Although he is largely credited with being Whitney Houston’s adopted son, Nick Gordon was never officially adopted by the family.
Whitney Houston invited Nick Gordon to live with her family when he was only 12 years old after learning that his father went to prison and his mother was unable to take care of him.
Nick Gordon was raised with Bobbi Kristina Brown until Whitney Houston’s death in February 2012.
Francois Hollande is making a key policy announcement on Tuesday amid fears it may be overshadowed by the allegations.
One French paper said the report was “catastrophic” in every way for him.
Francois Hollande said the publication was an “attack on the right to privacy”. He said he might sue, but did not deny it.
A major press conference next week was intended to be a platform for Francois Hollande to launch his economic program for the year ahead – detailing a much-anticipated new tack in efforts to spur growth and create jobs.
Key questions include whether the president is indeed in a relationship with Julie Gayet, and if so what of his recognized partner Valerie Trierweiler, who lives with him at the Elysee palace. and who is scheduled to accompany him on an official visits to the US next month.
Closer magazine’s article, which describes Francois Hollande riding across Paris on the back of a scooter to see his alleged lover, could ruin the president’s year, French papers warned on Saturday.
“Having to explain, a few minutes before sketching out his vision for France, instead, what he has in mind for his relationship [with Valerie Trierweiler] promises to be a highly interesting performance,” the Sud-Ouest newspaper wrote.
L’Alsace newspaper described the allegations as “catastrophic in every possible way for Francois Hollande”.
Meanwhile, L’Est Republicain said in an editorial that Tuesday’s announcement was “expected to mark a political resurgence by confirming the social-democratic shift” the president hinted at in a New Year address, but that “all eyes will now be on the president’s reaction”.
Francois Hollande, who took office in May 2012, has seen public support slipping recently. One poll in November gave him just 15% support, the lowest for any president in the past 50 years.
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Ariel Sharon was a giant of the Israeli military and political scene, but courted controversy throughout his long career.
The head of the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv said Ariel Sharon had died on Saturday afternoon of heart failure.
Ariel Sharon’s health had declined for the past week and a half, he said.
He fought in Israel’s war of independence in 1948, and from that point until he slipped into a coma in 2006 it seemed there was hardly a moment of national drama in which he did not play a role, our correspondent says.
Ariel Sharon, who became PM in 2001, was suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, doctors said on Thursday.
His health was showing signs of “a slow and gradual deterioration” and his life was in danger, they added.
Ariel Sharon had been in a persistent vegetative state since a stroke in 2006.
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The decision comes three months after HBO renewed the prohibition-era drama for a fifth outing.
“We’ve decided to wrap up the series after such a great run and look forward to bringing it to a powerful and exciting conclusion,” creator Terry Winter said.
Boardwalk Empire has won 17 Emmys since it first aired, including Martin Scorsese winning for his direction of the series’ big budget pilot that premiered in 2010.
“It has been an incredible honor to bring this powerful and groundbreaking series to our subscribers,” HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said.
“Terry Winter has created one for the ages.”
Boardwalk Empire Season 5 will return to TV screens in the autumn.
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Amiri Baraka died in hospital – where he had been since last month – surrounded by his family.
He was initially associated with Beat generation poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He published his first poetry collection in 1961.
Amiri Baraka later became an advocate of a militant black separatist movement. In 1964, he garnered global attention for his explosive play Dutchman.
The New York Times, in a 2007 review of a new production of the play, called it the “singular cultural emblem” of the black separatist movement in the United States.
Amiri Baraka wrote prolifically, including poems, short stories, novels, essays, plays and jazz operas.
Among his better-known works are the non-fiction book Blues People: Negro Music in White America and the poetry collection The Dead Lecturer.
The poet was born Everett LeRoi Jones, but following a radicalizing trip to Cuba in 1960, he later adopted the name Amiri Baraka.
After the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka played a principal role in the creation of the Black Arts Movement, as the head of a theatre and school in Harlem.
He also divorced his wife, writer Hettie Cohen, with whom he had founded the literary magazine Yugen.
Among his accolades were the Rockefeller Foundation Award for Drama and a poetry award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
In later years, Amiri Baraka moderated his views on black nationalism, and became an avowed Marxist.
