An amazing picture of the aurora borealis – the Northern Lights – shows how the phenomenon can light up the sky near the North Pole.
This weekend was set to be a bumper time for viewing the extraordinary apparition, thanks to unusual solar activity.
This picture was taken above Yellowknife, a city in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
The image was published as part of the AuroraMAX project, an initiative by the Canadian Space Agency which aims to help the public experience the wonder of the Northern Lights.
AuroraMAX project has been timed to coincide with the next solar maximum, the period when solar activity reaches an 11-year high, forecast to come in February 2013.
An amazing picture of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - shows how the phenomenon can light up the sky near the North Pole
The solar maximum causes an increase in the number of sunspots and in the geomagnetic activity which causes the aurora borealis and its South Pole equivalent, the aurora australis.
A short-term version of the same effect is set to occur on Sunday afternoon, when a blast of solar activity reaches the earth.
On Thursday astronomers noticed a coronal mass ejection, a burst of electrically charged particles thrown out by the sun.
Three days later, the storm will pass close to the earth, causing an upturn in the prevalence and extent of the aurorae.
In the past, similar incidents have caused the Northern Lights to be visible as far south as Virginia and Arkansas.
Co-pilot Segei Golev, who was onboard the UTair Boeing 757 flying from Bangkok to Novosibirsk in western Siberia, died from a heart attack, transportation prosecutors said Friday.
Sergei Golev, 44, suffered the attack in the cockpit and died despite all attempts at resuscitation – even a cardiologist, who was among passengers on the flight, failed to revive him.
Fortunately the 239 passengers onboard the UTair Boeing 757 landed safely in Novosibirsk despite Sergei Golev’s death.
The captain attempted an emergency landing in the Chinese city of Chengdu, but abandoned it because Sergei Golev died before the jet touched down.
Senior investigator Anastasia Utochkina told Life News: “The co-pilot died at 12:25 a.m., Novosibirsk Time (5:25 p.m. GMT), three hours after takeoff.
“The captain made a decision to descend, while the crew called over the tannoy for a female physician who happened to be among the passengers.
“However, her attempts to revive the man, who was lying on the cockpit floor, failed.”
Co-pilot Segei Golev, who was onboard the UTair Boeing 757 flying from Bangkok to Novosibirsk in western Siberia, died from a heart attack
Airport officials insist that the co-pilot was merely traveling as a passenger and in no way and at no point was in control of the aircraft.
Irina Levit, a press officer at Novosibirsk airport: “The deceased pilot was traveling as an ordinary passenger.
“The aircraft belongs to UTair airline, where Sergey Golev was employed. There was no threat to passengers.”
Sergei Golev was a crew member – a reserve pilot, tasked, ironically, with replacing a crew member in case they fall ill.
The Investigation Department of Russia’s transport authority has launched an inquiry into the case in an effort to uncover the cause of the incident.
The death toll of Costa Concordia disaster is raised to twelve after the body of a woman has been found on board of the Italian cruise ship.
The woman, who was wearing a life jacket, was found by divers on the fourth deck of the Costa Concordia.
Twenty people are still missing after the ship, with 4,200 people on board, struck a rock in shallow waters on 13 January off Tuscany’s Giglio island.
Costa Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, is being investigated for manslaughter, which he denies.
The death toll of Costa Concordia disaster is raised to twelve after the body of a woman has been found on board of the Italian cruise ship
An unnamed police official said the woman’s body was found at around 13:30 local time (12:30 GMT) and was taken to the mainland.
“They will have to rely on DNA tests now to identify the victim after a week in the water,” he told AFP news agency.
Coastguard and navy divers resumed their search on Saturday, blasting their way into submerged areas of the vessel using explosives in an effort to find those unaccounted for.
Coast Guard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro said the body was found during a particularly risky search of an evacuation meeting point near the rear of the ship.
“The corridor was very narrow, and the divers’ lines risked snagging” on objects in the passageway, Cosimo Nicastro said.
Rescue officials on Saturday said they would not end the search until the whole ship had been examined.
One official says swift action needs to be taken to remove the fuel that is on board. An Italian naval vessel is on standby as a precaution should there be an oil leak.
The operator of the Costa Concordia is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US, it emerged on Friday.
Italy’s consumer association Codacons and two US law firms said they would file the suit against Costa Cruises on behalf of the passengers.
They want at least $160,000 for each passenger on the ship.
Captain Francesco Schettino is under house arrest, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated.
Prosecutors say Francesco Schettino was sailing too close to Giglio on an unauthorized course in order to perform a “salute” – a greeting to islanders.
Sasha, a five-year-old boy from UK, has been raised by his parents, who kept his gender secret, as a “gender neutral” child.
From the moment Sasha was born, Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper have been at pains not to lumber their son with the stereotyping they fear that gender brings.
The parents simply called him “the infant” and kept his gender a secret from all but a few close friends and relatives.
As Sasha grew older, he was encouraged to play with dolls as much as Lego, slept in a neutral yellow room and was allowed to wear both boys’ and girls’ clothes.
Now, Sasha is five and at school Beck Laxton, 46, and Kieran Cooper, 44, believe it will be almost impossible to keep it up.
Last year parents in Canada who refused to say whether their child was a boy or girl stirred up outrage and accusations they were turning their child into a freak.
Sasha’s parents, who have faced their own share of raised eyebrows, are thought to be among the first British parents to speak about this far-from-traditional method of raising a child. They are keen to highlight the issue publicly and get other parents talking about it.
“I wanted to avoid all that stereotyping,” Beck Laxton explained.
“Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?
“Gender affects what children wear and what they can play with, and that shapes the kind of person they become. I start to get cross with it if it skews their potential.”
As Sasha grew older, he was encouraged to play with dolls as much as Lego, slept in a neutral yellow room and was allowed to wear both boys’ and girls’ clothes
The process began even before Sasha was born, with his parents choosing not to be told their baby’s sex after scans during the pregnancy. It wasn’t because they wanted to be a surprise, they just wanted to avoid the inevitable expectations of what having a boy or girl meant.
After Sasha was born, they waited 30 minutes before asking midwives his sex because they “did not want to prejudice his life with gender”. They gave him a name that suited both boys and girls and referred to him as “the infant” rather than a son or daughter.
