It’s My Party singer Lesley Gore has died from lung cancer aged 68.
Lesley Gore’s partner of 33 years, Lois Sasson, confirmed the singer-songwriter had died at a New York City hospital. .
The singer was only 1-year-old when she topped the US charts with It’s My Party.
Lesley Gore’s hits include feminist anthem You Don’t Own Me and the Oscar-nominated Out Here On My Own from 1980 film Fame.
“She was a wonderful human being – caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian,” Lois Sasson told the Associated Press.
Lesley Gore was discovered by Quincy Jones as a teenager and signed to Mercury Records, before going on to record tracks including Judy’s Turn to Cry, She’s A Fool, Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, That’s the Way Boys Are and Maybe I Know.
In 2005, she released comeback album Ever Since, her first album in 30 years and in an interview that year said that unlike Hollywood, the music industry has “always been a man’s world.”
However, Lesley Gore credited Quincy Jones as a “great mentor” saying that he was “a very sensitive man and a beautiful human being.”
Lesley Gore was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey and had graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in English/American literature.
A North Carolina grand jury has indicted suspect Craig Hicks on three counts of murder in the shootings of three young Muslim students in Chapel Hill.
Police say that Craig Hicks, 46, carried out the shootings as a result of a parking dispute.
However, they have not ruled out the possibility that the killings may have been motivated by religious hatred.
At least 12 firearms were taken from Craig Hicks’s home after he handed himself in to be arrested, police say.
Craig Hicks is reported to have described himself online as a “gun-toting” atheist.
Family members reported that Craig Hicks had previously “picked on” the married couple.
However, his wife Karen said the incident, which has drawn international condemnation, had nothing to do with religion and her husband treated everyone equally.
Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were found dead a week ago in their Chapel Hill flat near the University of North Carolina, where Barakat was a dental student.
Craig Hicks, a neighbor, is scheduled to appear in court accused of murder on March 4. He remains in jail without bail.
More than 5,000 people attended a funeral on February 12 for the three students.
Two towns have been evacuated after a freight train carrying more than 100 tankers of crude oil derailed and burst into flames in southern West Virginia on February 16.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin issues state of emergency in Kanawha, Fayette counties after train derailment.
At least 14 cars were affected and one plunged into the Kanawha River, state officials said.
Local websites published images of large flames and a thick plume of black smoke near a partly frozen river.
There are also reports that a train car crashed into a house, but there were no initial reports of fatalities.
Rail company CSX said in a statement that one person was being treated for potential inhalation, but no other injuries were reported.
Residents of Adena Village and Boomer have been urged to evacuate after the accident happened at 13:30.
State emergency response and environmental officials headed to the scene – a rural, coal mining area near Montgomery.
West Virginia American Water shut down a water treatment plant, located three miles away an hour after the derailment, spokeswoman Laura Jordan said. The plant serves about 2,000 customers.
The state was under a winter storm warning and getting heavy snowfall at times, with as much as five inches in some places. It is unclear whether the snow contributed to the crash.
The train consisted of two locomotives and 109 rail cars and was travelling from North Dakota to Yorktown, Virginia.
Greece is ready to do “whatever it takes” to reach agreement on its bailout in the next two days, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has said.
Yanis Varoufakis was speaking after talks with EU finance ministers broke down earlier than expected, with Greece describing the EU’s offer as “absurd”.
“I have no doubt that there is going to be a agreement in the end which will be very therapeutic for Greece,” he said.
Greece wants the conditions of its €240 billion bailout restructured.
Yanis Varoufakis said “within the next 48 hours” Europe would find the phrasing that was necessary to satisfy both Greece and Europe.
However, he said there was “substantial disagreement” on whether the task ahead was to complete the current program, which his government has pledged to scrap.
Yanis Varoufakis also said that he had been presented with a draft communiqué which he had been ready to sign, but that it had been withdrawn minutes before the meeting started.
The Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem also said there was still time for Greece to agree an extension.
“There is time and ample room to agree on the terms of an extension. When I listen to my Greek colleagues talking about a bridging loan and so on – that’s a different word for an extension,” said Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
He said says another meeting was possible on February 20 but that it was “up to the Greeks”.
“My strong preference is and still is to get an extension of the program, and I think it is still feasible,” he told a press conference.
