A U.S. appeals court on Friday showed few signs that it was prepared to support a request by Apple Inc to block immediately the sale of some Samsung Electronics smartphones and tablets.

In a high-stakes patent dispute, the court heard arguments about whether a federal trial judge acted correctly in December when she ruled that Apple failed to provide enough evidence to support an injunction of Samsung's Galaxy pro duct line.

The court's judges reacted with skepticism to a premise put forward by Apple's lawyer that for the purpose of getting an injunction, Apple does not need to show that patent infringement would directly cause a loss of customers.

Apple's lawyer, Michael Jacobs, said it is enough to show that Samsung likely infringed on Apple's patents used in products such as the iPhone, and that Apple is likely to be hurt. The trial judge found both those things but not enough evidence of a causal link.

Judge William Bryson on Friday asked about a hypothetical case in which an automaker copied the design of a cupholder from a second automaker. Under Apple's argument, if the second automaker later lost market share, it could ask for an injunction against sales by the first automaker, Bryson said.

"Can that possibly be right?" he asked. Bryson is one of three judges who heard the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Apple and Samsung are scheduled to go to trial in July in federal court in California. An order to stop Galaxy sales would have the potential to affect settlement considerations.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Padraic Cassidy and Richard Chang)

The Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee confirmed on April 4, 2012, that Saudi Arabia will not support women in practicing sports. Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal said: “Female sports activity has not existed [in the kingdom] and there is no move thereto in this regard.”

“At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics or other international championships,” Prince Nawwaf continued.

“If the International Olympic Committee was looking for an official affirmation of Saudi discrimination against women in sports, the minister in charge just gave it,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is impossible to square Saudi discrimination against women with the noble values of the Olympic Charter.”

Speaking at a press conference in Jeddah that concluded a meeting of Arab youth and sports ministers, the prince claimed that the demand for women’s participation in the Olympics and other international championships came from Saudi women living abroad, and that his organizations would not officially support that demand, but would instead cooperate with those women to ensure their participation “occurred in the appropriate framework and comported with Islamic law.” The prince said he was in constant contact with the Saudi mufti and religious scholars to insure nothing “infringed upon the Muslim woman.”

In a February report, “’Steps of the Devil’: Denial of Women's and Girls' Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia,” Human Rights Watch documented the systematic discrimination against women in sports in Saudi Arabia, including their exclusion from the 153 sports clubs regulated by Nawwaf’s ministry, the Saudi National Olympic Committee (NOC), and the 29 national sporting federations, which are also overseen by Nawwaf in his capacity as head of the NOC.

Human Rights Watch urged the IOC to put Saudi discrimination against women in sport on the agenda of its next executive board meeting in Quebec on May 23.

When it comes to rumors that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are turning their longtime friendship into a full-on relationship, reality TV's reigning queen isn't saying a word.

"Today" show host Ann Curry sat down with Kardashian Friday morning, pushing the raven-haired beauty to dish about her new romance.

"The movie was really interesting," Kardashian coyly shot back after Curry asked about her Wednesday date night, on which she checked out a showing of "The Hunger Games" with West in New York City. "Kanye and I have been friends for years. You never know what the future holds or where my life will take me."

Could Kardashian's life take her right into West's arms following her divorce from Nets player Kris Humphries? Well, she certainly wasn't denying the rumors.

And if Kardashian is trying to quell whisperings that she and Kanye are nothing more than friends, she may want to pack an overnight bag the next time she spends the night at his Manhattan pad. The starlet was spotted leaving Kanye's house Thursday morning, wearing the same leather pants and sleeveless T-shirt she was sporting the previous night.

Kardashian, who told Curry that she has given up spending any time on the Internet other than on Twitter, may want to take a gander at the blogosphere -- it's hard to refute the all-telling walk-of-shame getup.

A 10-year-old Colombian girl gave birth to a healthy baby girl, making her one of the youngest mothers ever.

The unnamed girl from Manaure, a town in the Colombian Department of La Guajira, arrived at the hospital in tears and "enormous pain" from the contractions, according to Univision's Primer Impacto. She reportedly delivered her daughter, who weighed 5 pounds, by cesarean section.

Experts say a C-section delivery for such a young mother is not unusual.

"The baby's head needs to come through a bony outlet. But in a young girl, the pelvis may not be ready or big enough to deliver a baby," said Dr. Kimberly Gecsi, an OB/GYN at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland.

Extremely young mothers also have a higher risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure known as preeclampsia, and their babies are at risk for fetal growth restriction, according to Dr. Frederick Gonzalez, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

"These girls are not ready to be pregnant. Their bodies are not mature," said Gonzalez. "They may be able to get pregnant, but being able to have a baby is a whole other situation."

The new mom is a member of the Wayuu people, an indigenous tribe in northern Colombia. The age of the father is unknown, but police can't press charges because the tribe has its own jurisdiction, according to local reports.

"We've already seen several cases [of pregnancy] in girls of the Wayuu ethnicity," Efraín Pacheco Casadiego, director of the hospital where the girl gave birth, told RCN La Radio noticias. "When in fact [the girls] should be playing with dolls, they are having to care for a baby. This is shocking."

A former California teacher who made national headlines when he left his job and family to move in with an 18-year-old student was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexually abusing a different student more than a decade ago, police said.

Christopher James Hooker, 41, was arrested for investigation of oral copulation with a minor.

Police said the case stems from a 1998 relationship he had with a 17-year-old student from Davis High School in Modesto, where he once taught.

Hooker appeared in court Friday. A judge set his bail at $50,000 and assigned him a public defender, the Modesto Bee reported.

Hooker requested that his bail amount be reduced, and the judge set a hearing next Tuesday to consider the matter.

Watch: ABC News' exclusive interview with Hooker and Powers

Police said the investigation started after Hooker announced his relationship in February with Jordan Powers, whom he taught at Enochs High School in Modesto.

Appearing on numerous national talk shows and in news interviews, Hooker and Powers maintained they didn't have a sexual relationship until she turned 18, but police are investigating whether there was inappropriate contact before that.

In interviews for the "Dr. Phil" show and ABC's "Good Morning America," the couple can be seen holding hands and exchanging smiles.

Powers' mother, Tammie, confronted the couple on "Dr. Phil" and accused Hooker of brainwashing her daughter.

The couple maintains that, while they met when Jordan was 14, their relationship did not become physical until she was of age, making it permissible under current laws. California's age of consent is 18.

In response to the couple's relationship, a state lawmaker from Modesto last week proposed legislation that would ban student-teacher relationships regardless of age, even if the student is 18, and strip school employees of their pensions and retiree health care if they are convicted.

Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen said her bill would prevent teachers from grooming students for relationships once they became adults. The bill would also forbid suggestive communication such as sexual text messages.

Who doesn't love Beyoncé in a bikini? The 30-year-old stunner shared a photo of herself on vacation (she didn't reveal when the hot shot was snapped). Still, no Photoshop, no lighting design, no professional photographer, no makeup artist--no problem! Just another beauty testament to the naturally gorgeous singer.

Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z recently celebrated their four-year wedding anniversary yesterday (for a total of ten years together). To celebrate, she launched an immaculately curated Tumblr page of never-before-seen photos of herself and her family, along with joining Twitter for the first time to announce her new website. She's already racked up over 3.6 million Twitter followers in less than a day and just a single tweet!

Having given birth to her first child Blue Ivy in January, Beyoncé will return to performing live in late May.

I didn’t realize that OP was still a thing, I think I had one of their bathing suits back in the eighties, but if they’re going to use hotties like Ashley Tisdale and Sarah Hyland in their ad campaigns they’re going to get a whole lot more of my attention. Here are the girls getting all cozy and friendly together in their sexy little bikinis. Hot stuff. Sexy young chicks in bikinis going roller skating around together has quickly become one of my favorite things. Now kiss each other on the mouth. SEE WALLS

More than half a million Apple computers have been infected with the Flashback Trojan, according to a Russian anti-virus firm.

Its report claims that about 600,000 Macs have installed the malware - potentially allowing them to be hijacked and used as a "botnet".

The firm, Dr Web, says that more than half that number are based in the US.

Apple has released a security update, but users who have not installed the patch remain exposed.

Flashback was first detected last September when anti-virus researchers flagged up software masquerading itself as a Flash Player update. Once downloaded it deactivated some of the computer's security software.

Later versions of the malware exploited weaknesses in the Java programming language to allow the code to be installed from bogus sites without the user's permission.
Remote control

Dr Web said that once the Trojan was installed it sent a message to the intruder's control server with a unique ID to identify the infected machine.

"By introducing the code criminals are potentially able to control the machine," the firm's chief executive Boris Sharov told the BBC.

"We stress the word potential as we have never seen any malicious activity since we hijacked the botnet to take it out of criminals' hands. However, we know people create viruses to get money.

"The largest amounts of bots - based on the IP addresses we identified - are in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, so it appears to have targeted English-speaking people."

Dr Web also notes that 274 of the infected computers it detected appeared to be located in Cupertino, California - home to Apple's headquarters.
Update wait

Java's developer, Oracle, issued a fix to the vulnerability on 14 February, but this did not work on Macintoshes as Apple manages Java updates to its computers.READ MORE

Contrary to a rumor which surfaced last month stating that the next Xbox will not have a disc drive at all, VG247 is hearing that the next-generation Xbox will have a Blu-ray drive. People have commonly assumed that, due to Sony’s involvement with the Blu-ray technology, Microsoft would never implement it in their console. However, this rumor certainly suggests otherwise.

VG247 is also reporting that they heard the following from various sources:

The next Xbox has been ‘detailed’ to select Microsoft partners.
Microsoft hopes to release the console by Christmas 2013.
An always-on connection will be required to fight piracy, similar to Steam on the PC.
On the hardware front, we can expect a four or six core CPU, with one core reserved for Kinect use and another for the OS. The console is also rumored to feature two GPUs, similar to the AMD 7000 series. However, the dual-GPU implementation is unlike Crossfire or SLI on the PC; the units will be able to independently function and draw separate items simultaneously, unlike on the PC where the GPUs work together to draw lines of the same object.
Kinect will be built into the device itself.

Now, don’t get your panties in a twist just yet; we’ll have to wait until 2013 to see if any of these rumors come to fruition (or if Microsoft will even release it that year; 2015 has also been rumored to be the release date of the next Xbox.) In conclusion, VG247 also reports that Microsoft will likely not announce anything related to the next Xbox until next year.

Last weekend, the folks over at BriefMobile had leaked the official Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Nexus S 4G. If you own a Nexus S 4G, and have not yet installed the leaked update on your phone until now but are planning on doing so, wait! Beginning from today, Sprint has officially started rolling out the Android 4.0.4 update for the Nexus S 4G.

The NS 4G never got the original Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, so quite a lot of users will be jumping directly from Android 2.3 to Android 4.0.4. For the unknown, the Android 4.0 update is possibly the biggest update ever in the history of this open-source mobile OS.

The ICS update includes a new and polished UI, GPU rendering, a new launcher with a sliding menu drawer, the ability to monitor data usage of individual apps, Android Beam, Holo theme for apps, a new and enhanced notification bar, new lock screen, a new camera app, an enhanced version of the Contacts app known as the People’s app, a new multi-tasking UI and a magazine like swipe UI throughout the OS.

If you have not already received the OTA update from Sprint on your handset, it should pop-up on your handset in the next few days.

Did rumored billionaire Jessica Simpson get a little too much inspiration from Christian Louboutin?

Pregnant Jess, who's herself hung up the stilettos, might soon be in some hot water over a pair of her brand's heels. The blog Cellar Paper noticed that a pair of towering strappy sandals named Evangel from Jessica Simpson's sprawling shoe line bear a surprising resemblance to Christian Louboutin's Staratata heels.

Simpson herself wears the shoes in an ad tucked into the new issue of Elle. Jessica's pink sandals retail for $98, while the red-soled version will cost you $995.

These hot heels are the latest in a series of fashion copycat skirmishes, including knockoff Michael Kors and Victoria Beckham dresses, Taylor Tomasi Hill's alleged Marc Jacobs ripoff and of course, that other famous copycat shoe case: Ivanka Trump's supposed lifting of Derek Lam sandal designs.

We've contacted Jessica Simpson's reps for comment and will update when we hear back.

We love to tease Britain's ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) for being somewhat overzealous, banning ads left and right because one or two grandmoms over in the UK thought they were a tad racy for kids these days.

But it looks like the ASA has decided to take on the mother of all sexy advertisers: American Apparel.

According to the Guardian, the ASA received a single complaint regarding several American Apparel ads, which stated that the photos were "pornographic, exploitative of women and inappropriately sexualised young women."

To which the ASA said: Well, duh.

Just kidding. The ASA, as always, takes every complaint seriously and investigates each one, meaning it examined eight potentially offensive ads from last October to see which ones were porny, which were overly sexual, which were exploitative and which were all of the above.

And as you will be unsurprised to learn, the ASA found plenty of sexual undertones in seven out of eight of the ads. A few, shown below, were axed for gratuitous nudity; a few more were deemed "exploitative" for sexualizing young women. And all but one were judged as being irresponsible "to consumers and to society" for their voyeuristic quality.

In conclusion, writes the ASA, "We told AA not to use similar images which were exploitative of women or that inappropriately sexualised young women in future."

Good luck. As most customers have come to know, the majority of the American retailer's ads have an overtly sexy feel. American Apparel has been using both implied and explicit nudity in its ads for years and is proud of it, archiving each advert on its website with the tagline, "Take a look at the unique images that define us."

The ASA has come down on the brand before, banning a 2009 spot "because the ad could be seen to sexualise a model who appeared to be a child, under the age of 16 years." But the UK watchdog has not attempted to take on American Apparel as a whole, a company that has built its image on, well, sexy images. American Apparel agreed to stop running these ads... but would anyone be surprised if the company's next round of ads is just as sexy?

Bobby Petrino's image of perfection has come to a sudden and surprising end at Arkansas.

