Bootylicious… meet the 420lb mother of four with the widest hips in the world who measures a staggering 8ft in circumference

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One lady most certainly of the opinion that men prefer curves is Mikel Ruffinelli, a 420-pound mother of four who measures a staggering eight-foot in circumference.

At just five-foot-four, 39-year-old Mikel, who lives in Los Angeles, is substantially wider than she is tall, but says she wouldn’t want it any other way.
‘I love my shape and I see no reason to diet because I don’t have health problems,’ explains Mikel, has a proportionally small 40-inch waist. ‘Men don’t fancy skinny girls, they like an hourglass figure.’
While the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Beyonce will probably all agree, they don’t have to face the kind of challenges that Mikel does on a daily basis.
As well as having to walk through most doors sideways, Mikel drives a truck because she can’t fit into a car. At home, the woman with the widest hips in the world has to sit in steel-supported chairs and sleeps on a 7ft-wide bed.
Mikel’s biggest fan is her husband, Reggie Brooks, a 40-year-old computer technician. They’ve been married 10 years and Mikel says that he finds her unusual shape sexy and tells her every day just how beautiful she is.
Mikel hasn’t always been plus-sized, as a teenager she was quite athletic and weighed 140-pounds although she did have big hips - a trait she says that runs in her family.
At 22, Mikel had her first child, Andrew, now 19, from a previous relationship, and that is when she started gaining the weight. From 182-pounds and a size 14, she piled on the pounds until she was 238-pounds and a size 18.
Then she meet Reggie and over the next decade had three more children: Destynee, 13, Autumn, nine, and Justyce, seven. Her hips ballooned as she reached 420 pounds and a size 30.
‘I put it down to my pregnancies. I don’t see why else the weight would go to my hips, although, I do eat lots,’ she told Closer.
Mikel, who is studying for a psychology degree, has a healthy appetite and typically consumes 3,000 calories a day.
'It sounds like a lot to have 3,000 calories, but for someone my size, it’s not really.
'I might have a breakfast of two eggs with sausage and bacon and a handful of potatoes. Lunch is fried fish and French fries, but dinner’s my big meal,' she confesses.
'I like to make barbecue chicken with rice or mash. I have a big portion – but I’m not greedy. I snack on peanuts, granola bars and crisps.'
As she has gotten older Mikel says she had grown more comfortable with her shape and size.
'In the past, I was self-conscious about my hips and tried milkshake diets, but they didn’t work. As I got older, I learned to love my body and now I’m not afraid to show it off.'
Over the past five years as her confidence has grown she has taken to modelling for a Big Beautiful Women website and earns up to $1000 per shoot.
She says: 'I mostly wear lingerie. I have two seamstresses who make my outfits, although I can easily find clothes for my top half, it’s the bottoms that are a problem.'
Mikel also makes an effort to be healthy and while running on land is problematic, she enjoys water aerobics.
Over the years Mikel has grown accustomed to people staring and making sarcastic comments, but has learned to just ignore them.
'I don’t want to get bigger, but I don’t want to lose my curves. I look great. I hope I inspire women to think, "She’s happy with her body and I can be too!"'

Jolie talking to Putin over US child adoption

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ANGELINA Jolie has approached Russian President Vladimir Putin about repealing the nation’s recent ban on Americans adopting children from his country. And, according to American tabloid the National Enquirer, the powerful politician responded by asking Angie to tie the knot with Brad Pitt in Russia.
“Instead of selling her wedding photos for millions and donating the money to charity, Angelina now has the chance to make a political statement with her walk down the aisle,” a source said. “After she asked President Putin to relax his country’s new adoption policy, he agreed to consider it - if she agrees to marry Brad Pitt in a high-profile ceremony in the heart of Moscow or one of the famous palaces in St. Petersburg.” On December 28, Putin signed a bill that bans US citizens from adopting Russian children, raising tensions with Washington.  

