A previously unknown Beethoven arrangement for an ancient hymn has been uncovered in Berlin after 192 years.
The composer wrote a harmony for the Gregorian chant Pange Lingua and modified its tune, said the University of Manchester’s Professor Barry Cooper.
The passage was written in a sketchbook but had previously been regarded as an exercise or a sketch for another piece.
Prof. Barry Cooper recognized the hymn’s tune and identified the two-minute piece as a previously unknown Beethoven work.
The leading expert on the composer said it was a rare example of the composer writing religious music.
“I was very surprised when I found this – I didn’t think he’d written anything like this,” he said.
The sketchbook, which is held at the Berlin State Library, dates from around 1820. It was transcribed and published in 2010.
Prof. Barry Cooper said Beethoven scholars had not identified the piece earlier because “it just looked like a series of notes”.
“When I looked at it, I thought, hey, that’s not just a series of notes, that’s a hymn tune with Beethoven’s harmony.
“It seems that people who are experts in plainsong don’t look at Beethoven sketches very much and people who are experts in Beethoven sketches don’t look at plainsong very much. But I happened to know both.”
A previously unknown Beethoven arrangement for an ancient hymn has been uncovered in Berlin after 192 years
Beethoven made slight changes to the tune of Pange Lingua, a 1,000-year-old Gregorian chant, Prof. Barry Cooper said.
It may have been played at the ceremony where Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolph of Austria was made Archbishop of Olmutz in March 1820, when the composer was 49, he added.
Experts in Berlin had assumed the piece was a sketch for his celebrated mass Missa Solemnis, which was written around the same time.
“He never composed any functional music at all – the only liturgical music he wrote was for the two great masses,” Prof. Barry Cooper said.
“So to find him writing simple functional music for an ordinary church service is extraordinary.”
Professor William Drabkin from the University of Southampton, who published the sketches, described it as a “very rudimentary piece”.
“When I did the sketch transcriptions, I thought it was some sort of exercise in counterpoint,” he said.
“I couldn’t place it.”
He added: “It’s certainly a piece that we’ve not come across. It adds a small contribution to our knowledge of what Beethoven was doing in the 1820s.”
The hymn will be performed at the University of Manchester at 14:30 BST on Thursday.
The performance comes 14 years after Prof. Barry Cooper stirred controversy in the classical music world by creating a 10th Symphony based on unfinished Beethoven sketches.
Fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza appears to have calmed after an unofficial truce was reached following days of violence.
Israel said a mortar shell landed in the south of the country on Thursday after no reports of exchanges fighting.
Five Israelis have been wounded since Tuesday amid some of the heaviest barrage of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza in months.
Six Palestinian militants were killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Schools were closed on both sides of the border for fear of more attacks, though some reopened in parts of southern Israel on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to strike hard at the militants if attacks continued.
“We didn’t ask for this escalation and didn’t initiate it,” he said on Wednesday.
“But if it continues, we are prepared to embark on a far more extensive and penetrating operation.”
If previous ceasefires are anything to go by, there may well be breaches by both sides before calm is fully restored.
Hamas will have to stop other armed groups in Gaza from launching attacks, and the underlying conflict between Palestinian militants and Israel remains; any truce is unlikely to be permanent.
On Wednesday, more than 70 rockets were launched into southern Israel, injuring four people, two critically, according to the Israeli military.
In response, Israeli aircraft and tanks targeted rocket-launching sites in northern Gaza.
Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, confirmed it had been involved in firing dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel.
In a statement, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades and a smaller Gaza-based militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), said: “These holy missions come in response to the repeated, continuous crimes of the enemy against our people.”
The violence comes during a visit to the region by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, to try to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.
Catherine Ashton is due to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad on Thursday, a day after holding talks with Israeli leaders.
Kim Chol, a North Korean military officer, has been executed with a mortar shell blast for disrespecting late leader Kim Jong-il by drinking alcohol during the 100-day mourning period.
South Korean media claim Kim Chol, the secretive state’s former vice minister of the army, was forced to stand on a spot that had been targeted with a mortar on the orders of Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-un, who took over from his father after his death in December 2011, demanded Kim Chol was “obliterated”, with “no trace of him behind, down to his hair” in January.
It followed the North Korean regime’s decision to order its 25 million population to abstain from pleasurable activities –including drinking alcohol – in honor of Kim Jong-il.
As an initial crack down on pleasure, anyone found to be not showing extreme distress in the hours after the dictator’s death were dealt with severely by being sent to six months in labor camps, according to reports leaking from the Stalinist nation.
It was claimed that anyone who failed to turn up at organized mourning events within two days of the burial service were sent to a labor camp and punishment was also meted out to anyone who even made a mobile phone call out of the country.
But when the mourning period to mark Kim Jong-il’s burial was over and the strict “no pleasure” 100 days followed, anyone who raised a glass of alcohol was in danger of receiving a death sentence.
According to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, Kim Chol was one of those who failed to resist the chance of having a drink.
Kim Chol has been executed for disrespecting late leader Kim Jong-il by drinking alcohol during the 100-day mourning period
And while Kim Chol was the most senior official reported to have been arrested and executed, the South Korea newspaper reporter that a number of other generals were shot after being found guilty of drinking and being involved in sex scandals.
In total, 14 senior party, government and military officials were said to have been “purged” on the direct orders of new leader Kim Jong-un.
It was claimed by sources outside the country that the mourning periods had created a “vicious atmosphere of fear” which have spilled over to daily life almost a year after Kim Jong-il’s death.
South Korean lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun told the Chosun Ilbo paper that the executions were probably not over.
“It seems that the purges will continue for the time being, as Kim Jong-un is tightening his grip on power,” he said.
When Alan Titchmarsh invited “dog whisperer” Cesar Millan to appear as a guest in his show it was never going to please everyone.
Cesar Millan’s unconventional training methods to “rehabilitate” ill-disciplined dogs, including physically attacking them, using electric shocks and spikes on collars, have split public opinion worldwide and led many to brand him “barbaric”.
A wave of protests was unleashed even before The Alan Titchmarsh Show went out on ITV yesterday afternoon.
More than 1,000 people joined a Twitter campaign demanding Cesar Millan’s appearance be cancelled. Production staff was inundated with calls and Alan Titchmarsh was bombarded with hundreds of emails, while a Facebook page set up by protesters attracted 1,600 followers.
And when animal welfare campaigners threatened to disrupt the live show, extra security staff were drafted in.
Although Alan Titchmarsh, 63, refused to cancel the interview, he took on his guest in an uncharacteristically confrontational style.
Alan Titchmarsh told Cesar Millan: “You punish dogs, you hit them. I’ve seen you punch a dog in the throat to get it to behave and to most people, like myself, I would say that is totally unacceptable as a way of training a dog.”
An unsettled Cesar Millan replied: “Well obviously I would respectfully disagree with that. It’s not a punch, it’s a touch.”
Alan Titchmarsh savages dog trainer Cesar Millan who caused TV outcry with his unconventional techniques to rehabilitate ill-disciplined dogs
Alan Titchmarsh countered: “I watched the video of it and if somebody touched me like that I would be hurt. You went for the throat and you punched the dog back and the dog bit you and held on to your hand.
“Having watched a lot of boxing matches it looked like something Henry Cooper would deliver.”
Cesar Millan again insisted that it was nothing more than a touch.
“But you also work with electric shocks and collars and spikes on collars that really hurt them,” continued Alan Titchmarsh.
“You know, this is pretty barbaric treatment. What’s your reasoning for treating dogs like this?”
