Bursting from the shadow of her adored teammate, Adelina Sotnikova gave Russia its first gold medal in women's Olympic figure skating.

While much-heralded Julia Lipnitskaia was stumbling, the 17-year-old Sotnikova soared. When she won the free skate Thursday at the Sochi Games, she denied South Korea's Yuna Kim from defending her title and confirmed Russian command of the sport once more.
"This is the happiest day in my life," Sotnikova said. "I simply stepped on the ice today and realized how much I like what I'm doing and skated really good."

The Russians have won three figure skating gold medals at these Olympics: team, pairs and women's.

Only this latest one was a surprise. A huge surprise.

Katy Perry unveiled the video for "Dark Horse" on Thursday, and boy, do we have questions. Lots of them. Like: Why? Why is anything that happens in it happening?

If you haven't watched, it appropriates ancient Egyptian culture and symbolism, and, well, that's about all we can tell you. We could pretend like we have all the answers, except we don't have a single answer. So here are a lot of questions raised by "Dark Horse."
Katy Perry proved she was ready for a perfect storm on Thursday, dropping the music video to her latest single, "Dark Horse" (featuring Juicy J). The visuals are like, what? A nod to "Cleopatra"? A spoof of "Avatar"? Some random parody of Michael Jackson's "Remember The Time"? All of the above? None of the above? Watch below?

A local beauty queen has died of a gunshot wound, becoming the fifth fatality from Venezuela's political unrest, as imprisoned protest leader Leopoldo Lopez urged supporters to keep fighting for the departure of the socialist government.

Tensions have risen in Venezuela since Mr Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist, turned himself in to troops on Tuesday after spearheading three weeks of often rowdy protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

The latest victims of the unrest included college student and model Genesis Carmona, 22, who was shot in the head at a protest on Tuesday in the central city of Valencia. She died later in a clinic.

College student and model Genesis Carmona (EPA)
"How long are we going to live like this? How long do we have to tolerate this pressure, with them killing us?" a relative, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

"She only needed one more semester to graduate," he added of Carmona, who had been studying tourism and had won the 2013 Miss Tourism competition in her state.

Three people were shot dead in Caracas after an opposition rally a week ago, and a fourth person died after being run over by a car during a demonstration in the coastal town of Carupano. Scores of people have been arrested or injured.

State television channel VTV said the mother of one its employees died while being rushed to hospital in Caracas. VTV said she suffered a heart attack while the ambulance carrying her was stuck in gridlock due to opposition supporters blocking roads.

"We cannot underestimate those fascist groups whose boss is behind bars," Mr Maduro said in a nationally televised speech late on Wednesday. "I'm not playing with democracy. I do not accept that they challenge the Venezuelan people and our Constitution."

Speaking in Mexico, US President Barack Obama criticized Mr Maduro's government for arresting protesters and urged it to focus on the "legitimate grievances" of its people.

Instead of "making up false accusations" against three US diplomats expelled this week, he said, Venezuela's government should release detained protesters and engage in a real dialogue. "All parties have an obligation to work together," Mr Obama said.
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 Ukraine's pro-European opposition sought last minute changes to a deal with Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovich intended to resolve the former Soviet republic's political crisis, but EU mediators said they still expect an agreement on Friday.

The German and Polish foreign ministers were in Kiev to try to broker an end to the worst violence since Soviet days amid a stand-off between riot police and anti-government protesters who have occupied a central square for nearly three months.

The sprawling nation of 46 million with a shattered economy and endemic corruption is at the center of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia and the European Union.

Diplomats said a compromise drafted in all-night negotiations involved appointing a transitional government, with a reformed constitution by September reducing presidential powers, and fresh elections by the end of the year.

Whether such a gradual transition would be acceptable to grassroots activists who want Yanukovich out now was unclear.

"This is just another piece of paper. We will not leave the barricades until Yanukovich steps down. That's all people want," said Anton Solovyov, 28, an IT worker protesting in the central square.

A senior EU diplomat said the president and opposition leaders were expected to sign the deal on Friday, even though the opposition still wanted some changes.

Earlier, police said in a statement that anti-government militants fired on security forces near the central Independence Square, scene of a three-month-old protest vigil.

However, there was no independent confirmation of such an incident and no report of casualties.

The square, known as Maidan or "Euro-Maidan", appeared peaceful, with thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-government slogans interspersed with patriotic singing.

After the visiting ministers suspended talks at dawn, the presidential press service said an agreement with the opposition would be signed at noon (1000 GMT) but it gave no details. That time passed with no word of a signing.

