book actress

Born in Michigan and raised in Melbourne, Florida, Kate Upton grew up around horses. She was attending a horse show--not as a participant, but because the event piqued her interest--at age 12 when she was Spotted by Trump Model Management. Three years later she went to Miami to become a model. She quickly gained popularity after her first appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and also for utilizing social media which got her signed by Ivan Bart of IMG Models. For this skillful use of the internet she was profiled on 13 February 2012 by the NY Times the same day as her second issue of Sports Illustrated, featuring her on the cover, hit newsstands.

Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathtub by her bodyguard in a luxury suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel having accidentally overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol, according to reports.Bottles of Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax and a sleeping medication were found in the hotel room. The drugs were believed to have acted as sedatives, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub once they had been mixed with alcohol.

I'm getting reports that Susan Yusuf, popularly known as Susy Q, the lady who owns SQ lounge and was recently in the news about ending her Jonzing club partnership with DPrince, was today stabbed to death at her flat at 1004 flats in Victoria Island.

According to the report, Suzy Q was stabbed to death at her flat on the 6th Floor of D Block, 1004 flats. The man who killed her jumped from the 6th floor (12 stories up) to his death when people were rushing towards him.



The man who allegedly killed Suzy Q...pic taken at the scene of the crime
So so sad and quite unbelievable! Will definitely find out more about this and bring it here...

Is the no-hitter becoming so common that it's losing its luster? Over the past three seasons, no-hitters are about as common as your cable bill: they come almost once a month. The perfect game by Matt Cain Wednesday in San Francisco was the 14th no-hitter in the past 2 1/3 seasons.
Back at the start of May, when Jered Weaver threw the second no-hitter of this season, I wrote, "At the rate we're going these past three years, you can expect three or four more no-hitters before the season is over." I didn't expect we would get three more just within a 13-day span this month.

This seems crazy, but it's actually nothing we haven't seen before. You just have to go all the way back to the late 1960s, when hitting was so bad they had to make two huge rules changes: they lowered the mound (1969) and added the designated hitter (1973). It is tougher to get a hit in the major leagues this season (.253) than any season since 1972 (.244), the last year without a DH.
How much more common have no-hitters become in the past three years? This quick look at the rate of no-hitters in the Modern Era will give you an idea:
1901-2009: 1 every 794 games
2010-2012: 1 every 414 games
So the rate of no-hitters has increased 48 percent in the past three seasons as compared to the modern era up to that point. But what if we compare the past three years to baseball late-1960s doldrums? Here you go:
2010-2012: 1 every 414 games
1967-1969: 1 every 345 games
We've essentially brought the game back to pre-DH levels. This has been an undeniable trend over a decade, but especially in the past four years. The major league batting average has declined for six straight years. Go back to 2000 -- the height of The Steroid Era -- and the major league average was .270 with 10.28 runs scored per game. Now it's .253 and 8.60 runs per game. That's a 16 percent cutback in scoring. In raw numbers, based on projected numbers for this year, that means pitchers have removed 4,086 runs and 3,461 hits from a baseball season.
Chew on this for a minute: There have been more no-hitters in one-third of a season this year (five) than in the last three full seasons without steroid testing (four, from 2000-02). But testing for steroids is only one ingredient to why pitchers are taking back the game. The need and emphasis on pitching development was a response to the wild offensive years of The Steroid Era. Coupled with that is the emphasis on defense, including the use of defensive metrics and defensive positioning.
The biggest play in Cain's perfect game was made by a player who would have had no place in The Steroid Era -- Gregor Blanco, a small, speedy corner outfielder with six career home runs -- and was positioned in a place that would have seemed unlikely more than a decade ago -- shaded toward right-centerfield against a lefthanded hitter. The Gregor Blancos of the world have been welcomed back into major league baseball because the game has returned to an emphasis on pitching and defense. As I wrote recently, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, the biggest proponent of using defensive metrics, said the flood of intelligence in baseball has been almost entirely to the advantage of the defensive side of the game, with little upside for offense.
The last time the game truly belonged to pitchers, back in the late 1960s, the lowering of the mound and the addition of the DH were designed to make the game more attractive to fans. But this depressed run-scoring environment is occurring at a time when baseball is wildly popular. Attendance is up 7 percent this year, with 20 of the 30 clubs reporting an increase in ticket sales.
And you know that legend that owners let steroids go unchecked because they were raking in the dough from ticket sales? It's a myth. Per-game attendance went down three of the next five seasons after the seminal 1998 season and the great home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Per-game attendance this year in a depressed run-scoring environment (30,416) is better than any of the last nine seasons when players were free to juice up without any penalties (1995-2003). It seems fans dig these close low-scoring games.
Finally, there has been a lot of talk about how Cain just might have pitched the best game in baseball history, seeing as he tied the record of Sandy Koufax for most strikeouts in a perfect game (14). In other words, Cain took care of the majority of outs himself without letting anybody on base. That puts his game among the greatest ever, though for importance, there's no way it stands up to Dan Larsen throwing a perfect game in the 1956 World Series against a Dodgers team that led the NL in on-base percentage, was second in runs scored and had four future Hall of Famers in the lineup.
But you also have to keep in mind that there are more strikeouts in today's game than ever before in history. When Koufax fanned 14 Cubs in his perfect game in 1965, NL batters struck out once every 5.74 at-bats. This year they are punching out once every 4.42 at-bats -- a 23 percent increase in the rate of strikeouts. The less often the ball is in play, the more likely a no-hitter becomes. And that's another reason why -- okay, I'll say it again -- we will see another three or four no-hitters before the year is out.
Moreover, that's why Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs may have thrown one of the most impressive no-hitters ever, strikeouts be damned -- literally. Holtzman no-hit the Braves on Aug. 19, 1969 at Wrigley Field without striking out a single batter. The ball was put in play 27 times -- 15 times in the air and 12 times on the ground -- and 27 times an out was recorded. It was done once before, by Sam Jones in 1923, and never again. Let's see one of today's pitchers pull off that trick. Now that would be rarer than your cable bill.

