Kim Kardashian, who was accused of using Botox in a magazine report, had to grab onto her striped dress as it flew up over her waist.
Kim Kardashian, 32, seemed to see the funny side of her Marilyn moment, however, as she chuckled with mirth when the gust played havoc with her cute frock.
The reality star did a fantastic job of preserving her modesty as she walked across the road and knowing – as she does – that camera lens are always trailed on her, she ensured that there wasn’t anything private for the photographers to see.
Kim Kardashian seemed to see the funny side of her Marilyn moment
Luckily, Kim Kardashian was wearing a really pretty pair of sensible sandals so had a lower centre of gravity than she’s used to, and it made the save all that more easy to make.
Meanwhile Kim Kardashian definitively shot down the shocking report that claimed she is still getting Botox injections during her pregnancy.
A spokesperson for the star said: “It’s absurd and NOT true!”
Kim Kardashian, who is due to give birth to her first child in July, has come under fire throughout her pregnancy for her choice of clothes, footwear and even diet.
But the suggestion she is still being injected with Botox – which is actually the poison Botulinum toxin and is often found in sausage meats – is obviously much more serious.
And Kim Kardashian, who rarely acknowledges other claims, isn’t taking this lying down.
The report in In Touch magazine, stated: “She’s still getting injections even though she’s seven months pregnant.”
“She’s become more neurotic than ever about her looks,” a family insider told the magazine.
The TV premiere of Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas as flamboyant pianist Liberace and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson, was seen by 2.4 million people in the US.
The Nielsen Company said it was the HBO network’s biggest audience for one of its original movies since medical drama Something the Lord Made in 2004.
A further 1.1 million people tuned in for a repeat of the film that aired immediately after Sunday’s premiere.
The TV premiere of Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas as flamboyant pianist Liberace and Matt Damon as Scott Thorson, was seen by 2.4 million people in the US
Behind the Candelabra, Steven Soderbergh’s film, will be released in UK cinemas on June 7.
Based on Scott Thorson’s memoir Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace, the film charts the life of the American pianist and the secret affair he had with the author, played by Matt Damon.
The drama received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.
ABC’s Dancing With the Stars remains the most-watched programme on US television with around 15 million viewers last week.
The European Commission is suing Spain over the refusal of some of its hospitals to recognize the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
The EHIC entitles EU citizens to free healthcare in public hospitals.
But some Spanish hospitals rejected the card and told tourists to reclaim the cost of treatment via their travel insurance, the European Commission says.
It is not accusing cash-strapped Spanish hospitals of trying to make money.
The European Commission is suing Spain over the refusal of some of its hospitals to recognize the European Health Insurance Card
The Commission, which checks compliance with EU law, has requested information on the issue from the Spanish government – the first stage of an infringement procedure which could eventually result in a fine.
Under the health card system, an EU citizen’s home health service is supposed to cover the cost of emergency treatment abroad.
The EHIC is mainly intended for emergency treatment abroad, but also covers patients for pre-existing medical conditions. In cases where doctors think a European visitor’s treatment can wait until they get home then the EHIC can be deemed invalid.
The EHIC is intended to give foreign visitors the same level of care in emergency cases as locals get.
The Commission says it has had hundreds of such complaints concerning Spain. It says the much higher cost of private treatment is being passed on to the travel insurance companies “or, increasingly, is being billed to the citizens directly”.
Jon Bon Jovi has revealed that his band have waived their fee at a concert in Madrid next month, given the country’s economic crisis.
The unusually cheap tickets have already sold out. They were on sale for between 18 and 39 euros.
Jon Bon Jovi has revealed that his band have waived their fee at a concert in Madrid next month, given the country’s economic crisis
This compares to the equivalent of 76 euros – the average ticket cost for a Bon Jovi concert in Manchester, UK, next week.
There were fears many fans would not be able to afford the full price.
Jon Bon Jovi, 51, told Spain’s El Mundo newspaper that when the band were planning this summer’s European tour, Madrid had originally been left-off the list of venues over fears that the event might not sell out because of Spain’s economic crisis.
Not wanting to let the Spanish fans down, Bon Jovi decided they would perform in Madrid on June 27 for free.
Indian filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh has died from a heart attack at the age of 49 in the city of Calcutta.
Award-winning director Rituparno Ghosh was suffering from pancreatitis for the last couple of weeks and died on Thursday morning.
Debuting with his 1994 film Heerer Angti (The diamond ring), Rituparno Ghosh made many critically acclaimed films like Unishe April (19 April), Chokher Bali (Sand in the eye) and Abohoman (The eternal).
He won several national and international awards for his work.
Rituparno Ghosh was well known for his realistic depictions of interpersonal relationships and urban-educated middle class angst.
The filmmaker worked with several big stars of Bengali cinema and Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.
Indian filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh has died from a heart attack at the age of 49 in the city of Calcutta
Rituparno Ghosh also acted in some of his films, including in Aar Ekti Premer Golpo (Just another love story) and Chitrangada.
His 2003 film Chokher Bali was awarded the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and his last film, Chitrangada, won a special jury award in the 2012 national film awards.
Two days ago, Rituparno Ghosh wrote on Twitter that he had finished shooting his latest film Satyaneshi – based on the legendary Bengali detective fictional character, Byomkesh Bakshi.
As news of his death spread, several actors and actresses arrived at his home to pay their respects.
“I cannot believe that Rituparno is no more. It is very difficult to accept this news. We lost a very promising film director at a very early age,” the Press Trust of India quoted veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee as saying.
Many Indian film personalities and fans took to Twitter to express their grief.
“Shocked by passing of Rituparno Ghosh. He was dreaming of getting into what he called his <<next phase>>. Hugely creative explorer on film,” tweeted director Shekhar Kapur.
“Rituparno Ghosh had great sense of humor. He had a brilliant understanding of human behavior. Will miss him and his cinema. RIP my Friend,” wrote Bollywood actor Anupam Kher.
Noted film critic Rajeev Masand tweeted: “Deeply saddened by passing of Rituparno Ghosh. He understood the human condition with all its complexities and conveyed them with such sensitivity.”
The newborn baby boy rescued from a toilet pipe in China has been released from hospital, officials say.
The baby had been in hospital in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, since being cut free from the pipe on Saturday.
His 22-year-old mother, who has not been named, said the baby slipped into the toilet and went down the pipe by accident as she gave birth.