Argo triumphs at Critics Awards

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HOSTAGE drama Argo was the big winner at this year’s Critics’ Choice Awards, hours after director Ben Affleck missed out on an Oscar nomination.
Affleck jokingly “thanked the Academy” as he accepted best director, but added: “This is the one that counts.” The movie was also named best film.
Oscar favourites Daniel Day Lewis and Jessica Chastain won the best actor and actress prizes respectively. In a separate comedy category, Silver Linings Playbook swept the board.
The film won best comedy actor and actress for leads Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, best comedy film, and best ensemble for a cast which includes Oscar nominees Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver. Director David O Russell dedicated his award to his son - who, like the film’s male lead has bipolar disorder - saying: “I made it to give him hope,” adding, “That’s my silver lining.”
Lawrence, who bagged an Oscar nomination for best actress on Thursday, also took home the best actress in an action movie for The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling book.
“Critics aren’t so bad,” she joked, as she accepted the award,
Skyfall was named best action movie, a day after it failed to become the first Bond film to secure a best picture Oscar nomination.
Its star Daniel Craig also picked up the best actor in an action film prize, and Adele won the best song award for the title song Skyfall - a prize she is tipped to win at the Oscars. The awards are handed out by the 250-member Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics organisation in the United States and Canada. Les Miserables’ Anne Hathaway, who attended the ceremony in Los Angeles with her co-star Hugh Jackman received the best supporting actress prize, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best supporting actor for his turn as a cult leader in The Master.
Quentin Tarantino picked up best original screenplay for his spaghetti western-style film Django Unchained. Munich screenwriter Tony Kushner won Lincoln’s second award of the night, for best adapted screenplay. The presidential drama leads the Oscar hopefuls with 12 Academy Award nominations.
However, Life of Pi - nominated for 11 Oscars - only won two technical awards. Comedy writer and director Judd Apatow, best known for box office hits such as The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, received a special “genius” award created to honour “an unprecedented demonstration of excellence in the cinematic arts”. The awards precede Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony.

Washington, D.C., residents watch more porn than the rest of America study

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Vice President Joe Biden's plan to curb gun violence falls on deaf ears in meeting with National Rifle Association

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The National Rifle Association came out firing Thursday after meeting with Vice President Biden on curbing gun violence, calling the sitdown worthless and vowing to thwart new gun laws in Congress.
The politically powerful lobbying group issued a scathing statement accusing the White House of waging war on the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.
“While claiming that no policy proposals would be ‘prejudged,’ this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners — honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans,” the NRA said. “It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen.”
The 90-minute, closed-door sitdown between Biden and gun-owner groups headlined a day of meetings convened by the vice president’s task force to develop a plan to curb gun violence.
Biden announced that he will present President Obama with a package of proposals by Tuesday - a month and day after the deadly shooting rampage at a Newtown, Conn., grade shool galvanized the White House into action.
There has got to be some common ground - to not solve every problem but diminish the probability" of mass killings like the rampage in Newtown, Biden said. "There is nothing that has gone to the heart of the matter more than the visual image people have of little 6-year-old kids riddled - not shot with a stray bullet - riddled, riddled, with bullet holes in their classroom," Biden said.
As Biden spoke, a teacher and a student were shot and wounded at a high school in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The injured student was in critical condition and another student was taken into custody.
White House officials said the vice president didn’t expect to win over the NRA and other gun groups. But the administration was hoping to soften their opposition in order to rally support from pro-gun lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Complaining that Biden and his task force spent most of the closed-door meeting on "proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners," the NRA declared that it "will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen."
"Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works - and what does not."

The statement, to which Biden's office refused to respond, amounted to a declaration from the gun owners' group that it will end its grudging dialogue with the White House and work with allies in Congress to block new gun controls.

