Spice Girls reunion was highlight of decade

31/12/2009 - 08:30:59 Victoria Beckham has said the Spice Girls reunion was her highlight of the decade.

The former singer – who has sons Brooklyn, 10, Romeo, 7, and four-year-old Cruz with soccer star husband David Beckham - was delighted to get the chance to share a stage with Geri Halliwell, Emma Button, Mel B and Mel C again in 2008.

She told a magazine that it was such a big opportunity to celebrate the past and thank our fans.

“The boys were the main reason for doing it – so the could see what I used to do. Normally it’s all about David, but the boys were really proud.”

 

Despite reuniting for the tour, Victoria – who is now a successful fashion designer - was the only Spice Girl not to partake in a solo song, instead choosing to parody herself as a model.

Rumours have been circulating that there could be a second reunion of the girl band.

Speaking in a television interview earlier this year, Geri said: “Right now, we are gathering information and thinking about possibilities.”

Reports have suggested that the group will also come together to cast actresses to play them in a Spice Girls musical.

Somali pirates seize two ships for quick money from ransom

December 30, 2009 10:45 a.m. EST: Pirates seized a British-flagged chemical tanker and a Panamanian-flagged carrier off Somalia's coast and were holding 45 crew members on Tuesday, a maritime official said.

The two hijackings late on Monday showed that pirates were relentless in their pursuit of quick money from ransom and that ship owners need to take extra precaution when sailing in the Horn of Africa, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The waters off Somalia are teeming with pirates who have hijacked dozens of ships for multimillion-dollar ransoms in the past two years. An international naval force now patrols the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Choong said the UK-flagged tanker, St James Park, was the first merchant vessel to have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in nearly six months.

He said the ship issued a distress message on Monday, seeking help after it was attacked.

The distress call was picked up by the Greek rescue and coordination centre in Piraeus, which in turn relayed the message to the International Maritime Bureau and other agencies, he said.

The maritime bureau could not establish communication with the vessel but was informed by the ship's owner early on Tuesday that the tanker has been hijacked, Choong said.

The spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy force, Cmdr John Harbour, said the St James Park was seized while in the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden that is patrolled by the international naval coalition.

The St James Park set sail from Tarragona, Spain, and was headed for Tha Phut, Thailand, he said. The tanker has 26 crew members from the Philippines, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, India and Turkey, Harbour said.

The ship was last reported to be heading toward the northern coast of Somalia, and the E.U. Naval Force was monitoring the situation, he added.

Choong said pirates last hijacked a Yemeni fishing boat in the Gulf of Aden on December 18, but the St James Park was the first merchant vessel to have been taken in the busy waterway since July 8.

He said three hours after the St James Park was hijacked that a Panamanian-flagged carrier with 19 crew members was also seized by pirates off the southern coast of Somalia on Monday. The ship is managed in Greece, he said.

The International Maritime Bureau is still waiting for the official reports from both ship owners and couldn't give further details, Choong said.

In another development, pirates released the Singapore-flagged container ship Kota Wajar on Monday, the E.U. Naval Force said. The vessel was hijacked in mid-October in the Indian Ocean north of the Seychelles islands with a crew of 21 on board.

Choong said the latest incidents brought the number of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia to 214 this year, with 47 vessels hijacked and 12 still in the hands of pirates with 263 crew, he added.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991 as regional warlords vie for power, and impoverished young men have increasingly taken to piracy in recent years in hopes of a big ransom payoff.

Somali pirates attack Kuwaiti oil tanker but fail to capture it

Wednesday, December 30, 2009 NAIROBI, Kenya  - The spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have attacked a Kuwaiti-flagged oil tanker but failed to seize it.

Cmdr. John Harbour says the pirates attacked the 105,000 ton MV Album about 800 nautical miles east of the northern coast of Somalia.

Harbour says Wednesday's unsuccessful attack lasted for about 30 minutes and caused no damage to the ship.

Harbour could not provide further information.

Pirates have made tens of millions of dollars from ransoms. They now hold more than 200 crew members and about a dozen vessels. Piracy has remained at high levels this year despite a growing number of international warships and extra safety precautions taken by merchant vessels.

Stars we lost 2009

A film and television star whose career spanned seven  decades, Ricardo Montalban was perhaps best known for  his role as the mysterious Mr. Roarke on TV's "Fantasy  Island" from 1977 to 1984. He died January 14 from  congestive heart failure at the age of 88.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and the wife of  actor Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson was a star both on  Broadway and in Hollywood, where she starred in such films  as "The Parent Trap" and "Maid in Manhattan." Richardson  suffered a head injury while skiing on March 16, seemed fine  at first, but hours later complained of a headache and  eventually died two days later from an epidural hematoma.  She was 45.


