Kim Kardashian shows off her engagement ring and post-baby weight loss in tight white outfit. Natch.

By | the juice
 
The proposal was pretty epic in itself.

Kim Kardashian made sure everyone saw her engagement ring last night. Copyright [Splash]

So it's hardly surprising that Kim Kardashian decided to make sure that EVERYONE got a good old look at her engagement ring - and her post-baby weight loss - during a red carpet appearance last night.

The Keeping up with the Kardashians star, who got engaged to boyfriend Kanye West on Monday night, raised her hand as she posed for photos on the red carpet so that everyone could get a shot of the 15 carat diamond ring on her finger.

Kim Kardashian got engaged to Kanye West on Monday night. Copyright [Splash]


She also seemed keen to flaunt her post-baby weight loss too, choosing a tight white outfit which featured cut-away sections around her stomach and back.

[WATCH the moment Kanye West proposed to Kim Kardashian]

[Kanye West dedicates a song to Kim Kardashian on stage]

We're not surprised that she decided to show off her body, having admitted earlier this week that losing the rumoured four stone of baby weight was one of her biggest accomplishments in life.


Yes, OK Kim, we've all seen the engagement ring now. Copyright [WENN]

Kim, who gave birth to her daughter North West in June, said: "Pregnancy for me was a lot tougher than people saw on my show or from magazines. So to get back to feeling like myself just makes me feel good again."

She continued: "Losing this weight has not been easy, but I did it, and that's so rewarding, I was dedicated and motivated, and for me, that paid off. It makes me feel like I have the strength to take on other challenges."


Kim Kardashian has admitted that losing weight has been one of the biggest challenges of her life. Copyright 

[ … She added: "This was the biggest challenge of my life, and I still have some to go."

The reality TV star went on She said: "Every day I would hear people criticise me, and it would affect me. Little by little it would chip away at my soul. I wanted to tune out the media and my public life and ignore it all."

  
Kim Kardashian was joined by fiance Kanye West after her red carpet appearance. Copyright [Splash]

However, it would seem that motherhood and her engagement to Kanye have both made her very happy indeed.

She told E! news: "I'm extremely happy. Its where I am at in my lifeand I hope people can see that because it's what's going on with me rightnow."

The Duchess of Cambridge leaves William and George at home to steal the show at charity gala

Kate Middleton stunned in Jenny Packham as the guest of honour at the event in Kensington Palace 

By : Yahoo - Sophie Tighe

The Duchess of Cambridge was back to her royal duties last night following Prince George’s christening earlier this week.


 Kate wore a navy tulle gown by one of her favourite British designers, Jenny Packham

Kate swapped her cream Alexander McQueen suit for a stunning navy Jenny Packham gown at the charity gala held in Kensington Palace.

The 31-year-old, who was the guest of honour at the event, chose a soft, figure-skimming dress by the British designer that perfectly showcased her slender frame.

Kate’s trademark locks were blow dried to perfection (as always) and the Duchess stuck to her old reliable beauty regime of a smoky eye and nude lips.

Mother-of-one Kate attended the charity fundraiser solo as a patron of the drugs charity Action on Addiction but was happy to talk about the previous day’s festivities.

Three-month old Prince George was christened at St. James’ Palace on Wednesday and his proud mum told guests he had been “such a good boy”.

As the little prince was reportedly fast asleep when she left, we wonder if Prince William had been given daddy duties for the night?

The Duchess attended the gala as a patron of the drug chraity, Action on Addiction

Despite becoming a mum, Kate has shown no signs of changing her iconic classic style.

Since having George in July, the Duchess has stepped out in Jenny Packham’s designs three times – most notably when she left St. Mary’s hospital the day after giving birth.  

She chose another of her favourite designers, Alexander McQueen, for the little prince’s christening.

Forget the tracksuit bottoms and hoodies, Kate’s sticking with couture.

Salma Hayek flashes her bare bum after suffering a blustery wardrobe malfunction while filming without underwear on


By | the juice

The perils of stepping out commando when it's windy outside and you're sporting a mini skirt, eh?

Poor Salma Hayek suffered at the hands of mother nature's wardrobe wrath yesterday afternoon while filming How To Make Love Like An Englishman in Malibu.

Salma Hayek showed off her bum after filming without underwear and suffering a wardrobe malfunction.

The 47-year-old yummy-mummy managed to flash more than the paps bargained for when her skirt flew up in the wind, exposing her perfectly toned bare derriere.

Salma's wardrobe malfunction was only made worse by her decision to go commando for the day, sporting just a white blouse, unbuttoned below her checkered bra, and the black mini skirt.


But after hitting Paradise Cove in Malibu and realising how windy it was, Salma clearly regretted her 'sod the knickers!' decision, asking for help from wardrobe assistants to keep her skirt in place.



Salma Hayek had her best assets on display as she filmed her latest project, How To Make Love Like An Englishman. …


The actress was also sporting a bandage on her left thigh, just below her bottom, although it's unclear what this was for.

Despite the fashion fail, Salma was clearly enjoying herself on the beach, hanging out for co-stars Jessica Alba and Pierce Brosnan before Salma's daughter joined her on set for her lunch break.

