The death of Chicago lottery winner Urooj Khan has led to a murder investigation after a post-mortem examination found he died of cyanide poisoning.
Urooj Khan, 46, died suddenly as he was about to collect almost $425,000, but his death was initially attributed to natural causes.
The local coroner reopened his case after a relative came forward.
Chicago police confirmed they were now investigating Khan’s death as a homicide.
“It’s pretty unusual,” Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina said, commenting on the rarity of cyanide poisonings.
“I’ve had one, maybe two cases out of 4,500 autopsies I’ve done.”
Stephen Cina’s office found that Urooj Khan died shortly after ingesting a lethal dose of cyanide.
Urooj Khan said he had sworn off gambling after making a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim hajj pilgrimage, local store employee Ashur Oshana told the Associated Press.
The death of Chicago lottery winner Urooj Khan has led to a murder investigation after a post-mortem examination found he died of cyanide poisoning
Urooj Khan, who owned several dry cleaning stores, was named as the lottery winner and presented with a giant cheque in an Illinois lottery ceremony days after purchasing his winning ticket.
“Winning the lottery means everything to me,” he said on June 26, adding that he would put some of his winnings into his business and donate money to a children’s hospital.
He opted to take his winnings in a lump sum of just over $600,000, which amounted to about $425,000 after taxes.
Urooj Khan’s winner’s cheque was issued on July 19, the day before he died, but was cashed on August 15.
If a lottery winner dies, the money typically goes to his or her estate, a spokesman for the Illinois lottery said.
At the time, the medical examiner’s office did not generally perform autopsies on those older than 45 unless the death was suspicious. A basic toxicology screening came back negative and Urooj Khan’s death was ruled a result of the narrowing and hardening of his arteries.
Deborah Blum, a poisons expert, said cyanide would taste strongly bitter but that a lethal dose could kill within five minutes.
The poison, Deborah Blum said, disrupts the ability of cells to transport oxygen around the body, causing a convulsive, violent death.
“It essentially kills you in this explosion of cell death,” she told AP.
“You feel like you’re suffocating.”
The medical examiner’s office reopened the case and tested for a range of chemicals after a relative asked authorities to look into the case further.
David Bowie has released a new single on his 66th birthday, following ten years of silence and speculation.
The glam-rock legend has released the recording Where are we now? on iTunes, which will be followed by a new album, entitled The Next Day, in March.
David Bowie has not performed live since 2006 and has rarely been seen in public since then.
The new track was recorded in New York and produced by the singer’s long-time collaborator Tony Visconti.
According to a statement released through his press representatives, “throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie”.
David Bowie, it continued, was “the kind of artist who writes and performs what he wants when he wants”.
David Bowie has released a new single on his 66th birthday, following ten years of silence and speculation
The track precedes a new fourteen-track album The Next Day which is due to be released in March.
Where are we now? is accompanied by a video directed by multimedia and installation artist Tony Oursler, which harks back to David Bowie’s time in Berlin.
The promo, which can be viewed via the singer’s website, features his face projected onto the body of a puppet.
The face of a woman is projected onto the mannequin beside him, with David Bowie appearing in more conventional form later on in the video.
David Bowie, who was last reported to be living in New York with his wife and daughter, has not released material since his 2003 album Reality.
In September, David Bowie denied reports he was involved in an upcoming exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London charting his career.
Gerard Depardieu is expected to appear before a French court today, charged with drink-driving.
Gerard Depardieu was arrested in November after a scooter accident in Paris, in which he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit.
Last month, the actor announced his decision to move to Belgium to avoid the French government’s plan for a top tax rate of 75%.
Gerard Depardieu became a Russian citizen at the weekend, receiving a Russian passport.
But on the eve of his scheduled court appearance he was in Switzerland, for the annual Ballon D’Or football award ceremony.
Gerard Depardieu has already pleaded guilty to the charge of drink-driving, which carries a maximum fine of 4,500 euros ($5,880) and a sentence of up to two years in prison, along with six penalty points.
On November 29, he lost control of his scooter in Paris and crashed. A breathalyser test showed he had a blood alcohol rate of 1.8g per litre, more than three times the French legal limit of 0.5g.
Gerard Depardieu, who owns several vineyards, once admitted to drinking up to six bottles of wine a day.
If the actor fails to appear before magistrates, his case could be referred to the criminal court, who tend to be less lenient.
Gerard Depardieu is expected to appear before a French court today, charged with drink-driving
Gerard Depardieu’s tax row with the French authorities began last year after President Francois Hollande said he would raise taxes to 75% for those earning more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million).
The film star, renowned for his roles in Cyrano de Bergerac and more recently as Obelix, announced in early December that he would move to Belgium, accusing France’s Socialist government of punishing “success, creation and talent”.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault branded Gerard Depardieu’s decision to move abroad as “shabby and unpatriotic”.
The actor has developed close ties with Russia and during his visit at the weekend hugged President Vladimir Putin, who described him as a friend.
Russia has offered him a flat tax rate of 13% if he stays in the country for more than half the year. On his trip to Russia he travelled to the central region of Mordovia, which has invited him to make his home there.
Mordovia is best known for its Stalin-era gulag prison camps.
But the actor said on Monday he was not turning his back on his country.
“I have a Russian passport, but I remain French and I will probably have dual Belgian nationality,” Gerard Depardieu told French sports channel L’Equipe 21.
Under France’s civil code, dual citizenship is permitted but it is unlawful to be stateless. A person must obtain another nationality before giving up French citizenship.
Gerard Depardieu also rejected claims that his decision to move abroad was to avoid paying taxes.
“If I’d wanted to escape the taxman, as the French press say, I would have done it a long time ago.”
Gerard Depardieu made the remarks in Zurich where he was attending the Ballon d’Or ceremony in the company of FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.
Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Kanye West are said to have turned down a huge $3 million offer for the first exclusive photos of their yet to be born child.
A source told website TMZ that the couple have been “flooded” with lucrative offers from media outlets desperate to be the first to publish the baby pictures.
The huge $3 million offer compares to Brangelina’s $4.1million payout following the birth of their first child Shiloh in 2006. Although that was dwarfed by the $14 million they received after the birth of the twins.
The couple donated the payments to a charitable trust they had set up.
The news of Kim Kardashian’s decision is all the more surprising as unlike other more private stars she has previously shown no interest in hiding any facet of her life from public view.
But perhaps her boyfriend is the one behind the move.
Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Kanye West are said to have turned down a huge $3 million offer for the first exclusive photos of their yet to be born child
Kanye West, 35, has previously been reported to be uncomfortable with the way Kim Kardashian, 32, lives, with her reality shows, paparazzi attention and self-publicity on her blog combining to put every aspect of her life under constant public scrutiny.
And of course with their combined fortunes the pair have no financial need to accept the cash.
Luckily for KimYe fans they can still get an insight into how the new baby might look, at least according to a top forensic artist.
US forensic artist Joe Mullins studied recent photographs of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and used the latest computer technology to predict how their children might look.