Reports suggested the baby left with a relative, but it remains unclear who.
An official from the Pujiang county propaganda office, which is in Jinhua, said the baby had been released from hospital, but did not identify who took him home.
Some local reports suggest the baby’s father has made himself known but others suggested other relatives had become involved.
Meanwhile state media reports that while the incident, which took place on Saturday, is being considered an accident, investigations are ongoing.
The newborn baby boy rescued from a toilet pipe in China has been released from hospital
According to local reports, the mother alerted her landlord after the baby fell into the pipe, but did not admit the baby was hers until later.
An official told the Associated Press news agency it was because she was frightened.
China’s Zhezhong News reported that she told police she could not afford to have an abortion. She was unmarried, did not think she could afford to look after the baby, and kept her pregnancy secret, reports say.
The infant has been referred to as Baby No 59 – after the number of his hospital incubator. He suffered minor abrasions on his head and limbs after being confined in the 10 cm (4 inch) pipe.
Scott Thorson moved to Liberace’s Las Vegas mansion in 1977, when he was a teenage hunk in the foster care system, learning that the jewel-smitten showman could love just as extravagantly as he decorated.
Touring the premises before their relationship began, Liberace pointed out some decorative highlights, which included 17 pianos, a casino, a quarry’s worth of marble and a canopied bed with an ermine spread. On the ceiling was a reproduction of the Sistine Chapel with Liberace’s face painted among the cherubs.
When Liberace and Scott Thorson became a couple, the showman, who was 40 years older, was just as excessive.
“We were at a hotel in Florida, and Liberace had the manager give us another suite, with windows that faced the beach,” said Scott Thorson, now 54.
“He knew I’d be near the water and he wanted to be able to look at me.”
Liberace even wanted Scott Thorson nearby when he worked. So for years, Scott Thorson would don a chauffeur’s costume covered in rhinestones and drive “Mr. Showmanship” on stage in a bejewelled Rolls-Royce. Scott Thorson would stop the car, then open the door for Liberace, who would emerge in a fur coat with a 16ft train.
This routine, which ran for years at the Las Vegas Hilton, is recreated in a forthcoming movie, Behind the Candelabra, which is based on Scott Thorson’s autobiography of the same name and stars Matt Damon as Thorson and Michael Douglas as Liberace.
Behind the Candelabra debuted this week in the US on HBO and opens in cinemas in the UK on June 7.
One person who might miss the movie’s debut is Scott Thorson. He is an inmate at the Washoe county jail in Reno, Nevada, and while the place has its share of amenities – including television – HBO isn’t one of them.
Scott Thorson has been held there since February, when he was charged with burglary and identity theft, after buying about $1,300 worth of computer and mobile-phone merchandise, using a credit card and license that weren’t his. He was arrested at the Ponderosa hotel, where he and a man he had just met rented a room for $33.90 a night.
“We get a lot of the dregs of Reno, a lot of prostitutes, d**g dealers,” said Eric Pyzel, a clerk at the Ponderosa, where a nearby bumper sticker reads: “Welcome To Our Country. Just Do It Legally.”
“The cops are by pretty often. So when they got here it was kind of like, OK, what is it this time?”
On a recent Friday morning at the jail, Scott Thorson was sitting in a small room of white cinder blocks, empty but for a sink and a wall-mounted dispenser of disinfectants. Two officers hovered. Not for the first time in his troubled life, he vowed to clean up.
“This experience has scared me straight,” he said, in a slightly nasal tone that sounds vaguely like Liberace.
“There comes a time when you’ve got to take responsibility. You’ve got to stop lying and face your mistakes.”
It’s hard to connect this tired and anxious man in a blue prison shirt to the beefcake grinning in photographs in the late 70s. Time, an on-off m**h addiction, several stints in prison and what he describes as stage 3 colon cancer have taken their toll. Another reason he looks different: the chin implant is gone. Scott Thorson had it removed in an attempt to reverse one of the creepier episodes in the history of plastic surgery. Early in their relationship, Liberace plucked an oil painting of himself from a room in his Las Vegas mansion and asked a visiting doctor to reshape Scott Thorson’s face to look like Liberace’s as a young man.
Liberace wanted a toy boy and a son. With s** and fatherhood disturbingly entwined, Scott Thorson wound up with a new chin, a nose job and enhanced cheekbones.
“I was 17 years old,” he said, explaining why he went along with a plan that sounds so lunatic.
“Liberace had taken me out of a situation with a father who was very abusive, a mother who was mentally ill. I did everything I possibly could to please this man.”
The two went on shopping sprees, travelled first-class and spent a lot of quality time with Liberace’s shar-peis. Scott Thorson was showered with gifts, including mink coats, an assortment of baubles and a Chevrolet Camaro. They entertained celebrities such as Debbie Reynolds and Michael Jackson.
However, it all ended abruptly in 1982. That year, Liberace had members of his retinue forcibly eject Scott Thorson from his penthouse in Los Angeles. It was a break-up caused, in part, by Scott Thorson’s d**g habit, which he says he developed trying to slim down, at Liberace’s urging, on what was called the “Hollywood diet”, a cocktail of doctor-prescribed drugs that included pharmaceutical co***ne.
Scott Thorson later sued for $113 million in palimony, ultimately losing a highly public battle fought both in court and in the tabloids. He settled in 1986 for $95,000, according to reports at the time.
There was a deathbed reconciliation before Liberace died of a disease caused by AIDS in 1987. And that is where Behind the Candelabra ends. But Scott Thorson’s life went on, and as he explained in a series of interviews, both in person and via a jail-monitored version of Skype, many of the events that followed are as strange as the ones that came before.
The trick is separating the strange from the unbelievable.
“His approach to communicating with people is always to play it in a manner that reflects best on him,” said Oliver Mading, the man Scott Thorson calls his adoptive father as well as his manager. One evening recently, Oliver Mading was sitting in the living room of his home a few miles from Reno’s downtown. Sitting nearby was his stepson, Tony Pelicone, who met Scott Thorson through a mutual friend a decade ago in Palm Springs, California.
Scott Thorson had the chin implant removed in an attempt to reverse one of the creepier episodes in the history of plastic surgery
At best, these men sounded deeply ambivalent about being enmeshed in Scott Thorson’s life.
“He’s not a bad person,” said Tony Pelicone, who has a swirl of brown-blond hair and a cigarette habit.
“He’s just twisted and kind of cutthroat.”