It is only now that Sasha has started primary school that the secret has become impossible to keep and they have started telling the wider world that the child is a boy.
Beck Laxton, a web designer from Sawston, Cambridgeshire, admitted that keeping her child’s gender under wraps for so long had not been easy. At her mother and baby group, she said she was regarded as “that loony woman who doesn’t know whether her baby is a boy or a girl”.
“I could never persuade anyone in the group to come round for coffee,” she said.
“They just thought I was mental.”
At school, Sasha sometimes wears a ruched-sleeved and scalloped-collared shirt from the girl’s uniform list. But he has yet to encounter any teasing or bullying. “Nobody’s ever mentioned it and I would hope that if they actually said something to Sasha, he’d be confident enough to make a good response,” his mother said.
Sasha’s father, a computer software designer, said the child is aware he is a boy and has been allowed to grow up taking an interest in whatever he wants.
“If Sasha wants to dress up in girls’ clothes then so be it,” Kieran Cooper said. “But we’re not forcing it.
“The girl’s clothes and fancy dress are for fun at home. We don’t make Sasha go out in girl’s clothes.”
Beck Laxton said her own background had influenced her view about gender stereotypes.
“My mother’s very sporty and my dad was very emotional. We’d watch The Wizard of Oz and always start crying, whereas my mum would think we were really soppy,” she said.
“So it’s always seemed obvious to me that stereotypes didn’t fit the people I knew.”
Dr. Daragh McDermott, a psychology lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, said it was difficult to predict any long-term effects of Sasha’s unconventional upbringing.
“It’s hard to say whether being raised gender-neutral will have any immediate or long-term psychological consequences for a child, purely because to date there is little research examining this topic,” Dr. Daragh McDermott said.
“That being said, the family setting is only one source of gender-specific information and as children grow, their self-identity as male, female or gender-neutral will be influenced by school, socialization with other children and adults, as well as mass media.
“As a child grows they develop their own independent sense of self that will include their own individual gender identification.”
Last year, Canadians Kathy Witterick and David Stocker insisted that they would raise their baby Storm as a gender-neutral child.
Of that case, Dr. Harold Koplewicz, a U.S. child psychiatrist, said he was “disturbed” that well-meaning parents could be so misguided.
“When children are born, they’re not a blank slate,” he said.
“We do have male brains and female brains. There’s a reason why boys do more rough and tumble play; there’s a reason why girls have better language development skills.”
Costa Cruises, the company operating Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off Italy is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US.
Italy’s consumer association Codacons and two US law firms said would file the suit against Costa Cruises on behalf of the passengers.
They want at least $160,000 for each passenger on the ship.
Meanwhile Italian officials say the search for 21 people still missing after the disaster will continue until the whole ship has been searched.
The rescue operation continued overnight in dry parts of the Costa Concordia.
Divers are now going into submerged parts at depths of up to 14 m with explosives to open up previously unsearched areas.
Reports say the grounded vessel is shifting at a rate of a few millimetres per hour.
If the ship slips into deeper water, fuel tanks could rupture threatening one of the most unspoilt parts of the Mediterranean.
Costa Cruises, the company operating Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off Italy is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US
Costa Cruises, owned by US-based Carnival Group, has blamed the ship’s captain Francesco Schettino for last week’s crash, in which at least 11 people were killed.
The Costa Concordia hit rocks off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio with more than 4,200 people on board a week ago. Hundreds were injured.
Relatives of victims are expected to come to Giglio, which is being visited by Senate President Renato Schifani, the number two in the Italian government.
Mitchell Proner, a lawyer with Proner & Proner, said: “Along with Codacons, we have formed an association and our firms are collectively going to be filing a suit in Miami, by Wednesday next week, on behalf of all the victims of the Costa Concordia disaster.”
He said claimants would be seeking compensation for continued medical care, loss of earnings as well as the psychological impact they had suffered while trying to get off the ship.
Mitchell Proner said that some of the claimants – currently 110 – would seek two or three times the minimum claim, while the worse cases could seek as much as 1million euros.
Costa Cruises said it was open to the concerns of all consumer associations and individual passengers.
“The company understands those concerns and will respond in due course, but for now, it wants to concentrate on dealing with the immediate tragedy,” said a spokesman for Costa.
“As an initial gesture, it has already sent letters to all those passengers on board asking them to detail their expenses and any costs they might have incurred so reimbursements can be made.”
Costa Cruises has blamed Captain Francesco Schettino for committing “grave errors of judgement” by steering the ship too close to Giglio on an “unauthorized manoeuvre”.
Captain Francesco Schettino is currently under house arrest suspected of manslaughter, which he denies.
Costa Cruises has begun the process of launching a civil claim against Francesco Schettino in Italy. But Mitchell Proner said that the firm could not pin all responsibility for the disaster on a “rogue captain”.
“It’s easy to say this captain acted alone,” Mitchell Proner said.
“There are indications that there have been regular route deviations in the past. There should have been safeguards on board, where were the alarms?
“At the time of the Titanic it might have been easy to say that radars didn’t exist. Nowadays, with all the technology, it isn’t. There had to be a failure in the system that allowed this to happen.”
The president of Codacons, Marco Ramadori, said Costa Cruises’ offer was insufficient.
“They are offering to refund the cost of the ticket as if you had missed a plane and lost your luggage. You cannot compare the two,” Marco Ramadori said.
Costa passengers are reported to have signed a contract when buying their cruise tickets that any litigation would have to be pursued under Italian law.
But Mitchell Proner said that he thought it likely that the US courts would accept the case.
“The US has a long tradition of protecting rights and not only is Costa owned by an American company but they have brought themselves into our stream of commerce,” Mitchell Proner said.
“There were 120 Americans on board and they will demand access to their rights,” he said.
Scientists claim that tall men are 24% less at risk of heart problems, besides other advantages.
Harvard researchers have found that those who are more than 6ft are 24% less likely to suffer from heart failure than men just a few inches smaller.
Scientists looked at the records of 22,000 male doctors in their mid-fifties who were subsequently followed over a 22-year period.
They each filled in an initial questionnaire on their height, weight and general health and then every year subsequently filled in surveys about any new medical diagnoses.