Cesara Millan insisted that his methods were simply used to “snap the [dog’s] brain out of it”.
After the interview opinion on Twitter and other social media was divided, with some backing Alan Titchmarsh, while others rounded on him for being “abusive”.
In a statement read out on air, the RSPCA said: “Adverse training techniques which have been seen to be used by Cesar Millan can cause pain and fear for dogs and may worsen their behavioral problems.
“The RSPCA believes that using such techniques is unacceptable, nor are they necessary to change dog behavior for the better when other dog trainers use reward-based methods to train dogs very effectively.”
Slumped at the kitchen table with a glass of wine in front of her, a bleary-eyed Bobbi Kristina Brown slurs her words as she admits: “I’m not OK. I just need time to learn how to live without my mum.”
Unfortunately, Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney Houston’s daughter is not learning that lesson in the private and protective bosom of her family, but in the full glare of cameras recording her every move for a new reality television series, which has just started in America and is likely to screen here soon.
Other scenes in the teaser for the first episode of the ten-part series The Houstons: On Our Own, show Bobbi Kristina Brown being sick, frequently in tears, and announcing her engagement at the age of 19 to her foster brother, Nick Gordon.
It would be heartening to think that, despite the chronic dysfunction of her family life, Krissi, as she’s known to friends and family, will grow into a well-balanced young woman able to put tragedy behind her.
But the fact Bobbi Kristina Brown has signed up to a warts-and-all reality show, while still grieving the sudden death of her 48-year-old singing legend mother in February, does not score highly in any assessment of her judgment.
Nor, many would argue, does her recent engagement to 22-year-old Nick Gordon who grew up with her as her brother, and from whom she has been inseparable since her mother’s death.
Whitney Houston took Nick Gordon into her care when he was 12 and unofficially adopted him when his father went to prison and his mother could reportedly no longer care for him.
A tweet from Nick Gordon in March confirming that he and Bobbi Kristina Brown were in a relationship met with much uproar, given that until then they had known each other as siblings.
The family, already fractured by the tensions of an ongoing inheritance battle, is said to disapprove of the romance.
Whether Bobbi Kristina Brown cares what they think is another matter, given that she has already faced more controversy in 19 years than most people see in a lifetime.
Her mother and father, the singer Bobby Brown, were both drug addicts, and Bobbi Kristina herself was reported to have been caught using cocaine after her mother’s funeral. Last year, she was photographed snorting what was thought to be cocaine and, in another incident, smoking marijuana from a bong.
Her uncle, Gary Houston, admits during the trailer for the reality TV show that he is deeply worried about his niece: “I sympathize with what has happened with Krissi’s mother but I hope we don’t lose her.”
However, it would seem Bobbi Kristina Brown has few reliable people to turn to in her hour of need. Virtually orphaned since her mother’s death – her father has been in and out of rehab and the two of them no longer speak – she is surrounded by relatives who appear to have rather mixed motives.
Friends admit to being concerned for her: “Krissi was her mum’s best friend,” said schoolfriend Duane Allen.
“She talks about her mother all the time and says she still finds herself doing things and wanting to tell her mum. Krissi, her mother and Nick were a very tight-knit family.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s grandmother, Cissy Houston – Whitney’s 79-year-old mother – has condemned the relationship with Nick Gordon as “practically incest”, but some are unsurprised by Krissi reaching out to him.
“He was always there for her to make sure she was all right. I know he loves her,” says Duane Allen.
A family friend, who asked not to be named, described how the unlikely romance began: “Krissi needed someone to cuddle up to at night and invited Nick to sleep in her bed with her.
“The first night they kissed, there was a fair amount of alcohol involved. They both felt weird about developing feelings for each other because they are sort of siblings, but a few drinks changed things and it’s been on ever since.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon still refer to Whitney Houston as “our mother” when they make frequent comments on Twitter together.
Family relationships aside, aspiring rapper and model Nick Gordon, who was pictured on Twitter with a gun earlier this year, is not everyone’s idea of a wholesome partner for a recently bereaved teenager.
There have been rumors about him taking drugs, and many are questioning his relationship with a fragile young woman set to inherit her mother’s fortune, an estimated $11 million, over the next ten years.
However, Bobbi Kristina Brown seems devoted to Nick Gordon.
“She’s caught Nick-itis,” one of her cousins joked.
“Krissi will be the first to tell you she hates being away from Nick even for a few hours,” adds a friend.
“That scares their aunt Pat Houston [Whitney’s best friend and sister-in-law – she married Whitney’s brother Gary] because she sees the same kind of addictive relationship between Krissi and Nick that Whitney had with Bobby. Those sorts of relationships can be very destructive.
“As much as they can’t stand to be apart, they do fight a lot.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown seems bent on following Whitney Houston to destruction
Evidence of this came when the pair were in a car accident last month, said to have been caused by their arguing.
A former school friend says: “Pat is begging them to wait before they even think about getting married, but Krissi insists she is very grown up for her age because she had to act as a parent to her own parents. She’s headstrong, defiant and determined to make it work with Nick.”
Rumors of their engagement first surfaced in August when she started wearing one of her mother’s rings – a giant sapphire and diamonds – on her wedding finger.
Earlier this month, Cissy Houston went to court to try to delay Bobbi Kristina Brown getting hold of any of the money from her mother’s will.
In court documents lodged in Atlanta, Cissy Houston claimed her granddaughter “is a highly visible target for those who would exert undue influence over her inheritance and/or seek to benefit from the respondent’s resources and celebrity”.
Cissy Houston is also said to have pulled out of attending a recent tribute to Whitney because she did not want to see Bobbi Kristina and Nick Gordon being openly affectionate.
Music industry executive Robert Tencer, who knew both Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, says Bobbi Kristina is surrounded by “enablers” – people who make constant excuses for their addictions.
“Her father is an enabler. There were stories he would use his daughter to get Whitney’s money when she was still alive. He spends money like it’s going out of fashion. It’s extremely suspicious that she is engaged to her adopted brother. The big question is, who is guiding Krissi?”
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon live in a $1million three-bedroom town house in Alpharetta, Atlanta, which was Whitney Houston’s home.
Officially, Bobbi Kristina Brown lives under the guardianship of the formidable Pat Houston, who is a trustee of Whitney’s will and lives close by. But while Pat Houston, 59, is a mother herself and might appear to be the most responsible person for the role, questions have been asked about her motives, too.
Pat Houston brokered a dubious deal to profit from footage of Whitney’s funeral service, and is also alleged to be involved in the leaking of pictures to an American tabloid of the Los Angeles hotel room where Whitney died of a heart attack, thought to have been caused by drugs.
Cissy Houston, a religious Baptist, was said to be furious with Pat, accusing her of cashing in on her daughter’s death.
However, Cissy Houston has agreed to do a tell-all book about her daughter’s life for a six-figure sum.
Bobby Brown, meanwhile, seems keen to exploit interest in the Houston family. Already a reality-show veteran, Bobby Brown signed up last month to do a third series based around a new tour and his family life. This is separate to Bobbi Kristina Brown’s show.
Whitney Houston’s phenomenal success made her the family’s cash cow. She sold 170 million records worldwide and her biggest hit, I Will Always Love You, is the best-selling single of all time by a female artist.
And yet she did not die a wealthy woman. Her drug addiction cost her dear, she paid a wage to most members of her family, and her homes were remortgaged.
Whitney Houston staged frequent comebacks, but years of drug and alcohol abuse had impaired her once-incredible voice. By the end of her life, Whitney Houston was said to be living on hand-outs authorized by her record company boss and mentor Clive Davis.