According to Joe Mullins, a baby boy would inherit Kanye West’s nose and face shape and Kim Kardashian’s lips.
A baby girl would take more after her glamorous mother, with deep brown eyes and glossy dark hair.
Bank of America has agreed to pay US government mortgage agency Fannie Mae $3.6 billion to settle claims relating to residential home loans.
In addition, Bank of America has agreed to buy back 30,000 mortgages for $6.75 billion, and pay a further $1.3 billion in compensation.
Fannie Mae argued the bank sold it toxic debts and should be responsible for the losses it suffered as result.
Separately, ten big mortgage providers agreed to pay $8.5 billion in compensation for mistakes in repossessing homes.
The banks include Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo. They will pay $3.3 billion directly to homeowners, some of whom should not have lost their homes, regulators said.
Individual owners will receive anything from a few hundred dollars to $125,000.
Loan assistance and write-offs will make up the remaining $5.2 billion.
Fannie Mae supports the US mortgage market, which collapsed in 2008 after the housing bubble burst.
In the run-up to the financial crisis of 2007-8, home loans grouped together and sold on as investments became increasingly popular.
When the underlying mortgage holders were unable to repay their debts, the investments plummeted in value, with disastrous consequences for banks all over the world.
Bank of America has agreed to pay US government mortgage agency Fannie Mae $3.6 billion to settle claims relating to residential home loans
Freddie Mac is the other government mortgage agency. The two firms lost more than $30 billion, partly because of their investments in the subprime mortgages, and were bailed out by the US government.
Since the rescues, US taxpayers have spent more than $140 billion to keep the firms afloat.
Bank of America settled with Freddie Mac in 2011.
The agreement brings to an end a long-running dispute between Fannie Mae and Bank of America.
“A favorable resolution of this long-standing dispute between Fannie Mae and Bank of America is in the best interest of taxpayers,” said Bradley Lerman at Fannie Mae.
The company said the loans “did not meet our standards at the time of origination, and we are pleased to have reached an appropriate agreement to collect on these repurchase requests.”
The agreement covers loans worth about $1.4 trillion, with outstanding balances of $300 billion.
Bank of America said the settlements were “a significant step in resolving our remaining legacy mortgage issues”.
In October, the US government sued the bank for alleged mortgage fraud, accusing subsidiary Countrywide Financial of selling thousands of toxic home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Earlier in the month, it took similar action against the banks Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.
In October, JP Morgan was sued for allegedly defrauding investors who lost more than $20 billion on mortgage-backed securities sold by Bear Stearns.
JP Morgan, which bought the investment bank in March 2008, said the allegations related to actions at Bear Stearns prior to its takeover.
In the same month, Wells Fargo was also sued by federal authorities for alleged mortgage fraud.
June Shannon, Honey Boo Boo’s mother, was long overdue for glamorous makeover considering her newfound celebrity.
Mama June, 33, finally submitted to her having her already grey curls dyed blonde, and had a fake tan and make up applied for the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo series of HOLLAday Specials.
June Shannon, who had greying curls pulled back off her face in previous episodes, debuts the new blonde hairdo in a preview clip, with straightened, shoulder-length locks.
To celebrate her makeover, done with the help of her three daughters her partner Mike Thompson, aka Sugar Bear – decided to buy his beloved a white dress famed by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot.
But while Mike Thompson, dressed as a bear, confessed that the outfit turned him into a “horny bear”, their daughters weren’t so complimentary.
With white arms, a brown back and patches of red too, their brood said that she resembled “Neapolitan ice cream” thanks to some dodgy fake tan application.
But even with an uneven complexion, Mama June’s appearance was a world away from her usual scraped-back grey curls.
However, June Shannon eventually decided that the outfit was “too revealing” and opted for a more Halloween-friendly choice of an Egyptian Mummy.
In the same show, the mother of four also revealed something else – her fear of mayonnaise.
Though she visibly shudders at the mention of the condiment, June Shannon admits that she will eat potato salad or tuna salad, as long as she has not witnessed it being prepared.
“If I watch somebody make it, I can’t [eat] it,” she says.
“The reason why is because when I was growing up, the babysitter I had [would make] mayonnaise sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack… I can’t talk about it, this is making my flesh crawl!”
Sugar Bear decided to buy his beloved June Shannon a white dress famed by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot
In a bid to help their mother conquer her fear, the four girls decide to take action, by attempting to explain how ridiculous she is being.
16-year-old Jessica, also known to the family as “Chubbs”, says: “I think it’s stupid that you’re scared of mayonnaise, Mama, I mean seriously, it’s mayonnaise, it’s white and it’s mayonnaise. C’mon, that’s like ketchup but it’s just white.”
When asked why she doesn’t eat mayonnaise, Jessica says that it is because she is a vegetarian, sparking ridicule from the whole family.
Mama June asks: “When did you become a damn vegetarian?”
Lauryn, aka “Pumpkin”, 13, adds: “Marannaise does not have meat in it.”
The pair then embark on a bizarre argument, that doesn’t involve Jessica at all, in which they both seem to be making the same case.
It ends with Pumpkin insisting that “you could just make a marannaise sammich”, causing Mama June to shudder, and Pumpkin to then do an uncanny imitation.
With the family discussion ending in failure, 7-year-old Honey Boo Boo, Jessica and eldest sister Anna “Chickadee”, 17, decide to present Mama June with a large bowl of mayonnaise.
“Coming from the kitchen with the mayonnaise to the dining room, you could feel the tension in there,” Jessica reveals.
As the girls goad their mother with exclamations of, “Look, it’s so yummy!” and “It jiggles, it’s pretty!” June Shannon gets increasingly distressed.
“My anxiety levels is up like beyond out the roof,” she says.
“I mean like my chest is real tight, my throat feels like its gonna close up… Y’all gotta get that outta there, c’mon now… I’m gonna go into full panic ******* attack… Y’all gotta get it outta here FOR REAL!”
She failed to find much sympathy from Honey Boo Boo, who recalls afterwards: “Mama was turning white, just like mayonnaise.”
The first episode in the HOLLAday Specials sees the family prepare for Halloween. According to a précis of the episode from TLC, a pumpkin carving incident ends with Uncle Poodle stuck inside a one of the gourds and the family gets hopelessly lost in a corn maze.
Anjelica Huston has been revealed as the latest celebrity pillow face victim, after displaying her suspiciously plump cheeks.
Anjelica Huston, 61, showed off her new look as she took part in a panel to promote the second series of her hit show Smash in Pasadena, California, on Sunday.
And Anjelica Huston’s incredibly smooth face had another unwanted affect as it highlighted the creped skin on her neck.
The raven-haired actress is no stranger to taking extreme measures in a bid to maintain her youthful appearance, and admitted previously to having collagen injections to smooth things out.
However, Anjelica Huston also admitted she had been put off some surgical procedures after a Botox experiment went wrong.