 

 

 

 

 

Husky-voiced Emmy winner Bea Arthur rose to fame as the  character Maude Findlay in the '70s sitcoms "All in the  Family" and "Maude," but made her most lasting impression  as Dorothy Zbornak on "The Golden Girls." Arthur died of  cancer on April 25, shortly before what would've been her  87th birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

Comic actor Dom DeLuise rose to fame starring in Mel  Brooks movies as well as Burt Reynolds vehicles such as  "The Cannonball Run" and "Smokey and the Bandit II." He  later hosted TV's "Candid Camera" and wrote several books  on cooking. He passed away from kidney failure and  respiratory complications from cancer on May 4 at the age of  75.

Whether he was serving as the straight man for Johnny  Carson's jokes on "The Tonight Show," introducing outtakes  on "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes," or finding the next  big thing on "Star Search," for decades Ed McMahon was a  warm, familiar presence on Americans' televisions.  McMahon died at age 86 on June 23.


 

One of the biggest sex symbols of the '70s, Farrah Fawcett  starred in the hit TV series "Charlie's Angels," and her iconic  poster extended her reach to the walls of dorm rooms and  garages around the world. Once married to actor Lee  Majors, she went on to have an on-again/off-again  relationship with Ryan O'Neal, who was by her side when  she died of cancer on June 25 at the age of 62.

 

Without a doubt one of the most influential and successful  artists in music history, Michael Jackson had 17 #1 hits, won  13 Grammys, and sold hundreds of millions of albums. Fans  around the world were shocked by news of his death on  June 25, when the "King of Pop" stopped breathing and  could not be resuscitated.

Actor and martial-arts expert David Carradine made a name  for himself in the '70s TV series "Kung Fu" and also  appeared in its '90s sequel, "Kung Fu: The Legend  Continues." The veteran of more than 100 films, including  "Kill Bill," was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room on June  4.


 

A newsman for decades, and anchor of the "CBS Evening  News" for nearly 20 years, Walter Cronkite earned himself  the title of "the most trusted man in America," bringing  viewers definitive reports on the assassination of JFK, the  space program, and the Vietnam War. Cronkite died on July  17 at the age of 92.

 

 

Filmmaker John Hughes created some of the most iconic  teen movies of the '80s -- such as "Pretty in Pink," "Sixteen  Candles," "The Breakfast Club," and "Ferris Bueller's Day  Off" -- after getting his big break by writing the screenplay for  "National Lampoon's Vacation." Hughes, who retired from  show business in the early '90s and became a farmer, died  of cardiac arrest on August 6 at the age of 59.

 

Adam Michael Goldstein, aka DJ AM, emerged as a  member of the rap-rock band Crazy Town and later became  a frequent collaborator of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.  The pair, dubbed TRV$DJAM, toured the country and were  injured in a deadly September 2008 plane crash. Goldstein  was found dead from an overdose in his New York  apartment on August 28. He was 36.

 

Actor Patrick Swayze first turned heads with roles in "The  Outsiders" and "Red Dawn" before establishing himself as a  romantic lead in flicks like "Ghost" and "Dirty Dancing."  Swayze proved he could also take on action roles, starring in  the movies "Point Break" and "Road House." After a tough  battle with pancreatic cancer, he died at the age of 57 on  September 14.

 

Brittany Murphy, who got her start in "Clueless" and rose to  stardom in "8 Mile," died unexpectedly on December 20 at  the age of 32. The actress will appear in Sylvester Stallone's  upcoming film, "The Expendables," set for release next  year.

Eerie similarities between Micheal Jackson and Egyptian limestone statue

This image shows an Egyptian limestone statue, depicting an unidentified woman, carved during the New Kingdom Period, dating from between 1550 BC to 1050 BC. 

The bust on display at the museum has been the focus of interest since the death of singer Michael Jackson as visitors double-take at the eerie similarities between the 3,000-year-old statue and the singer.

Courtesy: AFP/The Field Museum

Despite Opposition Climate Conference Approves Deal

19/12/2009 Copenhagen: The UN climate conference in Copenhagen today approved a deal to tackle global warming proposed by world leaders, despite opposition from a number of countries. After another all-night session of wrangling among negotiators and officials, the accord was finally gavelled through to wide applause in the main conference hall of the talks in Copenhagen.

Last night details of the “meaningful” deal agreed between the US and China, India, Brazil and South Africa emerged, which included references to keeping temperature rises to no more than 2C and provisions for finance to help poor countries fight global warming.
But it has no long-term global targets for emissions cuts or a timetable to turn the agreement into a legally-binding treaty – leading environmental campaigners and aid agencies to brand it toothless and a failure.

 

This morning the conference said it “takes note” of the accord – and said the document setting out the deal would specify a list of countries which agreed with it, as some nations were still adamant they would not accept it. The acknowledgment of the accord by the UN conference of more than 190 countries means that provisions for finance contained within it to help poor nations can become operational, officials said. Under the accord, countries will be able to set out their pledges for the action they plan to take to tackle climate change, in an appendix to the document, and will provide information to other nations on their progress.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and EU chiefs said the deal was a first step but acknowledged there was much further to go to get the ambitious and legally-binding treaty countries such as the UK have been pushing for. But Mr Brown attempted to brush off suggestions that his intense efforts to lead the case for a deal had ended in failure – insisting it was significant that all countries now backed the 2C target for the first time.