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Jodi Arias Femme fatale or woman of faith? Jurors hear conflicting persona in murder trial as prosecutors play phone calls of Arias lying

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Jurors in the murder trial against Jodi Arias are faced with two conflicting images of a beautiful brunette who killed her ex-beau: Was she a femme fatale or a timid woman of faith tricked into a lewd lifestyle?
As the trial continued this week, jurors in Arizona’s Maricopa County Court listened as a medical official gave the gruesome details in the 2008 death of 30-year-old Travis Alexander. Crime scene photos caused at least one juror to wipe away tears as the victim’s family was visibly shaken as well, ABC News reported.
Arias, who faces the death penalty, also broke down in the courtroom.
The 32-year-old has admitted to killing Alexander in his Mesa home, but claims it was in self-defense after he allegedly attacked her for damaging his camera. Police say the insurance salesman was shot in the head, slashed from ear to ear, and stabbed at least 27 times.
Phone calls were played of Arias telling police she tried to contact Alexander the week he died, although authorities say she was lying because she knew he was no longer alive.
Arias claimed she was driving from Los Angeles to Utah in June 2008 to see a new man she was dating, ABC News reported.
“On Tuesday night (I talked to him), it was brief though, 10 o'clock maybe,” she is heard telling a detective. “I'd say 10 p.m. or 9-9:30. I was calling people because I was bored on the road. He was nice and cordial, but kind of acting like he had hurt feelings.”
She went on that she tried contacting him the next day.
“I may have called (Alexander) Wednesday from the road, and I sent him a couple of text messages, and a couple of pictures,” she said, although his voicemail was full. “That’s unusual. He deletes all of his messages. I didn’t want to be obsessive about it because we’re not together anymore and I didn’t like to call too much.”
But it was that Wednesday when Arias had actually gone to see Alexander in his home, court records say. The pair had a final fling and even took pictures on Alexander’s camera, which despite being thrown into a washing machine was retrieved as evidence.
One photo showed Alexander in the shower moments before he was killed.
Prosecutors say that even though Alexander and Arias had broken up about a year earlier, they continued to have sex together and that she jealously stalked him. She reportedly converted to Mormonism for him.
Arias, a photographer from California, has given different versions of what happened that day, even telling the TV program “Inside Edition” after her arrest on July 18, 2008, that two intruders broke into the home and killed Alexander.
The new love interest, Ryan Burns, testified in court Wednesday that Arias finally did meet up with him, and the pair shared a chaste relationship — nothing like the one she had with Alexander — centered around their Mormonism.
“Every time we started kissing it got a little more escalated,” Burns testified. “Our clothes never came off. At some point she was kissing my neck, I was kissing hers, but our clothes never came off.”
He added that she “would often tell me about how she felt about her religious beliefs, the Book of Mormon.”
While Arias’ defense attorney has said in court that it was Alexander who was abusive, essentially corrupting her sexually, prosecutors say there are emails in which he felt sexually used.
Arias previously told “Inside Edition” that she believes she will be exonerated.
“No jury is going to convict me,” she said. “I am innocent and you can mark my words on that.”
The trial was scheduled to continue Thursday.

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2013 Oscar Awards Directors Kathryn Bigelow (‘Zero Dark Thirty’), Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) and Tom Hooper (‘Les Miserables’) are among the shocking snubs

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Every year, movie fans and Academy Award aficionados watch the Oscar nominations to see whose work has been singled out.
And, just as much, to see who’s been left out.
The 85th Oscar noms, announced Thursday, are no different. While frontrunners like Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”) and Anne Hathaway (“Les Miserables”) provide a cozy sense of mission accomplished, it’s fascinating to suss out which actors and filmmakers were omitted -- and why.
In the Best Picture race, critical fave “Moonrise Kingdom” lost the independent slot — not necessarily but often now just a one-film option — to the more heavily-touted “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” Also: Appreciated as “Kingdom” director Wes Anderson is, none of his quirky, intricate films have ever been nominated for the top prize.
At the other end of the spectrum is the massive blockbuster “Skyfall,” one of 2012’s biggest hits and the highest-grossing James Bond film ever. Many thought director Sam Mendes brought the necessary touch of Oscar class, and the movie’s deeper themes might resonate with Academy voters. (The reason to expand the Best Picture list beyond five, back in 2008, was to accommodate popular popcorn flicks like this).
But in a year that also saw “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hobbit” make loads of cash but miss an Oscar spot, “Skyfall” may have been lumped in with them all.
 In the Best Actor race, Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington (“Flight"), Hugh Jackman (“Les Miz”) and Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Notebook” all were counted on, and did, get noms.
Cooper seemed vulnerable though, but got a spot, along with back-from-brink-of-weirdness genius Joaquin Phoenix. Left out were Richard Gere for “Arbitrage” — the movie was a video-on-demand miniature — and John Hawkes, whose turn as a paralyzed man seeking sex in “The Sessions” may have lost the sweetness vote to Cooper.
For Best Actress, former Oscar winner Marion Cotillard’s spot for “Rust and Bone” went to her elder countrywoman Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”). And young Quvenzhané Wallis snuck up on Meryl Streep, whose common-gal performance in “Hope Springs” made her a dark horse.
 Also left out were Keira Knightley, whose “Anna Karenina” may have been tagged as too experimental for Oscar voters, and Helen Mirren, left in the shadow of “Hitchcock.”
Best Supporting Actor saw almost all safe-bet favorites get in. The outsiders were Leonardo DiCaprio, whose juicy, lip-smacking villain in “Django Unchained” lost a spot to his costar (and previous winner) Christoph Waltz. And Matthew McConaughey was a true wild card for “Magic Mike,” a popular hit that may have been too sassy for the Academy.

