Scarlett Johansson got engaged to Romain Dauriac after accepting his proposal in August, People magazine reported.
“I can confirm that Scarlett and Romain are engaged. They haven’t chosen a date for the wedding,” a representative for Scarlett Johansson told Harper’s Bazaar UK.
Promoting her new film, Under The Skin, at the 70th Annual Venice International Film Festival on Tuesday, Scarlett Johansson, 28, had an undeniable glow.
Earlier in the day she had attended a photo call wearing a Sonia Rykiel knitted top and black trousers.
Scarlett Johansson proudly displayed the vintage Art Deco ring her French beau is said to have presented her with.
Her engagement ring features one large diamond as the centerpiece and then two slightly smaller ones on each side.
The three rocks are then surrounded by many other smaller stones.
Scarlett Johansson got engaged to Romain Dauriac after accepting his proposal in August
The ring appears to be set in either a white gold or platinum setting and band.
Following news of the exciting development, Scarlett Johansson and her new fiancé Romain Dauriac made a rather sheepish exit from the Italian city on Wednesday.
Romain Dauriac, a 30-year-old journalist and creative agency manager, looked smart in faded black jeans, a plain white tee, Converse sneakers and a light green jacket.
Scarlett Johansson and Romain Dauriac began dating in November 2012 after being introduced by mutual friends, just weeks after the actress split from her boyfriend of one year Nate Taylor.
Rumors first began to swirl that Scarlett Johansson and Romain Dauriac were planning to wed after the beauty was spotted wearing a huge pear-cut diamond ring as she wandered around New York with Romain in February.
Then in July, Scarlett Johansson was spotted wearing an ornate gold ruby ring – though friends dismissed reports she was engaged at the time, saying it was “simply a piece of jewellery”.
Scarlett Johansson admitted last year that she liked being married but hinted that she wasn’t interested in tying the knot again for quite a while.
In the last weeks John Kerry’s eyes seemed less droopy than usual and his entire face seemed somehow wider.
Why did Secretary of State John Kerry look so different?
His personal spokesman Glen Johnson explained that John Kerry has been working non-stop with no vacation – and barely has had time to squeeze in a simple haircut.
“It’s looks to me that he has limited movement on the left side of his face,” said cosmetic dermatologist Tina Alster.
“He doesn’t have any movement in his face at all,” said plastic surgeon Barry Cohen.
It could also be one of many other possibilities. Lack of sleep – no surprise, given the last couple of months with his wife’s illness and the Syrian crisis. Or something as simple as allergies, which could cause his eyes and face to puff up. It could be a minor cosmetic procedure like Botox or another injectable, or Bell’s palsy, a common virus which affects facial nerves and can mimic a minor stroke or bad Botox. Or simply stress.
John Kerry’s eyes seemed less droopy than usual and his entire face seemed somehow wider
“Stress can always make you look not like yourself,” said Tina Alster.
“It can definitely change how your face looks.”
John Kerry, 69, is no stranger to speculation about his classic patrician face. In the 1970’s, he had an operation to correct a malocclusion – a problem with his bite that caused clicking in his jaw. His smooth, unwrinkled appearance during the 2004 presidential race caused enough of a stir that his campaign was forced to deny Botox rumors directly.
In January of 2012, John Kerry showed up at the White House celebration for the Boston Bruins sporting two black eyes.
He denied any plastic surgery. Just the result of a nasty spill while playing hockey with family and friends over the New Year’s break, he said.
But the fact that the chatter arose again this week about whether his appearance was the result of exhaustion or some cosmetic snafu annoyed those close to him.
“Not only is it a little sad that this constitutes news by anyone’s definition in Washington when we’re debating the use of force in Syria, but the answer is simple: No, end of story. That’s not a denial, that’s a fact,” Glen Johnson said.
Kenyan parliament has approved a motion to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC) following an emergency debate.
A bill to this effect is expected to be introduced in the next 30 days, after opposition MPs boycotted the vote.
The ICC has charged President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto with crimes against humanity, which they both deny. William Ruto’s trial is due to start in The Hague next week.
The ICC said the cases would continue even if Kenya pulled out.
The charges against both Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto stem from violence that broke out after disputed elections in 2007, in which more than 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 forced from their homes.
Uhuru Kenyatta is to go on trial in November.
They were on opposite sides during the 2007 election but formed an alliance for elections in March this year, and analysts say the ICC prosecutions bolstered their campaign as they portrayed it as foreign interference in Kenya’s domestic affairs.
Kenyan parliament has approved a motion to leave the ICC following an emergency debate
Eeven though the vote does not halt the cases, it sends a powerful signal of defiance to The Hague – a sentiment that is becoming increasingly popular, in Kenya and across much of Africa.
No other country has withdrawn from the ICC.
Kenya’s parliament is dominated by the Jubilee coalition formed by Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto.
The motion, tabled by majority leader Adan Duale, said the pair had been “lawfully elected” and the government should take steps to “immediately” withdraw from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.
It also says Kenya will “suspend any links, cooperation and assistance” to the ICC.
Adan Duale noted that the US had refused to sign the Rome Statute to protect its citizens and soldiers from potential politically motivated prosecutions.
“Let us protect our citizens. Let us defend the sovereignty of the nation of Kenya,” Adan Duale is quoted as saying.
MPs from the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), led by former PM Raila Odinga, walked out of the debate, calling the motion “capricious” and “ill-considered”.
Kenya’s withdrawal would not bring “honor to the nation and dignity to our leaders”, CORD said in a statement.
“Kenya cannot exist outside the realm of international law,” it said.
In May, the African Union accused the ICC of “hunting” Africans because of their race.
