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  • Kate Upton Single Model Denies Relationship With Detroit Tigers Pitcher Justin Verlander


    It appears to be a Valentine's Day miracle for Kate Upton admirers who have been dreaming about the bombshell ever since she wowed on the cover of last year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

    The model, who also graces the cover of this year's swimsuit issue, told Fox 2 Detroit that she's single.

    After months of rumors about a relationship with Detroit Tigers' pitcher Justin Verlander, spottings of the two and seeming confirmation by their family members, it seemed pretty certain that the covert celebs were a couple. But not according to Upton.
    "Actually, I'm single right now," Upton told the local news affiliate in response to a question about her possible beau. She said she spent her New Year's in Melbourne, Fla., despite a report by the New York Post that she vacationed in St. Thomas with Verlander for the holiday.

    Hear it straight from Upton in the video above, and get some advice on writing a perfect love poem to win her over.

    Lena Dunham's Revealing Rolling Stone Cover

    Lena Dunham is the latest Rolling Stone cover girl, and she doesn't look much like her "Girls" character Hannah Horvath: She's donning a white tank, lacy black bra and sporting her newly-signature pixie cut.

    "It's funny to me that I'm writing a show that people consider to be the voice of twentysomething people," Dunham says in Rolling Stone's Feb. 15th issue. "Because I don't feel that connected to it all the time."

    This won't be the first time Dunham has addressed being the voice of twentysomethings ... or, more accurately, "the voice of a generation."

    "I don't think I ever imagined that it would haunt me the way it is," Dunham said in a recent interview. "The character was on opium! I think the 'voice of a generation' concept was lost with beatnik literature. Because of globalization and increasing populations, my generation kind of consists of so many different voices that need so many different kinds of attention. But if my writing can show what it's like to be young, I'm happy."

    Married huntmaster cleared of shooting ex-lover but could still be jailed for lack of firearm licence


    A married huntmaster was cleared yesterday of shooting his showjumper ex-lover after their five-year affair.

    Brian Fraser, 63, was found not guilty of the attempted murder of Louise Leggatt, 55, and also of causing her grievous bodily harm with intent.

    He was alleged to have been enraged at the end of his romance with Louise - who the court heard was known in hunting circles as ‘Leg-Over Leggatt’.

    The verdicts came after a jury spent five and a half hours deliberating, following a two-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

    But Fraser had already admitted possessing a firearm without a licence and was warned by the judge he could still be sent to prison.

    Judge Charles Byers said: “You are at risk of serving a custodial sentence.

    “I have never come across such a lackadaisical and irresponsible attitude towards firearms, particularly for someone who is described as a countryman.”

    He bailed him him to return to court on March 18 to be sentenced over that matter.

    The judge also told Fraser not to have any contact with Louise or her two grown-up sons Ben and William, saying: “I am considering a restraining order which even in the face of an acquittal I can make.”

    Fraser showed no emotion as the verdicts were delivered but there were cheers and cries of ‘Yes’ from his family and friends in the public gallery, including his forgiving wife Nanette who looked tearful.

    Louise, who was in court, held her head in her hands and looked shattered.

    She was shot outside her secluded rented farmhouse home in Benenden, Kent, in March last year, as she went to tend her horses.

    She suffered shotgun injuries to her pelvis and leg, and underwent surgery to remove some of the pellets.

    Two months earlier, Louise’s home, The Pippins, was destroyed in an arson attack, forcing her to rent the next door property Bramleys, where she was shot.

    Nobody was ever convicted for the arson.

    Fraser and Louise met through the Ashford Valley Hunt in Kent in 2000 and became lovers in 2001.

    He moved into her home and they had a five-year affair before Fraser returned to his wife of 26 years in October 2011, at their farm in Shadoxhurst.

    Fraser denied he tried to rekindle their romance and was angry when she rejected him.

    Giving evidence during the trial, twice-divorced Louise sobbed as she relived the “terrifying” moment she was shot in her front garden by a hidden gunman.

