it.
“The bleeding fingers and blisters were all worth it.”
Spencer West added: “I set out to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro not only to redefine what’s possible for me, but to inspire others to overcome obstacles and challenges of their own, and to give back to communities, that need our help.
“Reaching the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro was the most mentally and physically challenging thing I have ever done, but in doing so, it reinforced the powerful message behind believing in yourself, and believing in others.
“So many people made this journey possible for me and I am so humbled by everyone’s support.”
Spencer West’s incredible feat has raised almost $500,000 for Free The Children, a charity which brings sustainable to thousands of Kenyans experiencing drought.
Heidemarie Schwermer from Germany has lived without money for 16 years following a lifetime of guilt about wealth stemming from her time as a World War Two refugee.
Growing up in Prussia, Heidemarie Schwermer was the daughter of a successful businessman and her family kept a nanny and full-time gardener on their payroll.
But when war struck Europe in 1939 for the second time that century Heidemarie Schwermer and her family became penniless and were forced to flee to Germany.
After years of hardship Heidemarie Schwermer’s father was able to start over with a tobacco company and cash started pouring in again.
But she now found herself at odds with their affluent lifestyle.
“We were well-off but ended up as riff-raff,” Heidemarie Schwermer said.
“We became rich again and we had to defend it. I’ve always had to justify myself, whether we were rich or poor.”
Heidemarie Schwermer from Germany has lived without money for 16 years following a lifetime of guilt about wealth stemming from her time as a World War Two refugee
Heidemarie Schwermer, now 69, worked at a teacher and then a psychotherapist on a good wage. But instead of welcoming the hard-earned cash she yearned for those formative childhood years of struggle and strife.
As a result she became obsessed with finding new ways to live without money, eventually setting up Germany’s first exchange circle in 1994.
Give and Take Central helped people swap simple services like babysitting or house cleaning for tangible goods and Heidemarie Schwermer found she need money less and less.
Eventually when a friend asked the divorced mother-of-two to house-sit for her, Heidemarie Schwermer decided to take the plunge and live without money for one whole year.
She sold everything – including her apartment – saving just a few small items that she packed into a suitcase.
What was only meant to last 12 months became her life for the next 16 years.
“I only wanted to try to do an experiment and in that year, but I noticed a new life,” she told Business Insider.
“I didn’t want to go back to the old life.”
In the beginning Heidemarie Schwermer stayed with old friends but as word of her lifestyle spread she began giving talks on her mission – meeting new hosts on the lecture circuit.
She only accepts train fare for her speaking engagements and rejects any other attempts to pay her.
At first she also did odd jobs around her hosts’ homes, like gardening or window washing, to earn her keep but she says that these days they don’t expect anything in return.
In a documentary made about her life entitled Living Without Money, she’s seen foraging for leftover produce at fresh air markets and trading a shopkeeper a few hours of cleaning services in return for food.
Heidemarie Schwermer often receives clothing from friends, donating what she doesn’t have room for in the small suitcase she carts from home to home.
Anne Hathaway lost a staggering 16 lbs of her already slim frame to take on the role of Fantine in the new movie adaptation of Les Miserables.
In a new interview, Anne Hathaway, 29, has revealed the extents she went to in a bid to shed the pounds.
The actress told Allure magazine that she underwent some “pretty crazy weight stuff” to get in shape for the role, and survived on radishes and hummus alone.
In the interview, completed as Anne Hathaway was shooting Les Miserables, she said: “I’m on day six of detox… this diet makes me break out, so I love that. Nothing like living on hummus and radishes and then be all, <<And I got a pimple. Yeah!>>”
Anne Hathaway lost a staggering 16 lbs of her already slim frame to take on the role of Fantine in the new movie adaptation of Les Miserables
Anne Hathaway added to the magazine that the hardest part was giving up her favorite food, cheese.
She said: “Cheese is amazing… (but) once you’re over the cheese hump, there’s nothing really left.”
As well as losing weight for Les Miserables, Anne hathaway was also under pressure to get into shape to take on the role of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises.
In particular, Anne Hathaway described the pressure of squeezing herself into the character’s famous catsuit as a “psychological terrorist”.
Anne Hathaway said: “The Catwoman suit. It was a psychological terrorist. The suit, thoughts of my suit, changing my life so I would fit into that suit … it dominated my year.”
Europe has taken the final decision regarding Euclid telescope space mission to investigate the “dark universe”.
The Euclid telescope will look deep into the cosmos for clues to the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
These phenomena dominate the Universe, and yet scientists concede they know virtually nothing about them.
European Space Agency (ESA) member states made their decision at a meeting in Paris. Euclid should be ready for launch in 2019.
ESA nations had already selected the telescope as a preferred venture in October last year, but Tuesday’s “adoption” by the Science Programme Committee (SPC) means the financing and the technical wherewithal is now in place to proceed.
The cost to ESA of building, launching and operating Euclid is expected to be just over 600 million Euros ($760 million). Member states will provide Euclid’s visible wavelength camera and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer, taking the likely cost of the whole endeavor beyond 800 million Euros.
