US astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are carrying out an emergency spacewalk to fix a leak of ammonia from the International Space Station’s cooling system.
Live video shows Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn examining the outside of the craft to search for the escape.
The crew had spotted particles of ammonia drifting away from the laboratory on Thursday.
It is expected the spacewalk, prepared at record short notice, will last around six and a half hours.
Liquid ammonia is used to extract the heat that builds up in electronic systems, dumping that excess energy to space through an array of radiators.
Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn are carrying out an emergency spacewalk to fix a leak of ammonia from the ISS’s cooling system
NASA says the crew on the ISS are not in any danger.
The leak is coming from the station’s port side, at the far end of the backbone, or truss, structure that holds one of the laboratory’s huge sets of solar arrays.
The astronauts will “inspect and possibly replace” a pump controller box in that area of the space station, according to NASA.
Commander Chris Hadfield reported seeing “a very steady stream of flakes” on Thursday.
“They were coming out cleanly and repeatedly enough that it looked like it was a point source they were coming from,” he added.
It is not the first time that the station’s cooling systems have caused problems.
A very small leak was identified in 2007 in the same location, and a spacewalk was organized in 2012 to reconfigure coolant lines and isolate the problem.
The station currently has a crew of six. Commander Chris Hadfield, a Canadian, is due to leave the platform with American astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko on Monday.
Commander Chris Hadfield had asked mission controllers if the leak might prevent the undocking of his return capsule. They responded that there was no technical reason why it should, but that engineers would update the crew once they understood the issues more fully.
Scientists have built and tested a form of invisibility cloak that can hide objects from heat.
Similar cloaking efforts are underway to make objects invisible to light and even sound waves, but this is the first device to work with heat.
The prototype, to be outlined in Physical Review Letters, contained a 5 cm-wide flat region impervious to heat flowing around it.
The technology could be put to use in thermal management in electronics.
The theoretical ideas behind the prototype were outlined in a paper by French researchers in 2012 – now made real in copper and a silicone material called PDMS.
Scientists have built and tested a form of invisibility cloak that can hide objects from heat
It works by channeling heat flow around the central region, with carefully designed, alternating rings made of the two materials.
“If you follow a ring around, you can follow those areas of high [heat] conductivity, but if you go toward the centre you are repeatedly blocked by a layer of low conductivity,” explained lead author of the study Robert Schittny of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany.
“You can see that it’s easier for the heat to just travel around this object than travel toward the centre,” he said.
But the effort is not just about insulating the central region from heat – it is to make it “look” like it is simply not there.
“You want the heat flow to look as if there were no disturbance at all in the middle, and basically if you want to guide the heat around the central part, it takes a detour, a longer time to go around there,” Robert Schittny explained.
“Each ring is made so that it specifically compensates exactly this detour that the heat has to make.”
Robert Schittny said that the work showed promise for applications where heat needed to be carefully shuttled around – electronics systems, cooling or energy systems, and so on. And the prototype works just as the 2012 work predicted it would.
“We were all surprised by how well the theoretical simulations and the experimental results in the end agreed,” he said.
At least 40 people have been killed and other 100 are injured after two car bombs exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanli, near the Syrian border, Turkey’s interior minister says.
Muammer Guler told Turkey’s NTV that two bombs had gone off in the town near the town hall and post office.
Video from the scene showed injured people being carried to safety in rubble-strewn streets, amid shattered buildings and twisted wrecks of cars.
The town is an entry-point for refugees from the war in Syria.
Local people attacked cars with Syrian number-plates and Syrian refugees after the attack, according to local media.
At least 40 people have been killed and other 100 are injured after two car bombs exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanli
Emergency services looked for possible victims buried under the debris.
No group said they had carried out the attack.
Responding to news of the bombing, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would protect itself.
“There may be those who want to sabotage Turkey’s peace, but we will not allow that,” he said during a visit to Berlin.
“No-one should attempt to test Turkey’s power. Our security forces will take all necessary measures.”
Ahmet Davutoglu added that the blasts had taken place to deflect attention from efforts to solve the Syrian crisis.
The border area of Reyhanli has itself been attacked in recent months.
In February, an explosion near the town killed 17 people and wounded 30.
Five people were killed last October when a mortar round hit the Turkish border town of Akcakale.
The Turkish government has been a key supporter of the Syrian opposition, and has allowed rebels as well as refugees on to its territory.
But tensions in the Reyhanli area have been high for several weeks, reports say, with clashes between Turkish and Syrian youths.
A photo of man bearing a striking resemblance to Jay-Z has surfaced, and if it wasn’t for the fact that it was taken in 1939, you’d swear it was the rapper himself.
The image, taken by Sid Grossman, is part of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center’s collection.
The 1939 image shows a man sitting outside a stone building, dressed in typical though stylish attire for the decade: a news-boy cap and a full suit.
The man is staring down the camera lens with a distinct sense of attitude and intent.
Best of all, the man from the past has exactly the same poise and swagger as present day 43-year-old Jay-Z.
However, if you really wanted to start a conspiracy theory, you’d only need to look at the titles of Jay-Z’s albums and singles.
Jay-Z’s extensive list of titles include: In My Lifetime, The Best of Both Worlds (with R. Kelly), Don’t Let Me Die, Young Forever and Encore… mortality and immortality sure do seem to be running themes in the singer’s works.
Boston Marathon bombings investigators are examining whether suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was influenced by Magomed Kartashov, a distant cousin with ties to extremist Islamist groups in Russia.
Magomed Kartashov is founder and leader of a group called The Union of the Just which reportedly promotes the application of Islamic Sharia law and has protested against the U.S.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev is said to have met Magomed Kartashov for the first time when he spent six months in Dagestan, Russia’s turbulent Caucasus region, last year.
His mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, told TIME Magazine that the two “became very close”.
Magomed Kartashov is founder and leader of a group called The Union of the Just which reportedly promotes the application of Islamic Sharia law
The Union of the Just publicly renounces violence, but several of its members have ties to militants.