The study, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, found that 1,444 men developed heart failure which was about 7% of the total.
Men who were 6 ft (1.8 meters) or over were 24% less likely to report having heart failure than those who were 5ft 8 (1.72 meters) or smaller.
This was after their age and weight, as well as whether they had high blood pressure and diabetes, had all been taken into account.
The scientists think that one reason is that shorter men may have had childhood diseases that stunted their growth. In adulthood this could have led to the build-up of plaque in their arteries and higher blood pressure.
But they also think that the biology of taller men may put them at less risk.
Men who were 6 ft (1.8 meters) or over were 24 per cent less likely to report having heart failure than those who were 5ft 8 (1.72 meters) or smaller
Scientists say that there is greater distance between certain points in tall men’s arteries and their hearts which puts the heart under less strain.
Jeffrey Teuteberg, a cardiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who was not involved in the study said: “As much as we know about the development of very common diseases like heart failure, there’s still a lot we don’t know.
“There’s still a lot more that impacts the development of those diseases beyond those things.
“The message certainly shouldn’t be: <<If you’re tall, don’t worry about these sorts of things, or if you’re short, you’re doomed.>>”
Heart failure affects occurs when the heart are too weak to properly pump blood around the body and can be caused by heart attacks, which cause the organ to weaken.
At least 11 people have died in north-west Syria after a police van carrying prisoners was blown up on the Idlib-Ariha highway, reports say.
Sana, the official Syrian news agency, said the police van was attacked by an “armed group” on the Idlib-Ariha highway. An opposition group confirmed the incident but did not say who carried it out.
The news came as the Arab League hears a report by monitors observing implementation of its peace plan.
The league is due to decide whether to extend its mission in the coming days.
The 165-strong mission expired on Thursday with no sign of a halt to the government’s crackdown on protesters.
Analysts say the league is expected to renew the mission for another month.
The reports said Saturday’s attack happened in the Mastoumeh area in Idlib province.
Sana initially said 14 people had died, and 26 prisoners and six police were injured.
An ambulance which came to the aid of victims was also attacked, the agency added.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of dead at 11. It said the van had been hit by several roadside bombs.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Violence across Syria on Friday resulted in seven people being killed by security forces, opposition groups said.
The UN Security Council was told earlier this month that 400 people had been killed during the monitors’ first 10 days in Syria.
The UN had previously said that more than 5,000 had died since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted last March.
The government in Damascus says that some 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed combating “armed gangs and terrorists”.
In a separate development, the US says it is considering closing its embassy in Damascus because of increasing safety concerns.
Officials in Washington say they are talking to the Syrian authorities, as well as to the British and Chinese governments, who have embassies nearby. But no final decision had been taken.
The conclusions reached by the Arab League mission’s head, Sudanese Gen Mohammed al-Dabi, had been due to be discussed by a committee of ministers on Saturday, but unconfirmed reports say ministerial talks will not now be held earlier than Sunday.
The panel is chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, whose country has previously suggested sending Arab peacekeepers to Syria.
Damascus has firmly rejected the idea.
It appears that there is no clearly thought out alternative to the monitoring mission, and no appetite – as yet – for a radical change of course.
League officials have already hinted that the most likely outcome will be to renew the mission for another month, possibly doubling the number of observers on the ground.
Last week, the head of the Arab League’s Cairo operations room, Adnan al-Khudeir, said the observers would remain in 17 difference places around Syria until the final decision is made.
Although the mandate of the observer mission came to an end formally on Thursday, the agreement covering it provides for an extension for a second month if both sides agree.
So far there has been no suggestion from Damascus that the monitors should be withdrawn.
German supermodel Heidi Klum and London-born crooner Seal are to file for divorce after six years of marriage, according to reports.
Heidi Klum, 38, and Seal, 48, will apparently file divorce papers in the LA County Superior Court early next week, TMZ reported.
According to TMZ, Heidi Klum will cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split.
The reports have shocked fans of the couple who often make public displays of affection at red carpet events, and are a picture of happiness with their four children.
Heidi Klum, Seal or their management are yet to comment on the reports.
German supermodel Heidi Klum and London-born crooner Seal are to file for divorce after six years of marriage, according to reports
They were last seen together on December 27, with Heidi Klum tweeting a picture of her and her husband smiling against the backdrop of mountains in Aspen, Colorado.
Heidi Klum and Seal met in 2004 while she was pregnant with her daughter Leni, now seven, with Italian businessman Flavio Briatore.
Seal was present for Leni’s birth and later adopted her.
He proposed on December 23, 2004, in an igloo he had built on a glacier in Whistler, British Columbia.
Seal and Heidi Klum married on the beach on May 10, 2005 in Mexico, near Seal’s home on Mexico’s Costa Careyes.
They have three children, Henry, six, Johan, five, and Lou, two.
Heidi Klum and seal are famous for renewing their vows every year on their anniversary in a lavish ceremony.
In 2010, Seal gushed about the tradition.
“Each year, Heidi and I get remarried,” Seal said.
“It’s a great party, but for about an hour, we go off on our own down to a private beach. We sit there with the kids and read vows to each other as the sun sets. It’s a very special moment to us.”
Splitting up their assets may prove to be a lengthy process.
According to Forbes, Heidi Klum raked in $20 million last year. It’s unclear how much Seal made.
Heidi Klum was previously married to stylist Ric Pipino in 1997, but the couple divorced in 2002.
Seal was spotted arriving at LAX yesterday morning, after promoting his new album in London.
Heidi Klum attended the Golden Globes alone on Sunday.
Around 100 left-wing activists have protested by burning Union flags outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to demand Argentina break off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Falkland Islands dispute.
Tension has been increasing ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War in April.
Argentina is demanding talks on its claim to sovereignty over the territory, which it calls Las Malvinas.
But the UK has reaffirmed that the Falklands will remain British for as long as its inhabitants want.
Around 100 left-wing activists have protested by burning Union flags outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to demand Argentina break off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Falkland Islands dispute
The protest in Buenos Aires was organized by the Socialist Workers’ Movement (MST).
Activists carried banners reading “Government break off relations now,” and “English out of the Malvinas”.