In 2002, as poet laureate of New Jersey, Amiri Baraka drew accusations of anti-Semitism over his poem Somebody Blew Up America, which referenced the September 11 2001 attacks.
Amiri Baraka refused then-New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey’s request for him to resign and, in response, a state law was passed eliminating the position of poet laureate.
Latterly, he taught at Yale and George Washington University, and spent 20 years teaching at the State University of New York.
Amiri Baraka is survived by his second wife Amina – whom he married in 1966 – and several children.
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It had been rumored last October that Richard Gere, 64, had been approached to star in the movie.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2 production has begun in India with John Madden returning to direct.
The sequel will see Dev Patel’s character Sonny and hotel co-manager Muriel (played by Maggie Smith) continue with their business as Sonny juggles his plans for expansion and an impending marriage.
With the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful thriving, it only has a single remaining vacancy, which poses a problem for new arrivals Guy – played by Richard Gere – and Lavinia – played by Tamsin Greig.
“We’re thrilled to reunite our creative and delightful Marigold Hotel family along with some intriguing new <<guests>>,” Claudia Lewis, Fox Searchlight Pictures president of production, said.
“With John Madden’s direction and Ol Parker’s original screenplay, we look forward to further exploring our characters’ rich stories and triumphs.”
John Madden added: “This film presented us with an irresistible opportunity: to continue a story we realized we had only just begun.
“Not to tell the same story again, but to pursue where the lives of these very different characters lead, with an audience which already holds them in great affection.”
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned more than $135 million at the box office worldwide on a production budget of $10 million.
The film was also nominated for a best British film BAFTA and best picture Golden Globe, while Judi Dench was also recognized for her role in as hotel resident Evelyn.
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Nine lieutenants and a captain at bases in the US and Britain have been implicated in the investigation.
Two nuclear launch control officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana are said to be involved in the probe.
The Air Force has since suspended the two officers’ security clearances, US media report.
The investigation was reportedly initiated with two officers at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the second-largest US Air Force base.
It then “expanded, based on contact with the officers in question regarding recreational drug possession”, Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Brett Ashworth told Reuters news agency.
The investigation has since grown to include officers at bases Malmstrom, Vandenberg in California, FE Warren in Wyoming and Schreiver in Colorado, as well as Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England, he added.
Malmstrom Air Force base reportedly oversees 420 nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, while Schreiver Air Force Base is home to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
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However, Edward Alex Lee of the US state department stressed that any improvement should go hand-in-hand with more political freedom on the communist-run island.
Edward Alex Lee said the two countries had held “very constructive” talks on migration and other issues this week.
But he declined to give any details of what he called “substantial progress”.
Edward Alex Lee, who has been on an official visit to Cuba, added the two nations would seek to continue these rare negotiations.
“Despite our historically difficult relationship…we have been able to speak to each other in a respectful and thoughtful manner,” he told a news conference in Havana.
However, he added that the US wanted a “fundamental change” in the Cuban government’s attitude towards its own people.
“We want to have that opening reflect – from the Cuban side – a respect for Cubans to express themselves freely, to be able to petition their government with grievances without the danger of arrest.”
Talks between the US and Cuba were suspended in 2011 but resumed last July.
The main focus of the latest talks was migration: discouraging Cubans from risking their lives at sea to reach the US, by ensuring that there were safe and legal alternatives.
The US and Cuba cut formal diplomatic ties more than five decades ago.
The talks, which took place in Havan, were also centered on other topics of mutual interest, including aviation safety, co-operation in counter-narcotics work, protocols on preparing for oil spills, search-and-rescue work, and renewing postal services between the two neighbors.
They came after the first handshake between President Barack Obama and his counterpart, Raul Castro, last month, at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
Edward Alex Lee insisted however that the handshake was not pre-arranged, but reflected what he called the “innate graciousness” of Barack Obama.
The dialogue between the Cold War foes was cut after Cuba sentenced a US citizen, Alan Gross, to 15 years in prison for smuggling illegal satellite equipment into the country.
Edward Alex Lee confirmed that he had visited Alan Gross in prison, adding that the US was “deeply concerned” about his wellbeing. He expressed hope that the Cuban government would free Alan Gross, arguing the contractor had simply been providing internet access for Cuba’s small Jewish community.
Duck Dynasty reality show is adding another face to the Robertson clan in 2014, Willie and Korie’s foster daughter Rebecca.