The Razorbacks coach was put on paid administrative leave on Thursday night less than seven hours after his boss, athletic director Jeff Long, learned Petrino had failed to disclose he had been riding with a female employee half his age when his motorcycle skidded off the road over the weekend.

Petrino said he had been concerned about protecting his family and keeping an "inappropriate relationship from becoming public."

It was as stunning revelation for a highly successful coach who prides himself on complete control and intense privacy in his personal life. Petrino will now wait out his fate while Long conducts a review.

Beth Hall/US Presswire Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino had a 25-year-old female passenger with him during a weekend motorcycle ride that ended with a crash that sent him to the hospital, according to a police report released Thursday.

"I will fully cooperate with the university throughout this process and my hope is to repair my relationships with my family, my athletic director, the Razorback Nation and remain the head coach of the Razorbacks," he said in a statement issued by the university.

Long announced the decision to put Petrino on leave at a late-night news conference, one that was reminiscent of when the former Atlanta Falcons coach was hired by the Razorbacks on Dec. 11, 2007. Long said he had no timeline in determining Petrino's future with the Razorbacks.

"I'm at the beginning of the review. I don't know what I'm going to find," Long said. "I am disappointed that coach Petrino did not share with me, when he had the opportunity to, the full extent of the accident and who was involved."

Long said he didn't hear about the passenger -- former Arkansas volleyball player and current football program employee Jessica Dorrell, who is 25 -- until the 51-year-old Petrino called him Thursday afternoon, minutes before a police report was released that disclosed her presence at the accident.

Assistant head coach Taver Johnson has been put in charge of the program. Long's investigation could lead, based on conduct clauses in Petrino's contract, to a suspension or firing.

"I hope to have a resolution soon," Long said. I certainly don't have all the answers here tonight, as we meet. But again, I have an obligation and responsibility to obtain the information and then act appropriately on that information."

The "Hunger Games" cast is learning just what it means to be part of a successful blockbuster movie-- dealing with ridiculous criticism.

Jennifer Lawrence continues to prove that she really is the "coolest chick in Hollywood" by laughing off critics who say she's too "womanly" to play the lead role of Katniss Everdeen. Manohla Dargis claimed in her review for The New York Times, "A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission."

A source told the Chicago Sun-Times that Lawrence was annoyed but amused by critics who thought she was too well-fed for the role. "Jennifer told me, 'This is hilarious. First, people say how so many actresses in Hollywood look anorexic, and now they are criticizing me for looking normal'" the source relayed to the paper.

It's true that hunger and starvation are a huge part of "The Hunger Games" books, but the film glosses over those concepts. While Katniss might be described as exceedingly thin in the books, the concept of hunger as a method of ensuring the submission of the people of Panem isn't really explored by the film, nor is Katniss and Peeta's obsession with the food they are finally able to gorge themselves on once they are in the Capitol. With the film only lightly touching on these aspects, criticism of Lawrence's body type seems more inane.

Lawrence isn't the only "Hunger Games" cast member who has responded to ridiculous critics. Actress Amandla Stenberg, 13, exhibited pure grace and dignity when she responded to racist comments that the filmmakers had cast an African-American actress in the role of Rue -- despite the fact that that's how she was described in the book.

There are downsides to being pretty -- the main one being that other women hate me for no other reason than my lovely looks."

Samantha Brick wrote these words in the Daily Mail Monday and provoked a barrage of criticism the likes of which we haven't seen since American mom Dara-Lynn Weiss defended her decision to put her child on a diet in the current issue of Vogue.

Brick, who describes herself as "no Elle Macpherson," but "tall, slim, blonde," wrote that she is constantly bombarded by positive male attention -- she recently received a bottle of champagne from a flight captain, and it wasn't the first time. And because she has the sort of looks that provoke such acts of devotion, she contends, other women resent her. In fact, she makes it sound like women in general are fundamentally jealous creatures out to undermine any woman more attractive than themselves:

If you're a woman reading this, I'd hazard that you've already formed your own opinion about me -- and it won't be very flattering. For while many doors have been opened (literally) as a result of my looks, just as many have been metaphorically slammed in my face -- and usually by my own sex.

This claim, combined with Brick's sanctimonious tone, were reason enough for many readers to react negatively to the piece. It's pretty much impossible to pen this kind of thing (or the follow-up from Brick published Tuesday) without opening yourself up to ridicule -- which the Daily Mail's editors almost surely realized when they published this inevitable traffic-driver. (See the Mail's in-depth analysis of the story's success, including a chart tracking the number of Twitter searches for Brick's name in the last 24 hours.)

Unfortunately, people have criticized Brick's looks more than her ideas, which are off-putting regardless of how beautiful she "really" is. Jezebel's Lindy West summed up the situation with the statement that Brick's piece:

begs women to go all mean-girl on her (every woman I spoke to succumbed to the temptation immediately), gives men a pass to comment on the relative value... of her body, and encourages both sexes to eviscerate, body-shame and judge Brick with impunity because her ideas are so repellant.

The claim that being beautiful is just soooo hard is especially difficult for people to swallow because beauty can give women very distinct advantages -- especially when it comes to their careers. According to an infographic that recently made the Internet rounds, research shows that attractive workers earn 10 to 15 percent more than their "unattractive" counterparts, and in a culture where thinness is often equated with beauty, women who weigh 70 pounds below average tend to earn over $20,000 more than women who are average weight.

The Maryland Mega-nut who insists she won a record Mega Millions jackpot now says she lost the winning ticket -- but is not breaking a sweat looking for it.

"I have no idea where it is. I'm not sure I have it," Mirlande Wilson said in her latest tortured explanation of the mystery ticket's fate.

The world's most famous McDonald's employee incredibly claimed she had not even checked the uniform she was wearing the night she bought it.

"I'm still looking for it. I haven't even looked in my uniform pants yet," the flaky single mom of seven admitted. "I'm still looking everywhere to find it, in my purse, everywhere."

And she did not put her kids to work on the treasure hunt even though they have the week off for spring break.

"I wanted to look for it. I was crying. She wouldn't let us. It's a lot of money," lamented her disappointed daughter Stephanie, 15.

Sure, One Direction may have debuted on top of the U.S. albums chart -- and made history -- with their teen pop record "Up All Night," but there's another British boy band hoping to make it big in America. Meet The Wanted.

In case you haven't heard, The Wanted -- Max George, Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes -- are sure to become this summer's next big thing, especially under the superstar guidance of Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber's manager.

The group's single, "Glad You Came," has already been featured on Fox's hit series "Glee," and the boys made their U.S. television debut on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." The single peaked at number three on the U.S. Hot 100 and has sold over a million copies in America since its release.

To add to their stateside success, The Wanted made their "American Idol" debut on Thursday night's results show, singing their hit single "Glad You Came."

The Wanted recently released their new U.S. single "Chasing The Sun" on Thursday, and their U.S. album will hit shelves on April 24.

Watch a clip of The Wanted's live performance above, and tell us: Do you prefer The Wanted or One Direction?

Want to know if your favorite 90's pop group is reuniting in 2012? Check out the slideshow below.