A lawyer for Magomed Kartashov confirmed to ABC News that Russian security agents recently interviewed her client about his links to Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Magomed Kartashov admits that the two were close but insists that it was Tamerlan Tsarnaev who tried to “pull him into extremism”.
He is currently in jail on charges of resisting police in an unrelated matter. His lawyer expects he will remain there for at least two more months.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a violent standoff with police on April 19, days after he and his brother Dzhokhar, 19, allegedly planted homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured alive and has been charged with using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. He faces the death penalty.
Ever since the attack, investigators have been trying to understand how the brothers would have become radicalized to the point of wanting to kill and maim people in the U.S., the country they called home.
Much of the focus has been on Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s six-month visit to Dagestan, a restive region in southern Russia that is home to an Islamist militant insurgency. They want to know if and how Tamerlan Tsarnaev attempted to join militant groups there.
Earlier, a U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that investigators are also looking into Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s contacts with a young militant named Mahmud Mansur Nidal.
The two were reportedly seen leaving a controversial Salafist mosque in the capital of Makhachkala that has been popular with militants over the years.
They also want to know about possible contacts with a Canadian-Russian militant named William Plonikov, who was killed in a police shootout last July, just days before Tamerlan Tsarnaev suddenly left the country.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s death certificate, which was released on Friday, showed that he was shot in the firefight and then run over and dragged by a vehicle.
Police say it was Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who mowed over his brother’s body as he was making a getaway.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s death certificate showed that he was shot in the firefight and then run over and dragged by a vehicle
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond, with the help of Christian Martha Mullen.
The Tsarnaev brothers are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent shootout with police on April 19 and his brother, who was injured in the gunfight, was captured in Watertown, Massachusetts after an 18-hour manhunt.
His body was claimed by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who asked that the remains be placed in a municipal cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived with his wife, Katherine Russell. But city officials would not allow that to happen.
Katherine Russell did not claim the body, which is why it was released to Ruslan Tsarni.
The public was not notified that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body had been moved until after it was transported from the funeral home Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, police officials announced that: “A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased.”
On average, burials cost $6,000 to $10,000, which covers basic services of a funeral director and staff, including the casket as well as embalming and sanitation of the body, according to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society, a consumer advocacy group.
Typically, the person who claims the body – which in this case would be Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s uncle – pays these costs.
“Mounting evidence” gathered by investigators suggest Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could have been involved in a grisly unsolved triple murder in 2011, it has emerged on Friday.
Officials told ABC News that forensic evidence could tie Boston bomber brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the killings of Brendan Mess, Raphael Teken and Erik Weissman, who were found with their throats slit and marijuana dumped over their dead bodies in a Waltham, Massachusetts house.
The Tsarnaev brothers knew the men as Tamerlan trained in boxing and martial arts with Brendan Mass.
However, officials said more DNA testing is required before bringing an indictment against the surviving brother, Dzhokhar Tsaranaev, who is recovering from a self-inflicted gun wound in a prison infirmary.
Following the April 15 bombings and the suspected involvement of the Tsarnaev brothers, investigators began to look into the link between Tamerlan and Brendan Mess.
Forensic evidence could tie Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to the killings of Brendan Mess and other two men, who were found with their throats slit and marijuana dumped over their dead bodies in a Waltham house
Authorities have now told ABC that forensic evidence from the crime scene in 2011 matches the Tsarnaev brothers. Their cell phones were also in the area at the time of the killings, records show.
The three men had ordered food from an Italian restaurant on the September 11, 2011, but when a delivery woman came to leave the food, no one answered the door.
The next morning, one of the victim’s girlfriends found their bodies.
Their throats had been slit, they have been covered with marijuana and there was also $5,000 cash in the home.
Initially police said two other people had been there on the day and they were looking to question them, although no one has ever been charged.
There had been no forced entry, so police believe the killer was known the victim and was let into the apartment.
Investigators at the time said the murders were “targeted and not a random act of violence”.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone issued a statement soon after the murders saying, “based on the present state of the investigation, it is believed that the victims knew the assailant or assailants, and the attacks were not random”.
Neighbors described Brendan Mess and his two roommates as quiet, nice people who were a welcome change of pace from previous residents who often had loud parties late into the evening.
After the deaths, friends said that Tamerlan Tsarnaev acted oddly – failing to attend his close friend’s funeral and dropping out of the martial arts school where they had both trained.
One man who knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev through the gym where they trained said some of their social circle “without even speaking about it beforehand have all been thinking” he could be involved.
The friend, who gave his name only as Ray, told BuzzFeed Politics: “At the time, none of us would have thought it was Tam. It was just so emotional and we thought we had someone else who had done it.”
But since Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified as the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 260, Ray believes his sudden disappearance after Brendan Mess’s death may be a clue.
“Tam wasn’t there at the memorial service, he wasn’t at the funeral, he wasn’t around at all,” Ray said.
“And he was really close with Brendan. That’s why it’s so weird.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed following a gun battle with police, a day after the FBI released images of him and his younger brother at the Boston Marathon.
His brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar, was found hiding in a boat parked in a suburban yard and suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the neck.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is now recovering and has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.
Rihanna and Chris Brown have taken to Twitter to voice their mutual contempt for each other.
They sent out thinly veiled tweets on Thursday and Friday seemingly accusing each other of playing the field while they dated.
Rihanna, 25, started it off, uploading an Instagram picture on Thursday with the words: “If I drop all my hoes for you and we still don’t work out you owe me some hoes.”
Although the meaning isn’t clear, the picture insinuates that Rihanna either dropped all her friends when she was with Chris Brown or that he was unfaithful to her.
Rihanna and Chris Brown have taken to Twitter to voice their mutual contempt for each other
Chris Brown, 24, then upped the nastiness factor by tweeting on Friday: “She’s not mine if she’s everybody elses.”
They also sent out tweets on Wednesday that appeared to be directed at each other, with Chris Brown tweeting: “Sometimes loving someone is too much! So loving from a distance will help everyone grow! Be blessed. Live ya life!”