The ICC strongly denies this, saying it is fighting for the rights of the African victims of atrocities.
The court was set up in 2002 to deal with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
The ICC has been ratified by 122 countries, including 34 in Africa.
South Korean officials announce that North Korea has agreed to restore a military hotline with the South as tensions between the two ease.
North Korea cut the connection in March following its third nuclear test in February and the international sanctions that followed.
Two other hotlines cut off at the same time were restored in June and July.
However, the joint industrial park at Kaesong, closed as part of the same dispute, has yet to reopen.
North Korea has agreed to restore a military hotline with the South as tensions between the two countries ease
The hotline is used to facilitate the travel of South Korean workers to Kaesong, a rare symbol of North-South co-operation.
In the past few weeks, the two Koreas have agreed to work towards restarting production at Kaesong, which has been closed since April.
About 53,000 North Korean workers were employed at Kaesong, working for more than 120 South Korean factories.
The military hotline will reopen on Friday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said.
Two other hotlines have been reconnected, one with the Red Cross and another used to communicate with the UN Command at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone which divides the two Koreas.
North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict, although an armistice was signed.
LG Electronics organized the scariest job interview in Chile.
Applicants had the scare of their lives when the company played a cruel prank on them that has been turned into an amusing TV advertisement.
To promote just how life-like images appear on the company’s 82-inch “Ultra HD” TV, LG created a fake office in which one of its screen was positioned to look like a window.
Four unlucky applicants – two men and two women – were then filmed in the fake office being interviewed for a job with the company.
To begin with, the interview process seems perfectly normal as the interviewer shakes their hand and starts to look at their resume.
But then the cityscape outside starts to change, the blue sky turns black, a meteor emerges from the clouds and suddenly the city explodes.
To promote just how life-like images appear on the company’s 82-inch “Ultra HD” TV, LG created a fake office in which one of its screen was positioned to look like a window.
The combination of high-def images and sound is – apparently – so realistic that each of the four interviewees freaks out, panicking and screaming as they see what they think is their city being destroyed.
Next the lights go out and the poor unsuspecting victims are left in the dark for a couple of minutes to add to the drama.
When the lights go back on, the door suddenly opens and in walks the LG team behind the prank to congratulation the poor unsuspecting targets.
The interviewee reactions after the prank are just as animated as some scream and shout, while others are quick to see the funny side of things and are probably just grateful that they haven’t just experienced the apocalypse.
It is a cruel but entertaining prank which does a highly effective job of promoting LG’s ultra high-def televisions.
However, some comments online by those who have seen the ad claim the whole process was faked. They claim actors are playing the parts of applicants and interviewers to promote the company’s latest television. Either way, it’s not yet known which is true.
This type of marketing is called a prankvertisement and since the clip appeared on YouTube on Monday it has been viewed more than 700,000 times.
Duck Dynasty’s bearded faces are everywhere since the A&E reality hit has turned into mega-million Robertson mania.
The Robertsons feature from best-sellers to beach towels, T-shirts to iced tea glasses, beer koozies to bobbleheads.
Duck Dynasty follows patriarch Phil Robertson and his family, who have made millions with their duck call and decoy manufacturing “dynasty,” Duck Commander, in West Monroe.
The show, which is in its fourth season, is a ratings hit, with a record 11.8 million viewers last week, thanks to its colorful characters, down-home humor and family values. Son Willie Robertson is so popular he’s been asked to run for Congress, matriarch Miss Kay Robertson has her own cookbook, Miss Kay’s Duck Commander Kitchen; and granddaughter Sadie Robertson is helping design her own line of prom dresses for 2014, the Sadie Robertson Live Original collection.
Back-to-school time has added another layer of merchandise, including notebooks, backpacks and calendars. Meanwhile, fall landscapes can now feature garden gnomes in mini-versions of Willie and Si Robertson.
Duck Dynasty’s bearded faces are everywhere since the A&E reality hit has turned into mega-million Robertson mania
Si Robertson, who hasn’t met an English word he couldn’t entertainingly butcher, has released his book, Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s Favorite Uncle, on September 3. Uncle Si has some selling to do if he expects to catch up to brother Phil Robertson’s Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander and The Duck Commander Family by Willie Robertson and his wife, Korie. These books have been on The New York Times’ best-seller book list for 14 and 19 weeks, respectively.
The variety of Duck Dynasty-related items doesn’t stop here, however. There are license plates, hats, wall signs, window decals, air fresheners, action figures, pajamas, run shoes, dog treats, waders, welcome mats, marshmallow guns, bandages and a board game, the Duck Dynasty Redneck Wisdom Family Party Game. There’s even a Chia Willie.
And the usually camouflaged-wearing Robertsons are still cranking out duck calls and decoys.
All those decoys, all that merchandise, all those books have put estimates of the family’s worth at more than $80 million.
When asked in December 2012 about the show and his family’s popularity, son Alan Robertson told The Advocate: “A couple of things I think really caught the attention of the country. I think it’s a very family-oriented, positive message opposed to a negative message, which, unfortunately, a lot of reality shows are based on people fighting, and not getting along, a lot of bleeping out and stuff like that, and it’s totally different, and I think that’s one of the things.”
“And of course, our faith is a part of it as well, since they close every episode with a prayer. Our family motto has always been <<God, Family and Ducks>>. I think that really resonates culturally, where the country is. The other thing that’s just nuts and bolts, is that the show is just really funny. It’s authentic.”
Alan Robertson and his wife Lisa have joined Duck Dynasty show on Season 4 for the first time. The eldest of the Phil and Kay Robertson’s four sons, Alan’s a minister, and, unlike his brothers, is clean-shaven. Rounding out the main cast of characters are his other brothers, Jase and Jep, and their wives, Missy and Jessica.
