Canadian actress Genevieve Sabourin has been convicted of stalking Alec Baldwin and sentenced to six months in jail.
Genevieve Sabourin, 41, was found guilty of stalking, attempted aggravated harassment, harassment and attempted contempt of court.
The judgement in New York came a day after Genevieve Sabourin was sentenced to 30 days in prison for contempt of court.
Alec Baldwin, 55, testified during the trial that Genevieve Sabourin had besieged him with unwanted phone calls and emails.
Genevieve Sabourin has been convicted of stalking Alec Baldwin and sentenced to six months in jail
The actor denied having a relationship with Genevieve Sabourin and accused her of subjecting him and his wife Hilaria Baldwin to “dangerous” harassment.
Alec Baldwin testified that he had met Genevieve Sabourin over lunch with a mutual friend in 2000 when he was filming in Montreal.
He said he had met her again in 2010 to offer her career advice – a meeting Genevieve Sabourin claimed had ended as a romantic relationship.
Genevieve Sabourin said she had merely wanted him to explain why he did not want to see her anymore following their alleged brief romance.
Judge Thomas Mandelbaum said on Thursday that Genevieve Sabourin had no right to pursue contact with Alec Baldwin that she knew would be unwelcome.
He said she had waged a “relentless and escalating campaign of threats” against Alec and Hilaria Baldwin and had shown an “utter lack of respect” for the law.
Genevieve Sabourin was composed but defiant after the verdict was announced, telling the judge she was “innocent” and had not done anything wrong.
Bob Dylan has received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, in a brief ceremony in Paris.
Presenting him with the award, France’s Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti said Bob Dylan was a hero for young people hungry for justice and independence.
Bob Dylan has famously never liked being used as a spokesman for other people’s causes.
After the speech, Bob Dylan said simply that he was “proud and grateful” and left.
No cameras were allowed for the ceremony at the culture ministry.
Bob Dylan, 72, has never recorded any songs in French but a generation of people in France fell in love with his music and his message in the 1960s and 70s.
Bob Dylan has received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, in a brief ceremony in Paris
Cover versions were legion, many of them by the singer Hugues Aufray, who was in the audience.
In her speech, Aurelie Filippetti waxed lyrical about Bob Dylan’s cultural importance.
Naming song after song, ranging from The Times They Are A-Changin’ in the 1960s to Time Out Of Mind in the 1990s, Aurelie Filippetti sought to tie them to eras and causes such as the US civil rights movement.
Bob Dylan, she told him in the speech, had himself been inspired by poets including the French symbolists Verlaine et Rimbaud.
The minister also made an awkward allusion to Dylan’s influence on the famous Paris student uprising of May 1968.
A journalist who attended the ceremony said Bob Dylan had looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Bob Dylan, who is playing concerts in Paris this week, met Justice Minister Christiane Taubira at a reception after the ceremony, Le Parisien newspaper reports. No details were given.
Bob Dylan’s award was temporarily blocked earlier this year after army general Jean-Louis Georgelin, the Grand Chancellor of the Legion, voiced reservations about his use of cannabis and anti-war politics.
Established by Napoleon, the Order of the Legion of Honor is presented to individuals who have served France in various ways.
Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson has endorsed political outsider and Republican businessman Vance McAllister, who will be battling it out December 9 in a special run-off election for a vacant seat in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional district where Robertson and his famous clan are residents.
Willie Robertson, once rumored to be considering a run for the very same seat, appears in a campaign video reminding voters to “get out…and vote for my good buddy Vance McAllister. Let’s send somebody from the 5th District who speaks for us to help turn Washington around.”
Vance McAllister appears at the end of the video and says: “I’m not a politician, but I approve this message.”
He has been promoting his outsider status from the beginning against state Senator Neil Riser, his Republican opponent.
Willie Robertson has endorsed political outsider and Republican businessman Vance McAllister, who will be battling it out December 9 in a special run-off election for a vacant seat in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional district
The strategy has worked so far, with Vance McAllister beating 12 other candidates, including state lawmakers, mayors and a former congress member, in an October 16 open primary where he garnered 18 percent of the vote.