The Euclid telescope will look deep into the cosmos for clues to the nature of dark matter and dark energy
The US has been offered, and will accept, a junior role in the mission valued at around 5%. The American space agency (NASA) will pay for this by picking up the tab for the infrared detectors needed on Euclid. A memorandum of understanding to this effect will be signed between the agencies in due course.
“We have negotiated a detailed text with NASA, which both parties consider final, and it is ready for signature,” said Dr. Fabio Favata, Esa’s head of science planning.
“It will mean a small, commensurate number of US scientists will be welcomed into the Euclid Consortium,” he said.
The consortium is the team that will have access to Euclid’s data.
The adoption also will now trigger the release to industry of invitations to tender. Europe’s two big space companies – Astrium and Thales Alenia Space – are certain to bid to build Euclid.
A key task of the telescope will be to map the distribution of dark matter, the matter that cannot be detected directly but which astronomers know to be there because of its gravitational effects on the matter we can see.
Galaxies, for example, could not hold their shape were it not for the presence of some additional “scaffolding”. This is presumed to be dark matter – whatever that is.
Although this material cannot be seen directly, the telescope can plot its distribution by looking for the subtle way its mass distorts the light coming from distant galaxies. Hubble famously did this for a tiny patch on the sky – just two square degrees.
Euclid will do it across 15,000 square degrees of sky – a little over a third of the heavens.
Dark energy represents a very different problem, and is arguably one of the major outstanding issues facing 21st-Century science.
This mysterious force appears to be accelerating the expansion of the Universe. Recognition of its existence and effect in 1998 earned three scientists a Nobel Prize last year.
Euclid will investigate the phenomenon by mapping the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies.
The patterns in the great voids that exist between these objects can be used as a kind of “yardstick” to measure the expansion through time.
Again, ground-based surveys have done this for small volumes of the sky; Euclid however will measure the precise positions of some two billion galaxies out to about 10 billion light-years from Earth.
Euclid was selected as a “medium class” mission, meaning its cost to ESA should be close 475 million Euros. The fact that member states are going 125 million Euros beyond this “guide price” gives an indication of just how highly this mission is regarded.
“ESA have realized this science is so compelling, they just have to do it,” said Prof. Bob Nichol from the University of Portsmouth, UK.
“They’ve got a great design and great team, and bravo to them for getting on with it. Every so often you do things that are revolutionary, and Euclid will be one of those transformational missions.”
Flying Euclid will give Europe an important lead in a key area of astrophysics.
The Americans would dearly love to fly their own version of Euclid, but there is no money in the NASA budget currently to make this happen.
The US agency was recently gifted two Hubble-class spy telescopes by the National Reconnaissance Office, but even with this donation NASA is short of the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to turn one of them into a dark mission.
One key design difference between the US concept and Euclid would be the emphasis the American mission would place on using exploded stars, supernovas, as markers to measure the expansion rate of the Universe.
This was the approach used by the Nobel Prize winners (Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess of the US and Brian Schmidt of Australia). It is not a technique in the primary science of Euclid, but Prof. Bob Nichol said it could be deployed at some stage.
“That option is still there and is still being debated,” he said.
“It could be done at the end of the main mission, if we get an extension. We could also do some supernova work during the mission. If certain parts of the sky that we want to look at are not immediately amenable, we could go look for supernovas.
“I believe we could do a fantastic supernova survey, and the Nobel Prize winners are very much involved in how to build such a programme into Euclid. They’re brilliant scientists and it would be awesome to have them on board.”
The instrument will produce pictures of the sky more than 100 times larger than Hubble can. This will minimise the amount of “stitching” of images required to build Euclid’s maps, making it easier to trace some of the subtle effects astronomers are trying to detect.
Chinese political activist and artist Ai Weiwei says police have prevented him from leaving his Beijing studio to attend a court hearing on his tax evasion case.
Ai Weiwei said that a number of police cars arrived at his studio and an employee filming the vehicles was roughed up.
Tax authorities imposed a $2.4 million fine on Ai Weiwei’s firm for tax evasion in 2011.
Supporters say the fine is politically motivated.
The Chinese authorities maintain that the firm, called Fake Cultural Development, owes them money and it must be paid back.
Ai Weiwei said that a number of police cars arrived at his studio and an employee filming the vehicles was roughed up
While Ai Weiwei is a designer for Fake Cultural Development, his wife is the legal representative of his company. She is believed to be attending the hearing in Beijing.
Ai Weiwei, 54, said on Twitter that the police had destroyed the camera of one of his employees. There were also photos showing injuries that his employee suffered after being roughed up by police.
The artist, a outspoken critic of the government, was detained for almost three months without charge last year. After he was released, he was accused of tax evasion and the fine imposed.
Ai Weiwei has said that the tax bill is pay-back for his activism. He challenged the fine in court, saying proper procedure was not followed.
A Beijing court then agreed to hear the case, a move that caught him by surprise.
