Lady Gaga celebrated her 28th birthday with an energetic but short concert at the Roseland Ballroom in her first of seven concerts at the closing venue.

Gaga performed for an hour Friday night in front of a feverish crowd. She started with a slow version of "Born This Way" on piano, with the audience joining in. She followed that with the jams "Monster" and "Bad Romance." She danced and sang on the side of the stage in a red tight leotard.

"Thank you so much for spending my birthday with me," she yelled to the audience, which included her actor-boyfriend Taylor Kinney and Nate Ruess, lead singer for the band Fun.

Gaga was in top form as she sang nearly a dozen of her songs, including "Just Dance," an acoustic version of "Poker Face," and the recent hit "Applause." The concert's main surprise: It was too short. After she ended, fans waited for the pop star to hit the stage again. She never did.

She performed some tracks from her recent album, "ARTPOP," which has struggled to match the success of her other releases. But onstage, she showed no signs of slowing down.
Gaga closed with the new single, "G.U.Y.," now wearing an all-white ensemble (her sixth costume change for the night).

"Thanks for making this the best birthday ever," she said.

The New York-born singer will perform six more shows at the Roseland Ballroom, helping close the famed venue that opened eight decades ago. Performers in the past have included The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Beyonce, who famously performed four shows in 2011 when she was pregnant.

"How many New Yorkers are in here tonight?" Gaga asked early in the show. "Do you believe in love? Do you?"

The Grammy winner kept the concert tame compared to her showcase at the South by Southwest festival this month, which featured a performance artist vomiting paint on her. She thanked her fans a number of times in between songs.

"When I woke up this morning I was so happy," she said. "I couldn't wait to get here tonight. I have so many friends here ... so many fans I've grown up with for six whole years, seven whole years."

When a dog became stranded in a canal in Romania, some passersby jumped in to pull the soaking wet pup from the icy water. But it's what happens after the dog was freed that makes the recorded rescue so remarkable.

In a video, posted on YouTube this week, several men pull the dog to safety by the scruff of its neck -- something canine mothers often do to their pups to carry them. After the dog is freed, it appears to act as most humans would and shows its gratitude to the rescuers by showering them with nuzzles and licks.
Whether dogs are capable of showing emotions like humans has been a recurrent topic in scientific studies (though most pet owners would probably agree that dogs are capable of showing a wide range of emotions.)

In October, a professor of neuroeconomics published an editorial following two years of research on the human-canine connection with the conclusion: "Dogs are people, too." More recently, another study indicated that, within the brain, dogs process voices and emotions just like humans.

So while this rescued dog may just be excited to be back on dry land, we're inclined to believe it's grateful for the assist.

Jimmy Kimmel seems to think so. He tweeted this selfie — featuring Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton — to his 3.76 million followers on Saturday night:

Five and a half years after leaving Hugh Hefner and Playboy behind, Holly Madison finally ditched her bleach blonde hair for something a bit more appropriate for her newfound motherhood.
Trouble is, the former reality star can't seem to pick a color she likes and we aren't too thrilled with the newest results.

The former The Girls Next Door centerpiece debuted her ginger locks on March 13th on a red carpet in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately, she must have wanted something a bit more vibrant and darkened the color just before her most recent appearance celebrating a brand new cupcake ATM yesterday.
I'm not sure about you, but I much prefer the lighter version to the darker. It seems a lot more natural and is just prettier.

And from one ginger to another, Holly better make sure to have those hair appointments scheduled in advance. Red may be stunning, but it is a bitch to keep up with once you start washing it.

About five years ago, Lady Gaga burst into mega fame with the force of a shooting star (that insisted on wearing raw meat to red carpet events). But with her latest performance largely spotlighting vomit as performance art, it's all too easy to forget the moment when Gaga first rose into public consciousness, accessorized by Muppets and often compared to Madonna.

So, what happened? In just about five years, Gaga reached an unprecedented echelon of pop stardom, only to lose her mystery to such an extent that puke-for-attention seems almost standard. (She was puked on, it should be noted, by vomit painter Millie Brown.) In hopes of mapping the trajectory from fledgling stardom to bile desperation, we've tracked the rise and fall of Gaga's monstrous brand of celebrity.

Feb. 20, 2007 - Appearing in public for perhaps the last time as the human who once resembled Stefani Germanotta, Gaga attends the "Who's Next? Writers on the Rise" event in New York City.

May 19, 2008 - Gaga introduces her eclectic sartorial choices to the world at the NewNowNext Award, walking the carpet as a pirate from a future in which there is no cure for glaucoma.
Aug. 19, 2008 - Gaga releases "The Fame" and it eventually goes platinum, selling over 10 million digital singles and quickly making her what Rolling Stone would later call "the defining pop star of 2009." The Top-40 quickly becomes 20 percent just Gaga.

Jan. 20, 2009 - In an interview with The Guardian, Lady Gaga tells Laura Barton that she has "felt famous [her] whole life." Her confidence in place of feigned surprise over her success is refreshing.

May 11, 2009 - During a spot on "Ellen," Gaga begins her foray into absurd hats with "The Orbit," succeeds in confounding both Ellen and America.

Sept. 13, 2009 - One of Gaga's five generally outrageous outfits at the VMAs includes a red lace bridal headdress that is basically what would have happened if Carrie ever got married.

It's not like "Divergent" fans had any real reason to worry about their franchise getting a sequel, seeing as Veronica Roth's books are a trilogy and Lionsgate had a follow-up planned all along. But just in case anyone was uncertain, Lionsgate subsidiary Summit Entertainment has officially given "Insurgent" the green light.

Really, though, we had nothing to fret over. The Shailene Woodley-fronted dystopian flick opened to an impressive $4.9 million following Thursday night's screenings. While the movie is no longer poised to be more lucrative than the first "Twilight" installment, it's still generated an endless cycle of buzz in recent months and could accrue between $50 and $60 million this weekend.
“We're off to a great start with strong numbers from all regions of the country, urban, suburban and rural alike,” Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said in a statement. ”We're confident that ‘Divergent' is on its way to becoming another important franchise for us, and we have just greenlit the second film, ‘Insurgent.'”