The exchange student from Taiwan eventually became a foster child of the Robertsons and Korie has shared news about Rebecca on Twitter way before the show was successful.
“Who’s ready for January 15th? Premiere party?! You finally get to meet our sweet Rebecca!” tweeted Jessica Robertson from her official Twitter account on Friday.
A&E network also hinted there was a new cast member as the hype of the show starts. Duck Dynasty Facebook page revealed a sneak peek of the new episodes of the popular show.
Elliptic Vault uses “deep cold storage”, where private encrypted keys to Bitcoins are stored on offline servers and in a secure location.
The facility’s founders say they are the “first in the world” to offer insurance for Bitcoin owners.
Stolen Bitcoins cannot be recovered as all transactions are irreversible.
Online wallets used to store Bitcoins have been subject to a number of cyber-attacks and some users have also suffered from accidental loss.
James Howells lost about $7.5 million when he threw away his hard drive, forgetting that he had Bitcoins stored on it.
Unlike money stored in a conventional bank, Bitcoins are not insured and there is no way of retrieving them once they are gone.
But convincing an insurance firm to trust the nascent currency was not an easy task.
The company is underwritten by Lloyd’s of London, which will give people “more faith in the Bitcoin system”, according to Emily Spaven, managing editor of CoinDesk, a digital currency news site.
Insurance payouts will be calculated using the Bitcoin to US dollar exchange rate at the time a claim is made.
Elliptic’s focus is on storing Bitcoins as securely as possible, using “deep cold storage” techniques.
Bitcoin keys are encrypted and stored offline. There are multiple copies, protected by layers of cryptographic and physical security.
The copies are accessible only via a quorum of Elliptic’s directors.
Elliptic’s launch comes as Bitcoin has been making news around the world, with governments deciding how to legislate for the currency.
Singapore has become one of the first countries to issue guidance on taxation for Bitcoin businesses, although it also said it was monitoring transactions to detect illicit financing by criminals and terrorists.
Bitcoin was less fortunate in China, where the largest online marketplace, Alibaba Group’s Taobao, said it would ban virtual currencies.
In December, the country’s central bank ordered financial institutions to halt Bitcoin-related services and products.
There was a breakthrough for the currency in the US, however, where Overstock.com became one of the first major online retailers to accept Bitcoin on Thursday.
Police Scotland confirmed that a body was found near Long Drive just after 11:00 on Friday.
Officers said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Ian Redford, who was 53, began his career with Dundee before joining Rangers in February 1980 for a then Scottish record fee of £210,000 ($335,000).
After six seasons with Rangers, which included four domestic cup trophies, Ian Redford moved to Dundee United, where he collected runners-up medals in the UEFA Cup and Scottish Cup in the space of a few days in 1987.
The traffic mayhem was allegedly instigated in revenge against a mayor who declined to endorse Chris Christie.
Lawyer Rosemarie Arnold, who filed the lawsuit, said her clients were late for work and one had a panic attack.
State legislators plan to release on Friday nearly 1,000 pages relating to their probe of the incident.
Chris Christie, seen as a potential future Republican presidential candidate, has said he is “embarrassed and humiliated” by the incident and has denied any involvement, blaming “deceitful” staff.
He announced he had fired a top aide on Thursday after documents apparently showing her engineering the traffic problems became public a day earlier.
On September 9, two traffic lanes in the borough of Fort Lee on to the George Washington Bridge, which connects New Jersey to Manhattan, were shut for several days, causing gridlock.
Emails and texts made public on Wednesday appear to link Bridget Anne Kelly, a top Chris Christie aide, to the move.
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly wrote on August 13 to David Wildstein, a political appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge.
“Got it,” David Wildstein, who has since resigned, replied.
David Wildstein refused to testify on Thursday in a hearing investigating the matter.
The lawsuit filed, which seeks class-action status, calls for unspecified damages for those who were late to work because of the lane closures and lost pay.
The plaintiffs accuse Chris Christie, Bridget Anne Kelly, David Wildstein and the Port Authority of conspiring and committing “acts of official misconduct”, then covering it up with a “fictional traffic study”.
It claims the residents “suffered economic damages” as a result of the delays.