Mitt Romney on Wednesday castigated President Obama, telling the chief executives of 100 of the nation’s biggest corporations that the president has ushered in “the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs series of policies in modern American history.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee ticked through a series of proposals that he said would foster a friendlier business climate — repealing Obama’s health-care law, authorizing more oil and natural gas drilling, halting all Obama-era regulations and lowering corporate and individual tax rates.
But Romney employed particularly stinging rhetoric in a sort of campaign “prebuttal,” a day before the president is expected to deliver a major campaign speech in Ohio in which he tries to reframe the economic debate.

Seizing again on Obama’s comment last week that “the private sector is doing fine,” Romney said, “the incredulity that came screaming back from the American people, I think, has caused him to rethink that.”

“I think you’re going to see him change course when he speaks tomorrow, where he will acknowledge that it isn’t going so well, and he’ll be asking for four more years,” Romney continued. “My own view is that he will speak eloquently but that words are cheap, and that the record of an individual is the basis upon which you determine whether they should continue to hold onto their job.”

That there are 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed, Romney said, “is a compelling and a sad statistic. These are real people.”

Romney painted a dire portrait of the U.S. economy under a second Obama term. He warned that Obama would “stifle” energy resources in coal, oil and natural gas, as well as raise the cost of health care through the implementation of “Obamacare,” increase the regulatory burden on businesses and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

“I think this election is a watershed reelection, which will determine the relationship between citizen and enterprise and government,” Romney said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded that Romney was “dishonest” in his attacks on the president’s record, saying Obama helped the country create 4.3 million private sector jobs over the last 27 months.

“In another in a long line of ‘major’ economic speeches, Mitt Romney made dishonest after dishonest claim about the president’s record and failed to offer any new ideas of his own on how to improve the economy and strengthen the middle class,” Smith said in a statement.

Romney, himself a former CEO, seemed at ease addressing the members of the Business Roundtable, a lobby organization made up of chief executives. He waved hello to a former consulting colleague from Bain and sprinkled through his speech references to some business titans he had met with recently, including August Busch, the former CEO of Anheuser-Busch.

“Government has to be the partner, the friend, the ally, the supporter of enterprise, not the enemy,” Romney said. “Too often you find yourself facing a government that looks at you like you’re the bad guys, and if you’re hiring people and employing people and paying taxes, you’re the good guys. I want you to do well.”

Oklahoma City struck first in the NBA finals, giving Thunder starKevin Durant early bragging rights over three-time league MVPLeBron James.

"For this whole playoffs, I'm just trying to play my game, be aggressive, and if I see a shot I have to take it," said Durant. "I have to go back tomorrow and watch film and see how I can get better and hopefully have a better game."

The 2012 NBA finals is defined by the two best players in the game -- Miami's James and three-time scoring champion Durant.

Durant finished with 36 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Oklahoma City came from behind to defeat James' Miami Heat 105-94 in game one Tuesday in front of a crowd of 18,203 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Durant and James were given the task of guarding each other during portions of game one and for awhile, especially in the second quarter, it looked like James might get the better of Durant.