Oliver Mading said: “He’d sell his mother – “
“Then he gives you that smile,” said Tony Pelicone, interrupting.
The two admit that much of what they know about Scott Thorson’s biography they learned from Thorson and that, at the very least, he has an aversion to telling his life story as a coherent, easy-to-follow chronology. During interviews at the Washoe county jail, Scott Thorson was often evasive and moody, deflecting questions about his past to rage against the people who have declined to put up the $15,000 in bail he says he needs to get out of jail.
“All these people are getting rich from my story,” he fumed.
“And here I sit.”
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Earlier this month, Scott Thorson pleaded guilty and asked to enter a rehabilitation programme. He could face as little as probation with a suspended prison sentence to two to 30 years and combined fines of up to $110,000.
What’s indisputable is that Scott Thorson is no longer named Scott Thorson. He is now known as Jess Marlow, a change he says occurred when he entered the federal witness protection program as the star witness in the 1989 prosecution of an infamous Los Angeles character named Eddie Nash.
Eddie Nash shows up in the book and movie as Mr. Y, described as a d**g dealer with ties to organized crime who made headlines for allegedly ordering the so-called Wonderland murders, a grisly quadruple homicide that took place two days after Nash’s home was robbed of money and drugs in 1981. (The crime is named after 8763 Wonderland Avenue, where the killings took place.)
Eddie Nash purportedly learned who had committed the robbery after his underlings beat up p**n star John Holmes, an acquaintance of Nash’s who later admitted to helping the robbers enter Nash’s home.
A fictionalized version of these events turns up in Boogie Nights, with an Eddie Nash-inspired figure played by a Speedo- and robe-wearing Alfred Molina.
Scott Thorson says that Eddie Nash became a drug source for him in the early 80s and that he later became a partner in Nash’s club business. At some point, the two fell out and, by 1988, Scott Thorson was reportedly in a Los Angeles jail for an assortment of charges. There, he says, he was offered leniency by the district attorney’s office in exchange for testifying that he happened to be at Eddie Nash’s home when thugs pummelled John Holmes – which, if true, would make Scott Thorson a kind of Zelig of the Awful. Eleven members of the jury voted to convict. One held out. Eddie Nash later admitted to bribing that lone juror, and in 2001, he struck a plea bargain in which he was sentenced to 37 months in prison for racketeering.
Now, in his early 80s, Eddie Nash is a free man. And he would like to make it clear that he and Scott Thorson were never partners.
“No, no, he worked for me,” Eddie Nash said.
“When Liberace dumped him, he had nothing. He was on the streets. So I took him in, and he worked at the house. He was good for cleaning. Because I lived with eight girls at the time. Beautiful girls. College girls. It was safe to have Thorson around because he is g*y. I had a g*y cook, too.”
Scott Thorson claims that after the trial, marshals in the federal witness protection programme moved him to Florida and gave him a new name.
“They had to keep me safe because there was a contract placed on my life by Eddie Nash,” he said during one interview.
“It started with the marshals taking me to different locations around the country for seven to 10 days, to make sure no one was following,” he said.
“Texas, Alaska, Seattle.”
It’s an intriguing narrative plot point – man forced to get a new face is later forced to take on a new identity. But the story sounds highly improbable to Bill Keefer, a former federal marshal in the witness protection programme. He has doubts because of where Scott Thorson eventually landed: at a Christian-based homeless shelter in Tallahassee, Florida, called the Haven of Rest.
“How much protection could the marshals provide a guy at a homeless shelter?” Bill Keefer asked.
At the Haven of Rest, Scott Thorson found religion. And, instead of striving for invisibility, he shared his life story in front of church congregations. He says that he became a popular evangelizer, even appearing on a Pat Robertson TV show.
“He would share his testimony about his life with Liberace,” said Danny Heaberlin, who ran Haven of Rest at the time.
“We had pictures of him with Liberace, because the story was so out there, nobody would believe it otherwise.”
Scott Thorson says an east coast mafia don gave him assurances that he needn’t worry about Eddie Nash. True or not, Scott Thorson was unable to stay on the side of the angels for long. After three years at the Haven of Rest, he says, he started using d**gs again, and in 1991, was shot in a room at a Howard Johnson hotel in Jacksonville. Local reports described the crime as a robbery committed by a crack dealer.
“They thought he was going to die,” Danny Heaberlin said, “but he kept living and living.”
While he was recovering, a life-changing event occurred: a woman from Maine named Georgianna Morrill came to visit. Scott Thorson would later claim she had seen him on TV, spreading the gospel, but that is not how Georgianna Morrill remembers it.
“I read Behind the Candelabra, and I saw the photo on the back of the book and I heard the Lord tell me to pray for this g*y,” she said, speaking from her apartment in South Portland, Maine.
“I thought, I don’t even know this man. But I’m a Christian, and, when God tells you to pray for someone, you do.”
Georgianna Morrill found Scott Thorson through a Pentecostal friend and soon after the two met, she invited him to live with her in a tiny two-storey red house in Falmouth, Maine. Scott Thorson accepted. He stayed for the next 12 years.
It was the second time that he found refuge in someone else’s life, but Falmouth was a long way from Vegas, and Georgianna Morrill was no Liberace. There were periods of domestic calm, with Scott Thorson cleaning up around the house and collecting disability payments that he was eligible for after the shooting. But Georgianna Morrill wanted to get married, despite all the evidence that the match was a terrible idea. The couple had s** once, she recalls.
“That was enough,” she said with a giggle.
He also drank a lot, and when he did he would sometimes “get stupid”, in Georgianna Morrill’s words, prompting her to call the police. Still, she held out hope that one day he would propose. And one day, he did, but with a ring with a pearl on top that she somehow knew he had purchased with a stolen credit card.
“I said to him, <<I’m looking for a diamond ring and one that you paid for yourself>>,” she said, laughing.
“He got pretty mad that I didn’t want it.”
Georgianna Morrill speaks with a note of nostalgia about those strife-ridden years. It’s a note you won’t hear when you discuss the subject with Scott Thorson.
“Horrible!” he said of his Maine phase.
“It was so boring. I hated the weather. Five feet of snow. It was too quiet. I had to get the hell out of there.”
Scott Thorson moved to Palm Springs, where he would be arrested a handful of times for stealing groceries and drug possession, among many other charges. Early in this era, he met Tony Pelicone.
“I recently learned that he came by our house to meet someone I was dating,” Tony Pelicone said.
