Bruce Jenner turned an interview with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night into a point scoring exercise.
Bruce Jenner, 63, was meant to be promoting the eight season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon but what started out as jokes about their feud – and did get a lot of laughs from the talk show host – turned into an awkward interview long discussion of Bruce’s grievances.
Despite claiming: “I am from the Kardashian group. We can take anything” as the sportsman made jokes his anger was obvious.
The beef between the reality star and Jimmy Fallon started last year during the Olympics.
Jimmy Fallon had been making jokes about Bruce Jenner’s plastic surgery – the star has gone under the knife a number of times including on Keeping Up With The Kardashians – and when the pair ran into each other after a London event, reportedly Bruce demanded the host ‘stop saying s-t’ about his appearance.
But Bruce Jenner has not buried the hatchet it seems.
Bruce Jenner turned an interview with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night into a point scoring exercise
He started the segment by complaining comedians just use bad pictures of him – before showing “bad” pictures of Jimmy Fallon.
“I’m not trying to hide anything here,” Bruce Jenner told the host, saying he could take a joke.
“I had it done on camera in our show.”
But the Olympian made sure Jimmy Fallon knew he had some muscle behind him.
“I can take it but Kanye [West] is really pissed,” Kim Kardashian’s step father said whispering into the host’s ear.
“My good friend, Kanye, and you don’t want to go there.”
Not content to just threaten the funny man with the wrath of Kanye West, Bruce Jenner also tried to insult Jimmy Fallon’s appearance.
“You can make all the jokes you want but I can guarantee you, Mr. Fallon, my ass in a pair of running shorts looks a hell of a lot better than your ass.”
“I would agree with you, and I am sincerely sorry,” Jimmy Fallon said after eight minutes of Bruce Jenner’s angry jokes.
At least six people have died and other 14 have been hurt after a building collapsed in the centre of the city of Philadelphia, officials say.
A four-storey building fell down, sending debris on to a building housing a bustling Salvation Army shop.
The collapse happened around 10:30 local time in the Center City neighborhood.
Emergency services frantically used their bare hands to rescue 14 people from the rubble of the Salvation Army shop after it came down on the corner of 22nd and Market at 10.45 a.m – the cause is yet unknown.
The building was being demolished, though the cause of the collapse was unknown, officials said.
Early reports said just one person had died, but rescuers continued working into the night.
Mayor Michael Nutter said the dead included five women and one man.
“If anyone else is in that building, they will find them,” he said.
Apartment building collapses on top of Philadelphia thrift store killing six people
Thirteen people were taken to hospital suffering minor injuries, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said.
Late on Wednesday, a 61-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble to become the 14th known survivor.
The four-storey building had both commercial and residential spaces.
Several witnesses said they had been concerned about the way the demolition was being carried out prior to the collapse.
“We’ve been calling it for the past week – it’s going to fall, it’s going to fall,” window washer Dan Gillis told the Associated Press.
Earlier, witnesses said they had heard a loud rumbling sound immediately beforehand.
“I was standing there looking out my window, watching the men at work on the building, and the next thing I know I heard something go kaboom,” Veronica Haynes, who was in an apartment building nearby, said.
“Then you saw the whole side of the wall fall down… on to the other building.”
Bernie Ditomo told a local NBC he was driving on a nearby street when he felt something “like an earthquake”.
“I said, <<What the hell is going on?>>,” Bernie Ditomo said.
“My truck is totalled. I am a little dusty and dirty, but I’m alright. I am one of the lucky ones.”
High school student Jordan McLaughlan said he saw several people on the ground being given oxygen by rescuers after the collapse as the air filled with dust.
Authorities asked news helicopters to clear the air over the scene so rescuers could hear people trapped under the rubble.
“This is delicate, it is dangerous work,” Lloyd Ayers said.
North Korea has proposed official talks with South Korea on normalizing commercial projects, weeks after operations at the joint Kaesong industrial zone were suspended.
In a statement from state news agency KCNA, North Korea said the place and date could be “set by the South side”.
Kaesong Industrial Complex, just inside North Korea, is a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
But it pulled out its workers in April amid high tensions on the peninsula following its February 12 nuclear test.
Since then operations at the zone, where more than 100 South Korean manufacturers employ some 53,000 North Korea workers, have been halted for the first time since the project began a decade ago.
North Korea said late last month it would invite South Korean businessmen back to discuss the resumption of operations but Seoul ruled that out, saying working-level government talks should be held.
There was no immediate response from South Korea.
Mount Kumgang resort is a joint tourism project that has been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead there by a North Korean guard in 2008
The KCNA statement, attributed to the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, said that hotlines cut during the period of high tension would be reconnected if South Korea agreed to the talks.
“We propose holding talks between authorities of the North and the South for the normalization of the operation in the KIZ [Kaesong Industrial Zone] and the resumption of tour of Mt Kumgang,” it said.
The Mount Kumgang resort is a joint tourism project that has been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead there by a North Korean guard in 2008. North Korea has since seized assets of the resort’s South Korean operator.
Restarting reunions of separated families could also be discussed, the North Korea statement said, adding: “The venue of the talks and the date for their opening can be set to the convenience of the South side.”
While South Korea may want to discuss Kaesong, its government has made it clear in the past that more wide-ranging dialogue should be linked to progress on denuclearization.
The offer comes after several months of threats and rhetoric from the communist North Korea.
Apparently angered by the US sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills, it warned of attacks on regional targets and cut key economic and communications links with Seoul.
In recent weeks, however, tensions appear to have lessened somewhat. Late last month, North Korea sent an envoy to Beijing – seen as having the greatest degree of influence on Pyongyang – for talks, for the first time since its nuclear test.
Just 48 hours before being rushed from her family’s home to a nearby hospital In Los Angeles after a possible suicide attempt, Paris Jackson posted a lengthy video of herself applying makeup.
Sources close to the Jacksons confirm that the 15-year-old was taken by stretcher from the home she shares with her grandmother and two brothers, after family members found her passed out in her room. The 911 call from inside the Jackson residence indicated that it may have been a drug overdose, while sources at the hospital say the young girl had multiple cuts on her wrists. The cuts didn’t appear to be fresh.
Even more disturbing is the suggestion that this wasn’t her first attempt at suicide.
“She’s given the family a scare before,’’ said a close family friend.
“All of Michael’s kids have had a rough time since their dad died, but Paris is the most sensitive of the three. She takes everything to heart, and the last year of family strife hasn’t given her much time to regroup or heal.’’
Both Paris Jackson and her older brother, Prince Michael, are expected to testify in their grandmother Katherine’s ongoing lawsuit against AEG, the concert-promotion giant responsible for Michael Jackson’s last tour. The suit is seeking millions of dollars and alleges the company was also responsible for Michael Jackson’s death from an overdose.
