Rihanna -- Moves Into NY Penthouse After LA Scare

Rihanna
Moves Into NY Penthouse
After LA Scare

Rihanna is moving into a swanky $14 mil apartment in NYC -- after fleeing L.A. in the wake of two break-ins at her West Coast home -- but she's not giving up on L.A. entirely.

 

The 4600 sq. ft. penthouse apartment is in a luxury building in SoHo.  Rihanna's renting it for 39k a month, but the crib was recently on the market -- with a $14.6 mil asking price.

The 2-story home is stark white ... with 13' ceilings, concrete floors and views of the Empire State Building, and the NY skyline.

We're told Rihanna will still keep a place in LA -- NOT the Palisades home that was burglarized -- but will spend most of her time in NYC.

Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox

Source: http://www.tmz.com/2013/10/15/rihanna-rent-new-york-apartment-penthouse-palisades-la/
Related Topics: penn state   homeland   liberace   Kendrick Lamar Verse   antigua  

The AP Misreports the Debt Ceiling (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334090607?client_source=feed&format=rss
Related Topics: Rihanna Pour It Up Video   Sinkhole In Florida  

Ex-F1 test driver Maria de Villota dies at 33

A year after almost losing her life behind the wheel of a race car, former Formula One test driver Maria de Villota was found dead in a hotel room in Seville on Friday.

Spanish police told The Associated Press that investigators did not find any drugs or signs of violence and "everything points to a death by natural causes." De Villota was 33. The police spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity in line with police policy.

De Villota's manager alerted staff at the Hotel Sevilla Congresos. An autopsy will be carried out.

De Villota was seriously injured last year in a crash during testing for the Marussia F1 team in England, losing her right eye and sustaining other serious head injuries that kept her hospitalized for a month.

De Villota, a Madrid native, was the daughter of Emilio de Villota, who competed in F1 from 1976-82.

Her family used De Villota's Facebook page to say "Dear friends: Maria has left us. She had to go to heaven like all angels. I give thanks to God for the year and a half that he left her with us."

F1 officials and drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix were stunned by her death.

"My deepest condolences go to the De Villota family," said FIA president Jean Todt. "Maria was a fantastic driver, a leading light for women in motorsport and a tireless campaigner for road safety. Above all she was a friend I deeply admired."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said as the chairman of the Formula One Teams' Association the "whole paddock is very shocked by the news that Maria is no longer with us.

"She was an inspiration not just to women in this sport, but also to all those who suffered life-threatening injuries."

Sauber's Monisha Kaltenhorn, the first female team principal in F1, said, "If anybody represented strength and optimism, it was Maria. Her sudden death is a big loss to the motorsport world."

Williams development driver Susie Wolff recalled how De Villota asked her to carry on for her and all women drivers following her accident.

"She very much said to me after it, 'It's up to you to go out there and show them that it (a woman driver in F1) is possible,'" Wolff said. "She knew that women could compete at that level and that's why, after her accident and her not being able to do that anymore, she just wanted someone to know it was possible. She had such a spirit for life. What she came through was a testament to her strength of character and her positive outlook on life."

Marussia expressed its condolences.

"It is with great sadness that we learned a short time ago of the news that Maria de Villota has passed away," Marussia said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Maria's family and friends at this very difficult time."

Fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso said: "It's very sad news for the world of motorsport as Maria was loved by everyone. Now, all we can do is pray for her and for her family."

De Villota also had driven in the world touring car championship in 2006 and 2007 plus the Superleague open-wheel series.

She was in Seville to participate in the conference "What Really Matters," whose mission is to inspire and teach young people "universal human values," in the words of the organizers.

Organizers canceled the conference on receiving news of her death and issued a statement "transmitting their care and support to the family and loved ones of Maria de Villota."

De Villota's almost fatal accident in July 2012 occurred while she was driving an F1 car for only the fourth time — and first for Marussia — and hit a support truck during a straight-line exercise near an airfield in England. An internal team investigation concluded the car was not at fault.

She first drove an F1 car in 2011, a Renault at the Paul Ricard circuit in Marseille, France.

Her death comes when De Villota seemed to be moving past her accident.

She told Hola magazine in February she felt "free" and "back to being me" after returning to driving on normal roads.