Salma recently revealed she's not a fan of surgery or Botox, insisting she has never had any work done and instead sticks to potions and lotions.



Salma Hayek needed assistance with her drafty skirt, which wouldn't stop blowing up. Copyright [Splash]

She said: "I have no Botox. The thought of a needle coming to my forehead, it really gives me the heebie-jeebies.

"So I’d rather put on my creams. It’s fun, it smells good, and it’s relaxing. Am I opposed to doing it later? I don’t know. I want to see how far I can go."

Hurricane-Speed Winds Threaten Britain

By : Sky News
Parts of the UK face being battered by hurricane-speed winds which threaten to rip down trees, cause transport chaos, and cut power supplies, forecasters have warned.

The risk of a severe storm has been highlighted by the Met Office, which it said could see gusts of more than 80mph, especially on exposed coasts in the South.

A storm is classed as a hurricane when it has sustained winds of 74mph or higher.

Unsettled weather is expected to continue into the weekend with further spells of heavy rain and strong winds.

But moving into Sunday night and Monday morning, the Met Office warn there is a risk of a 'significant' storm developing.

Based on current predictions, some areas could see some of their strongest winds for a number of years it says.

A strong jet stream and warm air close to the UK, are both contributing to the development and strength of the storm.

Eddie Carroll, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: "There is still a chance this storm may take a more southerly track and miss the UK, bringing impacts elsewhere in northern Europe, but people should be aware there is a risk of severe weather and significant disruption."

Chris England, meteorologist at the Sky News weather centre, said: "There’s the potential for some exceptionally strong winds late Sunday through Monday morning, particularly over the southern half of the UK, with potentially damaging gusts of 80-90mph in exposed parts.

"But we are really talking about something that doesn’t exist yet, so the forecast of the track, the timing, and the intensity are still open to change.

"It’s really a warning of potential at the moment and something to keep an eye on."

Normally Atlantic storms of this type develop much further to the west of the UK and are waning in strength by the time they reach the UK and Ireland.

This storm is more unusual, developing much closer to the UK and potentially moving across the country while still in its most powerful phase.

Mummies unearthed in ancient Peru tomb

By : Aljazeera 
 
An archaeological site in the midst of Peru's bustling capital has yielded yet another pre-Incan discovery, an undisturbed Wari tomb containing two corpses wrapped in ceremonial fabric.

The tomb, estimated to be more than 1,000 years old, was found at the Pucllana archaeological site in Lima, archaeologists said on Thursday. It contained the bodies of an adult and an infant, along with nearly 10 intact artifacts.

The adult was likely a master weaver, said Isabel Flores, an archaeologist at Pucllana. The infant, she added, was probably killed and buried in the tomb as an offering in the adult's honor.

"When we unwrap the bodies, we will be able to determine the adult's age, position in society and gender," said Flores.

The Wari civilization was active in an area that now contains Lima from approximately 600 to 1000 AD, some 500 years before the Inca empire emerged.

Seventy Wari tombs have been unearthed at the Pucllana site, which is nestled in a residential neighborhood in central Lima.

But Flores and Gladys Paz, the head archaeologist of the team that made the discovery, both said that this most recent find is among the site's richest treasures yet.

"This is one of the most important finds in more than three decades of excavation, because both mummies are intact," Paz told AFP news agency.

PM urged to act over cold homes

By : Press Association
 
Fuel poverty campaigners have written to Prime Minister David Cameron demanding that party leaders act on the "national crisis" of cold homes.

The UK is second only to Estonia among European nations for the number of people who are struggling to pay their energy bills, according to research by the fuel poverty alliance Energy Bill Revolution found.

The alliance, which includes Age UK, Barnardo's, Consumer Futures and National Energy Action, has told leaders that investment in "super insulation" for the nation's homes is the only way to end the "scourge" of fuel poverty and the best way to bring down energy bills.


It said "woeful" levels of insulation have led to Britain's homes falling "way behind" those of comparable European countries such as Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

The alliance said the wholesale cost of gas in the UK was much lower than in most European countries but households paid much higher bills due to the amount of heat lost from homes.

There are more than five million UK households living in fuel poverty, defined as spending more than 10% of their income on energy.

The Energy Bill Revolution said it wanted to see carbon tax spent on an ambitious programme of home insulation, claiming that it could save up to £500 a year on a family energy bill and eliminate fuel poverty in the UK "once and for all".

The groups warned party leaders that focusing on "short-term solutions" to the energy bill crisis, such as price caps, windfall taxes and cutting green subsidies, they were "ignoring the only way to truly solve the energy bill crisis".

Energy Bill Revolution campaign director Ed Matthew said: "Our political leaders are falling over themselves to come up with headline-grabbing ways to cut energy bills yet they fall woefully short of a true solution to the energy bill crisis.


"By far the biggest opportunity to cut energy bills is to fully insulate the UK's leaky homes. No other investment can do so much for so many. If the Government is serious about solving this crisis they must make insulating homes the UK's number one infrastructure priority."

Barnardo's assistant director of policy and research, Neera Sharma, said: "1.6 million children now endure the misery of growing up in cold homes, which can affect every area of their wellbeing.