“That has her scared and rightfully so,’’ said the family friend.
“The CEO of AEG has already implied Katherine is a fraud trying to extort money. What will he say about the kids? They are constantly being judged or at least they feel they are.’’
Adding more fuel to Paris Jackson’s emotional angst is the looming four-year anniversary of her beloved father’s death on June 25.
Paris Jackson has been hospitalized with multiple cuts on her wrists
“It’s been nonstop drama for them in a way since Michael died,’’ said the friend.
“They were jolted from one reality to a very different one when he died. They have all this freedom now that I’m not sure they knew how to handle.’’
While their father lived, Paris Jackson and her two brothers were kept far away from Hollywood and the media spotlight.
Michael Jackson often employed masks to hide their true identities and had them homeschooled in an effort to minimize their contact with the outside world. The megastar was often criticized for his child-rearing tactics, but many inside the immediate Jackson family say Michael had very valid reasons for his actions.
“Michael wanted his kids protected and away from the spotlight,’’ said one Jackson family member.
“He didn’t want them ridiculed and judged. He’d had enough of that for a lifetime and didn’t want his children to face that same fate. Unfortunately, a lot of people around those kids have forgotten Michael’s wishes for his children.’’
After Michael Jackson’s death, all three children were immediately transferred into a brand-new world of private schools, interviews with Oprah Winfrey, and social media. Paris Jackson quickly became the queen of Twitter and Facebook, frequently posting personal insights into her thoughts and family happenings. She’s also become quite the style icon after cutting her long hair into a funky bob and regularly sporting her signature smoky eye makeup whenever photographed.
Last year, Paris Jackson famously alerted the world through her tweets that her grandmother and primary guardian Katherine had been taken away from the home they share with her and not heard from for days. Those tweets led to a widespread investigation of Katherine Jackson’s disappearance but also caused a major riff between her aunts and uncles.
Several of Paris Jackson’s aunts and uncles say they removed their elderly mother from her home last summer because they feared Katherine Jackson’s health was being compromised by the stress of Michael’s death and legal woes. The problem was they didn’t bother to inform Michael Jackson’s children of their plan and that resulted in several of those aunts and uncles being barred from their mother’s home per a court order.
“Paris wouldn’t be on Twitter or Facebook if Michael was alive,’’ said a family member.
“He’d talk to her to see what was wrong, but he wouldn’t allow her to tell the world anything. That only opens the door to more problems. But Katherine is in her 80s and really just wants the kids to be happy, so she lets them do what all other kids are doing. Problem is, they aren’t like other kids.’’
While she has more than a million followers on Twitter, Paris Jackson is often met with mean-spirited messages that attack her looks and famous father.
“Janet and others wanted her to get off Twitter for that reason alone,’’ said one family member.
“Why invite people to come into your life and insult you when you already have so much against you? But Paris wants to be like any other teenage girl.’’
Paris Jackson’s last tweet on Tuesday posted a lyric from Beatles’ Yesterday : “Yesterday all my troubles seem so far away now it looks though they are here to stay.’’
The image of a woman in a red cotton summer dress with a white bag slung over her shoulder and a masked policeman firing noxious tear gas spray that sends her curly hair billowing upwards has become the symbol of the Turkish.
Endlessly shared on social media and recreated as artwork on posters and stickers, the image of the woman in red has become the leitmotif for female protesters during days of violent anti-government riots in Istanbul.
It has thrust Turkish academic Ceyda Sungar into the limelight but she says her experience is typical of people in her country who fight for their rights.
Ceyda Sungar, an academic in city planning at Istanbul Technical University, told Turkish newspaper Radikal: “Every citizen defending their urban rights, every worker defending their human rights, and every student defending university rights has witnessed the police violence I experience.”
Ceyda Sungar, who is part of the Taksim Solidarity Platform protesting against the redevelopment of Gezi Park, has since declined further interviews as she is believed to be uncomfortable with her position as the focal point of the movement.
But it has become a galvanizing force for fellow protestors.
“That photo encapsulates the essence of this protest,” says maths student Esra at Besiktas, near the Bosphorus strait – one of the many centres of this week’s protests.
“The violence of the police against peaceful protesters, people just trying to protect themselves and what they value.”
In one artist’s rendering which has been plastered on walls in Istanbul and elsewhere the woman appears much bigger than the policeman.
“The more you spray the bigger we get,” reads the slogan next to it.
The U.S. and the European Union as well as human rights groups have expressed concern about the heavy-handed action of Turkish police against protesters.
Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan branded the protesters on Monday extremists “living arm in arm with terrorism”, a description that seems to sit ill with the image of the woman in red.
Deputy PM Bulent Arinc has apologized for police violence and was due to meet organizers of the demonstration against plans to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks on Istanbul’s Gezi Park in Taksim Square.
But he refuses to talk to unnamed groups he accuses of exploiting anger over police action against the original protest to foment broader violence.
He is in control of the government after Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew off to a state visit to North Africa on Monday.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not comment on domestic matters at a news conference in Algiers on Tuesday.
Bulent Arinc apologized for “excessive violence” by police against the initial Taksim demonstration, which contrasted sharply with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s dismissal of the protesters as “looters” and comments linking some to “terrorism”.
President Abdullah Gul has also made markedly more restrained comments on the protests.
Pro-government newspapers signaled a softening of Ankara’s line today and the Sabeh newspaper’s front-page read “Olive Branch”.
Today thousands of people remained at a makeshift camp at Taksim, which has become a focal point of the demonstrations.
Small tents have appeared, food and face masks are on sale and a library is being created.
Ceyda Sungar, woman in red who becomes symbol of Turkish protests being doused with pepper spray, is an academic in city planning at Istanbul Technical University
British student Melisa Kenber, 19, said she was chased by police wielding tear gas canisters after she filmed the protests.
The Leeds University student from Ripon, North Yorkshire, was visiting family in Istanbul when she became caught up in the protests.
As she started to video the police they yelled: “No pictures, no pictures”, and ran after her until she reached her car, her eyes streaming from the gas.
Melisa Kenber said: “I go to Istanbul every year but this time I went, before it all kicked off, I had never hear people so frustrated and angry and complain about the government.
“It was like a bomb waiting to go off. The final straw was at Taksim Square.
“There were thousands of people there, listening to bands and talking, it was a really nice atmosphere.
“But just before dawn police arrived with canisters of gas and water bombs.”
Police have arrested 25 people for “spreading untrue information” on social media and provoking protests.
Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu Agency said today the people were detained in the city of Izmir for allegedly “inciting the people to enmity and hate”. It said police were still looking for 13 others.
Tens of thousands of Turks have joined anti-government protests expressing discontent with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year rule.
Turkey’s main broadcast media have been criticized for shunning the coverage of police brutality at the protest onset on Friday. Many people turned to social media to keep up to date with the developments.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has dismissed the protests as demonstrations organized by an extremist fringe, has referred to the social media as “the worst menace to society”.