Rihanna then tweeted her own message a short while later, stating: “Settling is not an option! Nothing less than 100% loyalty, honesty, and respect!! Love ain’t for kidz #butimsleeptho.”
Chris Brown’s Friday tweet comes after reports that Rihanna was partying with ex JR Smith on Tuesday after her show in New York.
But the rapper isn’t blameless himself after he spent his birthday celebrations last weekend partying with ex-girlfriend Karreuche Tran.
Chris Brown recently made some kinder comments about the break-up during an interview on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show: “I’m always going to love that person … [but] I can’t be focused on wife-ing someone that young – I need to step forward and be a man and be the best Chris Brown I can be.”
Michelle Knight will be “adopted” by Gina DeJesus’ family and they will look after her as their daughter after Michelle rejected a meeting with her own mother, a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus has revealed.
Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle Knight, now 32, to stay with them.
“She was Georgina’s sister for ten years in that house and she’s still her sister now,” Lupe Collins said.
“They’re going to take her in as their own family member and help her.
“Michelle doesn’t want to go back to her own family because they abused her before she was kidnapped and they only want the money now.”
Michelle Knight will be “adopted” by Gina DeJesus’ family and they will look after her as their daughter
Michelle Knight was released from the hospital on Friday and was taken to Gina DeJesus’ house.
Lupe Collins said the DeJesus family will be able to offer Michelle Knight the loving household that she never had even before she was allegedly kidnapped by Ariel Castro.
“They’re a loving family, a giving family. Felix and Nancy will take care of her and make sure she gets the helps she needs,” Lupe Collins said.
Two days ago, Gina DeJesus triumphantly returned to the neighborhood and walked into her home and hundreds of neighbors and well-wishers cheered.
By contrast, Michelle Knight’s homecoming had no fanfare.
Her great aunt Deborah Knight and her brother Freddie said that they had no idea where Knight could stay when she was released from the hospital.
“I don’t know where she’ll go,” Deborah Knight said from her dilapidated house on Cleveland’s West Side.
However, Freddie Knight, Michelle’s twin brother, said he saw his sister in the hospital and she wants her family to be reunited.
“I want her out of there and I want her home,” Freddie Knight, 32, said.
Guatemala’s former military leader Efrain Rios Montt has been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity and a three-judge tribunal sentenced him to 80 years in prison.
Retired General Efrain Rios Montt, 86, was convicted of ordering the deaths of 1,771 people of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his time in office in 1982 and 1983.
Survivors described horrific abuses committed by the army against those suspected of aiding left-wing rebels.
Efrain Rios Montt had denied the charges, saying he neither knew nor ordered the massacres while in power.
He is expected to appeal against the court’s decision on the grounds of his age.
Guatemala’s former military leader Efrain Rios Montt has been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity
Efrain Rios Montt’s former chief of military intelligence, Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, who was on trial with him, was acquitted.
It is the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide by a court in his or her own country.
Other genocide convictions have been handed down by international courts.
Relatives and indigenous leaders cheered when the sentence was read out by Judge Jazmin Barrios in Guatemala City.
Efrain Rios Montt was sentenced to 50 years for genocide and 30 years for crimes against humanity.
“The Ixils were considered public enemies of the state and were also victims of racism, considered an inferior race,” Judge Barrios said.
“The violent acts against the Ixils were not spontaneous. They were planned beforehand.”
It is a historic decision and a huge breakthrough for human rights in the region.
During the nearly two-month trial, dozens of victims gave harrowing testimony about atrocities committed by soldiers.
An estimated 200,000 people were killed in Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war, the vast majority of them indigenous Mayans.
Prosecutors said Efrain Rios Montt presided over the war’s bloodiest phase. They said he turned a blind eye as soldiers used rape, torture and arson against those suspected of supporting leftist rebels.
The trial has been beset with delays, legal loopholes and a temporary suspension.
Pakistan votes in landmark national and provincial elections.
The vote marks Pakistan’s first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.
However, the run-up to the election has been marred by violence in which more than 100 people have been killed.
A bomb blast in the port city of Karachi on Saturday morning left 10 people dead and 32 others wounded, a hospital official said.
Tens of thousands of troops are deployed at polling stations after the Pakistani Taliban threatened to carry out suicide attacks.
Hours before polls opened, Pakistan sealed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan in a bid to keep foreign militants at bay.
Officials said the borders would remain closed for the next three days.
Queues started forming before polling stations opened at 08:00 on Saturday.
At one polling station in the capital, Islamabad, more than 200 people waited patiently to vote.
Abdul Sattar, 74, said: “We want change, we are really fed up with old faces coming back to power every time and doing nothing for the nation.”
EU observers in the eastern city of Lahore said that voting there was going smoothly and without any interruptions.
In Peshawar there were long queues of women waiting to vote. Many are voting for the first time and are excited about being part of a historic change.
Polling stations will close at 17:00.
The Taliban on Friday warned voters to boycott polling stations in order to avoid attacks on the offices of political parties.
Long queues of women waiting to vote in Pakistan
The militants have been blamed for numerous attacks throughout the campaign on Pakistan’s three most prominent liberal parties.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) along with the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) have been singled out for attacks by the Taliban.
As a result, the parties were forced to curtail their election campaigning.
Around two hours after polling started, a bomb attack was reported in Karachi, apparently targeting an ANP candidate outside the party’s political office.
Ten people were killed and 32 others were wounded, said an official at Jinnah Hospital. The local ANP candidate, Amanullah Mahsud, who was in the office at the time of the attack, was wounded but not seriously,
The attack happened in the Landhi area of Karachi, an industrial district known for Taliban activity. Another ANP candidate and his son were shot dead close to the area last week.
There were also reports of explosions in Peshawar in the north-west of the country and Quetta in the south-west. At least five people were hurt in Peshawar when a bomb went off attached to a motorcycle.
Militants have so far avoided targeting the campaigns of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif and the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party of Imran Khan.
Nawaz Sharif, who was deposed as prime minister in a military coup 14 years ago, is seen as favorite to return for a third term of office.