"It's a disgrace that not only has so little action been taken to bring down energy bills, but so little is being done to stop them continuing to rise further for the UK's poorest families.

"The Government must tackle this national crisis, making homes more energy efficient to reduce the effects of poverty. They can start by channelling funds raised by the carbon tax into making homes warmer."

Households are facing significant increases to their energy bills this winter, with consumer groups and charities warning that many will be forced to choose between "heating or eating".


Bosses of Britain's big six energy firms have been summoned to appear before a committee of MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee next Tuesday to explain a new round of price rises after SSE, British Gas, npower and Scottish Power all announced increases of more than £100 to an average dual fuel bill.

Mr Cameron surprised MPs this week when he made an apparent U-turn on costly green levies, saying he would roll back some of the measures following mounting claims by providers that they are one of the main factors forcing up prices.

Environmental charges are thought to be driving up energy bills by an average of £112 per household a year.
Age UK's charity director Caroline Abrahams said: "With fuel poverty blighting the lives of millions of households, it is nothing short of a national scandal that the UK is lagging so far behind other countries when it comes to tackling the problem.

"Cold homes can have a devastating impact on older people's health, putting tens of thousands at risk every winter. Energy efficiency is the only sustainable long term solution to rising energy costs, and decisive action is urgently needed to tackle the root cause of the problem - the UK's poorly insulated housing. As part of a clear, long term strategy, the Government must commit to using carbon tax revenues to insulate fuel poor homes against soaring energy prices once and for all."

Scientists unveil energy-generating window

By AFP | AFP
 
Scientists in China said Thursday they had designed a "smart" window that can both save and generate energy, and may ultimately reduce heating and cooling costs for buildings.

While allowing us to feel close to the outside world, windows cause heat to escape from buildings in winter and let the Sun's unwanted rays enter in summer.

This has sparked a quest for "smart" windows that can adapt to weather conditions outside.

Today's smart windows are limited to regulating light and heat from the sun, allowing a lot of potential energy to escape, study co-author Yanfeng Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told AFP.

"The main innovation of this work is that it developed a concept smart window device for simultaneous generation and saving of energy."

Engineers have long battled to incorporate energy-generating solar cells into window panes without affecting their transparency.

Gao's team discovered that a material called vanadium oxide (VO2) can be used as a transparent coating to regulate infrared radiation from the Sun.

VO2 changes its properties based on temperature. Below a certain level it is insulating and lets through infrared light, while at another temperature it becomes reflective.

A window in which VO2 was used could regulate the amount of Sun energy entering a building, but also scatter light to solar cells the team had placed around their glass panels, where it was used to generate energy with which to light a lamp, for example.

"This smart window combines energy-saving and generation in one device, and offers potential to intelligently regulate and utilise solar radiation in an efficient manner," the study authors wrote in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Rescue operation on for smallest survivors of Australia fires

By Amy Coopes - AFP
 
As the Blue Mountains bushfire threat eases and hundreds of residents return to their homes a relief and rescue operation is just beginning for its smallest victims -- Australia's unique wildlife.

Veterinarians across the region west of Sydney are on standby as volunteer crews from animal rescue group WIRES hike out into scorched bush areas in search of native creatures that have survived the flames.

Residents whose own homes have been destroyed are putting aside their trauma to do everything they can for their animal neighbours, with WIRES describing the public response as 'mindblowing'.

Zoologist and WIRES volunteer Anna Felton is coordinating operations from the rapid-response WIRES ambulance, a 50-animal capacity van stocked with painkillers, burns cream, pouches for orphaned baby animals and cotton sheets -- the only safe way to pick up a burned animal without damaging its skin.

Native birds such as cockatoos fled the mountains early, sensing imminent danger, but Felton said other animals, particularly ground and tree-dwelling marsupials such as wombats, wallabies and koalas, are "not as clued into that sort of thing and are more haphazard in their fleeing".

"So they're the ones that are kind of hanging around here with really, really nasty injuries," Felton told AFP.

There are typically few survivors from events like these -- just 10 percent of native animals were estimated to have survived the 2009 Black Saturday wildfires which killed 173 Australians in neighbouring Victoria state, with more than one million wildlife deaths.

"If history is anything to go on the number that survive is very, very low," Felton said.

Rescues have been steadily increasing since an inferno swept through the lower mountains last Thursday, razing more than 200 homes and vast tracts of bushland, with "possums and birds, a few sugar gliders and quite a few wallabies," among the most recent reported casualties.

"Most of them have pretty substantial burns at this point in time, and whilst we've been able to get a fair amount of them to vets and then out to our carers the overall outlook on what's come in so far is not great to be honest," she said.

"The ones we've seen have pretty substantial injuries."

As well as responding to injury reports from its Sydney call centre -- currently running at around 300 per day, including non-fire related incidents -- Felton and other volunteers will trek into blackened wilderness areas searching for survivors.

Apart from burns, typically to the paws and face, many animals are also dehydrated and suffering internal smoke inhalation injuries.

Once rescued, injured animals are taken to a local vet for triage and emergency care before being released into the custody of a trained WIRES volunteer carer, of which there are 2,000 across New South Wales state, for a period of six to 12 months.