She returned to a F1 paddock for the first time in May at the Spanish GP. There she told the AP that she felt a mix of "adrenaline and also a little bit of sadness" on again being near the sport that almost cost her her life.

In July, she married boyfriend Rodrigo Garcia. She was active in charity work and a member of the FIA's women's commission.

On Monday, she was to present a book "Life is a Gift," detailing her ordeal following her driving accident.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-f1-test-driver-maria-villota-dies-33-100326903--spt.html
Tags: new england patriots   fox sports   Robocop   Nexus 7   Rachel Jeantel  

Wood fires and diesel cars pose pollution threat: EU watchdog

By Charlie Dunmore

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Air pollution is dangerously high across many parts of Europe, resulting in premature deaths, ill health and huge economic losses linked to reduced crop yields, Europe's environmental watchdog said on Tuesday.

While emissions of some pollutants have declined sharply in Europe in recent decades, more diesel cars and a rise in wood burning by households as a cheap alternative to gas mean other types of harmful pollution are receding more slowly.

European regulators are expected to propose a tightening of EU limits on microscopic particles known as particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants, with legislative proposals due before the end of the year.

A total of 22 European countries including France, Italy and Poland exceeded the daily EU limit value for PM in 2011, while stricter, non-binding guideline limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO) were exceeded at most monitoring stations across continental Europe, according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

In the last decade, tighter European regulations on power stations and other sources of pollution have seen a 50 percent cut in emissions of sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain, while carbon monoxide emissions have fallen by a third.

By contrast, the amount of harmful particles and ozone in the air has fallen only slightly. Combined with recent WHO findings that lower concentrations of air pollution can be more harmful than previously thought, pressure is building on the European Union to do more.

"Air pollution is causing damage to human health and ecosystems. Large parts of the population do not live in a healthy environment, according to current standards," said Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the Copenhagen-based EEA.

The tighter proposed limits on PM could pose problems for EU governments, many of which have struggled to meet the existing limits in force since 2010, resulting in up to a third of Europeans being exposed to dangerous levels of PM pollution.

In its report, the EEA said PM pollution - particularly in urban areas - posed the greatest risk to human health thanks to its ability to pass directly from the lungs into the bloodstream.

Despite struggling to meet the limits, cities in Europe - along with the Americas - enjoy relatively low average PM pollution levels compared with those in southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, WHO data showed.

Ground-level ozone pollution - formed indirectly by a combination of sunlight and mixtures of other pollutants in the atmosphere - inflicts huge damage on EU crop production, particularly in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, France and Spain.

It has been estimated that ozone pollution resulted in production losses of 27 million tonnes (1 tonne =1.102 metric tons) of grain in Europe in 2000.

The increasing number of diesel vehicles on Europe's roads, particularly newer models, are a major source of nitrogen dioxide, one of the main precursor pollutants that form ozone, the report says.

That is because while modern diesel exhaust after-treatment systems reduce fine particle and other emissions, they increase direct nitrogen dioxide emissions.

Researchers said earlier this month that nitrogen dioxide emissions from diesel exhausts can disrupt honeybees' ability to recognize the smell of flowers, which could affect pollination and further undermine food production.

(Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wood-fires-diesel-cars-pose-pollution-threat-eu-070450457.html
Related Topics: Phillip Lim Target   nfl scores   Big Brother 15   Premios Juventud 2013   suits  

Automatic cuts re-emerge as budget battle issue

Eighth-grade students from Highland Middle School in La Grange, Ill., visit the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, as a partial government shutdown enters its third week. The Senate's top two leaders both expressed optimism Monday that they were closing in on an agreement to prevent a national financial default and reopen the government after a two-week partial shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Eighth-grade students from Highland Middle School in La Grange, Ill., visit the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 14, 2013, as a partial government shutdown enters its third week. The Senate's top two leaders both expressed optimism Monday that they were closing in on an agreement to prevent a national financial default and reopen the government after a two-week partial shutdown. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A view of the Washington Monument from Capitol Hill on Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 in Washington. The federal government remains partially shut down and faces a default between Oct. 17 and the end of the month. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The broad, automatic spending cuts known as sequestration have re-emerged as a central issue in efforts to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default.

Many conservatives view the past seven months of lower spending levels as one of their rare accomplishments in dealing with President Barack Obama and want to continue them.