Clashes spread overnight to the eastern province of Tunceli, where police fired tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters who set up barricades and threw stones at them, witnesses said.
Police intervened in a similar way against demonstrators in the capital, Ankara, as well in Hatay province on the Syrian border where a 22-year-old man died after being hit in the head at a rally late on Monday.
The DISK union confederation, including unions in the metalworking, health and energy sectors, was due to stage a walkout on Wednesday, joining another labor confederation in a protest against the government.
Last night, some protestors dressed in more combative gear and sporting face masks as they threw stones, but the large number of very young women in Besiktas and on Taksim Square where the protests began on Friday evening is notable.
With swimming goggles and flimsy surgical masks against the teargas, light tasseled scarves hanging around their necks, Esra, Hasine and Secil stand apprehensively in the Besiktas district on Monday evening.
They are joined by ever growing numbers of youngsters as dusk falls and the mood grows more somber.
They belong, as perhaps does the woman in red, to the ranks of young, articulate women who believe they have something to lose in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey.
They feel threatened by his promotion of the Islamic headscarf, symbol of female piety.
Many of the women point to new abortion laws as a sign that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has advised Turkish women to each have three children, wants to roll back women’s rights and push them into traditional, pious roles.
“I respect women who wear the headscarf, that is their right, but I also want my rights to be protected,” says Esra.
“I’m not a leftist or an anti-capitalist. I want to be a business woman and live in a free Turkey.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has won three successive elections and has a huge parliamentary majority, has been accused of taking an authoritarian turn after initial economic advances and early democratic reform.
Critics accuse him of pursuing an “Islamist” agenda by easing restrictions on the wearing of headscarves in state institutions, limiting alcohol sales and promoting broader religious projects.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan denies any ambition to undermine Turkey’s secular constitution.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the secular republic formed in 1923 on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, encouraged women to wear Western clothes rather than headscarves and promoted the image of the professional woman.
Ironically, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen these days as, for better or worse, the most dominant Turkish leader since Ataturk.
After first sweeping to power in 2002, he remains unrivalled in popularity, drawing on strong support in the conservative Anatolian heartland.
The weekend demonstrations in dozens of cities suggest however his popularity may be dwindling, at least among middle classes who swung behind him in the early years of political and economic reform that cut back the power of the army and introduced some rights amendments.
“Erdogan says 50 percent of the people voted for him. I’m here to show I belong to the other 50 percent, the half of the population whose feelings he showed no respect for, the ones he is trying to crush,” says chemistry student Hasine.
“I want to have a future here in Turkey, a career, a freedom to live my life. But all these are under threat. I want Erdogan to understand,” she adds.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday night said only Turks can solve the problem of anti-government protests sowing unrest in Turkey. But he says the U.S. is concerned and isn’t indifferent to the outcome.
Speaking at the American-Turkish Council’s annual conference, which was attended by one of Turkey’s deputy prime ministers, Joe Biden said the U.S. supports free assembly, a free press and non-violence by government and demonstrators.
He added that Turkey mustn’t choose between democracy and economic progress.
Joe Biden also said the U.S. and Turkey sometimes disagree on tactics but share common goals, like a two-state solution in Israel, a non-nuclear Iran and a nonsectarian Syria.
Protesters are coming better prepared now than when the unrest first began.
Some have hard-hats, some are dressed all in black, most wear running shoes. But many are dressed as femininely as the girl in the red dress snapped on Taksim Square.
“Of course I’m nervous and I know I could be in danger here,” said 23 year-old economics student Esra, who says her parents support her protest.
“But for me that is nothing compared to the danger of losing the Turkish Republic, its freedoms and spirit.”
Scientists have worked out the best way to dry your hands and it appears that paper towels not only dry hands quicker than electric driers, they are also more hygienic.
While the importance of washing hands is obvious, the benefits may be undone if they are not dried properly, experts said.
This is because wet hands are better at passing on germs than dry ones, biomedical scientist Cunrui Huang said.
His review of 12 studies found that, overall, paper towels were “superior”. One study found they leave hands 96% dry after just ten seconds. After 15 seconds, the hands are 99% dry.
By contrast, a drier takes at least 45 seconds. The amount of time is important because most people spend only a few seconds on drying their hands.
One study found men spend 17 seconds using hot-air driers and women 13.3 seconds – a fraction of the time needed.
Paper towels also scored higher because the rubbing motion may physically remove germs.
Paper towels are more hygienic than hand driers
By contrast, air driers may blow them on to the body – a concern in public toilets, where regular flushing of cisterns disperses germs in the air.
“This can increase the number of germs by an astonishing 255 per cent,” said Keith Redway, senior academic in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Westminster University.
Bacteria are then blown on to the hands of users and into the atmosphere.
This leads to the potential for the spread of organisms such as Salmonella and E. coli, as people often dry their hands before cleaning them properly.
In the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal, Dr. Cunrui Huang, of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, said: “There is a risk of persons standing at air driers acquiring the bacteria dispersed in the air current towards them.”
Cloth towel rolls were marked down because of the numbers of people using them.
Although antibacterial washes are essential in high-risk environments such as hospitals and beneficial on cruise ships and on planes, they are not necessary in daily life.
Previous studies have shown that hand dryers are often contaminated by bacteria in the outlet nozzle and the heat from the dryer is the perfect temperature to encourage their growth.
Keith Redway’s research has shown that disposable paper towels remove 58% of bugs and cotton roller-towels 45%.
“The message has to be to wash and then dry your hands thoroughly, using paper towels, not the hot-air dryers,” explained Keith Redway.
Honda engineers are racing to build the world’s fastest lawnmower after being put up to the task by Top Gear Magazine.
They are targeting a speed of 130 mph (210 km/h).
That would easily beat the current record of 96.5 mph claimed by the fuel additive firm, Gold Eagle.
A first look at the machine – showing flames coming out of its exhaust – has been posted online.
Honda said it had taken on the project to promote its “sporty credentials”.
“The main engineering challenge stems from the need to retain the look of the lawnmower on which it is based, and the ability to still cut grass while achieving the speed and the handling characteristics required for this type of vehicle,” said Peter Crolla, team manager at Team Dynamics – Honda’s UK motor racing team partner – which is overseeing the project.
“To our knowledge, this has never been done before, certainly using this mower and engineer combination, and as such there are no previous learnings to draw upon.”
Top Gear Magazine said it had set a deadline of June 17 for the team to complete work on the machine.
The Japanese carmaker has upgraded one of its mowers by replacing its engine with one normally used in motorcycles.