Speaking of the Duck Dynasty’s beards, there is an app for that. Go to appfinder.lisisoft.com/app/duck-dynasty-beard-booth.html on your smartphone and see what you or others would look like with lots of facial hair.
Duck Dynasty stars have been keeping a high profile preparing for the season premiere of their hit A&E series.
Duck Commander CEO Willie Robertson has been in the news with rumors of a political run and now Si Robertson is making his movie debut – as a version of his cartoon self – in the latest Veggie Tales episode.
Si Robertson makes cartoon debut as Silas the Narrator in a new Veggie Tales story, Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas
It’s Si Robertson as Silas the Narrator in a new Veggie Tales story, Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.
Si Robertson says it was “a wonderful experience” which gave him the chance to do something new and “tell others about his Christian beliefs through a wonderful Christmas story”.
Look for Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson in the upcoming Veggie Tales story Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas, available on DVD October 22nd.
The seating plan at today’s G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has reportedly been adjusted to put physical distance between host President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama as tensions are running high over Syria.
Ahead of the meeting of the leading world economies in St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin warned that action without UN approval would be “an aggression” as the relationship between the two countries reaches its lowest point since the Cold War.
But President Obama, who is leading the international drive for an armed response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s apparent breach of the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons, said the credibility of the international community was on the line.
The seating plan at G20 summit in Saint Petersburg has been adjusted to put physical distance between host Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama
Barack Obama last night cleared the first hurdle to obtaining Congressional approval for a strike, as the influential Senate Foreign Affairs Committee backed the use of force by a margin of 10-7, moving the measure to a full Senate vote next week.
The proposal allows the use of force for 60 days, with the possibility of a 30-day extension.
He president has said he is confident of receiving approval from Congress for “limited and proportionate’ military action, which he said would not involve US troops putting ‘boots on the ground” in Syria.
Bashar al-Assad had flouted a chemical weapons ban enshrined in treaties signed by governments representing 98% of the world’s population, he said, adding: “I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.”
Speaking in Sweden as he travelled to St Petersburg, Barack Obama said the credibility of the international community was “on the line” if it allowed Bashar al-Assad to act with impunity.
G20 leaders are meeting in Sankt Petersburg, Russia, amid sharp differences over the crisis in Syria.
US President Barack Obama has begun informal talks with other leaders as he pushes for military action over Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that military action without UN approval would be “an aggression”.
Syria is not officially on the G20 agenda in St Petersburg, but it is expected to dominate informal meetings.
The annual summit of the G20 group of the world’s leading economies is supposed to concentrate on the global economy.
Barack Obama, British PM David Cameron and Chinese President Xi Jinping are among the leaders who have now arrived at the G20.
On Thursday the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said one of its surgeons, a Syrian working in Aleppo province, had been killed.
It gave no details of the circumstances but called for humanitarian workers to be protected.
Separately, Syrian rebels have launched an assault on the religiously mixed village of Maaloula, in western Syria, held by government forces.
A Christian nun in Maaloula told the Associated Press news agency that the rebels had seized a mountain-top hotel and were shelling the community below.
On the eve of the summit, a US Senate panel approved the use of military force in Syria, in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
G20 leaders are meeting in Sankt Petersburg amid sharp differences over the crisis in Syria
The proposal, which now goes to a full Senate vote next week, allows the use of force in Syria for 60 days with the possibility to extend it for 30 days.
The measure must also be approved by the US House of Representatives.
The Damascus government is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians on several occasions during the 30-month conflict – most recently on a large scale in an attack on 21 August on the outskirts of the capital.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has denied involvement and said the rebels were responsible.
The US has put the death toll from that incident at 1,429 – though other countries and groups have given lower figures – and says all the evidence implicates government forces.
Vladimir Putin dismissed as “ludicrous” claims the Syrian government used chemical weapons, but said Russia would be ready to act if there was clear proof of what weapons were used and by whom.
Barack Obama is trying to build support in the US for military action against the Syrian government.
After arriving in St Petersburg, he held talks with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in the first of a series of meetings on the sidelines.
Barack Obama said Japan and the US had a “joint recognition” that the use of chemical weapons in Syria was a tragedy and a violation of international law.
Shinzo Abe has not stated publicly whether he supports military strikes.
A new study of images apparently from the chemical attack on August 21 concludes that the rockets carrying the gas held up to 50 times more nerve agent than previously estimated, the New York Times reported.
The study was carried out by an expert in warhead design, Richard Lloyd, and Theodore Postol, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The German intelligence service, the BND, told German MPs in a confidential briefing on Wednesday that Syrian forces might have misjudged the mix of gases in the attack, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
This might explain why the death toll was much higher than in previous suspected attacks, the head of the BND was quoted as saying.
France has strongly backed the US plan for military action. The French parliament debated the issue on Wednesday, although no vote was held.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
More than two million Syrians are now registered as refugees, the UN says, with an additional 4.25 million displaced within the country, making it the worst refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Indian rupee and stocks have jumped a day after the country’s new central bank chief Raghuram Rajan took charge and promised tough action to boost growth.
The Indian currency, one of the world’s worst performers this year, rose 2.3% against the US dollar.
India’s main stock index, the Sensex, rose 2.3% in early trade on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Raghuram Rajan unveiled a series of measures aimed at propping up the currency and liberalizing the country’s banking sector.
“To a certain extent, the recent rupee tumble and instability in the financial markets has been a crisis of confidence,” said Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS Bank.