After giving a flop in Orange, Ram Charan Teja is back with Racha. The audiences in general and fans in particular are keeping high hopes on the film. However, the film is coming from not a big director, but an able one like Sampath Nandi. People are having high expectations, as the film is coming from a successful production house like Mega Super Good Films of RB Choudary. Let us see whether it has lived up to their expectations.

Story:
There is a village called Rayadurgam. Raghupati (Nazar) and Suryanarayana (Parthiban), the two good friends of the village, get killed when they were discussing about a ritual to be held for the welfare of the village at the Rachabanda. Scene shifts to another place. Betting Raju (Ram Charan Teja) is the foster son of a couple (MS Narayana and Sudha). He ekes out his living by accepting challenges and winning the bets. Once he wins a car race with James (Ajmal).

At this juncture, Raju’s father suffers lever cancer and he needs a lot of money to save him. James comes to his rescue, who challenges Raju to win the heart of Chaitra (Tamanna) and take away Rs 20 lakh. Raju agrees to the challenge. Chaitra is the daughter of Ballari (Mukhesh Rushi), a mafia don. Raju starts luring Chaitra and succeeds in it to realise that her life is in threat and her don father is not her original father. However, the real story is something different. What is it? What is the relationship between Raju and Chaitra? Who killed Raghupati-Suryanarayana? Answers to all these questions form part of the climax.

Performance:
Ram Charan has experimented new dance steps, which are impressive. His performances for the title track and other tracks like ‘Dillaku dillaku...’, and ‘Singareni undi...’ are praise worthy. He has also flexed his muscles in action scenes and excelled in all the stunt sequences. However, his dialogue modulation is not up to the mark. Tamanna is too glamours in the film and her skin show is a treat for masses. Other artistes including Dev Gill, Mukesh Rushi, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam did justice to their roles, while comedians tried to tickle the funny bones of the audiences to the maximum extent. Especially, Ali made a hilarious comedy.

Technical:
It is Mani Sharma, who needs to be mentioned first among technicians. He has given excellent tunes to all the songs and the remix song ‘Vana vana...’. The choreography of songs too is worth praising. Next comes the cinematography by Sameer Reddy. He has shown his prowess in capturing the beautiful locales with his camera. Editing by Gauthamraju is adequate. Dialogues by Paruchuri Brothers are aimed at masses. Especially in the climax, ‘Edo cheppi thoda kotte vamsam kadura maadi’ kind of dialogues get good response from the audiences. Finally, Sampath Nandi has come out with a good film. Though, the story is not that great and is quite predictable one, the ability of the director made it quite interesting. Especially, the way he penned the screenplay has to be appreciated

Remarks:
The first half of Racha is entertaining with love and romantic track. The real story unfolds in the second half, and it is full of action and revenge drama. Don't miss the movie.

Temple bells will peal joyfully at the sunrise hour on Friday as lakhs of devout Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Hanuman. The avatar of Lord Shiva is worshipped with offerings of sesame oil, banana, blue flowers and vermilion.

Goswami Tulsidas' Hanuman Chalisa narrates the various episodes that exemplify the singular devotion showed by the monkey god for his master, Ram.

After the battle of Lanka was won and the demon king, Ravan, was slain, it was time for Ram's coronation in Ayodhya. Each of the generals in battle had received prizes and honour when Sita's attention was drawn to Hanuman who stood silently by. Urging him forward, she gave him her own necklace made of the choicest pearls. However, to her astonishment, Hanuman began to take it apart with his teeth, breaking open each pearl, peering closely, then casting it aside with a look of disappointment.

When she asked why, Hanuman said he was seeking the image of his beloved Ram inside them but because he saw nothing, they became worthless. A sharp courtier interjected to ask if Hanuman saw Ram within himself. To everybody's amazement, the monkey king rended his chest to show the image of Ram and Sita embedded in his heart.

William "Dave" O'Shell, distraught over charges of child abuse that were being leveled against him, snapped on June 30, 2008, killing his wife, Tiffany O'Shell, in their Henderson, Colo., home before taking his own life.

Just a few weeks earlier, their green-eyed, 3-month-old daughter, Alyssa, had been placed in a foster home because x-rays revealed 11 broken bones and doctors assumed that she had been beaten.

But they were wrong.

On the same day as the murder-suicide, a doctor at Colorado Children's Hospital suspected something else and was later proved right: Alyssa had a rare genetic disorder that caused her bones to fracture -- one that authorities had confused for abuse.

Alyssa died of spinal muscular atrophy on Oct. 28, 2008, but the tragedy has rippled through a family and an aggressive social services system that is meant to protect children.

Now, four years later after all lawsuits have been unsuccessful, Alyssa's maternal grandparents are saying the tragedy could have been averted.

"We were looking for action. We could care less about the money," said Paul Cuin, Tiffany O'Shell's adoptive father. "We wanted someone to sit up and say, 'This is wrong and we need to change things.'"

Cuin said there were no avenues for the O'Shells, both respected police officers, to plead their innocence.

"If our kids had some sort of outlet or grievance process or gone to someone, we would have a whole different story today," he said. "The system has to change."

A judge gave Cuin, 59, and his wife, Jackie Cuin, 50, custody of Alyssa after the death of their daughter and son-in-law, despite the objections of social services, according to a story first published in the Denver Post.

The newspaper obtained medical, social services and police records in their investigation, as well as court documents on the Cuins' lawsuits.

"They were wonderful parents," said Paul Cuin, who is a supermarket manager. "We never had a single doubt in our minds [over whether] abuse was involved. We knew from the beginning, they loved that baby."

They nursed Alyssa until her death and are convinced that if doctors knew more about SMA, the disease might never again be confused with child abuse.

A year after the 1996 Olympics, I ranked twenty-third in the world in the 100-meter breaststroke and twenty-sixth in the 200-meter.

My parents did their best to shelter me from the unanimous criticism of public opinion. I didn't need anyone to tell me how bad I stunk; I knew that already. The harsh numbers of my ranking told the whole story. At least that's what I thought until I got acquainted with a whole new kind of low.

I had come into the living room of our house to find the newspaper because I wanted the movie listings; I needed to find a flick I could lose myself in. After looking on the couches and coffee table, I sat on the recliner chair where my dad read the newspaper and all of his books. I saw a piece of newsprint sticking out from in between a stack of books. Thinking it might be the paper, I lifted up the four or five volumes on top. Instead I found a hidden stash of clippings and knew immediately they were about me.

Since the start of my career, my dad was my own personal archivist, clipping any and all articles about me so that I could have them later on in life. But after carefully cutting them out, he always put them into the big red scrapbook he kept in his room.

Reading the dozen or so articles in my lap, I saw clearly why these hadn't made it into the book. Sportswriters called me fat, washed-up, and finished. I'd never do anything good in swimming again, they wrote. There it was in black and white, a complete validation of the negative voice playing on a loop in my head. It was true, I was a fat loser. The words I attacked myself with stared out at me from the page, causing a kind of sweet dread. I had suspected that everyone was talking about me, and they were. The shame -- this wasn't just a couple of mean girls at school but the whole world -- hurt so much it almost veered 180 degrees into pleasure. I wrapped myself up in sadness like a martyr, then tucked the clips back in their hiding spot so my dad wouldn't know I had found them.