Scientists have unraveled the mystery of the elephant’s long pregnancy.
A quirk of biology allows the unborn calf to develop in the womb for almost two years (22 months), giving it the brain power it needs to survive from birth.
The research, detailed in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, will help elephant breeding programmes in zoos.
It may also lead to the development of a contraceptive to control wild populations of elephants in Africa.
Dr. Imke Lueders, of the Liebniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany, said: “It is very important to study the reproduction of elephants.
“The increased knowledge that we gained through this research can help in the future with elephant breeding management because we have an idea of how the pregnancy is maintained.”
A quirk of biology allows the unborn calf to develop in the womb for almost two years (22 months), giving it the brain power it needs to survive from birth
Elephants are highly sociable mammals with a high level of intelligence similar to that of great apes and dolphins.
They have the longest-known gestational period of any animal, lasting up to 680 days.
Elephants are born with an advanced level of brain development, which they use to recognize the complex social structure of the herd and to feed themselves with their dextrous trunks.
Until now, the biological processes behind the mammal’s marathon pregnancy has not been fully understood.
But the advent of advanced ultrasound methods has given veterinary scientists a new tool to monitor elephant pregnancies in more detail, as they seek to improve breeding programmes in zoos, including elephant IVF.
Seventeen African and Asian elephants at zoos in the UK, Canada, US, Australia and Germany, including ZSL Whipsnade and Twycross Zoo, were examined in the study.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows the elephant has a unique cycle of ovulation.
Dr. Imke Lueders said the extended pregnancy was “due to a novel hormonal mechanism, which has not been described in any other species of animal”.
Ovulation is triggered by two surges of the reproductive hormone LH (luteinising hormone), while the pregnancy is maintained by hormones secreted by several ovarian bodies known as corpus lutea.
The knowledge will help conservation efforts to help elephants in the wild, as well as in zoos.
Dr. Dennis Schmitt is Director of Research and Conservation at the Centre for Elephant Conservation, set up to safe-guard the future of the Asian elephant.
Commenting on the study, he said: “Not only is the long gestation of elephants unusual (22 months), but the long birth interval (4-5 years between calves) along with a long interval between generations of elephants (average approximately 20 plus years), complicates efforts to manage declining populations of free ranging endangered elephants.”
The research may also help scientists develop a contraceptive for elephants. While some species of elephant are endangered, other populations have grown, leading some to advocate controlling numbers by contraception or, more controversially, culling.
French police say four people have been taken hostage in CIC bank in the city of Toulouse by a man claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda.
The man fired a shot and demanded to speak to the elite police unit which shot Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah.
Mohamed Merah, who claimed to have al-Qaeda training, killed seven people in Toulouse in March before he was shot dead by police.
The director of the bank, a branch of CIC, is said to be among the hostages.
French police say four people have been taken hostage in CIC bank in the city of Toulouse by a man claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda
The regional newspaper Ouest-France says the area around the bank has been sealed off by the security forces.
“We do not know if his claim about al-Qaeda is serious or a fantasy,” a police union source told Ouest-France.
The bank is 100 metres (330 ft) from Mohamed Merah’s flat.
Mohamed Merah, a Frenchman of Algerian descent, killed seven people in three separate attacks. His victims included three children and a teacher at a Jewish school, and three soldiers.
He was shot dead by a police sniper on 22 March after commandos stormed his flat.
In the wake of the shootings, the French authorities set up an investigation into whether Mohamed Merah had accomplices and into possible Islamist indoctrination practices in prisons.
Mary-Kate Olsen and her new boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy enjoyed a day out in New York with his young daughter last Thursday.
As Mary-Kate Olsen, 26 smoked cigarettes, the half brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, placed his arms around his two girls who appear to be the same height.
The daughter, whose name and age are unknown, is the child of the investment banker’s former wife Charlotte Bernard, whom he divorced in 2010.
As they strolled through New York’s trendy West Village neighborhood together, Mary-Kate Olsen chatted to the young brunette girl who seemed at ease in her company.
Mary-Kate Olsen kept her sunglasses on during the day and even into the evening before the group went for dinner in the West Village.
During dinner, she was spotted indulging in another cigarette as she sat on the footpath outside the restaurant.
Mary-Kate Olsen and her new boyfriend Olivier Sarkozy enjoyed a day out in New York with his young daughter last Thursday
Olivier Sarkozy, 42, was also spotted smoking a cigarette as he clung onto his daughter’s hand and kept his other arm on Mary-Kate Olsen’s shoulder.
Charlotte Bernard is not likely to be impressed by the outing as she spoke out about her disapproval over her ex-husband’s new relationship earlier this month.
Branding their union as “grotesque”, Charlotte Bernanrd told the National Enquirer that it was also “not right”.
An insider also told the National Enquirer: “Charlotte certainly won’t want her kids to be around Mary-Kate, who has a history of wild-partying and booze binges.”
Charlotte Bernard and Olivier Sarkozy also have a son together.