    She said: “First of all, I heard a sound and then I just had the most horrendous pain in my leg and hip.

    “I couldn’t use my right leg at all but I managed to get inside and drag myself across the floor to where the phone was to dial 999.

    “I was absolutely terrified, I had never been so terrified in all my life.

    "I was really, really scared that whoever had done this was going to come back in and I couldn’t get back to the door to lock the door.”

    During the trial one of Louise’s ex-husbands, Philip Gorringe, admitted he had heard of her being referred to as ‘Leg-Over Leggatt’ in hunting circles.

    From cool girls like Beyonce to angry ones like Perrie Edwards, it's 3am's celeb-inspired Valentine’s Day gift guide

    Valentine’s Day is hard work – do you play it cool? Do you go over the top? Do you give something? Do you do something? Or do you use it as a massive excuse to get something you really want (i.e. naughty stuff)?

    Well, do not panic. In our celebrity inspired Valentine’s Day gift guide, we’ve got all the pressies you could possibly need this February 14th, with something for everyone. All you have to do is work out what type of girlfriend your other half is - but don’t worry, we’ve provided plenty of celebrity examples to help you decide.

    ***If this isn’t quite enough for you, we’re giving away most of the gifts in the below guide to one ridiculously lucky reader. We know, we spoil you. Get all the information at the bottom of the page***

    For the disgruntled girl



    If you need to win your sweetheart back like Zayn Malik – who allegedly cheated on Perrie Edwards with a waitress – then your gift is going to have to be both thoughtful, romantic and time consuming. There’s nothing more satisfying than getting a present that took ages to make – especially when you’re angry! Introducing the Instagram Book by Blurb. We all love sharing our artiest photos on the website, but this transforms your arty romantic snaps into a stylish little book to carry around in a handbag or pop next to the bed. The books come in two sizes (7 x 7 inch / 18 x 18 cm) size and start at £7.95 for 20 pages. It’s easy peasy too – check out the website here.

    For the horny girl



    Did anyone see Anne Hathway’s thank you speech at the SAG Awards? She looked directly at her Adam Schulman and said: “Thank you to my husband, I’ll show you why later”. Oh yeah – he got it that night. If you’ve got yourself an insatiable lady, it’s time to invest in a, gulp, vibrator. What do you mean ‘But that’s not fun for me?’ Not only is it great fun in the bedroom for both of you (it’ll give you the giggles while secretly thinking ‘Yeah, this alright actually’), but it’ll give her something to do when you’re knackered. Pick up elegant vibrator Shy Look, £85, from Box Of Grey with streamlined curves and three modes of pleasure. And high quality water based lubricant Give Lube will help ease you in at £8.95 per 100ml. Get it here.

    For the pregnant girl



    People with babies in their tummies need even more romancing than usual, because they’ve got one hell of a job on their hands. Take Peaches Geldof for example – she gave birth to little boy Astala and fell pregnant three months later – if she doesn’t deserve a lovely February 14 treat from husband Thomas Cohen, we don’t know who does. And given she’s carrying a foetus and her son around all over the place, the Micro-Pedi couldn’t be a better present. Designed to remove dry, rough and callused skin on the feet, while giving you a nice soothing sensation – this is a real treat. The Micro-Pedi costs £39.95 and is available from Lifes2good here.

    For the homey girl

    At some point in most girls’ lives – whether young or old – they decide that they’ve had enough of going out and experience a soft furnishings addiction. Take Lily Allen – she left London altogether and bought a farm! And while that’s the extreme end of the spectrum, this Annie Sloan Upholstery Workshop is a great way to learn something new and create a gift for the home together. Ahh. Annie Sloan Upholstery Workshops and Annie Sloan Furniture Painting Workshops are held throughout the UK and Ireland and cost around £60 for half a day. Find a local class here or call 01865 247 296.          