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Texas woman raises $10,000 on Facebook to help dog that was SHOT REPEATEDLY in the face

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A dog that was shot several times in the face with a shotgun and thrown away in a garbage bag is on the road to recovery thanks to the efforts of one Texas woman, who raised more than $10,000 for the canine's medical care.

Tami Augustyn took the 60-to-70 pound dog to an emergency clinic Saturday after a neighbor in Conroe, Texas spotted the garbage bag tied to a fence on a road. The garbage bag was moving.

The clinic was able to stabilize the dog, who doctors say may have suffered some brain damage and permanent loss of his vision. But Buck, as he is now called, is going to get the help he needs.
"Today he's great," Augustyn told the Daily News on Tuesday. "He's very happy when he sees me, when he hears my voice."
Buck may be home with her now, but Augustyn had genuine fears about the dog's future when she realized she did not have the money to cover Buck's medical expenses.

She created a Facebook page in order to raise funds. When the Montgomery County Police Reporter did a story on Buck, the money started pouring in.

Augustyn said the donations reached more than $10,000 the last time she checked on Monday night.

"I was shocked," she said.

Buck will now get all the medical attention he needs. Augustyn plans to take him to an ophthalmologist on Wednesday, something she could only dream of doing a few days ago. She also plans on using the money to create The Buck Foundation, which will focus on helping abused dogs.
Fate may have had a hand in putting them together. When neighbors found Buck, they were not able to reach animal control. If they had been, Augustyn said it's possible Buck might have been put to sleep.

Augustyn has always had a passion for helping animals. She said she recently saved three starving puppies on the side of the road, and helped an ailing horse find a home. But she’s formed a special bond with Buck, and plans on keeping him for herself.

"What I did with Buck was no different than what I did a million times, except this dog was in a garbage bag tied to a t-post," she said.

Spend for growth

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If you think the United States’ policies are to be blamed for the global financial uncertainty, think again.

Nobel laureate in Economics Joseph Stig-litz feels it is the structural shift in the global economy, especially in the developed economies that has caused the crisis and thinks that the governments take lead in finding solution to it.
“The financial crisis represents structural changes taking place in the global economy. The world is shifting from a manufacturing-based economy to that of a services-based one. The Great Depression was also due to structural changes, which were witnessed when there was a shift from agriculture to manufacturing,” Dr Stig-litz said here on Friday.
A staunch critic of self-regulation for markets, Dr Stiglitz said the world was able to get out of the Great Depression due to the World War II, which increased government spending on armaments (also reconstruction) ser-ved as an industrial stimulus to the developed world.
“But now (when the world faces a crisis of similar magnitude), governments are cutting spe-nding, making the pros-pects of recovery bleaker,” the Columbia Univ-ersity Professor said.
Reacting to the calls of spending cuts, Dr Stiglitz said the growth can achi-eved by higher government spending and higher taxes.
“A cut in government spending cannot be solution. It will worsen the situation,” he explained.
“Scandinavian countries — Denmark, Norw-ay and Sweden — are best examples of sustainable growth and welfare economy,” the Columbia Uni-versity Professor said.