It seems that, like her friend Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston is now worth more dead than alive. But, unlike Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston did not write her own songs, so most of the money raised by the re-release of her albums goes to the songwriters. Her family are having to find inventive new ways to keep money coming in.
Bobbi Kristina Brown harbors her own ambitions to be a star. Having dueted with her mother on stage, she is understood to be in talks about a recording contract. She also had a recent part in a U.S. television comedy for which she attracted good reviews.
Her friend Duane Allen says: “Krissi is really talented in her own right. The reality show should open lots of doors for her. She’s approaching everything positively, and she has her own name to make. I think she’s doing well – better than I could have expected.”
Barack Obama appeared relaxed on the Jay Leno Show but gave Mitt Romney an opening when he quipped that he struggled with mathematics beyond the Seventh grade at the age of 13.
President Barack Obama was taking about helping his daughters with their maths homework when he said that “the math stuff I was fine with, up until 7th grade” but he was “pretty lost” after that.
In times of economic prosperity, the joke might have prompted hearty chuckles on both sides of the political aisle but with a $16 trillion deficit, a sputtering economy and unemployment only just under eight per cent, it was perhaps an unfortunate subject to joke about.
Barack Obama took a break from his heavy campaigning in swing states to appear on the Tonight Show Wednesday evening for an unprecedented fifth time, touching on everything from foreign policy to helping his daughters with homework.
He also joked about the origins of his rivalry with real estate billionaire Donald Trump, saying: “This all dates back to when we were growing up in Kenya. We had constant run-ins on the soccer field, he wasn’t very good.”
Donald Trump had Wednesday pledged to donate $5 million to the charity of Barack Obama’s choice if he released his college records.
Jay Leno questioned why the dislike existed between Barack Obama and Donald Trump, comparing it to the dislike between himself and CBS rival David Letterman.
Not missing a beat, Barack Obama said it dated back to their childhood rivalry in Kenya. In the past, Donald Trump was a high-profile member of the so-called “birther” movement, which professed that the president was born in Kenya and not the United States.
The end result eventually led to Barack Obama publishing his birth certificates, which confirmed, as he had always said, that he was born in Hawaii.
The president later added that he has never actually met Donald Trump.
Taking a break from levity, Jay Leno also touched on Mourdock’s controversial remarks, and referred to another Republican Senate hopeful, Todd Akin of Missouri.
Barack Obama admits he struggles with maths beyond the 7th grade on Jay Leno show
Earlier in his campaign, Todd Akin, also an opponent of abortion, referred to “legitimate rape” when contending that women’s bodies are capable of preventing pregnancy after rape.
“Well, I don’t know how these guys come up with these ideas,” Barack Obama said.
“Let me make a very simple proposition. Rape is rape. It is a crime. And so these various distinctions about rape don’t make too much sense to me – don’t make any sense to me.”
The president continued: “This is exactly why you don’t want a bunch of politicians, mostly male, making decisions about women’s health care decisions. Women are capable of making these decisions in consultation with their partners, with their doctors.
“And for politicians to want to intrude in this stuff, oftentimes without any information, is a huge problem.
“And this is obviously part of what’s stake at this election.”
When Jay Leno asked Barack Obama if he was glad the presidential debates are over, the president responded: “You know, I was sort of getting the hang of it.”
Barack Obama, whose performance in the first debate was widely panned, said he didn’t do an effective job of energetically outlining the contrast of visions between him and Republican Mitt Romney.
Part of the problem with a debate, he said, is that it’s not a natural way of communicating – having an argument with someone as you sit next to him.
“Well, you’re married,” said Jay Leno.
The president fired back: “But the difference is, with Michelle, I just concede every point.”
Asked which team he was backing in the World Series, the Detroit Tigers or the San Francisco Giants, Barack Obama managed to get in a dig at Mitt Romney: “I will say, I’ve spent a lot of time in Detroit lately, and I didn’t want to let go Detroit go bankrupt. So in this particular World Series, I might be a little partial.”
In a final segment, Jay Leno asked the president a series of questions curated from Facebook, which the president had never seen before.
One person asked what Sasha and Malia were planning to be for Halloween. While Barack Obama said that he wasn’t sure what his daughters were planning, he did joke that, because of the election year, Michelle Obama would pass out “candy for everybody”.
Last year, Michelle Obama famously handed out fruit to trick-or-treating children at the White House.
Another person asked the president: “What is the cure for Romnesia?”
Without skipping a beat, Barack Obama responded: “Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions,” then adding, “The main cure is, make sure to vote.”
Rapper Diddy was left lying injured on the ground on Wednesday after his SUV was crashed in a dramatic car accident.
Pictures show Diddy, real name Sean Combs, slumped on the floor as he recovered after his chauffeur-driven Cadillac Escalade collided with a Lexus RX vehicle.
Diddy’s luxury vehicle was left crushed and undriveable, and had to be towed away after the smash at the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The windscreen was smashed and the front of the car caved in. The airbags were activated and parts of the vehicle littered the ground.
Diddy, 42, was so shaken by the crash that he was seen lying down on the grass beside his vehicle.
He was accompanied by record label boss Andre Hurrell, who helped him to his feet.
A second passenger was also seen sprawled on the lawn beside the music mogul.
Despite complaining of unspecified pain Diddy refused to go in an ambulance, and told authorities he would “seek his own medical attention”, according to police.
Diddy was left lying injured on the ground on Wednesday after his SUV was crashed in a dramatic car accident
The driver of the Lexus received unspecified injuries and was taken to a hospital.
It is believed that employees of the upmarket hotel rushed to the aid of Diddy and his fellow passenger, who were then escorted through the hotel lobby.
Officers raced to the scene and took details from the passengers, including Diddy.
According to police, Diddy’s Cadillac was going west on Sunset Boulevard when it collided with a Lexus that made a left turn in front of the sport utility vehicle, though it is unclear who was at fault for the prang.
The accident was reported about 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday Beverly Hills Police Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino said in a statement.
Amid of Gloria Allred’s claim that she will deliver an “October surprise” that will secure Barack Obama’s re-election, it has been revealed that the celebrity attorney spoke with the president one-on-one at a star-studded fundraiser two weeks before.
Gloria Allred caught up with Barack Obama at one point during the “30 Days to Victory” fundraiser at LA’s Nokia Theatre – an event headlined by Katy Perry, Bon Jovi, Jennifer Hudson and George Clooney.
The celebrity attorney was interviewed outside the venue by O’Reilly Factor correspondent Jesse Watters, who asked her whether she was more into the music or seeing the president.
Gloria Allred replied: “I’m a very proud supporter of President Obama. I was an elected Obama delegate to the democratic National Convention, I just had a few words with the President.”
She added: “He was very kind to me. He had some very kind words to me. And he knows of my work for women’s rights. And I of course am very appreciative of everything he has done and everything I know he will do in four years for women’s rights.”
In a jab at Barack Obama’s Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Gloria Allred said: “And it’s so essential that we re-elect President Obama because the alternative is just unthinkable.”
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Mitt Romney allegedly provided testimony in the bitter divorce of his friend and staunch advocate, ex-Staples CEO Tom Stemberg, that meant his ex-wife received a poor divorce settlement.
Gloria Allred was interviewed outside the Nokia Theatre two weeks before making her October surprise claims
Sources told TMZ that Mitt Romney, whose hedge fund, Bain Capital, was an investor in Staples before it became a household name, testified in the case that the company was worth virtually nothing and that his friend was a “dreamer”.