James had 10 of his team-high 30 points in the second quarter for the Heat who shot 51 percent from the field in the first half.

"I'm not worried about the one-on-one match-up, it's just about the team, and he (James) does such a great job of guarding everybody," said Durant, whose 36 points matched his 2012 playoff high.

Miami and Oklahoma City are not complete strangers to the final series but just three teams, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Antonio are responsible for 10 of the last 13 NBA titles.

James has essentially spent the past five years answering for his playoff failures. Now he's determined to prove he can close this out in his third trip to the NBA finals.

The Thunder are only thing standing between King James and his crown.

"Obviously, LeBron wants to win a championship," Miami teammate Dwyane Wade said. "I can't say that he wants to win more than the next man, than anybody on OKC. I can't say that. But obviously he wants to win and get another opportunity. I'm sure he will try to seize it a little bit better than he did the first two times."

James said there is no panic in the Miami locker room and the Heat will come back with a better game plan in Thursday's game two.

"This was the feel out game," said James, who registered his fourth straight contest of scoring 30 or more points. "We come out with a lot of energy, and tried to steal game one. And now we get an opportunity to go to the chalkboard and go to the film. We've already seen what they are capable of doing."

These two franchises have never met in the NBA playoffs previously and each have one NBA championship to their credit.

The Heat defeated Dallas in six games in 2006 while the Thunder won a title in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics, beating the Washington Bullets in five games.

Democrat Ron Barber, a former aide to Gabrielle Giffords who was injured in the shooting that nearly took the ex-Arizona congresswoman’s life, won the special election to replace her on Tuesday.

With 66 percent of precincts reporting, Barber led Republican Jesse Kelly 53 percent to 45 percent. The AP has called the race for Barber.

The contest was the last congressional special election before November’s general election, leaving both sides to mine the results for clues about what might work in November and who might have momentum on their side.
From left, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Ron Barber and Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband, enter the polling place at St. Cyril's Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz. Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle) (Tom Tingle - AP)

Giffords survived an assassination attempt in January 2011 and resigned her seat in Congress earlier this year to focus on her recovery. She supported Barber and campaigned on his behalf, but she played only a small role in the battle for a conservative-leaning southeastern Arizona district.

Instead, the race centered on Barber’s ties to the national Democratic Party and, more importantly, Kelly’s past statements about overhauling the nation’s entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare.

The Democratic strategy appeared to have paid dividends in what is a Republican-leaning district. Barber’s win comes mostly as a result of Democratic efforts to define Kelly early on as being anti-Medicare and anti-Social Security in the 11th-oldest district in the country. In their ads, Democrats ran footage and quotes of Kelly talking about getting rid of the entitlements.

Kelly attempted to distance himself from those past positions in this campaign, airing an ad featuring his grandfather and promising to protect the programs.

Given the large number of senior citizens in the district and Kelly’s past comments, though, the special election was almost a perfect test case for the Democrats’ strategy, which they used in previous special elections and plan to use in the fall.

The political circumstances are not likely to align so perfectly in most other districts, but Democrats point out that basically every GOP incumbent has voted for a Republican budget that overhauls Medicare and that they can use the issue against any number of Republicans, particularly incumbents, all across the country.

On the GOP side, the messaging was all about tying Barber to his national party, including President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with Obama’s health care law. Barber, much like his boss before him, sought to put some distance between his campaign and the president. Giffords, for example, notably declined to vote for Pelosi for speaker this Congress, after Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 midterms.

Giffords played a bit part in the campaign, with Democrats featuring her in a piece of mail and a Democratic super PAC launching an ad that showed Kelly criticizing her during their 2010 campaign. She also appeared with Barber at a rally over the weekend. But in a district where more than half of voters were likely to vote by mail, many if not most ballots had already been cast.

The race didn’t attract as much attention and spending from outside groups as other recent special elections, despite indications that it would be close. Taking place just one week after the high-profile gubernatorial recall election in Wisconsin meant much of the nation’s attention was elsewhere until seven days ago.

Conservative groups and the national Republican Party spent about $1.4 million on Kelly’s behalf, while the Democratic Party and allied groups spent about $900,000 for Barber.

The contrast of the Wisconsin result, where the GOP held on in a tough state, with the Arizona result, where Democrats held a tough district, suggests neither side has the clear edge with less than five months until the 2012 election. Both races were their own unique sets of circumstances and can’t be ascribed to every race nationally.

Regardless of Tuesdays’s winner, the two could be headed for a rematch in November, where both candidates are running again for a full term in a newly-drawn district that will look different than the one they competed in Tuesday.

