Japanese pop star Minami Minegishi has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm’s rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.
A sobbing Minami Minegishi apologized to her fans and said she did not want to leave the band AKB48, in the video seen by millions on YouTube.
The production company behind AKB48 said Minami Minegishi, 20, had failed to abide by its cardinal rule – no dating.
But fans have defended her, saying she is entitled to a normal life.
Head shaving is a traditional form of showing contrition in Japan.
Minami Minegishi’s apology came hours after a tabloid newspaper published photographs of her leaving the apartment of her boyfriend, Alan Shirahama, a dancer in a boy band.
In the video posted on AKB48’s official website, Minami Minegishi said she had made the decision to shave off her long hair to show contrition for her “thoughtless and immature” actions.
“I don’t believe just doing this means I can be forgiven for what I did, but the first thing I thought was that I don’t want to quit AKB48,” she said.
At times sobbing and bowing her head during the nearly four-minute-long video, Minami Minegishi also said: “If it is possible, I wish from the bottom of my heart to stay in the band. Everything I did is entirely my fault. I am so sorry.”
Minami Minegishi has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm’s rules by spending a night with her boyfriend
Minami Minegishi was one of the original members of AKB48 when it was launched by producer Yasushi Akimoto in 2005. The band is made up of some 90 girls – whose ages range from mid teens to early 20s – who, in teams, appear daily in their own theatre and regularly on television, in adverts, and in magazines.
They portray an image of cuteness known as “kawaii”, and have become a huge phenomenon both in Japan and increasingly in other Asian countries, correspondents say.
The condition for being part of such a successful act is that the girls must not date boys, so as not to shatter their fans’ illusions.
AKB48’s management office said Minami Minegishi had been demoted to a trainee team as punishment “for causing a nuisance to the fans”.
But author and critic Hiroki Azuma said it was “disgusting” that the star felt she should resort to a traditional act of contrition when the only rules she had broken were those of her band’s.
Some fans and commentators say Minami Minegishi went too far with her public apology, and that it was unnecessary.
“What’s the point of this public execution show? It’s like something from the war or a totalitarian state,” one fan said on Twitter.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian phoned the King Edward VII’s Hospital pretending to be members of the Royal Family asking about Kate Middleton’s treatment for severe morning sickness.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead three days after taking the call.
The CPS said there was no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter.
Although it said that there was some evidence to warrant further investigation of offences under the Data Protection Act, the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003, it added that this would not take place as any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges
Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of special crime at the CPS, said a number of issues had been taken into account in reaching its conclusion.
“It is not possible to extradite individuals from Australia in respect of the potential offences in question. However misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank,” he said.
“The consequences in this case were very sad. We send our sincere condolences to Jacintha Saldanha’s family.”
Last December, the pair, posing as the Queen and Prince of Wales, tricked Jacintha Saldanha into transferring the call to a colleague who then described Catherine’s condition in detail.
Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged in nurses accommodation close to the hospital, after apparently taking her own life.
Kate Middleton had been admitted to hospital suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, acute morning sickness.
Google has agreed to create a 60 million euro ($82 million) fund to help French media organizations improve their internet operations.
It follows two months of negotiations after local news sites had demanded payment for the privilege of letting the search giant display their links.
The French government had threatened to tax the revenue Google made from posting ads alongside the results.
The US firm had retorted it might stop indexing French papers’ articles.
In addition to the creating the Digital Publishing Innovation Fund, Google has agreed to give French media access to its advertising platforms at a reduced cost.
The compromise allows it to avoid paying an ongoing licensing fee.
“France is proud to have reached this agreement with Google, the first of its kind in the world,” the French president’s office said on Twitter.
“It appears Google have opened the door to other countries’ newspapers doing the same thing,” said Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis.
“This sets a precedent which other publishers may pursue in their own negotiations.”
Google has agreed to create a 60 million euro fund to help French media organizations improve their internet operations
After the news was announced, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, wrote on his company’s blog: “These agreements show that through business and technology partnerships we can help stimulate digital innovation for the benefit of consumers, our partners and the wider web.”
The search giant has also made efforts to resolve a separate European dispute.
It has filed proposals with the European Commission stating how it intends to deal with complaints made by Microsoft and more than a dozen other companies that it had broken competition rules.
The European regulator will now consider Google’s proposals, which have not been disclosed.
If it rejects them and finds the firm has broken its rules, it has the power to fine the firm up to 10% of its global turnover which could amount to more than $4 billion.
President Vladimir Putin will lead Russia tributes to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The city of Stalingrad, which was renamed Volgograd in 1961, will regain its wartime name for the event, following a council decision.
Around one million people are thought to have died in the battle, as Soviet troops defeated the Germans.
It is considered one of the major turning points of World War II.
The vast death toll is not the only reason why the battle has huge significance in Russia.
It is seen as the moment when the tide was turned against the Nazis.
From Stalingrad some Soviet soldiers fought all the way to Berlin.
The defeat threw Hitler’s offensive in the Soviet Union into disarray.
The victory in World War II is one of the things that unites all Russians.
President Vladimir Putin will lead the solemn commemorations at the battle site, which will include a military parade and a wreath-laying ceremony at the eternal flame in the Hall of Heroes.
There will also be an 18-gun salute with World War II-era Soviet artillery.
President Vladimir Putin will lead Russia tributes to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad
“At the heart of all Russia’s victories and achievements are patriotism, faith and strength of spirit,” Vladimir Putin said in a televised speech on Friday.
“In World War II, these true values inspired our people and our army.”
Some German veterans have also been invited to the tribute, along with senior military commanders from Russia’s allies in the war – Britain and the US.
On Wednesday, the council of Volgograd passed a decision to restore the city’s wartime name of Stalingrad on six specific days a year.
The dates, all associated with military commemorations, are February 2, May 9, June 22, August 23, September 2 and November 19.
Under the decision, the title “Hero City Stalingrad” will be used during commemorations as “a symbol of Volgograd”, the council said.
“We may use this symbol officially in our speeches, reports and while conducting public events,” the council ruling states.
The decision was taken after “numerous requests” from World War II veterans, officials said.
The city has had three names during the past century. It was originally known as Tsaritsyn before being renamed in 1925 in honor of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who led Bolshevik forces there during the Russian Civil War.
The German attack on Stalingrad began on August 19, 1942.
Stalingrad was a strategically important city in their campaign to occupy the south of Russia and take control of the Caucasus oilfields.
It was also of symbolic importance because of its name.
After six months of ferocious fighting, Soviets troops eventually smashed the German siege.
It is one of the bloodiest battles in modern history.
Hillary Clinton held a farewell address to state department staff on her last day as America’s top diplomat.
Hillary Clinton, 65, leaves the post after four years, visits to 112 countries and nearly a million air miles.
She will be replaced by John Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, who was sworn in at a private ceremony on Friday.
The former first lady is now discussed as a possible candidate for the 2016 presidential election.
Hillary Clinton said leading the agency as the 67th US Secretary of State had been a “unique and singular, exciting and challenging” experience.
She acknowledged the attack on the US embassy in Turkey – a sobering reminder of the everyday global threats that will face her successor.
“I am very proud of the work we have done together,” she told her staff.
“Of course, we live in very complex and dangerous times, as we saw again just today at our embassy in Ankara, where we were attacked.”
But she said she was “more optimistic” now than when she took up her post in 2009.