As previously announced, "Divergent" director Neil Burger won't return for the sequel, having turned down the offer for "practical reasons" concerning his shooting schedule. Instead, Robert Schwentke ("The Time Traveler's Wife," "R.I.P.D.") will take over. "Insurgent" is eyeing a March 2015 release, and Woodley and co-star Theo James are already on board to return.

If the movies stick to that schedule, the third installment, “Allegiant,” will arrive in March 2016

Ankhon Dekhi is a delicate and delightful film about invisible people — those ordinary folk you pass on the street but rarely pay attention to. Writer-director Rajat Kapoor finds beauty and richness in their lives.

He constructs a keenly observed portrait of a lower-middle class family in Delhi, how the centre slowly frays and falls apart. But the film ends on a note that is beguiling and entirely apt for a director whose gurus are Kumar Shahani and Mani Kaul.
Ankhon Dekhi centres around Raje Bauji, played by Sanjay Mishra who, after a dramatic incident, decides that he will only believe what he sees with his eyes.This leads to a series of bewildering situations, including Raje Bauji at the zoo, goading a tiger to roar so he can confirm that tigers roar.


The performances by Sanjay and Seema Pahwa, who plays his harassed wife, are wonderful. Rajat, who also plays a pivotal role in the film, tells their story with tenderness and affection. Sadly, the narrative meanders in the second half — the plot becomes increasingly random and farfetched. But eventually, the strands come together with such a heave of emotion that I found myself wiping away tears. 

China said on Saturday it had a new satellite image of what could be wreckage from a missing Malaysian airliner, as more planes and ships headed to join an international search operation scouring some of the remotest seas on Earth.
The latest possible lead came as the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 entered its third week, with still no confirmed trace found of the Boeing 777 or the 239 people on board.

The new potential sighting was dramatically announced by Malaysia's acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, after he was handed a note with details during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, scooping the official announcement from China.

"Chinese ships have been dispatched to the area," Hishammuddin told reporters. China said the object was 74 feet long and 43 feet wide, and spotted around 75 miles "south by west" of potential debris reported by Australia off its west coast in the forbidding waters of the southern Indian Ocean.

The image was captured by the high-definition Earth observation satellite "Gaofen-1" early on March 18, two days after the Australian satellite picture was taken, China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on its website.

It could not easily be determined from the blurred images whether the objects were the same, but the Chinese photograph could depict a cluster of smaller objects, a senior military officer from one of the 26 nations involved in the search for the plane said.
The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 27 metres long and 14 metres wide at its base, according to estimates derived from publicly available scale drawings. Its fuselage is 63.7 meters long by 6.2 meters wide.

Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens early on March 8, less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled flight to Beijing.

Investigators believe someone on board shut off the plane's communications systems, and partial military radar tracking showed it turning west and re-crossing the Malay Peninsula, apparently under the control of a skilled pilot.

That has led them to focus on hijacking or sabotage, but they have not ruled out technical problems.

Since Australia announced the first image of what could be parts of the aircraft on Thursday, the international search for the plane has focused on an expanse of ocean more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) southwest of Perth.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said one of its aircraft reported sighting a number of "small objects" with the naked eye, including a wooden pallet, within a radius of 5 km.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft took a closer look but only reported seeing clumps of seaweed. It dropped a marker buoy to track the movement.

"A merchant ship in the area has been tasked to relocate and seek to identify the material," AMSA said in a statement.

The search area experienced good weather conditions on Saturday with visibility of around 10 km and moderate seas.

Australia, which is coordinating the rescue, has cautioned the objects in the satellite image might be a lost shipping container or other debris, and may have sunk since the picture was taken.

"Even though this is not a definite lead, it is probably more solid than any other lead around the world and that is why so much effort and interest is being put into this search," Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters, before latest Chinese image was reported.

In yet another setback to Finnish handset maker Nokia , the Tamil Nadu government has slapped on it a Rs. 2,400 crore tax demand notice related to the devices sold from its Chennai factory.
   
Nokia, which as part of its deal with the US-based software giant Microsoft has to transfer its Indian assets including the Chennai factory by March-end, on Friday approached the Madras High Court challenging claims made by the Tamil Nadu government.
   
The development comes within a week of the Supreme Court refusing to lift restraint on sale of its Indian assets in a separate case related to payment of tax dues.
   
Tamil Nadu government's Commercial Taxes Department (VAT) have assessed sales tax on the devices sold from the firm's Chennai manufacturing facility.
   
According to sources, the government has claimed that the company is selling mobile phones in the domestic market instead of exporting them.
   They said the state government has sent a tax demand notice of about Rs. 2,400 crore to the company in relation to this issue.
   
"Nokia has today filed a writ to the Madras High Court to contest a claim from the Tamil Nadu tax department, which has moved to assess sales tax on the export of devices from the company's Chennai facility," the company said in a statement.
   
Nokia considers the claim to be completely without merit and counter to domestic tax laws, it added.
   
"Nokia will defend itself vigorously in this matter. It is absurd that the Tamil Nadu tax authority is now claiming that devices made in Chennai were not exported and were instead sold domestically in India.
   
"We contend that this allegation has no basis in reality whatsoever; it could easily be rebuffed by a check of documentation provided to various governmental departments including Customs," the company said.
   
In India, exports are by law exempt from tax and Nokia has proved consistently that devices produced at Chennai are exported abroad, it added.
   
Nokia further said, "Indeed, the company has been regularly assessed and audited by the tax authorities since 2006 without incident, and it has also won numerous export awards from governmental organisations."

Mind you, I've never actually been to a strip club. But I had imagined a dark, dingy place where men slink in and out with their eyes averted, afraid they might run into their wives' Pilates instructor (or something like that). Armed with two female friends and more than a few whiskey gingers, I walked into Headquarters Gentlemen's Club to watch Belle Knox's debut stripping performance on Tuesday night with a tote bag full of gym clothes and a grandpa sweater on. Let's just say the bouncers seemed more than a bit perplexed.