Mila Kunis is a fashion fiasco as Hollywood's frumpiest, dumpiest celeb

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Sexiest? More like schlubbiest woman alive.
Sweatpants-loving Mila Kunis is a guy’s girl - and she’s got the wardrobe to prove it.
Seemingly eager to shed her Sexiest Woman Alive title - Esquire Magazine crowned the Ukrainian-born beauty last November - Kunis is rarely spotted these days in anything except dumpy, frumpy gym wear.

Apparently at chez Kunis, it’s laundry day everyday.
From morning coffee runs with boyfriend Ashton Kutcher to canoodling in the West Village, walking the dog or lunch in L.A., Kunis and Kutcher are a match made in casual dressing hell.
 At first, it was cute to watch them smooching in Central Park in matching T-shirts or see her run out in the morning without painting on a full face of makeup and cavorting Kardashian-style for the paparazzi. But now it’s time to shed the elastic waistband and invest in a hairbrush.
She’s a Golden Globe-nominated actress for "Black Swan,'' not a member of Justin Bieber’s entourage.
“I love her, and though I can certainly relate to her craving for comfort, there really is a better way to do it,” says Mary Kate Steinmiller, senior fashion market editor at Teen Vogue.
Unlike other Hollywood A-listers Gwen Stefani, Jessica Chastain and Jessica Alba with street style to match their flawless red-carpet looks, Kunis insists on dressing like an unwashed teenage boy.
 Hot mama Gwen Stefani instantly adds glamour to everything from a plain tank top and jeans to an oversized cape with a bold red lip and oversized shades. Jessica Alba, the master of casual chic, is constantly photographed around L.A. in comfy T-shirts and jeans accessoried with a designer handbag, colorful scarf, cute flats and denim jacket. And Jessica Chastain, currently in “The Heiress” turns Broadway into her personal runway everytime she shows up for a show in fitted coats, statement-making shoes and impeccable accessories.
To keep it casual but still chic, Teen Vogue’s Steinmiller suggests that Kunis try silk pajama-style pants by Piamita, stretchy denim leggings by Citizens of Humanity or cashmere Juicy Couture track pants in a bold color.
“I will never utter the word ‘jegging,’” she says about the superstretchy Citizen of Humanity jeans. “I know the loose freedom of a sweatpant hardly seems comparable to a legging jean, but these feel like wearing nothing.”
As for that we-just-rolled-out-of-bed-because-we-are-so-in-love hair that she can’t seem to wash away, it’s time to start throwing it up into a messy top knot, quick side braid or pick up some dry shampoo to soak up some of that greasy mane.

Hall of Shame! See the MOST awkward family photos EVER

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Awkward Family Photos
Sure, we all take awkward photos from time to time, but these images from Awkward Family Photos really take the cake. Check out the Awkward Family Photos hall of shame ... Where to look first? The outfits at this 1971 Christening aren't the worst part of this picture -- check out what's going on in the background! "My grandmother is pulling my sister's hair while my brother is recovering from a smack he got in the face! All of this right on the front steps of a church," said the woman who submitted the photo to the site.

Domestic car sales down 12.5%, bikes sales up in Dec

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New Delhi: Domestic car sales fell by 12.51% to 1,41,083 units in December last year compared to 1,61,247 units in the same month in 2011.
According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) today, motorcycle sales last month went up by 4.83 per cent to 8,44,113 units from 8,05,198 units in December, 2011.
Total two-wheeler sales in December, 2012 rose by 4.45 per cent to 11,37,148 units from 10,88,746 in December, 2011.
Sales of commercial vehicles were down by 13 per cent to 62,786 units from 72,166 units in the same period in 2011, SIAM said.
Total sales of vehicles across categories registered an increase of 2.77 per cent at 14,51,517 units last month as against 14,12,372 units in December 2011, it added.
SIAM is expecting a growth of 0-1 per cent in domestic sales during the current fiscal.
The overall growth in domestic sales during