“It is unacceptable that they send reinforcements and that the little prince (William) should come on manoeuvres,” said protest leader Wilma Ripoll of the MST.
Willma Ripoll added that her group was planning further protests before Prince William – who is the second in line to the British throne – arrives in the Falklands next month for a tour of duty as a helicopter rescue pilot.
The protest comes amid an escalating war of words between London and Buenos Aires over the Falklands.
Argentine leaders were particularly angered by comments made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday, when he said Argentina’s demand for sovereignty was “like colonialism” because it ignored the islanders’ right to self-determination.
He also said he had reviewed the Falklands’ military defenses and was prepared to send reinforcements if necessary.
Tension over the remote South Atlantic archipelago has been growing since 2010, when British companies began drilling for oil in waters off the Falklands.
Argentina has been rallying support for its claim from other Latin American nations, and President Cristina Fernandez has accused Britain of “arrogance” and “taking Argentine resources”.
Britain has held the islands since the 1830s, but Argentina insists it has a prior claim and in 1982 launched an invasion.
A British task force recaptured the islands in a short but bloody war in which 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen were killed.
The US has called for dialogue between London and Buenos Aires to resolve the dispute.
“We recognize de facto UK administration of the islands, but take no position regarding sovereignty,” the State Department said.
Wearing an underwired bra is not always the most comfortable experience, but the non-underwired types just don’t offer the same uplift.
A new bra from UItimo claims to have come up with a third option. Ultimo’s Dreamwire bra is said to provide all the lift of an underwire, with none of the discomfort.
Ultimo, a company based in Glasgow, UK, run by entrepreneur Michelle Mone, spent two years devising the bra which it claims is the most comfortable in the world.
Made from a single piece of sculpted foam, and covered in a light-weight synthetic material, the Dreamwire bra has virtually no stitching or joins, making it much less likely to rub the skin.
Inside the cup is a type of foam padding that incorporates a soft plastic underwire that gives extra support to the bust. This foam also helps cushion the skin from any digging from the wire.
Made from a single piece of sculpted foam, and covered in a light-weight synthetic material, the Dreamwire bra has virtually no stitching or joins, making it much less likely to rub the skin
The Dreamwire bra, which will cost £24 ($37), is due to go on sale in UK at the end of this month.
The new bra has been trialed by 100 women over the past 14 months and is due to go on sale online and in Debenhams stores.
Michelle Mone, creator of Ultimo, was inspired to create the Dreamwire after years of wearing painful underwired bras. She tried and tested the Dreamwire herself and has never looked back.
She said: “I wear the Dreamwire every day – after you have worn it once you will never want to wear another bra, trust me.
“It has absolutely no gel yet it still creates the shape you want, with a comfort factor women have always dreamed of.”
A spokesman for Ultimo said the Dreamwire aimed to provide “pure comfort without losing any cleavage”.
“It is an everyday bra designed for comfort but without sacrificing any support or shape,” the spokeswoman said.
“It can be worn for 24 hours a day, for work, exercise and sleep, without the woman feeling any discomfort.”
Dante Autullo, a suburban Chicago man accidentally shot a 3.25 in (8.25 cm) nail into his skull but is recovering after doctors successfully removed it from the centre of his brain.
Dante Autullo, 34, was in his workshop when a nail gun recoiled near his head.
The man had no idea the nail had entered his brain until the next day, when he began feeling nauseous.
Doctors told Dante Autullo that the nail came within millimetres of the area used for motor function.
Dante Autullo’s fiancee, Gail Glaenzer, told the Associated Press on Friday that he was in good spirits after the two-hour surgery to remove the nail at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
“He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he’s talking normal, he remembers everything,” she said.
“It’s amazing, a miracle.”
Dante Autullo, 34, was in his workshop when a nail gun recoiled near his head
Gail Glaenzer said she had no idea the nail had entered his skull when she cleaned a cut on his forehead.
The woman convinced him to go to the hospital after he felt nauseous for much of Wednesday.
Dante Autullo thought that the nail gun had simply hit his forehead, but realized later that when the gun came in contact with his head, the sensor recognized a flat surface and fired.
While there are pain-sensitive nerves on a person’s skull, there are none within the brain itself.
Hospital spokesman Mike Maggio said the part of the skull that was removed for surgery had to be replaced with a titanium mesh amid worries that it might have been contaminated by the nail.
Scientists who created a mutant bird flu, a potentially more deadly strain, have temporarily stopped their research amid fears of bioterrorism.
In a letter published in Science and Nature, the scientists call for an “international forum” to debate the risks and value of the studies.
US authorities last month asked the authors of the research to redact key details in forthcoming publications.
A government advisory panel suggested the data could be used by terrorists.
Biosecurity experts fear a mutant form of the virus could spark a pandemic deadlier than the 1918-19 Spanish flu outbreak that killed up to 40 million people.
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) recommended key details to be omitted from publication of the research, which sparked international furor.
“I would have preferred if this hadn’t caused so much controversy, but it has happened and we can’t change that,” Ron Fouchier, a researcher from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, told Science Insider.
“So I think it’s the right step to make.”
While bird flu is deadly, its reach has been limited because it is not transmissible between humans.
However, the H5N1 flu virus was altered to be passed easily between ferrets, during the joint research by Erasmus University in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US.
Two scientific journals want to publish the research – albeit in redacted form – and are trying to work out with the US government how to make the data accessible to “responsible scientists”.
H5N1 flu virus was altered to be passed easily between ferrets, during the joint research by Erasmus University in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US
The World Health Organization said in a December statement that limiting access to the research would harm an agreement between its members.
The NSABB is made up of scientists and public health experts, 23 from outside the government, and 18 from within.
It cannot stop publication but makes recommendations to researchers.
The scientists’ letter published on Friday argues that knowledge of more infectious strains before they mutate in nature is valuable for public health.
“More research is needed to determine how influenza viruses in nature become human pandemic threats,” the statement says, “so that they can be contained before they acquire the ability to transmit from human to human, or so that appropriate countermeasures can be deployed if adaptation to humans occurs.”
But some said the pause on research was not enough.