In a bid to clamp down on corruption, election officials say electoral rolls have been refreshed and a text messaging service will provide voting information to individuals.
In previous elections there have been accusations that candidates and some state institutions rigged the vote by setting up ghost polling stations and creating millions of fake voters on the electoral rolls.
However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Friday expressed “acute concern” about the manner in which the violence has “impaired the fairness of the elections almost beyond repair”.
It called on all institutions to “stretch themselves to their absolute limit to ensure security of voters, candidates and polling stations on Saturday so that the people can exercise their right to choose their representatives”.
The Taliban threat sparked a major security operation leading up to the vote.
More than 600,000 security and army personnel have been deployed to guard against possible attacks on polling day.
On Thursday, the son of former PM Yusuf Raza Gilani was abducted during a rally.
Opinion polls indicate there could be a record turnout, higher than the 44% in the last elections in 2008.
Texas authorities have launched a criminal probe into the deadly explosion at West Fertilizer Company on April 17.
The disaster “severely impacted” the community in the town of West, a law enforcement official said.
The blast at West Fertilizer Company killed 14 people, wounded 200, and caused a tremor as powerful as a small earthquake.
Meanwhile, paramedic Bryce Reed, who responded to the blast, was charged with possessing pipe bomb components, prosecutors said.
The explosion flattened homes, shattered a block of flats and badly damaged a nursing home and several schools.
“This disaster has severely impacted the community of West, and we want to ensure that no stone goes unturned and that all the facts related to this incident are uncovered,” Texas Public Safety Director Steven McGraw said.
Paramedic Bryce Reed, who responded to West Fertilizer explosion, was charged with possessing pipe bomb components
McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said: “The citizens of McLennan County and Texas must have confidence that this incident has been looked at from every angle.”
The statement did not detail any further reasons for the criminal investigation and said no additional information would be released.
Authorities had said earlier there was no indication that the explosion and the fires that preceded it were anything other than an industrial accident.
Also on Friday, paramedic Bryce Reed made a brief court appearance in the town of Waco where he was charged with owning an unregistered destructive device.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a Texas residence on Tuesday where they discovered bomb-making components including a galvanized metal pipe, fuse, lighter and explosive powder in bags.
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives specialist and a chemist examined the items and agreed the “combination of parts can be readily assembled into a destructive device”, the complaint says.
Law enforcement officials have not linked the charge to the fire or the explosion at the fertilizer plant.
Sheriff Parnell McNamara said in a statement: “It is important to emphasize that at this point, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate any connection to the events surrounding the fire and subsequent explosion… and the arrest of Bryce Reed.”
Bryce Reed, who helped in the emergency response to the blast, did not enter a plea.
If convicted, Bryce Reed could face up to 10 years in prison and be fined up to $250,000.
Bryce Reed told the Dallas Morning News he had assumed radio command of the response to the fertilizer plant incident after it killed his superiors and colleagues.
According to a new research, Subway meals contain nearly as many calories and more salt than those from McDonald’s.
Subway chain may promote itself as the “healthy” fast food restaurant but the new study suggests that it is not much healthier than McDonald’s, and in terms of salt it is worse.
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) found that teenagers who bought Subway meals in America consumed nearly as many calories as those who bought a meal from McDonald’s.
They believe that eating from both restaurants is likely to contribute towards overeating and obesity.
According to a new research, Subway meals contain nearly as many calories and more salt than those from McDonald’s
“Every day, millions of people eat at McDonald’s and Subway, the two largest fast food chains in the world,” said Dr. Lenard Lesser, who led the research.
“With childhood obesity at record levels, we need to know the health impact of kids’ choices at restaurants.”
The researchers asked 97 people aged between 12 and 21 to buy meals at McDonald’s and Subway restaurants in a shopping centre in California.
The participants went to each restaurant on different weekdays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and paid for the meals with their own money.
The researchers used the participants’ receipts to record what each customer ate and estimated calorie counts from information on the chains’ websites.
The researchers found that the participants bought meals containing an average of 1,038 calories at McDonald’s and an average of 955 calories at Subway.
“We found that there was no statistically significant difference between the two restaurants, and that participants ate too many calories at both,” said Dr. Lenard Lesser.
The Institute of Medicine in the U.S. recommends that school lunches do not exceed 850 calories.
The researchers also found that the sandwiches bought by the participants from Subway in America averaged 784 calories, compared to 572 calories at McDonald’s in the U.S.
Sugary drinks from Subway contained an average of 61 calories while the McDonald’s alternatives contained an average of 151 calories.
The participants consumed 102 grams of carbohydrates at Subway compared to 128 grams at McDonald’s.
The meals contained an average of 36 grams of sugar at Subway and 54 grams at McDonald’s.
Salt intake averaged 2,149 mg at Subway and 1,829 mg at McDonald’s.
“The nutrient profile at Subway was slightly healthier, but the food still contained three times the amount of salt that the Institute of Medicine recommends,” Dr. Lenard Lesser said.
The authors suggested that the higher sodium content of the Subway meals likely came from the restaurant’s processed meat.
The researchers also accepted that there were some weaknesses in the study – they did not track the subjects’ meals for the rest of the day, so it was unclear whether participants ate less at other times of the day to compensate for the excess calories.
Dr. Lenard Lesser recommends that McDonald’s customers eliminate sugary drinks and French fries from their orders and suggests that at Subway people should opt for smaller subs and ask for less meat.
As part of Subway’s “Where Winners Eat” advertising campaign it worked with athletes including Olympic gymnast Louis Smith to promote its Eat Fresh range.
Christian Martha Mullen today revealed that she helped authorities coordinate the secret burial this week of Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virginia.
“Jesus says [to] love our enemies,” Martha Mullen, 48, told the Boston Globe’s Wesley Lowery in an exclusive interview.
“So I was sitting in Starbucks and thought, maybe I’m the one person who needs to do something.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond
Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond.
Martha Mullen said she coordinated the clandestine burial with the help of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond after a number of cemeteries refused to take his body.