“Later his house burned and nobody was there to pick him up. So I did, thinking he’d stay for a few days. That turned into 10 years.”
Initially, Tony Pelicone was thrilled to meet Liberace’s ex, and he introduced Scott Thorson to his mother and stepfather, Oliver Mading.
Oliver Mading, a businessman with a background in packaged foods, says he negotiated the Behind the Candelabra movie deal with the producer Jerry Weintraub while Scott Thorson was in prison on d**g charges. After his release, Scott Thorson spent his cut of the movie earnings – just under $100,000 – in about two months, mostly on cars and jewellery.
“We always knew Jess without money,” Oliver Mading said, referring to Scott Thorson by his assumed name.
“Not that $100,000 is King Midas’s trove, but Jess burned through it like a complete idiot.”
Scott Thorson says he’s now penniless because of outlays for cancer treatment. The truth is almost beside the point. An assortment of siblings and half-siblings want nothing to do with him, Oliver Mading says. His only real assets today are the intangibles that Liberace bequeathed him, most notably, a peculiar place in showbiz history as the kid that Liberace once adored and tried to remake in his image.
“There’s always been a love-hate relationship,” Scott Thorson said when asked to describe his feelings about Liberace today.
“At that time, I was so honored to be in his presence. And I didn’t want to go back to my lifestyle in the foster homes, which was pure hell.”
Their years together scarred him, he says, and partly explain the troubles that followed. But those years were also the happiest of his life. So although he removed the chin implant, he also had a tribute to Liberace tattooed on his forearm. He rolls up the sleeve of a grey thermal undershirt to reveal an inky cluster of curlicued letters and symbols. In the middle is Liberace’s name, surrounded by floating musical notes, plus the years that Liberace lived and a yellow rose.
“His favourite flower,” Scott Thorson said matter-of-factly, rolling his sleeve back down.
On Tuesday night, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rihanna met up backstage at her concert in Lisbon, Portugal.
Real Madrid football player Cristiano Ronaldo posted a picture backstage with Rihanna following the show, flashing the peace sign as the singer pouted next to him for the camera.
Cristiano Ronaldo captioned the shot with a casual: “Yesterday at @rihanna’ s concert.”
It’s not the first time Cristiano Ronaldo has made headlines by posing up with popstars.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Rihanna met up backstage at her concert in Lisbon
Last week, the sportsman met One Direction at the Spanish club’s training ground, as the boys took some time out from their whistle-stop European tour to train with Jose Mourinho’s men in the Spanish capital.
At the end of their brief kickabout, three of the band members enjoyed a meet-and-greet with the manager, who presented them with a Real Madrid shirt, before they caught up with the players.
“They told us that we had the opportunity to come to see the Real Madrid players and that was very exciting for us,” revealed Niall Horan.
“It is amazing to see how they train and see so many such good players. We are big football fans and Real Madrid are one of the best teams on the planet.”
Fellow bandmate Liam Payne added: “Cristiano Ronaldo is my favorite player, he is one of the best in the world.”
Liam Hemsworth has finally called off his engagement to Miley Cyrus after endless rumors that their relationship is over.
Liam Hemsworth, 23, and Miley Cyrus, 20, are still living together at their Los Angeles home but are now sleeping in separate rooms after Liam told his fiancée their relationship was finished for good.
According to Us Weekly magazine, Miley Cyrus confessed to a friend “we’re done” when speaking about Liam Hemsworth.
Speaking about their living arrangements, another source told the publication: “It’s strange.”
Liam Hemsworth has finally called off his engagement to Miley Cyrus after endless rumors that their relationship is over
Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus first met on the set of their film The Last Song in 2009 and had been together four years, with The Hunger Games hunk popping the question last June.
But their romance hit the rocks in February amidst rumors Miley Cyrus had become jealous of Liam Hemsworth’s close relationship with actress January Jones.
Liam Hemsworth had been urged by his brother, Thor star Chris Hemsworth, to dump Miley Cyrus because they thought the relationship was unhealthy for him because she was so jealous.
The Australian heartthrob eventually made the decision to end things after deciding he couldn’t cope with the constant drama in his romance with the former Hannah Montana star.
Miley Cyrus apparently still has the 3.5 carat Neil Lane engagement ring Liam Hemsworth gave her and it is not known if he wants her to return the expensive sparkler.
Scarlett Johansson is rumored to portray Hillary Clinton in the upcoming biopic, Rodham.
Scarlett Johansson, 28, has not secured the role just yet: she is apparently up against Jessica Chastain, Amanda Seyfried and Reese Witherspoon.
Rodham will focus on the early stages of Hilary Clinton’s career, when she was a lawyer in Washington.
The writer, Young il-Kim, was forced to deny reports earlier this year that the film was full of raunchy s** scenes when the script was leaked by The Daily Beast.
“<<Rodham>> is a journey of a woman who was torn between her personal desires and her professional ambition – both literally pulled her thousands of miles apart, because Bill did not want to leave Arkansas, and she did not want to leave Washington, D.C.,” Young il-Kim told Politico earlier this year.
Director James Ponstoldt, who was attached to the movie last month and casting for the prestigious role has only just begun.
James Ponstoldt describes Scarlett Johansson and the other candidates as “all wonderful actresses”, according to The Independent.
Scarlett Johansson is rumored to portray Hillary Clinton in the upcoming biopic, Rodham
He adds that they are “very fortunate that a lot of really great actors are interested in playing these roles. We’re in an enviable position”.
Scarlett Johansson was most recently seen on the big screen portraying Janet Leigh in the biographical comedy-drama, Hitchcock.
She has previously taken on a wide variety of roles, from the provocative Nola in Match Point to the demure Meg Windermere in A Good Woman.
Her competition is fierce, however, with Jessica Chastain having just received rave reviews for her performance in Zero Dark Thirty.
Amanda Seyfried was also applauded for her performance alongside Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables.
Reese Witherspoon, who has also played a diverse range of strong female roles, has recently appeared in the critically acclaimed Mud.
A fossil of what may be the earliest creature yet discovered on the evolutionary line to birds has been unearthed in China.
The fossil animal, which retains impressions of feathers, is dated to be about 160 million years old.
Scientists have given it the name Aurornis, which means “dawn bird”.
The significance of the find, they tell Nature magazine, is that it helps simplify not only our understanding for how birds emerged from dinosaurs but also for how powered flight originated.