If Kelly loses, though, he could face a primary rematch with retired Air Force colonel Martha McSally, who finished in second place in the special election primary. The primary for the general election will be held Aug. 28.

Ron Barber, Tucson District Director for Rep. Giffords, was among the wounded from Saturday's shooting. Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin shared with us two photos from his room in the ICU.

Photo by Gawain Douglas
Karamargin: "Ron Barber, 65, meets with Daniel Hernandez in his hospital ICU room on Sunday, Jan 9, 2001. Daniel works with Barber as an intern for Congresswoman Giffords while Barber is the District Director for Giffords. Hernandez rushed to Gifford's aid after she was shot. While holding the wounded Giffords, Hernandez said he asked another bystander to put pressure on Barbers wounds. He also asked Barber for his wife's phone number and then shouted it out to someone so that Barber's wife, Nancy, could be informed of the shooting. Barber was extreamly greatful and impressed with Hernandez's composure under the circumstances and had been asking to see him after he had gained strength following surgery."



Photo by Gawain Douglas
Karamargin: "Ron Barber, 65, reacts after opening a gift from his granddaughter while in the ICU at University Medical Center on Monday, January 10, 2011. Barber was able to visit with his four grandchildren two days after being shot twice during the attempt on Congresswoman Giffords' life in Tucson."

Except to the guys who share the top billing.

One of them will emerge with his first championship and probably the title of best player in the game.

It could be James, the three-time MVP. Or it might be Durant, the league's scoring champion the last three years.

All they know is whoever it is won't have done it alone.

''Everybody is going to make the most out of the matchup of me versus LeBron, but it's the Thunder versus the Heat,'' Durant said Monday. ''One guy versus another guy, it's not going to be a 1-on-1 matchup to win the series, it's going to be all about the team.''

Maybe, but it's easy to get caught up in their individual brilliance.

It's the first time the MVP and scoring champ have met in the finals since 1997, when Michael Jordan's Bulls knocked off MVP Karl Malone and Utah.

They are friends and workout partners, play the same small forward position and are blessed with unlimited basketball talent. After years of waiting on a James-Kobe Bryant finals matchup that never materialized, the league gets one starting Tuesday that's perhaps even better, if not quite as sexy, to wrap up a successful season after the lockout.

''It's great for the NBA,'' Miami's Shane Battier said. ''I anticipate record ratings, which is great, so maybe we can get some of the escrow check back from the owners. First and foremost, that's why I'm excited to see Kevin Durant versus LeBron James. But selfish reasons aside, it's just a great matchup.

''There's so many young, great players in this league and established players and All-Stars. If you're a basketball fan, you're missing out if you're not watching this series.''

Both have sworn off Twitter, at least for the time being, James posted his last message on April 27 and Durant on May 1.

For now, KingJames and KDTrey5 will stick to making their statements on the court.

''Kevin is locked in on what he needs to do to help the team win,'' Thunder All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook said. ''It's going to be a great series for both teams and hopefully we can come out with the win.''

James is back for a third crack at his first championship, his Cleveland Cavaliers swept aside by San Antonio in 2007 just a couple of weeks before Durant was drafted by the then-Seattle SuperSonics with the No. 2 pick in the draft.

James fell short again last year in his first season with Miami, then carried the Heat to another chance with victories in the final two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, starting with a sensational, 45-point, 15-rebound Game 6 performance in Boston.

''You know, third time in the finals in nine years, there's a lot of guys who don't get there once,'' Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ''Of course, that right there in itself is an honor. But you want to win one. You want to get there and win one. Obviously, LeBron wants to win a championship. I can't say that he wants to win more than the next man, than anybody on OKC. I can't say that. But obviously he wants to win and get another opportunity. I'm sure he will try to seize it a little bit better than he did the first two times.''

A disappointment last year in the Heat's six-game loss to Dallas, James has said he's been in a better frame of mind this season and is looking forward making up for his previous failure.

''I didn't play well. I didn't make enough game-changing plays that I know I'm capable of making and I felt like I let my teammates down,'' he said.

''I'm happy and I'm humbled that I can actually be back in this position less than 12 months later to do a better job of making more plays, more game-changing plays out on the floor on a bigger stage. So we'll see what happens.''

Though their core of Durant, Westbrook, sixth man of the year James Harden and Serge Ibaka are all 23 or younger, the Thunder enter as the favorites in their first finals appearance since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.

With signs backing the Thunder hanging from buildings throughout the city, Oklahoma City has watched Durant grow up from the player who arrived here as the rookie of the year. He received some guidance along the way from James, who reached out to Durant when he was in high school and then invited him to his home in Akron, Ohio, to work out last summer.