“I am so grateful that we’ve had a chance to contribute in each of our ways to making our country and our world stronger, safer, fairer and better,” she told staff.
Hillary Clinton held a farewell address to state department staff on her last day as America’s top diplomat
Earlier in the day, Hillary Clinton officially tendered her resignation to President Barack Obama, her former bitter rival in the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In her letter, she said she was more convinced than ever of America’s strength as a global leader and its potential to be a force for good.
Hillary Clinton has been coy about a possible White House run in four years’ time. She has said she has no specific plans for the future, but that she “absolutely” still plans to make a difference on issues she cares about.
“I am going to be secretary of state until the very last minute when I walk out the door,” she told the Associated Press on Thursday.
“And then I am going to take the weekend off and then I may start thinking about all the various offers and requests and ideas that have come my way.”
Hillary Clinton’s time in office will also be remembered for the attack last September on a consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a US ambassador and three other Americans. She has apologized for that security failure.
Real-life Barbie and Ken dolls, Valeria Lukyanova and Justin Jedlica, met for the first time, but it wasn’t love at first sight.
Valeria Lukyanova, 23, who sports long peroxide blonde hair, a miniscule waist and large bust, flew from her home town in the Ukraine to New York to meet silicone-pumped Justin Jedlica, 32, for an upcoming episode of Inside Edition.
But Valeria Lukyanova didn’t hit it off with her chiseled male counterpart – especially following his remarks last year that she looked like a drag queen – and she bluntly said after their rendezvous: “He overdid his lips.”
According to The Sun, the pair “hated the sight of each other” and photographs show them posing awkwardly side-by-side.
Justin Jedlica shot to fame last year when it emerged that he had spent $100,000 on body sculpting procedures. This year he went under the knife for the 100th time.
“I’ve always been into plastic surgery because it’s an extension of me being creative,” Justin Jedlica said during an interview on The Doctors television show.
Among his surgeries are five rhinoplasties, a cranial brow bone shape and augmentations to his cheeks, lips, buttocks and chin.
Justin Jedlica turned to plastic surgery when he was 18-years-old, beginning the costly and dangerous habit with a nose job.
“It was really something that set me apart and validated me and I felt so euphoric,” he said of that first surgery.
Explaining why he aspires to look like a plastic doll, Justin Jedlica told the Inside Edition: “Children play with Barbie and Ken all the time so it’s fed to us from a very young age that that is the epitome of what is beautiful or what is handsome.”
Real-life Barbie and Ken dolls, Valeria Lukyanova and Justin Jedlica, met for the first time, but it wasn’t love at first sight
Valeria Lukyanova hit the press last fall after she posted a series of homemade videos on YouTube, which revealed her doll-like proportions.
To enhance her Barbie appearance, Valeria Lukyanova wears blue contact lenses over her naturally green eyes.
Valeria Lukyanova admits that she has had breast implants, but insists the rest of her body is completely natural and slender due to daily gym workouts. Make-up and skimpy outfits complete her look.
In a previous interview with V Magazine she said that in the in mornings she likes to work on her face and get a massage and then spends the rest of her time on the internet.
Meditation is also a one of her favorite pastimes and she claimed that her “real job” is “a teacher at the School of Out-Of-Body Travel” – an institution which reportedly teaches students how to leave their physical body and travel in the spiritual realm.
Back on the subject of being a living doll, Valeria Lukyanova told Inside Edition: “Barbie is ideal woman” adding that she had been fascinated with the Mattel character since she was five.
Justin Jedlica and Valeria Lukyanova had never before their recent television appearance. But they knew of each other.
Last November Justin Jedlica said that he did find Valeria Lukyanova beautiful but he told The Huffington Post: “It appears to me that much of her look is added makeup, fake hair and <<slimming>> corsets.
“Drag queens have put on the same illusions with makeup and costumes for years.”
Valeria Lukyanova hit back, telling The Sun: “Justin said bad things about me but he had more than 90 operations, while I had only one.
“I am not hiding that I’ve had plastic surgery. I had breast implants because I want to be perfect.
“He would do better not to comment on who is plastic and who is not. I think he is handsome man – but he overdid his lips.”
Lady Gaga lashed out at her former assistant Jennifer O’Neill, who is suing her for nearly $400,000 for unpaid overtime.
Lady Gaga, 26, branded Jennifer O’Neill a “f****** hood rat who is suing me for money she didn’t earn” during six hours of questioning at a Midtown Manhattan law office.
As she painted a picture of boozy, caviar-filled bashes – which left her “s**t hammered, crawling and screaming on the streets of Paris” at 5 a.m. – Lady Gaga insisted her former assistant had slept in “Eygptian cotton” sheets and travelled the world on a private jet, ranting: “She’s just – she thinks she’s just like the queen of the universe.
“And, you know what, she didn’t want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I’m the queen of the universe every day.”
According to court documents, Lady Gaga – real name Stefani Germanotta – complained that she got stressed when Jennifer O’Neill would only open a “couple of bags” while they were travelling and that she was left to move “these huge, big luggages… and s**t all by myself in the room”.
Lady Gaga noted “there is 20 bags and only me, and I can’t sift through everything”.
“She would only open a couple of bags and it was very stressful for me because then again on my off days I couldn’t really have a day off because, you know, I weigh 115 pounds and I was trying to move these huge, big luggages all by myself in the room and I did it all the time – by the way, she was asleep until 12:00 most of the time, so I was very often waking up and moving my own luggage and doing s**t by myself and it was – it was a problem that I had.”
And while previous assistants “would like to set up my room and I would know where my clothes were, I would know where my toothbrush was, I would know where my soap was and everything was”, Lady Gaga said that when Jennifer O’Neill “got lazy, she didn’t always do these things for me”.
Lady Gaga – who now has two personal assistants – added: “I can’t walk down the street and go buy myself toiletries, I have to call security, I’ve got to call Jen or now I got to call Wendi, I’ve got to get a whole bunch of people together to help me fix the problem, which wouldn’t happen if she was doing her job properly on regular days.”
Lady Gaga also gave an insight into her five-star lifestyle, which included flights on private jets, modeling in Paris and partying until 5a.m. in Paris with celebrity photographer Terry Richardson – ending up “s**t hammered…crawling on the streets of Paris, I was screaming”.
Jennifer O’Neill, 42, from Long Island, was employed by Lady Gaga for 13 months on a $75,0000 salary, accompanying the singer on her Monster Ball world tour in 2010.
She claims she was serving at Lady Gaga’s “beck and call” as the singer’s career took off between 2009 and March 2011.
However, Lady Gaga portrayed Jennifer O’Neill as an ingrate who took for granted the excesses, the parties, the “five star hotels” and other luxuries, including “caviar, champagne and yachts”, that she was allowed to enjoy as part of Gaga’s entourage – saying “she thinks it’s owed to her for no reason”.
Lady Gaga also described Jennifer O’Neill as a “disgusting human being” who should have been grateful for living a luxury lifestyle that included “sleeping in Egyptian cotton sheets every night, in five-star hotels, on private planes, eating caviar… and using my YSL discount without my permission”.
As she unleashed a tirade of abuse while giving her videoed testimony on August 6, Lady Gaga accused Jennifer O’Neill of staring at her “like a witch” and also fired expletives at the claimant’s lawyer.