Mitt Romney testified during the hearings in 1988 that the company’s stock was “overvalued” and that the future did not look good. Later Mitt Romney and Tom Stemberg allegedly went to Goldman Sachs to cash in their stock for a massive payout, according to TMZ.
His bitter ex-wife Maureen Stemberg claims this testimony effected how much she got from the settlement.
It is unclear what if any lump sum she got out of the divorce, but it is known she was awarded 500,000 shares in the company. Maureen Stemberg later went on to cash in half of these before the company went public – missing out on a huge windfall as stocks soared from $2 to $19.
There is no proof so far that Mitt Romney or Tom Stemberg tried to mislead Maureen Stemberg or the court.
Mitt Romney’s lawyer Robert Jones simply said that his client had no issues with the testimony being made public.
Actress Nicole Kidman has opened up about her role in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, in which she starred with her then-husband Tom Cruise.
In an article for The Hollywood Reporter, Nicole Kidman says she had to be “coaxed” into doing the kinky sex scenes with Tom Cruise.
Nicole Kidman – now a mother of two with husband Keith Urban – says she struggled with some of the sexual aspects of the movie – and revealed some of the more extreme footage was left on the cutting room floor.
The actress described how Stanley Kubrick had to “coax” her into some of the sexuality in the film in the beginning, but says she never felt it was “exploitive or unintelligent”.
Nicole Kidman wrote: “He [Stanley Kubrick] was very different with women than he was with men. He has daughters, so he was very paternal with me.”
She explained how the director tried to base the sexual thriller about a troubled married couple on her real-life relationship with Tom Cruise.
Nicole Kidman concedes he effectively failed in getting them to do so – saying while they realized that was his intention, the characters they played were “not really us”.
She also denied that the 1999 film contributed to the demise of her marriage to Tom Cruise. The couple divorced just two years after the movie was released.
Nicole Kidman explained how Stanley Kubrick tried to base Eyes Wide Shut about a troubled married couple on her real-life relationship with Tom Cruise
Nicole Kidman writes: “People thought that making the film was the beginning of the end of my marriage – but I don’t really think it was.
“Tom and I were close then, and it was very much the three of us.”
Explaining how Stanley Kubrick tried to base the characters, Alice and Bill Harford, on her marriage to Tom Cruise, she explained: “Onscreen, the husband and wife are at odds, and Stanley wanted to use our marriage as a supposed reality.
“That was Stanley: He used the movie as provocation, pretending it was our sex life. Which we weren’t oblivious to, but obviously it wasn’t us.
“We both decided to dedicate ourselves to a great filmmaker and artist.”
Nicole Kidman admits, though, that not even she really fully understands the film, even to this day.
She writes: “People have asked me if Stanley ever told us what Eyes Wide Shut was about – and the answer is no. He didn’t believe in interpretation.”
Stanley Kubrick died aged 70 in March 1999, just four days after screening his final version of the film.
The actress also revealed she almost called him the night before his death, recalling how she was concerned over how frail he was.
Nicole Kidman went on: “If I were more intuitive I would have realized that he was not well. One of the worst things… was, I was going to call him and I didn’t. Instead I got a phone call [the next day] saying Stanley was dead. It was one of my great regrets that I didn’t call him that night.”
President Barack Obama offered a clever retort to Donald Trump after the real estate mogul offered to donate $5 million to the charity of his choosing if he released college records and passport application.
Speaking on The Tonight Show, Barack Obama told Jay Leno that the rivalry between began in their childhood.
“This all dates back to when we were growing up in Kenya,” he joked.
“We had constant run-ins on the soccer field, he wasn’t very good.”
Barack Obama was referring to The Donald’s highly publicized demands that the president present his birth certificate to prove that he was born in the U.S., and therefore eligible for the presidency.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s long-awaited “major announcement” about Barack Obama was labeled as something of a disappointment over what was promised.
Donald Trump made his offer in a YouTube video released at noon today, two days after promising to make a “gigantic” announcement about Barack Obama which could change the course of the presidential race.
Donald Trump offered to donate $5 million to the charity if Barack Obama released college records and passport application
Web users reacted to the massive letdown with derision, with many taking to Twitter to mock the controversial businessman.
Donald Trump previously denied staging a publicity stunt, insisting the announcement is “not a media event”, but instead is “about the United States of America”.
A number of sensational claims about the content of the message had been swirling around the web for three days – one pundit with links to the billionaire even suggested that he was set to unearth divorce papers between Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
However, the man himself tweeted: “All predictions re: my 12 o’clock release are totally incorrect. Stay tuned!” – and some may be disappointed by the relatively tame nature of the announcement.
Donald Trump set the hare running on Monday by claiming that he was set to make an announcement today that would be “bordering on gigantic” and that it would “possibly” change the presidential race.
But when the announcement finally came, in the form of a YouTube video and accompanying Facebook post, it was somewhat less explosive than promised.
President Barack Obama will be featured front and center in an upcoming film which telling the story of the heroics of the elite SEAL team who brought down Osama bin Laden, thanks to heavy re-editing, it has been revealed.
SEAL Team Six: The Raid On Osama Bin Laden, backed by Academy Award-winning producer Harvey Weinstein, is set to air on November 4, two days before the election, and has been re-cut from its original format to feature more prominently the Commander-in-Chief.
But news of the edit has sparked an outcry with some Republicans who alleged that Harvey Weinstein, who is a known supporter of the president, is trying to sway the election.
According to the New York Times, which was provided an advanced copy of the film, additional documentary footage was added in, showing Barack Obama’s behind-the-scenes role during the covert operation.
There is a cut of Barack Obama a night before the raid at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, as well as a shot of the president taking a lonely walk.
The film also includes Barack Obama saying: “Justice has been done,” the Times reported.
The 90-minute drama, which is set to air on the National Geographic channel on November 4, focuses on SEAL Team Six and their dangerous mission to bring down the former al-Qaeda leader. A streaming version will be available 24 hours after the first air date on Netflix.
Because it focuses on one of the president’s shining moments in office, Republicans have blasted the network for being partisan.
An article on Fox Nation is entitled “Hollywood editing movies to help Obama win”, though it links back to the original New York Times article.
One angry commenter on the Fox Nation site wrote: “Democrats will do ANYTHING to re-elect Obama…I don’t even want to ponder what they may try to do next.”
Barack Obama, pictured in the Situation Room on May 1, 2011
However, National Geographic Chanel’s president Howard T. Owens told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this month that the claims were not the case, saying simply: “We’re not trying for this to be political film.”
Rather, Howard T. Owens said that the movie was a “great opportunity” to turn potential viewers on some of their other programs in its fall schedule.
He also told the Times in a phone interview Tuesday that a scene featuring Mitt Romney appearing to oppose the raid was removed.
“We wouldn’t air this if it were propaganda,” he explained.
The president and his campaign had nothing to do with the creation of the movie, Harvey Weinstein said.
The producer also noted that he has been a supporter of Republican candidates, like New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The Times reported that Harvey Weinstein purchased the rights to the movie for around $2.5 million at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The Weinstein Co. film is directed by John Stockwell, known for directing Top Gun and Turistas.
It was produced by Harvey Weinstein, along with The Hurt Locker’s Nicolas Chartier.
John Stockwell told the Times on Tuesday that the re-edit was meant to bring a deeper sense of reality to it.
Harvey Weinstein added that some of the footage was collected by producer Meghan O’Hara, who has in turn worked for polarizing documentarian Michael Moore on projects like Sicko and Fahrenheit 9/11.