Greece’s current bailout expires on February 28. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments so time is running out to reach a compromise, without which Greece is likely to run out of money.
Before the meeting, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had already said he was not optimistic a deal would be reached: “The problem is that Greece has lived beyond its means for a long time and that nobody wants to give Greece money any more without guarantees.”
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said European leaders needed to respect the political change in Athens. As he arrived in Brussels he urged the Greeks to extend their current deal to allow time for talks.
Greece has proposed a new bailout program that involves a bridging loan to keep the country going for six months and help it repay €7 billion of maturing bonds.
The second part of the plan would see the county’s debt refinanced. Part of this might be through “GDP bonds” – bonds carrying an interest rate linked to economic growth.
Greece also wants to see a reduction in the primary surplus target – the surplus the government must generate (excluding interest payments on debt) – from 3% to 1.49% of GDP.
In Greece last week, two opinion polls indicated that 79% of Greeks supported the government’s policies, and 74% believed its negotiating strategy would succeed.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong has been ordered to pay $10 million in damages after losing a lawsuit with sports insurance company SCA Promotions Inc.
In 2006, Lance Armstrong, now 43, received $7.5 million in payments from SCA relating to his seven Tour de France victories.
Lance Armstrong admitted to doping and was found to have lied in proceedings.
SCA said: “The award, which must be paid directly to SCA, is believed to be the largest award of sanctions assessed against an individual in American judicial history.”
“According to the arbitrators’ written ruling, the sanctions award punishes Armstrong for <<an unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy>>,” the company added.
Lance Armstrong testified in the proceedings, which took place almost 10 years after an initial hearing which found in his favor after he gave evidence under oath.
“SCA’s dispute with Armstrong is not over,” said SCA.
“It has a currently pending lawsuit in Dallas state district court where it is pursuing additional claims against Lance Armstrong and Bill Stapleton [Armstrong’s agent].”
Northeast is reeling from the latest in a series of blizzards, with low temperatures exacerbated by strong winds.
A fourth major snowstorm in Boston, Massachusetts, made February the snowiest month in the city’s history.
Almost 2,000 flights have been cancelled so far, mostly from airports in Boston and New York.
Heavy snow and freezing rain is also forecast further south, in the inland states of Indiana and Kentucky.
The separate weather system developing in that area is expected to travel eastwards this week, bringing further snow and sub-zero temperatures to the north-east.
Nearly 2ft of snow was reported in parts of New England after the latest storm this weekend. Meanwhile, 13in of snow was recorded in Boston.
The bitingly cold weather in the north-east and Canada is expected to continue well into March.
This year, however, the jet stream has followed more of a north-south route, bringing Arctic air deeper into the US and Canada.
Saturday Night Live has celebrated its 40th anniversary with a three-hour special featuring guests like Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro.
Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake kicked off the anniversary show with a medley of music, catchphrases and characters.
Steve Martin, Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, Paul McCartney, Melissa McCarthy and Keith Richards also joined the party.
Paul McCartney performed an impromptu duet of I’ve Just Seen A Face with Paul Simon.
Other musical guests included Kanye West and Miley Cyrus.
“Tonight is like an enormous high school reunion,” 15-time host Steve Martin said as the show began.
SNL has become a TV institution and numerous cast members – including Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Amy Poehler, Adam Sandler and Kristen Wiig – have gone on to carve out Hollywood careers.
Creator Lorne Michaels is widely regarded as one of the most revered producers in the business.
“If Lorne didn’t have good taste, this would have gone away a long time ago,” said Mike Myers, whose Wayne’s World skit with Dana Carvey – which he reprised on Sunday – inspired the 1990s comedy film of the same name.
Robert De Niro proclaimed that SNL is “still at it”, adding: “Forty years! That’s like back when TV was still watched on TV.”
A montage of audition tapes, including disappointing ones from Jim Carrey and Stephen Colbert, were also shown.
A spoof news team made up of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Jane Curtin appeared together for the Weekend Update, with the top story being none other than the SNL anniversary.
“Viewers of Saturday Night Live span several generations,” Tina Fey reported.
“From the Baby Boomers to Generation X all the way to whatever you call the little dummies who are live-tweeting this right now instead of watching it.”
Fifty Shades of Grey screen adaptation has topped the North American box offices this weekend with an estimated $81.7 million.
It was the second-highest February debut ever, behind The Passion of the Christ‘s $83.9 million opening in 2004.