“To that end, the path of action provided by the new governor and the stress on keeping communications predictable and consistent will be a welcome move.”
One of the biggest issues facing the Indian economy has been the sharp decline in the rupee.
Raghuram Rajan unveiled a series of measures aimed at propping up the currency and liberalizing India’s banking sector
The Indian currency has dipped nearly 20% against the US dollar since May, as international investors pulled out money from the country.
The pull-out has been triggered by a range of factors, including slowing economic growth and a lack of key reforms. At the same time, a recovery in the US economy has also made India a less attractive option for investors.
India’s central bank has taken some steps to try to maintain the rupee’s value and also shore up confidence in the economy.
However, these measures, which include increasing duty on gold, imposing capital controls and raising short-term interest rates, have failed to have any significant impact.
When he took charge, Raghuram Rajan announced that some of the actions that he would take to tackle the issue “will not be popular”.
“The governorship of the central bank is not meant to win one votes or Facebook <<likes>>. But I hope to do the right thing, no matter what the criticism, even while looking to learn from the criticism,” he said.
Raghuram Rajan’s statement has helped to restore confidence, with the Indian currency rising more than 2% to 65.53 rupees against the US dollar on Thursday.
He also unveiled steps aimed at opening up the country’s banking sector.
Under the new rules, Indian banks will no longer have to seek the central bank’s approval for each branch they want to open.
However, the banks will be obliged to open branches in rural areas – in proportion with their expansion in the cities – in order to extend financial services to all areas of the country.
The central bank will also issue new banking licences, beginning next year.
Raghuram Rajan added that the central bank would also look at easing the requirement for banks to invest in government bonds, to free credit for productive parts of the economy.
Analysts said the moves indicated that Raghuram Rajan would take concrete steps to tackle the issues facing the country.
US car sales jump to near six-year high in August as consumers grew more confident about an economic recovery.
Sales jumped 17% from a year ago to 1.5 million vehicles. That translates to sales of some 16 million a year.
Japan’s carmakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan all increased sales by more than 20%. The US’s Ford, General Motors and Chrysler also saw double-digit growth.
US economic growth has been picking up pace indicating the world’s largest economy may be getting back on track.
Revised figures released last month showed that the US economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.5% in the second quarter of the year – more than double the pace recorded in the previous three months
Mustafa Mohatarem, chief economist at General Motors, said the robust sales pace “reflects the underlying fundamentals of the economy”.
US car sales jump to near six-year high in August as consumers grew more confident about an economic recovery
The US is the world’s second-biggest car market. However, the sector suffered i the years following the 2008 – 09 global financial crisis.
The crisis resulted in a sharp slowdown in the US economy and a rise in unemployment levels in the country.
Those factors dented consumer confidence and saw them cut back on their spending.
But the US economy has now been showing signs of a sustained recovery.
The jobless rate has been going down, while other key indicators such as manufacturing and property prices have been picking up.
Industry players said that had helped boost confidence among consumers.
They added that the sales were also being boosted by the fact that people need to replace ageing cars after putting off purchases in recent years in the wake of the crisis.
“People are just tired of waiting,” said Fred Diaz, US sales chief for Nissan.
“They need new transportation, and they’re feeling confident about the jobs and secure about their careers.”
The average age of vehicles in the US is currently at a record 11 years.
An Ohio judge has forced Richard Dameron to stand outside a police station wearing a sign referring to himself as an “idiot” for calling 911 and threatening to kill officers.
Richard Dameron, 58, will be wearing the large yellow sign with black lettering for three hours every day this week as he stands outside the Second District police station in Cleveland, Ohio.
The sign reads: “I was being an idiot calling 911 and threatening to kill you. I’m sorry and it will never happen again.”
The punishment was handed out by Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey Carr.
The apology was directed at former “super cop” Jim Simone, a retired officer who was shot twice in his career, including once to the head.
Police said Richard Dameron threatened to kill his son’s girlfriend and Officer Jim Simone in February.
An Ohio judge has forced Richard Dameron to stand outside a police station wearing a sign referring to himself as an “idiot” for calling 911 and threatening to kill officers
Speaking outside the police station with the sign around his neck, Richard Dameron expressed his remorse.
“I stand up and be a man and do what I’ve gotta do and get it over with,” he told WEWS.
“I apologize to officer Simone and all the other officers. I get drunk a lot of times and I make a fool out of myself.”
Richard Dameron added to WKYC: “I was under the influence of alcohol, very deeply into it. We just got to rambling off, acting like fools… I do feel bad about it, cause the man’s never done nothing to me.”
The judge handed out a similar punishment to a woman who drove around a schoolbus last year.
Shena Hardin, 32, was ordered to stand at an intersection on two mornings wearing a sign that said: “Only an idiot drives on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.”
Cleveland Metropolitan School District bus driver Uriah Herron had captured video of Shena Hardin driving on the sidewalk so that she wouldn’t have to stop to wait for the children to get on and off the bus.
Shena Hardin had pleaded not guilty to the charges at a court hearing but later changed her plea.
Venezuela has announced the creation of a security unit to defend the country’s electrical system, a day after a blackout that affected 70% of the country.
Some rural areas are still experiencing power outages, reports say.
Energy minister Jesse Chacon apologized for the blackouts and congratulated Venezuelans for their calm despite the opposition’s “destabilizing efforts”.
Critics say the blackouts are due to a lack of investment in infrastructure.
Jesse Chacon said a metal grille had been tampered with and fell on electrical lines, causing a short circuit.
President Nicolas Maduro said the government would carry out an investigation, and a new security unit would be created to protect the electrical system from sabotage attempts.