One critic of the studies, Richard Ebright, a biologist at Rutgers University, told Science Insider that the letter “includes flatly false statements” making assurances about the safety of H1N1 research labs.
Reports say that a meeting debating the research and steps forward could come during a World Health Organization meeting in February.
Etta James, the US soul singer best known for the tracks At Last and for I’d Rather Go Blind, has died aged 73.
It was announced last year that Etta James had been diagnosed with leukaemia and was undergoing treatment.
Etta James began singing in a group aged 14, before she embarked upon a solo career where she signed to the legendary Chess Records label.
The singer went on to win six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
Legendary producer Jerry Wexler once called her “the greatest of all modern blues singers”.
Etta James’ manager said she died at Riverside Community Hospital in California with her husband and sons at her side.
“It’s a tremendous loss for her fans around the world,” Lupe De Leon said.
“She’ll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category.”
Etta James began singing in a group aged 14, before she embarked upon a solo career where she signed to the legendary Chess Records label
Born Jamesetta Hawkins in 1938, her mother was only 14 years old, and she never knew her father.
Raised mainly by friends and relatives, Etta James began singing when her grandparents took her to a Baptist Church, where she joined the choir as a soloist.
Later, in San Francisco, she formed a singing group called the Creolettes, who were discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis, who coincidentally also died this week.
The band recorded together for a number of years but it was not until 1960, when Etta James signed to the legendary Chess Records as a solo artist, that she began to achieve musical recognition.
It was for this label that Etta James released her two most acclaimed albums, At Last and The Second Time Around.
The former included her impassioned cover of Muddy Waters’ I Just Want To Make Love To You, which is considered the predominant interpretation of the song – and gave Etta James her biggest chart hit in the UK, landing at number five in 1996 after it was featured in an advert for Diet Coke.
However, her success in the 1960s was hindered by an addiction to heroin, and she was forced to rebuild her career after quitting the drug in 1974.
Although Etta James was popular on the R&B and blues scene throughout her career, mainstream success eluded her for many years.
Etta James did not receive her first Grammy Award until 1994, for the album Mystery Lady, which consisted of covers of Billie Holiday songs. In 2003, Etta James was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sundance Film Festival 2012 started on Thursday night, January 19, in Park City ski resort, Utah. It will run until January 29, and it will have shows in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden.
This 28th edition will introduce 117 feature films from 30 countries, including 45 first-timers (24 in competition) and 91 world premieres. Featured in four different competition categories are 58 individual films.
The snow fell over the city when the festival started and made Mayor Dana Williams to mention a last year bill that officially disavowed the idea of climate change. Since then it has not snowed in Park City until this week.
Sundance Film Festival 2012 is taking place from January 19 until January 29.
On Thursday, the opening press conference of the Sundance Film Festival was held at the David Eccles Conference Center and Peery’s Egyptian Theater.
Robert Redford, wearing jeans and a black sweater, said about the films they were products of “dark and grim” times and the “suffering from a government that’s in paralysis.” However, “they’re breathing life into fresh, new stories.”
“In terms of what’s going on there… in terms of Mitt Romney, I mean, I’m not going to get into politics. The fact is you can see the (Republican) debates going on, this mushroom cloud of ego hovering over everybody... It’s kind of silly and stupid and I’m sorry about it… Mitt Romney can go and see what he wants to see. If he likes ‘Transformers,’ great, it’s there for him, but that’s not where we are… For years and years and years, you’ve all experienced what we had to live with, the fact that other countries are far more supportive of their artists than we are… But when you have congressional narrow-minded people, people who are afraid of change when change is the only thing that succeeds, the only thing we know is going to happen is that things are going to change,” Redford said.
Robert Redford at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 in the press conference held at the Egyptian Theater. (Photo by Calvin Knight)
Robert Redford then talked about the state of independent film.
“It’s true that independent films now are healthy. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy. It’s never been easy…What I’m seeing now is that… independent film is growing. You have people who used to work more exclusively in the mainstream that are now coming into the independent world…The reason I think this community is growing, I think, is because it’s offering more possibilities and more freedom and control for the artists themselves,” he said.
Robert Redford, 75, is the founder and the president of the Sundance Institute, that was created to promote the production of independent US and non-American cinema. He played with Paul Newman in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969).
“Independent film is the theme,” said festival director John Cooper.
One of the opening-night films was “The Queen of Versailles” by Lauren Greenfield, a chronicle of a couple that tried to build a palatial 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles, “a movie about dreams, both collective and individual, and what happens when things go wrong,” as Greenfield described it. David Siegel and his wife, Jackie, lived a life of incredible luxury even before they decided to build the biggest single-family house in the United States. Siegel sued Greenfield and Sundance over a press-release description that said his house was foreclosed; the suit is ongoing.
“Hello I Must Be Going,” by Todd Louiso is about a love story between a 19-year-old man and a 35-year-old divorcee, and stars Melanie Lynskey. “Wish You Were Here,” by Kieran Darcy-Smith is a dark story of a vacation gone wrong that stars Joel Edgerton and Teresa Palmer; “Searching for Sugar Man,” by Malik Bendjelloul’s is a documentary about promising 1970s singer-songwriter Rodriguez and his fade into obscurity.
“All the film press in North America is at Sundance to discover films,” said Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics. He is showing “Where Do We Go Now?” by Nadine Labaki and “The Raid” by Gareth Huw Evans at the festival.
Others works at the festival are “Red Hook Summer” by Spike Lee; “Lay the Favorite” by Stephen Frears starring Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rebecca Hall; “Under African Skies” by Joe Berlinger, a documentary on Paul Simon portrait; Julie Delpy with her relationship comedy “2 Days in New York,” in which she stars with Chris Rock.
The Sundance Film Festival has put nine of its short films online. They can be watched at www.sundance.yahoo.com. The films can be voted, and the winner will receive the Yahoo! Audience Award.
Sean Penn, Kate Bosworth, Peter Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Bruce Willis, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Richard Gere will be present this year at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, is reportedly walking away from their ten year marriage with three of their properties.
Vanessa Bryant, 33, will get all of their mansions in the Newport Beach area of California, according to TMZ.
Kobe Bryant’s wife will secure $75million, which is said to be close to half of their total assets.