Martha Mullen said she coordinated the clandestine burial of Tamerlan Tsarnaev with the help of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond
Within an hour of contacting the group, she got a response saying a plot had been found. So Martha Mullen called the officials overseeing Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s burial and arranged to have the body, which was being held at a Worcester, Massachusetts funeral home, transported to Virginia to be buried Wednesday evening.
The development has infuriated some residents of the rural Virginia town as well as members of the area’s Islamic community who say they weren’t consulted in the decision.
“The whole Muslim community here is furious,” Imam Ammar Amonette of the Islamic Center of Virginia told the Associated Press.
“Frankly, we are furious that we were never given any information. It was all done secretly behind our backs.”
“Now everybody who’s buried in that cemetery, their loved ones are going to have to go to that place,” he added.
News of the burial comes several days after a Massachusetts police chief went on national television to plead for help in finding a plot for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as number of cemeteries and lawmakers in three states had turned down requests to bury his body.
Meanwhile, the funeral home where Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body was being held had become the site of ongoing protests.
Martha Mullen, a professional counselor who has a degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, said she was disgusted by reports of the protests and decided to take action.
She later called the Boston Globe wanting to tell her story, according to the reporter who took the call.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent shootout with police on April 19 and his brother, who was injured in the gunfight, was captured in Watertown, Massachusetts after an 18-hour manhunt.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s death certificate, which was released on Friday, showed that he was shot in the firefight and then run over and dragged by a vehicle. Police say it was Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s brother who mowed over his body as he was making a getaway.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body was claimed by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who asked that the remains be placed in a municipal cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Tsarnaev lived with his wife, Katherine Russell. But city officials would not allow that to happen.
Katherine Russell did not claim the body, which is why it was released to Ruslan Tsarni.
The public was not notified that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body had been moved until after it was transported from the funeral home Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, police officials announced that: “A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased.”
On average, burials cost $6,000 to $10,000, which covers basic services of a funeral director and staff, including the casket as well as embalming and sanitation of the body, according to the Funeral Consumer Guardian Society, a consumer advocacy group.
Typically, the person who claims the body – which in this case would be Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s uncle – pays these costs.
Michelle Knight has finally been released from hospital and is staying at the home of fellow captive Gina DeJesus after she refused to see her mother.
Michelle Knight, 32, became the third and final victim to leave the hospital where she was being treated for the physical and mental abuse she endured over ten years allegedly at the hands of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, who is accused of routinely beating and raping his three victims.
The hospital said Michelle Knight is in good spirits and grateful for the fund created to aid the victims.
Michelle Knight has refused to see her mother Barbara, choosing instead to stay with her fellow captive Gina DeJesus.
A family friend who talked to Nancy DeJesus said the DeJesus family is taking Michelle Knight in because she says Gina is her only family left in Cleveland.
The hospital statement said: “Michelle Knight is in good spirits and would like the community to know that she is extremely grateful for the outpouring of flowers and gifts.
“She is especially thankful for the Cleveland Courage Fund. She asks that everyone please continue to respect her privacy at this time.”
Michelle Knight’s mother is believed to have hired a lawyer in order to try and get access to her daughter.
Attorney Jay Milano told WKYC: “Barbara just wants to be a part of the healing process.”
Michelle Knight has finally been released from hospital and is staying at the home of fellow captive Gina DeJesus after she refused to see her mother
Barbara Knight flew in from Florida on Tuesday night after learning about her daughter’s rescue on the news and claimed she never gave up hope Michelle was still alive.
She said she wanted to bring her back to Naples with her once she was released from hospital.
Michelle Knight was the first of the three victims to be abducted. She was last seen at a cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue in Cleveland in 2002.
But her disappearance did not receive much publicity as she was classed as a runaway and her name was taken off the missing person’s database just 15 months later.
Michelle Knight’s twin brother yesterday recalled his shock at seeing her alive for the first time in more than a decade.
“When I saw her, she was white as a ghost,” Freddie Knight, 32, told The New York Post.
“But she told me, <<Come over here and give me a hug. It’s been ages!>>.
“She was happy to see me. It was emotional. She even recognized me – even though it had been 11 years.”
Freddie Knight also said he was afraid that his sister would become the “forgotten kidnap victim” as so much more attention was placed on Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus.
He also said that she would not have a home to go to when she was released from hospital – unlike the other two victims.
Freddie Knight himself, who says he was kicked out of his mother’s house 18 years ago when he was just 14, didn’t even know his sister was gone until he saw the news on TV.
He was among the first of her family members to see her after her rescue.
“She’s really weak. She’s just trying to cope with everything right now.
“She didn’t talk much. When she’s ready, she will tell me but I don’t want to bring it up until then. She’s really traumatized right now.”
Barbara Knight has contended all week that police did not do enough to try and find her daughter.
The police department’s policy on investigating missing adults at the time states that an officer must go and see if a missing person has been found, then inform the FBI within two hours so the person can be removed from the National Crime Information Center database.
Kardashian sisters’ Khroma Beauty debut make-up line has been forced to change its name to Kardashian Beauty in a trademark dispute.
WWD reports that the rebrand is being made to end an 8 month-long trademark dispute between the Kardashians and a Florida-based company called Kroma Makeup, which sought $10 million in damages.
An array of Khroma Beauty products had already been produced, promoted and were ready to hit more than 5,000 retailers across the U.S. but now the costly task of relabeling will begin.
Despite the announced changes, the Kardashian’s original website, www.khromabeauty.com, and Facebook page are still currently functioning.
The long-running saga started last June when Lee Tillett, the founder of Kroma Makeup, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Boldface Group Inc, the branding company behind the Kardashian’s Khroma Beauty line, accusing it of “stealing” the name.
Lee Tillett set up her company in 2004 and trademarked the name Kroma – which apparently means “color” in Greek – six years later.
In the legal case she sought $10 million in damages, claiming that the Kardashian sisters’ company, for which they are set to make at least $6.2 million, would cause confusion in the marketplace.