Venezuela has announced the creation of a security unit to defend the country’s electrical system
Officials say the system has been fully restored everywhere, but accounts on the social network Twitter suggest that the blackouts lasted much longer outside the capital, Caracas, reports Irene Caselli in Caracas.
One woman has told the Associated Press news agency she did not believe “this tale about sabotage”.
“We all know who is to blame,” said Adriana Montoya, a housewife who said she was stuck for hours in traffic jams that formed as traffic lights went dark in Caracas, which lost power for five hours on Tuesday.
The blackout also partially disrupted the underground transport system, with people being stuck in trains in tunnels before being evacuated to safety.
Thousands of workers were sent home.
Nicolas Maduro blamed the opposition for “sabotage” to power transmission lines.
The president did not give any evidence to support the accusation, but said he had instructed the military “to protect the entire country”.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said the government was trying to divert public attention from Venezuela’s problems by concocting a conspiracy theory.
Ariel Castro, who kept three women captive at his Cleveland home, should not have been taken off suicide watch in June before his conviction, his lawyer has said.
A post-mortem examination found Ariel Castro, 53, hanged himself in his cell, a month after being sentenced to life in jail.
“There’s still an obligation to prevent our inmates from committing suicide,” Ariel Castro’s lawyer Craig Weintraub said.
Ariel Castro held Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry in chains at his Cleveland home for about a decade until May. He raped them repeatedly.
During his trial, Ariel Castro was taken off suicide watch after authorities determined he was not at risk of taking his own life.
On July 26, Ariel Castro pleaded guilty to over 900 separate charges, in a deal that protected him from the death penalty.
Ariel Castro was sentenced on August 1 to life imprisonment without parole plus 1,000 years.
Ariel Castro was taken off suicide watch after authorities determined he was not at risk of taking his own life
He hanged himself on September 3 in his isolation cell in Orient, Ohio.
The prosecutor who tried Ariel Castro called him a “coward” unable to withstand “a small portion” of what he had inflicted.
But Craig Weintraub told Cleveland newspaper the Plain Dealer: “He’s still a human being. This is still a civilized society.”
Prison authorities denied Ariel Castro permission to receive independent mental counselling, even though he had previously contemplated suicide and was likely to suffer depression after his life sentence, Craig Weintraub told Reuters news agency.
“We were never provided any explanation” for being denied independent mental health care, he said.
“We don’t know what the rationale was, to take him off suicide watch.”
Ariel Castro was placed in protective custody because of his notoriety. His cell was checked every 30 minutes.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said its mental health staff found that Ariel Castro did not need to be placed on suicide watch, which would have meant a guard checked on him every 15 minutes, AFP news agency reports.
“Our… mental health staff determined this,” said spokeswoman Ricky Seyfang.
“Suicide watch was not required for him.”
The department said it would review the death and publish findings within a month.
The former school bus driver abducted Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, from the Cleveland streets between 2002 and 2004.
The three women escaped from Ariel Castro’s home on May 6.
In an interview last month after his conviction, Ariel Castro’s lawyers said that he fit the profile of someone with a sociopathic disorder.
A new high fashion shoot for CR Fashion Bookshows Kim Kardashian as we have never seen her before.
Kim Kardashian, 32, who was heavily pregnant at the time of the May shoot, posed for Karl Lagerfeld with her mouth smeared with jam.
Another image shows her in a black veil and a Yankees cap, while a further frame shows her baring her seven-months-pregnant belly with pride.
Kim Kardashian also appears on one of two covers for the third edition ofthe magazine, which is themed around the idea of hope.
She wears a grill in the image – the latest celebrity to do so – staring down at the camera with her mouth ajar.
CR Fashion Book founder and editor Carine Roitfeld told WWD that the image was a “precious moment of Kim’s pregnancy that people haven’t seen”.
The shoot took place at Karl Lagerfeld’s studio in Paris, and was art-directed by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci – a good friend of Kim Kardashian’s boyfriend Kanye West.
Kim Kardashian, who was heavily pregnant at the time of the May shoot, posed for Karl Lagerfeld with her mouth smeared with jam
It took place the night before the amfAR gala in Cannes, and the team finished up at around 2 AM.
“Karl likes to shoot in the evening,” Carine Roitfeld explained.
“It was hard work. I’m a grandma. But I learned from Karl to never be tired.”
It is not the first time Carine Roitfeld has focused on the idea of pregnancy in her biannual magazine. For her inaugural issue, she featured a photograph of her daughter, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, while heavily pregnant.
“Pregnancy is something that I always love. It’s about hope and the future and a new baby,” Carine Roitfeld said.
But, she insists, her feature on Kim Kardashian is a far cry from the weekly magazines that charted every stage of her pregnancy.
“This is not something for a gossip magazine that goes into the trash. This is a magazine that is a collector’s item,” she said.
The theme of the magazine, hope, was inspired by the baroque painter Caravaggio, a favorite of Carine Roitfeld’s.
The new issue of CR Fashion Book hits newsstands on September 12.
Samsung has unveiled Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch with color screen that can show alerts and can be used for voice calls and run apps.
The Galaxy Gear had been highly anticipated since the firm is currently the world’s bestselling smartphone maker and has beaten Microsoft, Apple and Google to unveil such a device.
Samsung called it a “fashion icon”.
However, analysts warned that a decision to limit the watch to working as an accessory to other Galaxy Android devices might limit its appeal.
Samsung has previously said growth in the sales of its handsets was slowing, so investors are eager to see if it can find another successful product.
The company unveiled the watch – which will go on sale from September 25 – at the IFA consumer tech show in Berlin.