''For me, I understood what the situation he was getting himself into being drafted as high he was, and the things that came with being drafted to a team that needed a marquee player or superstar,'' James said. ''You know, from Day One I always lent my hand out to guide him if he needed it through anything, and that's on and off the floor, because to that point I seen everything, and I'm still learning. ...

''Our relationship is really good. Our relationship is going to continue to grow and I'm happy to be in this position where I can compete against him.''

Only one can be considered the best player in the game, and it's probably the guy who walks out of this series as a champion.

''I think it's going to bring the best out of both of them, and it's going to be the best for the game,'' Wade said, ''and it's going to be a great show.''

It's her one piece of fashion advice for the country - although it's unclear exactly what it is about all that flesh that upsets her.

The Scotsman was in Sydney to promote Disney/Pixar collaboration Brave in which he lends his vocal chords to a 10th Century King named Fergus.
The film is about rebellious, flame-haired princess Merida who is determined to make her own path in life, defying a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom.
Connolly spoke to news.com.au about encountering the word "ranga" for the first time, what he is king of in his life, and gave a nod to our own red-haired ambassador, Julia Gillard.

The producers of "Godspell" say Broadway's first revival of the rock musical will play its final performance at the Circle in the Square Theatre June 24.

The show began previews Oct. 13 and officially opened Nov. 7. At the time of its closing, it will have played 30 preview performances and 264 regular performances.

"I've never been more proud of a show than I am of 'Godspell,'" lead producer Ken Davenport said in a statement. "For nine months this incredible company of performers brought joy into the hearts of more than 153,000 people (and blasted them with over 1,000 pounds of confetti) ... forever changing their lives, and mine as well. And while this production of 'Godspell' may not be at Circle in the Square past the 24th of June, it will be in our hearts and the hearts of everyone who saw it forever."

Its first national tour is to begin during the 2013-14 theater season.

"Godspell" originally opened off Broadway in 1971 and was first staged on Broadway in 1976.

HE may have been born and raised in London, but Robert Pattinson must be hanging around Hollywood a little too much these days.
The British actor had to be coached on his British accent, co-star Christina Ricci revealed in an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live", Us Weekly reported.
Ricci, 34, and the Twilight hunk star in Bel Ami, a film about a young man who rises to power in Paris by manipulating wealthy women.
Ricci had to speak in an English accent and she said Pattinson, 26, made fun of her sometimes.
"They hired a wonderful accent coach who coached me ... and also coached him because he spent a lot of time in LA," she explained.
"I got to make fun of him because he's actually British and sometimes would sound like he was a Valley girl. And he made fun of me because I was trying to be British and would sometimes sound like a Valley girl.
"But really I was the problem. Sometimes we would do scenes and I'd turn to him and I would [ask], 'Did that sound OK?' And he'd [say], 'No.'"
Recently Pattinson praised his girlfriend Kristen Stewart for her English accent in Snow White and the Huntsman.
"She's really good at it," he told MTV News. "She's really good."

Kate Walsh says she is leaving "Private Practice" at the end of the U.S. medical drama's upcoming sixth season.

RIHANNA - naked on billboards and almost naked on the street.
Fresh from stamping on claims she used a body double for a steamy ad for Armani, the singer stepped out onto the streets of Manhattan in her most risqué outfit yet.

She tweeted a picture of the outfit before heading out and giving New Yorkers, and the paparazzi, a better view of her body.

Her pink lace bandeau bra was complimented by a pink pleat skirt, sunglasses and a pair of Cons, but those accessories didn't draw attention away from the fact she had mistaken a see-through bandage for a top.


Her choice of outfit was all the more strange given that Times Square has been taken over by giant naked Rihannas. The 24-year-old singer appears nude on billboards for her perfume range Rebelle.

It may be Rihanna's attempt to convince the world that the only person stripping off in her Armani ad is her.

Although she took time to slam reports she had used a body double, she has kept quiet on other damaging tabloid claims: that her manager has ordered her to go to rehab, that she's been out partying with her abusive ex and that she's suffering Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

According to Closer magazine, Jay-Z, is worried about her "excessive" partying. "Rihanna has been out of control for months," a source told the magazine.

"She was supposed to catch a flight back to the UK last week, but she ended up missing it, which was the final straw for management.

"Jay-Z hit the roof when he found out, and told Rihanna, 'Go to rehab now or I'll drop you from the label.' She's not happy, but she now feels she has no choice."