Each volunteer is trained in the care of a specific type of animal and rescued creatures of the same species will be housed together where possible to maintain their wild traits and self-sufficiency.

Orphans are "buddied" with another animal of the same species to teach them appropriate wild behaviours and with whom, when the time comes, they will be released back into the bush.

It requires patience and dedication, with many rescued charges keeping nocturnal hours meaning carers coming home from their day jobs will wake every few hours to feed the animals and dress their wounds.
Felton said the community response to the wildfires had been overwhelming, with huge donations of medical supplies and cash.

Blue Mountains locals whose own homes came under threat from the fires were as concerned about putting bowls of water and seed out for their native neighbours as protecting their property, and Felton said they were "broken" to return and find familiar creatures missing.

One woman whose parents lost their home drove 80 kilometres (49 miles) and spent an "exorbitant" sum stocking up on essentials for the WIRES van to "assist in her way with her grieving and emotions".

Even those who lost everything would dash from the ruins of their homes when they saw the WIRES van go by.

"Their houses were gone and yet they'd come running to the van to say 'Oh I saw a wallaby, it went that way'... and you sit there thinking oh my goodness. It's mindblowing," said Felton.

Mice evolve to numb pain of scorpion bites

By Kerry Sheridan | AFP
 
Thanks to evolution, hungry desert-dwelling wild mice can shrug off the pain of scorpions' stings in order to gobble them up for a meal, scientists said Thursday.

This rare survival tactic has helped grasshopper mice use the venom of the Arizona bark scorpion, found in the southwestern United States and Mexico, to numb its excruciating sting.

The findings could offer an intriguing target for drug companies on the hunt for a perfect painkiller that would not lead to addiction, researchers said in the US journal Science.

The Arizona bark scorpion's sting is ferocious and can be lethal, according to lead researcher Ashlee Rowe of the University of Texas at Austin.

"Most people describe it as the sensation of being burned by a cigarette and then having a nail driven through it. Or being branded," she said.

When the grasshopper mice are stung, they groom the spot where they are stung "really briefly and then it is over," Rowe said.

If a person were stung, the pain would likely last several minutes to several hours, she said.

In lab experiments, scientists observed that when regular white lab mice were injected with scorpion venom in their hind paws, they "substantially increased their paw licking," said the study.

An injection of saline resulted in less licking by comparison.

The grasshopper mice, however, did the opposite. They licked their hind paws more after being injected with saline than when they were pumped full of venom.

Apparently, the salty liquid bothered them more than scorpion venom.

Pain's typical purpose in mammals is to ensure survival. Scorpions inflict it to ward off predators. Creatures learn from it in order to survive.

In mammals, acute pain is sent to the brain and nervous system by pain receptors known as sodium channels NaV1.7 and NaV1.8.

Further experiments on the mice showed that the channel 1.7 was activated in house mice but not grasshopper mice, explaining in part why the wild mice felt little pain.

Scorpion toxin caused channel 1.8 in wild mice to perform an unusual trick using amino acids to bind to the toxin and silence nearby pain receptors.

The scorpion venom acted to temporarily numb the grasshopper mice from other pain sources too, at least for a little while.

A similar mechanism has been observed in the naked mole rat, which is able to withstand high concentrations of carbon dioxide in its underground habitat without suffering bodily pain from acid buildup that such CO2 would otherwise cause.

The findings could offer a helpful hint to drug companies looking for new ways to blunt pain.

"Pharmaceutical companies have a great interest in developing new analgesic drugs that do what the bark scorpion toxin does in grasshopper mice: prevent pain," said an accompanying Perspective article by Gary Lewin of the Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany.

"Evolution has over millions of years achieved an analgesic strategy tailored to one rodent species," he wrote.

"Drug designers could well be able to take advantage of the millions of years of natural selection to find new approaches to tackle important drug targets like sodium channels."

Philippine earthquake creates miles-long rocky wall

By AFP | AFP
 
A deadly earthquake that struck the Philippines last week created a spectacular rocky wall that stretches for kilometres through farmlands, astounded geologists said Thursday.

Dramatic pictures of the Earth-altering power of the 7.1-magnitide quake have emerged as the government worked to mend the broken central island of Bohol, ground zero of the destruction.

A "ground rupture" pushed up a stretch of ground by up to three metres (10 feet), creating a wall of rock above the epicentre, Maria Isabel Abigania, a geologist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, told AFP.

"Our people have walked five kilometres (three miles) so far and not found the end of this wall," she said, as experts from the institute surveyed the damage.

"So far we have not gotten any reports of people getting swallowed up in these cracks. The fault runs along a less-populated area."

A photograph on the institute's website showed part of the rock wall grotesquely rising on farmland behind an unscathed bamboo hut.

Another house was shown lodged in a crack of the Earth, while a big hole on the ground opened up at a banana farm.

Renato Solidum, head of the institute, said the ground fissures from the quake, which killed 198 people on Bohol and two nearby islands, were among the largest recorded since the government agency began keeping quake records in 1987.

"Most of our other quake records show a lateral (sideways) tearing of the earth, though we've also had coral reefs rising from the sea," he said, citing a 6.7-magnitude earthquake that hit the central island of Negros last year.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire made up of chains of islands created by volcanic eruption that are also frequently hit by earthquakes.