The film comes ahead of December’s bigger-budget Zero Dark Thirty, directed by The Hurt Locker’s Kathryn Bigelow, which will be released by Sony Pictures.
Hurricane Sandy has strengthened into a strong category two as it makes landfall in south-east Cuba.
The hurricane was carrying maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) as it hit land just west of Santiago de Cuba, said the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).
On Wednesday, one man was killed as Sandy swept over Jamaica.
A hurricane watch is in place in the Bahamas, and Florida has been placed on tropical storm watch.
The NHC said wind gusts of up to 114 mph had been reported in Santiago de Cuba.
It warned the hurricane was bringing heavy rain which could “produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially in areas of mountainous terrain”.
Hurricane Sandy has strengthened into a strong category two as it makes landfall in south-east Cuba
Local officials in Cuba said about 1,700 people had been evacuated as a precaution.
“We cannot put a single human life in danger. We must evacuate people in areas we know are likely to be flooded, without losing time,” defence official Lazaro Esposito told local media.
In Jamaica, more than 1,000 people sought refuge in shelters, with residents reporting widespread power outages, flooded streets and damages to buildings.
The authorities said one person, an elderly man, died when he was crushed by falling boulders as he tried to reach his home.
A 48-hour curfew has been imposed in all major towns, though some looting has been reported.
The country’s sole energy provider, the Jamaica Public Service Company, said earlier that 70% of its customers were without electricity.
Lindsay Lohan apparently grabbed $15,000 worth of clothing from the set of her new film, Scary Movie 5.
The items were on her wardrobe racks and the actress has been accused of helping herself to them, according to a new report in the National Enquirer.
The National Enquirer claims to have spoken to a set insider, who alleged Lindsay Lohan, 26, took some “nice tops and skirts” among other things while shooting the movie last month.
“It was the talk of the set in Atlanta,” the whistleblower told the publication.
“The clothes were on her wardrobe racks. Some nice tops and skirts and other items were gone.
“I guess Lindsay thought she was entitled to it, like free soap at a hotel. All the other actors knew about it, but the producers just put it down to the price you had to pay for doing business with Lindsay.”
Lindsay Lohan apparently grabbed $15,000 worth of clothing from the set of Scary Movie 5
Lindsay Lohan is playing herself in the upcoming horror flick, which is set for release next year.
She was confirmed as having joined the cast in August, along with Charlie Sheen.
According to the National Enquirer, Lindsay Lohan was unhappy with her part and only showed up on Georgia set after being threatened with legal action.
The source added: “The wardrobe people were unhappy about the missing clothes, but at the end of the day the producers decided it was more trouble than it was worth to try and get them back.”
Lindsay Lohan’s spokesman Steve Honig said: “This is pure National Enquirer fiction.”
Back in 2011, Lindsay Lohan was convicted of a necklace theft after being caught on surveillance footage wearing the $2,500 jewellery item just before it went missing from the Kamofie & Co store in Venice Beach, Los Angeles.
Kim Kardashian returned to Florida to continue filming spin-off series Kourtney & Kim Take Miami and stepped out in the sunshine showing off her hourglass figure to the maximum in a black crop top and tight belted pencil skirt with gold belt.
Shiny gold t-bar Louboutin shoes and an intricate side braid in her long dark hair completed the look.
Kim Kardashian, 32, has described Sunday’s romantic visit to Venice as “the best birthday ever”, and she and Kanye West also took in Rome and Florence as part of their tour.
Kim Kardashian returned to Florida to continue filming spin-off series Kourtney & Kim Take Miami
However, Kim Kardashian didn’t seem too interested in sight-seeing – instead hitting the copious amounts of designer shops in the fashion friendly country.
But she clearly had a good time, tweeting last Friday: “Italy is so beautiful! Best birthday ever!!!”
The Federal Reserve has reiterated that the US economy is only growing slowly, and that the country’s unemployment rate “remains elevated”.
However, the Fed added that the housing market had “shown some further signs of improvement”.
The comments came as the US central bank kept interest rates on hold at between zero and 0.25%, as had been widely expected.
The Fed is also continuing with a third round of quantitative easing (QE).
Under QE a central bank pumps fresh money into the financial system to try to boost lending, and through that the wider economy.
As announced following the Fed’s September rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting, it is buying $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities per month, for an open-ended period.
The Fed has previously spent $2.3 trillion over two rounds of QE.
Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets, said: “No change in Fed policy was anticipated and none was delivered.”
Human and animal trial of a controversial new IVF treatment has yielded promising results, say US scientists.
The findings in Nature magazine show healthy-looking embryos can be created from a mix of three adult donors.
Human embryos were grown in the lab and some appeared normal, while monkeys born using the same technique remained fit and well, now aged three.
Its findings will be reported to the health secretary in spring 2013.
The technique is designed to prevent debilitating and fatal “mitochondrial” diseases, which are passed down only from mother to child and which cause muscle weakness, blindness and heart failure.
By using two female egg donors, these DNA errors could be cancelled out, scientists believe.
Three-person IVF uses the core genetic information from mother and father as usual, but puts it into a donor egg which contains healthy mitochondria.
Mitochondria sit in the cytoplasm of the egg – akin to the white of a hen’s egg. They contain only a tiny fraction of our genetic material, with the bulk that determines things like our hair and eye color housed in the nucleus – a speck in the yolk if you use the hen’s egg analogy.
Scientists have been studying two ways of creating three person embryos.
One way is to take the nucleus from the mother’s egg and put it into a donor egg that has healthy mitochondria and has had its own nucleus removed. This new egg can then be fertilized with the father’s sperm.
Another way is to fertilize the mother’s egg first before removing the nucleus and putting it into the donor egg.
The latest study looked at the first method.
The Oregon Health team took eggs from seven women who had volunteered to take part in the research.
The scientists were able to replace the mitochondrial DNA in 65 of the eggs and then looked to see how well these fared over the next week or so.
The fertilization rate afterwards was similar to the 33 control eggs that had not been manipulated, although over half had abnormal qualities.
Those that did fertilize normally developed to blastocyst stage – five or six days later, the point at which IVF embryos are normally transferred into the mother’s womb – at a similar rate to the controls.
Dr. Masahito Tachibana and colleagues say their research shows that the technique can work, at least in the lab. It is still not clear if it could lead to a healthy baby.
The scientists now want to be able to do more studies to ensure the treatment is also safe.
Bank of America is being sued for $1 billion for an alleged mortgage fraud.
The civil lawsuit has been brought by the US Attorney Preet Bharara, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, New York.
Preet Bharara accuses Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America bought in 2008, of selling thousands of toxic home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government agencies that support the US mortgage market.
Bank of America has yet to comment.
Countrywide is accused of running a trading scheme from 2007 to 2009 that was deliberately designed to process loans at high speed without checks on their quality.
The legal action against Bank of America follows similar moves by the US government earlier this month against Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase.
On October 2nd, 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.
Meanwhile, on 10 October, Wells Fargo was also sued by federal authorities for alleged mortgage fraud.
The US government alleges that Wells Fargo lied about the quality of mortgages it handled, leading to huge losses for the Federal Housing Administration.
In an appearance on the Dr Drew show, Alana Thompson, the star of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, feigned sleep rather than have to answer the popular TV doctor’s questions.
Honey Boo Boo only opened her eyes to declare that she doesn’t like being on TV.
“Fans come up to me and I hate it,” she shouted.
Leaning forward to get the little girl’s attention the Celebrity Rehab host asked his barefoot guest: “Is it difficult to be on TV?”
But the uncooperative Honey Boo Boo, whom TLC and her family have already come under fire for exploiting, responded by snoring loudly.