However, Neil Riser, who won 32% of the vote in the primary, will be stiff competition for the contested seat, which Rep. Rodney Alexander vacated this summer to take a position in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration.
But Vance McAllister’s campaign thinks the name-recognition of the Robertsons will help them cross the finish line first.
“I think it gives an added bit of bona fides,” Vance McAllister adviser John Robinson told Roll Call, which posted the campaign video Thursday.
“I heard some people say, <<Oh, we’ve heard of Neil Riser, but we know the Robertsons are behind you>>.”
It’s hard to believe people haven’t heard of the Robertsons, even if they haven’t seen an episode of Duck Dynasty. The show, which follows the lives of the tight-knit duck call-making band of brothers and their families, is the most watched cable reality television show in history, beating out one-time rating juggernauts like American Idol.
This isn’t Willie Robertson’s first foray into political waters. While promoting his show – and squelching rumors of personal political ambitions on Fox News in August – Willie Robertson revealed his candidate pick for 2016.
“I’m curious to know about Jindal,” Willie Robertson said.
Volkswagen has announced a recall of about 2.6 million cars worldwide, including 640,000 in China, a crucial growth market.
The recall affects a range of models that may have problems with lights, leaking fuel lines and the wrong type of engine oil.
It includes 800,000 of its Tiguan SUV model, one of VW’s best-selling models globally this year.
The recall is one of the biggest in VW’s history.
Some 640,000 cars are being recalled in China, where VW produces cars for the local market, as well as selling imports.
Volkswagen has announced a recall of about 2.6 million cars worldwide
China is now the biggest car market in the world, an important source of demand for global carmakers looking for growth to offset declines in European car sales.
VW says it wants to double its manufacturing capacity in China to four million cars a year by 2018, helping it to become the biggest car company in the world by sales.
The recall is a setback for those ambitions, although the faults appear to be relatively minor.
There are concerns that the affected Tiguan cars have faulty fuses in their lighting circuits.
A further 239,000 Amarok pick-up trucks may have leaking engine fuel lines.
Another 1.6 million cars and vans may have problems caused by the use of a synthetic oil in their gear boxes.
These include 640,000 vehicles produced in, or imported to, China between 2009 and 2013.
VW has already recalled more than 380,00 vehicles in China this year because of gearbox problems.
However, the size of the recall is dwarfed by Toyota’s recall of 10 million cars in 2009 and 2010, amid fears over sticky accelerator pedals and floor mats.
Ireland is to make a clean break from its 3-year 85 billion euro bailout programme in December, without seeking precautionary funding.
Irish PM Enda Kenny confirmed the move during a speech to the parliament.
The Irish economy is emerging from one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, having sought an international bailout in November 2010.
Ireland is due to leave the EU-IMF bailout on December 15.
Enda Kenny said: “We will exit the bailout in a strong position. The government has been preparing for a return to normal market trading.
“We will set out a path to a brighter economic future for our people, a path from mass unemployment to full employment, from involuntary emigration to the return of thousands of people who have to leave for other countries to find work.
Ireland is to make a clean break from its 3-year 85 billion euro bailout programme in December, without seeking precautionary funding
“Today is just the latest step in that ongoing journey, a significant step indeed but also just another step towards our ultimate job of getting Ireland working again.”
He added that German chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work closely with Ireland to improve funding mechanisms for the economy, including access to finance for small and medium businesses.
International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said the performance of Ireland bodes well for the future.
“The Irish authorities have established a very strong track record of policy implementation. This bodes well as Ireland exits its EU/IMF-supported programme,” she said.
It is understood a decision not to seek a special overdraft facility was finalized at an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday, ahead of Finance Minister Michael Noonan flying out to a summit in Brussels.
The Department of Finance said confidence and sentiment towards Ireland has improved considerably in recent months and domestic and international economic conditions were also improving.
Europe has decided to relax rules about the use of electronics during flights, paving the way for devices to be used during take-off and landing.
Currently smartphones, tablets and other devices can be used only while a flight is in the air.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published guidelines saying use of such devices should now be allowed during take-off and landing.
It follows the US bringing in similar rules last month.