President Benigno Aquino told reporters Thursday the institute had assured him the worst was over, though Bohol would continue to be hit by aftershocks over the next few weeks.

"There is no immediate danger" either from the aftershocks or from the ground fissures, said Aquino, who slept in an army tent there overnight Wednesday in solidarity with the survivors.

Floods, fires and false widow spiders: is climate change to blame?

Scientists say climate change behind increasing amounts of chaos across the world

By | Yahoo Contributor Network

There are still naysayers who dismiss climate change as a fantasy but with 95% of scientists suggesting it is a very real phenomenon caused by human activity, the list of concerns caused by climate change continues to grow. Australia is being ravaged by increasingly ferocious bushfires, many parts of the world are being hit by increased flooding due to severe weather and even a British school has had to shut its doors to pupils over fears that it had become infested with false widow spiders.

The figures can be alarming and many still seem keen to ignore the threat of climate change. It is easy to dismiss it as a problem for tomorrow's world or a non-existent scheme cooked up by governments and crackpots in order to make some money but all the signs suggest global warming is occurring, weather is getting worse and there are likely to be many dire consequences if we do not act fast to stop and reverse the damage we are doing.

Flooding
 
Not only does flooding occur due to the increases in severe weather many parts of the world have been experiencing but also flooding of coastal areas will be a huge problem in the not too distant future if sea levels continue to rise. One report states that 'by 2040, 25 percent of Stockton will be underwater at high tide. By 2060, the same will be true of Sacramento, California's state capitol.' Americans that are so dependent on climate change causing fuels could end up underwater if they do not do more to tackle the threat. The UK Environment Agency have more grim news, suggesting that '2.3 million homes and 185,000 businesses are at risk of flooding in England and Wales'. Defences and moving will not solve the problem. We must look at the causes of increased flooding. 

Australian Bushfires
 
Meanwhile Australia seems to be just about getting its latest bout of bushfires under control after mass destruction caused by extremely hot and dry temperatures. It is not even Australian summer yet and though the new Prime Minister Tony Abbott vehemently denies any links with climate change, experts argue otherwise. While bushfires have always been a problem in a country like Australia, the scientific community argue that things will only get worse as the temperatures continue to get more extreme due to climate change.

False widow spiders
 
Perhaps not in the same league as wildfires and flooding but the venomous false widow spiders that appear to be growing in numbers are likely spreading more due to global warming affecting the UK. The Dean Academy secondary school in Gloucestershire had pest control experts brought in to exterminate false widow spiders that can cause severe swelling and chest pains. They may not have killed anybody yet and many would argue they are no more dangerous than wasps, but increasing numbers of spiders can only be good for bird life and not very pleasant for those with arachnophobia who thought they were at least living in a country free of venomous spiders. The growing populations of these spiders are just another indication of how we are affecting the climate and the ecology across the world.

Hopefully it will not take much more to convince climate change sceptics that something needs to be done fast.

Gore urges US to stop Keystone 'atrocity'

By AFP | AFP
Former US vice president Al Gore on Thursday urged President Barack Obama to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, likening the carbon-intense project to drug addiction.

Gore, who has championed action against climate change since his razor-thin loss for the White House in 2000, praised Obama's general views on climate change but said his fellow Democrat faced a key test on the proposed project.

"This should be vetoed. It is an atrocity and a threat to our future," Gore told a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

"Junkies find veins in their toes when the ones in their arms and their legs give out. We are now at the point where we're going after these ridiculously dirty and dangerous carbon-based dirty fuels, and we've got to stop that," he said.

Obama has held off on a decision on the proposed 1,179-mile (1,897-km) pipeline, which would take oil from Alberta's tar sands to US refineries, as he waits for a review on the environmental impact.

Opponents say that oil from Alberta's tar sands is among the dirtiest on the planet as it must be melted with steaming hot water before processing, further contributing to carbon emissions blamed for climate change.

Industry groups and Republican US lawmakers, some of whom reject mainstream science on climate change, have heavily promoted the project as an employer. Canada has billed itself as a friendlier source of energy for the United States than oil producers in the Middle East.

Speaking before Gore at the same conference, Canada's Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau said he agreed with right-leaning Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Keystone, arguing that the energy industry supported "strong middle-class jobs."

"The jingoism and the sound-bites of arguments on both sides are getting too much airplay rather than the actual facts and struggles that we have with making, creating that prosperity," said Trudeau, seen as a potential future prime minister.

Trudeau, the eldest son of late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, said it was more important to find a path that is "long-term, sustainable, and will bring us to independence from hydrocarbons sometime in the future."

But Gore, in his remarks, said that traditional economic planning paid insufficient attention to environmental risks.

He pointed to a slew of disasters linked to climate change including unprecedented storms in his native Nashville and floods in Pakistan that affected 20 million people in 2010.

"We are seeing these once-in-a-thousand-year events on a regular basis," Gore said.

"This is part of the cost of carbon and it's not included on the balance sheets, it's not included in the way we calculate profit and loss and productivity and growth -- which is the holy grail" for economists, he said.