His name is unknown also however both children are said to attend one of New York’s most prestigious schools.
Mary Kate Olsen is 17 years her boyfriend’s junior but they are said to be “head over heels” after being spotted cuddling up to each other at Madison Square Gardens on April 25.
Charlotte Bernard – a children’s book author – married Olivier Sarkozy in 1997 and divorced him around 13 years later.
Olivier Sarkozy has previously been linked to actress Stella Schabnel, 29.
When the unlikely new couple was first snapped at the New York Knicks game at the end of April, he was seen stroking Mary-Kate Olsen’s hair and whispering in her ear.
They are also said to have enjoyed a break together in the Hamptons recently.
Talks between three Greek parties on forming a new coalition government are set to resume on Wednesday, amid intense international pressure.
New Democracy, the conservative winner of Sunday’s election, is expected to lead the new government.
Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said a government could be formed by midday on Wednesday.
New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras’s three-day mandate to form a government expires on Wednesday.
It is unclear whether Pasok, which came third in the vote, will join the government, or merely support it.
The third party is Democratic Left. Between them, the three parties would have a majority of 29 seats in parliament.
They all favor keeping Greece in the euro while wanting to renegotiate terms of its EU-IMF bailouts, although they differ on the extent.
However, European leaders have indicated that there is limited room for manoeuvre and are expecting details on how the new government intends to make another 11.7 billion Euros ($14.8 billion) of cuts by 2014.
New Democracy won 129 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament on Sunday, followed by the radical anti-bailout party, Syriza, with 71, Pasok with 33 and the Democratic Left with 17.
New Democracy won 129 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament on Sunday, followed by the radical anti-bailout party, Syriza, with 71, Pasok with 33 and the Democratic Left with 17
World powers have urged Greece to move swiftly to form a government.
Speaking after talks between the three parties in parliament on Tuesday, Eavngelos Venizelos said a government “must be formed as soon as possible”.
He said his party would support the government “wholeheartedly”, but had not yet decided what form its participation would take.
If Antonis Samaras fails to form a government by the deadline on Wednesday, Syriza would be given a chance, followed by Pasok.
But Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has said he will not even attempt to do so. He has also refused to join a government led by New Democracy.
Two international bailouts have been awarded to Greece, an initial package worth 110 billion Euros ($138 billion) in 2010, then a follow-up last year worth 130 billion Euros ($164 billion), but they come with tough austerity measures attached.
Greece has also had 107 billion Euros ($135 billion) of debt, held by private investors, written off.
Bailout deal – Greek pledges
• Cut 15,000 state sector jobs this year – aiming for 150,000 to be cut by 2015
• Cut minimum wage by 22%, to about 600 Euros a month
• Pension cut worth 300 million Euros this year
• Spending cuts of more than 3 billion Euros this year
• Liberalize labor laws to make hiring and firing easier
• Boost tax collection
• Carry out privatizations worth 15 billion Euros by 2015
• Open up more professions to competition (health, tourism and real estate)
• Greece aims to cut its debt burden to 116% of GDP by 2020
Sina Weibo, China’s biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, is introducing a membership charge for premium features.
For a monthly fee of 10 yuan ($1.57) its 300 million users can add personalized pages, voice posts and better security, among other services.
The move could help return the firm to profit. It posted a $13.7 million loss for its first quarter in May.
One analyst called it a “bold move”, adding Twitter was unlikely to follow.
Sina Weibo is introducing a total of 15 added VIP features, according to the Tech in Asia blog.
It said the move built on other recent innovations added to the platform including social games and a virtual currency called Weibi.
One Beijing-based business consultant noted the decision to charge fees had followed government pressure on the business to boost efforts to filter out illegal posts by some of its members, increasing its costs.
Sina Weibo, China's biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, is introducing a membership charge for premium features
“Weibo has become an indispensable tool to Chinese netizens, although some argue of late that it has become less compelling due to the restrictions,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA.
“But for Sina of course ultimately its aim is not to run the service as a charity.
“This could be a tricky situation – if they push too far to monetize they could tarnish their brand, but if they don’t succeed in converting all this traffic to commercial value then it’s ultimately unsustainable in the long term.”
While the move may prove a success for the Chinese firm, independent media analyst Mark Mulligan suggested it would be a mistake for western social networks to follow at this point.
“It’s a very brave move, and I do not think it is likely that Twitter would follow a similar route, certainly not at this stage,” he said.
“In order to start charging for something that people expect to be free, a company has to be very confident of its market position.
“Any social tool faces competition – Facebook has done a lot trying to emulate microblogging with its timeline features. If Twitter tried to [introduce fees], Facebook would capitalise on that and try to implement a much richer set of services entirely free.”
He added that the dynamics were different in China and Sina Weibo might not be afraid of competition since other domestic web giants, such as Tencent and Renren, had also introduced membership fees for some add-on services.
A spokeswoman for Twitter said the firm did not comment on other companies, adding that its business model remained based on advertising.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is critically ill and may be close to death, reports from Cairo suggest.