The actress explained: “I went to a doctor who said, <<Angelica, we have this wonderful new thing, it’s called Botox>>.
“He took a huge needle and plunged it into my third eye. The pain was something inexplicable. I gasped, I writhed and when I came to, I had a headache that lasted four days. A serious one.”
Anjelica Huston has been revealed as the latest celebrity pillow face victim, after displaying her suspiciously plump cheeks
Anjelica Huston’s new appearance was revealed as she took part in a Smash panel ahead of the premiere of the second season on February 5th, alongside co-stars Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee.
And the programme’s new showrunner Josh Safran promised viewers that the upcoming series is sure to be as exciting as the first – with a few new twists.
He said: “The stuff that you love from last year is still there, and the stuff that people thought maybe went off on tangents, we’ve looked at. Maybe bigger, more music. Maybe younger, in regards to the new castmembers.
“There was never anything that I outright didn’t like. I just thought season one was interesting to watch. It was somebody else’s world. It was fun to be an audience member and then come in and put my ideas in.”
President Barack Obama is to pick maverick former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as defence secretary later, amid a political backlash over the nomination.
Chuck Hagel would replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon, but Hagel’s fellow Republicans have voiced criticism over the Nebraskan’s views towards Israel.
White House officials also say Barack Obama will pick his counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan as director of the CIA.
Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.
The nominations are expected to be formally announced at the White House on Monday afternoon.
Along with Senator John Kerry, whom Barack Obama nominated last month to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Chuck Hagel and John Brennan would help shape the president’s second-term national security agenda.
But analysts say the choice of Chuck Hagel, a 66-year-old decorated Vietnam veteran, could prompt a Senate confirmation battle. Opponents say he is hostile to Israel and soft on Iran.
Chuck Hagel has criticized discussion of a military strike by either the US or Israel against Iran and has advocated including Iran on future peace talks in Afghanistan.
Although no Republican lawmakers are threatening to block Chuck Hagel’s nomination, two influential senators have attacked him.
President Barack Obama is to pick maverick former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as defence secretary later, amid a political backlash over the nomination
Chuck Hagel made critical remarks against the Israel lobby in the US capital, quoted in a 2008 book by former state department official Aaron David Miller.
“The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here,” Chuck Hagel was quoted as saying.
“I’m a United States senator. I’m not an Israeli senator.”
Top Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN on Sunday: “This is an in-your-face nomination of the president to all of us who are supportive of Israel.”
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told NBC there would be “a lot of tough questions” for Chuck Hagel.
But White House officials say Chuck Hagel’s positions on these issues have been misrepresented, saying he voted to send billions in military assistance to Israel and has supported the imposition of multilateral sanctions on Tehran.
The Republican Jewish Coalition’s executive director, Matt Brooks, said the appointment of Chuck Hagel would be “a slap in the face for every American who is concerned about the safety of Israel”.
But the pro-Obama National Jewish Democratic Council adopted a softer tone, saying it trusted that Chuck Hagel would “follow the president’s lead of providing unrivalled support for Israel”.
Chuck Hagel has also been criticized by some Democrats for saying in 1998 that a nominee for an ambassador post was “openly, aggressively gay”. He has since apologized for those comments.
If John Brennan is confirmed to lead the CIA, he will replace General David Petraeus, who resigned last year after admitting to an affair with his biographer.
A CIA veteran, John Brennan is currently Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser. The 57-year-old was heavily involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
Although put forward for the role in 2008, John Brennan withdrew his name amid questions about his connection to interrogation techniques used during the administration of George W. Bush.
“Brennan has the full trust and confidence of the president,” a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP news agency.
“Over the past four years, he has been involved in virtually all major national security issues and will be able to hit the ground running at CIA.”
Nvidia has announced plans to produce its own hand-held video-games console, Project Shield.
Nvidia Project Shield is Android-based and marries a 5 in (12.7 cm) touch-screen with joysticks, buttons and other controls, in a clam-shell design.
It is also designed to link to PCs offering access to more powerful games such as those on the Steam library.
The announcement was a surprise, as the US company has previously focused on selling chips and graphics cards to other manufacturers.
Intel, another chip manufacturer, is also reportedly working on its own device – a television set-top box.
Nvidia’s announcement came at the first major press conference of 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
The company’s chief executive, Jen-Hsun Huang, did not reveal a release date or price for the device, but he did show off a working prototype and outline its specifications.
The console is bigger than an Xbox controller but smaller than the Wii U’s game-pad.
Its screen resolution is 720p, but the machine is capable of playing out games and video in the 4k standard – which offers eight times the detail – on compatible TVs via an HDMI cable.
At its heart is the firm’s new quad-core Tegra 4 chip – which Jen-Hsun Huang described as the fastest mobile processor on the market.
As well as keys representing the standard Android commands, the console also sports a “shield” button that takes users to a curated games store featuring titles selected from the Google Play marketplace. However, it can also be used to run other types of apps – Jen-Hsun Huang gave music players and Facebook as two examples.
Nvidia Project Shield is Android-based and marries a 5 in touch-screen with joysticks, buttons and other controls, in a clam-shell design
Using Wi-Fi it can also be paired with a computer containing one of Nvidia’s GeForce video cards to run PC games. In this case the desktop computer’s processors power the software, offering higher quality graphics than could be rendered by the mobile processor.
Jen-Hsun Huang boasted that “latency was so short it was as if you are connected to the PC” – playing down potential concerns that this kind of set-up might involve a delay between a user pressing a button on the console and the connected PC registering the command.
A demonstration involving titles from Valve’s Steam PC platform appeared to bear this out.
However, to avoid such latency issues, users will only be able to connect the console to a PC on the same home network – although Jen-Hsun Huang said it was an ambition to allow them to go “beyond the house” with future devices.
Nvidia’s move takes advantage of the growing number of games being released for the Android and Windows operating systems without it having to develop its own ecosystem – as is the case with the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox families.
However, it will have to convince consumers that they need a dedicated portable gaming console in addition to their other computing devices.
Earlier this year Sony had to cut sales forecasts for its PlayStation Vita hand-held – analysts linked the news to the growth of gaming on smartphones and tablets.
In addition, one industry watcher suggested Nvidia’s move would prove controversial with hardware makers that currently use its chips.
“It is a bit of a reach for Nvidia as it does not typically involve itself much with the end-user,” said Josh Walrath from the PC Perspective tech site.
“They normally have partners in between. So by doing such a thing you do have to wonder if they’re going to alienate any of their really close partners, and if they have the ability to get consumers to buy into it.”
Le Jardin, a Henri Matisse painting stolen in 1987 and valued at $1 million, has been found by an art recovery specialist in London.
Le Jardin (The Garden) was taken from the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm during a robbery in the early hours of May 11, 1987.
According to reports at the time, attempts were made to sell it back to the museum for exorbitant sums.
The artwork is to be returned to the Swedish museum in the coming weeks.
The Art Loss Register, (ALR) a database of stolen, missing and looted artwork has been searching the market for the painting for the last 22 years.