But GOP defense hawks complain that the next round of automatic cuts falls almost entirely on the Pentagon, and many Republicans want to shift that burden to domestic programs.

Obama and Democrats would do away with them altogether, substituting new taxes and maybe some spending cuts elsewhere in their place. Republicans are agreeable — Democrats much less so — to trimming future Social Security benefits or making wealthier retirees pay higher premiums for Medicare in place of the automatic cuts.

Sequestration deals mostly with the day-to-day operating budgets of federal agencies. The Veterans Administration is exempt, as are the biggest "mandatory" benefit programs like Social Security, food stamps and Medicaid. The president's health care program — "Obamacare" —also is exempt.

The impact of the automatic cuts that went into effect in March was not as harsh as many people feared. Some agencies were able to move money around to prevent or reduce furloughs.

For many Americans, however, the impacts have been real. Health research has slowed, thousands of Head Start slots have been eliminated and poor people have been left hanging on waiting lists for housing subsidy vouchers.

The future is uncertain but easing or eliminating a new round of automatic spending cuts in January is likely to be a focus of any budget talks once the government reopens fully. Giving agencies more flexibility to adjust to reduced funding levels also is being discussed.

A brief primer on the automatic spending cuts and what might happen next:

—Sequestration was established by the 2011 Budget Control Act to reduce government spending by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts were to be divided between defense and domestic programs and achieved through caps on the money Congress can appropriate each year.

—For fiscal 2013 ending Sept. 30, sequestration lowered Congress' spending cap from $1.043 trillion to $988 billion. Of the $55 billion in spending cuts, $22 billion was from a 4.5 percent cut in domestic programs and $33 billion was from a 6 percent cut in military spending. That reduced the Pentagon's budget this past year from $552 billion to $519 billion. In addition, benefit programs were cut $17 billion. Of that, $11 billion was from fee reductions for Medicare providers like doctors and hospitals. The other $6 billion was spread among smaller programs like farm subsidies. Altogether the sequester produced total budget savings of $72 billion in 2013.

—For fiscal 2014, the sequester lowers the cap on what Congress can spend to $967 billion. Virtually all of the additional savings would come from new and deeper cuts to the military. The Pentagon's budget would drop from $519 billion to $498 billion.

—The debate: House Republicans want to maintain the $967 billion cap for fiscal 2014 but shift all the sequester cuts from the Pentagon to domestic programs. Democrats want to do away with the sequester entirely and set the spending cap at $1.06 trillion.

Congressional leaders tentatively have agreed to extend the 2013 cap of $988 billion for three months while they attempt to negotiate a broader deal for easing or replacing the automatic spending cuts.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-15-Budget%20Battle-Sequestration/id-6f18ae3b93814ab49dbfade368728e37
Similar Articles: today show   adam levine   luke bryan   Clint Dempsey   Nick Jonas  

New York Film Fest: Spike Jonze's 'Her' Closes 51st Edition on an Eccentric Note

NEW YORK -- Her, a futuristic and highly-unconventional love story that was written and directed by Spike Jonze, had its world premiere on Saturday night as the Closing Night Gala screening of the 51st New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

The film, which will be released by Warner Bros. on Nov. 20, stars Joaquin Phoenix as a man who rebounds from a divorce (from Rooney Mara) by dating his advanced operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). It was introduced by Jonze -- who brought out Phoenix, costar Amy Adams, Mara and Olivia Wilde (who also plays a small part in it), but, appropriately enough, not Johansson (who is in production on another film in London). And when it ended, the film was greeted with a lengthy ovation that audibly increased when the spotlight was shone on the talent in a box above the rest of the audience. As the spotlight faded out, Jonze (a best director Oscar nominee 14 years ago for Being John Malkovich) could be seen hugging Phoenix (a best actor Oscar nominee last year for The Master); both men clearly invested a lot of heart and soul into his performance.

FILM REVEW: Her

At the film's after-party, which was held at the trendy bar at the Top of the Standard Hotel, guests -- including Paul Dano and Edward Norton, as well as Wilde's boyfriend, SNL alum Jason Sudeikis -- chatted about the thought-provoking film. In the theater, there had been snickers at some aspects of the movie, which asks audiences to believe that an operating system might one day be developed that can not only converse with its user but also love and be loved by him. But there was also a sense that perhaps such a way of life is not that far into the future, since one can't walk down a New York city block today without seeing people with their heads buried into their phones. Already, we live in a world in which we are more technologically connected with each other than ever before, but also less comfortable having real-world interactions with one another than we have been in a long time. Perhaps the logical next step is to take our relationships with our smartphones to the next level?!

