Duck Commander, the company behind Duck Dynasty reality show, is reportedly set to purchase the rights to the Independence Bowl, or AdvoCare V100 Bowl as it has been known in recent years.
The deal will reportedly run through 2019, and this news comes shortly after it was announced that Duck Commander would sponsor NASCAR’s spring Sprint Cup 500 race, now known as the “Duck Commander 500”.
Duck Commander is set to purchase the rights to the Independence Bowl
The Independence Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana.
It was known as the Independence Bowl prior to 2013, and was so named because it was inaugurated in the US bicentennial year, 1976.
Lena Dunham will make her Saturday Night Live hosting debut on March 8 with musical guest The National.
The appearance will also mark The National’s their first time on the SNL. The National’s most recent album, Trouble Will Find Me, received a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album and their documentary Mistaken For Strangers hits theaters during last week of March.
Lena Dunham will make her Saturday Night Live hosting debut on March 8 with musical guest The National
Saturday Night Live returns on March 1st with host Jim Parsons and musical guest Beck. With the departure of Seth Meyers’ for NBC’s Late Night, next Saturday’s SNL will also mark the debut of head writer Colin Jost as new Weekend Update co-anchor.
Colin Jost will join Cecily Strong – who worked the popular fake news segment with Seth Meyers this season – behind the desk.
Oprah Winfrey shared her first selfie with fans from the 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards.
“My first selfie,” Oprah Winfrey, 60, tweeted.
“Love @idriselba! #imageawards.”
Oprah Winfrey is flanked in the picture by Idris Elba, who inches into the frame from behind, and gives the camera a cool stare-down.
Oprah Winfrey shared her first selfie with fans from the 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards
“Did I just photo bomb Oprah???” Idris Elba, 41, tweeted along with Oprah Winfrey’s original picture.
An eyewitness at the event told Us Weekly that photographers erupted into a state of frenzy once the media mogul arrived on the red carpet.
Although Oprah Winfrey ultimately lost in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Pasadena, California awards show to Lupita Nyong’o, the 12 Years a Slave breakout star credited Winfrey for impacting her career.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has angrily condemned as fabricated an audio recording that appears to show him talking to his son about hiding large sums of money.
The Turkish prime minister said the recording, allegedly tapped and posted on social media, was a “treacherous attack”.
It appears to reveal Recep Tayyip Erdogan asking his son Bilal to dispose of millions of euros in cash from a house.
The opposition has called for the prime minister’s resignation.
The recordings, which could not be independently verified, were said to be of four conversations dating back to December 17, when the sons of three ministers and business allies of the prime minister were detained in a high-level corruption investigation.
Correspondents say that the inquiry has presented a major challenge to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 11 years in power ahead of key local elections in March.
However, neither the prime minister nor his party’s spokespeople have denied that the voices on the recording belong to Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his son.
Their statement so far is that their voices were “montaged” to implicate them.
During the conversation, a voice can be heard discussing how to reduce the funds to “zero” by distributing them among several businessmen.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has angrily condemned as fabricated an audio recording that appears to show him talking to his son about hiding large sums of money
At one point, the second voice says some 30 million euros ($40 million) remains to be disposed of.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office issued a statement late on Monday night saying the release of the recordings was part of a sustained campaign to unseat him.
“Those who created this dirty conspiracy targeting the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey will be brought to account within the law,” it said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a late-night meeting with the head of intelligence and then spoke out publicly on Tuesday, telling lawmakers from his AK Party the recording was a “shameless montage” and an attack on him personally.
“We will bring legal action against these [wire-tapping] activities. If we let it go on, there will be no privacy for families, nor for the state in this country,” he said.
By late Tuesday morning, the recording had received more than 1.5 million hits on YouTube in less than 24 hours.
The previous day, Turkish government officials said thousands of people, including senior politicians and other leading figures, had had their telephones illegally tapped over three years with the aim to blackmail and fabricate criminal cases.
Two pro-government newspapers, Yeni Safak and Star, alleged that the taps were ordered by prosecutors said to be loyal to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The prosecutors have denied the accusations.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Fethullah Gulen, his former ally, of orchestrating December’s corruption investigation against key AKP figures and of trying to form “a parallel state” in Turkey.