In a lengthy press conference on Thursday, Chris Christie said he was “heartbroken that someone who I permitted to be in that circle of trust for the last five years betrayed my trust”.
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The stricken liner will then be taken away to be scrapped.
Ports in Italy, Britain, France, Turkey and China are bidding for the lucrative contract to dismantle the ship, Italian officials said.
The Costa Concordia hit a reef near the island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.
Captain Francesco Schettino is currently on trial for multiple charges of manslaughter and for abandoning ship.
Officials overseeing the Costa Concordia salvage operation set out their timetable at a news conference on Friday.
Project manager Franco Porcellacchia said that, from April, the team would start to fix at least 15 large tanks to the side of the ship. They will be filled with water, and then gradually emptied to give the ship enough buoyancy to float off the seabed.
Once afloat, the ship can then be towed away.
Franco Porcellacchia said if that does not work then the world’s largest semi-submergible ship, the Dockwise Vanguard, will be on standby and can literally carry the ship into port.
The winning contract for dismantling the Costa Concordia is due to be announced in March.
Italy’s environment minister Andrea Orlando said the preference was to keep the project in Italy, both to limit the environmental impact and to keep any economic benefits.
The 290m-long vessel was righted last September in one of the largest, most complex salvage operations ever that took 18 hours and followed months of stabilisation and preparation work by a team of 500 engineers and divers.
That operation allowed divers to retrieve the remains of one of the two people still missing in the disaster, believed to be an Italian passenger, Maria Grazia Trecarichi. An Indian waiter, Russel Rebello, is still unaccounted for.
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Bobbi Kristina Brown, 20, shared the news by posting a photo of the couple’s wedding rings.
“@nickgordon! #HappilyMarried,” Whitney Houston’s daughter captioned the snapshot.
“SO #Inlove. If you didn’t get it the first time that is.”
The picture shows Bobbi Kristina Brown’s hand resting on top of Nick Gordon’s hand, with their weddings bands on display.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon first announced they were engaged in October 2012 during a sneak peek of their short-lived reality show, The Houstons: On Our Own.
However, they called off their engagement one month later.
Sources told Us Weekly at the time that Bobbi Kristina Brown’s family members didn’t approve of the relationship.
Prior to her February 2012 death, Whitney Houston informally adopted Nick Gordon when he was 12 years old; he lived with the family throughout his teens.
In July 2013, Bobbi Kristina Brown announced that their engagement was back on and clarified the nature of their relationship.
“Yes, me and Nick are engaged. I’m tired of hearing people say, <<Eww you’re engaged to your brother>> or <<If Whitney was still alive, would we be together or would she approve of this?>>” she wrote on Facebook.
“Let me clear up something, we aren’t even real brother and sister, nor is he my adoptive brother. My mom never adopted him. In fact, mommy was the one who even said that she knew that we were going to start dating.”
In addition to her marriage announcement, Bobbi Kristina Brown also hinted on Twitter Thursday that she’ll be sharing other news soon.
“BIGGGG things in store guys . . . I’m so excited!” Bobbi Kristina Brown wrote.
“We bouta change the world babbbbby! #bringEmOut! #Getready! xO!”
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The federal government joined Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in declaring a disaster as the West Virginia National Guard arranged to dispense bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the counties hit by the chemical spill into the Elk River.
The advisory was expanded at night to nine counties and includes West Virginia American Water customers in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane counties.
It followed a notice from the West Virginia American Water Company that its water supply had become contaminated, sending a strange licorice-like smell wafting through the surrounding streets.
According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the symptoms include: severe burning in throat, severe eye irritation, non-stop vomiting, trouble breathing or severe skin irritation such as skin blistering.
Once word got out about the governor’s declaration, customers stripped store shelves in many areas of items such as bottled water, paper cups and bowls. As many as 50 customers had flooded a convenience store near the state Capitol in Charleston to purchase water.
Residents were told not to drink the tap water, bathe in it or cook with the water and only use it for flushing and fire emergencies. Boiling it will not remove the chemicals.
“Right now, our priorities are our hospitals, nursing homes, and schools,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said in a statement.
“I’ve been working with our National Guard and Office of Emergency Services in an effort to provide water and supplies through the county emergency services offices as quickly as possible.”