Aurornis xui, to give it its full name, is preserved in a shale slab pulled from the famous fossil beds of Liaoning Province.
About the size of a chicken, the animal has very primitive skeletal features that put it right at the base of the avialans – the group that includes birds and their close relatives since the divergence from dinosaurs.
Pascal Godefroit from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences is the lead author on the paper that describes Aurornis.
The fossil animal, which retains impressions of feathers, is dated to be about 160 million years old
His Nature publication also reports details of an across-the-board re-analysis of how the many bird-like creatures living in Jurassic and Cretaceous times were related to each other.
This was done by comparing the detail in the shape of their bones.
The major consequence of this phylogenetic re-assessment is that it restores one of the most famous fossils ever found to the bird line.
Archaeopteryx, dubbed “the first true bird” when first identified in the 19th Century, was shunted recently into a pool of non-avian but bird-looking dinosaurs as a result of the many exquisite feathered creatures emerging in Liaoning. The skeletal features seen in these new specimens had appeared to make Archaeopteryx less pivotal.
However, this demotion caused some consternation because Archaeopteryx, which lived roughly 150 million years ago, could clearly fly; and by re-classifying the animal it had implied also that powered flight must have evolved at least twice – once on the real line to birds and again in this parallel pool of dinosaurs that merely shared some bird features.
But the re-analysis conducted following the discovery of Aurornis has once again simplified the picture.
“Previous phylogenetic investigations were based on maybe only 200 morphological characteristics. Here, we recognize almost 1,500 characteristics,” explained Dr. Pascal Godefroit.
“So it’s a much bigger and more robust analysis, and according to this new investigation Archaeopteryx is again considered an ancestor of birds and the new creature we describe is also a basal bird; and in fact it is even more primitive than Archaeopteryx,” he said.
As well as placing Archaeopteryx at one of the earliest points of divergence within the avialans, the study also re-shuffles the Troodontidae, a family of bird-like dinosaurs. Dr. Pascal Godefroit and colleagues now consider these to be a sister group of the avialans.
The OECD has revised its growth forecasts for the eurozone and called on the European Central Bank to consider doing more to boost growth.
The organization says the eurozone will shrink by 0.6% this year, widening the gap between it and faster-growing economies such as the US and Japan.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has given France two more years to complete its austerity programme.
France fell back into recession in the first three months of the year.
Spain, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Slovenia have also been given more time to complete fiscal tightening.
The move suggests a shift away from a focus on austerity in Europe.
In its twice-yearly Economic Outlook, the OECD said prolonged economic weakness in Europe could damage the global economy.
The OECD, which represents 34 advanced economies, forecast average growth across its members of 1.2% this year and 2.3% in 2014.
It painted a troubled picture of the eurozone economy. The forecast of a 0.6% contraction in GDP is down markedly from the 0.1% contraction forecast just six months ago.
It said eurozone unemployment would continue to rise from its current rate of 12%, stabilizing in 2014.
The OECD has revised its growth forecasts for the eurozone and called on the European Central Bank to consider doing more to boost growth
It blamed continuing austerity measures, weak confidence and tight credit conditions. It hinted that the European Central Bank (ECB) might want to expand quantitative easing (QE) as a measure to encourage stronger growth.
It warned the continuing weakness in Europe “could evolve into stagnation, with negative implications for the global economy”.
The US and Japan have seen a greater focus on stimulus measures compared with Europe, where austerity measures have taken precedence.
Japan is forecast to grow relatively strongly this year, adding 1.6% to its GDP on the back of extraordinary economic stimulus measures introduced by the government this year.
But the OECD said there was considerable uncertainty over whether that recovery would continue into 2014, when the government is expected to cut spending.
In the US, where growth of nearly 2% is forecast for this year, the OECD said quantitative easing measures might need to be “gradually reduced”.
China is not included in the OECD club, but the organization expects its annual growth to be about 8% over the next two years.
The OECD’s chief economist, Pier Paolo Padoan, told Reuters that the eurozone remained the dominant area of concern.
“Europe is in a dire situation,” he told the news agency.
“We think that the eurozone could consider more aggressive options. We could call it a eurozone-style QE.”
DSM-5 has announced its price, an incredible $199 (and the paperback is also no bargain at a hefty $149).
Compare this to $25 for a DSM III in 1980; $65 for a DSM IV in 1994; and $84 for a DSM-IV-TR in 2000. The price tag on a copy of DSM is escalating at more than twice the rate of inflation.
No one outside the closed APA circle will ever really know for sure, but clearly the astounding price jump is not fueled by Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” – the powerful interaction of supply and demand that guides any free market.
The supply of DSM-5 is unlimited while the demand is likely to be quite limited (due to all the mistrust that has been generated by DSM-5’s flawed process and reckless product).
The price tag on a copy of DSM-5 is escalating at more than twice the rate of inflation
So if supply is great and demand is small, why is the price of DSM-5 jumping up so rapidly instead of sticking to inflation or retreating? Three reasons:
1. APA has sunk more than $25 million into DSM-5 and wants to recoup as much of its investment as it can. God only knows where the money went. DSM-IV cost one fifth as much – just $5 million – of which half came from external grants.
2. APA is in deficit and is rapidly losing membership dues and drug company funding. It desperately needs all the publishing profits it can pull from DSM-5 to bridge its budgetary gap. If DSM-5 sales are projected to be much less than originally expected, the APA strategy may be to raise prices sky-high in order to make up the difference.
3. APA is probably counting on having captive buyers who are forced to pay its price, however exorbitant it may be. That’s exactly how monopolies take advantage of markets that are not free- rigging the prices to bring in all the profits the helpless traffic will bear.
Previous systems (DSM-III, DSM-IIIR, DSM-IV) were far from perfect, but they were good enough to provide a widely accepted common language for communication. The gross incompetence of DSM-5 will likely return us to a Babel of many languages – different people using different methods of diagnoses.
Amanda Bynes claimed that it was a case of mistaken identity when pictures of herself partying in her New York apartment recently surfaced in In Touch magazine.
In the snaps, it is clear that is in fact Amanda Bynes throwing what appears to be an impromptu party for three earlier this month.
In the shocking party photos, Amanda Bynes is seen reclining on her bed which is stripped down to a bare mattress with no sheets or other bedding.
With her sunglasses shielding her eyes, her hair extensions in a tattered mess and smeared make-up on her face, Amanda Bynes appears to be emulating Madonna’s famous Vogue pose.