Hosni Mubarak is said to have had a stroke and was moved from prison to an army hospital, where he is on life support. Initial reports said he was “clinically dead”.
It comes amid protests over disputed presidential election results and new powers for the ruling military.
Hosni Mubarak, 84, was ousted in last year’s uprising, and jailed for life for his role in the death of protesters.
There have been frequent reports since then that his health has deteriorated, many of which have proved wrong.
Through the night, supporters and opponents gathered outside the Maadi military hospital, where the former president is being treated.
Reports that he was clinically dead have been categorically denied by the ruling military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested in Cairo’s Tahrir Square against a move by the SCAF to assume new powers.
The rally was called by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is also claiming victory for its candidate Mohammed Mursi in last weekend’s presidential elections.
His rival Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under Mubarak, has also said he has won.
Results are expected to be announced on Thursday.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is critically ill and may be close to death
The Muslim Brotherhood has also vowed to retry Hosni Mubarak once in power, and insists that he should face the death penalty.
As Egyptians voted, the generals dissolved parliament and claimed all legislative power for themselves.
Activists have described the moves as a “military coup”.
On Tuesday, Hosni Mubarak – who ruled Egypt for 30 years – was transferred by helicopter to intensive care at the Maadi armed forces hospital after suffering a stroke, state media said.
Correspondents say the hospital is better equipped to deal with such conditions than the prison hospital where he was being treated.
The former leader is now said to be unconscious and on life support.
Doctors are said to have used a defibrillator on him several times. The device delivers an electric shock to the heart to try to re-establish a normal heartbeat.
There are lots of police officers currently deployed outside the hospital.
There are also small groups of people – both Mubarak’s supporters and protesters against him – who have gathered outside the building, our correspondent says.
One woman, a supporter, was almost shaking with emotion and saying “I love him”.
Another supporter, a man, stood holding a poster of Hosni Mubarak.
“He is my father. I love him more than my father. The Muslim Brotherhood are criminals. They have destroyed our country. Mubarak kept us in peace for 30 years,” he said.
A group of anti-Mubarak young men responded by shouting: “We are poor, and he did nothing for us. His family ate meat and we were starving.”
“I’m ready to hammer his grave with my shoe,” another protester added.
Egyptians will be very skeptical about any reports about the former president’s health.
Before Hosni Mubarak’s trial began, his lawyer said he was in a coma, only for the former president to appear – alive and conscious, if not particularly well – in court.
Now there will be fears that the state of Mubarak’s health could be used as a distraction, as Egypt waits for the result of the hotly disputed presidential election.
However, the latest reports are better sourced than any before.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador’s London embassy, the country’s foreign minister has said.
“Ecuador is studying and analyzing the request,” Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters in Quito.
On 14 June, Britain’s Supreme Court dismissed Julian Assange’s bid to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes.
He has denied the allegations, saying they are politically motivated.
The Supreme Court has given him until 28 June before extradition proceedings can start.
Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former Wikileaks volunteers in mid-2010 but have not filed any charges.
Julian Assange, whose Wikileaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, claims the sex was consensual.
Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy
In a statement, Ecuador’s embassy said he had arrived there on Tuesday afternoon to seek asylum.
“As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito,” it said.
“While the department assesses Mr. Assange’s application, Mr. Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorean government.”
It said the decision to consider the bid for asylum “should in no way be interpreted as the government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden.”
Julian Assange issued a statement, saying he was “grateful to the Ecuadorean ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application”.
Associated Press quoted Ricardo Patino as telling reporters Julian Assange had written to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa saying he was being persecuted.
Ricardo Patino said that the Australian had claimed “the authorities in his country will not defend his minimum guarantees in front of any government”.
Julian Assange said he would not be protected from being extradited to “a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition,” Ricardo Patino said.
The anti-secrecy campaigner fears extradition to Sweden may lead to him being sent to the US to face separate charges relating to Wikileaks, for which he could face the death penalty.
But Swedish authorities have said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would intervene if Julian Assange was to face the prospect of “inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial” in the US.
Julian Assange could still take his case against extradition to the ECHR and has until 28 June to make the move.
Vaughan Smith, a friend who put Julian Assange up at his Norfolk home until December 2011, said he understood why he was seeking asylum.
“There’s been an organized campaign to undermine him in recent months in Britain,” Vaughan Smith said.
“And he believed he would not get justice in Sweden.”
Wikileaks has posted an alert on its Twitter feed: “ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London.”
It said Ecuador had offered asylum as early as November 2010.
Ecuador’s deputy foreign minister said in 2010 his country was offering Julian Assange residency because it wanted to give him the opportunity to freely present the information he had.
However, President Rafael Correa subsequently dismissed the idea, which he said neither he nor Ricardo Patino had approved.
Thousands of people are gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to protest against a decision by the ruling military council to assume new powers.
The protests have been called by the Muslim Brotherhood, as it claims its candidate Mohammed Mursi won last weekend’s presidential election.
His rival, former PM Ahmed Shafiq, also says he has won.