One of the prosecutors named in the stories, Adem Ozcan, denied the allegations.
Oscar Pistorius trial in South Africa can be partially televised, a Pretoria court has ruled today.
Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, more than a year ago, and his murder trial begins on March 3.
State prosecutors allege the killing was premeditated, but Oscar Pistorius claims he mistook her for an intruder.
It will be the first time parts of a trial in South Africa are televised live.
Judge Dunstan Mlambo at the court in Pretoria was asked to decide how much, if any, of the proceedings could be filmed and broadcast live.
The application was brought by media groups MultiChoice, eNCA and Eyewitness News, reported Sapa news agency.
Justice Dunstan Mlambo said the entire audio of the trial could be broadcast live, and sections of the trial could be filmed and televised live.
Oscar Pistorius shot dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and his murder trial begins on March 3
These included opening arguments, evidence of experts, police witnesses and closing arguments.
The testimony of the accused and his witnesses were exempt, the judge said.
Three cameras could be set up to be operated remotely – and no close-ups or recordings of private conversations were allowed, he said.
Witnesses could apply in writing if they did not want to be on camera – and allowances could be made to have faces obscured or filmed from the back, he added.
MultiChoice is planning 24-hour coverage of the trial on its own dedicated channel – the Oscar Pistorius Trial channel – which is due to begin broadcasting on Sunday.
Defense lawyers had said it would prejudice proceedings.
Justice Dunstan Mlambo said the broadcast of a “celebrity” trial might go a long way to address misconceptions about justice system.
However, he warned against a trial by media and said the court could be the only place where Oscar Pistorius was tried.
Reeva Steenkamp, 29, was shot three times through the toilet door of Oscar Pistorius’ Pretoria home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Oscar Pistorius, 27, said he thought she was a burglar and denies prosecution claims that they had an argument in the hours before the shooting.
Much of the case will depend on ballistic evidence from the scene of the shooting, correspondents say.
Oleksandr Turchynov – Ukraine’s interim president – has warned of the dangers of separatism following the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Many in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions oppose his overthrow and the installation of a more European-leaning interim administration.
Russia is also angry at the changes, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Moscow will not intervene.
The formation of a unity government has been delayed until Thursday.
Addressing parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov said he would meet law enforcement agencies to discuss the risk of separatism in regions with large ethnic Russian populations.
Separatism was a “serious threat”, he said.
Ukraine’s interim President Olexander Turchynov has warned of the dangers of separatism following the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych
Crimea and some pro-Russian areas in the east have seen protests against the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, sparking fears of secession.
The delay in announcing a unity government was to allow further consultations, Oleksandr Turchynov said, adding that “a coalition of national faith must be elected”.
Russia has been vehemently opposed to the changes in Ukraine, with PM Dmitry Medvedev saying on Monday that those behind the new administration had conducted an “armed mutiny”.
At a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday, Sergei Lavrov warned other states against seeking “unilateral advantages” in Ukraine, but said Russia’s “policy of non-intervention” would continue.
“It is dangerous and counter-productive to try to force on Ukraine a choice according to the principle of either being with us or against us,” he said.
Sergei Lavrov added that “it is in our interest for Ukraine to be part of the broad European family” but against Russia’s interest to “allow the radicals and nationalists who are clearly trying to take centre stage to prevail.”
It is still unclear where Viktor Yanukovych is, but an arrest warrant has been issued. He was last reportedly seen on Sunday in Balaklava on the Crimean peninsula.
Acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said a criminal case had been opened against the ousted president and other officials over “mass murder of peaceful citizens”.
Tuesday’s temperatures remain up to 30 degrees below average in Midwest and Northeast, forecasters announced.
“This is going to be another cold week,” Kevin Roth from the Weather Channel said.
“Tuesday will see temperatures drop between 10 to 30 degrees below average for much of the Midwest and Northeast, so most areas will be freezing or colder.”
Temperatures remain up to 30 degrees below average in Midwest and Northeast
The coldest air will be reserved for the northern Plains to the Great Lakes, where highs will be in the single digits and teens, according to the National Weather Service.