When Belle Knox, sex worker and all-around badass feminist, came out as the Duke porn star last month, I immediately went into full-support mode. Knox is refreshingly articulate and steadfast about her beliefs -- especially impressive given that she's only 18. As a sex-positive feminist, I support Belle's choice to work in porn and completely respect her ambition to succeed in her career. So when I got the chance to attend her stripping debut at a New York City gentlemen's club I decided to take it, because frankly, I was curious.
After bee-lining to the bar, my coworkers and I found prime viewing spots directly in front of the stage. There was a swarm of journalists in the club and some poor, unsuspecting (non-journalist) men huddled away from the flashing camera lights. And while we may not have been getting the truest strip club experience, given the bizarre media circus, there was no ignoring the naked and gyrating women strutting around the room.

Our small entourage slowly acclimated to our surroundings as we gossiped and watched Knox's many opening acts come and go from the stage. During the three-hour show (I swear, this was for work), our conversation slowly evolved. We started out nervously giggling, quickly realized this was disrespectful, and attempted to pay attention to the dancers onstage.

Staring at these women exposing themselves for the pleasure of the audience, me and my two heterosexual female companions began to pick apart each performer's body: "Oh my gosh, she is absolutely gorgeous!" "Her boobs are totally fake." "C'mon, I could do a better job than her."

After two hours of standing next to flashing lenses, eager reporters and a dude who actually asked if I worked there, Belle took the stage. With a small army of cameras trailing her, the 18-year-old star made her entrance to none other than Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation."

Australia's multibillion-dollar mining, farming and tourism industries face significant threats as worsening global warming causes more dangerous and extreme weather, the world's leading climate science body will warn.

A final draft of a five-year assessment by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - seen by Fairfax Media - details a litany of global impacts from intensifying climate change including the displacement of hundreds of millions of people, reduced crop yields and the loss of trillions of dollars from the global economy.

The report is the second part of the IPCC's fifth major assessment and focuses on climate change's impacts and how the world might adapt. It will be finalised at a meeting in Japan next weekend before its release on March 31.
The final draft Australasia chapter also outlines significant local threats if human-caused climate change gets worse, in particular high confidence that fire seasons, particularly in southern Australia, will extend in high-risk areas.


There is also significant risk of increased damage and death from heatwaves resulting from more frequent extreme high temperatures. Flood risk too would be worse.
The draft says these new extremes imply Australia's mammoth mining industry is increasingly vulnerable without adaptation measures. The report points to significant loss of coal exports revenue of $5 billion to $9 billion when mines were flooded in 2011.
Tourism also faces some significant threats, the draft says. The Great Barrier Reef is expected to degrade under all climate change scenarios, reducing its attractiveness to visitors.
Australia's $1.8 billion ski industry is identified as most negatively affected, with little option for it to counteract threats.
For Australian farming a 4 per cent reduction in the gross value of beef, sheep and wool is expected with 3 degrees of warming above a 1980-99 baseline.

Dairy output is projected to decline in all regions, except in Tasmania.
Out of the major risks identified for Australia in the draft, the loss of montane ecosystems and changes in coral reefs, appear to be very difficult to avoid. The draft also finds modelling consistently indicated the range of many wildlife species will contract.

And there is high confidence climate change is already affecting Australia's oceans, with climate zones and species shifting hundreds of kilometres southwards.

Professor Jean Palutikof - a review editor of the assessment and director of Australia's National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility - said while adaptation measures were important, there were limits to what the world could do and it was important to cut global emissions to ensure these thresholds are not reached.
''I think it is quite black and white, there is a risk we will go beyond the limits of the natural environment and human society to adapt to the climate'' she said.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the government recognised the importance of adapting to the impacts of climate change, pointing to the refunding of the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, which it has asked to ''focus on putting practical adaptation information in the hands of decision-makers so we can build a stronger, more resilient Australia''.

A day after India vs Pakistan ICC World Twenty20 championship match ended, West Indies captain Darren Sammy took umbrage at the fact that a big-talking Suresh Raina, fresh off a smashing innings against arch rival neighbours, dubbed Windies batsmen as "six hitters".

Sammy then threw an open challenge and dared the Indian bowlers to stop them from hitting the maximums when they clash in the ICC World Twenty20 here tomorrow.

"We don't care much about what Suresh Raina thinks. If he thinks we are only six hitters, then stop us from hitting sixes," Sammy replied when asked about his batsmen inability to rotate strike against spinners.
However, the usually affable West Indies skipper went back to his normal good natured mood as he answered questions with a bit of fun and some with a lot of seriousness.
What's there on Chris Gayle's mind, asked a scribe. "I am not Jesus Christ! I don't know what's going on in his mind," he laughed and replied.
Also read: ICC World Twenty20: Virat Kohli helps India maintain World Cup record against Pakistan
Then he got serious. "But I know he (Gayle) is really pumped up to play here. Whenever he is playing for the West Indies, he is very pumped up. And tomorrow's game everyone will be pumped up."

Will India be easy opponents, was what he was asked first up at the media conference.

"You seriously ask that question? No, I don't think any team is an easy opponent. India started off on a winning note and most likely they will have a lot of confidence going into the game. We know what we are capable of doing and we have been playing some good T20 cricket and the guys are confident that we would come good once we play to our full potential."

China has not held back in forcing the pace of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It has deployed 21 satellites and a flotilla of naval ships. It has dispatched investigators to Malaysia, run background checks on the Chinese passengers, and scoured radar images of its vast western regions. Every day it has cajoled, chided and criticized Malaysian officials.

And still it has come up empty-handed. Two weeks after the plane vanished on an overnight flight to Beijing, no trace of the Boeing 777 jet or the 239 people on board, two-thirds of whom are Chinese, has been found.

The painful process of working with Malaysia in searching for the airplane and investigating what went wrong in the early hours of March 8 has revealed the limits of China's power, influence and technological and military might in the region, despite its rapid rise as a rival to the United States and American strategic dominance of the Western Pacific.