The Sun newspaper reported that Rihanna and Chris Brown partied at the same nightclub at the weekend.

Although the former couple sat at different tables, Witnesses said Brown sent Rihanna two bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne.

"After Chris made his way into SL with a group of friends, Rihanna pulled up with her own group of friends. They sat far enough from each other to not be able to talk, but close enough to keep an eye on one another."

Look magazine claimed the singer is suffering from Narcisstic Personality Disorder and that she had "reached breaking point".

A friend told the magazine: "Ri says she's physically and mentally exhausted and feeling lost. I think she desperately needs help and some time off - not just from work but from all the other stresses in her life too."

Actor David Arquette and his wife, actress Courteney Cox arrive for A Time For Heroes Celebrity Carnival to benefit the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation, on the Veterans Administration grounds in Los Angeles on June 8, 2008. (UPI Photo/Jim Ruymen) 

Henry Hill, a former mobster who was the basis for characters in the films "Goodfellas" and "My Blue Heaven," has died in Los Angeles, his girlfriend said.

He was 69.

TMZ reported the one-time Lucchese crime family associate died Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

"He had been sick for a long time," his girlfriend, Lisa Caserta, told TMZ. "His heart gave out."

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was accused of extortion, theft, kidnapping, assault, drug dealing and a host of other offenses during his career in organized crime, but he spent his later years working with troubled youth and as a consultant to law-enforcement agencies. He also was an artist, popular guest on Howard Stern's radio show and author of "The Wiseguy Cookbook."

"It took a long time for me to forgive myself," Hill told United Press International in a 2002 telephone interview. "I just try to be one grain of sand better today than I was yesterday. I found my spirituality. I help the kids, young people in trouble."

Reflecting on his long career as a gangster, his decision to end it by testifying against his former associates, and his colorful relationship with the government while in the Federal Witness Protection program, living in places such as Nebraska, Kentucky and Washington state, Hill said he no longer looked over his shoulder for fear one of his former associates will kill him.

Hill, who struggled with addictions to drugs and alcohol for most of his adult life, was ultimately expelled from witness protection because he refused to keep a low profile and kept getting arrested.

"For 10 years, I lived a miserable life, but now there isn't anyone alive that I was involved with ... The people that tried to kill me and my family, that's the only people I knew about and most of them wound up with bullets in their head," Hill explained a decade ago. "I work hard. I'm not on Easy Street by no means, but I'm okay. I live a good life. I try to keep my life simple.

"The stigma of being a rat is hard to live with," he admitted, adding he ultimately found comfort in the thought he actually may have saved lives by helping put away the bad guys.

Hill also vouched for the authenticity of "Goodfellas," Martin Scorsese's classic 1990 film based on his life story. Ray Liotta played him in the picture.

"That's the way it is," Hill said. "It wasn't glamorized. It showed what it was like."

The rabid fan of "The Sopranos" did, however, condemn films and TV shows that perpetuate the so-called mob mystique, noting being a mobster is more "every man for himself" than "family first" or "honor among thieves."

Asked if it bothered him to watch movies or TV programs that remind him of his former life, Hill replied: "I watch them all ... I don't take that whole life seriously ... I own my past."

He is survived by a son and daughter from his marriage to ex-wife Karen Friedman.

To celebrate his 21st anniversary since debut, composer Yoon Il Sang has enlisted the help of top mainstream and indie artists for his anniversary album next month.

The album will contain hit tracks that were much loved by his fans throughout the year recreated by different stars into their own styles.

Lance Productions explained, “His album will be a big project on its own, as it features the participation of not only popular producers and composers, but also artists that he’s close friends with, such as Kim Gun Mo, Kim Bum Soo, Lee Eun Mi, Paul Potts, Super Junior, 10cm, No Brain, and others.”

The songs will be released in digital singles containing two tracks each starting January. Details of who will sing which song will has not yet been revealed, but anticipation is already rising high due to the stellar line-up of participating singers.

Super Junior’s Leeteuk recently revealed his thoughts on bringing the Super Show 4 tour to Japan’s iconic Tokyo Dome, a 55,000-seat stadium that has become a dream stage for many artists hoping to breakthrough within the Japanese market.

“The Tokyo Dome, to be quite honest, is a difficult venue to perform in unless you’re an established artist,” said Leeteuk at a Super Show 4 press conference in Japan. “In a short amount of time, we have received the chance to perform a show here despite the fact that we haven’t promoted in Japan.”