A source close to the couple told TMZ that the property settlement agreement has already been finalized.
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, is reportedly walking away from their ten year marriage with three of their properties
Vanessa Bryant, who has two daughters with Kobe, now faces the tough decision of where to actually live as she continues her life as a single woman.
The mother-of-two will be able to choose from the estate that she was living in with Kobe Bryant before she filed for divorce, the estate her mother is currently living in, and also the new estate that has been under construction for two years and has just recently been completed.
Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce from the NBA superstar husband last month, citing “irreconcilable differences”.
When the news broke, TMZ also reported that the couple had no pre-nuptial agreement, and that Vanessa Bryant had requested spousal support.
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant met when she was just 18 and she was working as a backing dancer in a studio where he was recording, though that material was never released to the public.
Vanessa Bryant is also said to be asking for joint custody of their two daughters – eight-year-old Natalia and five-year-old Gianna.
She is also asking that Kobe Bryant get visitation rights, which means she wants the kids in her care most of the time.
Vanessa Bryant is being represented by Laura Wasser and attorney Samantha Klein, whose clients include Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, Maria Shriver and Kim Kardashian.
Scientists from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, have found that boa constrictors halt squeezing a prey when their victim’s heart stops.
This accurate calculation of death, while seemingly just cruel, allows the snake to expend the minimum amount of energy
Scientists discovered boas can actually “feel” their victim’s heartbeat after a series of experiments.
First they used dead rats with implanted “simulated hearts” (water-filled bulbs connected to a pump) to lure the snakes.
Scientists from Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, have found that boa constrictors halt squeezing a prey when their victim's heart stops
When the boas struck out at the rats the scientists controlled their fake hearts remotely.
They also measured the pressure of the squeeze on the rat’s bodies to see whether the snake adjusted according to heartbeat strength.
When scientists kept the hearts pumping, they found the snakes clung onto the rats for “longer than any previous observation of a snake constricting a prey item – live or dead”.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time we tested a snake with a rat with a simulated heart,” lead researcher, Dr. Scott Boback, from Dickinson College, told BBC Nature.
“It was writhing and squeezing the rat in an apparent effort to kill it.”
The team then tried the same experiment with live rats.
The scientists found the boas constricted the rats and then gradually eased off as their prey’s heartbeat dwindled.
“There was such a clear difference I knew we were discovering something interesting,” Dr. Scott Boback said.
In a summary of the study, published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the scientists wrote: “Many of us think of snakes as audacious killers, incapable of the complex functions we typically reserve for <<higher>> vertebrates.
“We found otherwise.”
The scientists added the snakes’ sense of touch may mean the serpents are “capable of things that we did not realize before”.
“For instance, snakes may utilize this acute tactile sense to coordinate complex movements associated with limbless locomotion,” said Dr. Scott Boback.
Democrat Harry Reid, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, announced he will postpone a vote on a contested anti-online piracy bill.
This decision follows protests by online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and thousands of other websites, which went “dark” in protest for 24 hours earlier this week.
“In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday’s vote on the PROTECT IP Act,” Harry Reid said in a statement.
The Senate was due to hold a procedural vote on the bill on Tuesday.
Two versions of anti-piracy legislation are pending in Congress: the Protect IP Act (PIPA) before the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), due to be voted on by the House of Representatives.
In the wake of Wednesday’s protest, and amid a barrage of emails and phone calls from web users to their local congressmen, some lawmakers have shown signs of retreating from the bill.
Of about 40 co-sponsors for the PIPA bill, a handful withdrew their support on Wednesday, as thousands of websites participated in a co-ordinate online protest.
More than seven million people signed a petition on Google saying that passage of the legislation would result in censoring the web and impose a regulatory burden on businesses.
It is not clear whether the SOPA bill will also be stalled.
Michael Oreb is a clock collector who was eagerly awaiting the delivery of an antique cuckoo timepiece from Pennsylvania, tracking each step of its progress toward his Hollywood home.
But, footage from security cameras he installed showed an impatient U.S. postal worker briefly checking the gate, and then hurling it over the fence into Michael Oreb’s front yard.
This comes a month after a string of delivery men came under fire for carelessly handling packages, and amidst dire times for the United States Postal Service.
Michael Oreb, who had installed security cameras only a week ago, witnessed the moment the postal worker threw his precious package over the gate, apparently because he couldn’t get it open after one go.
“I looked and he pulled up, threw it (the box) over the fence, and then got in the van and drove off,” Michael Oreb told NBC Los Angeles.
Though Michael Oreb immediately went out to confront the postal worker, the delivery man had already sped off.
He told the website that he knew his antique clock was going to be damaged based on the way it was thrown. Upon inspection, the chains were broken, the second hand was bent and loose, and there could be more damage still.
Michael Oreb, who had installed security cameras only a week ago, witnessed the moment the postal worker threw his precious package over the gate, apparently because he couldn’t get it open after one go
Michael Oreb said every generation in his family has owned a 1938 German Black Forest cuckoo clock, and he was looking forward to continuing the legacy.
He decided to call and complain to USPS and said within ten minutes of phoning in, a representative was at his door.
Though the representative offered to take the clock for repairs, Michael Oreb wanted to hang onto it. He said: “I will take it in and find me a repairman who works on antique clocks and have them repair it and I’ll send them the bill.”
In response to the video showing the careless employee, USPS released a statement saying they were “dismayed” to see the video.
USPS said: “That does not represent the kind of service we strive to provide our customers,” adding the incident is currently under investigation so they can take “appropriate actions” regarding the clock-thrower.
Michael Oreb told NBC Los Angeles that he doesn’t think the man should lose his job.
“I think he should be reprimanded, maybe put through some more training and stuff like that, cause you never know what’s inside the packages when you see them.”
The cameras, Michael Oreb said, were for his wife’s peace of mind. They have only been living in their northern Hollywood home for seven months, and she felt safer knowing things were being monitored.
The bad image comes at a time when the Postal Service needs all the good news it can get. The service has lost over $25 billion since the 2006 fiscal year, forecasting a dismal $14 billion loss in 2012.
It is set to close up to 250 of nearly 500 mail processing centres as early as March and lower delivery standards if $20 billion isn’t cut.