Honda engineers are racing to build the world’s fastest lawnmower after being put up to the task by Top Gear Magazine
A steering rack sourced from a Morris Minor car has been fitted to offer greater control, the mower’s seat has been lowered, the wheels and tyres have been substituted with those of a quad bike, and the metal part of the chassis that normally holds the blades has been replaced with a glass fibre equivalent to make it lighter.
The alterations have forced the engineers to rethink how the machine cuts grass.
The original model featured metal blades, but they had to be removed as the engineers found it too complicated to connect them to the new engine.
Instead the machine now houses two electric motors with lengths of brake cable attached to them. These will spin round at about 4,000 rotations per minute to cut lawns down to size.
The team believes that, when complete, the machine should be able to accelerate from 0-60 mph in about four seconds
“There’s no scientific reason why we asked Honda to build this,” said Piers Ward, senior road tester at Top Gear Magazine.
“The grass needed mowing and everything on the market seemed a bit slow. Why take an hour to mow a football pitch when you can do it in five minutes?”
In fact, racing lawnmowers at high speeds is not a new phenomenon.
The British Lawn Mower Racing Association traces its origins back to a West Sussex competition involving 80 of the machines in 1973.
Over the years, famous names including Formula 1 winner Sir Stirling Moss, Le Mans champion Derek Bell and the actor Oliver Reed have taken part in its events.
However, the organization said Top Gear’s mower would not be able to compete in July’s World Championships because of strict limits on the amount of modifications entrants can make to their motors and mower bodies.
“After all the work that’s been done to the machine, it isn’t really a mower as such anymore,” said Mark Robinson a member of the BLMRA’s committee.
“Mower racing is not all about power – handling is an important aspect too – and in fact we think our machines would still be relatively competitive against Honda’s model on a tight track.
“But we’ll still be watching Top Gear’s progress with interest.”
Uncle Si Robertson from Duck Dynasty has two children with his wife Christine: daughter Trasa Robertson Cobern and son Scott Robertson.
Si Robertson his wife Christine and their daughter Trasa Cobern
Si Robertson’s daughter, Trasa Cobern, 37, is a social studies teacher in Hurst, Texas, where she is living with her husband of 15 years and their four boys.
Trasa Cobern has short blonde hair and what appear to be big hazel eyes. She is much prettier than any of the lovely ladies on the program.
Paris Jackson, Michael Jackson’s daughter, has been hospitalized early Wednesday morning, TMZ has reported.
Paris Jackson, 15, Michael Jackson’s only daughter, may have been attempting suicide, the gossip site reports.
Paris Jackson was taken to a hospital early on Wednesday morning after a 911 called stated she had cut her wrists
Paris Jackson was taken to a hospital at 2 a.m., according to TMZ, after a 911 called stated she had cut her wrists.
She most recently tweeted on early Wednesday: “yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away now it looks as though they’re here to stay.”
Paris Jackson also wrote: “I wonder why tears are salty?”
Her mother Debbie Rowe is understood to have confirmed the reports to Entertainment Tonight and said Paris Jackson is currently at a Los Angeles hospital.
A lawyer for Katherine Jackson, Paris’ grandmother, also appeared to confirm the suicide bid.
“She’s suffered with the loss of her father,” the lawyer told the New York Daily News.
“But we don’t know what she was exposed to that precipitated this.”
The 911 call came in at 1.27 a.m. local time, according to TMZ and the website reports Paris Jackson is now “doing ok”.
Paris Jackson’s mother Debbie Rowe told Entertainment Tonight how her daughter is going through a difficult time at present and “has a lot going on”.
The teen was listed as a potential witness in a massive lawsuit currently being brought by the Jackson family against AEG Live – the concert promoters behind her late father Michael Jackson’s doomed tour This Is It.
The Jackson family, who want $40 billion, say superstar Michael Jackson died from an overdose of prescription drugs after a punishing schedule of rehearsals prior to the tour.
The trial which began in Los Angeles in April is scheduled to last three months. Paris Jackson’s older brother Prince, 16, is also prepared to take the witness stand.
Michael Jackson died in June 2009 aged 50 after suffering a heart attack brought on from an overdose of propofol and benzodiazepine.
Janez Jansa, the two-time prime minister of Slovenia, has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison.
Janez Jansa was accused of soliciting bribes as part of a defense deal. He said the charges were politically motivated and that he would appeal.
The former prime minister was forced to quit the office in March amid protests over corruption and recession.
Slovenia, often seen as the most successful of the former Yugoslav states, faces severe economic problems.
There has been repeated speculation that it may become the latest eurozone member to have to ask for a bailout.
The District Court in Ljubljana ruled on Wednesday that Janez Jansa and two others had sought about 2 million euros in commission from a Finnish firm, Patria, in order to help it win a military supply contract in 2006.
Under the 278 million-euro deal, Patria was to supply Slovenia with 135 armored personnel carriers. The deal was scrapped after the corruption allegations surfaced.
Janez Jansa, the two-time prime minister of Slovenia, has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison
The two other defendants were each sentenced to 22 months in prison. All three were also fined 37,000 euros each.
Prosecutions in connection with the case are also taking place in Finland.
Before the verdict was announced on Wednesday, Janez Jansa called the charges a farce and said that if he was found guilty, he would appeal against what he called a “political process”.
Janez Jansa was a prominent figure in Slovenia’s secession from Yugoslavia in 1991.
He was prime minister from November 2004 to November 2008, and again from February 2012 until March 2013, when his centre-right government lost a confidence motion in parliament after smaller parties left the coalition led by his Slovenian Democratic Party.
As well as facing allegations about corruption and tax irregularities, Janez Jansa’s government had been struggling to impose an austerity agenda amid one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone.
Michael Douglas reportedly snubbed Scott Thorson, the terminally ill former lover of piano legend Liberace – even though he’s starring in a movie based on a book written by the dying man.
Scott Thorson, who was diagnosed with advanced anal cancer in August 2012, was Liberace’s lover from 1976 to 1982.
His book, Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, is the basis of the new HBO film that stars Michael Douglas as the flamboyant performer.
But even though Michael Douglas is a fellow cancer sufferer, sources say he rebuffed Scott Thorson’s request to visit him on the set before being jailed in February 2103.
“All I wanted do was meet Michael and talk to him about my cancer,” Scott Thorson, 54, explained to The National Enquirer.
“But I was bluntly told it would be impossible. That really hurt.”
Scott Thorson’s six-year romance with Liberace began when he was just 18 and the entertainer was 57.
He revealed he was showered with lavish gifts, expensive vacations and promises by Liberace to adopt and care for him.
But the relationship ended in 1982, when Scott Thorson says he was dumped for a teenager.
Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Da¬mon as Scott Thorson in Steven Soderbergh’s Behind The Candelabra
Although Behind the Candelabra was published in 1988, a year after Liberace died of AIDS, Scott Thorson says he didn’t find out until 2008 that producer Jerry Weintraub wanted to make a movie out of the book.