“There are a number of Hallyu artists that are popular in Japan, but Super Junior has broken the mold of idol groups with an image that is completely different from theirs. I believe that this is one of the strengths of Super Junior,” continued the leader. “Hallyu stars like Bae Yong Joon and Lee Byung Hun have all successfully established themselves overseas with a mysterious and charismatic image. Super Junior, however, breaks that image in an effort to frequently show our fans a more free-spirited and approachable side of ourselves, which in turn helped us receive much love and support from the public.”

“Even though we haven’t properly promoted in Japan yet, I believe it was by various online sources such as YouTube and social networking sites that gave our Japanese fans access to the dramas that our members were in, our work as radio program DJs, as well as our music videos that gave them the chance to get to know us as and our work,” concluded Leeteuk.

The Super Show originated in 2007, and has launched three separate times as Asia Tours. Ever since its first show, the Super Show concerts have become one of the key factors that have shaped up Super Junior’s global fan base and support. Currently, the 4th Super Show is the first tour to include dates outside of Asia.

Meanwhile, Super Junior will be returning to the Seoul Olympic Park Stadium on May 26th and 27th to play additional encore shows.

Super Junior‘sKim Heechul recently took a photo on his way back to his hometown.

On May 13th, the idol posted the above photo and tweeted, “On the way to my hometown.  There were those old time hot dogs, so I tried one after 20 years.  As expected, hot dogs taste great with ketchup.  Hot dog selca.”

Sitting on a bench at an underground subway station, Heechul drew great attention with his abnormal pose.  It looks like he got some time off from his military duties to visit his family.  This selca has now become Heechul’s new default image.

Fans found his new photo hilarious and commented, “You look so stylish even when you’re eating~“, “Wish I had good looking men like you in my country’s subway station“, and “I wanna sit next to you and watch you eat that  ”

South Korea’s popular musical, ‘Jack the Ripper‘ featuring Super Junior‘s Sungmin, is set to premiere in Japan.

On the 2nd, Japan’s newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported, “South Korea’s popular musical ‘Jack the Ripper’ will be playing at the Aoyama Theatre in Tokyo, Japan during September through October.”

‘Jack the Ripper’ has been playing in Korean theaters since 2009 and has become one of South Korea’s most popular musicals. The musical portrays the infamous case of a serial killer known as “Jack the Ripper” who targeted prostitutes on the streets of London in 1888.

Sungmin and original Hallyu star Ahn Jae Wook will be playing the main role of Daniel, the doctor, while rockstar Shin Sung Woo will be playing the lead role of Jack.

Last year, the ‘Jack the Ripper’ musical received a great amount of attention from Japanese fans and to accommodate them, Japanese subtitles were included throughout the show.

UN AND PARTNERS RELOCATE REFUGEES IN SOUTH SUDAN TO RELIEVE OVERCROWDING
New York, Jun 12 2012 6:10PM
The United Nations refugee agency and its partners have relocated 8,000 Sudanese refugees from a transit site in the north-east of South Sudan to relieve overcrowding.

The move over the weekend follows several deaths, and the prospect of new arrivals of up to 15,000 refugees into South Sudan's Upper Nile state, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards,told reporters in Geneva.

South Sudan is currently hosting more than 150,000 refugees from Sudan, many of whom have fled conflict and lack of food in their homeland. Over 112,000 of these are in Upper Nile state, while a further 51,000 are in settlements further west in Unity state.

Last week, the non-governmental organization Médecins Sans Frontières reported seven deaths among recent arrivals at the transit site of Hofra, about 25 kilometres from the border with Sudan.

"The deaths are believed to be linked to the weak state the refugees arrived in after walking for weeks from Blue Nile state with little to eat or drink," said Mr. Edwards, adding that these risk factors are amplified by the dwindling supply of water in Hofra.

The weekend emergency relocation began after food and other relief items had been distributed to all 32,000 refugees in Hofra. UNHCR took the refugees to another transit site called Kilo 18, where an estimated two weeks of water supply is available. From Kilo 18, the refugees will be relocated permanently to UNHCR's newest camp in Upper Nile state, called Yusuf Batil.

UNHCR is working with the South Sudanese authorities and local communities to identify additional refugee sites outside Maban county, where the refuges are currently hosted.

"We are searching for a suitable site in Melut county where water would be sourced from the Nile – the hope being to relocate refugees from Jammam camp to ease the pressure on limited water supplies," Mr. Edwards said.

OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS TO PROMOTE TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS IN NEW UN ROLE
New York, Jun 12 2012 6:10PM
The United Nations telecoms agency has designated Academy Award-winning Hollywood actress Geena Davis as a special envoy to promote the empowering role technology can play in the lives of women and girls.