Europe has decided to relax rules about the use of electronics during flights, paving the way for devices to be used during take-off and landing
The EASA stipulates that devices must be used in “airplane mode”, meaning passengers cannot use voice or text services.
This is due to the possibility of radio interference with flight equipment.
The changes will apply to aircraft operated by European airlines and are likely to be introduced at the end of the month.
Explaining the US change of heart, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that recent reviews had determined that most commercial aircraft can tolerate radio interference signals from such devices.
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been found in a prison hospital in western Siberia, her husband announced.
Pyotr Verzilov has spoken to his wife for the first time since she went missing 26 days ago.
He said she was undergoing tests for “various conditions” at the Tuberculosis Hospital No 1 in Krasnoyarsk.
But he added that she does not have tuberculosis.
Pyotr Verzilov said his wife had told him that conditions at the hospital were much better than at the penal colony in Mordovia, where she had been held previously, and that she had not been beaten during the 26 days she was missing.
Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has been found in a prison hospital in western Siberia
Russian prison authorities issued a statement confirming that “convict Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has arrived to the institution of the Russian prison service in the Krasnoyarsk region”.
A spokesman said her exact location had been sent to her lawyer, who had instructions not to tell anyone else.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and two other Pussy Riot band members were sentenced to two years in jail last year, after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral. In the song they implored the Virgin Mary to “throw Putin out”.
They were charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.
One member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released on appeal in October.
After her appeal attempt failed, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova went on hunger strike. She had complained of abuses by prison staff at Mordovia, including working long hours and being denied drinking water in her prison cell. She was moved to a medical unit and her whereabouts were unknown since October.
Brewmeister’s owners, Lewis Shand and John McKenzie, spent nine months creating Snake Venome, the world’s strongest beer at 67.5%.
The new beer is so strong it comes with a warning label on the neck of the bottle.
Lewis Shand and John McKenzie said: “This is not a beer to be drunk like all the other ones, you’re not supposed to drink more than 35 ml in one sitting.
“It’s a great thing to buy someone for Christmas though, as it’s difficult to buy presents for guys and I’m sure they’ll appreciate the chance to say they’ve drunk the world’s strongest beer.”
A 275ml bottle of Snake Venom costs £50 ($80) – the equivalent of £6.25 per serving.
Lewis Shand and John McKenzie spent nine months creating Snake Venom, the world’s strongest beer at 67.5 percent
Lewis Shand, 27, claimed the beer was like nothing avid drinkers have ever tasted before, adding: “It tastes like a liquor rather than a beer and has a whole host of different flavors, ranging from bubblegum to caramel.”
Although the Scottish brewers have clinched the honor of world’s strongest beer for now, it’s likely their crown will be snatched away quite quickly – breweries have been battling for the title for years.
Brewdog fired the starting pistol with their Tactical Nuclear Penguin, which boasted 32% proof. Then a German brewery entered the race with Schorschbock at 40%. Brewdog nudged ahead with Sink The Bismarck a short time later, with an ABV of 41%.
More recently, beers such as ‘t Koelschip, Start The Future and Armageddon nudged the strength up to an eye-watering, mouth-stinging 65%.
Eurozone’s economy grew by just 0.1% in Q3 2013, down from 0.3% growth in the previous quarter.
The figure marks just the second quarter of a growth phase that replaced an 18-month recession, the longest period of contraction to affect the single currency area.
It shows the eurozone’s recovery is extremely tentative.
Europe’s Central Bank last week cut interest rates to 0.25% to lift growth.
Europe’s economy is taking far longer to recover than the other advanced regions affected by the credit crisis of 2008.
Weaker countries in the eurozone have been propped up by bailout money, advanced on condition they cut government spending sharply to reduce their debts.
Moves to do this have hit directly at voters, through large-scale job cuts, reduced wages and pensions, higher taxes and widespread changes to public services.
With the resulting higher unemployment and fall in living standards, few economists think there is much there to drive forward a robust recovery.
Growth of 1.1% is being predicted by the European Commission for next year and 1.7% in 2015.
Eurozone’s economy grew by just 0.1 percent in Q3 2013
The US, with its own giant government debt, is currently growing at an annualized rate of 2.8%, compared with the eurozone’s rate so far this year of about 0.4%.