It was not until her mother, June Shannon said: “Alana, Come on now let’s get this done so we can go,” that Dr Drew managed to elicit a reply from the cranky child.
Honey Boo Boo feigned sleep rather than have to answer Dr Drew’s questions
Dr Drew also tried to get normally outgoing little girl to do some cartwheels but she flatly refused.
Honey Boo Boo and June Shannon are in Los Angeles to promote the upcoming series of their reality TV show and have been busy making appearances on Access Hollywood and the Jimmy Kimmel show, where Alana Thompson endorsed President Barack Obama.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo will return to TLC with new episodes and several holiday specials after the elementary school student has a well earned break.
The fidgety seven-year-old is clearly tiring of the promotional media circuit as she was also fidgety and bored during her Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance.
After wriggling uncontrollably, Honey Boo Boo pretended to have a quick nap, resting her head in her arms and also shoved her hand in Jimmy Kimmel’s glass of water before flicking it at the audience.
But Honey Boo Boo’s erratic behavior may also be due to her diet junk food and Go-Go-Juice, a mixture of Mountain Dew and Red Bull, that June Shannon gives her daughter before pageant shows.
Halle Berry is seen having close encounters with great white sharks in behind the scenes footage of her movie Dark Tide.
Halle Berry, 46, is pictured reaching out to the ocean predators while leaning over on the edge of a boat and she even got to touch one in the wild.
“Apparently, I’m one of the very few people who have done that,” she has said.
“How did I manage it? Very carefully.”
Halle Berry is seen having close encounters with great white sharks in behind the scenes footage of her movie Dark Tide
Halle Berry, who filmed the thriller in Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa, stars as diving instructor Sara, who faces the difficult decision of getting back into the water following a near-fatal great white shark attack.
She also swam with sharks for the part, but insists she never put herself in harm’s way.
“I got into the same water as the sharks. Was I scared? Yes. But I never put myself in harm’s way because I’m a mother and there are certain things I just would not do any more.
“I spent some time with a man known as the shark whisperer; my character is modeled on him.
“He has studied sharks for a couple of decades and swims with them – with nothing to protect him but a stick – so studying with him for a couple of weeks taught me how to interact with one.”
Justin Timberlake has described his wedding to Jessica Biel as a “total fantasy” as the couple revealed the first picture of their magical wedding ceremony in the pages of People magazine.
In the shot, Justin Timberlake, 31, wearing a Tom Ford tuxedo that he helped to design, is seen literally jumping for joy, while his new wife sits serenely in the foreground in the pictures, which they sold for $300,000 following the ceremony, which is estimated to have cost around $6.5 million.
Jessica Biel, 30, looked stunning for her happy day in a custom-made Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown – shunning traditional white or ivory for a beautiful petal pink color.
And it seems that Justin Timberlake was a fan of Jessica Biel’s brave gown choice, revealing in the magazine that his bride was “the most beautiful thing I have ever seen”.
Jessica Biel teamed the strapless gown with a matching ethereal cathedral-length veil, clutching a bouquet of white flowers as she beamed for the camera.
Justin Timberlake has described his wedding to Jessica Biel as a “total fantasy”
Speaking about their romantic Italian ceremony, Jessica Biel said: “It was a total fantasy experience”, with Justin Timberlake adding: “It was a really special evening.”
In more details from the day, Justin Timberlake revealed that he accompanied bride Jessica Biel as she walked down the aisle with a romantic ballad he had written just for her.
He said: “It was an original piece I wrote specifically for the evening and for her.”
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake tied the knot after a week-long celebration, which saw guests including Jimmy Fallon and Andy Samberg enjoy horseback riding and various cocktail parties at the exclusive Borgo Egnazia resort.
Microsoft has started shipping its first Surface tablet computers ahead of their official launch on October 26th.
According to Microsoft site, it has sold out of pre-orders for the 32GB version of the device, which runs the RT version of Windows 8.
It marks Microsoft’s entry into the PC hardware market, posing competition to other computer manufacturers.
Early reviews of the device have been mixed, praising the hardware but criticizing a lack of software.
Surface with Windows RT – to give the device its full name – runs on a chip made by Nvidia, based on the designs of British company Arm Holdings.
It is designed to be cheaper and offer longer battery life than products using x86 chips that run the full Windows 8 system.
The caveat is that Windows RT devices can only install third-party software from Microsoft’s own Windows Store.
Although they do offer a traditional desktop mode, the only programs that can be run under it are Microsoft’s Office 2013 suite and a limited number of the firm’s other products.
Until more third-party apps are developed for the touch-interface mode, users face a significantly smaller selection of software than they would on traditional Windows devices and tablets powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating systems.
Microsoft intends to launch an Intel-based version of the Surface offering the full Windows 8 system in January.
But it does appear there is demand for the Windows RT.
Although Microsoft has not disclosed sales figures, it said that pre-orders of the 32GB version of the tablet – which costs $600 – had “temporarily sold out” in the US, Canada, France, Germany and the UK within a day of going on sale.
An $860 64GB version bundled with a Touch Cover keyboard remains on offer.
Reviewers have given a mixed reaction to the machine.
“This is one of the most of exciting pieces of hardware I’ve ever used,” enthused Wired’s Matthew Honan.
“It is extremely well-designed; meticulous even.”
He praised the ability to type quickly on the machine’s Type Cover – the $150 add-on that doubles as a keyboard and screen protector, offering an alternative to on-screen typing.
However, he criticized its cameras as “junk” and highlighted the lack of software.
“I missed apps like Dropbox and 1Password and Rdio,” he wrote.
Microsoft has started shipping its first Surface tablet computers ahead of their official launch on October 26th
The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg also commended the machine’s physical aspects.
“It’s a unique tablet, made of a type of magnesium with a feeling of quality and care,” he wrote.
However, he criticized its battery life, and highlighted problems with the third-party apps that were available.
“Evernote took a long time to synchronize my account, and the Kindle app had to stop every few pages to fetch the next section.”
The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky also complained some games felt “sluggish” on the machine, however he said Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer browser and Xbox Music apps showed “how playful and fresh this version of Windows can be”.
But Techcrunch’s Matt Burns decided that he could not recommend consumers buy the tablet in its current state, complaining that its 10.6 in (26.9 cm) size made it unwieldy.
“With its awkward size and incomplete operating system, the Surface fails to excel at anything particular in the way other tablets have,” he wrote.
However, he said it could offer an alternative to existing low-end laptops if Microsoft could attract more software developers.
“If properly nurtured, Windows RT and the Surface RT could be something worthwhile,” he said.
Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer may unveil more apps when he hosts an event to show off the tablets alongside the various versions of Windows 8 on Thursday in New York.
The devices and software will go on sale the next day.
Microsoft will face competition from Dell, Asus, Lenovo and Samsung, who have also unveiled Windows RT devices over recent weeks.
Apple is also attempting to woo consumers with its new iPad mini and revised fourth generation full-sized iPad, and Amazon has just launched its Android-powered Kindle Fire tablet family in the UK.
Google is also expected to unveil further Android tablets built by other manufacturers at an event on Monday, adding to the Nexus 7 it has already launched alongside Asus.
“It is really hard for consumers as the portfolio of products will be huge this Christmas season,” said Francisco Jeronimo, mobile device researcher at consultants IDC.
“Microsoft is trying to promote its entire eco-system – including its own Office software and the fact it can offer integration between Windows computers, Windows Phone handsets and the Xbox games console – to gain an edge.