 

Overnight, however, the main conference of more than 190 countries struggled to endorse the accord – with the main plenary hearing from a number of countries including Sudan, Venezuela and Bolivia which opposed the deal. Sudan’s delegate, Lumumba Di-Aping, said the accord would condemn Africa to many deaths from global warming and compared it with the Holocaust – a statement which was roundly condemned by others including the UK’s Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband. The deal was brokered in a series of bilateral meetings and talks by a group of up to 30 countries – and appeared to have been sealed after US President Barack Obama turned up unannounced at a discussion between China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Many leaders flew out late last night as details of the deal emerged, leaving ministers and officials to return to the full conference in a bid to get it passed.

Speaking following the formal close of the talks in Copenhagen, a day after they were due to finish, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said: ``We have sealed the deal. This accord cannot be everything that everyone hoped for, but it is an essential beginning.''
The attendance of 119 world leaders made the Copenhagen talks the largest gathering of heads of state and government in the history of the UN, and Mr Ban urged them to remain engaged as “climate change is the permanent leadership challenge of our time”.

The UN’s chief climate official Yvo de Boer said: “We now have a package to work with and begin immediate action.

“However, we need to be clear that it is a letter of intent and is not precise about what needs to be done in legal terms. So the challenge is now to turn what we have agreed politically in Copenhagen into something real, measurable and verifiable.”

'We are running short on time' :President Barack Obama's speech at UN Climate Conference, Copenhagen

Good Morning.

It’s an honor to for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come together here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. You would not be here unless you—like me—were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, this is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. That much we know.

So the question before us is no longer the nature of the challenge—the question is our capacity to meet it. For while the reality of climate change is not in doubt, our ability to take collective action hangs in the balance.

I believe that we can act boldly, and decisively, in the face of this common threat. And that is why I have come here today.

As the world’s largest economy and the world’s second-largest emitter, America bears our share of responsibility in addressing climate change, and we intend to meet that responsibility. That is why we have renewed our leadership within international climate negotiations, and worked with other nations to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies. And that is why we have taken bold action at home—by making historic investments in renewable energy; by putting our people to work increasing efficiency in our homes and buildings; and by pursuing comprehensive legislation to transform to a clean energy economy.

These actions are ambitious, and we are taking them not simply to meet our global responsibilities. We are convinced that changing the way that we produce and use energy is essential to America’s economic future—that it will create millions of new jobs, power new industry, keep us competitive, and spark new innovation. And we are convinced that changing the way we use energy is essential to America’s national security, because it will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and help us deal with some of the dangers posed by climate change.

So America is going to continue on this course of action no matter what happens in Copenhagen. But we will all be stronger and safer and more secure if we act together. That is why it is in our mutual interest to achieve a global accord in which we agree to take certain steps, and to hold each other accountable for our commitments.

After months of talk, and two weeks of negotiations, I believe that the pieces of that accord are now clear. [Editor’s note: While the prepared remarks read, “I believe that the pieces of that accord are now clear,” in the delivered remarks, Obama said, “I believe that the pieces of that accord should now be clear.” Emphasis added.]

First, all major economies must put forward decisive national actions that will reduce their emissions, and begin to turn the corner on climate change. I’m pleased that many of us have already done so, and I’m confident that America will fulfill the commitments that we have made: cutting our emissions in the range of 17 percent by 2020, and by more than 80 percent by 2050 in line with final legislation.

Second, we must have a mechanism to review whether we are keeping our commitments, and to exchange this information in a transparent manner. These measures need not be intrusive, or infringe upon sovereignty. They must, however, ensure that an accord is credible, and that we are living up to our obligations. For without such accountability, any agreement would be empty words on a page.

Third, we must have financing that helps developing countries adapt, particularly the least-developed and most vulnerable to climate change. America will be a part of fast-start funding that will ramp up to $10 billion in 2012. And, yesterday, Secretary Clinton made it clear that we will engage in a global effort to mobilize $100 billion in financing by 2020, if—and only if—it is part of the broader accord that I have just described.

Mitigation. Transparency. And financing. It is a clear formula—one that embraces the principle of common but differentiated responses and respective capabilities. And it adds up to a significant accord—one that takes us farther than we have ever gone before as an international community.

The question is whether we will move forward together, or split apart. This is not a perfect agreement, and no country would get everything that it wants. There are those developing countries that want aid with no strings attached, and who think that the most advanced nations should pay a higher price. And there are those advanced nations who think that developing countries cannot absorb this assistance, or that the world’s fastest-growing emitters should bear a greater share of the burden.

We know the fault lines because we’ve been imprisoned by them for years. But here is the bottom line: we can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, and continue to refine it and build upon its foundation. We can do that, and everyone who is in this room will be a part of an historic endeavor—one that makes life better for our children and grandchildren.

Or we can again choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years. And we will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year—all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.

There is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say. Now, I believe that it’s time for the nations and people of the world to come together behind a common purpose.

We must choose action over inaction; the future over the past—with courage and faith, let us meet our responsibility to our people, and to the future of our planet.

Thank you,