Within China, anguished relatives and friends of the passengers and their many sympathizers are pressing hard for answers, but the government finds itself helpless as Malaysia takes the lead in the search and investigation efforts, which is consistent with international norms on air disasters.
Malaysia has been keeping other nations, including China, at a distance, to the frustration of officials here, according to political observers. That tension is reflected in the frequent condemnations of Malaysia that have appeared in the Chinese state news media. China is out of its comfort zone, no longer in the position of strength from which it usually deals with smaller Asian nations, including Malaysia.

The two countries have for decades maintained strong economic ties, and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, promised closer economic and military cooperation on a visit to Malaysia in October. At the same time, China has not been shy about pressing Malaysia on a range of delicate issues - in January, it sent a naval patrol to a reef in the South China Sea that is claimed by Malaysia; in 2012, it welcomed Malaysia's deportation of six ethnic Uighurs who had fled from China.

Now, Chinese officials find themselves desperately prodding Malaysia to share information, to allow China a hand in the investigation and to placate the irate Chinese families who demand answers daily.

"If you don't push them, they won't move," Zhu Zhenming, a scholar of Southeast Asia at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said about the Malaysian authorities. "It's mostly to do with their administrative management capabilities, but also their culture."

He added that Malaysia was "too lacking" when it came to "dealing with disaster management" - "not because they don't want to do it, but because they cannot."

That sense of frustration, and perhaps condescension, has come through even in official Chinese remarks that were intended to be diplomatic. On Tuesday, Huang Huikang, the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, that "the Malaysian government has insufficient capabilities, technologies and experience in responding to the MH370 incident, but they did their best." 

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who is on the Lok Sabha election campaign, will be holding two election rallies on Saturday.

The Congress's poll campaign chief will be first visiting Mandla district in Madhya Pradesh where he will be interacting with the tribals.

Later in the day, Rahul will head to Pratapgarh district in Uttar Pradesh where he will be addressing a public meeting.

American investigators reviewing a hard drive belonging to the captain of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have found that there were deletions of information even closer to the final flight than first indicated by Malaysian officials, U.S. law enforcement officials tell CNN.
The forensic search of the computer files by government experts found files were removed even after February 3, the date Malaysian authorities have cited for when some data was cleared from the drive of the captain.
Investigators are examining the contents of drives belonging to both pilots. Copies of the hard drives are at the FBI's forensics lab facilities in Quantico, Virginia, and one is being analyzed with the assistance of consultants the FBI uses to help analyze such electronic data.
It's not clear why Malaysian officials cited the February 3 date and if they knew of the other deletions. The type of software used for flight simulation takes up a lot of room in hard drives and investigators believe that could be one reason for deletion of files.
It's possible too that some damage could have been done during the first examinations done by Malaysian investigators.
Law enforcement officials say that they aren't drawing any conclusions about the subsequent deletions, or the earlier ones, just two days into reviewing the hard drive contents, which officials described as a large volume of data. More couldn't be learned about the nature of the deletions, and who made them.

Some senior U.S. counterterrorism officials say that an accident is the leading operative theory as cause for the disappearance of Flight 370. That's because there is no other information indicating foul play.
"Barring other information to suggest otherwise one has to first think this was a tragic accident," a U.S. law enforcement official said. But investigators have not ruled out terrorism or other theories.
Investigators have focused on the pilots because of the lack of any other information. But there isn't proof that they did anything wrong.
U.S. investigators have compiled profiles of the two pilots, based on interviews with friends, neighbors and family members conducted by Malaysian investigators, and on a search of their online activities, U.S. officials say.
Those interviews haven't turned up anything that could suggest any explanations for the plane's disappearance.

The February 2 polls, called by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in an unsuccessful attempt to ease a months-old political crisis, have not yet been completed because of disruption by demonstrators.

A court spokesman told reporters that the 6:3 ruling was reached on the grounds that voting was not held for the entire country on the same day.

Opposition protesters blocked candidate registrations in 28 constituencies, and also caused the closure of about 10 per cent of polling stations.

The main opposition Democrat Party boycotted the vote, saying it would not end years of political turmoil.

The case was one of a slew of legal hurdles facing Yingluck, who has withstood calls to resign despite months of political street protests.

A spokesman for her Puea Thai Party described the outcome as "regrettable", and said the annulment of the vote would "set a bad precedent".
The petition was filed by a Bangkok law lecturer. A similar bid, submitted by the opposition on the grounds that the failure to hold the entire election on the same day was an attempt to grab power unconstitutionally, was rejected by the constitutional court last month.

Yingluck's government, in a caretaker role following the incomplete election, faces a series of legal challenges that could lead to her removal from office, including negligence charges linked to a rice subsidy scheme.

She has faced more than four months of street demonstrations seeking to force her from office and install an unelected government to oversee reforms and curb the dominance of her billionaire family.

Twenty-three people have been killed in recent weeks in gun and grenade attacks, mostly targeting protesters.

It is the latest chapter in a political crisis stretching back to a military coup in 2006 that ousted Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a divisive tycoon-turned-politician who lives in Dubai to avoid prison for a corruption conviction.

Crimea's Moscow-backed leaders declared a 96% vote in favour of quitting Ukraine and annexation by Russia in a referendum Western powers said was illegal and will bring immediate sanctions.
As state media in Russia carried a startling reminder of its power to turn the United States to "radioactive ash", US President Barack Obama spoke to Vladimir Putin, telling the Russian president that he and his European allies were ready to impose "additional costs" on Moscow for violating Ukraine's territory.
The Kremlin and the White House issued statements saying Obama and Putin saw diplomatic options to resolve what is the gravest crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.