Based on E.L. James’ best-selling novel, Fifty Shades of Grey is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.
According to Universal Pictures, North American audiences were 68% female.
The film’s takings were more than double those of its nearest box office rival, Kingsman: The Secret Service, which earned $35.6 million, according to studio estimates.
Around the world, Fifty Shades of Grey took an estimated $158 million from 58 countries.
E.L. James’s trilogy of Fifty Shades books have reportedly sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 50 languages.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water came third on the box office chart with $30.5 million in its second weekend on release.
Rounding out the top five were the Oscar-nominated American Sniper with $16.4 million, and sci-fi fantasy Jupiter Ascending with $9.4 million.
New research has uncovered simple ways to trim 100 calories or more from your diet without skimping on flavor. While it doesn’t sound like much, shaving off 100 calories a day could help you trim 10 lbs or more in a year even if you never set foot in the gym.
Wet your whistle
You’re more likely to crave veggies than greasy French fries, chips, or other high-fat foods if you pair a meal with water instead of caloric beverages. Researchers at the University of Oregon say that food-drink pairings can influence the type of food choices we make and the amount of calories we eat. In the study, adults who paired a meal with water were more likely to eat their vegetables and make other healthy food choices than if they sipped on soda.
Stop staring at sugar
To help you keep sugar cravings in check, a recent study says you should look the other way when you see pictures of high-fat, high-calorie, or sugary foods. That’s because brain scans have shown that ogling pictures of high-calorie treats stimulates parts of the brain that control hunger and the reward center, says Kathleen Page, MD, assistant professor of medicine at USC and the study’s lead author. Bottom line: maybe your Pinterest board of cupcakes isn’t the best idea.
Sleep more
Several studies say you could wind up hungrier than if you were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. One study from the Mayo Clinic shows getting less than 6 ½ hours of sleep a night can lead to consuming as many as 500 excess calories in a day.
Being sleep deprived can increase how hungry you feel and lead to downing more calories than you’d eat if you weren’t exhausted, says Manfred Hallschmid, PhD, department of medical psychology and behavioral neurobiology, University of Tübingen and lead researcher of a separate study on sleep and calorie consumption.
“Sleep deprivation can raise levels of appetite hormones like ghrelin,” he says.
Surging levels of ghrelin, the hormone that revs up your appetite, can lead to eating hundreds of extra calories than when you’re well-rested, according to Dr. Manfred Hallschmid.
Dim the lights
A recent study from Cornell University says the secret to eating less – and feeling more satisfied with what you do eat – could be as simple as some mood lighting. People who ate a meal under soft, warm lighting consumed 175 fewer calories, and finished 18% less of the food on their plates, than those who dined in brightly lit places.
Those in the darker rooms also rated food as more enjoyable than the other group. Scientists think that’s because the harsh fluorescent lights commonly found in fast-food restaurants may create a psychological need to rush through meals and eat more. Consider this your chance to actually use those candlesticks you got for your wedding ages ago.
Don’t say: I can’t
Whether you’re trying to sidestep a fast-food drive-thru or the office doughnuts, don’t tell yourself what you can’t eat. Instead, tell yourself you “don’t” eat it. In a recent study, when researchers divided a group of people into “can’t eats” and “don’t eats,” 64% of those in the “don’t” group passed up a candy bar in favor of a healthier granola bar – but only 30% of the “can’t” group chose the healthier snack. “Can’t” sounds more like punishment than being healthy, creating a sense of self-deprivation that can tank your motivation. On the other hand, reminding yourself you “don’t” eat certain foods feels more empowering.Think thin The way you think about food and your body can determine your success at sticking to a healthy diet. Over a 10-year span, 59% of women who started out with an average body mass index (BMI) of 20 but thought they were overweight, wound up packing on weight and watching their BMI swell to more than 25. That weight gain likely happened because of a self-fulfilling prophecy, says Susan Albers, psychologist at The Cleveland Clinic and the author of Eating Mindfully and 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food.
“Your mindset is incredibly important in giving up or getting on track with your weight,” she says.
“So if you think you are not overweight, regardless of your actual weight, you will act in ways that lead you to what you already believe.”
