Spanish king undergoes hip surgery again

Spanish King Juan Carlos underwent surgery for a second time, the royal palace said, after suffering a broken hip during a much-criticised Botswana hunting trip and receiving a prosthesis. Juan Carlos, 74, "was operated on this evening at the hospital USP San Jose for a dislocated right hip which he suffered in the afternoon as a result of a wrong movement," the palace said in a statement. The monarch was "recovering satisfactorily in the hospital where he will spend the night," the statement said. The Spanish king -- who is widely respected for leading his people to democracy after decades of dictatorship and foiling an armed coup plot in 1981 -- faced unusually strong criticism when it emerged he went on the expensive hunting trip while his country suffers from a recession. The trip came...

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The First Lady's whirlwind tour of Spain in 2010 better have been a once in a lifetime trip, because her getaway cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars.

The highly controversial and lavish trip drew ire at the time, but the White House assured the public that the Obamas picked up the tab on their own.But new information from Judicial Watch, a public interest group that investigates government corruption, detailed the extensive security costs to the United States Air Force and Secret Service.The Obamas' highly publicized and polarizing vacations may cost even more to the First Family, as voters appear to be disheartened by their extravagance. Scroll down for videoInquisition: New documents revealed that Michelle Obama's trip to Spain in 2010 cost taxpayers $500,000'The American...

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After Mel Gibson-Joe Eszterhas spat, Hollywood Jews standing by Gibson on ‘Judah Maccabee’

So an outsider might find it strange that one of Hollywood’s biggest studios, Warner Bros., agreed to make a movie about one of the Jewish world’s greatest heroes with a star known for going on anti-Semitic tirades. And when the plans to film “Judah Maccabee” fell apart this month, igniting a feud between producer Mel Gibson and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas that involved more accusations of anti-Semitism, Hollywood again went for Mel. A cross-section of industry figures interviewed by JTA -- all of them Jewish and a number of whom come from families who survived the Holocaust or fled the Nazis -- overwhelmingly defended Gibson over the Hungarian-born Eszterhas. Veteran producer Mike Medavoy, whose parents fled to Shanghai in the 1920s to escape the Russian pogroms, has known Gibson and Eszterhas...

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A Big Head Rolls at Disney

Studio executives have a limited shelf life in Hollywood -- especially if they release a flop. Rich Ross, who resigned as Disney's movie honcho last week, was responsible for a pair of them. Most recently he signed off on the sci-fi epic John Carter and the animated bomb Mars Needs Moms. His departure bruises the reputation of the Mouse, but fear not -- it's still in pretty good shape. Your favorite character on a lunchbox Ross failed to deliver Disney what it wanted, which, to put it allegorically, was more pirates -- Pirates of the Caribbean, that is. In other words, over the past few years the company has aimed to produce splashy big-budget movies that turn a healthy profit and thus possess the potential to become franchises. That's because the company's success depends in large part on...

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exploding the common myths about which foods are good for us

Myth: Salt in your diet causes high blood pressureIn the 1940s, Walter Kempner, a researcher at Duke University, North Carolina, became famous for using salt restriction to treat people with high blood pressure. Later, studies confirmed that reducing salt could help reduce hypertension. But you don't have to avoid salt entirely, says Sara Stanner, of the Nutrition Society. "Adults need a small amount of sodium in their diet to maintain the body's fluid balance."Average salt intakes have come down in recent years, mainly due to product reformulation. But it's still the case that many of us consume too much salt – around 9g a day instead of the maximum recommended dose of 6g per day – around 75 per cent of which is in processed foods such as soups, sauces, sandwiches and processed meat."People...

