Paris Hilton was spotted in Miami on Wednesday sporting a rather interesting-looking ensemble. Her summery dress was peculiar, to say the least! What do you think of Paris' boho-style cover-up? Plus, AnnaSophia Robb has some big shoes to fill playing the young Carrie Bradshaw in the new CW show "The Carrie Diaries." We've got a first look at her on set and the scoop on who from the original show reached out to the young actress. Also on this episode, talk about fresh to death, "Jersey Shore's" Deena Nicole steps out in Las Vegas looking very different!
Pakistan snatched a two-run victory over Bangladesh in the final to win the Asia Cup cricket tournament at the Shere Bangla National Stadium here tonight.
Bangladesh did well to restrict Pakistan to 236 for nine in their allotted 50 overs, but
Scoreboard of Asia Cup final but fell short of the trget by two runs, ending up with 234 for eight.
Opener Tamim Iqbal (60) and Shakib Al Hasan (68) batted well to bring the hosts within hand-shaking distance of the title, but they failed to make it in the end.
Pakistan win Asia Cup 2012
Pakistan win Asia Cup 2012 (Photo Credit: AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Aizaz Cheema was Pakistan’s most successful bowler today with three for 46, while Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul picked up two wickets apiece.
Earlier, the Bangladesh bowlers put up a spirited performance to restrict Pakistan to 236 for nine.
Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, who replaced fast bowler Wahab Riaz in the match, was the top scorer for Pakistan with an unbeaten 46 while opening batsman Mohammed Hafeez made 40. Shahid Afridi made a quickfire 32 while Umar Akmal and Hammad Azam made 30 each.
Have you ever dreamed of a place where the warm sun dries Iker Casillas' tears before they reach his cheek, the Persian Gulf breeze blows through Xabi Alonso's beard and Pepe stomps someone to death on the beach? Then welcome to Real Madrid Resort Island -- a holiday resort on an artificial island in the United Arab Emirates scheduled to open in January 2015.
A presentation at the Bernabeu on Thursday showed plans for sports facilities, a marina, luxury hotels and villas, an amusement park, a club museum and a 10,000-seat stadium with one side open to the sea.
"It is a decisive and strategic step that will strengthen our institution in the Middle East and Asia," said Real president Florentino Perez.
The 4.6 million-square-foot venture is in partnership with the government of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and is expected to attract a million visitors in its first year of operation. But since that's a whole three years away, Jose Mourinho probably won't be one of them.
Hopefully Barcelona will build its own island right next to Real Madrid's, but make it so everything is miniature and inhabited by Ewoks.
Presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn’t the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.
Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast.
“You win by giving people a choice,” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”
Santorum added: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”
Santorum was referencing Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom’s comment Wednesday that “everything changes” for the fall campaign. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch,” he said on CNN. “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”
The remark reignited criticism of Romney as the type of politician who will say or do anything to win.
Romney, who made no public appearances Thursday, issued a statement expressing disappointment “that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.”
“This election is more important than any one person. It is about the future of America,” he said. “Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure.”
Rival Newt Gingrich tweeted: “Rick Santorum is dead wrong. Any GOP nominee will be better than Obama.”
During his speech to employees of USAA, a San Antonio-based insurance and financial services firm, Santorum briefly held up an Etch A Sketch and said his positions don’t change like etchings on the toy, which are erased with a shake. He could be seen fiddling with the toy’s knobs in the intervals between questions from audience members.
Addressing reporters afterward, Santorum lit into Romney for saying “I’m going to run as a conservative.”
“He didn’t say ‘I am a conservative.’ He said ‘I’m going to run as a conservative.’ So what do you do, you just sort of decide what you’re going to be for the elections?” Santorum asked. “No one can accuse me of that. People say, ‘Well, you can’t win because of that.’ No, I will win because of it.”
It looks like someone won't be invited to the White House any time soon. While hosting a benefit for President Barack Obama's reelection campaign in New York City on Monday night, Robert De Niro made a racial joke while introducing First Lady Michelle Obama. "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney," the Oscar-winning actor began in front of an audience that included Beyonce, Whoopi Goldberg, and Harvey Weinstein. "Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"
Almost immediately, White House aides scrambled to make it clear that De Niro's comment "was inappropriate," said the First Lady's Campaign Press Secretary, Olivia Alair. Realizing his gaffe, the 68-year-old also publicly vetoed his "joke." In a statement to E! News on Tuesday, De Niro apologized, saying, "My remarks, although spoken with satirical jest, were not meant to offend or embarrass anyone, especially the first lady."