I didn't talk about what was happening to me with anybody -- not my dad, mom, friends, or coach. Everyone knew that I knew I sucked, but we all ignored it. Hop into the pool, do your sets, dinner, homework, bed. Business as usual. At the time I was grateful for the normalcy. The last thing I wanted to do was draw more attention to myself. Not addressing something, however, doesn't mean it goes away.

I was recently diagnosed with a medical condition. I've got a mild case of it, but it brings a few troublesome complications regardless, nothing serious. And as one might well do, the first thing I did when I got home upon receiving my diagnosis was Google it to learn more. The list of symptoms included what took me to treatment in the first place, a good number of troubles I don't have, and a surprising entry: poor body image. The diagnosis? Scoliosis.

Now, if I'm being officially diagnosed for the first time at age 35, obviously my scoliosis isn't terribly problematic. I was monitored for it as a child (do they still do those annual scoliois screenings at school? It somehow seems like a remnant of the '70s, like the Dorothy Hamill haircut) but it was so mild that it barely qualified as scoliosis, and it didn't warrant treatment -- certainly not intervention like surgery or a brace. Basically, my muscles compensate for my wonky spine, running me through varying degrees of pain; I treat it with exercise, occasional ibuprofen, massage, and masturbation. (Deenie in da house!) In other words, it's not a huge deal, and it's not something that weighs on my mind a lot.

But there it is, that symptom far down on the list -- below the physical pain, below the visual cues -- poor body image. There's a whole body of work devoted to studying the psychosocial effects of scoliosis, particularly in adolescents, but it boils down to this: Something about your body is "wrong," and chances are it's not something you ever thought was a problem, and you really can't do much of anything about it. Wearing a brace may or may not have an impact on patients' body image, but there's evidence supporting a correlation between scoliosis and body image, regardless of treatment.

Now, the people being studied aren't people like me: I'm an adult, for starters, and one with a very mild case of scoliosis. Though I've been told repeatedly by chiropractors, tailors, and osteopaths that there's something irregular about my form, nobody until recently has used the word scoliosis about my body since the sixth grade. Whatever body image problems I have come from the usual suspects -- perfectionism, media, growing up girl -- not my spinal curvature.

But it's not hard for me to see how my body image has shifted ever so slightly in the past few weeks. Part of it was the pain that drove me to seek treatment; it's difficult to feel like your body is something to be proud of when you're wincing whenever you take off your shirt. But more than that, I've learned that -- and this is an unkind term -- I'm misshapen. I found myself complaining of feeling "broken" and "twisted" -- words I've never used to describe myself. Whenever I've had a problem with my body, there's been a part of me that has known it's in my head, because the concerns I had were solely about about how I appeared. If I thought my thighs were unappealing, there was still a part of me that understood that "unappealing" was subject to interpretation. With a twisted spine that was causing me pain -- that wasn't in my head, that was in my bones.

Get ready to meet your new best TV friends: "Best Friends Forever" (premieres Wed., Apr. 4, 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC) is the kind of show you're gonna want to hang out with every week. Just trust me.

Written, created by and starring funny ladies (and real-life friends) Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham, "Best Friends Forever" is a sweet, funny, so-true-it-doesn't-feel-like-a-sitcom kind of sitcom. I visited the set and instantly fell in love with the whole vibe, but watching these two women work together reminded me of those "Best Friends" split heart charms you got with your grade school partner in crime -- they just fit together.

In this case, when Jessica (the "Be/Fri" half of the heart charm) gets served divorce papers, she moves back in with the friend who completes her, Lennon (the "st/ends" half of the heart charm). The only thing that can come between these two perfectly split halves is Lennon's new live-in boyfriend, Joe (played by Luka Jones).

Here's the gist:
Lennon: "Essentially it's a story about two best friends who are so close -- it's like that romantic relationship that girls have in middle school that travels with them."
Jessica: "Someone brought this up to us: The word 'friendsbians.' You're so close you might as well be having sex, but you're not. [Laughs.] So really it's a love story about two women. It's a romantic comedy, but instead of a boy and girl, it's Jessica and Lennon."
Lennon: "And the twist is that a month ago, I moved my forever boyfriend, who's the love of my life, into my old apartment and now Jess is back. So I'm having to balance the two of them for the first time together in the same place."

They complete each other's stories like this a lot, in real life and on the show. It makes viewers feel even more "inside" than just eavesdropping on a chat between good friends -- it makes you feel like you're in their company. And the way St. Clair and Parham write has a lot to do with that.

How does Kelly Clarkson celebrate her two Academy of Country Music wins? By singing Britney Spears' pop hit "Til the World Ends," of course!

"I thought this might be a fun one that you all might enjoy," Clarkson told the crowd at a recent concert. "I'm going to sing it a little differently ... I love that song."

Clarkson covered the pop princess' hit single Tuesday night in Los Angeles, as a part of her nationwide Stronger tour, but she put her own acoustic spin on the infamous dance track. The first "American Idol" winner slowed it down but still managed to bring the cheering fans to their feet.

The Fray should take note. This is how you properly rework a song.

Clarkson's latest album Stronger is currently holding steady at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Speaking of covers, check out some of our favorite "Somebody That I Used to Know" covers below. The Gotye song will next be covered on "Glee."

Jeremy Renner is poised to become the next A-list star thanks to "The Avengers" and "The Bourne Legacy," which means it's just as good a time as any to revisit the time Christina Aguilera passed out at his birthday party.

The incident happened last year during a soiree to celebrate Renner's 40th birthday. At the time, the star was quoted as telling friends that he found Aguilera with her then-boyfriend in one of his bedrooms.

"I run up and open the door and I'm like, 'Um, hi. What are you doing?' She just starts slurring," he reportedly said at the time. "Her boyfriend was rubbing her back. Who comes to someone's birthday party that they don't know and gets in their bed?! My parents were there!"

Looking back on that fateful night with The Hollywood Reporter, Renner seemed a bit more level-headed.

"She was just chilling in one of the bedrooms," he said in a new interview. "I was happy to meet her. I was a big fan. Mind you, I was probably pretty shit-bagged at the time."

About that: during his sit-down with THR, Renner revealed that he likes to get "wasted" and took drugs when he was younger.

He's also got a history of violence -- which you might remember, if you saw the story about him being involved in a Thailand bar fight that left one man stabbed with an axe.

"It was a silly, tragic accident that happened to this guy," Renner said of the fight, which happened at 4 a.m. local time. "He was saying stuff, and 20 people jumped on him. I was in flip-flops. I don't do bar fights. Did he deserve to get stabbed and almost murdered by 20 people? F--- no."

The Aussie television viewers will miss all the action of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League, starting in Chennai (capital city of south Indian state Tamil Nadu) on Wednesday, due to a stalemate involving Australian television networks and Indian cricket administrators.



Network Ten held the rights for the first four seasons of the IPL but declined to broadcast last year's tournament, mainly because of the poor ratings and also because it coincided with a diversification of its One HD channel away from consisting solely of sport, according to The Age.



The newspaper also reported that it is believed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sought a hefty price whenever a new IPL TV rights contract has been discussed with Australian networks.