A few weeks ago there was a search against its database from a fine art dealer in Essex, Charles Roberts.
He was carrying out due diligence, serving to confirm all material facts in regards to the sale, before handling the Matisse.
Once the match was confirmed, the recovery was handed to ALR director Christopher Marinello, who successfully negotiated the return of the painting.
“Art historians are invaluable on art recovery cases,” said Christopher Marinello.
“The ALR would not have been able to match and recover this painting without the steadfast dedication of ALR staff members, Malavika Baishya, Olivia Tate, and Pauline Geskes.”
Le Jardin, a Henri Matisse painting stolen in 1987 and valued at $1 million, has been found by an art recovery specialist in London
Over the past seven years, Christopher Marinello, who is also a lawyer has been responsible for recovering or negotiating settlements in cases involving more than $245 million in stolen and looted artwork.
He said that Lars Nittive, the director of Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art in 1987, was absolutely correct when he told reporters that the painting was too well known to sell on the open market.
“I commend the museum for not giving in to ransom demands a quarter century ago. Stolen artwork has no real value in the legitimate marketplace and will eventually resurface… it’s just a matter of waiting it out.”
Museum officials congratulated the ALR on the recovery of the work, which is expected to be returned to the museum through the Swedish Ministry of Culture in the coming weeks.
Texas Chainsaw 3D has unexpectedly topped the US box office, ending The Hobbit’s three-week reign.
The horror movie, set immediately after the events in Tobe Hooper’s classic 1974 slasher picture, made $23 million in its opening weekend.
It immediately made back its $20 million budget for film company Lionsgate.
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained held firm at number two, making $20.1 million, while The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey slipped to number three.
Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth has so far taken $263.8 million in the US, and about $825 million globally.
Fourth place went to musical adaptation Les Miserables, starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway. It has now passed the $100 million mark, the first musical movie to do so in under 14 days.
And fifth position went to Billy Crystal’s big screen comeback Parental Guidance, about an elderly couple left in charge of their grandchildren.
Texas Chainsaw 3D has unexpectedly topped the US box office, ending The Hobbit’s three-week reign
Texas Chainsaw 3D is the seventh film in the horror franchise, featuring an antagonist called Leatherface, who wears a mask made of human skin. The character was reportedly based on serial killer Ed Gein, who also inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
The original was refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification in 1975, which felt its focus on sadistic terror and “abnormal psychology” was unsuitable – although some local councils allowed it to be shown with an X certificate.
It was released on video in 1981, at a time when videos did not have to receive a formal classification, and remained on shelves until the introduction of the Video Recordings Act 1984.
However, the film is now freely available, having been granted at 18 certificate in 1999, and subsequently shown uncut on television.
The audience for the new installment was predominantly under-25, meaning they were too young to have seen the original first time around.
The major draw was said to be singer-songwriter Trey Songz, who stars in the film alongside Alexandra Daddario and Dan Yeager.
Lower down the charts, Matt Damon’s gas-fracking drama Promised Land had a slow start, debuting at number 10 with $4.3 million after opening in limited release a week earlier.
And Kathryn Bigelow’s hotly-tipped CIA drama Zero Dark Thirty continued to dominate specialist cinemas, making $2.75 million from a meager 60 screens.
The latest US box office figures come as it was reported that 2012 was a record year for US cinema.
Total ticket sales for the year reached $10.8 billion, with a 6% rise in admissions – the largest in more than a decade – reported film trade newspaper Variety.
Actor Tony Lip, who starred as a mobster in TV series The Sopranos and several feature films, has died aged 82.
Tony Lip, born Frank Anthony Vallelonga, made his film debut as a wedding guest in The Godfather and later appeared in successful gangster titles Goodfellas, Raging Bull and Donnie Brasco.
He was best known for playing the role of mob kingpin Carmine Lupertazzi in several episodes of The Sopranos.
Tony Lip lived in Paramus and died at a hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Actor Tony Lip, who starred as a mobster in TV series The Sopranos and several feature films, has died aged 82
Family members told The Record of Woodland Park that Tony Lip had been in failing health in recent years.
Before he became an actor, Tony Lip worked during the 1960s at the Copacabana nightclub in New York, where he played host to the stars of the era including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Bobby Darin and met the sort of gangsters he would later portray.
In 2005 Tony Lip co-wrote and released a cookbook titled Shut Up And Eat!, in which he and Italian-American actors James Gandolfini, Danny Aiello, Chazz Palmintieri shared their families’ favorite Italian recipes.
The inhabitants of small Greek island Ikaria live on average 10 years longer than the rest of Western Europe.
So what’s the secret to long life in Ikaria?
It could be the fresh air and the friendly, easy-going, open-door lifestyle. It could be fresh vegetables and goat’s milk.
It could be the mountainous terrain. Everywhere on Ikaria is up, or down, so getting around keeps you fit.
It could even be the natural radiation in the granite rocks. But Stamatis Moraitis thinks he knows what it is.
“It’s the wine,” he says, over a mid-morning glass at his kitchen table.
“It’s pure, nothing added. The wine they make commercially has preservatives. That’s no good. But this wine we make ourselves is pure.”
Stamatis Moraitis celebrated his 98th birthday on New Year’s Day. He says he’s older, but his documents put his date of birth as 1 January 1915. Outside his whitewashed house are his beloved olive trees, his fruit trees, and his vines. He makes about 700 litres of wine a year, he says.
The wine, and convivial days spent with friends and family, helped make Stamatis Moraitis a poster-boy for the healing effects of Ikaria. Forty-five years ago, living in the US, he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given nine months to live.
“At the time it was very expensive to have a funeral there,” he remembers.
“So I said to my wife <<I’m going home to Ikaria to be buried with my parents>>.”
By now he has a twinkle in his eye, and is in full flow. It’s a story he has dined out on many times, and he clearly doesn’t tire of telling it.
“I found my friends in the village where I was born, and we started drinking. I thought, at least I’ll die happy.”
“Every day we got together, we drank wine, and I waited. Time passed by and I felt stronger. Nine months came – I felt good. Eleven months came – I felt better. And now, 45 years later, I’m still here!”
“A few years ago I went back to the US and tried to find my doctors. But I couldn’t find them. They were all dead.”
There are lots of stories like this one on Ikaria. Some may well be just stories, but in recent years scientists and doctors have beaten a path to the island not far off the coast of Turkey to find out the real story.
The inhabitants of small Greek island Ikaria live on average 10 years longer than the rest of Western Europe
Ikaria got its name from the Greek myth of Icarus who, legend has it, plunged into the sea close to the island when his wax and feather wings melted. For centuries it was known as a health destination because of natural hot springs on the island.
More recently it has been identified as one of a small number of so-called “blue zones” by the author Dan Buettner and National Geographic, where residents enjoy great longevity. Other places include Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, and Loma Linda in California.