A pro-Russian protester celebrates in Simferopol's Lenin Square on March 16, 2014 after exit polls showed that about 95% of voters in Ukraine's Crimea region supported union with Russia (AFP photo)

But Obama said Russian forces must first end "incursions" into its ex-Soviet neighbour while Putin renewed his accusation that the new leadership in Kiev, brought to power by an uprising last month against his elected Ukrainian ally, were failing to protect Russian-speakers from violent Ukrainian nationalists.
Moscow defended a military takeover of the majority ethnic Russian Crimea by citing a right to protect "peaceful citizens". Ukraine's interim government has mobilised troops to defend against an invasion of its eastern mainland, where pro-Russian protesters have been involved in deadly clashes in recent days.
With three-quarters of Sunday's votes counted in Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula that is home to 2 million people, 95.7% had supported annexation by Russia, chief electoral official Mikhail Malyshev, was quoted as saying by local media.
Turnout was 83 percent, he added - a high figure given that many who opposed the move had said they would boycott the vote. Russia's lower house of parliament will pass legislation allowing Crimea to join Russia "in the very near future", news agency Interfax cited its deputy speaker as saying on Monday.
"Results of the referendum in Crimea clearly showed that residents of Crimea see their future only as part of Russia," Sergei Neverov was quoted as saying. Japan on Monday echoed Western nations in rejecting the referendum and called on Russia not to annex Crimea. US and European officials say military action is unlikely over Crimea, which Soviet rulers handed to Ukraine 60 years ago.

But the risk of a wider Russian incursion, as Putin probes Western weakness and tries to restore Moscow's influence over its old Soviet empire, leaves NATO calculating how to help Kiev without triggering what some Ukrainians call "World War Three".
"We hope all parties can calmly maintain restraint to prevent the situation from further escalating and worsening.
Political resolution and dialogue is the only way out," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong told reporters on Monday, ahead of a visit to Europe by President Xi Jinping later this month. China avoided making a comment on the Crimea referendum and has said it does not back sanctions on Moscow - a close diplomatic ally and key economic partner.

Highlighting the stakes, journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, who is close to the Kremlin, stood before an image of a mushroom cloud on his weekly TV show to issue a stark warning. He said: "Russia is the only country in the world that is realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash."
On Lenin Square in the centre of the Crimean capital Simferopol, a band struck up even before polls closed as the crowd waved Russian flags. Regional premier Sergei Aksyonov, a businessman nicknamed "Goblin" who took power when Russian forces moved in two weeks ago, thanked Moscow for its support.
The regional assembly is expected to rubber-stamp a plan to transfer allegiance to Russia on Monday before Aksyonov travels to Moscow, although the timing of any final annexation is in doubt. Putin may choose to hold off a formal move as diplomatic bargaining continues over economic and diplomatic sanctions that many EU states fear could hurt them as much as they do Russia.

Following Lady Gaga's interesting, and debatably disturbing, SXSW performance, Demi Lovato took to Twitter to criticize the bit involving performance artist Millie Brown.

Lovato's struggles with eating disorders and addiction are well-known, and so she was quick to point out that Brown forcing herself to vomit all over Gaga was unacceptable. She stated that Gaga was glamorizing eating disorders and that the performance wasn't "cool" in any way whatsoever.
"Putting the word ART in it isn't a free card to do whatever you want without consequences," she tweeted.

Despite some passioned reactions from upset Gaga fans, Lovato continued to warn of the negative ways pop culture can impact others, especially someone with as much clout as Gaga.

However, in the end, Lovato reminded everyone that was still a Little Monster at heart. Read her tweets below.

On Saturday, the social media reacted strongly to reports of Veena's alleged anti-India tweet. After the news went viral, we received a mixed reaction from some members of the Pakistani entertainment industry.

Farhan Saeed, former member of the Pakistani band Jal, told us, "It's really sad if she did so, but then what else do we expect from Veena Malik? Anything that keeps her in the news. I think we artistes should be a bridge between the two countries, especially the ones who work on both sides of the border. But coming from Veena, it is surely a publicity stunt."
Sunny Ghanshyam, lead guitarist of Raeth, remarked, "What is she all about? No one knew who Veena Malik was before she came to India. It's only after she got a chance in Bollywood that she got her recognition here in India. She should be grateful and should owe her success to India. I'm sure she got this rishta out of what she is today or else it would have been really difficult for her to travel to the US. Sad how people change over times they need to respect the people and the place."

Adds Hadiqa Kiani, pop singer and renowned makeup artist, "It's not about India or Pakistan . Human beings are the same everywhere. We must think beyond racism."SOURCE

Two unidentified men threw acid at an aide of one of the witnesses in the rape case against self-styled godman Asaram Bapu in Surat on Sunday.

"The victim has been identified as Dinesh Bhavchandani (39) who has given a statement against Asaram in the case," said the officer.

"The incident took place when Bhavchandani was riding to his house near Vesu Royal Residency. Two men on a bike overtook him and threw acid," she said.

He was taken to a private hospital.

Earlier, two witnesses in cases of rape against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai have been attacked.

Asked about police protection for the witnesses, the DCP said, "Most witnesses are given police protection, but these three victims had refused it."

A Surat-based woman has accused Asaram of repeated rapes and illegal confinement between 1997 and 2006 when she was living at his ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Her younger sister has lodged a similar complaint against Narayan Sai.

Asaram (72) is currently in a Jodhpur jail after being arrested in September 2013 for sexually assaulting a minor girl at his ashram there.

Entered the Egyptian dancer Sama, which knew her marriage to former Attorney Salafi Anwar Albulkima, the world of politics and joined the opposition a lyrical dancer paragraph attacking President Mohamed Morsy and mockery of the Renaissance project, which was promised in his election campaign.

Contained this dance on the sharp criticism of the president's policy Mursi, arguing that the Renaissance project "pollen Venkoh", meaning that the project and the placebo, and that Mercy did not achieve anything except in "manga", in reference to the president's statement to the famous Egyptian in the first 100 days of his reign on the decline price mango, a statement that was met with ridicule from some activists and Egyptian revolutionary coalitions and a number of media.

As used in the song accompanying the dance political words related persons of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as the word "hell" that became famous by guiding the former Mahdi Akef in a dialogues when he was quoted as saying: "hell in Egypt", which raised a storm of attack angry against him, and used some Implications verbal referring to others like Dr. Essam el-Erian.
Dance and song to قيتا strong echo on social networking sites between critic strongly welcome the
way that you used in attacking the president Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, and sarcastic comments someone say: "the opposition and many faces."
Confirmed Sama Egyptian at the beginning of her speech she did not know anything about politics, not far nor near, defender video that does not carry any words offensive to any particular person, and citing that artists do not insult anyone by contrast members of some Islamic groups who Lisbon actors and actresses verbally inappropriate.