“The introduction of the Galaxy smartwatch comes as no surprise to the industry, which has been expecting Samsung to beat the likes of Apple – as well as watch makers and other consumer electronics companies – to market,” said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at the consultancy Davies Murphy Group.
Samsung Galaxy Gear is being made available with a range of colorful watch straps
“Consumers might be a bit disappointed to find that the smartwatch is a partner device reliant on being paired with a Samsung Android smartphone or tablet, rather than being the completely autonomous device media and communications device many consumers were expecting and hoping for.”
The South Korean firm’s approach contrasts with that of Sony whose forthcoming Smartwatch 2 can be paired with any device running Android 4.0 or higher.
But one industry watcher said Samsung’s decision should not be a surprise.
“Samsung is trying to build its own ecosystem, so why do something that brings value to somebody else?” asked Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at tech advisors Gartner.
“Although the price of the Galaxy watch is high there’s not going to be great margins as there’s lots of technology going into it.”
The Galaxy watch will cost about $300 making it more expensive than Sony’s device which costs $185.
Start-up Omate is planning to release a watch in October that matches Samsung’s in price, but its device is set to feature a 3G chip meaning it can make calls and work as a standalone device.
Qualcomm has also unveiled Toq, a watch using the firm’s Mirasol color display technology which should mean better battery life than its rivals. It also links up to a range of Android smartphones, will go on sale next month at a suggested retail price of $300.
The Galaxy Gear features a 1.6 in (4cm) LED display, a 1.9 megapixel camera, a speaker and microphone, has four gigabytes of internal storage and a non-removable battery.
Samsung said the watch could be used as a way to make voice calls without having to take the phone it was linked to out of the owner’s bag or pocket.
Galaxy Gear comes preloaded with 10 different clock options and there will be about 70 apps available at launch including Evernote’s note-taking software, auction service eBay, the social network Path and several fitness programs.
President Joachim Gauck has become the first German senior dignitary to visit Oradour-sur-Glane in France, where 642 people were killed by Nazi troops in June 1944.
The ruins of the village are preserved just as they were after the massacre.
Joachim Gauck said that he had accepted a French invitation to visit the site with “gratitude and humility”.
More than 200 children were among the victims of the World War II atrocity that left deep scars in France.
After the war General Charles de Gaulle – who later became France’s president – ordered the village not to be rebuilt but instead remain a memorial to the evils of Nazi occupation. A new village was built nearby.
“I want to reach out to the victims and tell them: I am at your side,” President Joachim Gauck told Europe 1 radio ahead of the visit.
“I am 73-years-old, I was born during the war, I was steeped in the discussion of our guilt… I will tell the victims and their families: <<We know what was done>>.”
President Joachim Gauck has become the first German senior dignitary to visit Oradour-sur-Glane
Joachim Gauck said on Tuesday that he would not refrain from making the point to others during his visit that “the Germany that I have the honor of representing is a different Germany from the one that haunts their memories”.
He was joined in Oradour-sur-Glane by his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, and together they visited the village square, where residents were rounded up by Nazi troops ostensibly to have their identity papers checked.
They also walked around a church where women and children were incarcerated before it was set on fire. The village’s men were taken to a barn where they were shot with machine-guns.
The two presidents were accompanied by two of the three living survivors, including 88-year-old Robert Hebras.
He was 19 at the time of the massacre, and survived because he was buried under the bodies of other men who had been shot.
“I was consumed by hatred and vengeance for a long time,” he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
At a joint news conference on Tuesday, Francois Hollande praised Joachim Gauck’s decision to go to the massacre site as a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation.
In 2010, Germany reopened a war crimes case into the attack when a historian discovered documents implicating six suspects who were now in their 80s.
Prosecutors said 12 members of the SS-Panzer Division “Das Reich” – which had spent three years on the Russian front before being deployed to the Normandy battlefields to fight Allied invasion forces – were suspected of involvement in the massacre.
The reason for the mass killings is unclear. One theory is that the Nazis sought to avenge the kidnapping of one of their officers, but another is that Das Reich troops were angered by what they believed was theft of a large amount of gold by villagers.
President Joachim Gauck, a former East German human rights activist, has paid two other visits to the sites of Nazi mass killings in Europe – the Czech village of Lidice, near Prague, and the Italian hamlet of Sant’Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany.
In 1984, French President Francois Mitterrand and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl joined hands while attending a memorial service for fallen soldiers at the World War I battlefield of Verdun.
Misty and Lamar Duren, the owners of Corn Dawgs Corn Maze near Loganville, turned to Duck Dynasty when selecting this year’s design and have plowed their land to look like Si Robertson, complete with his iconic saying, “Hey Jack”.
Misty and Lamar Duren are known for getting creative when selecting a design for the maze that draws thousands each fall.
Misty and Lamar Duren’s corn maze looks like Si Robertson
Last year the Georgia couple opted to feature then-retiring Braves player Chipper Jones.
They had planned this year to go with the faces of four male stars of A&E’s hit show Duck Dynasty (Si, Phil, Jase and Willie Robertson), but realized that would be more difficult to plow than imagined, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.
“So we went with Si because he’s my favorite,” Misty Duren said.
Winding through the maze takes about an hour and a half to two hours to complete, the Gwinnett Daily Post adds.
The Corn Dawgs Corn Maze is open September 22 through November 3.
Join Duck Dynasty’s Jep Robertson and thousands of Duckaholics for the first ever official “Duck Dash 5K”!
Runners will receive a t-shirt, beard and bandana as part of their Duck Dash race packet, and are encouraged to wear them during the run.
Join Duck Dynasty’s Jep Robertson and thousands of Duckaholics for the first ever official Duck Dash 5K
Jep Robertson will hand out race awards in a variety of age categories, as well as name winners for the costume and duck call contests.