The most comprehensive work on Ikaria has been done by the University of Athens, whose researchers studied islanders aged over 65. On average, the 8,000 residents live 10 years longer than most Europeans and in much better health to the end.
There are many significant factors about the islanders’ lifestyle which might contribute to their longevity.
Even compared to a typical Mediterranean diet, Ikarians eat a lot of fish and vegetables, and relatively low levels of meat.
Six out of 10 of people aged over 90 are still physically active, compared with about 20% elsewhere. Most food is cooked in olive oil. Large quantities of wild greens and herbs are gathered from the hillsides for both food and medicinal purposes.
Many older people make a daily brew of mountain tea from dried herbs such as sage, thyme, mint, and chamomile, and sweeten it with honey from local bees.
“It cures everything,” claims Stamatis Moraitis.
Many of the wild herbs are used by people all over the world as traditional remedies. They are rich in antioxidants and also contain diuretics which can lower blood pressure.
The researchers believe other elements of lifestyle are also significant.
Rates of smoking are relatively low, mid-day naps are the norm, the pace of life is slow and people socialize frequently with friends and family, drinking moderate amounts of wine.
Extended families give older people an important role in society. Levels of depression and dementia are low.
Dr. Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist from the University of Athens who has studied the islanders, says they suffer the same sorts of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular problems as others elsewhere, but later in life.
“Ikaria gives us an opportunity to study why these people enjoy these beneficial effects. We can’t avoid these diseases, but they manage to preserve the quality of their life for many years. The mean age for cardiovascular disease is about 55 to 60. In Ikaria it comes about 10 years later.”
Future lines of enquiry for the university include geological studies into whether naturally occurring radioactive elements such as radium could have an effect on cancers.
There is also genetic research which compares islanders with Ikarians who have emigrated and therefore live a different lifestyle.
Meeting some of the oldest islanders makes you appreciate their span of time.
The dining table is laden with delicious Ikarian delicacies.
“It’s just a little snack,” insists Voula, wife of 102-year-old George Kassiotis, as he pulled out his identity card showing his date of birth in 1910 and talked about his early life.
On his sideboard are photos of him in the Greek cavalry in 1931. He fought the Italians in Albania during World War II and later helped build the first metal led road on the island before retiring in 1970.
“I don’t eat processed food, I don’t smoke and I don’t get stressed,” says George Kassiotis.
“I’m not worried about death. We know that we all are going to go there.”
The younger generation seems to be keeping traditions going. We ate another meal at the home of Nikos Karoutsos, a hotel owner in his 50s, and witnessed the sight of many friends and family, popping in for a drink and something to eat.
“We don’t have nightclubs or discos,” he says, as people chinked glasses filled with red wine poured from large plastic flagons.
“The door is always open, there’s no need to call and ask to come.”
Meanwhile, the teenage children drifted between the table and the computer in the corner to chat on Facebook.
Stamatis Moraitis:
Born in Evdilos, Ikaria, in 1915
Shot in the arm in WWII and escaped to Turkey, then spent time recovering in Chatham, UK, before settling in the US in 1943
Met Greek-American wife Alice and had three children, settled in New Jersey and later Florida
Established a painting and decorating firm operating in New York, now run by his son
Diagnosed with lung cancer in the 1960s, given nine months, returns to Ikaria
Says his father was 117 when he died
Tends his 200 olive trees, harvests olive oil and produces about 700 litres of red wine a year
Wife Elpiniki – known as Alice – dies, in January 2012 aged 84, after 68-year marriage
Grandson Christopher now spends a lot of time looking after him, helping with the olive trees
Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson are in North Korea on a visit described as unhelpful by the US government.
Speaking in Beijing before flying to Pyongyang, Bill Richardson said the visit was “a private humanitarian mission”.
He said he planned to raise the case of a US citizen detained in North Korea.
Bill Richardson has visited North Korea several times in the past, most recently in December 2010.
On two occasions he helped secure the release of detained US nationals. After his most recent visit he said Pyongyang had agreed to re-open its nuclear facilities to UN inspectors, but this did not transpire.
The detained US national is Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in November in circumstances that are not clear. North Korea has in the past released detained Americans after high-profile US visits.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson are in North Korea on a visit described as unhelpful by the US government
Google, meanwhile, has not commented on Eric Schmidt’s trip.
“This is not a Google trip, but I’m sure he’s interested in some of the economic issues there, the social media aspect. So this is why we are teamed up on this,” Bill Richardson said.
“We’ll meet with North Korean political leaders. We’ll meet with North Korean economic leaders, military. We’ll visit some universities. We don’t control the visit. They will let us know what the schedule is when we get there,” he said.
Internet use is highly restricted in North Korea, where few people have access to a computer and most users can only access a national intranet rather than the world wide web.
The visit comes less than a month after North Korea put a satellite into orbit using a three-stage rocket – a move condemned by the US as a banned test of long-range missile technology.
“We don’t think the timing of this is particularly helpful,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said late last week.
Bill Richardson said the delegation was expecting to be in Pyongyang for two and a half days.
Journalists at Southern Weekly, a major Chinese newspaper, have gone on strike in a rare protest against censorship.
The row was sparked last week when the paper’s New Year message calling for reform was changed by propaganda officials.
Southern Weekly’s staff wrote two letters calling for the provincial propaganda chief to step down. Another row then erupted over control of the paper’s microblog.
Supporters of the paper have gathered outside its office, reports say.
Some of the protesters carried banners that read: “We want press freedom, constitutionalism and democracy.”
Chinese media are supervised by so-called propaganda departments that often change content to align it with party thinking.
Journalists at Southern Weekly, a major Chinese newspaper, have gone on strike in a rare protest against censorship
Southern Weekly is one of the country’s most respected newspapers, known for its hard-hitting investigations and for testing the limits of freedom of speech.
The row erupted after a New Year message which had called for guaranteed constitutional rights was changed by censors into a piece that praised the Communist Party.
In response, the newspaper’s journalists called for the Guangdong propaganda chief’s resignation, accusing him of being “dictatorial” in an era of “growing openness”.
In two open letters 35 prominent former staff and 50 interns at the paper demanded Tuo Zhen step down, saying the move amounted to “crude” interference.
On Sunday night, a message on the newspaper’s official microblog denied that the editorial was changed because of censorship, saying that the “online rumors were false”.
The microblog updates, said to have been issued by senior editors, sparked the strike among members of the editorial team who disagreed with the move, reports say.
Almost 100 editorial staff members have gone on strike, saying the newspaper is under pressure from authorities.
It is thought that this is the first time that there has been a direct showdown between newspaper staff and party officials.
How the case is handled is seen as a key test for Chinese officials, installed just two months ago in a once-in-a-decade leadership transition, observers say.
Five men accused of the abduction, gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old student in Delhi are appearing in court for a preliminary hearing in a case that has shocked India and caused an outcry.
The case has been temporarily adjourned after chaotic scenes in the courtroom. The judge has ordered a closed hearing.
The case is expected to be transferred to a new fast-track court for trial.