Lady Gaga lashed out at her former assistant Jennifer O’Neill, who is suing her for nearly $400,000 for unpaid overtime
Lady Gaga insisted that none of her employees are paid overtime, adding: “She [Jennifer O’Neill] knew there was no overtime, and I never paid her overtime the first time I hired her, so why would she be paid overtime the second time? This whole case is b******t and you know it.”
Staring at Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga raged: “Are you going to stare at me like a witch this whole time – honestly? Because this is going to be a long f***ing day that you brought me here.”
Her foul-mouthed evidence, revealed in court papers seen by the New York Post, came in defence of a 2011 lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by Jennifer O’Neill, who claims she is owed more than $393,000, plus damages, for 7,168 hours of overtime.
In her evidence, Lady Gaga claims Jennifer O’Neill, who was paid around $75,000 a year, was given the job as a “favor” because she was majorly underqualified and failed at even the most basic tasks, such as unpacking her bags for her.
Lady Gaga said that her decision not to pay overtime wasn’t based on labor laws, but is “actually based on a bubbly, good heart”, as she insisted: “I’m quite wonderful to everyone that works for me and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you have become to sue me like this.”
The star claimed that she had treated how the night before her testimony, she treated her employees to a “beautiful $3000 meal” at Spiaggia in Chicago, the only four-star Italian eatery in the Windy City.
Lady Gaga also insisted that all her employees work only an eight-hour day, although she admitted: “This job is a 9-to-5 job that is spaced out throughout the day.
“You don’t get a schedule that is like you punch in and you can play f***ing Tetris at your desk for four hours and then you punch out at the end of the day. This is – when I need you, you’re available.”
Although she said she was in no way discounting how hard an 8-hour work day can be or discounting the role of an assistant, Lady Gaga added: “I do six shows a week and I make a lot of money. I work, I work 24-hours a day. I’m not standing next to Steve holding tea, waiting for him to take a sip, that is now what I do.
“Not that people who do that don’t deserve their hourly pay, but I’m just pointing out that I deserve everything I’ve worked for. I deserve every dollar of it. And she deserves every dollar of her $75,000 that we agreed to. But she does not deserve a penny more.”
Rather than paying off Jennifer O’Neill, Lady Gaga revealed: “I’m going to give all the money that she wants to my employees that work hard for me now that deserve it. I’m not going to give it to her so she can go to Intermix and buy herself a new tube top.”
Lady Gaga told how her relationship with Jennifer O’Neill ended following a trip to Paris, where she walked the runway at Thierry Mugler’s fall 2011 fashion show.
She claimed Jennifer O’Neill “wore my coat when were at the show, she wore my clothes”.
The pair “partied until 5 in the morning, we got s***t hammered, I was crawling on the streets in Paris, I was screaming”.
“Jennifer was there. She hung out all night with me and Terry Richardson and tons of socialites from Paris and she had the time of her life.”
The next morning, Lady Gaga said, she “barely could talk; but had to fly back to America that night”, adding: “I mean, what a rock-star moment, right?”
However, on the flight back, Lady Gaga claimed her assistant insisted on sleeping in the second bed on the private plane and “completely, like, flipped out at me, beyond belief”, when “I told her no”.
She said most of her assistants in the past had always offered the spare bed to guests on the plane – and she claimed that Jennifer O’Neill even refused to share any pillows with two other women on board, saying she was sickened by it.
Lady Gaga claimed: “I said: <<Jennifer, this is really inappropriate in front of Terry Richardson>> and she was like <<Don’t I get some sort of seniority because I’ve been here longer and I’m your friend?>>.
“And I remember those words as clear as day, because when your best friend looks you in the eye and says <<Why can’t I have that seat on your private plane, I’m your friend>>, the first thing I thought was <<You’re not my f***ing friend. You are not my f****ing friend>>.”
Last year, it emerged that Jennifer O’Neill believes Lady Gaga has no right to privacy because she is always exposing her body for the world.
In court papers, she argues the singer’s demands for privacy are “ludicrous” as she always dresses in a bizarre and intimate way.
Her views were revealed as lawyers went back to court last September to seek access to a series of photos taken by famed photographer Terry Richardson for his book Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson.
Lady Gaga refused to hand over the photos saying they are “private and personal”. A judge allowed the pictures to be used – but Lady Gaga’s legal camp asked for the decision to be reconsidered, which is still ongoing.
Lawyers for Jennifer O’Neill say they will show O’Neill was on call all the time.
Sources also claim that Lady Gaga’s camp have already failed to hand over emails which could help Jennifer O’Neill’s case, in discovery before the suit, and are now facing sanctions over this. This could see them face a financial fine and also be banned from presenting parts of their case.
Anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to try to drive back the crowds throwing rocks and petrol bombs.
Thousands also rallied in Port Said – one year after football riots in the city, which killed 74 people.
The protesters accuse Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of betraying the 2011 uprising – a claim he denies.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Mohamed Morsi warned that security forces would “act with utmost decisiveness” to protect state institutions and those groups behind the violence would be held “politically accountable”.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say the demonstrators are trying to used the power of the street to bring down the country’s first democratically elected president.
On Friday, thousands of people chanted “Leave, leave, Morsi!” as they gathered outside the presidential palace – in the north of the capital.
Some of the demonstrators then began throwing Molotov cocktails over the palace walls and lighting fires in the streets.
Anti-Mohamed Morsi protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed
Skirmishes were reported close to the capital’s Tahrir Square, where thousands more marched, urging Mohamed Morsi to leave.
A demonstration was also held in Port Said, at the northern end of the Suez Canal.
The city has seen the worst of the violence over the past week, in clashes sparked by death sentences imposed on 21 local people in connection with the football riots.
On Thursday, leaders of some of the main political factions condemned the violence. But youth groups later still called for more street protests.
In a separate development, human rights officials have expressed alarm over a rise in sexual violence against women in Cairo.
According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 25 women have been sexually assaulted, mainly in Tahrir Square, since the protests erupted.
Michelle Bachelet, of the UN’s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, said she was “deeply disturbed by the gravity of [the] recent attacks”.
Sexual assaults against women around Tahrir Square was widely reported during the uprising there which eventually unseated Hosni Mubarak.
The current unrest began on January 24 in Cairo on the eve of the second anniversary of the revolution and has spread to several cities.
Protesters accuse President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, of imposing a new form of authoritarianism and betraying the values of their uprising two years ago.
On Tuesday, Egyptian army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi warned that the political crisis could lead to the collapse of the state.
Katie Couric has admitted to dating talk show legend Larry King during Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
Katie Couric and Larry King went for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Washington, D.C. about 25 years ago and afterwards King drove them back to his apartment where he tried to put the moves on her.
“So we sat there and what can I say, he lunged,” Katie Couric said, as Jimmy Kimmel cracked up and interjected: “Incredible.”
Katie Couric, now 56, said their one and only date took place when she was about 30-years-old and during a time when she decided to be more adventurous in her love life.
“I was going through this period of my life that I was going, <<I’m going to go out with anyone who asks me because you learn something every time>>.”
After Larry King, who has famously been married eight times, met her at a restaurant and later called her to ask her out.
“And I thought well that would be really interesting,” Katie Couric said of her reason for saying yes.
She said Larry King, now 79-years-old, came to her apartment to pick her up driving a Lincoln Town Car and then they went to dinner.
“They put us right next to each other like they do with all the men and their <<nieces>>.”
“He had ordered the veal poached in chicken stock because he had just had quadruple bypass, which was hot,” Katie Couric joked.