As Egyptians voted, the generals dissolved parliament and claimed all legislative power for themselves.
Correspondents say the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) appears to be working on the assumption that Mohammed Mursi will win, and making moves designed to reduce or constrain the power of the president and entrench its own.
Activists have described the moves as a “military coup”.
Demonstrators have been chanting slogans against the military council, in the same square where huge protests last year led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.
Thousands of people are gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against a decision by the ruling military council to assume new powers
Youth activists and liberals, many of whom refused to take part in the election run-off, are also involved in the protests.
“[The election is] not totally stolen, but they have put some obstacles to fully transfer the power of the revolution and the voice of the street, and the voice of the critical mass to rule the country,” said one protester.
There are plenty of Egyptians who seem to be reconciled to the prospect of the military continuing to exercise power because they fear that otherwise the Muslim Brotherhood might turn their secular society into something resembling the theocracy of Iran.
Earlier the Muslim Brotherhood claimed victory in the election.
A spokesman for its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) announced its chairman, Mohammed Mursi, had received 51.74%, compared with former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who he said had 48.26%.
The Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) is scheduled to announce the official results on Thursday, but it usually shares them with the candidates beforehand to give them a chance to make objections.
The results tally with what Egyptian media and independent observers have been reporting, and the FJP’s own calculations, which it released on Monday.
However, Ahmed Shafiq’s campaign vigorously denied its candidate had lost.
In a news conference shown on Egyptian television, representatives of Ahmed Shafiq’s campaign said the papers that Mohammed Mursi’s campaign referred to did not come officially from the HPEC, and insisted that Shafiq was ahead in the tally.
“We are willing to do whatever necessary at a legal level to prove he’s the next president,” Ahmed Shafiq campaign spokesman Karim Salem said.
Voting over the weekend to choose a successor to Hosni Mubarak, who was forced to step down by last year’s uprising, was overshadowed by two SCAF decrees.
The first ordered the immediate dissolution of parliament following Thursday’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruling that the law governing the recent elections for the lower house was unconstitutional because party members had been allowed to contest seats in the lower house reserved for independents.
Troops were deployed outside the parliament building before the decree was issued on Saturday to prevent MPs gaining access. The FJP and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour party dominate both chambers.
The second decree, which was published after the polls closed on Sunday, amended the March 2011 constitutional declaration and gave the generals complete control over legislation and military affairs until fresh parliamentary elections are held.
The SCAF will also play a significant role in running the 100-member assembly that will draft the country’s new constitution.
The new president – who will take office without the oversight of a parliament and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties – will be able to form and dismiss a government, ratify and reject laws, and declare war, but only with SCAF’s approval.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have officially announced their split after nearly 14 years together.
Johnny Depp’s publicist announced this afternoon that the couple had “amicably separated” and added: “Please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children.”
Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp, who have two children, Lily-Rose, 13, and nine-year-old Jack, haven’t been seen at a public event together since 2010 but recently denied the split rumors which have been circulating since January.
Their relationship has said to have been in trouble for several months and recent rumors linked Johnny Depp to his bisexual co-star Amber Heard.
But news of the split comes just a month after it was claimed the couple were “working on” getting their relationship back on track.
A source said recently: “For the first time in a long time, he is talking about her. They both want to make it work.”
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have officially announced their split after nearly 14 years together
Johnny Depp recently blasted untrue speculation about his relationship being over and said: “The rumors are not true. They are absolutely not true.
“No matter what I say about this, people believe the opposite. I can’t say enough about it not being over.”
But recently, rumors have circulated about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the bisexual actress he starred with in The Rum Diaries.
A number of publications carried pictures and reports that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard enjoyed a trip together to Las Vegas on a private plane as he was in town promoting Dark Shadows.
But Vanessa Paradis was nowhere to be seen and didn’t accompany him on any of his promotional duties for the film.
Last month they continued to deny that their relationship was on the rocks, but Vanessa Paradis was snapped walking round Los Angeles looking rather glum and hiding under a big hat.
Last week she scowled at photographers as she flew out of Los Angeles under another huge hat as she jetted to France for the Cabourg Film Festival.
And ever the professional, three days later she flashed her sexy gap-toothed smile as she joined her co-stars for the photocall for her new movie Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit (I Was Made Very Small).
And throughout the day she did not shy away from meeting people and was happy to sign items for fans, even though the announcement of her split from Johnny Depp was imminent.
Johnny Depp, 48, and Vanessa Paradis, 39, got together in 1998 when they met in the Costes Hotel in Paris while he was filming the Roman Polanski film The Ninth Gate.
He had had a high-profile engagement to Winona Ryder and a long-term relationship with Kate Moss and she had just come out of a relationship with French-Slovenian actor Stanislas Merhar, having been reportedly previously engaged to singer Lenny Kravitz.
A year after they got together, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’s first child, daughter Lily-Rose Melody was born followed by their son John “Jack” Christopher in 2002.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis never married but he recently stated that having children cemented roots for him and added that they gave him “real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything”.