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police hunt for Michael Brown's missing millions

British police are still trying to trace £18m allegedly stolen by the Liberal Democrats' fugitive donor Michael Brown, who is expected to be extradited to Britain within the next 10 days. Brown, 46, was in a holding cell near Madrid airport on Sunday, having been deported from the Dominican Republic, where he had been on the run from UK authorities for three years. Brown, who gave £2.4m to the Liberal Democrats before the 2005 general election, is not expected to challenge a formal move to extradite him to London which has already been set in motion. He was convicted of theft and false accounting in his absence in Britain in 2008 and sentenced to seven years in jail. Detectives are still trying to trace around £18m of Brown's stolen money, which had been moved between his accounts in the...

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Donaldson enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in Marbella and Tenerife, trafficking accused found hiding in loft with £70k in cash

 A SUSPECTED drug trafficker was found by police hiding in a farmhouse loft in Scotland with a bag stuffed with £70,000, a Spanish court was told last week. Ian Donaldson, 32, is accused of helping fund an international drugs ring smuggling cocaine and speed from Spain to Scotland The former amateur racing driver – who drove a Lamborghini with the distinctive Lambo 88 plate – was tracked down to the farm by officers from the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency. Donaldson – who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in Marbella and Tenerife– is one of six Brits facing court in Madrid accused of making millions from the drugs trade. Detective Inspector James Wallace of the SCDEA told the court: “I arrested him on February 27, 2009. He was hiding in a loft area in a farm building. We also found...

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Is Simon Cowell self destructing? A new book paints him as a crude, misogynistic womaniser - with some very strange personal habits

Simon Cowell has made many, many mistakes in his life, and up until now has admitted to them all with good-natured embarrassment. In his record company days he turned down Take That, saying of Gary Barlow: ‘I don’t like the lead singer, he’s too fat.’ He also missed out on signing the Spice Girls, and failed to buy the song Hit Me Baby One More Time, which was a colossal, career- making hit for Britney Spears. More recently, he fired Louis Walsh from The X Factor and then realised he had blundered. And that’s not even mentioning his attempts to take Cheryl Cole to America. Despite all this, up until now his successes have been such that it has been possible to paint him as a Midas figure. He was ‘King Cowell’, the biggest star in the global television world — a man who had built a £200 million...

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Wayne Rooney launches phone-hacking claim

Wayne Rooney and England rugby union World Cup winner Matt Dawson are among the new wave of high-profile figures suing Rupert Murdoch's News International over alleged News of the World phone hacking. The England and Manchester United football star, his agent Paul Stretford, Dawson, now a BBC rugby commentator and Question of Sport team captain, actor James Nesbitt and Sir John Major's former daughter-in-law, Emma Noble, are among 46 new phone-hacking cases filed at the high court in London. Times Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the Times and Sunday Times, is also facing its first civil damages claim, from Northern Ireland human rights campaigner Jane Winter, who is also suing NoW publisher, News Group Newspapers. Winter's claim is related to an article in the...

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Massive great white shark kills champion bodyboarder

A champion South African bodyboarder was killed by a 13-foot-long great white shark off the coast of South Africa. According to the Cape Times, the attack occurred Thursday afternoon off of Gordons Bay, a popular surfing destination located about 55 miles east of Cape Town. David Lilienfeld, 20, was killed after the shark severed his right leg below the hip. Lilienfeld's younger brother, Gustav, had attempted to fend off the shark with his board. The shark lunged at David Lilienfeld twice before returning for the fatal attack. Gustav, who was not injured, rushed his brother back to shore on his board, but David had lost too much blood by the time rescuers reached him. "This was his life, and he died doing what he loved," his father, Dirk, said at the scene. One witness insisted the tragedy...

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Cameron family fortune made in tax havens

 The structure employed by Cameron senior is now commonplace among modern hedge funds, which argue that offshore status can help attract international investors. UK residents would ordinarily have to pay tax on any profits they repatriated, and there is nothing to suggest the Camerons did not. Nevertheless, the dramatic growth of such offshore financial activity has raised concerns that national tax authorities are struggling to pin down the world's super-rich. Ian Cameron took advantage of a new climate of investment after all capital controls were abolished in 1979, making it legal to take any sum of money out of the country without it being taxed or controlled by the UK government. Not long after the change, brought in by Margaret Thatcher after her first month in power, Ian Cameron...