And it appeared that those leading the case agreed. After months of heavy promotion the Kardashians were instructed to stop distributing products this March.
“Tillett has demonstrated that [she] will likely lose business opportunities, customers and goodwill due to Boldface’s use of the confusingly similar Khroma Beauty marks,” Judge Audrey Collins, said in her ruling.
Khroma Beauty has now officially changed its name to Kardashian Beauty to end an 8 month-long trademark dispute
“The court has little doubt that, in short order, the Khroma Beauty products will likely eliminate Tillett’s business entirely, creating irreparable harm sufficient to justify an injunction.”
Boldface Group Inc appealed the decision, seeking to reverse the U.S. District Court’s injunction so Khroma Beauty products could go on sale, but this was not granted.
As a result Khroma Beauty has now officially changed its name to Kardashian Beauty.
Florida native, Lee Tillett, previously told the Orlando Sentinel: “I developed the Kroma line myself, built my business through my own hard work, and took the legal steps necessary to protect it.
“And yet I have now been forced into legal battle with the Kardashians simply because they have decided to take something that doesn’t belong to them.”
In her formal federal court response she claims the promotion of Khroma was likely to mislead customers into thinking her line is associated with the Kardashian sisters.
Lee Tillett added: “The false association is damaging … and threatens to destroy its business.”
According to the counter-claims, Boldface Group Inc had paid the Kardashians an upfront advance of $1 million for licensing rights, with guaranteed minimum royalty payments of $4.6 million to $5.2 million.
As part of the deal, they allegedly have some power over the product line and that Kim Kardashian “proposed” it be called Khroma.
Lee Tillett’s attorney Elliot Gipson claims Kim Kardashian should have known better.
He pointed to discussions by representatives for himself and TLK Fusion, which allegedly acted as Kardashian’s product-placement agent for a show that was being produced by Kim Kardashian.
Elliot Gipson said: “On or about May 2010, representatives for Tillett and TLK Fusion were engaged in discussions regarding the possible product placement of the KROMA cosmetics line on the television reality show special The SPINdustry that was scheduled to air on E! Entertainment Television following an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
No deal was ever reached, but if this is true she could have had advance knowledge that the name was already in use.
Scientists have developed a 7-minute exercise regime to provide as many health benefits as going for a long run and doing a session of weight training.
The workout requires no more than a wall, a chair and 7 minutes of your time.
However, the experts say that you must be in pain when performing the regime in order to benefit.
The article, entitled High-intensity circuit training using body Weight: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment, is published in the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness.
The program includes 12 exercises that use the body’s own weight to get the same amount of exercise as doing a long run and session of weight-training in just seven minutes.
Scientists have developed a 7-minute exercise regime to provide as many health benefits as going for a long run and doing a session of weight training
“There’s very good evidence that high-intensity interval training provides many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time,” Chris Jordan, director of exercise physiology at the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, and co-author of the new article, told the New York Times.
Previous research has found that just a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike riding.
Interval training, though, requires intervals. The scientists who devised this new workout say that to get the maximum benefits the extremely intense activity must be intermingled with brief periods of recovery.
In the program outlined by Chris Jordan and his colleagues, this recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. This rest is extended by alternating the muscles used in each exercise.
During eat set of exercises, the unexercised muscles have a moment to “catch their breath”, which makes the order of the exercises important.
The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each.
But to get maximum benefits the intensity must hover at around 8 on what they term as the discomfort scale of 1 to 10.
Chris Jordan says that the 7 minutes should be unpleasant.
Ariel Castro claims in a suicide note written years ago that he was abused as a child and raped by an uncle, it was revealed today.
According to a law enforcement source, the letter contained details about Ariel Castro’s whole life and the three abductions – detailing what led him to kidnap the three women off the street and hold them captive for ten years.
The FBI found the note when they were searching his house and said they were fairly certain from its contents that it was a suicide letter.
Ariel Castro detailed that he wanted all his money to be left to his victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
Ariel Castro claims in a suicide note written years ago that he was abused as a child and raped by an uncle
His home on Seymour Avenue is now a crime scene, with investigators carrying out numerous pieces of evidence – including ropes and chains.
19 Action News reporter Scott Taylor says he received a copy of the letter, which he claims was written in 2004 and found by police inside Ariel Castro’s house.
Scott Taylor posted excerpts of the letter on his Twitter page late Wednesday night, including a confession that he was “a sexual predator” and “I need help”.
Ariel Castro has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. Two of his brothers were also arrested on Monday, but have not been charged in connection to the case.
Police announced the charges on Wednesday – two days after Ariel Castro and his two brothers Pedro and Onil were arrested.
Cleveland captive Michelle Knight was removed from the missing person’s database just 15 months after she was reported missing in 2002, it emerged today.
Police removed her name after repeated attempts to contact her mother to verify the-then 22-year-old was still missing failed.
Barbara Knight said that police did not do enough to try and find her daughter and did not give it the same attention as Amanda Berry’s case or Gina DeJesus because they thought she was a runaway.
The police department’s policy on investigating missing adults at the time states that an officer must go and see if a missing person has been found, then inform the FBI within two hours so the person can be removed from the National Crime Information Center database.
Kym Pasqualini, a national advocate for missing adults, told The Plain Dealer that the removal of Michelle Knight’s name and description from the database helped the case fall through the cracks.
However, even after she was removed from the database, police reports show that officers continued to inquire about her whereabouts several times afterwards and successfully verified she was still missing in May 2003 after finally reaching her mother.
On Wednesday, two days after their escape from the house on Seymour Avenue, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry were released from the hospital and reunited with their families.
Michelle Knight remains in the hospital.
Michelle Knight was removed from the missing person’s database just 15 months after she was reported missing in 2002
It also emerged yesterday that Michelle Knight was gang-raped and impregnated in junior high – a year before she suffered more than ten years of abuse under a kidnapper.
Her great-aunt, Deborah Knight, told the New York Daily News on Thursday that three male classmates grabbed Michelle at school and raped her.