But the damage was already done. As expected, Obama's Republican rivals came out swinging in defense of their better halves — and for the "Meet the Fockers" star's racial remarks. "I do want to say one thing, both on behalf of my wife and on behalf of Karen Santorum and on behalf of Ann Romney, I think that Robert De Niro's wrong," said Newt Gingrich from the campaign trail. "I think the country is ready for a new first lady, and he doesn't have to describe it in racial terms." As for Rick Santorum, he merely dismissed De Niro's joke as nonsense coming from a Hollywood actor "spouting off as they do. The idea of looking at politics through eyes of race should be over … I don't know where he thinks he's coming from."
The budget proposes sweeping changes to the popular government-run Medicare healthcare program for the elderly, a politically risky gambit for Republicans who faced a voter backlash last year when they offered a similar plan.
It also seeks to cap discretionary federal spending on education, transportation and other government programs at $1.029 trillion, roughly $18 billion less than Democrats want. That sets up a battle over spending that, if unresolved, could lead to a government shutdown later this year.
While its proposals have little chance of becoming law due to opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate, Republicans in the House of Representatives are looking for the plan from Congressman Paul Ryan to provide a lift to their re-election fortunes in November.
After a string of debacles ranging from last summer's debt-limit standoff to a near-revolt over extending a payroll tax cut, Republicans want to get back to their core message of shrinking the size of government. They claim an advantage over Obama on spending, debt and taxation and intend to use Ryan's budget plan to exploit it.
Where Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and boost near-term spending on infrastructure and education, the Republicans want to cut taxes and spending on healthcare and social safety net programs - benefits used more by the poor and middle classes.
The Republican budget plan would produce deficits totaling $3.13 trillion in the next 10 years - less than half the $6.39 trillion in deficits the Congressional Budget Office says Obama's fiscal 2013 budget plan would rack up.
The Republican plan claims to put U.S. debt on a downward path, to 62.3 percent of U.S. economic output by 2022, versus Obama's 76.3 percent, which is slightly above current levels.
Ryan said in the document that U.S. debt growth, if left unchecked, would spark a debilitating European-style debt crisis.
"The growing possibility of such a crisis is creating debilitating uncertainty about the future, hurting job creation and economic growth today," he wrote.
DISMANTLING HEALTHCARE REFORM
The Republican budget achieves much of its deficit-reduction goals through savings gained by dismantling Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law and by turning social safety net programs like food stamps and the Medicaid program for the poor into block grants for states.
After proposing last year to convert Medicare into a voucher-like program to allow seniors to purchase private health insurance, Ryan has modified his reforms in a bid to blunt criticism that it would shift too many costs onto the elderly.
Marlins President David Samson says using aquariums as a backstop "screams Miami," but animal rights activists think it screams animal abuse. Experts on fish wellbeing are undecided on the matter.
First, despite their position in the line of fire, the stadium aquariums won't bust. According to Mat Roy, president of Living Color Aquariums, which manufactured the tanks, Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez helped test their extra-sturdy front panels by hurling baseballs at them. They didn't crack.
But even if the 100 fish inside the tanks are sure to stay wet, activists have another concern. "I can tell you even if the glass doesn't shatter, [stadium noise is] going to cause a tremendous vibration and disturb and upset the fish," Animal Rights Foundation of Florida spokesman Don Anthony told the local press.
To minimize vibrations from a stadium full of rowdy fans, the temperature-controlled aquariums are suspended on a flexible material called neoprene, but activists think that isn't sufficient. "No matter how many shock absorbers they build into the system, if there are thousands of fans screaming and jumping during a sporting event it's going to affect the fish in there," Anthony said.
So, will noise and stadium vibrations actually upset the fish?
Amrit Bart, professor of aquaculture and director of the Asian Institute of Technology in Vietnam, has studied the effects of vibrations and ambient noise on fish health and reproduction. "Our preliminary study showed that chronic exposure to low-frequency, high-amplitude sound may affect reproduction," Bart told Life's Little Mysteries.
Police in India say 15 people were killed when a train collided with an overcrowded taxi minivan at an unmanned railroad crossing in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
Police spokesman Surendra Srivastava says the taxi driver is suspected of ignoring a signal that the train was approaching and crossing the rail tracks.
The minivan had capacity for 10 people but was carrying 19 when the train slammed into its rear Tuesday morning and threw it off the track near Hathras, about 200 miles (350 kilometers) southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.