Even figures from the region’s strongest and most important economies, France and Germany, proved disappointing.
France shrank 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, while German growth slowed to 0.3% from 0.7% in the previous quarter.
Figures from Italy, the third most important country, showed its economy shrank by 0.1%, after a 0.3% contraction in the second quarter.
There were better signs of economic activity from some of the worst-hit countries in southern Europe.
Spain returned to quarter-on-quarter growth for the first time since the first quarter of 2011, albeit with growth of just 0.1%.
Portugal’s economy grew by 0.2% in the quarter.
When France’s economy grew by 0.5% in the second quarter of the year, it pulled the country out of recession, although economists had not expected that level of growth to be sustained.
Figures from the national statistics agency Insee showed that exports dropped by 1.5% in the third quarter, while business investment fell by 0.6%.
However, France’s Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, said he still believed the economy would grow by 0.1-0.2% over 2013 as a whole.
Germany’s statistics office Destatis also cited weak exports as a factor holding back growth.
Pink Star diamond has sold for $83 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva – a record price for a gemstone.
The diamond measures 2.69 cm by 2.06 cm (1.06 inches by 0.81 inches) and is set on a ring.
The Pink Star was sold to Isaac Wolf, a well known New York diamond cutter who has renamed it the Pink Dream.
The winning bid surpasses the $46.2 million paid for the Graff Pink diamond three years ago, which was half the size of the Pink Star.
The $83 million includes Sotheby’s commission.
Pink Star diamond has sold for $83 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva
The winning bid was for 68 million Swiss francs ($74 million) and reports say there was a long silence between that offer and the previous telephone bid of 67 million Swiss francs.
“Ladies and gentlemen, 68 million is the world record bid for a diamond ever bid and it’s right here,” Sotheby’s David Bennett said as he brought down the hammer.
Sotheby’s played the theme tune from the “Pink Panther” movie after the winning bid was confirmed.
According to the auctioneer, the Pink Star was mined by De Beers in Africa in 1999, but it did not say which country.
It took two years to cut and polish the diamond, which was 132.5 carat in its rough state.
In its finished condition the Pink Star is 59.60 carat, more than double the size of the next biggest diamond in its class.
A carat is a weight measurement used for gemstones and is 0.2g (0.00705 ounces).
Sotheby’s has sold almost $200 million worth of jewellery in its current auction, a record for a single auction according to the company.
Andy Warhol’s painting Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) has sold for $105 million at Sotheby’s, breaking the artist’s record by more than $30 million.
Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) depicts the aftermath of an accident, with a twisted body sprawled across the mangled interior of a vehicle.
It is one of four double-panel car crash paintings that Andy Warhol created in 1963. The others are all in museums.
Andy Warhol’s previous auction record was set in 2007, when $71.7 million was paid for Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I).
Andy Warhol’s painting Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) has sold for $105 million at Sotheby’s
Silver Car Crash has previously been owned by collectors such as Charles Saatchi, Thomas Ammann, as well as German multi-millionaire playboy Gunter Sachs.
Five bidders went as high as $80 million, said auctioneer Tobias Meyer. Sotheby’s did not identify the winner, who placed their bid by telephone.
“It’s a great price – and completely worth it,” said Tobias Meyer.
“It’s the best painting I’ve ever sold in my whole career.”
The price was the second-highest in history for a contemporary work of art – the highest being the $142.4 million fetched by Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud earlier this week at Christie’s.
Andy Warhol’s record-breaking work used images appropriated from newspapers, which he then silk-screened onto canvas, using reflective silver paint, repeating the scene many times over. The second panel in the 8-by-13 foot work is a blank canvas of silver.
In a recent interview, Oprah Winfrey – who is playing a White House butler’s wife in Lee Daniels-helmed The Butler – has said she feels the time is finally right for audiences to embrace films that tackle slavery and civil rights.
Oprah Winfrey, 59, told BBC she was “so happy” a number of new titles cover the topics.
She revealed one of these movies, 12 Years a Slave, moved her to tears during the interview.