    For the demanding girl

    Run out of romantic ideas after giving your other half every present under the sun? Mariah ‘let’s renew our vows again’ Carey, we’re looking at you. Well, not only will this be something new, but it’ll shut her up for a while: the Lovers Leap Tandem Bungee Jump, £120, with Virgin Experience Days. Book yours here.

    Not such a hoot: New species of owl discovered which whistles

    An owl with a distinctive whistle is a new species, experts have declared.

    The bird, whose whistling call is completely different to other owls, is only thought to live on the island of Lombok in Indonesia

    Although the owl has been known for at least a century, it has only now been recognised as a new species.

    Previously experts had confused the bird, with brown and white feathers and big golden eyes, with a similar looking owl.

    Its official name is Otus jolandae but scientists are giving it the common name Rinjani Scops Owl.

    Two members of an international team independently recorded the signature whistle in 2003.

    Ornithologist George Sangster, from the Swedish Museum of Natural History, said: "It was quite a coincidence that two of us identified this new bird species on different parts of the same island, within a few days of being on the island.

    "That is quite a coincidence, especially considering that no-one had noticed anything special about these owls in the previous 100 years."

    Comparisons with museum specimens and previous studies confirmed the discovery and indicated that the owl was confined to one island.

    Locals on the neighbouring island of Sumbawa appeared to be unfamiliar with the bird, said Mr Sangster.

    "None of the locals recognised the songs from playback of recordings made on Lombok except for one man, but he was an immigrant from Lombok who knew the song," he said.

    The research is published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE

    The horse butchers Inside UK meat plant which was closed 30 minutes later

    This is the first time any journalist has gained access to a factory working with horse meat since the scandal began.

    Our photo shows staff at Farmbox Meats cutting up and boxing horse meat as they were shadowed by officials from the FSA wearing boiler suits and face masks.

    Company owner Dafydd Raw-Rees, who had invited the Mirror into the factory, insists that his firm has done nothing wrong.

    But at 10.30am – half an hour after our picture was taken – the FSA dramatically ordered the butchers to stop work.

    The FSA officials shut the factory down while they continued their investigation which had begun the night before.

    On Tuesday evening 20 police and the FSA team swooped on the meat factory in the sleepy village of Llandre in Ceredigion.

    The agency is looking into allegations that meat products labelled as beef for kebabs and burgers was in fact horse meat.

    The FSA suspended operations on Tuesday, detained all the meat and seized paperwork.

    As the butchers were allowed to restart work yesterday, the FSA continued to pore over the facility, inspecting meat and taking photos.

    Dafydd Raw-Rees, of Farmbox Food Limited Crisis: Dafydd Raw-Rees says he's distressed for his staff
    Wales News Service

    And it wasn’t long before the FSA ordered the workers out. Last night the government officials suspended Mr Raw-Rees’ licence until further notice and closed the factory down until tomorrow.

    The FSA believes Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, supplied horse carcasses to Farmbox Meats near Aberystwyth.

    The Peter Boddy plant, which denies any wrongdoing, was also raided by the FSA and police on Tuesday.

    After opening his doors to the Mirror yesterday, Mr Raw-Rees, 64, denied he was using horse meat for burgers or kebabs.

    He says all the meat is destined for a client in Belgium. The landowner added the carcasses were delivered from an abattoir in Ireland.

    Mr Raw-Rees said: “I am very distressed at what is happening – this will ruin my reputation. This is a fully legitimate operation.

    "All we do is cut the meat, we don’t process it or make it into burgers or kebabs.

    “I’m just trying to run a business and I feel like I have been dealt a very low blow.

    Reaction to publication of Kate photos over the top, says 'Chi' editor

    The editor of the Italian magazine that published pictures of a bikini-clad Duchess of Cambridge defended his decision yesterday saying they did not “harm” her image.

    Alfonso Signorini said the reaction to the photographs that show William and Kate on holiday on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique was “over the top”.

    The pictures were published in the gossip magazine Chi and were trailed on the front cover as showing the growing belly of Kate, who is about four months pregnant.