Be a straight shooter
They might look stylish, but swanky, curved drinking glasses on your table could lead to extra weight. A British study found that people consumed 60% more alcohol, sugary sodas, and juices if the glass they drank from was curvy, rather than a straight tumbler. The researchers speculate that people drink faster from the curvy glasses because it’s harder to tell when you’re at the halfway point, meaning you’re more likely to reach for another drink sooner and end up consuming more.
Ethan Embry has confirmed on Twitter on Valentine’s Day that he is engaged to his ex-wife, actress Sunny Mabrey.
The 36-year-old Can’t Hardly Wait actor and Sunny Mabrey made their debut as an engaged couple once more on February 14 at the Make-Up & Hair Stylists Guild Awards, where he served as a presenter.
They were photographed kissing on the red carpet and Sunny Mabrey sported a diamond ring on her ring finger.
“Beyoncé is right. I finally listened. Wuh uh oh uh uh oh oh oh,” Ethan Embry tweeted earlier in the day.
Ethan Embry and Sunny Mabrey have no children together. The actor shares a 15-year-old son, Cogeian Sky, with his first ex-wife, Amelinda.
The couple wed in 2005 and Sunny Mabrey filed for divorce in 2012. They reconciled more than a year later.
“God, my love life it’s insane,” Ethan Embry said on dating coach Tara Richter FoXXXy Forum podcast in November 2013, adding: “My ex-wife and I are now dating.”
Egypt has bombed ISIS targets in Libya, hours after the group published video showing the apparent killings of 21 Egyptian Christians.
State TV said the dawn strikes had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas.
Libyan officials said Egypt had hit targets in the militant-held city of Derna in co-ordination with Libya.
A video emerged on February 15 showing militants forcing a group of men to the ground and decapitating them.
Islamic State militants claim to have carried out several attacks in Libya, which is in effect without a government.
The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, under the control of Islamist groups.
The video of the beheadings was posted online by Libyan jihadists who pledge loyalty to ISIS. The victims were all wearing orange overalls as in previous videos of ISIS executions. It was one of the first such videos to come from an ISIS group outside its core territory in Syria and Iraq.
Egypt did not give the locations of the strikes, but reports said that Egyptian jets had taken part in co-ordinated air strikes on Derna.
Libyan Air force commander Saqer al-Joroushi told Reuters that Libyan planes had bombed targets in Sirte and Bin Jawad.
Earlier, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt had the “right to respond” against ISIS, whom he described as “inhuman criminal killers”.
“Egypt and the whole world are in a fierce battle with extremist groups carrying extremist ideology and sharing the same goals.”
Egypt has declared seven days of national mourning.
Leading international condemnation, the United States called the killings “despicable” and “cowardly”.
Libya is home to a large community of both Muslim and Coptic Egyptians, with most working in the construction sector.
In the first kidnapping in Sirte, in late December, a group of Coptic Christians was abducted at a fake checkpoint while trying to leave the city.
Days later, militants raided a residential compound in Sirte and separated Christians from Muslims before handcuffing their captives and taking them away.
Mother of three Kourtney Kardashian was already flaunting her post-baby body on Instagram, just six weeks after giving birth to her latest son Reign Aston Disick.
Kourtney Kardashian’s New York based yoga teacher Leila Johnson has revealed the secret of the reality star’s weight loss to E! News: “Everything she eats is very fresh, handmade, less processed, less garbage.
“We make our own roasted trail mixes. We use coconut oil, raw pumpkin seeds and other nuts.”
Leila Johnson continued: “Kourtney is a Ghee goddess! She is obsessed with ghee. It’s clarified butter…She cooks with it and you can eat it on an empty stomach.”
Photo Getty Images
Leila Johnson, who is a co-host of The Healing Planet, said that Ghee can absolutely help with anxiety while also keeping expectant moms more grounded.
The yoga teacher assures fans it’s not just a healthy diet that can contribute to weight loss. A well-planned fitness routine can do wonders for any new mom.
“One of the tricks for losing weight is spending the first few weeks doing as little as possible, just hibernating at home for the first 6 weeks,” Leila Johnson revealed.
“[Kourtney Kardashian] does that every time, her weight comes off so fast. She just does gentle walks and breast feeds.”
“She’s past the 6 weeks now and she is starting to get into an exercise routine,” Leila Johnson said.
“She’s doing some cardio now – walking and running.”
Kourtney Kardashian recently confessed on Instagram, she still has 14 “stubborn pounds to go” that could take her routine up a notch.