It comes as four Delhi policemen have been suspended over the handling of another suspected rape and murder case.
The father of a 21-year-old woman whose body was found on Saturday has said she was gang-raped.
He said police initially failed to react when he reported her disappearance, suggesting instead that she had gone off with someone.
The case has triggered protests in the Delhi suburb of Noida, where the woman was employed in a factory.
Two men have been arrested and a third suspect is reported to have fled.
Five men accused of the abduction, gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old student in Delhi are appearing in court for a preliminary hearing
The hearing in the case of the five men accused of gang rape and murder has now been adjourned after chaotic scenes in court.
The room was filled with arguing lawyers, police and watching journalists – but there was no sign of the accused, although they were believed to be still in the building.
The magistrate has ordered a closed hearing to be held later on Monday.
The suspects were kept away from cameras as they arrived in a police van.
A sixth suspect, who is 17, will be tried separately in a youth court.
Lawyers have said they will refuse to defend the accused, because of the outcry the crime has provoked.
If convicted, the suspects could face the death penalty. Prosecutors have said they have extensive forensic evidence.
The five accused have been named as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.
Two of the suspects have offered to give evidence, possibly in return for a lighter sentence, Reuters news agency reports.
The victim and a male friend were attacked on a bus in south Delhi on December 16. She died two weeks later in a hospital in Singapore.
Campaigners are calling for tougher rape laws and reforms to the police, who – critics say – often fail to file charges against accused attackers.
The victim’s father has denied weekend reports in a British newspaper that he wanted his daughter’s name published.
He said that he would have no problem with her name being used on a new law against rape.
Over the weekend friends of heavily pregnant Amber Rose organized a “blue” themed get together to celebrate her imminent motherhood and going by the Twitter pictures it was a roaring success.
Amber Rose, 29, is expecting her first child with rapper Wiz Khalifa and her close friends – including singer Christina Milian – made sure it was a baby shower to remember.
The vibe of the party was the color blue and the group enjoyed blue snacks, had blue decorations – and her make-up artist best friend Priscilla Ono even had blue hair.
Known for her outlandish and daring maternity wear Amber Rose didn’t let the side down and wore a stretchy rainbow colored block patterned maxi dress with long sleeves.
Her trademark shorn and bleached hair was as sleek as always and Amber Rose finished it off with red lips, orange nails and a bit of bling.
There was no sign of her 25-year-old fiancé suggesting the shower was a girl’s only affair.
The pair announced her pregnancy at the 2012 MTV Music Awards and later caused controversy by stating that Wiz Khalifa refused to give up smoking once the baby – a boy – was born.
Over the weekend friends of heavily pregnant Amber Rose organized a blue themed get together to celebrate her imminent motherhood
When E! News asked Wiz Khalifa if he was planning to stop smoking, he said: “I think it’s all about how you’re raised with it.
“Before there was a much more negative outtake on it. You know, pot and what it can do, and the effects of it.
“Of course, I’m not going to be smoking right there over the baby, because smoke in general and being high is not good for a kid. None of that.
“But definitely he’s going to know what it is – and he’ll know the difference between being a child and not being able to use it and being an adult and knowing how to use it.”
Amber Rose concurred: “It’s just like alcohol, basically. That’s how I feel about it, you know. When you’re a kid, you know that you’re not supposed to drink alcohol, that it’s for adults and that’s it.”
She added: “Our son is just going to know that daddy likes to smoke.”
A brand new get-slim-quick fix is on the market, and it’s based on the humble raspberry.
Raspberry ketones are fragrant compounds that occur naturally in raspberries and a number of other fruits.
Raspberries are normally used to give a fruity smell to cosmetics and foodstuffs but, because you only get between 1 and 4 milligrams from every kilo of fresh fruit, a synthetic version is often used to get the same result. And now these ketones are being sold online, in supplement form, as a slimming aid.
The key lies in the fact that raspberry ketones appear to boost levels of a hormone called adiponectin, which regulates metabolism. Higher levels of this hormone are associated with fewer fat stores.
Millions of Americans have become convinced of their powers to “melt” away fat after they were recommended by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Dr. Mehmet Oz says raspberry ketones are “the number-one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat”.
So do they really work? Ann Ashworth, a spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, urges caution, pointing out the only published research into the effects of raspberry ketones on weight loss is small studies on mice.
“Although this sounds very exciting, this evidence cannot be transferred to humans without further clinical trials,” she says.
“We need to know if it’s safe, if there are side-effects, or if it interacts with other medicines.”
Consultant nutritionist Helen Bond agrees: “People want a quick fix, especially at this time of the year, but when it comes to weight loss, no supplement can take the place of a healthy diet and exercise.”
“It is not very glamorous but it will save you quite a few pennies along the way and will help you keep the weight off in the long term.”
Raspberry ketones appear to boost levels of a hormone called adiponectin, which regulates metabolism
What Are Raspberry Ketones?
Raspberry ketones are what actually gives a raspberry its smell. Raspberry ketones have been used as a chemical additive in perfumes and cosmetics for quite some time as a fragrance agent. Its official chemical name is 4(-4-Hydroxyphenyl)butan-2-one and more commonly known as Frambinone, Oxyphenylon, Rheosmin and Rasketone. It’s sweet fruity aroma make it an attractive to use in products. Raspberry ketones are really only found in trace amounts in raspberries (less than 0.1%), which makes the natural version of the ketone too costly to use in supplements which means any raspberry ketone that is actually used in a supplement would rarely come from the actual raspberry and more-than-likely come from a product synthesized in the lab.
Synthesized raspberry ketone is really cheap – costing only a few bucks per pound. Ironically, this does not drive the price of the supplement down eventhough a large bottle contains just pennies of actual, pure raspberry ketone. This should raise a red flag as it implies that the supplement companies are raking in a huge profit by creating a cheap clone of the raspberry ketone compound.
Do Raspberry Ketones Work? And Are Raspberry Ketones Safe?
According to the May 2012 issue of The Pharmacist’s Letter, raspberry ketones are purported to help weight loss by increasing lipid metabolism. However, this has been shown in lab animals…not humans! The Pharmacists Letter also goes on to state that safety is also a concern because the higher dosages of raspberry ketones have not even been tested in humans and reports are coming in of palpitations and reduced warfarin effects in patients who were taking raspberry ketone products. The Pharmacists Letter advises all pharmacists to advise patients to steer clear of raspberry ketone supplements.
Raspberry ketones have a chemical structure similar to synephrine (which is a weight-loss drug and used as an alternative to ephedrine – which has been taken off the market due to harmful side effects). According to Wikipedia: “Many diet products such as “Stacker 2″, “Xenadrine-EFX”, etc. contain a “stack” of synephrine along with caffeine, sometimes with an NSAID. Some reports have indicated that such diet pills cause numerous harmful effects. The Mayo Clinic published a report that suggested a link between Stacker 2 pills and increased risk of ischemic stroke, increased blood pressure, and myocardial infarction (heart attack). Synephrine can also cause arrhythmias. It is similar to ephedrine and can therefore show similar symptoms.”