The odor from the spill – which has been likened to that of licorice or cough syrup – was especially pungent at the Charleston Marriott hotel just a stone’s throw from the Elk River, which runs into the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston. The Marriott shut off all water to rooms – but soon turned it back on so hotel guests could flush toilets. The hotel distributed 16.9-ounce bottles of spring water to each guest.
Schools will be closed Friday in some of the affected counties.
West Virginia American Water did not provide a timeline for the clean-up process, but the company’s external affairs manager Laura Jordan told Reuters that the spill originated with Freedom Industries, a Charleston company.
It occurred right above the intake of the Kanawha Valley water treatment plant in Charleston – the largest in West Virginia – and affects 100,000 homes and businesses, or 250,000 to 300,000 people, she said.
The leaked product is 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, which is used in the froth flotation process of coal washing and preparation.
Earlier, another West Virginia American Water spokesperson Jennifer Sayre urged residents not to panic and rush out to grocery stores to purchase bottled water, as local officials were working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to open water distribution centers.
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The 125-pound woman finished the mammoth meal in just 2 minutes and 44 seconds using her hands.
The video of Molly Schuyler’s world record has since gone viral.
The previous record used to belong to an eater who was described as a “body building huge man”.
He only managed to eat the meal in 6 minutes and 48 seconds.
Molly Schuyler, 34, even had room to eat some french fries washed down with a drink of water after she had demolished her steak dinner.
She has had a rather impressive start to 2014. Just a day before, she also smashed another world record by eating a 12lb sandwich and 1lb of French fries in just 54 minutes, which saw her awarded $600.
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We’ve all done it. Browsed on the internet and bought something on an impulse. Whether it’s clothes, shoes, jewelry, gifts or a bigger purchase like a car, it’s possible to impulse buy just about anything these days. Our choices are many and the accessibility of internet shopping means some people find they’re buying stuff they just can’t afford. And it’s affecting more people than you might think.
A whopping 82% of adults from the UK have regretted something they have bought – and 15% of those admit it’s because they couldn’t afford it in the first place. New research from UK debt advice and solutions provider Debt Advisory Centre, author of this article, shows that most UK adults have felt buyer’s remorse at one time or another. Reasons given for regretting that magical purchase include things like ‘didn’t really need it’ at the top of the list, followed by ‘didn’t fit’, ‘never used it’, ‘couldn’t afford it’ and ‘poor quality’.
Worryingly, purchases most regretted by people doing the survey are pets, at 42%. This was followed by 38% stating they regretted booking a holiday, 32% wishing they hadn’t been so generous with their gift-giving and 28% sadly wondering why they bought that particular car.
These results are not surprising, perhaps, given that most of them are long-term commitments with costs that are ongoing. Finding out that your cute puppy will set you back a significant sum each year just to feed – regardless of vet fees if they get sick and the sheer time and attention they need – seems to put many owners off.
On the flipside, although gifts and holidays tend to be bigger one-off purchases, often they’re bought without thought to your budget and so knock finances off course. It can seem worth it when you’re on the beach but coming back to a whole heap of debts could really spoil those memories.
In this age of easy internet access, it’s a viable option to list items that are not wanted and sell them at an online shop like eBay or etsy. However, it turns out that over half of respondents (57%) just kept their purchases, even though they no longer wanted them.
As long as receipts are kept and no damage has been done, it’s also possible to get a refund from the stockist – something that really should be looked into if money is tight.
One of the last hearings in Amanda Knox’s retrial was held Thursday in Florence.
Amanda Knox, 26, confirmed from her home town of Seattle, where she is studying at Washington University, that she would fight any extradition request from Italy if the appeals court in Florence finds her guilty of the murder and assault of Meredith Kercher in Perugia in 2007.
Italy could apply for her to be extradited but her lawyers in the US are expected to resist that on the basis of double jeopardy – the principle that a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime.
The appeals court is expected to hand down its verdict on Jan. 30 after hearing the case since September.
Asked what she would do if the court overturned her 2011 acquittal for the murder of the Leeds University student, Amanda Knox said: “In that case I will be … how does one say … a fugitive.”
Amanda Knox told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that she remained optimistic the court would find her and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 29, not guilty.
Prosecutors have asked for Amanda Knox to be sent to jail for 30 years – four years more than her original conviction in 2009.
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However, the number of jobs created was the lowest for three years and was well under half the number expected by analysts.