The rest of the meal went “nice enough” Katie Couric said, but she was soon thrown for a shock when she realized he wasn’t taking her back to her apartment.
“I go, <<Larry, where are we going>> and he goes, <<My place>>.
“I was like, <<Oh mother of god>>. I was like <<Dear, Cosmo what do i do?>> I was only 30, I could not figure out how to extricate myself from it.”
“So we go to his apartment in Roslyn [Virginia] and we walk in and its covered in proclamations for <<Larry King Day>> and keys to every city in the country. That was sexy!”
Katie Couric has admitted to dating talk show legend Larry King during Jimmy Kimmel Live
Soon after they got there, Larry King made his advance towards her, which she quickly rebuffed, she said.
“I started laughing a little because the whole situation was like out of a bad Lifetime movie.
“So I said <<Larry, you’re such an interesting, nice man but I would like to meet someone a little closer to my age>>.
“He said, <<That’s okay cause when I like, I really like>>.”
Larry King, who has been married to Shawn Southwick since 1997, has a totally different recollection of getting shot down.
“We went out to dinner, a nice Italian restaurant, we drove home, thought we were kind of romantic, we get to her door, in the apartment house and she said, <<Oh, I have a roommate>>,” he said in 2009.
“Then I kissed her goodnight and that was that. And we became friends ever since,” Larry King said.
Katie Couric also revealed last night how Michael Jackson once bizarrely asked her on a date after he rejected her request for an interview.
“Can you imagine going home to my daughters who were then about 8 and 4, saying, <<Honey, Girls. I’m going out on a date with Michael Jackson>>,” she said.
“I just thought it would be too weird. The tabloids would go crazy and I didn’t need that.”
Columbia crew were not told that the shuttle had been damaged and they might not survive re-entry, NASA has revealed.
The seven astronauts who died will be remembered at a public memorial service on the 10th anniversary of the disaster this Friday at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The shuttle was headed home from a 16-day science mission when it broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003, because of damage to its left wing.
Ten years ago, experts at NASA’s mission control faced the terrible decision over whether to let the astronauts know that they may die on re-entry or face orbiting in space until the oxygen ran out.
Those on the ground decided that it would be better if the crew were spared knowledge of the risks.
There was no way to repair any suspected damage – the crew were far from the International Space Station and had no robotic arm for repairs. It would have taken too long to send up another shuttle to rescue them.
Wayne Hale, who went on to become space shuttle program manager, has written on his blog about the fateful day.
Wayne Hale writes: “After one of the MMTs (Mission Management Team) when possible damage to the orbiter was discussed, he (Flight Director Jon Harpold) gave me his opinion: <<You know, there is nothing we can do about damage to the TPS (Thermal Protection System). If it has been damaged it’s probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don’t you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out?>>.”
Columbia crew were not told that the shuttle had been damaged and they might not survive re-entry
When Mission Control had it confirmed that the shuttle had broken up over Texas, Flight Director Leroy Cain ordered the room on lock-down and all computer data saved for later investigation.
All seven on board – David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, William McCool and Ilan Ramon – were known to be dead within minutes.
Following the crash, low-level engineers at Johnson Space Center revealed that they had tried to alert NASA senior staff about problems with the shuttle.
The investigation into the Columbia disaster revealed that a piece of foam the size of a briefcase was the physical cause of the accident. It had smashed into the shuttle’s wing during take-off and left a hole in the protective tiles, leaving the shuttle vulnerable on re-entry.
Wayne Hale is the only person at NASA who publicly accepted blame, according to ABC.
NASA flights resumed two years later and the shuttles were retired in 2011.
As the memorial takes place on Friday, 12 children will remember the parents they lost. A decade later, the youngest is now 15 and the oldest is 32.
The oldest son of Columbia’s pilot is now a Marine captain with three young children of his own.
The son of astronaut Dr. Laurel Clark, Iain Clark is a young man on the cusp of college with a master’s rating in scuba diving and three parachute jumps in his new log book.
His mother loved scuba and skydiving. So did her flight surgeon husband and Iain’s dad, Dr. Jonathan Clark, who since the accident, has been a crusader for keeping space crews safe.
Neurologist Dr. Jonathan Clark told the Associated Press: “It’s tough losing a mom, that’s for sure. I think Iain was the most affected.
“My goal was to keep him alive. That was the plan. It was kind of dicey for a while. There was a lot of darkness – for him and me.”
Jonathan Clark’s wife and the six other astronauts were killed in the final minutes of their 16-day scientific research mission aboard Columbia.
Jonathan Clark, now 59, said he turned to alcohol in the aftermath of Columbia. If it wasn’t for his son, he doubts he would have gotten through it.
“He’s the greatest kid ever,” Jonathan Clark said in a phone interview from Houston.
“He cares about people. He’s kind of starting to get his confidence, but he’s not at all cocky.”
US economy has added 157,000 jobs in January 2013, which was slightly below forecasts, but the number of new jobs at the end of 2012 was revised up significantly, official data has shown.
In November and December, the Labor Department’s revised figures showed that 127,000 more jobs were created than initially thought.
But the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% in January, from 7.8% in December.
In 2012, an average of 181,000 jobs a month were created, the data showed.
The news helped lift shares on Wall Street to levels not seen since before the financial crisis. In early trading the Dow Jones index rose above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007.
The unemployment rate is based on a survey of households, while the job creation figure is taken from a survey of employers.
On Wednesday, government data indicated that the US economy unexpectedly shrank at an annualized rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, an industry survey on Friday said that the US manufacturing sector grew in January at the fastest pace for nine months.
The latest purchasing managers’ index from financial data firm Markit rose to 55.8 last month, up from 54 in December. A reading above 50 indicates growth.
US economy has added 157,000 jobs in January 2013, which was slightly below forecasts
Markit said that its latest survey “suggests the underlying health of the industrial sector continues to improve, and rising production will help the economy return to growth in the first quarter, provided there are no set-backs in coming months”.
The Labor Department said that in January, jobs were created in retail, construction, healthcare and wholesale trade, but jobs were lost in transportation and warehousing.
Employment in retail rose by 33,000, compared with an average monthly gain of 20,000 in 2012.
Employment in construction rose by 28,000. The Labor Department said that the industry had created 296,000 jobs since falling to a low in January 2011, but added that the current level of employment was still some two million below its previous peak in April 2006.
Healthcare added 23,000 jobs in January, while wholesale trade added 15,000.
There was little change in manufacturing employment, which has been essentially flat since July 2012.
On the downside, couriers and messengers lost 19,000 jobs, after strong seasonal hiring in November and December came to an end.
Darrell Cronk, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank in New York, said: “Like most of our jobs reports, it seems like every month, there is something for everybody in this one – there are positives and negatives.
“It was certainly below expectations and a slight negative that we saw a tick up in the unemployment rate from 7.8% to 7.9%, especially with the labour force participation rate staying where it is, which suggests there aren’t a vast influx of those unemployed/underemployed coming back being job seekers. That was disappointing.”
Volgograd, the Russian city once known as Stalingrad, is to regain its old name during commemorations of the famous World War II battle on Saturday.
The city has been officially known as Volgograd since 1961, when it was renamed to remove its association with Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
Its old name is inseparable from the ferocious battle won by Soviet forces 70 years ago this week.
Volgograd council has restored the name for six days a year.