According to a new report, up to 100 banks and financial institutions worldwide have been attacked in an “unprecedented cyber robbery”.
Computer security company Kaspersky Lab estimates $1 billion has been stolen in the attacks, which it says started in 2013 and are still active.
A cybercriminal gang with members from Russia, Ukraine and China is responsible, it said.
Kaspersky said it worked with Interpol and Europol on the investigation.
It said the attacks had taken place in 30 countries including financial institutions in Russia, US, Germany, China, Ukraine and Canada.
“These attacks again underline the fact that criminals will exploit any vulnerability in any system,” said Sanjay Virmani, director of Interpol’s digital crime centre.
Kaspersky said the gang’s methods marked a new stage in cyber robbery where “malicious users steal money directly from banks and avoid targeting end users”.
The gang, which Kaspersky dubbed Carbanak, used computer viruses to infect company networks with malware including video surveillance, enabling it to see and record everything that happened on staff’s screens.
In some cases it was then able to transfer money from the banks’ accounts to their own, or even able to tell cash machines to dispense cash at a pre-determined time of day.
Kaspersky said on average each bank robbery took between two and four months, with up to $10 million stolen each time.
“It was a very slick and professional cyber robbery,” said Kaspersky Lab’s principal security researcher, Sergey Golovanov.
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a body that alerts banks about hacking activity, said that its members had received a briefing about Kaspersky’s report in January.
“We cannot comment on individual actions our members have taken, but on balance we believe our members are taking appropriate actions to prevent and detect these kinds of attacks and minimize any effects on their customers,” it said in a statement.
The gunman believed to have attacked a free-speech debate and a Copenhagen synagogue was 22, born in Denmark and known to them because of past violence, police say.
The presumed gunman was shot and killed early on Sunday morning by police who were monitoring an address in the Norrebro district of the city.
The man’s name has not been confirmed.
A film director and a synagogue guard were killed in separate attacks. Five police officers were also injured.
Police believe the gunman was acting alone.
He was known to them in connection with criminal gangs and had convictions for violent offences and dealing in weapons.
“It was the case that when the suspect was shot and killed during police action, he was armed with pistols,” police commissioner Thorkild Fogde told a news conference.
Danish media have widely named him as Omar El-Hussein, but police did not release the suspect’s identity.
The attacks began on Saturday, February 14, when the gunman fired shots at a cafe hosting a seminar on free speech. It was attended by cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats over his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
The gunman opened fire again in the early hours of Sunday outside a synagogue in Copenhagen.
The Danish intelligence service is investigating whether the gunman was copying the shootings in Paris last month, when 17 people were killed in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and HyperCacher kosher supermarket.
Earlier, the head of the intelligence service told reporters the man had been known to them, and police were working to determine whether he had travelled to Syria or Iraq.
PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt described the shootings as “a cynical act of terror against Denmark” and said her government would not compromise on its defense of free expression.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt later visited the synagogue and said Denmark would do everything to protect its Jewish community.
Denmark prides itself on being one of the few European countries to have saved most of its Jewish population from the Nazi Holocaust in the 1940s.
“When you mercilessly fire deadly bullets at innocent people taking part in a debate, when you attack the Jewish community, you attack our democracy,” Helle Thorning-Schmidt said on a visit to the synagogue on February 15.
“We will do everything possible to protect our Jewish community.”
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Danish Jews to emigrate to Israel. Denmark’s Chief Rabbi Jair Melchior said he was “disappointed” by Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance, the AP reported.
“If the way we deal with terror is to run somewhere else, we should all run to a deserted island,” said Jair Melchior, according to AP.
There has been widespread international condemnation. The US State Department tweeted: “We stand with the people of Denmark and all who defend the universal right of freedom of speech and stand against anti-Semitism and bigotry.”
Patrick Pelloux, a Charlie Hebdo columnist, said: “We are all Danish tonight.”
This year’s Braunschweig Carnival parade has been called off at short notice in the northern German city, due to the threat of an Islamist attack, police said.
A “specific threat of an Islamist attack” was identified by state security sources, they said in a statement.
German police urged people planning to attend to stay at home.
The parade – a well-known regional attraction – was cancelled only 90 minutes before it was due to start.