Overnight and into Wednesday, cities from Washington, D.C., to New York could see one or two inches of snow, Kevin Roth added.
Meanwhile, a couple of heavy storms will hit California this week.
In his debut at Late Night, former Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers began with a quick tribute to Jimmy Fallon, his former castmate, by imitating his “Thank You Notes” segment.
Seth Meyers thanked Jimmy Fallon for moving on to The Tonight Show so that he could take his job. Then he self-deprecatingly promised to use the show only for “completely original comedy pieces” – as soon as the current one was over.
After a frenetic opening written by Fred Armisen, another SNL alum, Seth Meyers walked out to deliver his writing team’s unflashy but exceptionally well-made jokes.
Almost half were about politics, including this one about a 101-year-old candidate: “He has a good chance of appealing to younger viewers, since that’s all there is.”
Seth Meyers doesn’t seem prone to dumbing his humor down: His first bit was about Venn diagrams. But he could also be breezily likeable, as when he told a story about a man in a diner changing the tire of his and his wife’s car, while Seth Meyers held their small, shivering greyhound.
Seth Meyers began his first episode of Late Night with a quick tribute to Jimmy Fallon
On his first night, Seth Meyers felt almost like a pre-David Letterman talk show host, going for straightforward jokes over irony and stunts. Even his set is low-key, almost soothing, full of metallic blues.
His first guest was Amy Poehler – yet another SNL colleague, and one of his best friends. The second guest was Vice President Joe Biden, who had an easy rapport with Amy Poehler after guesting on her show, Parks & Recreation.
Joe Biden, a likely 2016 presidential contender, joked that he was “planning a major announcement tonight – but I decided tonight was your night”.
Seth Meyers then asked Amy Poehler about her 2016 plans.
“I’m running for president,” she said.
Amy Poehler did have a real announcement: Broad City, the Comedy Central show she executive produces, will return for a second season. She also talked about hosting a Golden Globe party, where Joaquin Phoenix was an exceptionally hard-to-read first guest.
According to a new study, cooking meat produces chemicals which may increase the risk of developing dementia.
Advanced glycation end products (AGES) have been linked to diseases such as type-2 diabetes.
Mice fed a high-AGES diet had a build-up of dangerous proteins in the brain and impaired cognitive function.
Experts said the results were “compelling” but did not provide “definitive answers”.
AGES are formed when proteins or fats react with sugar. This can happen naturally and during the cooking process.
Cooking meat produces chemicals which may increase the risk of developing dementia
Researchers at the Icahn school of medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York, tested the effect of AGES on mice and people.
The animal experiments, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that a diet rich in AGES affects the chemistry of the brain.
It leads to a build-up of defective beta amyloid protein – a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The mice eating a low-AGES diet were able to prevent the production of damaged amyloid.
The mice performed less well in physical and thinking tasks after their AGES-rich diet.
A short-term analysis of people over 60 suggested a link between high levels of AGES in the blood and cognitive decline.
The study concluded: “We report that age-related dementia may be causally linked to high levels of food advanced glycation end products.
“Importantly, reduction of food-derived AGES is feasible and may provide an effective treatment strategy.”
Turkish pro-government media have claimed a group of anti-government prosecutors have illegally wiretapped thousands of prominent figures.
Targets reportedly included government ministers and business leaders.
The prosecutors, who are said to be loyal to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, have denied the accusations.
Fethullah Gulen has been accused of running a “parallel state” in Turkey, controlling groups of police, lawyers and politicians. He denies the claims.
The latest allegations came in two pro-government newspapers, Yeni Safak and Star.
Fethullah Gulen has been accused of running a “parallel state” in Turkey, controlling groups of police, lawyers and politicians
The Star reported that “Gulenists” had wiretapped more than 7,000 people since 2011 on the pretext of trying to uncover terrorism plots.
One of the prosecutors named in the stories, Adem Ozcan, denied the allegations.
“There was definitely no monitoring or phone-tapping of thousands of politicians, writers, NGO representatives and businessmen in the framework of this dossier in the way that the newspaper stories say,” he said in a statement.
Fethullah Gulen has denied using his influence to start investigations into allegations of government corruption.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Fethullah Gulen, a one-time ally who lives in self-imposed exile in the US, of trying to attack the government.