At the time, Scott Thorson was serving time behind bars on a drug-related robbery and desperately needed money. He admits he got “a little up-front money and a small percentage” of the film sales.
While Scott Thorson did his time, Jerry Weintraub assembled his team: Michael Douglas as Liberace, Matt Damon as Scott Thorson and director Steven Soderbergh.
In August 2010, Michael Douglas was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer and the movie was put on hold.
Thankfully, Michael Douglas beat the cancer, and production began in the summer of 2012 in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. But Scott Thorson says he was left out in the cold.
“I thought it was very strange that I was never contacted,” he said.
“Then, about three months ago, I got one phone call from Jerry Weintraub when he found out that I had cancer. He said, <<I’m very sorry that you’re going through cancer>>. And that was it.”
Scott Thorson revealed he was immediately cut off when he asked if he could reach out to both Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. He said the indication was that Michael Douglas – whose son Cameron is also in jail on d**g charges – didn’t want him on the set, even as a consultant.
“It was clear that I wasn’t welcome,” Scott Thorson said.
“My heart sank. These people were portraying me but I was a persona non grata. I’m angry.”
Scott Thorson has undergone radiation and chemotherapy treatments, but the tumor remains.
“Right now, I’m very scared,” Scott Thorson admitted.
“I’ve already run through the money I got for the movie and I’ve got nothing left.
“I don’t know if I’ll make it to the premiere in May…or if I’m even invited.”
Scott Thorson, Liberace’s former lover, might not get to watch Behind the Candelabra – the new HBO flick about the flamboyant pianist – because he is back to jail again.
Scott Thorson, 54, who wrote the book on which the new biopic is based, was arrested on February 22 at the Ponderosa Hotel in Reno, Nevada, and charged with four counts of first-degree burglary.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Druckman told The National Enquirer magazine that Scott Thorson – who now goes by the name Jess Marlow – found a wallet containing credit cards and used them at several Reno businesses.
“After he purchased some things, he checked into the hotel and the victim was notified that somebody was suspiciously using his credit cards,” said Rebecca Druckman.
The cardholder went to the Ponderosa and informed them of the fraud, and the police were called.
Scott Thorson, Liberace’s former lover, is back behind the bars again
Scott Thorson was arrested, booked and held on $125,000 bail. A subsequent court hearing was scheduled for March 28. If convicted on the first-degree burglary charges, he could face several years in prison.
In 1988, a year after Liberace’s death from AIDS, Scott Thorson wrote the book Behind the Candelabra: My Life With Liberace, which documented his six-year romantic relationship with the flamboyant entertainer.
Scott Thorson said he learned that producer Jerry Weintraub was interested in the work in 2008, when he was previously behind bars for a drug-related robbery.
Behind The Candelabra movie stars Michael Douglasas Liberace and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson.
Scott Thorson, who is suffering from anal cancer, claims he was not appreciated by the filmmakers. He said he was snubbed by the cast and crew when he visited the set and received just a small amount of money for the use of the book.
“Now, Scott probably won’t be out of jail before the show airs,” said a friend.
”And if he goes to prison, he could die behind bars.”
Latvia will become the 18th EU country to use the euro after being approved for membership by the European Commission.
In a report, the Commission confirmed that Latvia had met the criteria for joining the single currency.
Officials hope the news will show the eurozone is set to grow despite a three-year sovereign debt crisis.
The Baltic state is keen to strengthen ties with Western Europe and reduce its dependency on Russia.
Latvia will start using the currency at the beginning of 2014 after meeting the criteria for membership, including low inflation and long-term interest rates, as well as low public debt.
The news came as no surprise after officials said the decision would be “positive” earlier in the week.
Unlike some established members of the zone, Latvia was well within the economic limits set by Brussels for joining.
Latvia will become the 18th EU country to use the euro after being approved for membership by the European Commission
“In much of Eastern Europe there’s widespread enthusiasm – certainly among policy makers – for joining the single currency,” he noted.
“However, polls suggest that many in the country are worried the switch could drive prices higher.”
Anti-euro parties won more than half of the vote in elections in the capital, Riga, last weekend.
Latvia underwent one of Europe’s toughest austerity programmes after the 2008-2009 financial crisis knocked a fifth off its GDP.
Its membership still has to be approved by EU leaders and the European Parliament, but that is seen as a formality.
EU finance ministers are expected to sign off the accession in July.
The European Central Bank (ECB) also gave its blessing to Latvia on Wednesday ahead of the Commission’s announcement, but warned high foreign deposits in its banks were a risk to financial stability.
“The reliance by a significant part of the banking sector on non-resident deposits as a source of funding, while not a recent phenomenon, is again on the rise and represents an important risk to financial stability,” the ECB said.
Turkish protesters have demanded the sacking of police chiefs in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities over their forces’ violent responses to demonstrations.
They also rejected an apology by Deputy PM Bulent Arinc, saying his remarks “were reminiscent of a civil war”.
A group calling itself the Taksim Solidarity Platform (TSP) said it had handed a list of demands to Bulent Arinc.
The crackdown on protests over the redevelopment of a park in Istanbul last week triggered nationwide unrest.
Overnight, police in Istanbul again fired tear gas, water cannon and smoke grenades at protesters.
The demands presented by the Taksim Solidarity Platform on Wednesday included a ban on the use of tear gas, the release of detained protesters, and the scrapping of the plans for the redevelopment of Gezi Park, which is part of Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
“The steps the government takes will shape the events,” the TSP said after their meeting with Bulent Arinc on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the deputy prime minister apologized to demonstrators who had been injured.
He said the original protests had been “just and legitimate” and that the “excessive use of force” by police had been wrong.
Turkish protesters have demanded the sacking of police chiefs in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities over their forces’ violent responses to demonstrations
Officials have confirmed that two people have been killed in the unrest.
One man died after being shot by an unidentified gunman in the southern city of Antakya. Another died after being hit by a car that ploughed into a crowd in Istanbul.
The Turkish Human Rights Association said more than 2,800 protesters had been injured across the country, many of them seriously, and that 791 had been detained, of whom “around 500” have since been released.
Bulent Arinc said that 244 police officers and 64 protesters had been injured, and more than 70 million Turkish lira ($37 million) of public damage had been caused.
Bulent Arinc’s conciliatory remarks contrasted with the tougher line taken by PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said the protests are undemocratic.
The state-run Anatolia news agency earlier reported that police had arrested 25 people for posting “misinformation” on Twitter.
An official from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ali Engin, told Anatolia they were being held for “calling on people to protest”.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Twitter was a “menace” being used to spread “lies”.
The original protests began in Gezi Park on May 28 but soon mushroomed, engulfing several cities and becoming more political.
Demonstrators accuse Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state.