The driver and 14 passengers were killed on the spot. The four others are being treated at a hospital for injuries.
At least 26 explosions struck cities and towns across Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least 49 people and wounding more than 200, despite a massive security clampdown ahead of next week's Arab League summit in Baghdad.
It was Iraq's bloodiest day in nearly a month, and the breadth of coordinated bombs in more than a dozen cities showed an apparent determination by insurgents to prove that the government cannot keep the country safe ahead of the summit.
Iraq is due to host the meeting for the first time in 20 years and the government is anxious to show it can maintain security following the withdrawal of U.S. troops in December.
"The goal of today's attacks was to present a negative image of the security situation in Iraq," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters.
"Security efforts will be escalated to counteract terrorist groups' attacks and to fill loopholes used by them to infiltrate security, whether in Baghdad or other provinces."
Tuesday's deadliest incident occurred in the southern Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Kerbala, where twin explosions killed 13 people and wounded 48 during the morning rush hour, according to Jamal Mahdi, a Kerbala health department spokesman.
"The second explosion caused the biggest destruction. I saw body parts, fingers, hands thrown on the road," 23-year-old shop owner Murtadha Ali Kadhim told Reuters.
"The security forces are stupid because they always gather at the site of an explosion and then a second explosion occurs. They become a target."
Blasts also struck in the capital, in Baiji, Baquba, Daquq, Dibis, Dhuluiya, Kirkuk, Mosul, Samarra and Tuz Khurmato to the north, in Falluja and Ramadi to the west, and Hilla, Latifiya, Mahmudiya and Mussayab to the south. Police defused bombs in Baquba, Falluja and Mosul.
Most of the blasts targeted police checkpoints and patrols.
"This latest spate of attacks is very likely to have been co-ordinated by a large and well-organised group. It is likely an attempt to show the authorities that their security measures are insignificant," said John Drake, a senior risk consultant at AKE Group, which studies security in Iraq for corporate clients.
Army and police forces are frequently targeted in Iraq, where bombings and shootings still occur on a daily basis. Sunni Muslim insurgent groups say that despite the withdrawal of U.S. forces, they will not lay down arms and will continue to battle the Shi'ite-led government.
Although overall violence has declined since the height of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, Iraqis worry whether their government has the wherewithal to impose security nine years after the U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.
Making a hit movie on a budget is as hard as Hollywood makes it look. "We're in a business where the solution is almost always to write a check," said Joe Drake, the departing co-chief operating officer of Lionsgate, the studio behind "The Hunger Games."
"The Hunger Games" opens Friday, tracking toward an opening weekend ticket take of perhaps more than $100 million. The movie, about a future dystopia that pits teens in televised fights to the death, cost around $80 million to make. That amount probably wouldn't cover the loin-cloth budget alone of the recent $250 million flop "John Carter."
So how did "The Hunger Games" fool the movie gods of profligacy? The Huffington Post chatted with Drake last week to recount the beans and shed light on a little-known fact -- that movies the masses want to see can be made for less than the GNP of a small nation.
"The absolute last resort is solving something with money," Drake said. "Very often, that turns out to be the best creative solution. It requires you to deal with it in the storytelling."
It should be pointed out that Lionsgate, home to the "Saw" horror franchise, has seen rough times lately. It weathered a takeover bid by Carl Icahn and its stock price dropped 45 percent in a four-year period, according to Bloomberg. But it recently gained muscle when it bought Summit, the studio mother of the "Twilight" movies. Those films, based, like "The Hunger Games, on a popular trilogy of books, earned $2.3 billion, a figure "Games" hopes to match or even surpass.
Financial burdens never stopped a studio from ripping open its wallet, but Lionsgate resisted.
Here are the steps that paved the film's road to profit.
The Source Material: Lionsgate secured the rights to Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" in 2009 before it became a household name. At that point, Drake said the studio determined it would work in part to increase book sales, thereby raising the visibility of the movie.
"The Hunger Games," the first of a trilogy, had sold about 250,000 copies when Lionsgate acquired it, Drake said. By the time the film went into production last May, the three novels had sold a combined 8 million. When production wrapped in September, the total had climbed to 12 million. The New York Times reported Sunday that there are now 24 million copies in print. "The velocity of sales is exponential," Drake said.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Collins received hundreds of thousands of dollars for the option on her three books, but will make millions if the movie and at least one planned sequel strike gold. For comparison's sake, Warner Bros. paid "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling $1 million in 1999 for the first four of her novels, and the first film, released in 2001, cost $125 million to make.