South Africa court lifts ban on Zuma lion ads

By AFP | AFP
 
A South African court ruled Thursday it was unconstitutional to ban an advertising campaign by an activist group urging President Jacob Zuma to stop the trade in lion bones.

The adverts at Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport, the country's main port of entry, featured a lioness looking down the barrel of a gun with the text "President Zuma can save her life."

Airport authorities pulled down the posters in August 2012, just nine days into campaign group Avaaz's month-long contract.

The Johannesburg High Court ordered that the adverts be reinstated after Avaaz accused Airports Company South Africa of violating its right to freedom of expression.

"This decision is a victory for citizens everywhere who now can begin, again, calling on President Zuma to end the brutal lion-bone trade, before lions are wiped out for good," said Avaaz campaign director Emma Ruby-Sachs.

The global campaign group launched an online petition in June last year to get the government to act against the lion-bone trade.

It claims South Africa is the largest exporter of lion bones, with a 250-percent increase in exports between 2009 and 2010.

Lion bones are a hot commodity for their use in Asian medicine and to make "bogus sex potions", the group says.

About 20,000 wild lions remain in Africa.

The lion is listed as a "vulnerable" species by environmental group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which estimates the population has decreased about 30 percent in the past two decades.

Nasa Fires Lasers At Moon For Fast Downloads

By : Sky News
 
Nasa has used laser beams to transfer data between the moon and Earth at a record-breaking download rate.

It is the first time the space agency has used laser communication in this way, having previously relied on radio signals - a method that has grown out of date as demand for data capacity increases.

The new development will eventually allow spacecraft to beam back high quality images and 3D videos from space.

Nasa transferred data to and from a probe called Ladee, which is orbiting the moon some 239,000 miles (370,000km) away from Earth.

It used a system called the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration (LLCD), and achieved a download rate of 622 megabits per second. By contrast, average residential broadband speeds in the UK this year were measured at 5.7 megabits per second.

Earlier this year, Nasa shot an image of the Mona Lisa into space using a laser beam, but reached a rate of only 300 bits per second.

Nasa's Badri Younes said: "LLCD is the first step on our roadmap toward building the next generation of space communication capability.

"We are encouraged by the results of the demonstration to this point, and we are confident we are on the right path to introduce this new capability into operational service soon."

Twitter IPO pegs valuation at modest $11 billion

By Alexei Oreskovic and Gerry Shih | Reuters
 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Seeking to avoid a repeat of Facebook Inc's much-maligned public debut, Twitter Inc revealed more modest ambitions on Thursday, saying its initial public offering would raise up to $1.6 billion (987.6 million pounds) and value the company at up to $10.9 billion.

The valuation was more conservative than the $15 billion that some analysts had expected for the social media phenomenon.

Twitter, which has signalled for weeks that it would price its IPO conservatively to avoid the stock drop that marred Facebook's offering, said that it intends to sell 70 million shares priced between $17 and $20.

If the company's underwriters choose to sell an additional allotment of 10.5 million shares, Twitter could raise as much as $1.6 billion at the top of the price range, according to an amended version of its prospectus filed on Thursday.

Twitter is expected to set the price on November 6, according to a document reviewed by Reuters, suggesting that the stock could begin trading as early as November 7.

"It's conservative and likely going to be raised as they start the road show at least once if not twice," Sam Hamadeh of PrivCo, a private company research firm, said of Twitter's pricing.

"The size of the offering is also a bit small," he added. "But they may only choose to raise the price once they gauge investor demand. Raising both the price and the size was Facebook's fatal mistake."

Twitter said on Thursday that there will be 544,696,816 shares of its common stock outstanding after the offering.

Twitter's offering is the most high-profile Internet IPO since Facebook's rocky debut in May 2012, in which the company's shares fell below their offering price in the ensuing days.

The company and its underwriters will begin a two-week road show on October 28 in New York and will stop in Boston and the mid-Atlantic region before touching down in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver, according to a source familiar with the offering.

The company could choose to raise the price of the offering during that period after gauging investor interest. In the case of Facebook, the company initially priced its shares at a minimum of $28 before ultimately raising it to $38 shortly before listing. Aside from raising the share price, Facebook also increased the size of its float - something that one out of 20 companies choose to do before their IPO, according to PrivCo's Hamadeh.

Twitter, which has roughly 230 million active users, has said it plans to list its stock under the "TWTR" symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.

The eight-year-old company more than doubled its third-quarter revenue to $168.6 million, but net losses widened to $64.6 million in the September quarter, it disclosed in a filing earlier this month.

Zynga's third-quarter revenue beats Street view, shares up 16 percent

By Malathi Nayak | Reuters 
 
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc's shares climbed 16 percent on Thursday after the maker of the online game "FarmVille" reported third-quarter revenue that dropped 68 percent but beat Wall Street's expectations.

For the quarter ended Sept 30, the company's Non-GAAP revenue fell to $152.1 million (93.8 million pounds) from $256 million for the same period a year ago, but surpassed analysts' average estimate of $142.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Zynga shares were up at $4.10 in after-hours trading after closing at $3.535 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

The company behind once-popular social games such as "Words with Friends" reported a loss of $16.2 million compared to $361,000 for the same period last year.