“But it faces a huge problem as its rivals are offering cheaper-priced devices.”
Other analysts have noted, however, that Microsoft would risk angering other Windows 8 device makers were it to copy Amazon’s strategy of selling its tablets at break-even prices.
What is launching when:
24 Oct: Samsung (New York)
Will give details of US launch of Galaxy Note 2
25 Oct: Microsoft (New York)
Launch event for Windows 8 which goes on sale, alongside Surface tablets, the next day
29 Oct: Google (New York)
Android-themed event, may include new Nexus devices
29 Oct: Microsoft (San Francisco)
Launch of Windows Phone 8 operating system
30 Oct: Arm (London)
Mobile device chip designer and “partners” announce news
Donald Trump has challenged President Barack Obama to release his college records and passport application – and has promised to donate $5 million to a charity of the President’s choice if he does so.
Donald Trump made his offer in a YouTube video released at noon today, two days after promising to make a “gigantic” announcement about Barack Obama which could change the course of the presidential race.
The tycoon previously denied staging a publicity stunt, insisting the announcement is “not a media event”, but instead is “about the United States of America”.
A number of sensational claims about the content of the message had been swirling around the web for three days – one pundit with links to the billionaire even suggested that he was set to unearth divorce papers between Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
However, the man himself tweeted: “All predictions re: my 12 o’clock release are totally incorrect. Stay tuned!” – and some may be disappointed by the relatively tame nature of the announcement.
Donald Trump set the hare running on Monday by claiming that he was set to make an announcement today that would be “bordering on gigantic” and that it would “possibly” change the presidential race.
But when the announcement finally came, in the form of a YouTube video and accompanying Facebook post, it was somewhat less explosive than promised.
Donald Trump started the announcement by saying: “President Obama is the least transparent President in the history of this country.”
He added: “I’m very honored to have gotten him to release his long-form birth certificate… or whatever it may be.”
The meat of the message ran: “If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice – inner-city kids in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants – a cheque, immediately, for $5 million.”
Donald Trump has challenged Barack Obama to release his college records and passport application
Donald Trump went on to say that the records had to be released by 5:00 p.m. on October 31, and that his donation would be given within an hour of Barack Obama releasing the records “to my satisfaction, if it’s complete”.
The video concluded: “Mr. President, not only will I be happy – and, by the way, totally satisfied – but the American people will be happy, and those charities will be very, very happy.”
There are a number of conspiracy theories surrounding Barack Obama’s records from his time at Occidental College, Yale University and Harvard Law School.
Most common is the assertion that the future President’s grades were weak, which would undermine his intellectual reputation, but some go further and argue that he might have taken “anti-American” courses or even have attended college as a foreign exchange student.
Donald Trump’s appeal for passport records, meanwhile, appears to be linked to the “birther” conspiracy theory which holds that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. and in which the businessman has been a leading voice.
The White House has not yet responded to Donald Trump’s offer, and is unlikely to do so.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump defended himself against claims that he was focused more on self-publicizing than serving the American people, as he tweeted: “This is not a media event or about Donald J. Trump – this is about the United States of America.”
The billionaire followed that up with a quotation from Chinese author Sun Tzu reading: “Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack.”
Donald Trump told Fox & Friends on Monday that he had “something very, very big concerning the President of the United States”.
“It’s going to be very big. I know one thing – you will cover it in a very big fashion.”
Donald Trump declined to elaborate, but yesterday an investor who appears on the same business talk show as him claimed to have more details.
Douglas Kass, a Florida-based investor who appears on CNBC’s talkshow Squawkbox where Donald Trump is often a commentator, tweeted to his 48,000 followers: “High above the Alps my Gnome has heard that Donald Trump will announce that he has unearthed divorce papers between the Prez and his wife.”
The claims about divorce papers have previously been made in a book released earlier this year by author Ed Klein. The White House rubbished the allegations then and claimed Ed Klein had a history of making things up.
An advert for mascara by Christian Dior starring Natalie Portman has been banned for misleading women into thinking it would give them “lusher lashes”.
The magazine advertisement, showing Natalie Portman staring into the camera with well defined eyelashes, was challenged by rivals L’Oreal who said the photo exaggerated the effects of the mascara.
The ad boasts “the miracle of a nano brush for an unrivaled lash creator effect. It delivers spectacular volume-multiplying effect, lash by lash”.
Dior admitted that the image had been digitally retouched, saying it was done to “increase the length and curve of a number of lashes” as some of the actresses eyelashes were “missing or damaged” in the original photo.
They said that they believed the “retouching” was minimal.
Bosses at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), however, banned the ad from being used again, saying it was misleading and exaggerated the effects of the mascara.
This is not the first ad to be barred by the ASA, who act as the UK’s independent regulator of all media.
ASA banned two Channel 4 ads for My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding earlier this month for being offensive, and have previously banned ads by Virgin media, Homebase and Lancome skin care.
Christian Dior mascara ad starring Natalie Portman has been banned for misleading women into thinking it would give them lusher lashes
They stated about the Dior advert that: “The ASA understood that the digital retouching was intended to separate/increase the length and curve of a number of Natalie Portman’s lashes to replace/fill a number of missing or damaged lashes, to increase the thickness and volume of a number of her natural lashes and, primarily, to stylistically lengthen and curve her lashes.
“We noted that the ad had therefore used post-production retouching on an area – namely the eyelashes – which was directly relevant to the apparent performance of the mascara product being advertised.
“We considered that the ad’s claims <<Lash-multiplying effect volume and care mascara….an unrivalled lash creator effect>> and <<delivers spectacular volume-multiplying effect, lash by lash>>, particularly in conjunction with the image of Natalie Portman’s eyelashes, would be understood to mean that the mascara could lengthen the lashes, as well as separate them, increase their thickness and volume, and generally enhance lash appearance.”
It added: “We had not seen evidence of the product’s effects on Natalie Portman’s lashes where there had not been any post-production retouching and therefore considered we were unable to assess the effects of the post-production work on the image featured in the ad.
“We were concerned that we had not seen evidence that the visual representation of the product’s effects on Natalie Portman’s lashes, as featured in the ad, could be achieved through use of the product only, particularly as we understood that post-production retouching on the lash area had taken place.
“Because we considered that we had not seen sufficient evidence to show that the post-production retouching on Natalie Portman’s lashes in the ad did not exaggerate the likely effects of the product, we concluded the ad was likely to mislead.”
Dior chiefs said it had not received any complaints about the ad from customers and said the ad “did not go beyond the likely consumer expectations of what was achievable with the product”.
They said the advert was a “stylized and aspirational ad intended to convey the luxury image and allure of the Diorshow Mascara” and that “consumers expected images used in ads for beauty products to have used professional styling and photography”.
Dior also said that Natalie Portman’s upper eyelashes were digitally altered, stating: “Digital retouching was nearly exclusively in relation to her upper lashes and was primarily used to separate/increase the length and curve of a number of her lashes and to replace/fill a number of missing or damaged lashes, for a more stylized, uniform and tidy effect.”
It added that eyelashes were “by nature generally fine in appearance and various lashes or elements of lashes could be nearly invisible to the naked eye”.
Mitt Romney’s character will be called into question if explosive details of his sworn testimony at the divorce hearing of former Staples CEO Tom Stemberg are released to the public, it has been claimed.
Celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who has promised an “October surprise”, is in court in Canton, Massachusetts, today with Tom Stemberg’s ex-wife to reportedly attempt to unseal the case records and lift a gagging order on all parties involved.