In terms of awards, I imagine that this film will meet a fate somewhat similar to that of another recent out-there love story that depended upon a strange screenplay and brave and sensitive lead performance: Craig Gillespie's Lars and the Real Girl (2007), in which a man falls in love with a blow-up doll that he bought online. That film was more appreciated by critics than it ever was by the public or awards voters, but, at the end of the day, it did snag a best original screenplay Oscar nom for Nancy Oliver and BFCA, Golden Globe and SAG Award noms for best actor Ryan Gosling. And I think the same sort of thing is possible for Her, although recognition for Phoenix may be slightly harder because this year's best actor field is as competitive as it has ever been.

Twitter: @ScottFeinberg

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/news/~3/G5yanL-p5M0/new-york-film-fest-spike-648097
Similar Articles: eagles   Ios 7 Release Date   Linda Ronstadt   British Open   Twinkies  

Iranian dissidents say Tehran moving nuclear research site

By Nicholas Vinocur and Fredrik Dahl

PARIS/VIENNA (Reuters) - An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Thursday it had information about what it said was a center for nuclear weaponisation research in Tehran that the government was moving to avoid detection ahead of negotiations with world powers.

The dissident National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water facility at Arak in 2002. But analysts say it has a mixed track record and a clear political agenda.

An accusation it made in July about a secret underground nuclear site under construction in Iran drew a cautious international response, while the United States expressed skepticism about another claim in 2010.

The NCRI's announcement comes days before Iran and six world powers are to meet in Geneva to try to end years of deadlock over the nuclear program, with hopes of a breakthrough raised by the election of a relatively moderate president in Iran, Hassan Rouhani. Iran denies conducting any nuclear weapons work.

The Paris-based NCRI, citing information from sources inside Iran, said a nuclear weaponisation research and planning center it called SPND was being moved to a large, secure site in a defense ministry complex in Tehran about 1.5 km (1 mile) away from its former location.

It said the center employed about 100 researchers, engineers and experts and conducted small-scale experiments with radioactive material.

"There is a link between this transfer and the date of Geneva (talks) because the regime needed to avoid the risk of visits by (U.N. nuclear) inspectors," Mehdi Abrichamtchi, who compiled the NCRI report, told a news conference in Paris.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, declined to comment.

A Western nuclear expert, Mark Fitzpatrick, said he did not find the NCRI's allegation credible and that U.S. intelligence agencies continued to believe that Iran was "still keeping most of its weaponisation efforts under ice".

"If the NCRI knows about a nuclear weaponisation research and planning center in Iran, you can bet the CIA knows about it too, yet there has been no hint of it in public or leaked assessments," Fitzpatrick, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, told Reuters.

SUSPECTED PROJECT LEADER

The SPND site was mentioned in an IAEA report in late 2011 that included intelligence information indicating past research in Iran that could be relevant for nuclear weapons. Iran dismissed the findings as baseless or forged.

The IAEA document said the information pointed to the existence of a concerted weapons program that was halted in 2003 when Iran came under increased Western pressure. But it suggested that some activities may have resumed later.

The NCRI said such research had continued at several sites, including the SPND. The publication of the IAEA report in 2011 prompted Tehran to start planning for a transfer of its activities to a new site to avoid inspections, it said.

The NCRI, which seeks an end to Islamist theocratic rule in Iran, is the political wing of the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), which fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The United States last year removed it from its list of terrorist groups.

The NCRI said the SPND's activities had expanded over the past year and a half, under the direction of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was identified in the IAEA report as a key figure in suspected weapons-related work and is subject to U.N. sanctions.

Iranian media rarely mention Fakhrizadeh. Western nuclear experts have said he probably lives under tight security to shield him against assassins and keep him beyond the reach of U.N. inspectors.

(This story is refiled to add name of think-tank in paragraph 10)

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iranian-dissidents-tehran-moving-nuclear-research-151131696.html
Related Topics: Talk Like a Pirate Day   philadelphia eagles   pittsburgh steelers   lamar odom   Lavabit