Four ministers have resigned in the aftermath of the corruption inquiries.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to fight on, in what is seen as the biggest challenge to his government in his 11 years in office.
Facebook has quietly ended its three-year-old email address system “@facebook.com”.
From now on, emails sent to a “@facebook.com” address will be forwarded to the personal email address from which the member signed up for the site.
“We’re making this change because most people haven’t been using their Facebook email address,” said a Facebook spokesperson.
The change will happen in early March.
Facebook has quietly ended its three-year-old email address system
The service was launched in November 2010 and billed as a way to streamline users’ communication by providing a single inbox that could receive Facebook messages, SMS texts, and conventional emails.
The service came under fire in 2012 when Facebook replaced users’ published email addresses with their “@facebook.com” email on their profile.
The company later reversed course.
The move comes just a few days after Facebook’s surprise purchase of messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion.
According to South Korean officials, a North Korean patrol boat violated a sea border with the South several times late on Monday.
The ship spent a few hours south of the border, nearing a South Korean border island, before returning after repeated warnings from the South, they added.
North Korea disputes the maritime border and has sent boats across it in the past.
The incident comes amid joint military drills between the US and South Korea which are opposed by Pyongyang.
The North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which South Korea considers the maritime border between the two sides, at around 22:46 local time, South Korea’s defense ministry said.
The South broadcast warnings 10 times before the ship returned, at around 02:25 local time, the ministry added.
A North Korean patrol boat violated a sea border with the South several times late on Monday
The NLL was drawn unilaterally by the United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
However, North Korea has disputed the NLL and drawn its own border further south of the line.
“The North Korean ship’s NLL violation is seen as part of military drills,” defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
“It is believed that [the ship] intended to test the South Korean military.”
The ship was said to have come within 15 miles of South Korea’s border island of Baengnyeong.
Monday’s incident comes on the same day joint annual US-South Korea military exercises began.
More than 12,500 US troops will take part in the exercises, which include Key Resolve, a computer-based simulation, and Foal Eagle, which involves air, ground and naval drills.
Pyongyang is opposed to the drills and has previously called them “exercises of war”.
Tuesday is also the last day of rare family reunions for North and South Korean relatives separated after the Korean War.
MtGox, one of the biggest Bitcoin exchanges, has gone offline.
MtGox has been hit by technical issues and recently halted all customer withdrawals of Bitcoin after it spotted what it called “unusual activity”.
The move is a setback for backers of Bitcoin, who have been pushing for greater adoption of the currency.
Meanwhile, six other major Bitcoin exchanges issued a joint statement distancing themselves from MtGox.
The move by MtGox to halt withdrawals had resulted in a sharp decline in the value of Bitcoin.
“This tragic violation of the trust of users of MtGox was the result of one company’s actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of Bitcoin and the digital currency industry,” the exchanges, including Coinbase and BTC China, said in a statement.
“As with any new industry, there are certain bad actors that need to be weeded out, and that is what we are seeing today.
“We are confident, however, that strong Bitcoin companies, led by highly competent teams and backed by credible investors, will continue to thrive, and to fulfil the promise that Bitcoin offers as the future of payment in the internet age,” they added.
MtGox halted transfers of the digital currency to external addresses on February 7.
MtGox has been hit by technical issues and recently halted all customer withdrawals of Bitcoin
The Tokyo-based firm said it had found a loophole that thieves could use to fool the transaction process into sending double the correct number of Bitcoins.
The issue also left it vulnerable to attacks, which slowed down the rate at which coins could be bought and sold.
The loophole was also thought to have been exploited by thieves, who stole about $2.7 million in Bitcoins from the Silk Road 2 website earlier this month.
However, last week, the exchange said that customers would be able to starts withdrawals “soon”.
So far, MtGox has not issued any statement about reasons behind the site going offline and whether it would be back.
However, one report claimed that MtGox had become “insolvent” after losing 744,408 Bitcoins – worth about $350 million at Monday’s trading prices.
Unlike real currencies, Bitcoins are not regulated by any central bank or government financial institutions.
They are created as part of a technique called “mining”, which is used to process transactions.