Sonam Kapoor, who is sporting a bikini onscreen for the first time, is flattered by the reactions of her fans.

"I’m very delighted with the feedback I’ve been getting  from the time the pictures came out. It’s a simple shot that has become a huge talking point. I am happy that fans have loved it," says the actor, who had once vowed never to wear a two piece on the big screen.

"Sonam has experimented a lot with her clothes, but she was keen to know how her fans would react to her bikini look. As soon as the promo was released, many fans shared it on their social networking accounts," says a source close to the actor.

Interestingly, around two years ago, the actor had said that she would never wear a bikini as she does not have a perfect body to carry it off. "I will never wear a bikini on screen, because I am not confident enough. I know that I will not look good. I don’t have the best body," Sonam told PTI in 2012. - See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/my-bikini-shot-has-become-a-talking-point-sonam-kapoor/article1-1184978.aspx#sthash.jYcAabts.dpuf

India's Congress party president Sonia Gandhi's has filed a new motion to dismiss a human rights violation lawsuit against her by Sikhs for Justice, a New York based human rights group.

In a reply memorandum filed in the district court of New York's eastern district, Gandhi's lawyers said the plaintiffs had unjustly argued for "unlimited extraterritorial jurisdiction and corporate liability to reach the tragic events of 1984 in India, and hold an innocent Gandhi liable.

Saying that "two wrongs don't make a right," the motion said the plaintiffs "fail to attribute actual acts or omissions to Gandhi".
The plaintiffs complaint was also devoid of any "factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged," they said.

US federal court for the Eastern District of New York had in Sep 2013 issued summons against Sonia Gandhi on a complaint filed by SFJ and some victims of anti-Sikh violence in India in November 1984.

The group has sought compensatory and punitive damages against Gandhi for her alleged role in shielding and protecting Congress party leaders including Kamal Nath, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Amitabh Bachchan from prosecution for their alleged role in the 1984 violence.

If you had never heard about Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko until the start of the 2014 Sochi Olympics then you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. You might be wondering why the crowd in Sochi was so absolutely stunned by his withdrawal from the Olympic men's short program and the subsequent announcement of his retirement on Thursday.

Rest assured, Plushenko is more than deserving of the attention. Not only did his early performances in Sochi help Russia win the inaugural gold medal in the Olympic team figure skating competition but they also earned him an unprecedented fourth Olympic medal in his fourth Olympic appearance.

That final gold medal capped off an incredible figure skating career that spanned 17 years -- pretty much unheard-of longevity in the sport.

In honor of the Russian legend's amazing run, we rounded up 11 of his most noteworthy moments on the ice.

1997: At the age of 14, Plushenko, already with a solid triple axel in his arsenal, won the Junior World Championships.

1998: Plushenko won the bronze medal at his first World Championships at the elite level at age 15. After winning a silver medal at his first European Championships, he was rightly heralded as a rising teen phenom. The following year at the Worlds, he climbed to second place, just behind his Russian rival Alexei Yagudin. He became the youngest male skater to earn a perfect 6.0 mark at the age of 16.

2000: Plushenko defeated Yagudin at the European Championships. Despite finishing out of the top three at the World Championships, he established himself as a major contender. Look at that sensational quad jump!
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"This isn't evolution. It's an abomination," Morgan Freeman informs Johnny Depp in the new trailer for "Transcendence." It looks like the velvet-voiced sage is going head-to-head with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star in the forthcoming artificial-intelligence thriller. Depp plays Dr. Will Caster, a researcher who's working to create a sentient machine that surpasses human intelligence. Naturally, he's up against a motherload of opposition. When Caster faces death and wants to become a part of that machinery, even his wife (Rebecca Hall) and best friend (Paul Bettany) think he's gone too far.

"Transcendence" opens April 18. It's directed by Wally Pfister, who is known for his cinematography work on Christopher Nolan's movies. Watch the new trailer below.

Well, here's the first teaser trailer to see how he did. Starring Johnny Depp, the actor takes the role of Dr. Will Caster, whose creation of sentient machine puts him at risk from anti-technology extremists who inadvertently set the researcher on a dangerous path towards, you guessed it, transcendence. It's a fascinating premise by Jack Paglen from his 2012 Black List script, and while Pfister is making his feature debut, he isn't too far away from his frequent collaborator Christopher Nolan who is executive producing this one.

Thoughts? Share 'em below. Co-starring Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Paul Bettany, Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy, "Transcendence" happens on April 18, 2014. Watch below plus two more teasers featuring more narration and less footage!