The US had bad weather in December, which may have stalled hiring plans.
The fall in the rate, now at its lowest since October 2008, in part reflects people leaving the labor force.
The government counts people as unemployed only if they say they are actively searching for work.
The leisure, manufacturing and services sectors added jobs in December, but construction cut 16,000 jobs, the biggest drop in the industry in 20 months.
In the four months before December, the average number of jobs created in the US was 214,000 a month.
Other figures on employment have suggested a healthy jobs market, and the Labor Department said 38,000 more jobs in November were created than the 203,000 previously reported.
Overall, the US economy is picking up steam, with recent figures for consumer spending, trade and factory output all strong.
This year, economists expect the US economy to grow by 3%, well up on the 1.7% last year.
The improving picture led the Federal Reserve to start to taper its massive monetary stimulus program from $85 billion a month to $75 billion.
If the Fed remains confident about the direction of the economy, it may trim this back further at its next meeting at the end of this month.
The meeting will be the last one chaired by Ben Bernanke, who will leave the post after eight years. He will be replaced by Janet Yellen on February 1st.
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But who are the women in the president’s life?
Valerie Trierweiler
Valerie Trierweiler, 48, is Francois Hollande’s official partner.
She is a journalist who writes for Paris Match magazine and has presented discussion programs on French television.
Valerie Trierweiler moved in with Francois Hollande after his official separation from Segolene Royal in 2007, and was divorced from her own husband, with whom she has three children.
When Francois Hollande was elected president in 2012, Valerie Trierweiler moved into the Elysee palace with him and accompanies him on official trips. She incurred Francois Hollande’s wrath in June 2012 after taking to Twitter in to back an opponent of Segolene Royal in parliamentary elections.
Segolene Royal
Segolene Royal, 60, herself a prominent French politician, has four children, now adults, with Francois Hollande, 59.
Francois Hollande and Segolene Royal met at a university party and were once French politics’ power couple, both harboring ambitions to be president of France.
Although they never married, they were together for about three decades, officially splitting up shortly after the 2007 presidential election.
Segolene Royal was the Socialist candidate in that vote – the first woman in France to be nominated by a major party – but lost to Nicolas Sarkozy.
Julie Gayet
President Francois Hollande has hit out at what he describes as an invasion of privacy, but has not denied a report that he is having a relationship with actress Julie Gayet, a mother of two. Julie Gayet, 41, is fairly well known in France, if not internationally, and once appeared in one of Francois Hollande’s election campaign television adverts, describing him as “a humble man,” who “really listens”.
Rumors of Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet alleged relationship have been circulating on the internet for many months. Julie Gayet filed a complaint with prosecutors in Paris in March 2013 against various bloggers and websites that were reporting on the rumors.
She played a leading role in Quai d’Orsay, a 2013 satirical film centered on the French foreign ministry. Her filmography also includes the titles Shall We Kiss? and My Best Friend among dozens of others.
Julie Gayet is the daughter of a wealthy surgeon and married the Argentine-born film director and scriptwriter Santiago Amigorena in 2003.
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Michel Djotodia made the announcement at a regional summit in Chad aimed at ending violence that has engulfed the country.
CAR’s entire transitional assembly is attending the meeting in Chad organised by regional leaders.
Michel Djotodia, CAR’s first Muslim leader, had been resisting pressure to go.
His seizure of power last year has led to 20% of the population fleeing their homes amid fighting between Christian and Muslim militias.
The UN has warned of an impending humanitarian disaster.
Since December and the arrival of more regional peacekeepers and French troops, 1,000 people have died in sectarian clashes.
Many villages are deserted and in the last month the number of those who have fled their homes has doubled – including almost half of those living in the capital city, Bangui.
Michel Djotodia’s resignation was made in a statement by the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
CAR PM Nicolas Tiengaye, with whom he had a fractious relationship, has also resigned, the AFP news agency reports.
Earlier ECCAS Secretary-General Ahmat Allami said members of CAR’s National Transitional Council (CNT) had been flown in at short notice to decide the leadership of their nation.
The lawmakers met regional leaders while Michel Djotodia held separate talks with allies from his former Seleka rebel alliance, AFP reported.
Under a deal brokered by regional powers last year, the CNT was charged with choosing a transitional leader to take CAR to elections due at the end of 2014. It formally elected Michel Djotodia to his position as interim president last April.