Barefoot, Amanda Bynes wears a cream dress with a black bra teamed with a denim and leather jacket.
Later she is seen hazily sitting up, letting the photographer take her picture as she pushes her hair away from her chest.
An open can of Diet Coke with a straw sitting in it sits beside her bed and a half burnt j**nt that is blackened with soot is laying on the bed next to her after she has seemingly taken a hit.
Next up Amanda Bynes takes the photo shoot to the bathroom where she is seen preening and pouting in the mirror.
Amanda Bynes posted a video of herself in the bathroom getting ready for a New York party
Hardly aware of what is going on around her, one of her male party guests gets physically close to her, seemingly kissing her on the arm.
He later does a little dance in the mirror as she continues to apply heavy layers of lip gloss to her pout.
The man in question, who would go only go by the name of “Joe”, is one of the men who provided the pictures to In Touch.
Joe and a photographer by the name of Giovanni Arnold were partying with Amanda Bynes on the night the snaps in question were taken.
Since their emergence, Amanda has jumped to her own defense, tweeting: “That’s not my bed! Those aren’t my toes! My toes are pedicured!”
The European Commission has announced it will allow some EU member states to slow their pace of austerity cuts, amid concerns over growth.
France, Spain, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Slovenia are all being given more time to complete their austerity plans.
France will get two more years to bring its budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the extra time must be “used wisely” to lift competitiveness.
The measures came as part of the European Commission’s country-specific recommendations.
Spain, Poland and Slovenia will also get two more years to bring down their budget deficits though spending cuts and tax increases.
The Netherlands and Portugal are having their timetables extended by one year.
Even Europe’s stronger economies, including Germany, are being urged to allow wage increases and increase flexibility in the jobs market to improve competitiveness.
Europe remains broadly in recession. The 17-member eurozone shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of the year, and is expected to register negative growth for 2013 as a whole.
The European Commission has announced it will allow some EU member states to slow their pace of austerity cuts, amid concerns over growth
There has been concern that the focus on fiscal consolidation in many EU states has worsened the economic situation.
Earlier, the OECD called on the European Central Bank (ECB) to do more to boost growth.
This month, the central bank in Frankfurt cut interest rates to a record low of 0.5% and said it was “ready to act if needed”.
In an official statement, the Commission said the extra time should be used to enact reforms.
“Giving more time for certain member states to meet their agreed objectives is designed to enable them to accelerate efforts to put their public finances into order and carry out overdue reforms,” it said.
“Reform efforts must be stepped up to credibly produce the required outcomes within the new deadlines and excessive deficits must be corrected.”
Jose Manuel Barroso stressed that the decision to allow some member states to slow the pace of austerity was made on purely economic and financial grounds, rather than for political reasons.
Speaking about the new timetable for France, he said the message remained “very demanding”.
“The extra time should be used wisely to address France’s failing competitiveness … I believe there is a growing consensus now in France about the need for those reforms,” he said.
Figures released earlier this month showed that France had entered its second recession in four years after the economy shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of 2013.
Director Sam Mendes has resumed talks with the producers of the James Bond films about the possibility of directing the next in the series.
The Skyfall director previously ruled himself out due to other commitments but is believed to be reconsidering.
According to industry website Deadline, his change of heart was prompted by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli’s willingness to wait for him.
Skyfall, the 23rd official Bond film, earned more than $1.1 billion.
It was named best British film at this year’s BAFTA Film Awards and is the highest-grossing movie in UK box office history.
Sam Mendes has resumed talks with the producers of the James Bond films about the possibility of directing the next in the series
Sam Mendes, 47, was invited to direct Skyfall‘s successor but turned down the job due to theatre commitments in London.
His musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is currently in previews and he is scheduled to follow it with a staging of King Lear at the National Theatre.
It is understood, though, that the Bond team are prepared to postpone production on the next 007 feature until he is available.
Ang Lee, Christopher Nolan and Nicolas Winding Refn are among other leading directors rumored to have been approached.
Speaking in March, Sam Mendes said he felt “very honored to have been part of the Bond family” and that he “very much” hoped to work with the 007 team again.
The last film-maker to helm consecutive Bond movies was former editor John Glen, who directed five installments in a row between 1981 and 1989.
IMF has cuts its economic growth forecast for China, with weakness in the global economy set to hit exports.
The International Monetary Fund it now expected the world’s second largest economy to grow by “around 7.75%” this year, and at about the same pace in 2014.
That is lower than the 8% forecast for 2013 the IMF made in its World Economic Outlook, published last month.
The IMF also called for a “decisive impetus to reforms” in the country.
Last year, China’s economy grew by 7.8%, its slowest rate for 13 years. In the first three months of this year, it expanded at a lower-than-expected annual pace of 7.7%.
Last week, the release of disappointing Chinese manufacturing figures was one of the factors behind a global sell-off in shares. A survey indicated that factory activity had contracted for the first time in seven months in May.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing, IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton said: “The Chinese economy is expected to grow at around 7.75% this year and at about the same pace next year.
“Chinese export growth has been, after years and years of very rapid growth, very slow because of the state of the global economy and we now are taking our projections of the global economy into effect.”
IMF has cuts its economic growth forecast for China, with weakness in the global economy set to hit exports
Among the measures called for by the IMF are slower growth in social financing and a relaxation of controls on interest rates and the exchange rate.
Despite the cut in the IMF’s forecast, David Lipton noted: “Let’s not lose sight of the fact that China is still growing at a very fast rate.
“We’re projecting that growth will remain robust.”
David Lipton added that growth “should pick up moderately in the course of the second half of this year, as the recent credit expansion gains traction and in line with a mild pick-up in the global economy”.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in France in connection with a knife attack on soldier Cedric Cordier near Paris on Saturday, officials say.
The suspect, known as a radical Muslim, was detained on Wednesday morning in the Yvelines region, 45 km (28 miles) southwest of the capital, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said.
The “dangerous” man was traced thanks to evidence at the scene, he added.
French anti-terrorist investigators are handling the case, saying the soldier was targeted because of his profession.
Witnesses had earlier described the attacker as a bearded man of North African origin.
The man, named Alexandre, was monitored on security cameras and seen taking off his robe and running away wearing European clothes, officials said.
The stabbing took place three days after the killing of British serviceman Drummer Lee Rigby outside a barracks in the Woolwich area of London.