The prime minister is still the most popular politician in the country, but he is discovering that a ruling style that his opponents say is autocratic has its limits.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey was seen as a runaway success by many in Europe and the Middle East; now it is looking tarnished, with deeper problems than its allies – and enemies – realized.
Susan Rice, the US ambassador at the UN, is to become President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, officials say.
Susan Rice will replace Tom Donilon, who is set to announce shortly he is resigning after almost three years in the post.
She was once seen as a contender for the job of secretary of state, but was forced to withdraw after opposition from Republicans in Congress.
Susan Rice, 48, was criticized for her remarks after Benghazi attack on diplomats in Libya.
Susan Rice is to become President Barack Obama’s national security adviser
She suggested the assault by armed men on the US embassy in the city of Benghazi in September 2012 sprang from a spontaneous protest over a US-made film depicting the Prophet Muhammad – an account which was later proven to be incorrect.
The attack left four Americans dead, including the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens.
Susan Rice is seen by analysts as a close political ally of Barack Obama.
Her new post as national security adviser does not require Senate confirmation. Tom Donilon is expected to remain in the role until July.
President Barack Obama is also expected to announce who will replace Susan Rice as Washington’s envoy to the UN at its headquarters in New York.
Randy Phillips, head of concert promoters AEG Live, has admitted in court in Los Angeles he believes a legal action filed by Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine is a “baseless extortion” attempt.
Katherine Jackson, 83, claims AEG Live failed to investigate the doctor who was later convicted of causing Michael Jackson’s death in 2009.
AEG Live is being sued for $40 billion.
Randy Phillips says AEG bear no responsibility for Michael Jackson’s death.
When asked on Tuesday by Katherine Jackson’s lawyer whether he thought the case was a “baseless extortion, a shakedown of AEG Live”, Randy Phillips answered: “Yes.”
It is likely Randy Phillips will be asked about numerous emails he sent and received about Michael Jackson’s health in the final weeks of the singer’s life, as well as any interactions he had with his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
Katherine Jackson is accused of extortion by AEG Live’s Randy Phillips
AEG Live claims it was not responsible for the hire or supervision of the doctor and has called the legal action “preposterous”.
AEG also denies hiring Dr. Conrad Murray and agreeing to pay his fee as an advance to Michael Jackson.
Conrad Murray agreed to serve as Michael Jackson’s doctor for $150,000 a month while he performed shows at London’s 02 Arena in 2009 and early 2010.
The physician was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after supplying Michael Jackson with a surgical anaesthetic.
Some 600 people have been evacuated in the German city of Dresden as Central Europe floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.
The level of the River Elbe in the historic German city is not expected to peak until Thursday morning.
Emergency workers have been shoring up a dyke under threat from high water in the Austrian city of Krems.
At least 12 people have died and two are missing as a result of the floods across the three countries.
Seven deaths were recorded in the Czech Republic and three in Germany, while two people were reported dead and two missing in Austria, according to a European Commission update early on Tuesday evening.
Parts of Germany have not seen such severe flooding in centuries. However, in the Czech Republic, the water level has stabilized in the capital Prague, where there had been fears of a repeat of disasters in 2002 and 1997.
Some 600 people have been evacuated in Dresden as floodwater continues to threaten parts of southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic
River levels rose after sudden heavy rain following a very wet spring, which had left the ground saturated and unable to absorb the extra water.
Six hundred people had to leave their homes in Dresden and electricity was turned off in some parts of the city, a city spokeswoman told the German news agency dpa.
In another eastern city, Halle, streets were under water on Wednesday morning. According to German news magazine Spiegel, it is the highest water level in the city in four centuries.
Meanwhile, the floods were receding in the south German city of Passau. People could be seen sweeping up muck from their streets.
In Krems, the Austrian authorities were making plans to evacuate villagers as a local dyke looked at risk of collapsing under the swollen Danube.
Thousands of people left their homes in the Czech Republic in recent days as floodwater threatened to overwhelm flood barriers.
In the low-lying industrial city of Usti nad Labem, the River Elbe was spilling over the 10 m-high (33 ft-high) metal flood barriers.
The peak there is expected some time on Wednesday.
The main rail link connecting Prague and Berlin in Germany has been underwater, with trains being diverted.
Syrian army has taken full control of the strategic town of Qusair, state TV and the rebels say.
Qusair, near the Lebanese border, has been the centre of fighting for more than two weeks between rebels and Syrian troops backed by fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Syrian state TV said a large number of rebels had died and many had surrendered.
The rebels said they withdrew overnight in the face of a massive assault.
Earlier, the military leader of the main rebel umbrella group, the Free Syrian Army, said his fighters were prepared to take the conflict inside Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah fighters.
General Selim Idriss of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) – the main umbrella rebel group – said Hezbollah fighters were “invading” Syria and Lebanon was doing nothing to stop them.
Qusair lies just 6 miles from the Lebanese border and along major supply routes.
Syrian pro-government forces, including Hezbollah fighters, have been battling rebels for control of the town for more than two weeks.
But on Wednesday, Syria’s Sana state news agency said the “heroic armed forces have returned security and stability to all of the town”.
Sana said a large number of “terrorists”, as the state refers to the rebels, had been killed and many had surrendered. It said the army was now destroying barricades and weapons caches and searching the town for explosives.
The army said the victory was “a clear message to all those who share in the aggression on Syria … that we will continue our string of victories until we regain every inch of Syrian land”.
“We will not hesitate to crush with an iron fist those who attack us. … Their fate is surrender or death,” it said.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported “widespread collapse” of the rebel forces in the town, while one Hezbollah fighter told Reuters news agency: “We did a sudden surprise attack in the early hours and entered the town. They escaped.”
Syrian army has taken full control of the strategic town of Qusair
In a statement also quoted by Reuters, the rebels said: “In face of this huge arsenal and lack supplies and the blatant intervention of Hezbollah… tens of fighters stayed behind and ensured the withdrawal of their comrades along with the civilians.”
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that monitors the conflict, said Hezbollah fighters had “overrun” Qusair after an “intense bombardment cover overnight by regime forces, which continued until dawn today”.
“Reports indicate that the rebel forces retreated from the city due to lack of ammunition and men, this comes despite the many promises that supplies would reach the rebels,” it said on its Facebook page.
It also expressed concern for the more than 1,200 people it said were injured in Qusair, and urged the Red Cross to go in.
Last week, the Red Cross said it was “alarmed” by the worsening humanitarian situation and appealed for immediate aid access. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem reportedly said last week that the agency would be allowed in once military operations were over.
According to new reports, although there are pockets of rebel resistance to the north of Qusair, the government is hailing its recapture as a strategic victory.
The move is also of symbolic importance in the run-up to a proposed peace conference as neither side wants to go into the talks looking weak.
Russia and the US are meeting in Geneva on Wednesday to try to arrange a date and other details of the conference. But it remains unclear whether it will go ahead as the Syrian opposition has neither confirmed it will attend nor established a credible delegation.