So now the only option left for the Australian cricket fans is to watch the eight-week tournament via the internet, streamed live at ipl.indiatimes.com and youtube.com/indiatimes.



The successor to Ten for the now-lapsed IPL rights, Fox Sports, is about to begin its broadcast of the West Indies Tests, while on weekends it has significant AFL, rugby league, rugby union and soccer commitments. (PTI)

A federal appeals court judge on Tuesday seemed to take offense to comments President Barack Obama made earlier this week in which he warned that if the Supreme Court overturned his signature health care overhaul it would amount to overreach by an "unelected" court.

The Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling later this year on whether to strike down some or all of the historic health care law.

During oral arguments in Houston in a separate challenge to another aspect of the federal health care law, U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith said Obama's comments troubled a number of people who have read them as a challenge to the authority of federal courts.

"I'm referring to statements by the president in the past few days to the effect, I'm sure you've heard about them, that it is somehow inappropriate for what he termed unelected judges to strike acts of Congress that have enjoyed, he was referring of course to Obamacare, to what he termed a broad consensus and majorities in both houses of Congress," Smith told Dana Kaersvang, an attorney with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, Obama issued a direct challenge to the Supreme Court, saying he didn't believe the high court would take the "unprecedented" step of overturning a law passed by a strong majority of Congress.

"I want to be sure that you are telling us that the Attorney General and the Department of Justice do recognize the authority of the federal courts through unelected judges to strike acts of Congress or portions thereof in appropriate cases," Smith said.

A somewhat surprised Kaersvang told Smith the Justice Department does recognize this power by the courts and made reference to a landmark 1803 case that formed the basis for judicial review.

However, Smith ordered Kaersvang to submit a letter to the appeals court by Thursday stating the position of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department on the concept of judicial review.

"The letter needs to be at least three pages, single spaced, no less and it needs to be specific. It needs to make specific reference to the president's statements," Smith said.

If you've been feeling a little down about your looks lately, having a drink (or just believing you've had a drink!) can make you feel more attractive, according to a new study.

French scientists have conducted two experiments indicating that the more alcohol you think you've had in a day will increase your self-confidence in your appearance, even if you haven't had any.

The Agence France-Presse reports the scientists conducted one experiment in a local bar where 19 people were asked to assess their attractiveness on a scale of one to seven. Their alcohol levels were then measured, and the results were pretty interesting: the higher the amount of booze that was drunk, the higher the self-confidence of the testee.

But what's even more interesting is what happened in phase two.

The scientists asked 94 men to taste-test a new fruit cocktail and deliver a filmed message. The testers told the volunteers that half would be given an alcoholic version and the others would be given a placebo.

Those who believed they had drunk alcohol gave themselves high self-assessments, regardless of whether they had actually ingested any booze, while those who had believed they hadn't had a sip of alcohol gave themselves a low assessment, even when there had been a hefty amount of liquor in their drinks. So, basically, believing is feeling! Said lead psychologist Laurent Begue:

"Our study shows that the mere fact of believing that you have drunk alcohol makes you feel more attractive. The alcohol dose has no effect in itself."

So, why is it that we feel sexier with a glass of wine in our hands? According to the article, it's "alcohol-related expectancy," meaning the more we drink, the hotter we think we are, because we're more at ease with others:

"The concept of alcohol is linked to social lubrication, to making you feel at ease with others."

The season five premiere of "Mad Men" is almost upon us, meaning we've been seeing lots of January Jones lately. Although she's been keeping busy on red carpets, Betty -- er, January was able to fit in some retail therapy on Wednesday, seen shopping at Yves Saint Laurent in New York.

Unfortunately, it seems January couldn't find time to get her pants appropriately hemmed. Either that, or she's preparing for a serious flood in Manhattan. Those are the only two explanations we can think of for Jones' flared, cropped jeans.

Paired with the sheer peasant blouse, the look was certainly... something. Check it out and tell us: should flared flood pants make a comeback?

It seems that the age old question -- do women prefer chocolate or sex -- has finally been answered. At least for Jezebel readers. The publication has just concluded it's month-long face-off of sexual acts vs. types of chocolate.

The winner? Good, old-fashioned sex -- missionary style. Missionary trounced it's final competitor, brownies, by a wopping 6,350 votes to 3,443 votes. However, a survey from last October concluded that women thought about food and dieting more than they thought about sex, and in June Elle Canada reported on a study that found women found sex and chocolate equally compelling.

It's understandably a tough call. Chocolate is not only delicious, but has been shown to have (in moderation) a few health benefits, including decreased stroke risk, UV protection for your skin, improved blood flow and elevated mood. And besides being (hopefully) pleasurable, sex can help you burn calories, boost your immune system and lower your stress levels.

However from the looks of Jezebel's showdown, ladies would rather get down than chow down. This made us wonder what our readers would choose to give up. So vote! (And we've added a third option to make the stakes a little more interesting.)

Five Albuquerque Station Eight firefighters who won a $10,000 share of the Mega Millions jackpot last week have decided to donate an unspecified part of their winnings to fellow fireman Vince Cordova, who is suffering from a life-threatening tumor.

"We decided to get tickets ten minutes before the sales closed," said Capt. Jed Hyland told local news affiliate KOB. "I ran in shouting that we hit 5 of the 6 numbers."

After convincing their fellow firemen that it wasn't an April Fools' joke, Hyland and his four fellow winners (Steve Keffer, Paul McClure, Clinton Anderson and Si Do) decided to donate part of their winnings to the local firefighters Survival Fund. "Everybody at the station agreed that this would be a good opportunity," Hyland said.

KOAT reports that Cordova, 24, has a rare aggressive tumor that puts pressure on his brain. He'll die if the tumor isn't removed, but life-saving surgery from a specialist in Los Angeles costs several hundred thousand dollars.

While the $10,000 is only a small portion of Cordova's total medical bills, his fellow firemen hope that their donation will help raise awareness and encourage others to donate.

KRQE News 13 reports that Cordova has already undergone two of the three necessary operations, with the final to be performed on Wednesday.

"I'm nervous. I'm scared. I've got these butterflies in my stomach that just won't leave, but I'm hanging in there," Cordova told the station in an interview before his first operation on Saturday. "I can't believe that the fireman bond is so strong."

"I just want to tell everyone thank you for standing by me and staying strong," Cordova said. "Thank you for believing in me, and I promise to see you guys soon!"

"The kid's a Communist, the father is a mortician; does the mother run a leper colony?" Try the veal, y'all!

The first trailer for Woody Allen's "To Rome With Love" has arrived and it's as Woody Allen-y as you would hope. Jokes about Communism, misery, infidelity, intelligence, sexually adventurous brunettes, and nebbishes abound, as do a pair of big-screen revivals: Allen himself and Roberto Benigni.

In "To Rome With Love," a quasi-omnibus tale of a bunch of Americans and Italians living and loving in Italy, Allen appears in front of the camera for the first time since "Scoop" in 2006. The good news: He hasn't lost one smidgen of comic timing, as evidenced by his delightful repartee with nominal Allen regular, Judy Davis. Also: this looks a lot better than "Scoop"!