When: Saturday, October 19, 2013 8:30:00 AM CST to Saturday, October 19, 2013 11:00:00 AM CST Where: Riverpark Church
3232 East 70th St. Shreveport, LA 71105
For more information, registration and packet pickup, please visit www.duck-dash.com.
Microsoft’s latest games console Xbox One is set to be released on November 22.
Xbox One will initially be available in 13 countries – UK, US, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
Remaining markets will follow in early 2014, Microsoft confirmed.
The timing of the launch will mean it beats close rival Sony’s PlayStation 4 to the shelves in much of the world by one week.
The exception is North America, where Sony’s console will be available on November 15.
The releases set up the first new console war since 2006, the last time both firms had fresh gaming machines on the market.
Xbox’s marketing vice-president, Yusuf Mehdi, announced the firm’s rollout plans in a statement.
“The culmination of many years of listening to you, our fans, developing innovative technology, and partnering with the best game and entertainment partners in the industry has brought us to this point,” he said.
Xbox One is set to be released on November 22
“There is still a lot more work to do, but the teams are making excellent progress and are focused on launch.”
Yusuf Mehdi confirmed that the console recently entered full production in preparation for the launch. Pre-orders had sold out faster than any of the company’s previous gaming products, he said.
He also confirmed that the console’s CPU had been upgraded by around 10% – from 1.6 Ghz to 1.75 Ghz.
It has been an uneasy few months for Microsoft in the run-up to this major launch.
In July, Microsoft lost its head of interactive entertainment, Don Mattrick, to social gaming company Zynga.
Don Mattrick left at a time when Microsoft was still bruised by a damaging performance at E3, the biggest gaming event in the calendar.
Microsoft had announced that the Xbox One would be more expensive than the PlayStation 4, and controversy surrounded various decisions regarding the firm’s policy on playing pre-owned games on the system.
In a dramatic U-turn a week later, Microsoft said it would drop heavily criticized restrictions on the console, was seen as a somewhat embarrassing exercise in damage limitation.
But that will all ultimately be forgotten by gamers once the consoles go on sale, and the Xbox One’s games line-up looks to set it up in good shape for the crucial first Christmas.
In particular, big-name exclusive titles and additional content on best-sellers such as EA’s FIFA football series are likely to drive sales.
Chinese official Yu Qiyi, who died during interrogation, was allegedly drowned by Communist Party investigators, a state-run newspaper has reported.
Yu Qiyi, who was the chief engineer of a state-owned company in Wenzhou, died on April 9.
His head was held in a tub of icy water by six investigators attempting to extract a confession, the Beijing Times reported, citing prosecution documents.
The investigators will be tried for intentional assault, the report said.
Yu Qiyi’s head was submerged under water several times during his interrogation on the night of April 8, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Yu Qiyi, who died during interrogation, was allegedly drowned by Communist Party investigators
He was taken to hospital, and died in the early hours of April 9, the report said.
An image published on the Beijing Times website of a document recording the coroner’s appraisal of Yu Qiyi’s death said the official died after inhaling fluids that caused his lungs to malfunction.
Photos published by the Beijing Times also showed several bruises on Yu Qiyi’s body.
The story appears to have been previously published on state-run news agency Xinhua’s website as well. However, the link to the story now leads to an error message saying the article has expired or been removed.
Yu Qiyi, who was a Communist Party member of Wenzhou Industry Investment Group, died during the shuanggui process, an internal disciplinary procedure where officials are asked to confess wrongdoings.
He had been detained for internal investigations into a land deal since early March. His death was initially described as an accident.
“Yu Qiyi was a strong man before the shuanggui process, but he was thin by the time he died,” his wife, Wu Qian, told the Beijing Times.
“He had many internal and external injuries after the 38 days [in detention]. Apart from the drowning exposed by the prosecution, he must have been tortured in other ways, and more people may have been involved,” she said.
The case appears to be a rare acknowledgement of some of the methods that lie behind the country’s well publicized crackdown on corruption.
Shuanggui is an extra-legal process during which there have been a number of reports of sudden deaths in recent months.
Honey Boo Boo’s mother, June Shannon, has shared her top tips for perfecting her favorite pastime – couponing.
In a new trailer for Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Mama June, 33, suggests organizing coupons in a binder with labels for each individual product, and bringing the binder to the store.
While Mama June uses coupons to score discounts on many things, she says the one item she splurges on most is toilet paper: “Because everybody’s got to wipe their ass! I mean, hello!”
June Shannon, who often refers to herself as the coupon queen, exchanged vows with her boyfriend, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, at her home in Georgia in May.
The trailer shows Mama June and Honey Boo Boo painstakingly clipping out coupons and sticking them into their purple binder.
Then they take their tickets to the grocery store, where they scope out the best discounts.
Mama June suggests organizing coupons in a binder with labels for each individual product, and bringing the binder to the store
“I think the thing that people most ever spend on is probably laundry detergent,” explains Mama June.
“With a coupon you can get the smaller size laundry detergent for like $2 if it’s on sale.”
June Shannon then gets confused doing the math, saying: “Buy four smaller bottles that equal the big bottle, you’re spending $4 versus $17.”
There is one product that Mama June and her gang buy without the help of her coupon collection.
“There’s not a lot of meat product coupons out there these days,” she says.
“So if you can find these, like, staple items, then you can provide that money that you saved to buy your meat.”
While toilet paper is one of her favorite items to buy with coupons, June Shannon says that she’s actually low on it at the moment, thanks to Honey Boo Boo.