“Many people arriving at the train station were already dressed up and very disappointed – but we didn’t want to take any risks,” police spokesman Thomas Geese was quoted as saying.
Photo Flickr
Braunschweig’s Carnival parade reportedly draws around 250,000 visitors each year. More than 4,000 participants in fancy dress march down a 4-mile route through the city.
The decision to call it off was taken by Mayor Ulrich Markurth and the parade’s marshal, Gerhard Baller.
“This is a sad day for our city,” Mayor Ulrich Markurth told public broadcaster NDR.
“The assessment of the police however left us with no other choice.”
Large carnival parades and street parties are held every year in the week before Lent in Catholic regions of Germany.
The cancellation comes hours after Danish police shot dead a man they believe was behind two deadly attacks earlier in Copenhagen, though one German police chief was quoted as saying there was no link.
Nutella billionaire Michele Ferrero, whose global chocolate empire made him Italy’s richest man, has died aged 89.
Michele Ferrero s privately-owned company is famous for its chocolate-hazelnut Nutella spread, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Kinder eggs and Tic Tac sweets.
The billionaire died on February 14 at his Monaco home after months of illness, according to his company.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella called him a “born entrepreneur”.
Michele Ferrero’s father, a pastry maker named Pietro, developed the forerunner to Nutella in 1946, called Giandujot, combining a small amount of cocoa and lots of hazelnuts to make an affordable luxury at a time chocolate was expensive.
Michele Ferrero turned the paste into the Nutella now known the world over, produced in 11 factories and sold in 160 countries. The first pot was made in 1964.
His son, Giovanni, became chief executive of the company after his older brother Pietro died of a suspected heart attack while cycling in South Africa in 2011.
The Ferrero group employs more than 22,000 workers and has sales per year of more than €8 billion ($10.5 billion).
Forbes magazine described Michele Ferrero as “the richest candyman on the planet”, putting him and his family in 30th place on their list of the world’s wealthiest people, with wealth of $23.4 billion.
The Grand Budapest Hotel has won the top film prize at this year’s Writers Guild Awards.
Wes Anderson’s comedy, which is nominated for nine Oscars, won the award for best original screenplay – for a script co-authored by Anderson and Hugo Guinness.
Graham Moore picked up best adapted screenplay award for his work on The Imitation Game, about World War II code-breaker Alan Turing.
The annual awards were announced simultaneously at ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Grand Budapest Hotel – which picked up the BAFTA for best original screenplay earlier this month – is nominated in the same category at this year’s Academy Awards on February 22.
Graham Moore’s script for The Imitation Game is also Oscar-nominated in the best adapted screenplay category.
It was beaten to the BAFTA by Anthony McCarten’s The Theory of Everything – which was not eligible as a nominee at the Writers Guild Awards (WGAs), because of Guild rules regarding jurisdiction and membership.
Another major Oscar contender, Birdman, was also ineligible because four of the writers are not guild members.
The Writers Guild Awards have a healthy track record of predicting the Oscar winners – picking the same winners in the adapted screenplay category 14 times over the past 20 years.
However, last year John Ridley’s script for 12 Years a Slave was ineligible at the WGAs, yet went on to win the Oscar for adapted screenplay.
HBO’s hit series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey, led the television categories, winning best drama and best new series.
Louie also picked up two awards, for best comedy series and best comedy episode.
Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes collected the Paddy Chayefsky Award for career achievement in TV, telling the audience she remains “amazed there is a job where I get to make stuff up for a living”.
There was a standing ovation as the Screen Laurel Award was presented to Daniel Ramis, on behalf of his late father Harold Ramis, whose screenwriting credits included Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.
Harold Ramis died a year ago this month, at the age of 69.