Among her duties will be to promote the 'Tech Needs Girls' campaign of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a three-year campaign that seeks to raise global awareness of the role information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in empowering women.

"I am delighted that Ms. Davis will be joining us in our campaign to help expand the opportunities open to women and girls, and redress the current gender imbalance in the ICT industry," <"http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2012/38.aspx">said ITU's Secretary-General, Hamadoun Touré.

The new Special Envoy for Women and Girls in the field of technology said she is "thrilled" with her latest role with the ITU.

"This role will enable me to take the work I'm doing to a much bigger scale globally, through developing and consulting on strategies to advance gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women in ICTs," said Ms. Davis.

"It's incredibly important to get more women and girls connected to technology, and a big factor in making this happen is going to be ITU's work," she added.

The 'Tech Needs Girls' campaign aims to highlight the potential of technology to transform women's lives, whether it be through ICT-based career choices or by improved access to services like e-health, e-education, e-commerce, e-banking and a host of new applications and devices that can help girls and women address their day-to-day challenges, ITU stated in a news release.

It seeks to do this with the help of high-profile ambassadors such as Ms. Davis, as well as with an extensive programme of online multimedia content, major advocacy events around the globe and key partnerships with industry, government, civil society and other UN agencies.

Earlier this year, the Geneva-based ITU launched a multilingual web portal focused on helping girls and women access training, job opportunities and career information in the ICT sector.

The Girls in ICT Portal houses over 400 programmes, including over 100 scholarship programmes and an equal number of contests and awards, some 60 training and internship opportunities, over 100 online networks offering career support and mentoring, as well as tech camps and other activities.
Jun 12 2012 6:10PM

A few years back,the actress'take home pay was worth N1.7M and the amount made headline news with different schools of thought voicing their opinion

That was the first time it began to dawn on observers that actresses who have paid their dues are actually getting paid.

As you read this omotolas take home fee is no longer N1.7M,the actress now collects N5M(five million naira per script)to be involved in any movie.

According to observers"she has even turned down scripts worth N3M and recently turned down a script worth N2.5M and ireti doyle got the role. "Omotola got paid N5M for her role in movie 'amina' by producer tarila thompson whilst she go N4.5M for her role in ties that bind after a series of negotiations.

Lets say she collects four scripts in two months,thats a solid 20million keh!

Abeg maybe i should dump writing for a waka pass role eeeeeh.

If you disagree with this amount and think someone else earns higher,please let me know.

Television actress Rucha Gujrati aka ‘Kiya’ of popular soap ‘Saas Bina Susural’ was physically and mentally harassed by her husband Mitul Sanghvi. Rucha got married to chemical engineer Mitul Sanghvi in 2010. She lodged a complaint against her husband at the Juhu police station.

Rucha’s marriage hit the rock few months after her marriage. She was physically and mentally abused by her husband and in-laws.

Says the source, "Problems cropped up soon after Rucha tied the knot on October 24, 2010 with Mitul, who is from a very affluent family. Mitul is completely under his parents' hold and shares everything with them, including the couple's bedroom conversations. The torture began on their honeymoon. Mitul woke Rucha up at 6 am and asked her why she didn't share the honeymoon expenses with him. He grabbed her by the hands and flung her onto the bed. She was shocked! No sooner had they returned that his parents started meddling in their affairs too. She was asked by her husband to follow whatever her father-in-law asked her to do."

Rucha’s in-laws are said to be not happy with her profession. They put on many restrictions on her. "At one point, they took away her set of house keys and warned that they'd never allow her in if she stepped out. They even deprived her of meals and asked her to foot the bills for her expenses and fend for herself. Rucha has been bearing her own expenses for the past two years. She isn't working currently, which has already made a dent in her savings. Her financial condition isn't very good."

Forgetting the past, Rucha tried to mend the differences with her husband but she and her father was ill-treated by Mitul. "He refused to open the door for her, and that's when her father landed up at his house. An infuriated Mitul opened the door, grabbed her father by the collar and started hitting him. He then directed his anger at Rucha, pulled her by her hair and slapped her, leaving a deep cut on her lips."

Both Rucha and her mother-in-law called the police separately, “When Rucha pleaded with them to book her in-laws for mental and physical abuse, the cops instead apologised to her inlaws and left! She had kept quiet all this while hoping things would change. Now, she has called her sister to stay with her as she fears her in-laws will harm her. She doesn't mind giving the marriage a second chance, but her husband and in-laws need to treat her with respect," adds the friend.

Rucha confirms that there is trouble in her marriage, "I would not like to divulge the details. All I can say is that I want justice."

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