Oprah Winfrey has a starring role in The Butler, which recounts the life of an African American man who grows up on a cotton plantation.
Oprah Winfrey is playing a White House butler’s wife in Lee Daniels-helmed The Butler
Cecil Gaines (played by Forest Whitaker) goes on to witness the Civil Rights struggle as he serves under a succession of US presidents.
Oprah Winfrey takes the role of his wife Gloria.
“I think everything has its time and I’m so happy for this time,” she said.
“The fact that all of them are happening this year is really, really exciting.”
“People are ready to hear it,” Oprah Winfrey added, recalling that her 1998 film Beloved, which also addressed America’s slave-owning past, was met with a cool reception – including from African American journalists.
Oprah Winfrey became visibly emotional during the interview when referring to harrowing scenes in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.
She also feels The Butler has an important role.
Oprah Winfrey said she had been lucky to be born in 1954 and never to have attended a racially segregated school in her native Mississippi.
Oprah Winfrey recalled an incident where Republican congressman Joe Wilson disrespected Barack Obama by crying out “you lie” while the president was giving a speech to the Congress.
The 59-year-old talk show queen, who will be seen playing a White House butler’s wife in Lee Daniels-helmed The Butler, recalled the 2009 incident during a recent interview with BBC.
“Remember that?” she said.
Oprah Winfrey asserted that there is no doubt in her mind that President Barack Obama had to face some criticism because of his ethnicity
“I think there’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs.
“And that occurs in some cases, and maybe even many cases, because he’s African American. There’s no question about that. And it’s the kind of thing no one ever says, but everybody’s thinking it.”
Oprah Winfrey asserted that there is no doubt in her mind that President Barack Obama had to face some criticism because of his ethnicity.
Katherine Jackson has filed an appeal to the jury’s verdict in Michael Jackson’s wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live, Entertainment Tonight first reported.
In a trial that began in April, Michael Jackson’s mother sued AEG Live for more than $40 billion for the wrongful death of her son, who died at age 50 in 2009.
Katherine Jackson has filed an appeal to the jury’s verdict in Michael Jackson’s wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live
After a lengthy trial, the jury decided in October that AEG was not liable in Michael Jackson’s death, which his mother is now appealing.
Scientists found out a clam they discovered a few years ago was the oldest living animal ever.
But they have also confessed that they accidentally killed it when they opened it up to see how old it was.
Ming the clam was thought to be around 405 years old when it was found by researchers in Iceland in 2006.
Ming the clam was thought to be around 405 years old when it was found by researchers in Iceland in 2006
However, more recent dating methods have determined that Ming was actually 507 years old. That means the mollusk made its way into the world around 1499, which explains how it got its posthumous name. Ming was the Chinese dynasty in power when the clam was born.
“We got [the age] wrong the first time, and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then,” ocean scientist Paul Butler from Bangor University told ScienceNordic.
Former German President Christian Wulff will go on trial today over receiving and granting favors in office.
Christian Wulff, 54, is alleged to have accepted the payment of hotel bills by a film producer in return for lobbying while he was premier of Lower Saxony in 2008.
The former president – who stepped down in February 2012 after less than two years in the post – is Germany’s first head of state to answer charges in court.
Christian Wulff rejects the allegations and has vowed to clear his name.
Film producer David Groenewold also faces similar charges.
The trial is expected to start at 10 a.m. local time in the northern city of Hannover.
Christian Wulff is alleged to have allowed film producer David Groenewold to pay hotel bills in Munich during the Oktoberfest beer festival in 2008 and on the northern island of Sylt in 2007.
In return, Christian Wulff is accused of having lobbied German companies to support David Groenewold’s work.
Christian Wulff is alleged to have accepted the payment of hotel bills by a film producer in return for lobbying while he was premier of Lower Saxony in 2008
Prosecutors had sought to put the former head on trial for corruption, but the court only approved the less serious charges.
If convicted, Christian Wulff faces up to three years in jail or a fine.
Christian Wulff and David Groenewold had rejected an offer from the prosecutor in March to settle the case with a fine – a procedure allowed for cases not considered especially serious.
He resigned amid a welter of unfavorable coverage in the German media dealing with his links to businessmen.