The game publisher, which once experienced rapid revenue growth from popular PC-based games such as FarmVille on Facebook, has sought to regain its financial footing by transitioning to smartphones and tablet titles, the increasingly preferred format for casual gamers.

Proud parents show off Prince George at royal christening

By Alice Ritchie | AFP

Baby Prince George was christened in a private ceremony, with his proud parents Prince William and Catherine giving the world a rare glimpse of the three-month-old boy.

Wearing a frilly cream lace gown, the third in line to the throne was carried into the Chapel Royal of St James's palace by his father, his mother Kate close by, elegant in a cream Alexander McQueen outfit.

Queen Elizabeth and the couple's parents and siblings, including William's younger brother Prince Harry, were among just 22 guests at the ceremony, including seven newly-named godparents.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby performed the baptism, which involves pouring holy water from the River Jordan on the baby's head.

Television pictures showed the light-haired George Alexander Louis appearing wide awake and calm. He even gave the semblance of waving at the 87-year-old queen, his great-grandmother, when his father moved his arm up and down.

"He's all ready," William, 31, told the assembled party, which included the baby's grandfather Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, adding: "So far so good."

Photographs of the gurgling prince were splashed across Thursday newspapers, which were charmed by his serene performance.

The Sun ran the headline "Georgeous -- Prince is good as gold on big day", while the Daily Telegraph carried a front-page photograph of him in his mother's arms under the words "the perfect prince".

Inside, the Telegraph said the baby showed "regal calm", while the Daily Mail and Times both released souvenir editions celebrating "Gorgeous George".

The low-key ceremony reflects the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge want their son to have a relatively normal upbringing and have closely guarded his privacy. He has only appeared in public once before, when they left hospital after his birth on July 22.

The couple broke with tradition by naming only one royal, William's cousin and champion horse-rider Zara Philips, among the godparents, with the others being childhood, university and work friends.

The ceremony welcomes Prince George into the Church of England, which he is destined to lead as future king and "Defender of the Faith".

During his address, Welby spelt out George's responsibilities as a Christian, saying he "is to share the life of Christ".

"That sharing may be in words, or generous actions -- most likely both -- but it will be both very costly and infinitely rewarding," he added.

Harry and Kate's sister Pippa Middleton both read passages from the Bible.

Each of the seven godparents was asked to commit to providing Prince George with guidance as he grew up.

Besides Zara Phillips, pregnant with her first child with rugby player husband Mike Tindall, they include William's childhood friends William van Cutsem and Earl Hugh Grosvenor; Julia Samuel, who was close to William's mother Diana; and Emilia Jardine-Paterson, who went to the private Marlborough College with Kate.

A handful of royal fans camped overnight outside the palace hoping for a glimpse of the queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and baby George.

"This is a very special moment. We will see three kings in the making," said John Loughrey, a 58-year-old fan wearing a raincoat bearing the pattern of the Union flag.

In the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron urged MPs to "join me in celebrating" the event.
The christening was in sharp contrast to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's lavish 2011 wedding, which was broadcast live on televisions across the world, and to the media frenzy surrounding the birth of their first child.

Just six members of the royal family attended, along with Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton and her siblings James and Pippa.

The service was conducted behind closed doors although an official photograph by celebrity snapper Jason Bell will be released to the public on Thursday.

Afterwards the guests were invited for tea at Charles's official London residence, Clarence House, where, following tradition, a portion of William and Kate's wedding cake was to be served.

The official photos are expected to gain iconic status, the first time four generations of monarchs have been pictured together since 1894, at the christening of the future king Edward VIII.

Patrick Jephson, Diana's former private secretary, said the christening sent a strong message about the royal family's durability as a dynasty.

"It reinforces the public perception that the British royal family is going to be around for a long time to come," he told AFP.

Champions League - Bitter Robben refuses to take penalty over dispute with Pep

Arjen Robben's petulant refusal to take a penalty overshadowed Bayern Munich's scintillating win in the Champions League.

By Eurosport | Reuters 
 
Bayern enjoyed a superb 5-0 win over Viktoria Plzen with Frenchman Franck Ribery scoring twice in the Allianz Arena - but one of those was a 25th minute penalty that Dutchman Robben refused to take, despite being designated to do so by coach Pep Guardiola.

The winger's anger stemmed from Guardiola's decision to allow Thomas Mueller to take a spot kick in Bayern's league win over Mainz 05 on Saturday after Robben had picked up the ball and wanted to take it himself.

The bizarre sight of Guardiola shouting "Arjen, Arjen" from the touchline as Ribery tried to give the ball to a reluctant Robben suggested the breach of discipline would be greeted with serious consequences for the Dutchman.

"I like it when players have character and take the ball and want to shoot the penalty," Guardiola said. "I wanted Arjen to take it," the Spaniard added, despite another convincing performance that suggests last season's treble winners are looking ominously stronger this campaign.

Robben may have spurned the chance to convert a penalty awarded for a foul on him, but his overall performance was stellar, and Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness was left admiring his team, comparing winger Franck Ribery to a juggler as the Champions League holders made it three wins out of three in this year's competition.