Hackers group Anonymous launched a massive cyber attack against U.S. government and anti-piracy websites yesterday in response to Megaupload.com shut down.
Megaupload.com, one of the world’s biggest file-sharing services has been shut down by U.S. authorities and its founder and several company executives were arrested on charges of violating privacy laws.
Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.
In response, the hackers group Anonymous has targeted the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice websites.
The news came a day after anti-piracy law protests, but investigators said they were ordered two weeks ago.
Hackers group Anonymous launched a massive cyber attack against U.S. government and anti-piracy websites yesterday in response to Megaupload.com shut down
The U.S. Justice Department said that Megaupload’s two co-founders Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and Mathias Ortmann were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand along with two other employees of the business at the request of US officials.
It added that three other defendants were still at large.
“This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime,” said a statement posted on its website.
The FBI website was intermittently unavailable on Thursday evening due to what officials said was being “treated as a malicious act”.
The hackers’ group Anonymous said it was carrying out the attacks.
The Motion Picture Association of America’s website also suffered disruption.
The charges included, conspiracies to commit racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering.
A federal court in Virginia ordered that 18 domain names associated with the Hong Kong-based firm be seized.
The Justice Department said that more than 20 search warrants had been executed in nine countries, and that approximately $50 million in assets had been seized.
It claimed that the accused had pursued a business model designed to promote the uploading of copyrighted works.
“The conspirators allegedly paid users whom they specifically knew uploaded infringing content, and publicized their links to users throughout the world,” a statement said.
“By actively supporting the use of third-party linking sites to publicize infringing content, the conspirators did not need to publicize such content on the Megaupload site.
“Instead, the indictment alleges that the conspirators manipulated the perception of content available on their servers by not providing a public search function on the Megaupload site and by not including popular infringing content on the publicly available lists of top content downloaded by its users.”
Before it was shut down the site posted a statement saying the allegations against it were “grotesquely overblown”.
“The fact is that the vast majority of Mega’s internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay,” it added.
“If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch.”
The announcement came a day after thousands of websites took part in a “blackout” to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has defended the proposed laws saying that enforcement agencies “lack the tools” to effectively apply existing intellectual property laws to the digital world.
Industry watchers suggest this latest move may feed into the wider debate.
“Neither of the bills are close to being passed – they need further revision. But it appears that officials are able to use existing tools to go after a business alleged to be inducing piracy,” said Gartner’s media distribution expert Mike McGuire.
“It begs the question that if you can find and arrest people who are suspected to be involved in piracy using existing laws, then why introduce further regulations which are US-only and potentially damaging?”
A new combination of drugs had positive effects in hepatitis C genotype 1 infection in a high percent of patients who had not responded to previous treatment, according to a study published on New England Journal of Medicine on January 19.
This report came from Phase II of a pilot study funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and led by Anna S. Lok, M.D., professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
“The two recently approved hepatitis C drugs – telaprevir or boceprevir — combined with PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin have limited success in patients who have not responded to previous treatment with PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin. Because of this high unmet medical need, there is a necessity for new combination regimens that can increase response rates in that population. The high rate of sustained virologic response in patients who received the four drug regimen is very exciting. Although only four of 11 patients given the two direct-acting antiviral agents only achieved sustained virologic response, this is the first study to show that sustained virologic response can be achieved without the use of interferon or ribavirin. These data are very encouraging because PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin are associated with many side effects and many patients with hepatitis C choose not to receive treatment for fear that they cannot tolerate those drugs,” said Dr. Lok.
The clinical trial enrolled patients with chronic hepatitis C, who had not responded to previous treatment with PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin.
Twenty-one patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, who had not responded to previous treatment with PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin after more than 12 weeks of treatment were enrolled.
They randomly received a combination of two investigational direct-acting antiviral agents (daclatasvir and asunaprevir) alone, or were given this combination along with PEG-interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin.
In the group that received the combination alone were assigned 11 patients, 4 of them (2 of 9 with HCV genotype 1a and 2 of 2 with genotype 1b) had a sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after treatment and at 24 weeks after treatment, 6 (with HCV genotype 1a) had viral breakthrough while receiving therapy, and resistance mutations to both antiviral agents were found in all cases; 1 patient had a viral response at the end of treatment but had a relapse after the treatment period.
In the group that received daclatasvir, asunaprevir, PEG-interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin were assigned 10 patients. They all had a sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after treatment, and 9 had a sustained virologic response at 24 weeks.
A sustained virologic response or SVR means there is no detectable hepatitis C virus in a patient’s blood after treatment is stopped. Achieving sustained virologic response is important, because research has shown that late relapse is rare.
“Overall, these results suggest that further research into combinations of direct-acting antiviral agents, with or without PEG-interferon and ribavirin, should be encouraged. Caution must be exercised in selecting the right combination of direct-acting antiviral agents in studies of interferon-free regimens because in this study, all 7 patients who received only two direct-acting antiviral agents that did not achieve sustained virologic response had emergence of drug resistance variants to both drugs,” said Dr. Lok.
Diarrhea was the most common adverse event in both groups. Six patients had temporary elevations of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT, a hepatic enzyme that rise when the liver is damaged) levels to more than 3 times the upper limit of the normal range.
Daclatasvir is a NS5A replication complex inhibitor daclatasvir and was administered 60 mg once daily. Asunaprevir is a NS3 protease inhibitor and was given 600 mg twice daily.
Hepatitis C genotype 1 is the most common type in the United States and the most difficult to treat.
Chronic hepatitis C might lead to liver cirrhosis.
This disease is caused by a virus (hepatitis C virus, or HCV) that infects the liver and it is transmitted through direct contact with infected blood and blood products, transfusions of infected blood, using unsterilized needles or other contaminated instruments. Hepatitis C is extremely rare transmitted through sexual intercourse.
Worldwide around 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C, especially with genotype 1. The chronic infection occurs in almost 80% of them. Twenty percent of persons with chronic hepatitis C are at risk of developing cirrhosis and, of those, up to 25 percent may progress to liver cancer. There is no vaccine to prevent hepatitis C, but this is a potentially curable disease.
A sex scene appeared in the background during Scotland Tonight news debate on Wednesday.