With only a limited number or Bitcoins in circulation, their price has risen significantly in recent months driven by a variety of factors.
Some have been betting that the digital currency may get the backing of regulators as a legitimate financial service and have been investing in it.
Their popularity has also been driven in part by it being difficult to trace transactions carried out using Bitcoins, and the currency has been linked to illegal activity online.
Its growing popularity has seen backers of the currency push for greater mainstream adoption. They have had some success with a few firms starting to accept Bitcoins as a form of payment.
However, there have also been concerns over the currency’s long-term future, not least due to a lack of proper regulation and laws.
At the same time, some have warned that the rapid surge in Bitcoin’s price was merely due to speculation and was not sustainable.
NBC 5’s anchor Allison Rosati is married to Dr. Lee Dennis and is the proud and dedicated mother of four children.
Allison Rosati and Dr. Lee Dennis got married on March 20, 1993.
Their wedding cake was strictly non-traditional: a frosted cheesecake with plain, chocolate turtle and raspberry layers.
Allison Rosati, 51, is an award winning anchor and reporter on NBC 5 in Chicago. You can watch her weeknights at 5,6, and 10 p.m.
Allison Rosati is married to Dr. Lee Dennis and is the proud and dedicated mother of four children
She joined the NBC 5 family as an anchor and reporter in August 1990. Viewers first got to know Allison Rosati on First Thing in the Morning. Five years later she began anchoring the early evening news.
In May 1997, Allison Rosati was promoted to co-anchor of NBC 5’s 10 p.m. newscast.
Originally from Pine City, Minnesota, Allison Rosati started her career in Rochester, Minnesota at KTTC-TV in 1985. 987, Rosati was hired by WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, New York to report and anchor the 6 & 11 p.m. newscasts.
In 1985, Allison Rosati graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a double major in speech and communications and received cum laude honors. Gustavus has honored Allison Rosati with its First Decade Award and its Distinguished Alumni award for her achievements in journalism.
For the second time in her three Daytona 500s, Danica Patrick’s day ended with a crash.
After rain delayed the Daytona 500 for 6 hours, 22 minutes, on Lap 145, Kevin Harvick moved up the track and clipped Brian Scott, triggering a crash involving nine cars.
As Danica Patrick attempted to skirt to the inside, Aric Almirola’s car slid down and tagged her car in the right front. The impact eventually sent her car careening into the outside wall.
“What the hell happened?” asked Danica Patrick, who led two laps before contact with Aric Almirola shot her straight into the wall exiting Turn 4.
Other drivers involved in the wreck were pole-sitter Austin Dillon, Parker Kligerman, Paul Menard, Michael Waltrip, David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, Justin Allgaier and Josh Wise.
For the second time in her three Daytona 500s, Danica Patrick’s day ended with a crash
Paul Menard led a race-high 29 laps before the wreck.
Aric Almirola says he wasn’t sure what happened because the crash.
Later, with the laps winding down in the race, Austin Dillon slid up into Kyle Larson, triggering the second multicar wreck of the evening.
With the pack running through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 161, Austin Dillon lost control of the No. 3 Chevy, turned Larson and slid up until Casey Mears collected Brian Vickers, Michael Annett, Marcos Ambrose, Brian Scott and Jamie McMurray, drawing the fourth caution.
Austin Dillon caused yet another wreck with six laps remaining in the race. He ran into his new teammate Ryan Newman in Turn 3 and ignited a seven-car wreck.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine’s interim authorities had conducted an “armed mutiny”.
And the Russian foreign ministry said dissenters in mainly Russian-speaking regions faced suppression.
Earlier, Ukraine’s interim interior minister said an arrest warrant had been issued for ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
Ukraine’s parliament voted to remove Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. His whereabouts are unknown but he was reported to have been in the Crimean peninsula on Sunday.
Russia has already recalled its ambassador to Ukraine for consultation.
Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine’s interim authorities had conducted an armed mutiny
Unrest in Ukraine began in November when Viktor Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Dmitry Medvedev, quoted by Russian news agencies, suggested that Western countries that accepted Ukraine’s new authorities were mistaken.
“The legitimacy of a whole number of organs of power that function there raises great doubts,” he said.
“Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise. This is some kind of aberration of perception when people call legitimate what is essentially the result of an armed mutiny.”
He added: “We do not understand what is going on there. There is a real threat to our interests and to the lives of our citizens.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry quickly responded to Dmitry Medvedev’s comments on Russian citizens in Ukraine, saying his concerns were “unfounded”.
However, Russia’s foreign ministry also issued a strongly worded statement saying a “forced change of power” was taking place in Ukraine and accused interim leaders of passing new laws “aimed at infringing the humanitarian rights of Russians and other ethnic minorities”.
Russell Crowe has launched a campaign to have his new Biblical epic Noah screened for Pope Francis.
Russell Crowe plays the title role in Darren Aronofsky’s new film, which is based on the Bible story of Noah and his ark.
The actor wants to make sure Pope Francis sees the movie and he has launched a campaign on Twitter in a bid to arrange a screening for the pontiff, tweeting his official account and urging fans to re-post his messages.
Russell Crowe has launched a campaign to have his new Biblical epic Noah screened for Pope Francis
Russell Crowe wrote: “Dear Holy Father… Noah film. Screening? The message of the film is powerful, fascinating, resonant… Villagers, given his environmental focus/scholarly knowledge, trying to screen <<Noah>> for Pope Francis… You help? retweet previous.”
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel has unveiled plans to shrink the US Army to what is expected to be its smallest size since before World War Two.
An entire class of Air Force attack jets was tipped to be axed under the plans, as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlines his 2015 budget.
Chuck Hagel is expected to propose trimming the active-duty Army to between 440,000 and 450,000 personnel.
The US military is under pressure to downsize after two costly foreign wars.
The number of active-duty US Army members is already expected to be pared down to 490,000, as the US prepares to end its combat role in Afghanistan later this year.
Referring to budget pressures, Chuck Hagel said at the Pentagon on Monday: “The reality of reduced resources and a changing strategic environment requires us to prioritize and make difficult choices.”
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel has unveiled plans to shrink the US Army to what is expected to be its smallest size since before World War Two
Noting there are currently about 520,000 active-duty US Army members, Chuck Hagel will also say according to prepared remarks: “Since we are no longer sizing the force for prolonged stability operations, an Army of this size is larger than required to meet the demands of our defense strategy.”
The proposed Army staffing levels would be the lowest since before the US entered World War Two in 1940, when 267,000 active-duty members were employed.
By the end of that conflict, 8.2 million active-duty US Army members were employed.
The figure peaked at 1.6 million both during the Korean War, in 1952, and during the Vietnam War, in 1968.
The number was 482,000 in 2000, a year before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
After those attacks, the force peaked at 566,000 in 2010.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Chuck Hagel will also recommend reducing housing allowances and other benefits, limiting pay raises and increasing healthcare premiums.
However, the military cost-cutting drive could well cause ructions on Capitol Hill, which is gearing up for November’s midterm elections.
The plan is said to take into account government cutbacks as well as President Barack Obama’s pledge to end land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Under the proposed cuts, the military would still be able to defeat any adversary, unnamed officials told that newspaper, but be too small to engage in protracted foreign occupations.
Harold Ramis, best known for the films Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, has died aged 69.
The actor found fame as bespectacled ghost-hunter Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters franchise in 1984.
But he was also a talented writer and director, whose credits included Caddyshack and Analyze This.
Harold Ramis died of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels.
Born in Chicago to convenience store owners Ruth and Nathan, Harold Ramis studied at Washington University in Missouri and, on graduation, briefly worked in a psychiatric ward.
Harold Ramis died of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels
He started his career as a writer by penning arts stories for his local newspaper and editing Playboy magazine’s “party jokes” section.
Harold Ramis developed his career behind the camera, directing Bill Murray in Groundhog Day and Robert De Niro in the mobster spoof Analyze This.
His other films included The Ice Harvest, Bedazzled and prehistoric comedy Year One, his final movie, in 2009.
In addition to his wife, Erica,
Harold Ramis is survived by his wife Erica, sons Julian and Daniel, daughter Violet and two grandchildren.
Miley Cyrus kissed Katy Perry while singing her new single Adore You with the debut of her Bangerz Tour at Staples Center, Los Angeles on Saturday.