As for Benigni, the former Best Actor winner last appeared onscreen in "The Tiger and the Snow" in 2005; in "Love," he plays an Italian under some heavy media scrutiny.

Starring Allen and Benigni as well as Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz (as an Italian prostitute), Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Greta Gerwig, "To Rome With Love" arrives in theaters on June 22. Allen's last film was "Midnight in Paris," which won him a Best Original Screenplay Oscar and earned $148 million worldwide at the box office.

Divers searching an icy Alaska lake found a body they believe is of 18-year-old barista Samantha Koenig, who was abducted two months ago from a drive-up coffee stand, authorities said Monday.

A dive team recovered the body in icy Matanuska Lake, about 35 miles northeast of Anchorage, Police Chief Mark Mew told reporters at a news conference, and will conduct forensic tests to confirm that it belongs to Samantha Koenig.

Investigators believe she died within hours of her Feb. 1 abduction from the Anchorage coffee stand, Mew said.

"Investigators further believe that the person responsible for Samantha's death acted alone, and we're confident we have that person in custody," he said, adding that charges for Koenig's kidnapping and murder "will be forthcoming."

The sole person held in connection with Koenig's disappearance is Israel Keyes, a 34-year-old Anchorage construction contractor.

He was arrested last month in Lufkin, Texas, and charged in federal court with illegally using another person's bank card to withdraw cash in various states. He has pleaded innocent and was being held without bail.


Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig, 18, in this police file image.

Koenig was forced from her coffee stand at the end of her evening shift by what appeared to be an armed man, according to security-camera video. The video was not publicly distributed, but police said it showed a thin white man abducting the barista.

Self-defense lessons
The case has gained a lot of attention in Anchorage. Posters of Koenig have been prominently displayed around town and family members and friends established a reward fund for information leading to her return. Supporters have held candlelight vigils for the missing teen, and volunteers have offered self-defense lessons to other Anchorage baristas.

News came from Bank of Baroda; the bank is going to recruit 2000 clerks. But you must be aware that bank will give opportunity to those candidates who earlier participate in IBPS clerk common written exam and received the score card. This exam was conducted by IBPS on 27th November and 4th December 2011.

Bank of Baroda Clerk Recruitment 2012 details

Vacancies: Total 2000 vacancies for clerk post. Please note that these vacancies are distributed to various states.

Pay Scale: One you select for clerk positions you will get salary under pay band Rs. 7200 – 19300 plus DA, HRA, etc.

Eligibility Criteria for clerk post

Nationality: Candidates should be an Indian Citizen

Age: Age should be between 18 years to 28 years as on 1st July, 2011. Plus three years upper age relaxation for OBC category candidates and plus five years upper age relaxation for SC and ST category. Please note that age relaxation is determined under government of India rules and guidelines.

Educational qualification: A degree (any discipline) from UGC recognized university.

Technical skills: Knowledge of computer and its applications

IBPS score: Total weighted score details given in advertisement. There are different cut off marks for each state. For this you need to see the full advertisement. Advertisement attachment given below of the post.

The candidate should have the knowledge of English language. They should be able to read, write and speak English language.

Selection process

According to the number of applications received, bank will prepared a list of short listed candidates on merit basis. Candidates who have the higher score will be rank in top order. Only short listed candidates will be invited for interview. Candidates will be informed by bank through call letter.

The next goal for candidates is to get qualifying marks in Interview. For General category candidates have to get 40% marks, if you are from reserved category you need to get 35%

If you looking for the interview venue, a week before the interview will be put on the website

Application fee and the procedure to apply online:

Bank has decide Rs. 150 (Rupee one hundred and fifty only) for General and OBC category candidates. Rs. 50 (Rupee fifty) only for candidates who belongs to SC/ST or PWD category. Fee is non refundable once paid will not be given back any circumstances.

Fee can be deposit online for offline mode. If you are choosing online mode you can pay online through your master card, visa card, credit card or net banking of any bank. Applicant must take the printout of the e-receipt which will have to be produced, if called for interview.

Fee can be paid offline mode also, for this candidates required to download challan form from bank's official website in recruitment section. After download fill the challan form and go to your nearest Bank of Baroda branch and deposit fee in favour of Bank of Baroda, Bandra Kurla Complex Branch, Mumbai, account number. 29040200000257.

After deposit fee log on to the Bank of Baroda website i.e. www.bankofbaroda.com, Go to the recruitment section, click on apply online link for clerk post, fill the required information with fee details and click on submit button.

Important Dates:

Online Registration starting Date : 24th March, 2012
Last date of registration by candidates : 10th April, 2012

Although soccer may be referred to as the "beautiful game," there is sometimes no substitute for unadorned power. Upon controlling a pass about 40 yards from goal against Osasuna on Sunday, Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo fired off a laser strike that showed off his impressive strength.

After sending his shot whistling past the opposing goalkeeper, Ronaldo pulled up his shorts to reveal his muscled right thigh to the fans. He flexed his leg and pointed to it, seeming to thank his powerful peg for his most recent golazo. Of course, it's also possible that Ronaldo was merely paying homage to actress Angelina Jolie with this one-leg salute. Regardless, this goal staked Madrid to a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute of the first half.

Earlier, Ronaldo had assisted on the opening goal by sending a long cross across the penalty box to Karim Benzema who deftly volleyed the ball home.

Local midwife and doula Claudia Booker has a message for D.C.'s overachieving mom-types who want to take more than the recommended dose of placenta pills: don't.

On Wednesday, the Feminist Breeder's Facebook page had a feisty discussion with women sharing their placenta-eating plans in light of "Mad Men" actress January Jones' revelation to People magazine that consuming her placenta after giving birth helped her get her energy back.

New York magazine, among others, posits that placenta-eating is a veritable growing trend -- or at least it was in August 2011.

But just how common is the practice?

The always vibrant DC Urban Moms forum has had some of its own placenta-eating discussions -- one back in December, another in February that was especially fiery. (More current DCUM discussions are equally fascinating: they include "I'm fat ask me anything," "I’m 'closet' anti-LBGT" and "What if George Zimmerman DID act in self defense?".)

Citing purported health benefits and the prevalence of placenta-eating amongst non-human animals, a lot of the moms in these conversations said that they have eaten or will eat their placentas after giving birth. A fair number seemed passive-aggressively horrified.

I think its gross and that there are other ways to get iron, but to each her own.

Whatever, Hannibel Lecter. Try it with some fava beans.

Animals do this to hide their babies and keep them safe from predators. For a human, this is so beyond disgusting.

"Well, with middle-aged women, it gets easier to put it on and harder to take it off." At the ripe not-so-old age of 34, Betty (Draper) Francis is sitting in her doctor's office facing two of her worst nightmares -- she's "old" and "fat."