French President Francois Hollande said that while all theories would be investigated, there was no evidence to link the two attacks.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in France in connection with a knife attack on soldier Cedric Cordier near Paris on Saturday
The suspect was a petty criminal known to police, correspondents say.
Speaking on French TV on Wednesday, Manuel Walls warned against jumping to early conclusions.
The minister said that although there were signs that the suspect may be linked to radical Islam, the investigation was still in its early stages.
“I remain cautious,” the minister said.
“We need to know more about his motives, his background, his family environment.”
Pfc Cedric Cordier, 23, was approached from behind and stabbed in the neck with a small-bladed knife in La Defense business district on Saturday.
The attack took place in a busy underground hall where shops and public transport lines converge in La Defense business district.
The victim was in a stable condition after the attack, police said.
France is on high alert following a threat from the North African wing of al-Qaeda, related to the country’s involvement in Mali.
The raised alert level is one of the reasons why soldiers are on patrol in central Paris and other high-profile areas, correspondents say.
Last March, soldiers were targeted by Islamist militant Mohamed Merah in the Toulouse area of southern France.
He shot dead three French paratroopers then attacked a Jewish school, murdering three children and an adult, before being killed in a police siege.
Liam Gallagher has barely spoken to his brother Noel Gallagher since a backstage fight led to the breakup of Oasis in 2009.
However, Liam Gallagher, 40, has now revealed that track Don’t Bother Me on his band Beady Eye’s new album was written as a “peace offering” to Noel.
The song Don’t Bother Me from the album Be features the lyrics: “In the morning, I’ll be calling and hoping you understand. Give peace a chance. Take my hand – be a man.”
Liam Gallagher said his arguments with 45-year-old Noel had inspired the song, which also contains the words: “I’m sick of all your lying/Your scheming and crying.”
He told the BBC that his mind had been “fuzzy” when he had written the words, which were about peace and brotherhood.
Liam Gallagher has revealed that a track on his band Beady Eye’s new album was written as a peace offering to his brother Noel
“I didn’t sit down to write a song about a brother,” Liam Gallagher said.
“There’s bits in there about Noel, I guess. And there’s bits in there about brothers in general. About everyone just chilling, man. And give peace a chance.”
Liam Gallagher said that while the song was not just about Noel, his influence was undeniable.
“I’m not here to shy away from talking about our kid. You ask me a question and I go for it,” he said.
“But, yeah, it’s about a lot of things. It’s not about just Noel. Believe you me, if I could write a song about the [expletive] with Noel, I would.”
Liam Gallagher also shared his opinions on One Direction, saying they had got “lucky” and were his band’s “biggest competition”.
“Fair play to them, man, they got lucky – like we all do, I guess – and they’re just going for it.
“It’s all going to end at some point. And when it ends, you want to make sure you’ve ticked all the boxes.”
Bella Tsarnaeva, sister of Boston Marathon bombings suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, faces drugs charge in New Jersey.
Bella Tsarnaeva, 24, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to possession of ma****ana with intent to distribute.
She was arrested in December 2012 after police responded to her Fairview home on a domestic violence report and found ma****ana, according to court papers. Authorities said they had first found her live-in boyfriend, Ahmad Khalil, at the apartment, which they searched after smelling marijuana.
Both Bella Tsarnaeva and Ahmad Khalil were indicted on April 10 with possession of ma****ana with intent to distribute.
They declined to comment on Tuesday after their arraignment in Superior Court, where their attorneys entered not-guilty pleas on their behalves.
Bella Tsarnaeva’s attorney, Mario Blanch, said he has applied for her to be admitted into a pretrial intervention program, a form of probation that allows certain defendants to resolve their cases without a criminal record.
Bella Tsarnaeva, sister of Boston Marathon bombings suspects faces drug charges in New Jersey
Bella Tsarnaeva later left the building, her head wrapped in Ahmad Khalil’s shirt to shield her from a photographer. Mario Blanch said Bella Tsarnaeva did not want to be photographed because people are already recognizing her on the streets and that she has even received death threats for what her brothers are accused of doing.
“She is a young woman, 24 years old, and through no fault of her own, she has been thrust into a public spotlight,” said her attorney Mario Blanch to North Jersey.com.
“This has been a huge tragedy for this country, and it has also been a huge tragedy for my client.”
The investigation extended into North Jersey within a few days after the Boston Marathon bombing when federal agents showed up at the West New York home of another sister, 22-year-old Ailina Tsarnaeva. The agents interviewed the woman for several hours and left with computers, cell phones and plastic bags full of items. West New York police later said the woman was cooperating with authorities.
Meanwhile, lawyers for her brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are set to blame the “overpowering influence” of elder brother Tamerlan, said Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties and defense attorney.
According to Harvey Silvergate, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers will cite Tamerlan as being “an embittered and dangerous character, and it is well known that older siblings have tremendous power over younger siblings”.
One of the teenage bombers attorney is Judy Clarke, who represented “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and 1996 Atlanta Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph – in both cases using mental health as a defense.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told his mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva that “everything will be fine” in their first telephone call since his arrest in the Boston Marathon bombings case as he recuperates at a Massachusetts prison hospital.
According to Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who spoke to her son yesterday from Makhachkala, the capital of Russia’s Dagestan region, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said: “I am absolutely fine, my wounds are healing. Everything is in God’s hands. Be patient. Everything will be fine.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, stands accused of carrying out the April 15th attack in Boston, which killed three people and injured at least 260 along with his brother Tamerlan, who was killed following a brutal shootout with police on April 19th in the Watertown suburb of the city.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva had their first phone call since his arrest
The teenage terror suspect was arrested after a 36 hour multi-agency manhunt and is currently being held at Devens Federal medical center as he recovers from gunshot wounds, including one to the neck.
“Mentally he is normal but the child is shocked,” Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said to Bloomberg.
“It was really hard to hear him and for him to hear me. The conversation was very quiet. It was my child, I know he is locked up like a dog, like an animal.”
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the news agency that the conversation she had with her son lasted six minutes and that she is promised one a month with him.
This comes as the sister of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev faces a drugs charge in New Jersey.
DSM-5, the latest psychiatrist bible, is warning of the dangerous physiological impact of caffeine intoxication.
An overdose of caffeine is among the mental disorders included in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) released on May 22.
Symptoms of the disorder include restlessness, nervousness, excitement, red face, gastrointestinal upset, muscle twitching, rambling speech, sleeplessness, rapid and irregular heartbeat, according to Live Science.