Katy Perry, 29, has long been a fan of Miley Cyrus, 21, and excitedly tweeted before the LA concert: “I hope @MileyCyrus sings Breakout or The Climb tonight please bb!”
Miley Cyrus kissed Katy Perry while singing her new single Adore You with the debut of her Bangerz Tour at Staples Center
After the photo of their kiss went viral, Katy Perry shared her own aftermath shot, which features Miley Cyrus with her mouth hanging open in shock and Perry covering her mouth with her hand.
Katy Perry captioned the photo: “And after! I adore you @Miley Cyrus.”
Kim Kardashian posted a picture of her late father, Robert Kardashian, on what would have been his 70th birthday.
Along with the picture, Kim Kardashian wrote: “Happy Birthday dad! Can’t believe you would have been 70 today! Bet you’re up there eating tons of Ralph’s cake! Miss you & love you!”
Kim Kardashian posted a picture of her late father, Robert Kardashian, on what would have been his 70th birthday
Robert Kardashian, who famously defended close friend O.J. Simpson in his 1995 murder trial, died of esophageal cancer at the age of 59 on September 30, 2003, only eight weeks after being diagnosed.
A Lego Movie sequel will find its way to cinemas in 2017, Warner Bros has confirmed.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s The Lego Movie has racked up $275 million worldwide in under three weeks on release.
The film has a hugely impressive 96% “fresh” rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, indicating almost universal acclaim.
A Lego Movie sequel will find its way to cinemas in 2017
Little is known about the planned sequel other than a release date: May 26, 2017. There is no word as to whether Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will return for the second film, nor whether voice talent such as Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill have signed up for another outing.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a Lego Ninjago movie, based on the Danish company’s popular Japanese-themed line, could be first into cinemas.
Latest reports do not confirm whether The Lego Movie sequel will be a straight follow-up, or a Ninjago spin-off.
The Lego Movie remains on the top of the North American box office chart, after spending a third week at number one.
The film earned $31.5 million over the weekend, according to early estimates.
Kevin Costner crime drama 3 Days to Kill debuted in second place with $12.3 million.
A sequel of the Lego Movie has just been announced, with a release date set for May 2017.
The Lego Movie is the highest-grossing film of the year so far.
Gladiator drama Pompeii, starring Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington, took third place with $10 million, despite a mauling from many film critics.
The RoboCop reboot dropped from third to fourth place in its second week of release, taking $9.4 million while George Clooney’s war movie, The Monuments Men, also dropped a place, from fourth to fifth.
The Lego Movie remains on the top of the North American box office chart, after spending a third week at number one
Two Kevin Hart movies, About Last Night and Ride Along, took sixth and seventh place respectively.
Ride Along has also secured a sequel off the back of the first film’s successful run.
MtGox chief executive Mark Karpeles has quit the board of the Bitcoin Foundation, which oversees and develops the virtual currency software.
It comes shortly after Bitcoin exchange MtGox halted transfers of the digital currency to external addresses after it spotted what it called “unusual activity”.
The halt resulted in a sharp decline in the value of Bitcoins.
Last week, MtGox – one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges – said customers should be able withdraw funds “soon”.
Meanwhile, all tweets on MtGox’s Twitter account have also been deleted.
The Bitcoin Foundation said that Mark Karpeles’s resignation would be “effective immediately”.
MtGox chief executive Mark Karpeles has quit the board of the Bitcoin Foundation
It is the foundation’s second high-profile resignation in the past month.
Another board member, Charles Shrem, stepped down in late January after being arrested and charged with money laundering in connection with his Bitcoin company.
Charles Shrem, the chief executive of New York-based Bitcoin exchange BitInstant, has pleaded not guilty.
The issues with MtGox had sparked a dispute between the exchange and the Bitcoin Foundation.
The Tokyo-based firm said that its investigation into the unusual activity revealed a loophole that could be exploited to fool the transaction process into sending double the correct number of Bitcoins.
It also left it vulnerable to attacks, which slowed down the rate at which coins could be bought and sold.
As it halted the withdrawals, MtGox had suggested that a flaw in Bitcoin’s underlying software was to blame for the problem.