The pressure on him increased at the end of December 2011 with allegations, published in the mass circulation Bild newspaper, about a low interest home loan received from the wife of a wealthy businessman in 2008.
Christian Wulff was accused of giving misleading statements about the loan and later apologised to the editor of Bild, Kai Diekmann, for leaving an angry message on his voicemail threatening him if the story was published.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had pushed strongly to get Christian Wulff, from her centre-right CDU party, appointed to the largely ceremonial post in 2010.
At the time of his resignation, Angela Merkel said she accepted it “with respect but also with regret” and that she was convinced he had “acted legally”.
President Christian Wulff was succeeded by the Lutheran pastor and former East German anti-communist campaigner, Joachim Gauck.
Only 27,000 Americans enrolled for health insurance through its troubled federal website in the first month, the Obama administration has said.
About 106,000 people were insured in total, most of them through the state-run websites.
The administration originally estimated nearly half a million people would sign up in the first month.
Democrats reportedly expressed frustration about the botched rollout in a White House meeting on Wednesday.
The federal website, used in 36 US states, has been bedeviled by glitches since its October 1st launch.
The administration has pledged that the portal will be “running smoothly” for a “vast majority” of users by the end of November.
Wednesday’s figures from the US health department also showed nearly 400,000 Americans had qualified for Medicaid, a government medical programme for the poor that was expanded by the healthcare law.
Only 27,000 Americans enrolled for health insurance through its troubled federal website in the first month
About 40% of people in this category were said to have come through the federal website.
Nearly one million people, meanwhile, had managed to check via the website if they were eligible for government subsidies towards the insurance, but had not selected a plan, according to the administration.
The White House’s chief technology officer, Todd Park, told a congressional oversight hearing on Wednesday that the system’s response times have improved.
But there is a long way to go – health insurance enrolment thus far is a tiny fraction of the seven million people the Obama administration has projected will sign up by the end of March.
The difficult launch of the website has provided Republicans with plenty of ammunition against the law, which they tried to delay or defund through a partial government shutdown last month.
The White House is also facing harsh criticism over insurance companies’ mass cancellation of policies that do not meet the law’s strict requirements, even though Democratic President Barack Obama had pledged otherwise.
Adding to his political headache, six Senate Democrats are sponsoring a bill that would allow Americans to hold on to their existing coverage. The proposal is entitled Keeping the Affordable Care Act Promise.
It is along the lines of a House Republican-sponsored bill, to be voted on Friday, which Democratic leaders have rejected as just another conservative attempt to repeal the law.
Democrats in the House of Representatives met White House officials on Wednesday, reportedly to express their concern that the issue could lead to a backlash in next year’s midterm elections.
An unnamed senior House Democratic aide told US media that legislators had pressed President Barack Obama to announce a fix for the cancelled policies.
The White House is expected to host a visit from Democratic senators on Thursday.
Former President Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat, on Tuesday urged Barack Obama to find a way to let Americans keep their coverage under the law. Republicans seized on his comments.
Last week, Barack Obama apologized to those whose policies had been cancelled, saying “we didn’t do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law”.
Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern whose affair with President Bill Clinton nearly got him kicked out of office, has made a point of declining interviews as she builds a new life.
During time, Monica Lewinsky, now 40, declined many interviews from the press, including TIME in 2009.
Her friend and former publicist, Barbara Hutson, explained that Monica Lewinsky was attempting, as best as possible, to avoid any publicity.
Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern whose affair with President Bill Clinton nearly got him kicked out of office, has made a point of declining interviews as she builds a new life
TheNew YorkPost reported last year, however, that Monica Lewinsky was rumored to be shopping around a $12 million dollar book deal – which promised to reveal a more salacious, detailed account of her illicit encounters with President Bill Clinton. The rumors alone have sparked a flurry of speculation about the resurrection of the scandal.
“Monica Lewinsky is Back” read a September 2012 headline in the New York Observer, echoing 15 years of headlines on the evergreen intern.
Philippines’ government says it is facing its biggest ever logistical challenge after Typhoon Haiyan, which affected as many as 11 million people.
Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras said the government had been overwhelmed by the impact of Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record.
The official death toll stands at more than 2,300, but local officials and aid workers say it could rise much higher.
Rene Almendras said the government had responded to the disaster “quite well”.
Aid is slowly beginning to arrive in the worst-affected regions.
US military planes have been arriving at Tacloban’s ruined airport on Wednesday, delivering World Food Programme supplies, which can be carried by helicopter to outlying regions, and a French-Belgian field hospital has been set up.
Typhoon Haiyan affected as many as 11 million people in Philippines
On Tuesday, eight people died when a wall collapsed as thousands of desperate survivors mobbed a food warehouse.
And on Wednesday there were reports of shots being fired in the street and of a teenaged boy being stabbed in the stomach.
With warehouses empty, the main concern for people still in Tacloban was food and water. Some survivors resorted to digging up water pipes for supplies.
On a visit to the city, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said aid was coming in but “the priority has got to be, let’s get the food in, let’s get the water in”.
Health officials warn the worst-affected areas are entering a peak danger period for the spread of infectious diseases.
Typhoon Haiyan – one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on land – hit the coastal Philippine provinces of Leyte and Samar on Friday.
It swept through six central Philippine islands before going on to kill several people in Vietnam and southern China.
Disaster management officials in the Philippines have put the confirmed death toll there at 2,344, with another 3,804 injured as of 20:00 local time. They said 79 people were still missing.
The head of the Philippines Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang, also said she expected the official death toll to rise.
Francesco Schettino’s former lover Domnica Cemortan has revealed how she used to sneak into the Costa Concordia captain’s cabin.
Captain Francesco Schettino, 53, is on trial in Italy being charged with manslaughter after 32 people died in Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster last year.
Domnica Cemortan, 26, was spotted dining with Captain Francesco Schettino on the night the doomed cruise liner capsized.
Despite previously denying any affair with Francesco Schettino, when quizzed in court Domnica Cemortan admitted she was his mistress.
The Moldovan beauty has now revealed how she would sneak into his cabin at 2 a.m. just hours before Francesco Schettino had to be on duty.
Domnica Cemortan told the Sun: “I would make my way to his cabin in the middle of the night. It was all very secretive. I had to make sure no one saw me.”
Francesco Schettino and Domnica Cemortan met on the Costa Concordia cruise ship in December 2011 and began an affair when she returned to the ill-fated liner in January 2012 after Schettino bombarded her with phone calls and emails.
Francesco Schettino’s former lover Domnica Cemortan has revealed how she used to sneak into the Costa Concordia captain’s cabin
Domnica Cemortan admits she was “captivated” by Francesco Schettino and told how they kissed for the first time in his office.
The Moldovan told the newspaper: “I don’t think anyone ever saw me leave his cabin but people were certainly gossiping about us.”
Domnica Cemortan, a mother of one, also hit back after being branded the “blonde siren” who seduced Captain Francesco Schettino.
She told the Sun: “I’m talked about as an <<easy girl>>, the <<blonde sl*t>> who distracted the captain and caused the crash. It’s so wrong. I’m not some little tart.”
Domnica Cemortan, who was with Francesco Schettino on the bridge of the Costa Concordia when it struck rocks, was one of thousands of passengers forced to fight for their lives.
She fled and managed to get into a lifeboat – but narrowly escaped with her life after the ship started to come down on top of it “like something out of a disaster movie.”
Despite her ordeal, Domnica Cemortan maintains that Francesco Schettino is innocent.
Francesco Schettino faces 20 years in prison over charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.
Domnica Cemortan said of the captain: “I pray he doesn’t go to jail. I feel so sorry for him.”
Malala Yousafzai and Barack Obama’s elder daughter, Malia, are on Time magazine’s list of 16 most influential teens of 2013.
Time magazine’s list, published Tuesday, took young people who have inspired the society by their work in various fields like music, sports, technology, science, writing and media.
The magazine said that Malia Obama, 15, and her sister, Sasha, act with the poise of adults.
Barack Obama’s elder daughter, Malia, is on Time magazine’s list of 16 most influential teens of 2013
“President Obama often mentions his daughters in speeches, and says that they influenced his stance on gay marriage,” the magazine said.
Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, 16, was a target because of her vocal activism to better the education of girls under Taliban rule, Time said.
After surviving the attack, Malala Yousafzai didn’t hide in fear but strengthened her voice, it added.
Malala Yousafzai received the Sakharov Prize and Clinton Global Citizen Award this year for freedom of speech.
She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace prize 2013.
Others who figured on Time’s list are: singers Lorde, 17, and Justin Bieber, 19, actors Kiernan Shipka, 14, Chloe Grace Moretz, 16 and Hailee Steinfeld, 16, authors Maya Van Wagenen, 15, and Beth Reekles, 17, technology whizkid Nick D’Aloisio, 18, Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin, 18, fashion icon Dante de Blasio, 16, Romanian scientist Ionut Budisteanu, 19, Kendell and Kylie Jenner, 18 & 16, Lydia Ko, 16 .
Motorola has launched low-cost smartphone Moto G that includes features more commonly found in higher-priced models.
The Moto G will be sold contract-free from $179 in the US.
The handset has a 4.5 in (11.4 cm) 720p high-definition screen, a five megapixel rear camera, a 1.3MP front one, and runs the latest versions of the Android operating system.
Analysts suggest the budget end of the market is set to enjoy huge growth.
The Moto G is being launched in 30 countries including the US, UK, France, Germany and parts of Latin America and Asia. That contrasts with Motorola’s last model – the Moto X – which is currently only available in the US.
Motorola has launched low-cost smartphone Moto G that includes features more commonly found in higher-priced models
Its price makes it slightly cheaper than Samsung’s Galaxy S3 Mini, HTC’s Desire X and Sony’s Xperia M but still more expensive than Huawei’s Ascend G510.
However, Motorola’s device is the only one of these to come preinstalled with the Android Jelly Bean operating system. The firm is also promising to release an upgrade to the newest version of its Android platform, KitKat, in the near future.
It also has the highest resolution display and is the only one to feature a quad-core, rather than dual-core, CPU (central processing unit). This should in theory allow it to offer superior processing power while minimizing the toll on battery life.
Motorola representatives revealed the handset would be targeted at three groups:
People in developing countries who wanted to move from a basic “feature phone” to one that could run a wide range of apps
Students and children in richer nations, for whom price was still an issue
Existing smartphone owners frustrated by the prospect of spending $800 every couple of years to upgrade to another top-end model [youtube DljaASvRUIA 650]
Batman bin Suparman has been jailed in Singapore on theft and drugs charges.
His double-barrelled superhero name has given him something of cult following on social media.
The jokes on social media are aplenty following the news that 23-year-old man Batman bin Suparman has been given a prison sentence of 33 months by a court in Singapore.
He was arrested after being caught stealing money from a shop, as well as using his brother’s cash card to withdraw money. Far-fetched as it seems, this unusual name does appear to be entirely genuine – and it’s not gone unnoticed.
Batman bin Suparman has been jailed in Singapore on theft and drugs charges
Back in May 2008, a Singaporean ID card belonging to one Batman bin Suparman began being widely shared on social media. It was picked up by the blog Gizmodo and ran from there. Since then, the picture has been re-posted over 300 times, there have been more 15,000 tweets using his name, and a Facebook fan page has been set up in his honor. It has more than 11,000 followers.
Batman bin Suparman’s family appear to be originally from the Indonesia island of Java – where the name Suparman is very common, explains Ben Zimmer, a language columnist for the Wall Street Journal, who has worked in Indonesia and who has written about Suparman.
“Su” has Sanskrit origins and is a common prefix in Indonesia, featuring in a whole rung of Indonesian presidents’ names – including the current one Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. “Bin” means “son of” in Arabic, making it very likely that Batman’s father was also called Suparman.
The Batman part is a bit harder to explain, however says Ben Zimmer, as it’s not a traditional name in the region. The most likely explanation is that his parents chose it as a joke – Batman the superhero is popular there, and Indonesians are often playful in the names they choose, says Ben Zimmer.
“I see the name as this interesting juxtaposition of local naming with Western pop culture.”