Do I look TWELVE to you 'Harry Potter' star Emma Watson stopped at JFK after agents said she looked too young to fly alone

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HARRY Potter” actress Emma Watson has grown up on screen before her fans’ eyes, but customs agents at Kennedy Airport apparently still see her as a kid.
The 22-year-old Brit revealed Monday in a series of Twitter posts that she was mistaken for an unaccompanied minor when she flew into JFK over the Christmas holidays.
“The really sad thing is that this is not the first time this has happened,” an embarrassed Watson tweeted.
She said she was asked where her parent or guardian was when she went through customs.
Passport control: ‘Unaccompanied minor?’ Me: ‘Sorry?’” Watson tweeted.
“Passport control: ‘Where is ur (your) guardian?’ Me: ‘I’m 22!!!!!!’
She said the episode taught her a lesson: “Never wearing a backpack again,” she tweeted.
Back in October, the youthful Watson gave a very grown-up interview to Glamour, dishing on hairstyles, fashion — and her dating life.
The onetime child star told the magazine she now works with a professional stylist.
“Yeah, I have to at this point,” she said. “When I was younger, I used to do it all myself, but I’ve had to get help because it’s gotten to a stage where I can’t show up in my Converses or whatever....
“You’re being photographed from every angle, so not only do you have to consider how the thing looks, but whether you’re going to be able to sit in it and whether people are going to be able to see up your skirt.”
Watson even ’fessed up about being caught kissing a male companion at the Coachella music festival.
“It was a huge crowd, and I thought there was no way anyone could get pictures of me, but somehow they found me.
“It’s difficult on my dating life, because anyone I get photographed with is automatically my boyfriend. So it just makes it look as if I’ve had, like, 6,000 boyfriends!”
The Glamour cover girl sported a short, chic hairdo, bare legs and a plunging black and gold necklace for her photo shoot with the magazine.
“Of course, men like long hair,” Watson said.
But the actress said chopping off her locks made her ooze confidence.
“I felt really good in my own skin,” she said.

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Still haven't slept Is that Chris Brown underneath Rihanna's sheets? New Year's Instagram pic reignites rumors about pair

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Smitten superstars Chris Brown and Rihanna may have rung in the new year between the sheets.
The singers both posted Instagram photos on New Year's Day showing the same black-and-white polka-dotted comforter, suggesting the pair may have spent a low-key holiday together in bed.
Good morning! Still haven't slept lol #hello2013," Rihanna wrote Tuesday.
Brown's post came an hour later - perhaps a coy way to announce to fans the on-and-off-again couple is back on for the new year.

The former couple - who first split in 2009 after Brown brutally assaulted Rihanna - was spotted together on Christmas day, at the Knicks-Lakers game at Los Angeles' Staples Center.
Brown, 23, and Rihanna, 24, have yet to publicly confirm their reconciliation, but haven't been shy about communicating on social media.
Last week, the "Diamonds" singer posted a photo of her perched on the hood of a car alongside Brown, with the message, "ThugLife #merryChristmas."

Right now it has to be the safest school in America' Parents and students of Sandy Hook Elementary get private tour of new building a day before classes begin

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MONROE, Conn. -- The children who escaped last month's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., have been welcomed with their parents at a school in a neighboring town that was overhauled specially for them.
And their new school is being renamed for their old one.
Newtown Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson said Wednesday the change is appropriate because "they are the Sandy Hook family." She spoke after a private open house for the families at the former Chalk Hill School in Monroe.
It was the students' first time in a classroom since Dec. 14, when a gunman killed 20 students and six educators. Classes resume Thursday.
Numerous police officers were at their new school Wednesday. Monroe Police Lt. Keith White said, "I think right now it has to be the safest school in America."

The road leading to the school in a rural, largely residential neighborhood was lined with signs greeting the students, saying "Welcome Sandy Hook Elementary School" and "Welcome. You are in our prayers." Several police cars were parked outside the school.
Teams of workers, many of them volunteers, prepared the former Chalk Hill middle school with fresh paint and new furniture and even raised bathroom floors so the smaller elementary school students can reach the toilets. The students' desks, backpacks and other belongings that were left behind following the shooting were taken to the new school to make them feel at home.
Counselors say it's important for children to get back to a normal routine and for teachers and parents to offer sensitive reassurances.