The reality mom explains that when she and Sugar Bear went out for their anniversary, Honey Boo Boo and her babysitter decided to decorate the entire house – inside and outside – in toilet paper.
“I didn’t get Mama or Sugar Bear nothin’ for their anniversary,” Honey Boo Boo, who turned eight on Sunday, says in the clip.
“So I wanted to make their house very purdy.”
June Shannon rolls her eyes as she remembers the incident, saying: “We actually put my whole trash can out filled with toilet paper, when I could have used that for six months to wipe my ass with.”
Katie Couric got engaged to her financier boyfriend of nearly two years, John Molner, on Labor Day weekend.
John Molner popped the question on a beach in East Hampton, New York, as the sun went down, with a “spectacular diamond ring”.
A widow since her husband, Jay Monahan died from colon cancer in 1998, mother-of-two Katie Couric, 56, has had several suitors over the years, but never seemed to find the right match.
Katie Couric told People magazine in 2011 that she always imagined herself as a “modern-day” version of the twice married TV character, Carol Brady.
Finally, though, she decided to stop worrying about finding a suitor.
“I used to worry a lot about the future. [But] who knows what it will bring?” Katie Couric said.
“Hopefully it will bring good things.”
Katie Couric has had several suitors over the years, but never seemed to find the right match
However, Katie Couric met 50-year-old John Molner, a partner at the investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman, in early 2012 and soon hit it off.
Katie Couric and John Molner first went public with their relationship in April 2012 and she said later that year: “He’s great. He’s from Chicago. I love Midwesterners!”
She also made it clear that she was looking to take things to the next level, telling Parade that she liked the “idea of having a life partner”.
Before John Molner, Katie Couric was dating entrepreneur, Brooks Perlin, who is 17 years her junior.
Katie Couric and Brooks Perlin met at a charity event held to raise money for cancer research in 2006 and remained together for five years.
There was speculation at the time that her new relationship with John Molner came too soon after the split.
However, mutual friends of the couple reportedly said that they had been trying to set them up for years.
John Molner is said to have been a fan of Katie Couric’s for some time.
Speaking to People magazine about dating, Katie Couric once said: “I thought, it’s important for me to go out. I’m always excited to meet new people and have a social life.
“I think dating is fun actually. I enjoy that part of my life.”
John Molner will become a step-father to Katie Couric’s two daughters with Jay Monahan, Ellie, 21, and Carrie, 17.
Making her engagement public today, Katie Couric tweeted: “Yes it’s true! So touched by all the kind Tweets & warm wishes-thank you! A great end to the summer & looking fwd to seeing you all Monday!!”
Her talk show, Katie returns for a second season on September 9.
According to a survey of 1,005 adults conducted by 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair, 70% of men would want their wives to outlive them.
Women were slightly less like likely to want to be outlived, with 62% of women saying they would want to die before their husband.
Meanwhile, 55% of people overall said they would give up their lives for their children.
The poll was part of a mortality-themed study, which also looked at other questions about death and dying.
When asked which celebrity they would like to bring back to life, for example, 35% said Princess Diana, followed by 14% who chose Steve Jobs and 11% who said Michael Jackson.
Family members were the people most participators said they would give up their lives for, with 55% choosing children.
If they were given a choice, 12% said they’d die for their spouse, 10% would give up their lives for their parents, 10% would die for their religion and only 5% said they’d die for their country.
In terms of what happens to them after death, only 24% of those polled said they would have their bodies cryogenically frozen in the hope they could one day be revived – even if the process was done for free.
Interestingly though, the number rose significantly to 39% among 18- to 34-year-olds.
Of the fictional characters they wished hadn’t died, an overwhelming majority – 32% of women and 19% of men – chose Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson from Titanic.
When it comes to funerals, more than a quarter – 26% – admitted to having fantasized about what people would say about them at the somber event.
And a whopping 40% said if they were to have a celebrity’s epitaph etched on their tombstone, it would be Frank Sinatra’s: “The best is yet to come.”
Oprah Winfrey was in mid-sentence during her interview with Chicago-based TV station WGN’s Morning News show on Tuesday, when the call was abruptly disconnected.
Oprah Winfrey, 59, was the first guest on the new expanded hour of the show to discuss her role in the recently released film Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
The talk show maven was telling the four anchors about her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) lineup that evening, when a woman’s voice was heard saying “transfer” followed by a dial tone.
The anchors collectively cried out in dismay when they realized they had in effect hung up on the star, and immediately started voicing their frustration while on the air.
“This is so typical,” WGN anchor Robin Baumgarten said.
“How do we cut off the one guest we’ve had that people might be interested in watching?”
Oprah Winfrey was in mid-sentence during her interview with WGN’s Morning News show, when the call was abruptly disconnected
“We are such a pack of morons,” she continued, scrumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it at the camera.
After a pause, Oprah Winfrey actually called the station back, according to the show’s Twitter page.
“Ok, you all have a few kinks to work out,” said Oprah Winfrey, confirming the problem wasn’t on her end.
“It definitely wasn’t me.”
“I’m just sitting here on the phone talking and all of a sudden music comes in and I’m like, <<Okay, I guess that’s my cue>>,” Oprah Winfrey said.
“It’s like you’re standing at an award show and the music starts. Oh, okay, that’s my cue to shut up.”
Oprah Winfrey sounded unimpressed as she briskly wrapped up the conversation.
“She was ticked,” said a male anchor after the second call.
“We were having a connection and you bozos screwed it up,” said anchor Robin Baumgarten, referring to her male co-hosts.
WGN later tweeted about the incident, calling it the “biggest goof since the #BridgeFail”, another of the station’s famous gaffes.