It indicated before the video display consulted a lawyer presented the possibility that this work to any legal liability, he stressed that the work does not insult any particular person.
She explained Sama Egyptian that the lyrics are words circulating in the Egyptian street has photographed in her home during her spare time without the benefit of team work, explaining it during their presence in demonstrations Friday "Egypt not manor" and found a group of young people chanting slogans that she said in the clip on some melodies arose her performance songs on the way "satirical comedy."
Sama said the Egyptian It's not worried about this video because it does not carry any abuse to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, pointing out that Dr. Morsi must respect for his position as Egypt.
At the end of her speech Sama said that if she happened to her any harm in the coming days will be by Islamic groups.

And jumped name Sama Egyptian into the spotlight following the publication of the newspaper "The Republic", the semi-official, news in March / March last as married deputy of Parliament for the Nour Party Salafi (formerly) Anwar Albulkima, known then as Vice cosmetic or vice nose; due conducting surgery and his claim that he was subjected to the assault incident resulted in serious injuries and steal 100 thousand pounds, then returned and admitted that it was not real and that he was under the influence of the anesthetic.
The newspaper published a statement accounted for Sama Egyptian Albulkima threatens to kill and maim her face with water fire after attempts to uncover their secret marriage.

Conjoined twins were born at a hospital in northern India on Wednesday morning.

"Yes this report is perfectly true that we have delivered a female baby having two heads,” Dr. Ashish Sehgal, the CEO of Cygnus JK Hindu Hospital, told ABCNews.com in an email. “She is presently alive and healthy.”

The New York Daily News reports that the babies' mom, Urmila Sharma, couldn't afford an ultrasound and didn't know she was delivering conjoined twins.

"We only came to know she was carrying conjoined twins after an ultrasound two weeks ago but it was too late to do anything by then," Dr Shikha Malik, who delivered the baby, said.

According to the Daily Mail, the twins have "two heads, two necks and two spines," but just one body and their chances for survival are slim.

Sehgal told the Daily News that a “meticulous and challenging” surgery could be the key to saving the twins' life, but the procedure can't take place until they are in stable condition.

Indian woman gave birth in the 28-year-old girl with two heads and Rqptin and one body, in a hospital in northern India, has been to prevent the extreme poverty of the parent to remedy such a situation or treatment during pregnancy.

 The subject of the girl child, which was born after a caesarean section, to monitor the health and medical minutes in the intensive care unit because of the condition. The doctor overseeing the birth, the owner of an old man, according to a newspaper the "Daily Mail" the British, that the parents are going through difficult circumstances, with the medical staff trying their support as much as possible.

 The surprised couple, who have another child, the status of the newborn, or more precisely conjoined or Siamese twins, having prevented their condition of poverty and social hardship of an image ultrasound Ultrasound, which reveal the state of the early embryo.

Public officials and engineers have long warned about the dangers posed by the outdated, moldering pipelines that snake beneath the streets of major cities like New York, feeding gas into the furnaces of millions of homes.

For nearly two decades, federal authorities have directed pipeline operators to replace these leak-prone, cast-iron lines with pipes made of plastic and other modern materials. And many states, including New York, have embarked on programs to do just that.

But these efforts could take decades to complete, and in the meantime, weakened pipes could spring deadly leaks.

This possibility and the need for repairs have come into sharp focus in the aftermath of an explosion that tore apart two buildings in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more.

"The human cost of inaction is clear," said Ydanis Rodriguez, a New York City councilman, in a statement to reporters. "If the necessary funding for these repairs and improvements is not granted by the federal and state governments, tragic occurrences such as today's may become more common in our city."

It's not yet clear what caused the leak that led to the explosion. Records show that the city approved a permit to replace 120 feet of gas piping last summer for a heating system at one of the collapsed buildings. The company that did the work, New York Heating Corp., did not return calls seeking comment.

But a Consolidated Edison spokeswoman, D. Joy Faber, confirmed to HuffPost that the main pipe that funneled gas into the heating systems of the now-obliterated East Harlem buildings was partly made of cast iron and dated back to 1887. And as several engineers and officials noted, that can be a problem.

Compared with a more pliable material like plastic, cast iron becomes brittle over time. A heavy blow can crack the pipes, and so can ground movements caused by alternating spells of warmth and cold.

Federal data on the integrity of gas mains show that serious leaks causing death, injury or major property damage stem from cast iron pipes four times more often than those made from other materials.

In January 2011, a leak in a cast-iron gas pipeline in Philadelphia led to a blast that killed a utility worker and injured five others. Fuel from another leaky cast iron gas main caused a major explosion in Allentown, Pa., a month later, killing five people, including a 16-year-old girl and a 4-month-old boy.

Your wedding ceremony is the very heart of your wedding. It’s full of some of the most meaningful moments -- walking down the aisle to your beloved and seeing his or her reaction for the first time, reciting your vows, and (finally) being pronounced newlyweds -- and there is no greater source of inspiration than a real wedding. We adore each and every one of the real wedding ceremonies featured on Lover.ly, but we’ve managed to choose a few awe-inspiring favorites. Take a peek!

Anyone who has watched even a few minutes of porn may end up with some very particular ideas about what real-world sex entails.

Porn -- at least, the kind where super-toned, tanned, hairless women are penetrated in a variety of acrobatic positions by equally toned, tanned men -- is full of myths about sex. Redditor black_brotha decided to ask women on the site what they "learned" from porn that turned out to be completely untrue in the real world.

Here are 11 of the most worrying un-truths women said porn taught them:

1. That their bodies were abnormal: "I was 100% convinced that I needed labiaplasty and was really ashamed to be naked in front of [a] guy because I thought he would think I was a freak."

2. That all sex focuses on the guy's pleasure: "I thought having sex with a man meant having to pretend I enjoyed it even if I wasn't, that it didn't matter if I had an orgasm, and that it was normal for a guy not to give a shit about my pleasure."