One parent, Robert Bazuro, said he is pleased his second- and fourth-graders are going back to school on Thursday.
"We're very happy the kids are going back and we're very thankful for Monroe for everything they've done for us," said Bazuro, who was with his children at a Newtown barbershop.
 When classes start, schools Superintendent Janet Robinson said teachers will try to make it as normal a school day as possible for the children.

"We want to get back to teaching and learning," she said. "We will obviously take time out from the academics for any conversations that need to take place, and there will be a lot of support there. All in all, we want the kids to reconnect with their friends and classroom teachers, and I think that's going to be the healthiest thing."

Now, RSS' Mohan Bhagwat makes derogatory comments against women, says rapes happen in India, not Bharat

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New Delhi Defending Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's controversial remark that rapes hardly take place in "Bharat", but they occur frequently in "India", RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav on Friday said "we have great respect for women."
"The statement of RSS chief should be taken in proper perspective. He (Bhagwat) has already demanded strict punishment for rapists and even called for death penalty if required," Madhav said.

"All that he said is that in Indian tradition we have great respect for women and we should learn to uphold this tradition. If one goes away from this tradition it will result in rise of crime against women," he added.

Addressing a citizens' meet here on Tuesday during his four-day visit to Silchar, Bhagwat criticized "western" lifestyle of people in urban areas and said, without empirical evidence to back such a claim, that rape is prevalent mainly in cities where Indians are deeply influenced by western values and not by rural India.

"You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gangrape or sex crimes. They are prevalent in some urban belts. Besides new legislations, Indian ethos and attitude towards women should be revisited in the context of ancient Indian values," he added.

However, Bhagwat said he wanted stringent laws in sexual crimes against women and will favour capital punishment for those convicted of rape.

English education triggers suicides, murders: Mumbai top cop

Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh had earlier said that there was a direct link between school and college education and murders and suicides, and students who study in English-medium institutions are especially vulnerable.

“In Mumbai, if there are 150 murders, there are eight times (more) suicides. All of the perpetrators are educated people. I have never seen an uneducated person committing suicide. I have researched this even while I was police commissioner in Pune. There were engineers and IT professionals committing suicide,” Singh had said.

“Most suicides,” Singh had reportedly said, “are committed by those who have studied in the English medium. I have never heard of or seen a Sanskrit-medium educated person committing suicide. And it is a known fact that more and more people are today sending their children to English-medium schools”.

Singh had blamed crime in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on flaws in the education system.

“Jo Delhi ka case hua ya phir Mumbai ke andar jo case hote hain, uske peechhe bhi jo... isko main sanskriti nahin kehta, usko main asanskriti bolta hoon... woh asanskriti ka parinaam hai... Hamare schools aur college ke andar jo shiksha di jaati hai... sanskaarheen shiksha di jaati hai. Jeevangun koi sikhaata nahin hai. (What has happened in Delhi or what happens in Mumbai, it is the consequence of the absence of culture. The education that is imparted in our schools and colleges is devoid of cultural content. Life values are not taught.)”

Jennifer Lawrence Acting is stupid'