The dates, all associated with military commemorations, are February 2, May 9, June 22, August 23, September 2 and November 19.
According to the council, which is dominated by Russia’s ruling United Russia party, the decision was taken after “numerous requests” from World War II veterans.
Critics have suggested the decision is a populist move aimed at boosting United Russia’s popularity ahead of council (or city Duma, as it is officially known) elections in September.
Some have also objected to the use of Stalin’s name again, worried about what they see as creeping attempts under President Vladimir Putin’s rule to portray Stalin as a great war leader.
Under the decision, passed by the council on Wednesday, the title “Hero City Stalingrad” will be used during commemorations as “a symbol of Volgograd”.
“We may use this symbol officially in our speeches, reports and while conducting public events,” the council ruling states.
Volgograd, the Russian city once known as Stalingrad, is to regain its old name during commemorations of the famous World War II battle on Saturday
Commenting on the decision, Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said the revived name would not appear in documents, but only on banners and posters.
A council deputy from opposition party A Just Russia, Oleg Mikheyev, said the move had a clear political aim.
“The Volgograd-Stalingrad issue comes up before every election, then drops back down when the election is over,” he told the Russian news website Gazeta.Ru.
He added: “I think Stalingrad is already bigger than Stalin, it’s the name of the city of the great victory, but this issue should be settled finally in a referendum.”
Communists in the region say they have collected 35,000 signatures for a petition calling for Volgograd to be renamed permanently and plan to take their demand to court.
The use of the name Stalingrad (“Stalin City”) has dismayed some Russians because of its connection to the Soviet dictator whose rule saw the persecution of millions of people.
Nikolai Levichev, a Just Russia federal MP, said it was “blasphemous to rename the great Russian city after a bloody tyrant who had killed millions of his fellow citizens and caused irreparable damage to the nation’s gene pool”.
“The attitude towards Stalin was expressed in 1961, when Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd,” he was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
Gamlet Dallatyan, a 92-year-old veteran of the actual battle, said he in no way condoned Stalin’s repressions.
“But you have to recognize the positive things he did,
whether you want to or not,” he told Reuters news agency.
“It would be good to go back to the name of Stalingrad, though not so much because of Stalin himself but because that is how the city was known during the war.”
The city has had three names during the past century. It was originally known as Tsaritsyn before being renamed in 1925 in honor of Stalin, who led Bolshevik forces there during the Russian Civil War.
Dates when the old name Stalingrad can be used officially:
February 2 – the defeat of the Nazi German forces at Stalingrad
May 9 – Victory (in Europe) Day
June 22 – anniversary of Nazi invasion of USSR
August 23 – commemoration of civilians killed by mass German air raid on Stalingrad
September 2 – end of World War II (Japanese surrender)
November 19 – launch of Operation Uranus to trap Germans and their allies at Stalingrad
President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat.
France’s President Francois Hollande will fly into Bamako to meet interim President Dioncounda Traore, his office says.
He is set to visit Timbuktu, recently seized from Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, on Saturday.
The French military intervention has recaptured large parts of northern Mali from Islamist groups.
French troops are currently securing Kidal, the last major town which was occupied by militants who had controlled much of the northern part of the former French colony since a coup last year.
Francois Hollande will be joined on his trip by Foreign Minister Lauren Fabius, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Development Minister Pascal Canin.
Earlier, Jean-Yves Le Drian said the jihadists had now scattered, marking a “turning-point” in France’s intervention.
President Francois Hollande is to visit Mali, where three weeks of targeted French air strikes have forced Islamist militants to retreat
French polls suggest the public only have patience for a limited operation: Eradicating the Islamist threat entirely is a bridge too far.
Francois Hollande’s objective is to prepare to hand over the towns the French-led troops have captured to an African force that has begun to deploy to Mali, and create enough stability to facilitate new elections by July.
So far about 2,000 African soldiers, mainly from Chad and Niger, are on the ground in Mali.
On Thursday, French military spokesman Colonel Thierry Burkhard said a column of 1,400 troops from Chad was heading towards Kidal from the Niger border.
It will be the job of the African Union-backed force, the International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma), to root out the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents that have fled into the desert and mountains further north.
The Tuareg rebels launched the insurgency in October 2011 before falling out with the Islamist militants.
The Islamist fighters extended their control of the vast north of Mali in April 2012, in the wake of a military coup.
France launched a military operation this month after the Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.
Thursday night’s American Idol show saw a statuesque blonde woman who turned out to be a man in drag coming for audition.
And not just any man – Pepper was unveiled as former American Idol judge Steven Tyler.
The Aerosmith singer turned up at the end of Thursday night’s episode pretending to be a hopeful.
Viewers thought the hour-long show had ended.
But host Ryan Seacrest said: “Wait, we still have one more audition for you.”
Pepper was seen walking into the judges’ room.
And Keith Urban seemed to be the first to click that all was not what it seemed as he laughed and clapped.
“What the, what?” said Randy Jackson as he looked up.
Steven Tyler dressed as a woman for a secret American Idol audition
Steven Tyler, 64, in a blonde wig, black tights and heels and showing off a large bust – said in a husky voice: “My name is Pepper. I’m going to sing a song called <<Tell Your Ma, Tell Your Pa, Our Love Going to Grow, Wah Wah>>.
“But before I do I’m going to judge you all [bleeps] first.
“I like you men. The roosters may crow but the hens deliver the goods, do you know what I’m saying?”
He then cracked up as Randy Jackson shouted: “Steven Tyler is in the house!”
“Do I go through to Hollywood or what?” Steven Tyler asked.
Ed Koch, the former New York City mayor, has died at the age of 88, US media report.
Democrat Ed Koch, who oversaw the city during some of its darkest years, had been in and out of hospital in recent months.
Ed Koch became mayor in 1978 when New York was graffiti-marred and crime-ridden, and was credited with saving the city from bankruptcy in the 1980s.
He served three terms and afterwards remained active and popular, practising law, writing, and hosting a chat show.
Ed Koch had been battling various health problems, including heart disease.
He was taken to hospital at the start of the week suffering from shortness of breath, and was moved to intensive care on Thursday for the closer monitoring of fluid in his lungs and legs, according to the Associated Press.
Ed Koch died at 02:00 a.m. at the New York-Presbyterian hospital, his spokesman George Arzt said.
His funeral will be held at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan on Monday.
Ed Koch, the former New York City mayor, has died at the age of 88
Ed Koch was mayor of New York City for three terms, from 1978 to 1989, and is remembered for frequently asking residents: “How’m I doing?”
His tough fiscal policies are credited with helping the city climb out of near-financial ruin and improving the subway service, but his critics say they also led to an increase in homelessness and racial tensions.
He was known for being outspoken and combative.
“I’m not the type to get ulcers,” he once quipped.
“I give them.”
Ed Koch was a US congressman from 1968 until he ran for city hall.
Even when he left office in 1990, there was no thought of retiring.
Ed Koch worked as a lawyer, made regular appearances on television and wrote a number of books.
At least one person has been killed in a blast outside the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with reports that it was a suicide bomber.
Dozens of ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene after the explosion, in an area which is home to diplomatic missions.
According to Turkish broadcaster NTV, the explosion caused no damage inside the embassy itself.
There were no reports of any group saying it had carried out the attack.
The AP news agency quoted police as saying two people had been killed in a suicide attack and NTV said two security guards at the entrance had died.