The complete list of winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, games, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories:
FILM WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES
True Detective, Written by Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K.; FX
NEW SERIES
True Detective, Written by Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Last Call” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS
EPISODIC COMEDY
“So Did the Fat Lady” (Louie), Written by Louis C.K.; FX
LONG FORM ORIGINAL
Deliverance Creek, Written by Melissa Carter; Lifetime
LONG FORM ADAPTED
Olive Kitteridge, Teleplay by Jane Anderson, Based on the novel by Elizabeth Strout; HBO
SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA – ORIGINAL
“Episode 113: Rachel” (High Maintenance), Written by Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair; helpingyoumaintain.com
ANIMATION
“Brick Like Me” (The Simpsons), Written by Brian Kelley; Fox
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Kevin Avery, Tim Carvell, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner; HBO
71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, Written by Barry Adelman; Special Material by Alex Baze, Dave Boone, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Jon Macks, Sam Means, Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Mike Shoemaker; NBC
QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter; NBC
Photo Getty Images
DAYTIME DRAMA
General Hospital, Written by Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Chris Van Etten; ABC
CHILDREN’S SCRIPT – EPISODIC & SPECIALS
“Haunted Heartthrob” (Haunted Hathaways), Written by Bob Smiley; Nickelodeon
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS
“United States of Secrets: The Program (Part One)” (Frontline); PBS; Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS
“League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
TV NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“Nelson Mandela: A Man Who Changed the World” (World News with Diane Sawyer), Written by Dave Bloch, Lisa Ferri, Diane Sawyer; ABC News
TV NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Nowhere to Go” (60 Minutes), Written by Oriana Zill de Granados, Scott Pelley, Michael Rey; CBS
RADIO WINNERS
RADIO DOCUMENTARY
“Three Shots Rang Out: The JFK Assassination 50 Years Later,” Written by Darren Reynolds; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT
“World News This Week,” Written by Andrew Evans; ABC News Radio
RADIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY
“Civil Rights at 50,” Written by Jane Tillman Irving; WCBS Radio
PROMOTIONAL WRITING WINNER
ON-AIR PROMOTION (TELEVISION, NEW MEDIA OR RADIO)
“How I Met Your Mother,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS
VIDEOGAME WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING
The Last of Us: Left Behind, Written by Neil Druckmann; Sony Computer Entertainment
There were no nominees in Children’s Script – Long Form or Special or Television Graphic Art and Animation categories this year.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter got married on Valentine’s Day, the actor’s publicist has confirmed.
The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony with family and close friends on the Isle of Wight.
Guests at event are said to have included Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman.
Sophie Hunter, 36, first met Benedict Cumberbatch, 38, when they appeared together in the 2009 film Burlesque Fairytales.
Benedict Cumberbatch shunned the token celebrity Instagram post to announce their engagement in an eight-line notice in the Times newspaper in November.
He has been shortlisted for an Oscar for his role as mathematician and Second World War code breaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.
Benedict Cumberbatch previously dated actress Olivia Poulet and designer Anna Jones.
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the last day of the Carnival season as it always falls the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
This year’s Mardi Gras is Tuesday, February 17.
Parades through the French Quarter and the Marigny are walking parades, not the traditional large float parades.
Mardi Gras is the biggest celebration the city of New Orleans hosts every year. This magnificent, costumed, beaded and feathered party is laced with tradition and is all about having a good time.
Carnival traditionally begins the 12th night after Christmas. And about two weeks before Mardi Gras, the parading begins. This year, parades began on January 31, 2015.
Every year Carnival parade organizations – known as “krewes” – are deep into preparations for their annual parades, costume balls and parties.
Fat Tuesday itself typically features back-to-back processions by some of the largest and oldest Carnival organizations in the state.
Thousands of Turkish women have protested at the murder of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan who allegedly resisted an attempt by a bus driver to rape her.
Police discovered the burnt body of Ozgecan Aslan in a riverbed in the city of Mersin, on February 13.
They have arrested three men in connection with her death – a minibus driver, his father and a friend.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Ahmet Davutoglu called Ozgecan Aslan’s family to offer their condolences.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu promised the family to hunt those responsible for the crime and punish them.
Ozgecan Aslan, a psychology student, was kidnapped on February 11 on her way home.
The driver allegedly tried to rape her. She reportedly fought him off with pepper spray, but was then stabbed to death. She was also hit on the head with an iron pipe.
The brutality of the murder caused an outcry across Turkey.
Photo RT
Thousands of women staged protests in several cities on February 14, including Ankara, Istanbul, and Mersin – Ozgecan Aslan’s hometown in southern Turkey.
In Istanbul, women activists held two separate protests to show their anger at the murder.
During the day, hundreds gathered behind a banner that read “Enough, we will stop the murder of women!”.
In the evening, the crowd got bigger. Thousands of women of all ages and walks of life poured out to the streets.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has its roots in political Islam and has been in power since 2002.
Women’s rights organizations say violence against women has risen sharply in the last decade.