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She may be a virtual lock for an Academy Award nomination, but Jennifer Lawrence says acting “is stupid."
"Everybody's like, 'How can you remain with a level head?' And I'm like, 'Why would I ever get cocky?” the 22-year-old actress asked Vanity Fair. “I'm not saving anybody's life. There are doctors who save lives and firemen who run into burning buildings. I'm making movies. It's stupid.'"
It’s also a completely surreal profession, says the Kentucky native who was discovered as a 14-year-old tourist by a model scout in Manhattan’s Union Square. Sure the money is great after crashing the A-list with last year’s “The Hunger Games” — to which she’s currently shooting a sequel, “Catching Fire” — but there is a price to all those millions.
I call my mom sobbing all the time … dealing with the repercussions of having no more anonymity. You lose privacy," Lawrence says in the cover story for the magazine’s February issue. "As much as this is a curse, as stupid as it sounds, to make as much money as I am by doing something that I love, it's hard not to regret it when you're being chased by 15 strangers."
Lawrence says she’s still cowed by meeting her Hollywood peers.
“One time someone was introducing me to Bill Maher, and I saw Meryl Streep walk into the room, and I literally put my hand right in Bill Maher's face and said, 'Not now, Bill!,' and I just stared at Meryl Streep," Lawrence told Vanity Fair. “I just creepily stared at her.”
There are plenty of perks, however, like the intense physical training she endured to play Katniss in “The Hunger Games” that turned her into a real life action hero of sorts.
(Lawrence told The News last March she estimates she fired some 1,500 arrows during training.)
She was ready to put those skills to one day when she parked in her garage and heard strange male voices coming from her home, she told Vanity Fair.
Fetching her bow and quiver from the trunk, “I had my bow and I loaded it and I'm walking up the stairs. And I look, and my patio doors were open, and there were guys working right there, and I was like, 'Heyyy, how you doin'?'
"(My friends) were like, 'We've got to stage someone to break into your house and you can kill them!' That would be the funniest news ever. Katniss Everdeen actually kills someone with a bow and arrow!"

Happy New Year! Celebrities flock to the surf and slopes to ring in 2013

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From the slopes to the surf, celebs finished off 2012 in the lap of luxury ... "Twilight" beauty Ashley Greene went retro in a high-waisted bikini while vacationing in Puerto Vallerta, Mexico on New Year's Day.

Former ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro Julianne Hough says physical and mental abuse she endured as a child ‘sucked the life’ out of her

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It has been a long road to recovery for Julianne Hough, who says the physical and mental abuse she sustained as a child “sucked the life” out of her.
“The light about me was gone,” the former “Dancing with the Stars” pro told Entertainment Tonight. “I was just a dark person."
The 24-year-old actress revealed her shocking history of abuse in February’s issue of Cosmopolitan.
The abuse began when she was just 10 while she was training to become a dancer in London at the world-renowned Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
“I was a tormented little kid who had to put on this sexy facade because that was my job and my life,” she told the magazine.
Hough told ET that she doesn’t like to speak about the ordeal and has since learned to put the past behind her.
“I had to leave that situation and kind of come into my own again, and I did,” she explained.
The young starlet continues to move forward. She’s set to star in the upcoming Nicholas Sparks flick “Safe Haven” as Katie, a woman also dealing with an abusive past.
Hough says the role was bittersweet.
“Being Katie, I relate a lot to her,” Hough said. “The fact that she had been in one situation that just sucked the life out of her – and it was a bad situation – and she needed to change and move on and kind of find her own again.
“And through that you find love and everything."

Facebook's Poke app can't beat rival in race to lure sexting teens

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Facebook’s latest app, Poke, can’t compete with rival Snapchat, despite proof the messages taken with both apps aren’t so self-destructing after all.
Snapchat’s allure is the ability to send photos and videos that exist just a few seconds before they supposedly vanish from the recipient’s phone — making the app popular among sexting teens who don’t want to leave behind any evidence of their X-rated pics.
Snapchat is the fourth most popular app on the iTunes charts.
Smartphone users haven’t been so keen on Poke, Facebook’s recent attempt to match the popular app.
Introduced two weeks ago, it’s yet to break into iTunes top 100.
The apps are similar. Both allow users to take photos or videos that disappear between one and ten seconds after they’re sent to friends.
If a recipient tries to take a screengrab of the secret message, both apps shoot an alert to the sender.
Once the self-selected time runs out, the photo or video is gone from both phones — unless the sender chose to save it before sending.
But recent reports highlight how users can out-smart the apps.
By plugging their phone into a computer and using a file manager program like iFunBox, anyone can search for a file they were sent and save it before it’s even opened.
Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel told Buzzfeed that “there will always be a way to reverse engineer technology products,” but says the company is working on a way to fix the glitch.
Facebook encouraged Poke users to be aware of what they’re sending through the app, as “there are still ways that people can potentially save them.”