The findings about the mental impacts of a caffeine overdose come from the list of mental disorders compiled by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
The DSM is the go-to guide for a myriad of professionals seeking to understand mental disorders including physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, occupational and rehabilitation therapists, and counselors, according to the APA website.
DSM-5 is warning of the dangerous physiological impact of caffeine intoxication
Caffeine intoxication had previously been listed as a disorder but in the latest edition of the DSM, it also includes the disorder associated with caffeine withdrawal.
Symptoms of caffeine withdrawal are described as including headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, depressed mood and other issues.
“Caffeine is invading our society more and more,” Alan Budney, who served on the DSM-5 working group for substance-use disorders, previously told Medscape Medical News in 2011 about why caffeine withdrawal was an important disorder to investigate.
“There’s concern enough to consider this topic seriously, even though it’s probably one of the more controversial issues faced by our work group,” he added.
Caffeine is considered the most widely used, behaviorally active drug in the world, alongside other chemicals that can prompt mental disorders.
The other powerful chemicals include alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, hallucinogens and other mind-altering substances.
Emmanuelle Seigner, wife of controversial film director Roman Polanski, has claimed that she has been criticized by other Frenchwomen because of her “success, beauty and money”.
Roman Polanski is notorious as a fugitive from justice in the US over the r**e of a 13-year-old girl.
However, Emmanuelle Seigner, 46, has suggested that the main reason she has faced attacks from her fellow Frenchwomen was their jealousy of her “success, beauty and money”.
The actress and pop singer said she could not explain the chemistry between herself and the 79-year-old Oscar-winning director but admitted she liked the “danger” and unpredictability of not fitting the mould of a perfect relationship.
Emmanuelle Seigner, who is a close friend of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the former French first lady, has said: “In France, I guess there’s something like a tyranny in mentalities – we accept success badly, beauty, money.”
“People are certainly envious, and this creates negative energy. This is annoying. I suffered a great deal at one time. I had to fight harder than others. Add to that my marriage to Polanski.”
Emmanuelle Seigner was asked about what generated the romantic spark between her and Roman Polanski, whom she married in 1989.
Emmanuelle Seigner, wife of Roman Polanski, claims Frenchwomen are jealous of her success and beauty
“I don’t know. I ignore the ingredients. I guess that would be love. This can’t be explained,” she told Madame Figaro magazine.
“Perhaps because there’s an age difference – the improbable side that makes it probable. There are relationships where everything works and looks perfect, and that doesn’t interest me.
“I don’t like the idea of fitting into a mould, so as to conform. What I like is the danger, the difference – being unpredictable.”
Emmanuelle Seigner met Roman Polanski while appearing in one of his films, Frantic, in 1988, alongside Harrison Ford, but is now mainly known for her work inside France. The pair live in central Paris with their two children, Morgane and Elvis.
Roman Polanski was charged in 1977 with six crimes related to the s***al assault of a teenager during a photo shoot in Los Angeles but fled America, meaning all the charges are still pending.
He was arrested in Switzerland in 2009 at the request of the US authorities, who wanted to extradite him to face trial.
Following a period of prison, and then house arrest, Switzerland let Roman Polanski go, but he is now unlikely ever to leave France again in case he is re-arrested.
Like Carlo Bruni–Sarkozy, who is the third wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Emmanuelle Seigner has received a great deal of publicity through her relationship with a world-famous husband.
Frenchwomen are often lauded for their fashion sense, slender figures and perfectly behaved children, but critics have suggested they can be jealous, snobbish and sometimes even hostile.
A new website launched to help British women living in France fit in advises them to turn up late, brush up on current affairs and learn to accept compliments without treating them as a chat-up line.
Cellulaze, a pioneering invasive cosmetic treatment which targets the dreaded appearance of quilted, pitted fat, has hit the market causing a media storm.
Affecting more than 8 out of 10 women, cellulite is considered one of the curses of female gender, but Cellulaze is considered one of the best weapons to banish orange-peel thighs.
Cellulite occurs when the strands that connect the layers of tissue and the fat below the skin (fibrous septae) gradually harden and contract, while the fat between stays the same and protrudes out in a lumpy fashion.
Diet, exercise, creams and massage do help, but chronic sufferers are constantly on the lookout for a long-term solution.
The Sunday Times Stylemagazine has reported that new laser cellulite treatment Cellulaze claims to melt the fat and then break down the fibres anchoring the tiny fat pockets, thus banishing the appearance of cellulite.
It is the first scientifically validated laser cellulite treatment to win the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which accepted the results of Cellulaze’s year-long trial last January.
The study was conducted in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and monitored a group of women with an average age of 47.
It showed that just one Cellulaze treatment prevented the return of cellulite for at least a year. There are even claims that the earliest patients have remained cellulite-free for three years.
The treatment, which costs upwards of $4,000, takes one to two hours and involves a local anaesthetic and mild sedation, followed by the insertion of a laser rod, like a fine knitting needle, just below the surface of the skin through a series of tiny cuts, reported the Sunday Times.
Cellulaze is the first scientifically validated laser cellulite treatment approved by FDA
Laser beams then transmit energy sideways from the rod to smooth out lumpy fat cells and heat dermal tissue. The method promotes skin thickening and tightening, resulting in tighter, smoother skin. The laser directly targets the structure of cellulite.
As well as destroying the lumps, it stimulates collagen production just below the surface, and, in most cases, gives a smoother result than anything previously achieved by other anti-cellulite treatments.
The Cellulaze laser fiber claims to level out bumps of fat, treat dimples by releasing the fibrous bands that pull down on the skin, and stimulate collagen production to increase skin’s depth and elasticity for a smoother look.
Liquefied fat is then pressed out.
Hassan Shaaban, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Sthetix clinic in Liverpool, was the British pioneer, and has now become the principal specialist training other doctors from across Europe in the technique.
He warns that not every patient will benefit.
“We classify cellulite severity from one to four,” he says.
“This treatment works best on stages two and three. In other words, women with serious cellulite will first have to lose fat by other methods.”
The cosmetic surgeon Angelica Kavouni, of the Cadogan Clinic in London, underwent the training last December and has already treated 15 women. \
“I am cautiously optimistic that it works, but I think most patients will also have to make lifestyle changes such as diet and more exercise to maintain the results,” she told the Sunday Times.