Last year alone, almost 300 women were killed at the hands of men and more than 100 were raped, according to local reports.
Sevda Bayramoglu from Women for Peace Initiative demanded new legislation to protect women from violence.
“Men kill and rape and torture women. The state, the <<men’s state>>, is protecting them. We expect the parliament to stop this violence,” she said.
Ozgecan Aslan’s murder may become a rallying cause for activists seeking to end violence against women in Turkey.
London Mayor Boris Johnson says he intends to renounce his American citizenship to prove his “commitment to Britain”.
He told the Sunday Times that his citizenship was “an accident of birth that has left me with this thing. I’ve got to find a way of sorting it out”.
Boris Johnson, who was born in New York, has in the past been forced to pay US tax because of his American citizenship.
He has just completed a six-day tour of cities in the US.
Boris Johnson said he would approach US ambassador Matthew Barzun to explore what steps he had to take to give up his American nationality.
The Conservative politician – who was born in Manhattan in 1964 and owns a US passport alongside a British one – said that relinquishing his citizenship was a “laborious business, they don’t make it easy for you”.
Boris Johnson’s passport was renewed in November 2012 but he had previously stated that he would give it up after being told in 2006 that, as a native born American, he could only use a US passport to travel in that country, and not his British one.
“The reason I’m thinking I probably will want to make a change is that my commitment is, and always has been, to Britain,” he said.
In January Boris Johnson settled a US tax bill he had previously described as “absolutely outrageous”.
The mayor had faced a demand from the US authorities to pay capital gains tax on profits from the sale of his house in north London.
American law requires all citizens to pay US taxes even if they live abroad.
Boris Johnson is running for parliament in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the forthcoming general election.
In 2012 Boris Johnson told David Letterman that he could “technically speaking” become US president, as that nation requires its presidential candidates to be born there.
His trade mission to the US this week was aimed at bolstering London’s science and technology industries.
Boris Johnson began his east coast tour in Boston before heading to New York City and Washington DC.
A new winter storm bought snow and dangerously high winds to New England for the fourth time in less than a month on Valentine’s Day.
The region has already seen more than 6 feet of snow in some areas.
A blizzard warning was in effect for coastal areas from Connecticut to Maine through February 16 in the morning, promising 8 to 14 inches in southern New England up to 2 feet in Maine. A bone-chilling blast of cold will follow, with lows of minus 10 degrees forecast in some areas Sunday night.
National Weather Service meteorologist William Babcock said road conditions will be dangerous as steady, widespread winds whip the relatively dry snow around.
“On Sunday, the best thing people can do is stay home, stay indoors,” he said.
Hesaid gusts could max out at 75 mph — hurricane territory — on Cape Cod. Officials warned of possible power outages, and north-facing or vulnerable coastal areas could suffer flooding and beach erosion, the National Weather Service said.
The bad weather spanned several states — winter storm warnings extended west into Michigan and Ohio, where whiteout conditions led to a pileup on the Ohio Turnpike that killed at least two people. Another crash involving several tractor-trailers was reported on Interstate 70 just west of Columbus, and a storm-related crash on the New York Thruway south of Buffalo killed one person.
In New England, transportation officials took many precautions. Boston’s Logan International Airport said more than 250 Sunday flights were already canceled, and none was scheduled Sunday morning. And the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority canceled all rail, bus and ferry service in the Boston area on February 15.
Gov. Charlie Baker urged drivers to stay off roads during the storm, but he stopped short of an outright travel ban.
Crews worked urgently to remove the massive amounts of snow that clogged streets and triggered numerous roof collapses.
Massachusetts called up hundreds of National Guard troops to assist with snow removal, and the Hanscom Air Force base outside Boston became a staging area for heavy equipment pouring in from eight other Northeast states to help in the effort.
In southern New Hampshire, where up to 18 inches of new snow could fall, employees at a tree service volunteered to clear the snow from the roof of Londonderry South Elementary School. With the weather promising to show little love on Valentine’s Day, Governor CharlieBaker on Friday proclaimed “Valentine’s Week” in Massachusetts and encouraged people to celebrate the holiday by buying gifts and dining out all next week.
Business groups said weather-related travel woes have cut into sales by up to 80% for some restaurants and retailers leading up to Valentine’s Day, a holiday that usually generates about $500 million in business.