Synephrine can also be found in supplements such as Bitter Orange. Bitter Orange can cause high blood pressure and increased heart rate. There has been no evidence to show that Bitter Orange is any safer than ephedrine.
Due to the nature of this supplement, it does not require FDA approval nor scientific backing to support the fat-loss claims. And as stated above, all of the studies had a serious shortcoming: They involved rodents or cells in test tubes, not people! To me this is a definite deal-breaker! Many weight-loss supplements look great in the lab, but don’t actually work in the real-world – mainly due to poor nutrition and lack of exercise!
The Dr. Oz television segment featured before-and-after pictures of women who said they lost significant weight while taking raspberry ketone supplements. But Dr. Oz noted that the women had also dieted and worked out. The Dr. Oz website says that raspberry ketones work best “when paired with regular exercise and a well-balanced diet.”
In summary, I would steer clear of raspberry ketones as recommended in The Pharmacists Letter. There have been no trials done on humans to support the claims and the only way they’ve been shown to work is when paired with diet and exercise. So, if you’re considering raspberry ketones, it is probably best to start with diet and exercise first and see where that gets you – odds are you’ll lose weight and save some cash by not purchasing the next “miracle” fat burner.
Pregnant Kim Kardashian flew into Miami on Sunday and announced plans to head off on a promotional tour to the Ivory Coast.
Kim Kardashian, 32, wore oversized glasses and went make-up free as she arrived at the airport.
Her oversized pink shirt skimmed what appeared to be the start of a baby bump, with Kim teaming it with a white blazer, loose brown pants and nude heels.
Earlier on Saturday, Kim Kardashian tweeted that she was enjoying a bit of sweets, something which her celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson may not approve of.
“Apple pie caramel apple from the Rockie Mountain Chocolate Factory. Oldie but gooooooodie!!!!” she wrote.
The slip in healthy eating as a big departure for Kim Kardashian, who hired Tracy Anderson based on her latest workout venture, the Pregnancy Project, and her expertise with helping women stay on track.
Instead of celebrating the holiday of Armenian Christmas with her family, Kim Kardashian has been visiting friends in the beach city, including Real Housewives of Miami star Larsa Pippen.
Pregnant Kim Kardashian flew into Miami on Sunday and announced plans to head off on a promotional tour to the Ivory Coast
Next on the travel agenda for Kim Kardashian is a trip to the volatile Ivory Coast city of Abidjan for a series of paid events.
“I will be in Abidjan on Jan 19 for two special events. Get your #malife card now!” the she posted on Sunday.
She has been tweeting quite a bit about the trip in the past week, especially regarding the news that 61 people were killed in a stampede in the streets after a New Year’s fireworks celebration.
Kim Kardashian wrote: “Reading about the terrible tragedy in Abidjan. So sad! I’m heading there in a few weeks… my prayers are with you all! #drameplateau.”
The expectant mother should also be careful of a travel advisory issued by the U.S. government, which warns visitors to the Ivory Coast of the dangers of high crime in the area.
According to the advisory, which was posted on the Department of State’s website in November, cautions that “crimes, such as muggings, robbery, burglary, and carjacking, pose risks for foreign visitors in Abidjan and around the country”.
“You should take precautions when stopped in heavy traffic or at road blocks due to the threat of assault and/or robbery, and avoid travel outside Abidjan after dark to minimize risk,” the advisory continues.
International financial regulators have eased rules on minimum quantities of cash and liquid assets all banks must hold, set to take effect in 2015.
The agreement, by the body that oversees the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, is an attempt to make banks less vulnerable to runs.
The new “liquidity coverage ratio” will be phased in from 2015 and take full effect four years later.
Analysts say the rules just announced are more flexible than a draft version.
The new rules are part of efforts to prevent financial shocks such as those prompted by the 2007 run on Northern Rock in the UK, or by the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers in the US.
Banks will have to hold enough cash and easily sellable assets, to tide them over during an acute 30-day crisis.
The final version of the rules updates a draft version put forward more than two years ago.
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has eased rules on minimum quantities of cash and liquid assets all banks must hold, set to take effect in 2015
Analysts had warned that over-stringent standards could reduce lending and stifle economic growth.
The new version allows banks to hold a broader range of eligible assets, including some shares, corporate bonds, and high-quality residential mortgage backed securities.
It also gives them more time to comply with the new standards.
The head of oversight body’s head, Mervyn King, said the timeframe ensures the rules “will in no way hinder the ability of the global banking system to finance the recovery”.
The oddity is that most banks currently hold considerably more than the new minimum requirement – because leading central banks have injected massive amounts of liquidity into the financial system through “quantitative easing”.
But this simply reflects the depressed times we live in.
The new rules would force banks to hold vastly more liquid assets than they did in 2007 when big banks barely had enough cash to meet demands for repayment from relatively small numbers of depositors and creditors.
They are part of the broader “Basel III” package of reforms, which will require lenders to set aside more capital to absorb losses.
The Basel Committee brings together representatives regulators from 27 nations.
Blue Ivy Carter’s parents, Beyonce and rapper Jay-Z, have bought her the most outrageous luxury yet – her own nursery at a basketball stadium that costs $1 million a year to rent.
Blue Ivy is apparently put in the suite at the Brooklyn Nets ground in New York whenever her father performs on stage or is watching a game.
Jay-Z did eight shows to open the stadium last year as he grew up nearby and is a fan of the team.
He and Beyonce’s decision to rent the suite comes after they already showered their one-year-old daughter with more gifts than most children can dream of.
When she was just five days old the couple bought her a $21,000 “fantasy crib” made of solid cedar and birch.
Then there’s the $16,000 high chair lined with Swarovski crystals designed by Carla Monchen from which she can eat her food when she is old enough.
And let’s not forget the clothes: Blue Ivy has already been bought a $290 Jean Paul Gaultier silk dress to get her wardrobe started.
According to US Weekly, the suite at the Brooklyn Nets stadium is ‘filled with toys’ to keep the toddler entertained.
Blue Ivy, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s daughter, has own $1million nursery suite at New York’s Barclays Center
The decor is said to be mostly glass and there is a TV screen so she can also watch him perform.
Beyonce, 31, and Jay-Z are amongst the highest earning and most successful celebrities on Earth – she is worth around $300 million due to her singing with Destiny’s Child and her solo career, her clothing line and numerous investments.
Jay-Z, 43, is said to be worth $450 million on the back of his incredibly successful recording career and investments.
They have not been the only ones pampering their daughter and the child has reportedly be inundated with gifts from the likes of Sean Combs, Kanye West, Rihanna, Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey.
Among the more extravagant gifts already sent by their celebrity friends was a $4,700 Swarovski crystal-studded baby bath from Beyonce’s former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
The 3,000lb porcelain tub is studded with 44,928 crystals that Californian interior designer Lori Gardner spent more than two months applying by hand.