Yasser Lopez, a teenager from Florida, has miraculously survived after a spear was shot through his brain, doctors say.
Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month.
Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3 ft (90 cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head.
He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation.
Yasser Lopez, a teenager from Florida, has miraculously survived after a spear was shot through his brain, doctors say
Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became “agitated”.
After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner.
Doctors said the teenager has no memory of the freak accident.
He was shot with the projectile as he swam in a lake near his Miami area home on 8 June when his friend set off the trigger of a spear gun he was loading.
While medics are not sure of the extent of the damage to his memory and other parts of the brain, they say his condition could have been much worse.
“It’s a miracle the spear missed all the main blood vessels of the brain,” neurosurgeon Ross Bullock told reporters.
Also helpful, doctors say, was the foreign object’s trajectory into the right side of the brain, Yasser Lopez’s non-dominant lobe, missing the parts responsible for speech and other important functions.
The original sketches for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney’s earliest characters, have been animated 85 years after they were drawn.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created in 1927, a year before Mickey Mouse was born, and the rabbit starred in 26 cartoons in the 1920s and 30s.
Archivists have used dozens of drawings from Disney’s personal sketchbook to create a new Oswald cartoon.
Harem Scarem was unveiled at Disney’s D23 fan event and can be seen online.
Walt Disney and long-time collaborator Ub Iwerks created the rabbit while working at Universal before he set up his own empire.
Oswald’s oversized ears, big eyes and shorts bear a striking similarity to Disney’s next creation, Mickey Mouse, who was inspired by a mouse who would visit his drawing board.
The original sketches for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Walt Disney's earliest characters, have been animated 85 years after they were drawn
However, Disney had to relinquish control of the character when he left Universal, aged 27.
In 2006, Disney chief executive Bob Iger and NBC Universal struck a deal to see ownership of Oswald return to the company. He has already featured in video game Epic Mickey, and is thought to have a starring role in the game’s forthcoming sequel.
“Walt would be so excited about having Oswald back,” Disney archives director Becky Cline told Yahoo News.
“And for a Disney fan, to get the character back in the fold, is really exciting. To see something they’ve never seen before.”
The new 90-second animation does not alter the original sketches, but sees them placed in order to create a basic animating effect.
Disney has just announced plans to update the tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for a new TV animation.
Aimed at young children, The 7D will premiere on Disney Junior in 2014 after a successful pilot.
The reinterpretation sets the classic tale in a world known as Jollywood, where the dwarves help Queen Delightful keep the kingdom in order and battle villains called Grim and Hildy Groom.
Demi Moore has apparently hit it off with a new man – True Blood star Joe Manganiello.
According to reports, Demi Moore, 49, and Joe Manganiello, 35, were spotted enjoying each other’s company at the after-party following the premiere of the actor’s new movie That’s My Boy at Los Angeles’ Napa Valley Grille earlier this month.
A source told heat magazine: “They looked amazing together. Demi was getting a lot more attention than a lot of the younger girls in the room, and Joe was seen waiting for her before they went off and hung out together at the party. They had amazing chemistry.”
The pair first met when they both signed up to appear in the movie Magic Mike, in which Joe Manganiello stars as stripper Big Dick Richie.
And despite Demi Moore pulling out of the film following her breakdown, the pair have reportedly kept in touch.
Demi Moore and Joe Manganiello were spotted enjoying each other’s company at the after-party following the premiere of the actor's new movie That's My Boy in Los Angeles earlier this month
The source added: “Demi has finally got her groove back – and it’s all thanks to meeting Joe. She’s feeling confident again and, more importantly, sexy.”
However, it remains to be seen what Demi Moore’s ex Ashton Kutcher makes of her new relationship, as he actually starred alongside Joe Manganiello in an episode of sitcom Two And A Half Men last year.
Meanwhile, it has also been claimed that Demi Moore has gained nearly a stone after sticking to a new healthy eating regime.
The actress had sparked concern with her worryingly thin frame when she dropped to less than seven stone ahead of being admitted to rehab.
Now Demi Moore, who was spotted at her daughter Tallulah’s graduation on June 7th, is looking much healthier after adopting a new eating plan.
An insider told heat: “Back then Demi was basically living on Red Bull but now she’s eating balanced meals that include protein, complex carbs and organic vegetables.
“She’s also been swimming and doing yoga every day and has gained just over a stone.”
Terminator 3 star Nick Stahl went missing back in May before entering a rehabilitation facility to address drug and alcohol addiction.
And it seems that Nick Stahl has once again vanished after checking himself out.
Nick Stahl, 32, who played John Conner in the 2003 action hit, has reportedly left rehab, “against doctors advice” according to E! News.
According to the website, Nick Stahl left the facility a week ago and now his loved ones, including his estranged wife Rose Murphy Stahl, have no idea where he is.
“He’s been missing for four days,” Rose Murphy told E! News.
“But I don’t want to comment any further.”
Nick Stahl checked himself out of the undisclosed rehab facility last weekend, then reportedly went to stay with a friend.