Deborah Knight told the paper that if that wasn’t enough of a hardship, she later found out that she was pregnant as a result of that attack – and later had a son she named Joey.
The boy was placed in foster care shortly after he was born.
Michelle Knight’s twin brother Freddie told the paper that when he saw his long-lost sister, she asked him for a hug.
He added: “She was so freaking happy. I gave her a hug, but I couldn’t give her a bear hug because of all the things that happened to her.”
Relatives told the Daily News that Michelle is looking forward to being reunited with her son, now 13, after she leaves the hospital.
It was revealed earlier this week that Michelle Knight is reportedly suffering hearing loss and facial bone damage after years of vicious beatings to her head.
Michelle Knight’s mother Barbara, 50, said she never gave up hope and will now be able to introduce Michelle to the half sister she has never met, 10-year-old Katie, who was born after she disappeared.
On Wednesday, Barbara Knight told to the Today show about how she had never given up hope that her daughter was alive – but that she was led to believe the woman, then in her 20s, had fled.
“Certain people said she didn’t want nothing to do with me but still in my heart I thought no, because I knew my Michelle,” Barbara Knight said.
“They figured she just left because of the baby and everything.
“[Police] told me if she breaks the law or they spot her, they’ll let me know – but nothing happened.”
Barbara Knight, who said she filed a missing persons report after Michelle vanished and continued to search for her, said her sons have been reunited with Michelle but she has not yet seen her.
“I just wish that my daughter would reach out and let me know that she’s there… She’s probably angry at the world because she thought she would never be found but thank God that somebody did,” she said.
“I don’t want her to think that I forgot about her… Hopefully whatever happened between us, if something did – I hope it heals because I really want to take her back to Florida with me.”
But Barbara Knight said that she knew little about what had happened to Michelle since she last saw her as she has not spoken with detectives.
“There was a detective who called me but he just said it was my daughter,” she said, adding that she missed his call and that he had left work when she called back.
“I didn’t get a hold of anyone.”
Instead, she only knows the details from watching news reports.
While the stories of missing Cleveland girls Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry, who were also found on Monday, have remained high-profile cases over the last decade, little was known of Michelle Knight.
While family appeals for Gina and Amanda have been frequent and well-publicized over the past ten years, her case appears to have been long forgotten.
Michelle Knight was in her early 20’s when she was last seen on August 23, 2002, at her cousin’s house near West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue.
Barbara Knight said she would often put up fliers around Cleveland’s West Side and even after moving away she would return to continue the search on her own as police were little help.
The mother previously told The Plain Dealer that Michelle vanished shortly after she was scheduled for a court appearance in the custody case of her son.
She told the paper that Michelle had become involved with an abusive man whom she thinks injured her toddler grandson, eventually leading her daughter to lose the boy.
Barbara Knight told The Plain Dealer she believes she once saw her daughter walking with an older man at a shopping mall several years ago.
When the woman trailed behind her companion, he would grab her by the arm and pull her along, she said.
Gwyneth Paltrow, whose endeavors have been labeled pretentious and out of touch by some critics, has unveiled a new collection of bar accessories on her Goop blog.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s selection of “unique and individual pieces” is slightly out of the price range of the average drinker.
The actress is offering sterling silver shot glasses for $950 as well as a pair of glass and sterling silver decanters for an eye-watering $4,495.
On her Goop page, Gwyneth Paltrow, 40, writes: “For stocking a bar that is as useful as it is good looking, we’ve gone to Foundwell for unique accessories from jiggers to muddlers and more.”
Describing the $950 shot glass, the actress writes: “This sterling shot cup has the phrase <<Just a thimble full>> engraved on it – a gentle reminder to practice a little bit of restraint.
“A great gift or a fun conversation piece for your home bar.”
Gwyneth Paltrow is offering sterling silver shot glasses for $950 as well as a pair of glass and sterling silver decanters for an eye-watering $4495
Gwyneth Paltrow launched Goop back in September 2008, a personal website where she dishes out advice to her readers and encourages them to “nourish the inner aspect”.
Each week the newsletter focuses on a subject area, split into Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, and See.
In an interview with the March 2011 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, Gwyneth Paltrow admitted: “There were a couple of times when I thought I’m just gonna stop doing it.
“People are so mean to me. I don’t want to do it.
“But then I was like, <<Who cares what some lame person out there says?>> I was in Italy once, and this old man came up to me and said, <<I had the best time in Nashville because of Goop>>. And that is so worth it to me.”
Gwyneth Paltrow has previously written about a 21-day Goop cleanse as well as given readers tips on how to update their spring wardrobe, but her outfit recommendations add up to over $450,000.
The actress does, however, maintain that she is completely normal just like the rest of us mere mortals.
Gwyneth Paltrow recently said: “One of my most negative qualities is . . . perfectionism . . . it comes from self-doubt and insecurity.
“I’m just a normal mother with the same struggles as any other… trying to do everything at once, trying to be a wife and maintain a relationship.”
Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, who is accused of abducting, raping and beating Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus is the father of Amanda’s 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn, DNA tests have confirmed.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a news release this morning that state lab technicians worked through the night to confirm that the child born in captivity belonged to Ariel Castro.
Ariel Castro’s DNA was also tested to see if it was connected to any state crimes, specifically to similar missing teen cases in the area, but it resulted in no matches.
National results are still pending, The Plain Dealer reports.
Details emerged this week about the circumstances surrounding Jocelyn’s birth in the house of horrors Ariel Castro held the women in for a decade.
Amanda Berry, 27, is believed to have given birth to her daughter in an inflatable child’s swimming pool to ensure minimal mess. Michelle Knight was allegedly ordered by Ariel Castro to deliver the baby and was told she would be killed if the baby died.
Ariel Castro is the father of Amanda Berry’s 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn as DNA tests have confirmed
Baby Jocelyn was not breathing when she was born but Michelle Knight is said to have given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to get her breathing started, in turn saving both their lives.
Jocelyn is said to have been instrumental in the escape of the three women as she alerted her mother Amanda Berry that Ariel Castro, 52, had left the house, prompting her to call for help from inside the boarded house.