"Our team has been playing outstanding football in the past few weeks," a beaming Hoeness told reporters. "What Franck does with the ball is like (1920s juggler) Rastelli. He just oozes football joy."

Bayern are top of Group D on a maximum nine points and can secure a spot in the round of 16 with victory at Plzen on the next matchday.

"We can play even better but what is important now is to improve in the league," Guardiola said. "Our four games in Europe (including the Super Cup final win over Chelsea) were very good but we can do even better."

Guardiola's assessment will sound like music to his boardroom's ears, with Bayen racking up record revenues, as well as ticket and shirt sales as they aim to become the first team to defend a Champions League crown.

Their form is even more impressive given they have had plenty of injury setbacks with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze only just reaching full fitness.

Holding midfielder and Spain international Javi Martinez is yet to return from a groin injury and so is countryman Thiago Alcantara, a 25 million euro signing from Barcelona in the close season.

On Wednesday, Bayern were also missing their first choice central defensive partnership with Dante out injured and Jerome Boateng suspended but the outclassed Czech's solitary shot on goal proved their absence went virtually unnoticed.

"It does not matter who is playing because the amount of quality on the pitch is unparalleled in Europe," Hoeness said.

As it happened: Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund, Champions League

By Paul Fennessy | TheJournal.ie
 
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Celtic 2-0 Ajax
Schalke 0-2 Chelsea

HP seeking buyers for mobile patents - report

By : Reuters

(Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is seeking buyers for some of its mobile-computing patents, Bloomberg reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company has approached potential buyers about the portfolio of patents, which include those related to webOS - the smartphone and tablet-computer operating system that HP acquired through its 2010 buy of Palm Inc, people told the agency. (http://link.reuters.com/zec24v)

HP sold the webOS operating system to South Korea's LG Electronics Inc earlier this year, but retained the patents and all the technology relating to the cloud service of webOS.

"We don't comment on rumour and speculation," Michael Thacker, a spokesperson for Hewlett-Packard told Bloomberg.

HP could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

Ericsson turnaround hopes hit by weaker U.S., Japanese demand

By Sven Nordenstam and Simon Johnson | Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ericsson's turnaround drive was thrown into doubt on Thursday as the world's biggest mobile networks maker missed third-quarter profit forecasts and said sales were coming under pressure in the United States and Japan.

Shares in the Swedish group dropped 7 percent, the biggest fall by a European blue-chip stock, and dragged down rivals Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent.

A decade-long price war in Ericsson's industry, launched by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE, has already forced suppliers like Nortel and Motorola out of the market.

In a do-or-die effort, struggling Alcatel-Lucent this month announced it was slashing 10,000 jobs - one seventh of its workforce - its sixth restructuring plan since 2006.

Ericsson has had some success recently in winning business from the swathe of telecoms firms looking to invest in faster fourth-generation networks. Vodafone, for example, has said it will boost spending by 6 billion pounds ($9.7 billion) over three years, and analysts expect others to follow.

But the Swedish group said on Thursday that while business in Europe was picking up and profitability there improving, activity was slower in the United States and Japan, where big projects were coming to completion.

"We are currently seeing sales coming under some pressure," Ericsson chief executive Hans Vestberg said.
Analysts also pointed to a lower gross margin than expected, which fell compared to the second quarter.
"This trend in particular should cause pressure to consensus profit expectations today, more so than the miss at the top line," Barclays said in a research note.

Earnings before interest and tax were 4.2 billion Swedish crowns ($658 million) in the third quarter, up from 3.1 billion a year earlier, including joint ventures, but missing a forecast of 4.5 billion in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Sales were 53.0 billion crowns, well short of the forecast 55.1 billion, and down on last year's 54.6 billion.
Sales at Ericsson's key Networks unit, which accounts for just over half of revenue, rose 4 percent year-on-year, adjusted for currency swings. That was the lowest growth in a year and well below the 7-9 percent in the three previous quarters.

MORE COMPETITION?

"The report raises a lot of questions about the future," said Bengt Nordstrom, head of telecoms consultancy Northstream.

He also pointed to signs the competitive environment for Ericsson could get tougher.

Finland's Nokia has this year turned into more streamlined rival by fully taking over its previous network joint venture with Germany's Siemens - Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) - and selling its handset business to Microsoft.

That move echoed Ericsson's own disposal of its handset joint venture to partner Sony in 2011 and has given Nokia a clearer focus and better finances to support an aggressive campaign to grab market share new generation networks.

"When it comes to the general market, it should be noted that one of Ericsson's competitors, NSN, with new owners and capital, are very active in many markets resulting in continued tough pricing pressure going forward," Nordstrom said.

The need for scale has led to speculation that Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent will merge and sources have told Reuters the Finnish company has looked at the possibility.

Ericsson shares were down 7.1 percent at 78.30 crowns at 1130 GMT, on track for their biggest single-day fall in 21 months. Nokia shares were down 3.2 percent while Alcatel-Lucent's fell 3.0 percent. Both firms report earnings next week.

"We see a rather negative readacross for Alcatel-Lucent, as Ericsson's sales were down materially in North America, a region to which Alcatel-Lucent is overexposed," Bernstein analysts said in a research note.
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