Last night's episode of "Mad Men" brought Betty back into the spotlight after she was noticeably left out of the season premiere. And though her storyline included a cancer scare and an almost-touching phone call with ex-husband Don, all anyone could talk about -- including Betty herself -- was her very noticeable weight gain. The opening sequence starkly contrasted Betty struggling to get into her party clothes and ultimately faking sick to get out of going to an event, with the thinner and younger Megan, who had no trouble at all getting zipped into her mod mini-dress for a meeting with Don and a Heinz executive. The aspirational Betty Draper that every fashion blogger felt compelled to write about during the show's first few seasons is officially a thing of the past. Just as Don is facing the prospect of getting older and therefore irrelevant, so too is former-model Betty.

Betty's fear of permanently losing her lithe figure is compounded by a visit from her mother-in-law, Pauline. The elder Mrs. Francis tells Betty that she has a wifely duty to lose the weight in order to keep her husband attracted to her. "Honey, I know how it happens. You get comfortable and you give up a little bit, and then it just gets out of control," Pauline, a larger woman herself, tells Betty. Then she advises her daughter-in-law, "There are things you can do about this, there are pills you can take."

Henry, Betty's politician husband, to his credit, never once shames her for her changing looks. I can't say the same for "Mad Men" viewers, many of whom appear to see Betty's weight gain as a reason in and of itself to dislike her. (Personally, I find her generally cold and selfish demeanor to be a far more compelling one.)

Nicki Minaj's latest album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, hits stores in the U.S. on Tuesday. To prepare our readers for the album (which is not getting the best reviews), HuffPost Entertainment listened to every single song in one sitting and wrote down the lines that stood out. (For a track-by-track preview, head over to The Boombox.)

Ahead, the 19 most laughable:

1. "I am the ultimate Svengali, you b-----s can't even spell that." - "Roman Holiday"

2. "Quack quack to a duck and a chicken too / Put the hyena in a freakin' zoo!" - "Roman Holiday"

3. "When I'm sitting with Anna, I'm really sitting with Anna / Ain't a metaphor punchline, I'm really sitting with Anna." - "Come on a Cone"

4. "My ice is so cold, it should come on a cone." - "Come on a Cone"

5. "If you weren't so ugly, I'd put my d--k in your face / (singing) D--k in your face, Put my d--k in your face, yeah." - "Come on a Cone"

6. "Hit up Hot Topic, Nicki Minaj hoodies / I'm a Brand bitch I'm a BRAND." - "I Am Your Leader"

7. "N----s move weight and sell but live in Hoboken," - "I Beez In the Trap"

8. "Superbowl; Grammys / What a hell of a jammie!" - "HOV Lane"

9. "It ain't your split game, it's your d--k game." - "Right by My Side"

10. "Starships were meant to fly." - "Starships"

11. "Hey, you, jump in this ride / It's real nice, and slippery inside." - "Whip It"

12. "Bring the bill, Ri-ri-ri-ri-ring the bill / Br-bri-bri-bri-bring the bill, Bri-bri-bring the bill" - "Automatic" (Ed. note: Dubstep!)

13. "I see you in here dancing / Your preview is quite romantic." - "Beautiful Sinner"

14. "I didn't know that bad could look so good / You are the type of bad that feels so good." - "Beautiful Sinner"

Rihanna has officially thrown her hat in the ring for the role of Whitney Houston if there is ever to be a biopic and a role to be played.

Reports recently abounded that record label executive Clive Davis was heading up efforts to make a biographical film to honor his close friend, but Davis has since denied the rumors.

Rihanna was reportedly being considered for the role, but she recently revealed that she would "love" to portray the legend.

"That would be something that I would have to give my entire life to do because I would want to really pull it off," Rihanna told The Press Association. "That's a huge, huge role and whoever does it has to do a good job."

Rihanna was on the short list of contenders for the role, along with Jennifer Hudson, Vivica Fox and "Sparkle" star Jordin Sparks. Brandy was also mentioned in some reports.

Though Rihanna may lack acting experience compared to the other candidates, she's not completely new to the industry. The Talk That Talk singer is set to debut her acting abilities in her first film, "Battleship," alongside Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker and Liam Neeson. The sci fi thriller will be released in the U.S. in May.

But for Rihanna, portraying Whitney is not so much about acting experience, but about the chance to represent her musical inspiration on the big screen.

"My first song that I remember falling in love with was a Whitney Houston song -- 'I Will Always Love You,'" Rihanna said. "It was really inspiring and it made me develop a passion for music, so really she's partly responsible for me being here in this industry."

These days, most people consider themselves lucky if a new car lasts 5 to 10 years. Make it to 100,000 miles in your vehicle, and the car company might make a commercial about you. That makes 93-year-old Rachel Veitch a notable exception. Veitch is retiring her 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente after more than 576,000 miles on the road.

"I am legally blind, so I can no longer drive my lovely Chariot," Veitch told FoxNews.com. "They don't have to take it away, I would not dream of driving that car again." The car itself is fine, but Veitch has macular degeneration in both her eyes, making her legally blind. After running a red light in March, she decided to voluntarily give up the vehicle she's been driving since Lyndon Johnson occupied the White House.

"I have taken it in stride," she said. "I don't have cancer, I don't have Lou Gehrig's disease. I am lucky."

Yet for all the miles she has put on her vehicle, it doesn't come close to the world record. The Truth About Cars blog wrote that Irv Gordon's 1966 Volvo P1800 is scheduled to reach 3 million miles this year. Gordon has held the record in the Guinness Book of World Records for most miles on a noncommercial vehicle since 1998.

Even without the world record, Vietch is fond of noting that the car has outlasted three marriages. Mechanically, it's worn through three sets of shocks, 18 batteries and eight mufflers. Veitch bought the car in February 1964 for just $3,289.

She credits the longevity to a "near-obsessive" approach to the car's maintenance. "I've never been a destructive person and I've just taken care of everything, except my husbands," she told FoxNews.

Veitch, who appeared with the vehicle on an August 2010 episode of the "Tonight Show," said she would be happy to sell the vehicle to host Jay Leno, a known car afficionado. She's not sure if Leno would be interested, but her four children, nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, aren't in line.

"Start drinking...now," says Alec Baldwin as club owner Dennis Dupree in the new trailer for "Rock of Ages." Good thinking, Dennis!

Not that you needed any further proof that Adam Shankman's adaptation of the famed jukebox musical was the party event of the summer, but the newest tease for the film highlights Tom Cruise's pet monkey. Yes: this is one of those movies.

Based on the Tony Award-nominated musical, "Rock of Ages" follows a small town girl living in a lonely world (Julianne Hough) who comes to Los Angeles with stars in her eyes and hairspray in her purse. There, she meets a good-hearted dreamer (Diego Boneta) and gets wooed by the rock-and-roll lifestyle, embodied by Stacee Jaxx (Cruise). Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti and Catherine Zeta-Jones are along for the ride too, as are covers of your favorite '80s songs -- ones that Ryan Murphy thankfully hasn't touched on "Glee" just yet. (Let's hear it for "Wanted Dead or Alive" as sung by Cruise!)

It all looks perfectly goofy, which is fitting since "Rock of Ages" is perfectly goofy. After all, there aren't many Broadway shows that sell Coors Light by the can.

Watch the trailer above, and check out a gallery of the best hairstyles "Rock of Ages" has to offer below. If you'd like to report a hair crime, call your local chapter of the wig police.