He was later spotted in downtown Los Angeles, where he has often been seen in the notorious Skid Row area.
Following the sighting, Nick Stahl apparently returned to the friend’s home, however he has not been seen since leaving the property last Thursday night.
Nick Stahl went missing after checking himself out from a rehabilitation facility
Once again Nick Stahl has left friends and family members panicked by not telling anyone of his whereabouts and a full search party has ensued.
“Now he’s disappeared. We can’t find him anywhere. He has not made contact with anyone. We are all just desperately looking for him,” a source told E! News.
“Everyone just wants him to come home. It’s a terrible situation. We are searching, but we’ve had no solid leads.”
The disappearing act comes after the star left his wife Rose and loved ones frantic when he first went missing in early May.
He later then reportedly told his wife he has checked into rehab as well as emailing his friends to tell them he was alive.
At the time Rose Murphy Stahl told TMZ she had spoken to the actor – very briefly – and he told her he checked into rehab.
She said she checked with the facility to make sure he was still there and they confirmed that he was.
Nick Stahl’s wife also told the website that she wasn’t considering divorce and was just relieved that she could tell the couple’s two-year-old daughter Marlo that her “daddy is safe”.
She also said she intended to visit her husband in rehab for however long he needed to stay.
Nick Stahl had apologized for the raising fears about his safety, and pledged to stick out a period in rehab to get his drug and alcohol issues under control.
According to TMZ, his friends and family were hopeful he would live up to his word, though at the time they were skeptical.
Nick Stahl and Rose Murphy are currently estranged.
In February she attended court to seek a ban against the actor seeing their daughter Marlo if he failed a drug test.
In May, when Nick Stahl went missing, she spoke out in the media voicing her fears that he was dead.
She said she feared he may have lost his battle with substance abuse and overdosed.
Rose Murphy Stahl told People magazine: “He could have overdosed, that’s one thought.
“And I’m wondering if there will be a body recovered.”
Rose Murphy Stahl first reported her husband as a missing person on May 14, and it came after the pair suffered a number of domestic problems.
In court documents she claimed Nick Stahl was abusing drugs and said she was afraid for their daughter’s safety.
She demanded that his visitation with Marlo be limited to just 8 hours a week and that all visits be supervised.
She also wanted Nick Stahl to prove he wasn’t abusing drugs around their child, asking that he present “proof of a negative result for a test for drugs and alcohol within the 24 hours prior to his scheduled visitation time”.
She claimed they both were happy to file the legal paperwork in early February to motivate him to get better, and he had been living away with a male friend since that time.
Rose, full name Roseann, also said she does not consider the two of them separated or estranged.
She said: “That was an adult, loving decision that we made to try to inspire his recovery and maybe even scare him away from relapse.”
Sources said Nick Stahl had been frequenting Los Angeles’s notorious Skid Row area.
Before he took on the task of becoming John Connor in 2003’s Terminator sequel, Nick Stahl appeared in The Man Without A Face with Mel Gibson, Disturbing Behavior, and The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards.
Nick Stahl also appeared in the short-lived HBO cult hit series Carnivale.
The actor was arrested earlier this year on charges that he did not pay a taxi driver, after he allegedly could not cough up an $84 fare.
Nick Stahl spent an entire day in jail following his crime, so his $50 fine was suspended.
The latest secret to Jennifer Aniston’s perfect body has been revealed.
Jennifer Aniston, 43, is said to be an ardent fan of a new $8 “wonder” smoothie – and drinks nothing else on one day every week.
A source told Grazia magazine: “The drink is made up of fresh, organic vegetables. Beetroot, cucumbers, spinach, garlic, carrots, celery and kale.”
According to the source, Jennifer Aniston drinks the super healthy concoction one day a week, usually on a Saturday.
Nutritionist Jeannette Jackson said the smoothie can have amazing and cleansing health benefits.
“The alkaline vegetables prevent bloating, help ease water retention and even mood swings.
“Beetroot helps clean the blood of toxins, celery and carrots boost potassium and sodium levels, and kale and parsley offer immense benefits to the brain, so you’ll feel less stressed. The drink is filling so should be easy to do for one day a week, but make sure it’s part of a healthy balanced diet,” she said.
Rumors are rife that Jennifer Aniston’s new smoothie diet is forming part of the preparations for a wedding after onlookers spotted her and boyfriend Justin Theroux looking loved-up in Paris last week.
Jennifer Aniston drinks the super healthy concoction one day a week, usually on a Saturday
Make Jennifer Aniston’s smoothie at home
You’ll need:
• Six organic cucumbers
• Three large organic beets
• Two bunches spinach
• One bunch organic kale
• Fresh garlic and ginger
• One bunch organic carrots
• A stick of celery
Pulp all the vegetables together in a juicer. Add a little cayenne pepper or a herb such as parsley, to make the juice blend taste like a vegetable soup.
Immediately refrigerate the juice in a glass (no plastic jugs).
Drink as much as you want, all day, for one day a week.