The Boston Globe newspaper filed the application after reportedly receiving a tip-off that there was “juicy information about Romney” in the sealed documents. The revelations are said to involve allegations about a child custody matter.
At the hearing, Gloria Allred presented Mitt Romney and Tom Stemberg’s attorneys with copies of the presidential candidate’s testimony. They asked for time to review the documents before they decide whether to argue against releasing them, according to a CBS reporter in court.
But earlier today Mitt Romney’s lawyer Robert Jones told Time magazine that his client had no issues with the testimony being made public.
“This is a decades-old divorce case in which Mitt Romney provided testimony as to the value of a company,” he said.
“He has no objection to letting the public see that testimony.”
The court appearance comes as a string of online messages have surfaced from a commenter claiming to be Maureen Stemberg, 61, in which she unleashes a scathing attack on Mitt Romney and promises all “will very soon be revealed” – in a possible nod to Gloria Allred’s campaign.
She also refers witheringly to his wife as “Queen Ann” and lambasts both as out of touch.
In a series of unashamedly pro-Obama comments on the Huffington Post, a woman calling herself Maureen Stemberg writes: “He had a lot of bodies hidden in his <<personal and business life>>. Will very soon be revealed. When the door opens he and his team will be heading for the hills. Scary group.”
She claims she was married to “his partner in crime, Mr. Staples” – a close friend and advocate of Mitt Romney – and brands the presidential hopeful “deplorable”.
Mitt Romney reportedly testified about Tom Stemberg’s role as a father to his four sons from two ex-wives during court proceedings surrounding his “messy” divorce from Maureen in 1987.
RadarOnline.com quoted a source as saying: “Governor Mitt Romney gave sworn testimony about his observations of Tom’s role as a father to his four sons.”
And Maureen Stemberg apparently remains extremely bitter about his part in her divorce, posting last month: “I know the man and his wife. President Obama the only one to be our President!”
Maureen Stemberg also describes a time the Romney attended their house for a Christmas party and “tried very hard to be real”.
“I truly do believe he has a fear and dislike for anyone who has less than 99,000,000 [dollars],” she wrote.
“He just can’t relate and obviously Queen Ann is the same.”
A 2005 Boston Globe article reported that Maureen Stemberg received nearly 500,000 shares of Staples stock in the divorce, but sold half before the company went public, missing out on a huge windfall.
And while another Globe article the following year described her as living a comfortable lifestyle, she demanded that her ex-husband pay her more money.
Maureen Stemberg “sits in her $5,200 a month, 14th-floor, concierge-at-the-door, elegantly furnished Back Bay apartment and tells you she’s broke”, it wrote.
“She can’t work. She can’t afford a car, her medications, her rent, even the family springer spaniel, J.J., who she just gave away.”
“I’m going to be out on the street,” she said.
“I’ve had a change of circumstances.”
She now works as an interior designer based in Charelstown, Massachusetts and has had a couple of reportedly on-off relationships since her divorce.
The online messages and interviews apparently reveal her enduring bitterness about her husband and their divorce – and Mitt Romney’s part in it.
Maureen Stemberg even featured in a 2008 Lifetime documentary, The Maureen Sullivan Stemberg Story: A Portrait in Courage, in which she gave an “in-depth account … of the interweaving relationships and strange bedfellow that business has made in her life… which include Mitt Romney”.
Recent polls show Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are neck-and-neck two weeks ahead of the election and Gloria Allred’s claims may be perceived as the latest round in a tit-for-tat battle between supporters of the two candidates.
Tom Stemberg’s sons are in their mid-teens and early twenties. His divorce attorney, Joel Kozel is also expected to attend today’s hearing. It is not known whether Mitt Romney will attend.
Another source quoted on the RadarOnline said: “Ms. Allred’s client feels that the public needs to know about Governor Mitt Romney’s role in this very important case.
“Governor Romney is running for President of the United States and this goes to a very important character issue.”
Tom Stemberg, 63, has four sons from his two ex-wives, Maureen Sullivan Stemberg and Dola Hamilton Stemberg.
But the Globe reported on his “paternal shortcomings” in 2006, recounting a story about how, when Tom Stemberg lived with his second wife and their young children, he cut out his then 12-year-old son, Mac, with his wife Maureen.
It explains that he wrote to the boy: “It will not be possible for you to be part of our family in the foreseeable future,” because of the child’s supposed misbehavior during their divorce blaming the child for taking sides between parents and creating unbearable hassles, such as monthly court appearances.
Tom Stemberg’s links to the Presidential candidate are well documented. Mitt Romney’s hedge fund, Bain Capital, was an early investor in Staples.
Mitt Romney was a director of the firm for over a decade and some 90,000 of the 100,000 private sector jobs he has boasted of creating are through stationary retailer.
During a speech given at the Republican National Convention last summer Stemberg praised the Massachusetts Governor saying: “He never looked at Staples as merely a financial investment.
“He saw the engine of prosperity it could become. Today Staples employs nearly 90,000 people.
“It has over 2,000 stores, over 50 distribution centers, and it is part of a competitive industry that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses get started on their own.”
And during an interview with PBS’ Frontline earlier this year Tom Stemberg described his first meeting with Mitt Romney.
He said: “When you first walked in and saw Mitt, he looked like a guy who ought to be president of the United States.
“This guy, he looked perfect; he dressed perfect; he spoke perfectly. He asked the most poignant questions in a very, very nice way and didn’t make you feel defensive and really drew the best or worst out of you. He was just really, really good.”
Tom Stemberg described Mitt Romney as being “no shrinking violet” and said he hadn’t been concerned when his friend entering politics running for governor of Massachusetts.
“Nobody pushes Mitt Romney around. Having said that, if there’s one person whom he will almost always defer to, it’s Ann Romney,” he added.
Conservative blogger Matt Drudge fuelled talk last week that Gloria Allred was up to something when he tweeted: “Here she comes. Hearing Gloria Allred out there again, about to make a move. After all, it’s her time of the campaign. Team O at the ready!!”
Several news organizations had speculated that the case could involve Mormon women whom Mitt Romney advised on family matters while he was bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Gloria Allred has a long history of trotting out female clients who claim to have revealing and damaging stories about high-profile men.
One of Gloria Allred’s most famous clients includes a woman who accused former Tea Party presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual assault.
Another famous client includes a woman who claimed California GOP candidate Meg Whitman knowingly employed her as an illegal immigrant housekeeper.
Some conservative bloggers appear concerned about what Gloria Allred might expose.
The New York conservative blog, The Red Side of Life, demanded Mitt Romney supporters “stop her now”, adding “we’re doing too well to risk an Allred”.
“Gloria Allred Prepares Anti-Mitt Strike You Can STOP Her Now! (action!) Don’t underestimate Gloria Allred’s ability to inflict damage,” the website reads.
Bobby Brown was arrested early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles for driving under the influence.
According to local media reports, the incident happened around 1:00 a.m. when a police cruiser spotted Bobby Brown driving erratically and pulled him over. The officer reportedly smelled alcohol and gave the singer a field sobriety test, which he was said to have failed.
Bobby Brown, 43, was promptly taken into custody and booked at a nearby police station.
The incident in the San Fernando Valley section of L.A. is Bobby Brown’s second DUI arrest this year.
Bobby Brown was arrested early Wednesday morning in Los Angeles for driving under the influence
In March, Bobby Brown was busted for driving under the influence in the same part of town.
A judge sentenced him to an alcohol treatment program, probation and a fine after he pleaded no contest, just one month after his ex wife, Whitney Houston died.
Bobby Brown admitted himself into a rehab facility in August.