A number of illegal groups ranging from Kurdish separatists to leftist and Islamist militants have launched attacks in recent years in Turkey, which is a member of NATO.
At least one person has been killed in a blast outside the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with reports that it was a suicide bomber
Beyonce has admitted miming during her performance of the American national anthem at the inauguration of President Barack Obama last month.
Beyonce told reporters that she was a “perfectionist” and – due to lack of rehearsal time – “did not feel comfortable taking a risk”.
“I wanted to make him [Barack Obama] and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track.”
“I’m very proud of my performance,” she said.
Beyonce opened the press conference in New Orleans by asking reporters to stand before performing a live rendition of the national anthem.
Millions of people tuned in to watch President Barack Obama sworn in for his second term in office on January 21, which included performances by James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce.
Her performance of the Star Spangled Banner at the inauguration was considered one of the highlights of the ceremony, but later reports suggested the singer had recorded her vocal.
“I am a perfectionist and one thing about me is that I practise until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra,” Beyonce said on Thursday.
Beyonce has admitted miming during her performance of the American national anthem at the inauguration of President Barack Obama last month
She said her decision to mime the track was triggered by the weather, delays and “no proper soundcheck”, adding that pre-recording is “very common in the music industry”.
“It was a live television show and a very, very important emotional show for me and one of my proudest moments,” she said.
However, Beyonce insisted she would be singing live for her half-time Super Bowl performance on Sunday – one of the most-watched TV events in the United States.
“I will absolutely be singing live. This is what I was born to do, it is what I was born for.”
The National Football League also announced that singer Jennifer Hudson would be performing America the Beautiful with the chorus from Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 children and six adults were killed in a mass shooting in December.
Last year’s Super Bowl half-time show, performed by Madonna, was watched by an average of 114 million viewers, while Janet Jackson’s notorious “wardrobe malfunction” – in 2004 – generated a record number of complaints for broadcaster CBS.
Tiny African nation of The Gambia has shortened the work week, making Friday a day of rest.
Is this the perfect pattern for a working week?
In The Gambia, public sector workers will now clock in at 8:00 a.m. and clock out at 6:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday. They’ll still do a 40-hour week but have the luxury of Friday off.
President Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh wants the extra rest day to “allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture”.
In the dark days of the 19th Century, many workers in industrialized nations considered themselves lucky if they got Sunday off. The achievement of a 40-hour week with Saturday and Sunday off for many was a major landmark for the labor movement.
But some have tried to go further.
In 2008, about 17,000 government officials in the US state of Utah started working four 10-hour days in a bid to cut costs. The experiment didn’t last: the five-day week was reinstated in 2011.
Other US states have also toyed with the idea. Oregon and Texas legislators considered – but did not pass – four-day work week bills, while Georgia and Virginia have trialed it at a handful of agencies.
The four-day week is also popular in the Netherlands, where one in three men either works part-time or 40 hours in four days. In the UK, certain professions – journalists among them – have often worked a four-day week of longer shifts.
But despite the companies that offer compressed hours, flexible working arrangements or shift work, the nine-to-five, five-day week is still seen as the typical way to earn a living in much of the West.
But what is the ideal working week, and could the four-day week become more widespread?
Steven Shattuck, 28, is a community manager at Slingshot, a search engine optimization consultancy in Indianapolis, in the US, where everyone works 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday. He thinks the four-day week is the way forward.
The four-day week is also popular in the Netherlands, where one in three men either works part-time or 40 hours in four days
“Everything happens so fast in our industry, we think it’s important to have Fridays to recharge. We call them research days. They give people a chance to stay up on things, maybe do some independent research or spend time with their families,” he says.
As a result, Steven Shattuck believes time in the office is more productive.
“On Monday mornings people aren’t so groggy – they hit the ground running. We have really tight deadlines, it’s very collaborative, we try to squeeze as much into our days as possible,” he says.
Clients don’t see it as a problem, so long as the company – which has 85 employees – delivers, and people are prepared to work in emergencies.
“The four-day week is a real selling point when it comes to recruitment. But we’re a young company, the median age is 27 or 28, so I guess it would depend on the company culture,” he adds.
There wasn’t such a collective approval in Utah, says Winston Inoway, public information officer at the state’s Department of Human Resource Management.
“Many employees loved it, but others had issues with childcare, and citizens raised questions over the availability of services on Friday. The projected savings were also higher than the actual savings,” he says.
Heating and electrical savings in year one, for example, were projected to be $3 million, but the actual saving was $502,000.
An audit also found it hard to find any evidence of increased productivity.
However, proponents of the shorter week cite the three-day week during the recession in 1974, saying production fell by much less than expected. And they say the benefits are not just down to economics.
There are also environmental and social reasons why work hours should not only be compressed, but substantially reduced, says Anna Coote, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation.
“If we worked less, there would be more jobs, and that would get people off benefits and reduce unemployment. It would also help people slow down – we are under pressure to live life at such a fast pace.
“We need to live more sustainably, stop buying ready meals because we haven’t got time to cook, reduce the carbon footprint by commuting less, and value unpaid things – like being active citizens, caring for people, being better parents,” she says.
Anna Coote advocates a 21- to 30-hour working week, which she says would also involve reassessing the minimum wage.
The idea might seem radical, but in 1930, economist John Maynard Keynes envisaged we’d be working a 15-hour week by the beginning of the 21st Century, believing that would be enough to suit our material needs.
Instead, “we still have a factory-based model and mindset for the way we work – the more hours we put in the better, which creates a hamster wheel frenzy,” says Ian Price, author of Activity Illusion.
“Add technology, and the way it has revolutionized the scale at which we communicate, and there can be a 24/7 working culture.”
It is a sentiment shared by Prof. Cary Cooper, an expert in organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School.
“It’s crazy old-fashioned that people come in at 8am and leave at 7pm on busy commutes, given new technology means they can work from home. Going into the office seems to be part of our DNA, but longer hours are bad for health, and can cause stress,” he says.
However, Cary Cooper doesn’t think compressed or shortened hours is the answer.
“It’s about flexibility – flexible time, flexible place. People want it to happen, it’s just a case of convincing managers it’s good for them.”
Blaer Bjarkardottir, a 15-year-old Icelandic girl, has won the right to keep her first name, despite it being “unapproved” by the state.
Why do some countries restrict baby names?
Parents-to-be often find it hard enough to find a name they both like, let alone one the state might also be in favor of.
Bjork Eidsdottir had no idea when, in naming her newborn girl Blaer 15 years ago, she was breaking the law.
In the eyes of the authorities Blaer, which means “light breeze”, was a male name and therefore not approved. It meant that for her entire childhood, Blaer was known simply as Stulka (Girl) on official documents.
But Reykjavik District Court ruled on Thursday that it could indeed be a feminine name.
“Finally I’ll have the name Blaer in my passport,” she said after the ruling.
Several countries – such as Germany, Sweden, China and Japan – also restrict names. Why?
In the case of Iceland, it’s about meeting certain rules of grammar and gender, and saving the child from possible embarrassment. It must also be possible to write the name in Icelandic.
There is a list of 1,853 female names, and 1,712 male ones, and parents must pick from these lists or seek permission from a special committee.
Bjork Eidsdottir had no idea when, in naming her newborn girl Blaer 15 years ago, she was breaking the law
Similar concerns about child welfare are present in Germany, where a Turkish couple was not allowed to call their baby Osama Bin Laden.