More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria and more than 1.5 million have fled the country since an uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, according to UN estimates.
The UN reported on Tuesday that the war had reached “new levels of brutality”, with evidence of massacres and children being taken hostage of forced to witness – sometimes participate in – atrocities.
There is also growing evidence that chemical weapons have been deployed in the conflict.
France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday that samples taken from Syria and tested in France showed the presence of sarin, and that there was “no doubt that it’s the regime and its accomplices” that were responsible.
Laurent Fabius did not specify where the samples had been collected, but French media reported it had been from the northern town of Saraqeb.
The UK also says it has tested samples which give evidence of the use of sarin in Syria.
Both the Syrian government and the rebels have in the past accused each other of using the weapons.
Strategic town of Qusair:
Estimated population of 30,000 people
Up to 10,000 people have fled to neighboring towns and 1,500 people are wounded, the UN says
Some 23 villages and 12 farms west of Qusair are reportedly inhabited by Lebanese Shia
Near the main route from Damascus to port of Tartous, a gateway to the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect
Miss Kay Robertson is the revered matriarch of the family featured in the Duck Dynasty reality show.
Marsha Kay “Miss Kay” Robertson (née Carroway), born December 21, 1950, is Phil Robertson’s wife.
She was 16 when she married Phil Robertson and since then she’s been keeping him and the boys from spending too much time in the woods, bringing them back to civilization each night with a home cooked meal.
Miss Kay Robertson is the revered matriarch of the family featured in the Duck Dynasty reality show
Miss Kay Robertson is the mother of Alan (who previously worked with Duck Commander before becoming a minister but has since returned to the company; he is not featured on the show), Jase, Willie, and Jep. She loves cooking, so she always has her entire family over for a home-cooked meal after a hard day’s work. (The meal setting is featured at the end of each episode, with Phil Robertson praying beforehand and his son Willie talking about the events of the episode).
Miss Kay Robertson believes her cooking talents are a gift which she must share, so she often ends up feeding all of the family and most of the neighborhood. Her most famous dishes are banana pudding, fried deer steak, crawfish pie, and sticky frog legs.
Kay Robertson’s favorite family member is Jesse, the family dog.
But here’s the secret, every time he dies, Miss Kay quickly gets a new puppy that looks just like the one that passed and even gives it the same name. As Miss Kay Robertson puts it, “this way, you never have to grieve.”
Phil Robertson, patriarch of the family featured in the Duck Dynasty reality show, is a living legend in Louisiana and is better known by his alias: the Duck Commander.
Phil Alexander Robertson, born April 24, 1946, created the Duck Commander duck call in 1972, and incorporated the Duck Commander Company in 1973.
Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family
He may not look like it, but Phil Robertson played first-string quarterback ahead of football star Terry Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech University in the ’60s. They were both drafted into the NFL but Phil Robertson turned it down because it interfered with duck season and he was not interested in having “large, violent… men chasing me trying to stomp me in the dirt”. Instead he stayed in Louisiana, married his high school sweetheart, Miss Kay, built a house down by the river and together they raised four children.
Phil and Miss Kay Robertson have four sons together: Alan (who previously worked with Duck Commander before becoming a minister but has since returned to the company; he is not featured on the show), Jase, Willie, and Jep.
Phil Robertson’s love for the outdoors leads him to create the Duck Commander® Duck Call in 1973, which has gone on to become the most trusted duck whistle ever conceived.
Duck hunting is so important to Phil Robertson that he follows a strict routine of no showering, no shaving, and no clothes washing of any kind during the ten-week season to ensure a bountiful haul.
Phil Robertson is known for his dislike of modern technology (he proudly admits that he does not own a cellphone or a computer) and his concern that his grandchildren are becoming “yuppies”.
Scott Disick’s left eyebrow appeared to be marked by a large bluish bruise as he visited Kim Kardashian while his girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian arrived in a separate car to the Beverly Hills residence.
Scott Disick, 30, paired his horn-rimmed shades with a green Henley shirt, gold watch, and dark denim trousers.
His trademark stubble was groomed to perfection as he leisurely strolled to the family appointment.
Kourtney Kardashian, 34, sported a more flamboyant getup for her arrival to Kim’s place.
She slipped on a pink backed shirt dress with orange stripes running down the off white front.
Adorning her feet were a pair of pink and yellow open-toed stilettos as she wore hot pink lipstick and a thin band of gold over her right wrist.
Despite having two children together, 3-year-old Mason and 11-month-old Penelope, Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick have yet to tie the knot.
However, Kendall Jenner poured doubt over whether Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian will ever get married.
“They call each other husband and wife,” she told told E! News.
“Who cares? It’s a piece of paper.”
Scott Disick also recently told Ryan Seacrest that marriage might not be in the cards for the couple, telling him: “I think if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. You know what I mean?”
He added: “I feel like I used to want to get married more than she did. And then being that she was always so not interested, I’ve decided not to be.”
And he said he drew the line when she began talking about having a “yoga” wedding.
But although he appears to be coy about getting married, no one can deny that the Kardashians love a wedding.
Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian began dating in 2006 and took their on-again, off-again relationship to the next level when they became parents in 2009.
Their first son, Mason, has been a prime star on their many reality shows, including Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.
Kourtney Kardashian recently helped Scott Disick celebrate his 30th birthday in style at a nightclub in Las Vegas on the weekend of May 26.
And Scott lived up to his “Lord Disick” nickname by dressing suave in a tuxedo and bow tie.
Michelle Obama’s speech at a Washington, D.C. political fundraiser was interrupted by a protester on Tuesday night, and she threatened to leave the event if the gay rights activist wasn’t forced to leave.
However, the official White House transcript doesn’t indicate anything about the heckler or Michelle Obama’s audible reaction.
While Michelle Obama was speaking to approximately 200 Democratic Party loyalists who paid up to $10,000 to attend the event at the swanky Washington home of a wealthy lesbian couple, the protester interrupted with demands that the president issue an executive order forcing federal contractors to stop discriminating against gay and transgendered job applicants.
Amanda Terkel, a Huffington Post scribe who served as the night’s “pool reporter”, wrote that the “[m]ost notable part of the event was an interruption from a protester about 12 minutes into the 20-minute speech. A pro-LGBT rights individual standing at the front began shouting for an executive order on gay rights”.
“<<One of the things I don’t do well is this>>, replied FLOTUS to loud applause,” according to Amanda Terkel.
“She left the lectern and moved over to the protester, saying they could <<listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice>>.”
The crowd, the pool report continued, “started shouting that they wanted FLOTUS to stay”.
Amanda Terkel reported that when the protester was escorted out, she shouted about being a “lesbian looking for federal equality before I die”.