3. That "sexy" is purely physical, and incredibly specific:

I felt like I had to fit into a box I could never fit in. It made me feel dysphoric about not just my body, but who I was. I'm a clumsy, boyish, awkward female, that couldn't do an attractive striptease to save their life AKA the antithesis of your typical "sexy female"... There is more than just one kind of sexy and its all subjective. I've realized that Im sexy in my own way and I'm much happier now.
4. That men don't like women with hair "down there": "I thought men would expect completely hairless women and they would be repulsed by me."

5. That orgasms are almost effortless: "I thought orgasms were much easier to achieve than they actually are. As a result I thought something was wrong with me for a long time. I just assumed that PIV=almost instant orgasm. I was so disappointed to find that wasn't the case."

6. That men only find certain bodies (white, toned and smooth-skinned) attractive: "It did make me think that only women with perfect bodies ever had sex."
7. That all penises are circumcised and eight inches long: "I didn't know uncircumcised penises existed, because all the porn I'd seen prior had circumcised male performers."

8. That insanely complex sexual positions feel good for everyone:

Those positions? Yeah, most of them don't feel good.I know everyone's different, but it is VERY DIFFICULT, bordering on impossible to have an orgasm with that much distance between the partners! Besides, one of the best things about sex is the closeness of skin-to-skin contact.
9. That you had to do everything women in porn videos did in order for your partner to enjoy themself: "It didn't occur to me until like age 27 that I didn't have to let a guy come on my face if I didn't want to. Or I didn't have to swallow. Or that it was okay to not moan if I didn't feel like moaning."

10. That men are always ready and willing: "I thought that all men liked being aggressive and dominant, like in porn, and that if they were under 50, they were always going to be able to get hard and orgasm."

Nicki Minaj is having a blast in Cabo, boating on the beautiful blue waters, drinking with friends, and taking plenty of photos of herself in bikinis. Ever since the 31-year-old arrived in Mexico on March 8, she's been sharing pictures of her trip with her fans on Instagram, and on Tuesday she decided it was time to get into a bikini and soak up the sun.

Miley Cyrus is pushing the envelope again, but this time, it wasn't exactly intentional.

The star took the stage during her March 9 Bangerz Tour performance in Milwaukee, Wis. wearing a particularly revealing outfit that appeared to just be a bra and panties ... because apparently, it was just her bra and panties.

No, that's not a new costume; that's the absence of a costume. After the performance, Cyrus took to Twitter to tell her fans what happened. She admitted that for the first time, she couldn't complete her costume change quickly enough and had to run out onstage in her undies when her next song began to play.

Time and again, I come across articles offering bra tips. And time and again, I find myself saying, "Well, those rules only apply to ladies with at least a C cup. What about those who are a bit more ... petite?"

So, I decided to find out for myself. For the first time in my life, I got a bra fitting -- I know it seems like it should be a teenage rite of passage, but I honestly never thought I needed one as an A or B cup. During a recent trip to Manhattan's Intimacy, the lovely Dee Binyard, one of the store's bra fit stylists, selected a slew of bras that made me realize just how important fit really is, even for small-chested women.

Thanks to Dee -- and nearly 25 years of being a woman (for roughly 10 of which I actually needed a bra) -- I've gleaned six bra-shopping commandments for petite ladies.*

1. Yes, you do need support. 
Contrary to my former belief, A and B cups need to be supported. Small chests rarely lead to the kind of back pain that keeps chiropractors in business; but without proper support, you can accelerate sagging. As Dr. Cynthia S. Vaughn, a spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association, once told me, wearing a bra as a small-chested woman is "not so much for current times, but for later in life." That said, if you prefer to go braless, more power to you.

2. The fit of the band is crucial. 
During my fitting with Dee, she emphasized that the firmness of the band (not the straps) is of utmost importance. As a general rule, she says the firmness should be on the loosest hook of your band so that the band sits level on your back. From there, you adjust to the tighter hooks as the band stretches out. "I know we all want comfort," she told me. "But comfort doesn't necessarily mean that the band is going to give you that looseness. You want to be able to lift your arms without your breasts coming out the bottom of the bra." Amen, sister.

3. Don't get comfortable in your cup size, because things change. 
With all of the size discrepancies between brands, and our bodies constantly changing, it's not a good idea to assume that once you're a 34A, you'll always be a 34A. Never buy a bra without trying it on, and try to get fitted every year or so.

4. There's no reason to wear padding ... unless you want to.
I'm not going to lie: My 15-year-old self definitely tried on padded bras. These days, I'm comfortable with my size, so I personally don't feel the need for padding and would probably feel uncomfortable if I did wear it. But if you feel great about yourself with a little extra something, by all means, pad away!

5. You need more than one or two bras. 
If you're like me, you find a couple of bras that work and wear them to death. Judging by Dee's reaction to this statement, this is very bad. "I would say you need a good seven to 10 bras so you'd be able to alternate every day," she told me. "This way, your bra and the elasticity on the band gets that rest that it needs so that it's fresh for the next wear." She also recommends wearing your bras two or three times before you wash them to extend their lives.

6. Most importantly, wear what you feel great in. 
I can't stress this enough. Lingerie should be fun, not just functional. It should also be comfortable, because no one wants to be awkwardly adjusting underwire all day.


*In no way am I asserting that all women, whatever their size, must wear bras. These tips are for the ladies who want to wear bras. Please completely disregard if you'd rather go braless (and just know: I envy you).

Photoshop fails have become more common than ever, with various retailers chopping off limbs and backsides. So it's really no surprise that Target is the most recent culprit to distort a model.

In a major fail noticed first by Jezebel, the store's website features a photo of a teen model wearing a junior's swimsuit. In what appears to be an attempt to make her legs look longer/bottom half look smaller, the model is missing a piece of her vagina. OUCH.

The photo has since been removed from the website, but not before Jezebel had the chance to post the photo, which clearly shows there has been a square cut out of the bottom of the swimsuit. The only thing worse than photoshopping adult models is photoshopping junior models, who market to young girls. Perhaps Target should take a page out of Aerie's book.