The girl is believed to have told her mother: “Daddy has gone to see grandma.”
Jocelyn was the only one who would be taken out of the house by Ariel Castro on weekends to see his mother, Lillian Rodriguez. She called the elderly woman grandmother.
The girl was also seen out recently at a playground with Ariel Castro.
When Ariel Castro was asked who the young girl was he told neighbors she was his girlfriend’s daughter.
Police chief Ed Tomba said Amanda Berry had been home schooling her daughter.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried in Al-Barzakh Muslim cemetery in Doswell, Virignia with the help of Martha Mullen who was upset by protests outside the funeral home where his body was being held.
Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond, the Boston Globe first reported.
Martha Mullen, 48, of Richmond, Virginia, coordinated the clandestine burial with the help of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond after a number of cemeteries refused to take Tamaerlan Tsarnaev’s body.
In an exclusive interview with the Boston Globe‘s Wesley Lowery, Martha Mullen said: “Jesus says [to] love our enemies.
“So I was sitting in Starbucks and thought, maybe I’m the one person who needs to do something.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried under a shroud of secrecy Wednesday evening at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in central Virginia, about 15 miles from Richmond
News of the burial comes several days after a Massachusetts police chief went on national television to plead for help in finding a burial place for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose body was being held at a Worcester funeral home that became the site of ongoing protests.
“There is a need to do the right thing,” Worcester Police Chief Gary Gemme said.
“We are not barbarians. We bury the dead.”
Martha Mullen, a professional counselor who has a degree from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, called the Boston Globe wanting to tell her story, according to the reporter who took the call. She told the newspaper that the protests upset her and “portrayed America at its worst”.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his 19-year-old brother Dzokhar Tsarnaev are accused of carrying out the April 15 twin bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a violent shootout with police on April 19 and his brother, who was injured in the gunfight, was captured in Watertown, Massachusetts after an 18-hour manhunt.
His body was claimed by his uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who asked that the remains be placed in a municipal cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived with his wife, Katherine Russell. But city officials would not allow that to happen.
Katherine Russell did not claim the body, which is why it was released to Ruslan Tsarni.
The bombers’ mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who maintains that her sons are innocent, wanted Tamerlan’s body sent back to Russia, where he was born, but there was no certainty that Russian officials would accept the remains.
As authorities continued searching for a plot to bury the remains, they were repeatedly turned away. No one wanted to take responsibility for the body. Meanwhile, protests continued outside the funeral home where the body was being held.
The public was not notified that Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body had been moved until after it was transported from the funeral home Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, police officials announced that: “A courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased.”
Duck Dynasty Season 3 just ended and, according to a Facebook post by March’s Outdoor Adventures on May 9, people are complaining about how the A&E hit show presents praying and using guns all the time.
A&E network was asked to remove the show from TV.
Duck Dynasty Season 4 is scheduled to air late in 2013
With 9.6 million viewers for the season 3 finale that is highly unlikely. Duck Dynasty even beat American Idol in ratings for that night.
A&E went to Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Robertson clan, and asked if they could stop the praying and the guns.
Phil Robertson said: “If we can’t pray to God on the show, we will not do the show. God and guns are a part of our everyday lives. To remove either of them from the show is unacceptable.”
Fans of Duck Dynasty and of the God-fearing head of the family wouldn’t have expected any other answer from Phil Robertson.
So A&E caved and accepted Phil Robertson’s terms. After all, Duck Dynasty is the most popular reality TV show on cable these days. A&E signed the Robertson’s for another season of Duck Dynasty as confirmed both by A&E and by Willie Robertson.
Duck Dynasty Season 4 is scheduled to air late in 2013.
Duck Dynasty’s fans finally found out about Si Robertson’s wife, Christine.
Christine Robertson does not appear in the show but Uncle Si posted a photo on Facebook of the couple together and he let everyone know that she had been his sweetheart for 43 years.
Uncle Si has two children with Christine, son Scott Robertson and daughter Trasa Robertson Cobern.
Trasa is married to Kyle Wayne Cobern, 46, and they have four sons together.
Si Robertson, his wife Christine and their daughter Trasa
Like his father, Scott Robertson, 35, is enrolled in the US Army and had at least three deployments to Iraq. He is married to Marsha Markert Robertson and they have three boys together, Ethan and twins Logan and Connor. They live in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Si Robertson with son Scott and his grandsons, twins Connor and Logan
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 pretty like any of the lovely ladies on the program.
After Kim Kardashian’s Givenchy floral curtain-inspired Met Ball gown was slated by fashion critics, now Vogue have taken the critique one step further by cropping the reality star out of their best dressed gallery.
Vogue.com collated a glamorous slideshow of the event’s 77 best dressed guests which, unsurprisingly, did not include Kim Kardashian.
Vogue hailed Kanye West for his exemplary sartorial prowess, but very deliberately cropped pregnant Kim Kardashian from the shot
It did, however, include her boyfriend Kanye West who, like Kim Kardashian, was decked head to toe in Givenchy.
Vogue hailed Kanye West for his exemplary sartorial prowess – but very deliberately cropped his pregnant girlfriend from the shot – and did not include her elsewhere.
Kim Kardashian’s Givenchy floral curtain-inspired Met Ball gown was slated by fashion critics
The only evidence that Kim Kardashian was there on the night is a flash of floral and a disembodied arm linking with Kanye West’s to the left of the frame.
Kanye West’s photo is cropped notably slimmer than the rest and, to add further salt to the wound, all other couples, such as Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods, remain intact in their slides.
Vogue may not have been impressed by Kim Kardashian floral faux pas – but the designer behind the top-to-toe look, Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, defended the look to WWD, saying: “I think she looked amazing.
“She was the most beautiful pregnant woman I dressed in my career.”
The Givenchy creative chief has long been friends with Kanye West and said he chose the look for the pregnant star because, “when you celebrate something, you give people flowers”.
And the look was all his idea.
“[She] said, <<Ricky, I love what you’re doing so much, I am in your hands>>.”