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Mike Tyson has for the first time revealed his lowest point ever in a searingly candid interview.

Once known as the ‘baddest man on the planet’, his life has taken more than a few dark twists and turns.But now Mike Tyson has for the first time revealed his lowest point ever in a searingly candid interview.The former heavyweight champion said that back in 2009 he was in a hotel room with seven prostitutes, a morphine drip in his arm, a pile of cocaine and a bottle of cognac when he began to feel paranoid.Candid: The former world champion gave his most honest interview yet - revealing the drug-fuelled night that made him turn his life around and get clean and soberConvinced the women were trying to steal from him he started beating them up...

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EU condemns Repsol state seizure

 The European Parliament has passed a resolution condemning a nationalisation that has strained relations between Spain and Argentina. Argentina has nationalised YPF, wiping out the Spanish firm Repsol's controlling-stake in the oil firm. The resolution asks the European Commission to consider a "partial suspension" of tariffs that benefit Argentine exports into the EU. Shares in Repsol has another decline, falling 2.3% on Friday. Over the week, Repsol stock has lost almost a fifth of its value. MEPs in the European Parliament said the institution "deplores" the decision taken by Argentina and describes it as an "attack on the exercise of free enterprise". Decisions such as that taken by the Argentine authorities "can put a strain on the climate of understanding and friendship needed...

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Hacking scandal: the net tightens on the Murdochs

 Rupert Murdoch's grip on his media empire was dramatically challenged yesterday after his company was labelled a "toxic shadow state" which launched a dirty tricks campaign against MPs and now faces a salvo of phone-hacking claims in the United States. On a tumultuous day for the media mogul, the lawyer who brought the first damages claims against the News of the World in Britain said he had uncovered new allegations of the use of "dark arts" by News Corp in America and was ready to file at least three phone-hacking lawsuits in the company's backyard. The sense of a legal net tightening around Mr Murdoch and News Corp was heightened by the announcement that he and his son James will testify separately next week before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards during three days of what...

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British police arrested three people, including the royal editor of Rupert Murdoch's Sun tabloid

British police arrested three people, including the royal editor of Rupert Murdoch's Sun tabloid, a source familiar with the situation said, in an escalation of a long-running phone hacking scandal which reaches into Britain's political establishment.Thursday's arrests and the fact they stemmed from information given to the police by Murdoch's company itself is likely to reignite tensions within the media group, just days before parliament gives its verdict on how the culture of illegality came about.Next week Rupert Murdoch and son James will also appear before a judicial inquiry to answer questions over the conduct of the press, which will focus on the close ties between Murdoch, his executives and the political establishment.James Murdoch will appear in court room 73 at the...

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Phone data shows romance 'driven by women'

 A study of mobile phone calls suggests that women call their spouse more than any other person. That changes as their daughters become old enough to have children, after which they become the most important person in their lives. The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. It also shows that men call their spouse most often for the first seven years of their relationship. They then shift their focus to other friends. The results come from an analysis of the texts of mobile phone calls of three million people. According to the study's co-author, Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University, UK, the investigation shows that pair-bonding is much more important to women than men. "It's the first really strong evidence that romantic relationships are driven by women,"...

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Secret Service scandal sheds light on sex tourism in Latin America

Type in "sex tourism" and "Brazil" in Google, and the first site that comes up is not a news report or academic study, but advice on going rates and how to hire prostitutes. But ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, officials are starting to clamp down on the country's image as a haven for sex tourism. Brazil's Tourism Ministry recently said it identified more than 2,000 sites advertising the South American giant's sex industry, many of them hosted in the US. To counter the reputation, the tourism ministry has stepped up efforts to advertise Brazil's natural beauties like beaches and the Amazon, instead of bodies for sale. And they have circulated information reminding visitors that sexual exploitation of minors is a crime.  Brazil's preventive efforts seem more crucial than...

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