In a later report, she added that “Heather Cronk, co-director of the pro-LGBT rights group GetEQUAL, … identified the protester as one of their activists, Ellen Sturtz”.
Amanda Terkel advised her fellow reporters to “[p]lease check quotes with [the] official transcript”.
Michelle Obama’s speech at a Washington, D.C. political fundraiser was interrupted by protester Ellen Sturtz
But when the White House’s transcript arrived, The Daily Caller reported Tuesday night, it didn’t include any indication of an acrimonious exchange – and was missing Michelle Obama’s threat to leave the event.
The only indication in that transcript that anything was amiss is a note about an “(Inaudible audience interruption.)”
“I lived and worked in the closet, hiding who I was in order to earn a living,” Ellen Sturtz said in a statement late Tuesday night.
“I had planned to speak tonight with DNC officials but, as the First Lady was talking about our children’s future and ensuring that they have everything they need to live happy and productive lives, I simply couldn’t stay silent any longer.”
“I’m looking ahead at a generation of young people who could live full, honest, and open lives with the stroke of the President’s pen,” she insisted.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took an oddly coincidental question earlier in the day during his regularly scheduled briefing about the same discrimination issue that had Ellen Sturtz shouting at the top of her lungs.
A reporter asked Jay Carney for a progress report on “a study of LGBT workplace discrimination possibly led by the Council of Economic Advisors”, which was commissioned in 2012 after the president declined to sign an executive order banning the practice.
“I don’t have any updated status on that for you,” JayCarney said.
“I can tell you that the president has long supported, as you know, an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. … And his administration will continue to work to build support for it.”
“The president’s record on support for LGBT rights is significant and well known,” Barack Obama’s chief spokesman added.
Michelle Obama, he said, “believes that the right approach to this problem is an inclusive piece of legislation, and that’s the approach that we’re taking. It was the approach that we took with repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” And we continue to support this effort”.
Bob Dylan has been nominated for France’s top distinction, the Legion d’Honneur, an award previously given to Sir Paul McCartney.the Legion d’Honneur
Bob Dylan’s nomination, by culture minister Aurelie Filipetti, was approved by the award’s 17-member council.
Chancellor Jean-Louis Georgelin wrote in Le Monde that although the panel originally rejected the nomination, Bob Dylan, 72, was an “exceptional artist”.
The “tremendous singer and great poet” got a lower rank of the award in 1990.
Bob Dylan has been nominated for France’s top distinction, the Legion d’Honneur
Satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine (The Chained Duck) reported in May that Bob Dylan’s nomination was rejected because of his opposition to the war in Vietnam, where France was a former colonial power, and his alleged use of cannabis.
However, Jean-Louis Georgelin did not elaborate on the reason why the nomination was originally blocked, simply citing a past “controversy”.
Bob Dylan shot to fame in the 60s as an icon of the anti-war and civil rights movements.
Songs such as The Times They Are a-Changin’ and Like a Rolling Stone became synonymous with the 60s counterculture,
and he became a poster-boy for a disenchanted generation.
The artist also became an informal historian of America’s troubles with tracks like Blowin’ In The Wind, but his decision to move away from traditional guitar in favor of an electric version in the mid-60s proved controversial among die-hard folk fans.
Bob Dylan was awarded the top civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in May 2012.
Earlier this month, Bob Dylan was made an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Recipients of the Legion d’Honneur, the Legion of Honor, include U2 frontman Bono, artist Louise Bourgeois, singer Charles Aznavour and actor Jean Reno.
Michael Douglas’ casting as Liberace in biopic Behind The Candelabra divided opinion, with many doubting whether he was the right person to play the role of the flamboyant stage star.
However, Michael Douglas has certainly proved his critics wrong, judging by a world exclusive clip of new film Behind The Candelabra.
Michael Douglas’ Liberace and Matt Damon’s Scott Thorson in Behind The Candelabra
Michael Douglas, 68, is seen flirting up a storm with young stranger Scott Thorson, played by Matt Damon, after he walked into his dressing room after a show in the summer of 1977.
A clearly naive Scott Thorson tells Liberace after watching the show: “What, you’re going to do that all over again? I don’t know how you do it.”
Wearing a silver sequinned waistcoat over his white shirt, Liberace is then seen joking with Scott Thorson: “Oh aren’t you sweet, it’s not bad for an old bag, huh?”
Liberace then pokes fun at his age, by telling Scott Thorson: “When I was working saloons back in Milwaukee they called them saloons – that’s how old I am.”
And when Scott Thorson replies that he is also from Wisconsin as well, Liberace replied: “No, you are? Well this must be fate!”
A large part of Christian Grey’s allure no doubt comes from the fact that readers are able to conjure up their very own fantasy figure as they read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
Now, as plans for a Hollywood version of Fifty Shades get underway and casting begins for the man who will play the most sensational of roles, thoughts have turned to just who will star as the magnetic mystery male.
Rights to the best-seller – penned by Brit E. L. James – have been snapped up by Universal Pictures and the production team behind Oscar-winning film The Social Network.
The script is being finalized and filming is expected to start in 2014 with intense speculation about which stars would land the coveted roles.
It appears TheVampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder is the fans’ choice to play Christian Grey in the big screen adaptation.
Almost one in six chose American hunk Ian Somerhalder – Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries – to play the billionaire in a poll by British website.
In second place was Brit Henry Cavill, new star of the Superman movies, and Drive hunk Ryan Gosling came third.
Mad Men beauty Alexis Bledel has been chosen as the best actress to play his naive lover Anastasia Steele.
Texan beauty Alexis Bledel, 31, best known for playing adulteress Beth Dawes in Mad Men, just beat Anne Hathaway as the fans’ choice to play Ana.
And fans are pleading with movie bosses not to tone down the s** in the film.
Ian Somerhalder is top choice to play Christian Grey in Fifty Shades screen adaptation
S** scenes are increasingly being written out of Hollywood movies because studios bosses say they restricts a film’s audience and box office potential.
The last film with s** scenes to top the box office was Titanic, way back in 1997.
However, 90% of those polled say it would be a big mistake to water down the s** in Fifty Shades.
Almost seven out of ten said the books were likely to be better than the film and most fans believe the film will not be more popular than the books.
Fans were split down the middle over whether American or British stars should take the lead rolls – 50% favoring each country.
Fifty Shades of Grey sold 70 million copies worldwide and Universal plan to make three movies from the trilogy of best-sellers.
Who should play Christian Grey?
Ian Somerhalder (15%)
Henry Cavill (13%)
Ryan Gosling (12%)
Michael Fassbender (11%)
Alexander Skarsgard (10%)
Who should play Anastasia Steele?
Alexis Bedel (13%)
Anne Hathaway (12%)
Emma Stone (11%)
Mila Kunis (11%)
Elizabeth Olsen (10%)