One couple named their baby Berlin after the city in which they met, prompting the registrar to mount an objection. He eventually relented after the family’s lawyer pointed out that the courts had allowed the name London.
Gender confusion prevented a German boy being Matti, because the sex of the baby wouldn’t be obvious. And you won’t find any Germans named Merkel, Schroeder or Kohl, either, because surnames are banned as first names.
The name 4Real fell foul of authorities in New Zealand, because names cannot start with a number.
A judge there also made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated – Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
When Japanese parents register their newborns, the local authorities can say no if they don’t think the name is appropriate. In 1993, the name Akuma, meaning “devil”, was not permitted.
And in China, people have been forced to change their names because they were deemed too obscure.
The UK and the US have much more liberal naming laws.
American parents can pretty much name their child anything, says Michael Sherrod, co-author of Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With.
In fact, he says, parents see it as an important expression of their freedom of speech, enshrined in the US Constitution.
“When I discovered the restrictions that other countries have, I was absolutely astounded.”
Strange names are nothing new, he says. Census records in the 18th and 19th Centuries revealed people named King’s Judgement, Noble Fall and Cholera Plague.
“In all, there have been 20 people named Noun, 458 named Comma, 18 called Period but only one called Semicolon.”
Getting on to more risqué territory, Ima and Wanna are also popular, especially with surnames like Mann, Hoare or Pigg, he says. More offensive names have also been allowed.
But why would parents do that to their children?
“A lot of parents say they want their kids to be unique. They think it’s fun and differentiates their child from everyone else, and gives them a personality,” says Michael Sherrod.
“Americans are also very proprietary about their children and take the attitude, <<We can do whatever with our children and if they don’t like it they can change it when they’re older>>.”
Children with unusual names tend to get a lot of abuse at school but then embrace it when they’re older, he says.
There is no question that some of the more offensive names could be considered as child abuse, but that doesn’t mean legislation is the answer, says Michael Sherrod.
“I’m not saying courts should not intervene, but I would prefer they do so only when parents cannot agree and the item gets taken to court.
“I think, for the most part, parents are pretty good at compromise. I would say, anecdotal evidence is that the number of cases considered abusive is so tiny as to not require much law, if any.”
But courts have stepped in on occasion.
When Thomas Boyd Ritchie III tried to change his first name to III, he was told by a court in California it would be “inherently confusing”.
A truck carrying fireworks has exploded on an elevated highway in Henan province, central China, killing at least five people and causing part of the road to collapse, state media report.
The blast, which destroyed an 80 m (262 ft) section of road, took place on the G30 expressway in Henan province.
China National Radio had put the number of dead at 26 but the report appeared to have been removed from websites.
Several vehicles were reported to have tumbled off the road.
Witnesses said some cars were thrown off by the force of the blast, the cause of which was not immediately clear.
Six vehicles were retrieved from the wreckage, Xinhua said, while search and rescue efforts were continuing at the site. Eight people had been injured, the agency said.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers digging through rubble. The channel said 10 trucks had been found under the bridge.
A truck carrying fireworks has exploded on an elevated highway in Henan province, central China, killing at least five people and causing part of the road to collapse
Images posted on microblogging sites showed wrecked trucks and debris, as well as a collapsed section of highway.
One photo showed a truck perched precariously at the broken edge of the carriageway.
Fireworks are traditionally set off in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which is just over a week away. There are frequently reports of accidents as they are being made, stored or transported.
Official statistics show that in 2011, more than 60,000 people were killed on roads in China. The deaths are often blamed on inadequate training, poor quality vehicles or on drivers ignoring safety instructions.
Earlier this month, China halted plans to introduce tougher penalties for traffic offences, following a public outcry.
The rules imposed penalty points for motorists who drove through amber traffic lights, with a driving ban after two offences, as well as increasing penalties for speeding, drinking and driving and using a mobile phone while behind the wheel.
But there were widespread complaints that drivers stopping abruptly at lights were ultimately causing more accidents.
The government said it was reconsidering its traffic policies.
Salman Khan will be charged with culpable homicide for a hit-and-run incident 10 years ago, an Indian court has ruled.
If convicted of the charge, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan could face up to 10 years in prison.
In September 2002, Salman Khan allegedly drove his car into a bakery in Mumbai city running over five people who were sleeping on the pavement.
One man was killed in the incident. Salman Khan has denied that he was driving the car at the time.
Actor Salman Khan has starred in more than 80 Hindi films, including Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun.
“There is enough evidence to show that the act was not incidental and hence the case should be tried under a more serious section,” Magistrate Vasant Patil said in his order.
Salman Khan will be charged with culpable homicide for a hit-and-run incident 10 years ago, an Indian court has ruled
The ruling is a setback for the actor as the original charge of homicide was lowered to “death caused by negligence”, which carried a much lighter sentence.
Salman Khan would now have to appear in court on February 11, his lawyer Dipesh Mehta said. The actor would challenge the order in the high court, he added.
Correspondents say the hugely popular and successful actor has often been described as a “bad-boy” heart-throb and is alleged to have mistreated his former actress girlfriend, Aishwarya Rai.
In 2006, Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in prison for hunting a protected deer, but he was released on bail after spending less than a week in jail.
At least 25 people were killed by a blast in Mexico City at the headquarters of the state oil company, Pemex, the interior minister has said.
Another 100 people were injured and an unknown number are trapped in rubble at the base of the 54-storey tower. The search for survivors continues.
The cause of the blast is under investigation, Pemex says.
Last September, 30 people died in an explosion at a Pemex gas plant in northern Mexico.
Thursday’s explosion in the lower floors of the building happened as shifts were changing in the afternoon, making the area particularly crowded.
Television pictures showed debris from the blast spread out on to the street in front of the building, and Red Cross ambulances on the scene attending to the injured.
Hundreds of rescuers helped by dogs are searching the building for around 30 people thought to be trapped inside.
Police have cordoned off the streets around the building, which is located in a busy commercial area of Mexico City.
Pemex says its operations will continue to run normally – and commercial and financial obligations will continue to be met – despite the blast.
The company’s chief executive, Emilio Lozoya Austin, cut short a business trip to Asia and was on his way back to Mexico, a Pemex statement said.
At least 25 people were killed by a blast in Mexico City at the headquarters of the state oil company, Pemex
Relatives of employees have gathered outside the building in search of information about their loved ones, local media report. Some are said to have tried to reach employees on their mobile phones but have had no reply.
“The place shook, we lost power and suddenly there was debris everywhere. Colleagues were helping us out of the building,” eyewitness Cristian Obele said.
“We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows,” another witness said.
“People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying.”
Images of the blast posted on Twitter revealed large clouds of smoke billowing from the building. TV footage showed people being transported from the scene by helicopters.
President Enrique Pena Nieto and Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera headed to the scene of the blast.
Enrique Pena Nieto said Pemex rescue and security teams were working alongside city authorities to help the injured.
“I am deeply sorry for the deaths of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their relatives,” President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter.
“At the moment, the priority is to help the injured and protect the physical safety of those who work there.”
The president said he has ordered an investigation into the causes of the blast.
Earlier on Thursday, Pemex had reported problems with the electricity in the building in a message on Twitter.
It later confirmed that an explosion had taken place “in the B2 building of the administrative centre”.
Plaster had fallen from the ceiling of the basement and the situation was “delicate”, a spokesman for local emergency services was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
Pemex has experienced a number of fatal accidents in recent years.