Earlier on Friday, thousands of people in Bangui took to the streets demanding the resignation of Michel Djotodia, a former Soviet-trained civil servant.
Seleka seized power last March overthrowing the then-President Francois Bozize, from CAR’s majority Christian population.
Although Michel Djotodia officially disbanded the Seleka rebels, he has proved unable to keep them in check.
Their actions have prompted Christians to form vigilante groups, sparking a deadly cycle of revenge attacks.
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Scarlett Johansson, 29, confirmed plans to walk down the aisle for a second time in September and she has since left New York to settle down in Romain Dauriac’s homeland.
The actress, who has yet to learn French, says: “I decided to take the plunge and move to Paris and it’s great, I love it. Of course, some of the stardust twinkle’s worn off a little bit now and … all the things you thought were charming before are just … I don’t wanna say, I’ve just offended an entire nation of people, like usual, but … it’s the little things.”
Scarlett Johansson continued: “Like, when I first got there I thought that … the whole kind of rude, Parisian thing was just (not true). I was like, ‘People aren’t rude, they’re wonderful!’ That was before I was a mainstay there and then people decided that once I wasn’t going away, they could just be rude to me!”
She reveals the most “frustrating” thing is just walking down the street, because people refuse to move out of the way.
She told David Letterman: “I like to walk around. … As I was saying, people are ruder now … but it’s frustrating. … I’m from New York … and I just assume, because you’re from New York, it’s like a wonderful dance in this street, you kind of avoid (each other) and it’s a choreography, walking down the street. And then when I got there (to Paris), I assumed it’s a kind of Provincial town, where people don’t know how to walk … and the fact that they’re just bodychecking me, they’re just confused.”
This will be Scarlett Johansson’s second marriage. She exchanged vows with Ryan Reynolds in 2008, but it lasted less than three years. Ryan Reynolds is now married to actress Blake Lively.
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Game of Thrones Season 4 will premiere at 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 6, with the two half-hour comedies following after.
The fourth season premiere will be followed by the third season of Veep and the premiere of the new Mike Judge series Silicon Valley.
HBO will also premiere the first trailer for Games of Thrones Season 4 on Sunday, before the premiere of True Detective the new series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as detectives trying to solve murders in rural Louisiana.
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The three Indians who qualified for the Sochi Games will compete as “independent” athletes, rather than represent their country, after India’s Olympic body failed to schedule elections before the start of the Olympics on February 7.
The Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the IOC in December 2012 for electing tainted officials, notably secretary-general Lalit Bhanot, who spent more than 10 months in jail on corruption charges related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
The IOC said last month it would lift the suspension once new elections are held. The Indians have set their general assembly for February 9, two days after the opening of the Sochi Olympics.
“Following the executive board decision in December, the IOC is considering all necessary arrangements for the Indian athletes who have qualified for the Sochi Games to take part as Independent Olympic Participants under the Olympic flag,” the IOC said in a statement on Thursday.
The trio includes Shiva Kesavan, a 32-year-old luger who will be appearing in his fifth Winter Games.
Shiva Kesavan told Indian media that not being able to compete under the national flag was “shameful and pathetic”.
“It is a sad and embarrassing situation that Indian sport has been put in,” he said.
“People around the world know about the failure of our systems and about corruption and bad governance in sports.”
Under pressure from the IOC, the Indian body amended its constitution last month to ban corruption-tainted officials from running for election. Had India not complied, it would have become the first country expelled from the Olympics since South Africa was kicked out more than 40 years ago.
The IOC has made provisions for athletes to compete under the Olympic flag at previous games.
Athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles and marathon runner Guor Marial of South Sudan competed as independents at the 2012 London Olympics. Athletes from East Timor marched under the Olympic flag at the 2000 Sydney Games.
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Nicole Kidman features Jimmy Choo’s just-released Spring/Summer 2014 campaign.
The actress said in a post on the Jimmy Choo website: “It was fun to shoot new and surprising perspectives, it felt a little bit daring dangerous.”
“I loved the minimal styling and how the shoes and bags became like a sensual second skin to me.”
In the shot, Nicole Kidman appears posing with Jimmy Choo’s neon Charlize clutch, which retails for $2,195.
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