    On-air apology

    Earlier yesterday in Britain, presenter Eamonn Holmes was forced to make an on-air apology on This Morning programme after an unblurred image of the magazine’s front cover showing the duke and duchess in their swimwear “accidentally” appeared on screen. Holmes told viewers: “Unfortunately we accidentally showed an unblurred image of the magazine cover, which briefly showed the photographs.

    “This was a deeply regrettable error and we are very sorry. We apologise unreservedly to the duke and the duchess.”

    Mr Signorini justified his decision to publish the pictures of Kate and William on holiday in a series of interviews. He told the BBC: “The photographs, which can in no way be considered scandalous, were bought from an international photo agency, do not harm the image of the protagonists and the reaction of the media seems to me wholly over the top. Moreover, the photographs can hardly be considered an invasion of privacy when the subjects are public figures in a public place, in the open air; specifically on a beach surrounded by other bathers.”

    Meanwhile, the editor of an Australian magazine also defended her decision to print photographs of Kate in a bikini, saying her readers will “love” the images.

    Woman’s Day is the second publication to use the pictures of the pregnant royal. It also controversially published pictures of William and Kate’s Seychelles honeymoon in 2011.

    The Mustique pictures were reportedly taken from a boat using a long-lens camera, but Fiona Connolly, editor of Woman’s Day, claimed a member of the public snapped the duchess.

    Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Sparks Controversy. Offensive or Overreaction?

    It's been a big week for Sports Illustrated. First, a blogger leaked the swimsuit issue's much-anticipated cover, upstaging David Letterman's big reveal on Monday. Now website Jezebel is calling out the men's magazine for using minorities as "props" in photos featuring models in bikinis posing in seven different continents.

    Sports Illustrated coverJezebel argues that the magazine is perpetuating racial stereotypes by drawing power and class lines between the Westernized models and the "primitive locals" and points to a long history of media using people of various ethnicities as "extras", citing Nylon magazine, the Free People catalog, British Vogue, and J-Crew.

    Depending on where you look, the reaction has been mixed, even among the men who are supposed to be titillated. On Jezebel's website, one male commenter wrote, "Pics of woman with local natives is NOT hot, it's exploitative, so the mission is fail right there. Oh and exploitative. I do not know what they were thinking….fail all around." While another guy wrote, "Some of the examples are ›‹reaching a bit…the one with the boat….why pick that for China? Especially when everything I read about China is how they're an industrial powerhouse." And one helpful reader on Sports Illustrated's Facebook page pointed out, "Technically speaking they were not shot in all seven continents. While Easter Island may belong to Chile, it's a Polynesian island, and not part of the South American continent." Oy.

    Shine reached out to Sports Illustrated and Scott Novak, SVP, Communications & Brand responded with "No comment" but added that the man who appears in the Namibia photos "may have done other editorial work before."
    In Spain, a model leans on a Matador. (photo by Sports Illutrated)

    "These photos depict people of color as exotic backdrops," David Leonard, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies at Washington State University, tells Yahoo! Shine. "As with beautiful oceans, picturesque trees, people of color are imagined as exotic, as novel, as foreign, as uncivilized and as a point of comparison for the civilized white beauties scantily clad in bathing suits. Beyond functioning as props, as scenery to authenticate their third world adventures, people of color are imagined as servants, as the loyal helpers, as existing for white western pleasure, amusement, and enjoyment."
    In Africa, a black man is positioned next to a model carrying a spear. (photo by Sports Illustrated)

    "As Jezebel writes, where are the images and pictures of bustling cities, skyscrapers — the pictures reify dominant narrative about the uncivilized and primitive third world. They define people of different races as 'other' and the sexual white female body as desirable, as they're to be watched, consumed, and enjoyed by men in lounge chairs," he adds.

    Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Professor of History and Ethnic Studies, Director, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA) at Brown University tells Yahoo! Shine: "It's understandable why some would find these photos disturbing. The juxtaposition of scantily-clad white, modern, cosmopolitan and western woman against natives, animals, exotic scenery, primitives (African native), traditionals (Chinese fisherman; ethnic minority girls in China); The exception is the photo of the Spanish bullfighters, in which case the model is suggestive of the bull.  The white models are tourists and colonials."