Last September’s deadly blast at a gas plant near the northern town of Reynosa is thought to have been caused by a build-up of gas.
Kim Kardashian finally gave fans a peek at her growing baby bump on Thursday posting a snap on her Instagram page from a photo shoot this week.
Her sister Khloe Kardashian can be seen lifting up the peplum ruffle on her little black dress to reveal her pregnant form while the pair chat on vintage phones.
Kim Kardashian, 32, captioned the picture: “Well hello there! #PoppedOuttaNowhere!”
As well as her business duties for the Kardashian Kollection, the reality TV star has been spotted at the gym twice in as many days.
And while Kim Kardashian is doing her best to stay fit and healthy during her pregnancy, she admitted to fans on Twitter that she was feeling tired and apprehensive about hitting the gym.
The reality star wrote this week: “Was so lazy but had to get that workout in! I’m so not a night workout person.”
Kim Kardashian finally gave fans a peek at her growing baby bump on Thursday
Kim Kardashian, whose baby is due in July, recently admitted she is terrified of piling on too much weight during her pregnancy.
She recently wrote on Twitter: “Can’t sleep & I’m googling double chin exercises! I’m petrified to get one.”
Kim Kardashian returned from a break in Paris this week and has since been promoting her new E! series Kourtney and Kim Take Miami.
Beyonce has opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage for the first time in her upcoming HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream.
Beyonce, 31, suffered the loss several years before the birth of her daughter Blue Ivy Carter in January 2012.
“About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time,” Beyonce says in a preview.
“And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life.”
“I picked out names,” the singer recalls.
“I envisioned what my child would look like… I was feeling very maternal.”
Beyonce lost the child in the early stages of her pregnancy.
“I flew back to New York to get my check up – and no heartbeat,” she says.
“Literally the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat.”
Beyonce, who married Jay-Z in April 2008, turned to music to help her get through her pain.
“I went into the studio and wrote the saddest song I’ve ever written in my life,” she says, but doesn’t name the track.
“And it was actually the first song I wrote for my album.
“And it was the best form of therapy for me, because it was the saddest thing I’ve ever been through.”
Jay-Z first referenced the loss in Glory, a track recorded within days of Blue Ivy’s birth in January 2012.
Beyonce has opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage for the first time in her upcoming HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream
Beyonce was thrilled when she discovered she was expecting Blue Ivy and found it hard to keep the news to herself to begin with.
“Being pregnant was very much like falling in love. You are so open. You are so overjoyed.
“There’s no words that can express having a baby growing inside of you, so of course you want to scream it out and tell everyone.”
After cautiously keeping her second pregnancy a secret, Beyonce finally revealed her bump at MTV Video Music Awards in August 2011.
Beyonce famously rubbed her tummy during a performance of Love On Top and it went on to become the most-tweeted months of the year.
The documentary attempts to show the other, more vulnerable and human side of Beyonce.
In a previous clip, she says: “People see celebrities and they have money and fame, but I’m a human being.”
“I cry, I get scared, I get nervous just like everyone else.”
Beyonce shares tender and very candid moments from her pregnancy with Blue Ivy, showing her bare pregnant belly and even a sonogram of her unborn daughter.
Of course, Beyonce is now gearing up to perform at the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday.
Beyonce – who was criticized earlier this month for allegedly miming the American national anthem at President Barack Obama’s inauguration – is said to have been preparing to perform live since the end of October.
She is now feeling the pressure to wow the audience despite believing she did nothing wrong during her performance in Washington DC.
A source close to Beyonce said she was very disappointed and felt “a technicality which everybody does took away from the beauty of the moment”.
“She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. Pavarotti has done it! It was freezing out, and if she messed up just one note, that would have been the story.
“Everybody uses these tracks, and the music director advised it. Any big outdoor live performance is almost always with some kind of track.
David Beckham has revealed he will be donating the entire salary from his new contract with Paris St Germain (PSG) to a children’s charity in Paris.
In what is believed to be a world first, David Beckham, 37, will be donating around $5 million to the cause – if reports of his $250,000-a-week salary are correct.
Confirming his new role at a press conference in Paris on Thursday, David Beckham explained the philanthropic move, saying: “For me it’s always been about playing football, I considered other offers on the table. But one of the reasons I wanted to come to Paris was quite unique.
“We’ve decided my salary will go towards a local children’s charity in Paris and that’s one of the things we’re very excited and proud to be able to do. I’m not sure it’s been done before but it’s something I’m very passionate about.”
While not confirming the exact sum that would be donated, David Beckham did say: “I’m pleased that we can give a huge sum to a children’s charity in Paris – it’s very special.”
David Beckham also revealed that his wife Victoria and their four children will not be moving to France to accompany him during his five-month contract with the team, because the kids are enrolled in schools in London.
He said: “I am excited it’s something that we’ve been talking about for quite a while and now it’s finally happened. My wife and children will be staying in London because the children go to school there now.”
David Beckham also revealed that he will be needing to brush up on his French before his contract with the team begins.
He laughed: “My French? I haven’t spoken French for quite a few years, since I was at school, so I’ll definitely have to brush up on it.”
Asked by a reporter to demonstrate his grasp of the language with a French phrase, David Beckham kept it simple by just saying: “Bonjour!”
David Beckham has revealed he will be donating the entire salary from his new contract with PSG to a children’s charity in Paris
David Beckham added of the move: “I’m very lucky. I’m 37 years old and I got a lot of offers. I’ve had more offers now than I’ve had in my career at my age so I’m very honored by that.
“I chose Paris because I can see what the club are trying to do – I can see the players they’re trying to bring up and the kind of club they will be in 15-20 years time.
“I’m not saying I’m going to be playing in 15-20 years but to be part of something like this is very exciting. I’m very excited and honored to be here.”
Asked why he signed for PSG and not another British team, David Beckham, who has played for teams including Manchester United, said: “I’ve always said I would never want to play for another English club. Manchester United is the team I support and it’s the team I always have supported.
“I’ve always said I don’t want to play for a team unless it’s Manchester United. I’ve had 13 or 14 championship trophies throughout my career, and I’ve played with some of the biggest and best clubs in the world.
“I’m 37 and I’m still fit, I can run around and play like I did when I was 21. I haven’t lost pace because I never really had a lot of pace.”
David Beckham was also asked why he had decided on a five-month contract instead of something more long-term.
He said: “I don’t see that it’s a short term project it might be a short term project for me playing but there’s a lot happening in this club with these owners. Whatever club I’ve gone to and whatever team I’ve played for, I’ve worked hard.
“I don’t expect to come into this team and play every game – I need to work hard. I don’t automatically expect a place in the starting eleven. I might have only signed a contract until the end of the season but I consider myself to be part of helping this club to grow, help the French league to grow and become one of the biggest powerhouses in football.”
David Beckham also revealed that another reason he signed with PSG was because he wanted to take on a new challenge.
He said: “Obviously I’ve played in Europe for a number of years and every time I’ve come up against a French team it’s been the most difficult games. At Real Madrid, the games we played in Lyon and Marseille were some of the toughest.
“The French league is full of talented players and teams. There’s a lot of talent here and it’s a difficult league. I’ve always loved a challenge whatever the league, whatever the club and whatever the culture.”
David Beckham also said he is hoping that the contract with PSG won’t be his last.