A naked blonde woman could be seen on a studio TV screen as Ed Miliband’s leadership of the Labour Party was debated on STV’ Scotland Tonight.
The raunchy clip is thought to have been from an episode of Channel 4 drama Shameless.
The footage appeared on screen for a few seconds as host John MacKay questioned political blogger Dan Hodges.
Dan Hodges was in ITN’s London studio when the naked woman appeared on the screen behind him after the watershed. Shadow Scotland Office Minister Willie Bain was also involved in the debate.
A naked blonde woman could be seen on a studio TV screen as Ed Miliband's leadership of the Labour Party was debated on STV’ Scotland Tonight
Yesterday the broadcaster was forced to apologize for the mistake after viewer Paul Traynor made a formal complaint.
An insider told the Daily Record that no one in the newsroom realized the blunder had happened until they watched the footage.
The insider said: “It’s unfortunate but in a busy newsroom we have monitors showing the various TV channels.
“You can only see the scene for a few seconds and the vast majority of viewers probably won’t even have spotted it.
“However, it was probably a bit of a distraction and not exactly what they expected to see on Scotland Tonight.
“The show was on after the watershed but we will try not to let it happen again.”
A spokesman for STV said: “We hope viewers weren’t too distracted by the unexpected and incidental content on the show.”
Royal Marines and Scotland Yard took command of the River Thames yesterday in a determined show of strength as part of a security exercise for the London Olympics called Operation Woolwich Arsenal Pier.
Elite military and police teams joined forces in a combined exercise to give a glimpse of the sheer scale of the Britain’s biggest peacetime security operation yesterday.
The British forces show was designed to test the water for the joint operation, and to illustrate the country’s readiness against terrorism.
Around 100 marines and 50 officers rehearsed a string of high-speed drills amid fears attackers could use the waterways to launch onslaughts on London landmarks.
About 50 marine police officers in rigid inflatables and fast response boats were joined by up to 100 military personnel and a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter for the exercises.
Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, head of the force’s security operation for the Games, said a Mumbai-style terror attack was one of a host of potential threats to the games.
Royal Marines and Scotland Yard took command of the River Thames yesterday in a determined show of strength as part of a security exercise for the London Olympics called Operation Woolwich Arsenal Pier
Speaking on the shores of the Thames, Chris Allison said: “There is no specific threat from the river but we would be failing in our duty to ignore it at games time.
“What you have seen today is the sort of things we can do.”
Despite a heavy military presence on show today, Chris Allison insisted the sporting event would remain a “blue games”.
The Thames runs directly past the O2 Arena, which will be known as the North Greenwich Arena for the purpose of the Games, when it will host events including gymnastics.
The river will also be used to transport tourists between venues via water buses and a new cable car.
Typhoon jets and HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the Royal Navy’s fleet, will eventually be deployed to protect the London 2012 Games along with up to 13,500 military personnel.
“If we need the military support, it is there,” Chris Allison said.
“All of our planning is designed to mitigate against potential risks during the summer of 2012, and this is an example of where we will be using specialist military capability to support us.
“This exercise is not in response to any specific threat, but is part of our planning to pre-deploy certain specialist assets to bolster our operation.
“This will be a summer like no other in London. The Thames runs through the very heart of our capital and will be a popular place for people who want to be part of the Olympic spirit.
“This is all part of our planning to ensure this summer’s events take place safely and securely.”
A Chinese recruit has to stand and take a bottle smashed over her head if she wants to qualify as one of country’s first female bodyguards.
The female bodyguards training session, which took place in Beijing, involved 20 women, most of whom are university graduates.
The four-week programme is run by trainers from Tianjiao Special Guard Consultant Ltd and is the first open group training for female bodyguards in China.
Each trainee goes through ten months of instruction to develop her skills in reconnaissance, anti-terrorism training, martial arts and business etiquette.
The female bodyguards training session, which took place in Beijing, involved 20 women, most of whom are university graduates
The best individual from the class is also invited to study further at the International Security Academy in Israel.
With the booming economy in China and increasing wealth sparked by high demand for Chinese goods and materials, demand for bodyguard services had risen dramatically on the Chinese mainland.
Graduates of bodyguard courses can look forward to a well-paid career if they are recruited by wealthy businessmen.
That is especially the case for women, who are in high demand because they are less visible than their male counterparts and because they can assume roles such as secretary or nanny.
Female bodyguards are often paid far better than male counterparts – up to $100 a day – because they can adopt these different roles. The average annual wage in China is just $1,500.
The boom in China has also seen a rise in the growth of wealthy women, who prefer female bodyguards because their presence does not raise questions of potential relationships.
Ryan Brunn, the man sentenced to life in prison for beating and killing 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, who was found in a trash bin, has committed suicide in his jail cell.
Ryan Brunn, 20, was found unresponsive at the Jackson State Prison today and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
Kristen Stancil, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections said:
“I can confirm that Ryan Brunn did commit suicide.”
Ryan Brunn killed himself by hanging, a source told 11Alive News.
He had pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several charges including murder and child molestation in the December 2 killing of Jorelys Rivera.
Ryan Brunn, the man sentenced to life in prison for beating and killing 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, has committed suicide in his jail cell
Ryan Brunn responded “Yes, sir,” when a judge asked if he was pleading guilty to several charges. The judge accepted his plea and sentenced him to life without parole.
“I’d like to apologize for everything that’s done. Lo Siento,” Ryan Brunn said, apologizing in Spanish as he took the stand briefly a second time.
Ryan Brunn said he chose Jorelys Rivera because he happened to find her roller skate and used it to lure her to a vacant apartment, where he killed her, he told the judge.
He said he first sexually assaulted her.
“I didn’t want her to go home and tell her mom or dad on me. So I cut her,” he told the Cherokee County judge.
Police say Ryan Brunn snatched Jorelys Rivera as she walked from the playground to her apartment to get sodas for her friends.
Ryan Brunn was being held without bond at the Cherokee County jail. His family has said he is innocent. The charges carried the possibility of a death sentence if convicted, but prosecutors had not decided yet whether to seek it.
Ryan Brunn has no known criminal past and he cleared background checks by the company that runs the apartment complex where he had been working about a month.