Aaron Carter seems to be having a bit of a meltdown on Twitter. The musician has been very open with his followers about his heartbreak and regret after losing the love of his life ... about 10 years ago.

This "love" he is referring to is Hilary Duff. The two dated when they were 13 years old and the relationship was particularly meaningful to Carter. So much so, in fact, that he hasn't managed to move on from his teen dream girl. The only problem is that Duff wasn't his teen dream girl back in the day. Their year–and–a–half long relationship came to an end when Carter chose Lindsay Lohan over the "Lizzie McGuire" star.

Now Carter and Duff are both 26 years old and Duff is newly–separated. For Carter, this seems to be the perfect time to profess his love … on social media … very uncomfortably.

Carter's recent rant began on Tuesday, March 4, when he retweeted a photo of his ex.
Since then, the self–proclaimed hopeless romantic has frequently referred to his long lost love. Carter clearly blames himself for the decay of his relationship with Duff, referring to himself as a "stupid douche."

We're guessing the throwback Thursday remark is a nod to his history with Duff. But, will she actually be his #tbt?

Hilary Duff has not publicly responded to any of Carter's pleas for attention (on Twitter or otherwise), so Carter shouldn't keep his hopes up too high.

Carter declared bankruptcy in late 2013, but he's still making music. Let's not lose hope yet, Aaron! At least we still have that "Aaron Carter's Coming To Town" episode of "Lizzie McGuire"…

Hollywood could use a new Angelina Jolie — or rather, they could use the old Angelina Jolie, the rebellious, sex-mad Angelina we had before she reinvented herself as a beatifically smiling humanitarian goddess. Where are the avid actresses who can stride on-screen and conquer with a flick of their finger, who can use their carnal craziness to enliven the most unimaginative of B-movies, who can size up their male leads with an "I will fuck you and eat you, and not necessarily in that order" stare? Unto this breach comes this weekend's 300: Rise of an Empire, and while the sorta-sequel might at first seem more than sorta superfluous, by the time its female lead Eva Green is engaging in the movie's centerpiece sex scene, you'll know its purpose: The wild-eyed Green is serving us vintage Jolie on a platter, and the film (and Hollywood) is all the better for it.

In Rise of an Empire, Green plays Artemisia, a Persian commander leading the charge against Greek general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton). Though Greek herself, Artemisia has long vowed revenge against her own people: As a child, her village was burned to the ground, her mother was raped in front of her, and then young Artemisia was sold into slavery. Rescued by the king of Persia, she soon becomes a fearsome warrior, and Green gives her all to the eye-popping part, purring entreaties, shouting orders, and kissing severed heads in short order. Artemisia is ostensibly the film's villain, but her motives are so understandable and Green's charisma is so all-consuming that when one battle sequence concludes with Artemisia seemingly slaughtering all of our heroes a third of the way through the movie, you kind of have to hand it to her. She deserved that win!
But of course, Themistocles and his army can't be that quickly dispatched, and as the movie nears its halfway point, it is decided: He and Artemisia will negotiate a sitdown in the middle of the sea to determine whether war can be averted, or at least altered. The two of them meet face to face deep below deck in Artemisia's quarters — a detente rather like the Pacino/De Niro sitdown in Heat — and attempt to talk it out. When that fails to move the needle much, Themistocles and Artemisia instead do what more protagonists and antagonists ought to do in movies like this: They have wild, knock-down, shake-the-rafters sex.

There's punching. There's hair-pulling. There's even mild choking! The subtext of their battle sequences, the fight to come out on top, is literally wrought in this assignation as both Themistocles and Artemisia toss each other around and jostle for dominance. The film would like us to believe that it's a draw between them, but this is no contest: The wildly charismatic Green, who proved her sexual bona fides in The Dreamers and Casino Royale, positively dwarfs the mild Stapleton. By the time she's topless and swinging a sword — the sort of provocative pose that Greeks might sculpt into stone were Artemisia not busy trying to kill them all — Green has given us a sex scene for the ages, the sort of buzzed-about encounter usually reserved for premium cable instead of the multiplex.

Returned to his curious men afterwards, Themistocles is quizzed about the encounter, and he's utterly speechless, earning one of this very serious movie's few big laughs. But from then on, Green's crazy sexual verve powers each showdown, and when Themistocles and Artemisia lock eyes in the final battle — across a sea of warships, mind you — it's as romantic as it is dangerous. Once they eventually cross that sea and begins to cross their blades, she leans in, smiles, and says, "You fight much harder than you fuck." That, people, is how you say "I love you" in ancient Greece.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Barack Obama Sunday of appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin and said there’s “no question” that Putin “believes he is weak.”

Cheney said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation that Obama and his advisers “have created an image around the world, not just to the Russians, of weakness… the Syrian situation is a classic. We got all ready to do something -- a lot of the allies signed on -- and at the last minute, Obama backed off.”

Cheney said that in responding to Russia’s seizure of Crimea, “there are military options that don’t involve putting troops on the ground in Crimea. We could go back and reinstate the ballistic-missile defense program that was taken out, that was originally going to go in Poland (and) the Czech Republic and Obama took it out to appease Putin.”

He also suggested that Obama offer military equipment and training to the Ukrainians and do joint training exercises in Poland.
Cheney did admit that Bush administration’s responses to the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia “were not effective in terms of driving Putin out.” Some observers see Putin’s successful invasion of Georgia as the template for Russian actions in Crimea.

Cheney’s comments came as Robert Gates, who served as defense secretary under both President George W. Bush and under Obama, said on Fox News Sunday that Putin’s seizure of Crime appeared to be irreversible. “I do not believe that Crimea will slip out of Russia's hand," he said.

More Republican criticism of Obama’s handling of the Ukraine crisis came from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a potential Republican presidential contender. In an interview on ABC’s This Week, Cruz said Obama’s foreign policy was “to alienate and abandon our friends and to coddle and appease our enemies. You better believe that Putin sees in Benghazi four Americans are murdered and noting happens, there’s no retribution. You better believe that Putin sees in Syria (that) Obama draws a red line and ignores a red line.”