    Apple loses right to iPhone name in...

     When it comes to buying an iPhone in Brazil, consumers have one extra option that the rest of us do not.

    There's the "iPhone" made by the California tech giant Apple. Then there's the "iphone" made by the Brazilian firm Gradiente Eletronica and, perhaps in a slap to Apple, runs on rival Android's operating system.

    And it's going to stay that way pending any future appeal or settlement.

    On Thursday, Brazil's Institute of Industry Property (INPI), the country's main patent regulator, ruled that Apple holds no exclusive right to use the iPhone moniker to market its mobile phones. If Apple continues to use the iPhone name, Gradiente can sue.

    INIP added that Gradiente Eletronica holds exclusive rights to the trademark though 2018 after having registered for the iPhone name in 2000. Apple only unveiled its iPhone name in 2007.

    Apple may have gotten a bruising but an appeal is in the works. And in a twist on timing that Apple hopes may help it win branding rights, Gradiente Eletronica only launched its first "iphone", the iphone Neo One, in December 2012 -- five years after Apple debuted its inaugural iPhone. Gradiente explained it held back on releasing its own iphone until recently as it concluded corporate restructuring from 2008.

    Apple's trademark trouble in Latin America's most populous country is just the latest in a series of global snafus that have spanned China, Japan and the United States.

    Just days after Apple announced its first iPhone in January 2007, Cisco Systems sued the company in U.S. federal court saying it had owned trademark rights since 2000. Apple and Cisco agreed to a settlement the following month that allowed both companies use of the iPhone name.

    In 2009, Apple paid Proview Taiwan a sum of $55,000 for use of the "iPad" name in mainland China. But in a complicated dispute, Proview claimed Apple set up a shell company to fool it into selling the trademark. In addition, Proview Taiwan did not actually own the rights to the iPad trademark in mainland China -- a subsidiary, Proview Shenzhen, did. Apple only secured the name in 2012 after paying out the actual trademark owner $60 million.

    Outspoken Oscar Escapes Punishment Photo

    Oscar Pistorius will face no disciplinary action over his outburst following defeat in the men's 200 metres final, Paralympic organisers said on Tuesday.

    Moments after losing to Brazil's Alan Oliveira on Sunday, his first 200m defeat in nine years, Pistorius used a post-race interview to question the legitimacy of his defeat.

    Pistorius, dubbed the "Blade Runner", suggested that his opponent's prosthetics were too long which had artificially lengthened his stride, giving him an unfair advantage.

    "There will be no disciplinary action against Oscar for his comments," International Paralympic Committee (IPC) director of communications Craig Spence said on Tuesday.

    Pistorius apologised for the timing of his comments in a statement on Monday, but maintained there was still a fundamental issue about the length of athletes' prosthetics that needed to be addressed.

    Pistorius met with Paralympic officials in the immediate aftermath of his defeat when it was decided a further meeting would take place to discuss his concerns.

    "We decided we needed to go through the official channels rather than just sending an informal text message saying let's meet," Spence added.

    "So we are waiting for the national Paralympic Committee of South Africa to go through the relevant channels and contact the IPC and then a meeting will be set up."

    Pistorius, who was defending his 100m, 200m and 400m titles, streaked into an early lead and was almost 10 metres ahead as the athletes came into the home straight but the Brazilian launched a stunning fightback and surged to victory.

    IPC rules governing the length of prosthetics are determined by a complicated formula that involves measuring from the chest to the amputated limb and the arm span.

    This is converted into a height prediction and a maximal height is used to assess the length of prosthetics.

    Immediately after the race, the IPC confirmed that Oliveira's blades fell within the legal limits.

    Pistorius continues his Paralympic campaign on Wednesday in the 100m heats, with the 400m and 4x400m relay to follow later in the week.

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