Kelly Rowland also bought a green Bob Marley one-piece and several cashmere baby blankets at a cost of $300 each.
Oprah Winfrey even sent a case of her favorite children’s books to get Blue Ivy off to a good start with her reading.
The outpouring has not stopped Beyonce herself splashing out herself, including the crib from high end baby firm Posh Tots, which has in the past sold items to Julia Roberts, Donald and Vanessa Trump and Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.
After the birth she and Jay-Z also ensured their newborn travelled home in style in a luxury van with blacked out windows and a pimped-up interior.
The leather seats, satellite TV, minibar and car stereo of the $125,000 Mercedes Sprinter Van Grand Edition made it look like it had come straight out of one of her father’s hip hop videos.
Beyonce’s baby was born in January last year weighing 7 lbs amid a $125,000 security operation which saw a bulletproof door temporarily installed at the entrance to Beyonce’s room at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
The happy couple said at that the “birth was emotional and extremely peaceful; we are in heaven”.
Honey Boo Boo’s mother, June Shannon, has revealed she won’t be upgrading her modest home for a luxury pad any time soon – as she is not profiting from reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
Instead the self-proclaimed “redneck” has divided the estimated $15,000 to $20,000 episode fee into equal trust funds for her four daughters and granddaughter.
“I want my kids to look back and say, <<Mama played it smart. Not like those other reality TV people>>,” she told website TMZ.
And Mama June, as she is known, has ensured she won’t be tempted to take the money for herself by asking TLC to pay it straight into the trust funds.
“TLC puts the money into the girls’ trust accounts for me and then I get an email telling me how much everyone gets,” she explained.
“You’re never gonna see me drive a Range Rover or a Mercedes. I’ll drive one if someone else pays for it. Never gonna live above my means.”
Honey Boo Boo’s mother, June Shannon, has revealed she won’t be upgrading her modest home for a luxury pad any time soon as she is not profiting from reality show
Her far-sightedness means that when 7-year-old Honey Boo Boo, aka Alana Thompson, and her sisters Lauryn, 12, Jessica, 15, Anna, 18, and Anna’s daughter Kaitlyn turn 21 they will receive a sizeable amount of money.
Only if they need money for their education, or healthcare, can the girls access the money before then.
Full time mother June Shannon, who is known for her love of extreme couponing, explained that she and her partner live off his salary as a contractor.
The family has made one large purchase since their new found fame – a second hand, 7-year-old Ford Expedition.
Madonna continued her quest to conquer the slopes while on a family holiday in the mountains of Gstaad, Switzerland on Saturday.
Madonna, 54, has been celebrating the new year on the slopes with her children and her Brazilian boyfriend Brahim Zaibat and has been getting quite a bit of action on her skis.
But she started off her week on a bad foot, spending the majority of time on her bum as she lost balance while skiing with her 25-year-old boyfriend.
On Saturday Madonna’s skiing skills appear to have improved as she’s been taking lessons and was joined by a male companion who could have been her instructor.
Madonna has been celebrating the new year on the slopes with her children and her Brazilian boyfriend Brahim Zaibat and has been getting quite a bit of action on her skis
Madonna kept a low profile in an all black ensemble, matching her male companion.
And aside from keeping her upright, his duties also included helping Madonna in and out of her snow equipment.
Brahim Zaibat and Madonna’s 12-year-old son Rocco took a break from the skis, opting instead to slip on snowboards with their friends.
Madonna’s daughter Lourdes, 16, was also out on the mountain on Friday cutting a much more confident figure as she rode her snowboard, but wasn’t spotted on the slopes on Saturday.
Madonna’s younger children, David and Mercy, also took a break from the cold after spending the week taking private lessons.
The young brood have been naturals, excelling at both snowboarding and skiing on their holiday jaunt.
It seems the family are fans of the resort and spent time in the town last January.
The U.S. has been hit with a particularly aggressive early flu season with widespread reports of the illness across the country, hospitalizing 2,257 people and leaving 18 children dead before the end of 2012.
And health officials say the numbers haven’t even peaked yet.
“I think we’re still accelerating,” Tom Skinner, a Center for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman, told reporters.
The latest figures from the CDC show 29 states and New York City reporting high levels of flu activity, up from 16 states and New York City just one week prior.
Overall, 41 states reported cases.
“It’s about five weeks ahead of the average flu season,” said Lyn Finelli, lead of the surveillance and response team that monitors influenza for the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“We haven’t seen such an early season since 2003 to 2004.”
During that flu season, Joe Lastinger’s daughter Emily, 3, died only five days after coming down with the flu in late January.
“That was the first really bad season for children in a while,” said Joe Lastinger, 40.
“For whatever reason that’s not well understood, it affected her and it killed her.”
In that season, illnesses peaked in early to mid-December, with flu-related pneumonia and deaths peaking in early January.
That season was considered a “moderately severe” season for flu, and ended in mid-February.
It’s still too early to tell how bad this year’s flu season will get.
The US has been hit with a particularly aggressive early flu season with widespread reports of the illness across the country
While the CDC is waiting for more time to pass before classifying the season, Google Flu Trends has already listed it as “intense” by monitoring flu activity around the world based on internet search terms.
And roughly 4% of users on Flu Near You, a real-time tracking tool gaining about 100 new participants per week, say they’re experiencing symptoms.
“That’s huge,” John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston, told NBC News.
“Last year, we never got near this.”
John Brownstein is one of the founders of Flu Near You, a project, coordinated by Children’s Hospital Boston, the Skoll Global Threats Fund and the American Public Health Association.
The project has been a great tool for generating immediate data about the ongoing flu season.
“It’s what we call <<nowcasting>>,” John Brownstein said.
“It’s a more up-to-date view.”
CDC data can be as much as two weeks behind real-time reports.
John Brownstein’s data shows cough is this year’s most frequently reported symptom at 19%, ahead of sore throat at 16%, fatigue at 15%, headache at 14%, body ache at 10%, and fever at 7%.
Three out of four people reporting flu symptoms had not been vaccinated.
While John Brownstein’s data is more immediate, he cautioned against using it as an accurate measure of vaccine’s effectiveness because of variables in reporting.
During the 2010-2011 flu season, the CDC reports vaccine’s were effective for about 60% for all age groups combined.
While there were then reports of vaccinated people developing laboratory-confirmed flu strains, CDC officials said it’s not yet possible to know if this year’s trends match up though they are “watching the situation closely”.
Those officials also noted that this year’s vaccines seem to be a good match for the two strains of influenza A and one of influenza B circulating.
The H3N2 strain is dominant this year, and it can cause more serious illnesses.
Flu seasons vary widely in severity with some year’s totaling up to 200,000 hospitalized and between 3,000 to 49,000 dead.
About 127 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed this year from the 15 million doses produced for this season.
Do you have the flu? These are the symptoms to watch for:
According to data being gathered by Flu Near You, flu cases have increased dramatically over the last few weeks. Here are the season’s most-reported symptoms:
