Stars who date their staff

Stars who date their staff

Why go looking for love when you can date somebody who works for you, like these celebs did?

But some stars look much closer to home for a partner... in fact, quite a few have dated the people who work for them. Some have even married their agents, managers and their kids' nannies!

Most celebs will only date another celeb - it's just easier to be with somebody like-minded who 'gets' what it's like to be in the industry.

Stars who date their staff. She's having a good year, what with being a new judge on X Factor and all, and now it seems Kelly Rowland has got herself a secret boyfriend. The 30-year-old singer/TV star recently admitted that she had a "special friend" and, according to The Mirror, that "friend" is her manager Tim Weatherspoon.

The pair - who met through her ex-Destiny's Child bandmate Michelle Williams - has reportedly been spotted enjoying a romantic dinner for two and on a beach date in California.
But Kelly isn't the only celeb who's fallen for somebody who works for them...

Britney was single for a while after the break-up of her marriage to Kevin Federline, who happened to be her backing dancer when they met (she's clearly a fan of being with people who work for her!). It took many years before she started a new relationship and that just happened to be with her agent, Jason Trawick. Well, it's not like Britney was allowed to go out and hit the town to meet men like the rest of us! And at least Jason has seen the star at her very worst.

These two are so determined to make things work that he's quit his role at Britney HQ to concentrate on the personal side of their relationship and they are rumoured to be trying for a baby!

If it seems like a lifetime ago, that's because it was... Mariah was just 18 and a wannabe pop star when she gave her demo tape to Tommy Mottola, the boss of Sony Records, and fell under his spell, despite him being 21 years older than the young starlet. What followed was like a Cinderella story - he made Mariah one of the biggest stars in the world, they fell in love and got married - except it didn't have a happy ending and they split in 1997.

After two high-profile relationships with Ryan Phillippe and Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherpoon went behind the scenes in 2010 and started dating top Hollywood agent Jim Toth.

Jim is a big cheese at CAA, which looks after the careers of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock among others, so at least Reese knew he wasn't with her for her money or her fame. In fact, when they got married last March, many of the A-listers invited to the ceremony, including Matthew McConaughey and Scarlett Johansson, were there as friends of Jim's, not Reese's.

Celine Dion's husband Rene Angelil has devoted his life to her career since discovering her talent when she was just 12... and he was 38. The music manager was sent Celine's demo tape by her mother and promptly mortgaged his house to pay for her first track, a French-language recording that made her a star in her native Canada.

They started dated when his protégé turned 19 and have rarely spent a day apart since as Rene has built Celine into one of the most successful solo artists in the world.

Cris Judd was a backing dancer for Michael Jackson and N'Sync before he was hired by Jennifer Lopez to feature in her video for Love Don't Cost A Thing in 2001. She liked what she saw and they started dating and in typical J-Lo fashion, she sprinted up the aisle less than a year after they'd first met. They divorced nine months later.

Ethan Hawke married Uma Thurman in 1998 after they met and fell in love on the set of Gattaca. They had two children but split up after five years amid rumours that Ethan had reportedly been unfaithful with their nanny, a college student. He went on to marry the nanny and they've had two more children.

Hilary Swank was married to actor Chad Lowe, Rob Lowe's little brother, for nine years but as her movie stardom grew, with two Oscar wins for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, his failed to take off. That pressure is said to have led to their split in 2006 and less than a year later she began dating her agent John Campisi, who had helped mould her career. They started out as just friends, she invited him as her date to the Academy Awards, but they were soon mixing business with pleasure.

OK, so we're not sure we could classify what went on here as dating - it was more like a drunken fumble - but Jude Law did romance his children's nanny while she was in his employment. Daisy Wright had been hired by Jude and his ex-wife Sadie Frost to watch over their two youngest children, but Jude got romantically involved with her while they were staying at his Primrose Hill house. He happened to be dating Sienna Miller at the time and the whole thing came to light when he publicly apologised for his indiscretion.

Actor Robin Williams married his eldest son's nanny Marsha Garces back in 1989, and they had two children together. However they separated in 2008 after almost two decades of marriage.

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Absolutely Fabulous 20th anniversary specials confirmed

Absolutely Fabulous 20th anniversary specials confirmed

Absolutely Fabulous 20th anniversary specials confirmed. BBC One celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Absolutely Fabulous with three TV specials. BBC One today confirmed the highly anticipated return of comedy phenomenon Absolutely Fabulous. The award-winning series will return to TV screens later this year with the first of three specials to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The three 30 minute episodes will see Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reprise their celebrated roles as Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, together with original cast members Julia Sawalha as Saffy, June Whitfield as Mother and Jane Horrocks as Bubble.The original pilot for Absolutely Fabulous was made in 1991 and the series aired from 1992 – 2003, with a special that was aired in 2004. The series followed the lives of two best friends, Edina, an International PR guru by trade, but sixties teenager at heart and Patsy, a sex-crazed magazine editor. The new collection of specials picks up in the present day.

Eddy worked in PR and was into every new fad and fashion imaginable, she was often to be found at the bottom of a champagne glass, actually more likely a bottle. Not much has changed. Her best friend Patsy worked in magazines and lived the high life. She still does. Eddy’s daughter Saffy was hardworking and all but ignored by her mother and hated by Patsy. Saffy has definitely grown up. Eddy’s mother was – and is, her mother. Unbelievably Eddy’s PA, Bubble, is still employed and at one point displays a skill no-one knew she had, least of all her.

In the first episode, fans will rejoin the beloved ensemble in the midst of a life-changing experience for one – which affects them all. In the second show, Eddy sets her sights on changing the career of a very big fish indeed. And in the concluding episode, Eddy and Patsy play their own very special part in the London 2012 Olympics. They’re back, 20 years on, a teeny bit older, none the wiser but definitely still Absolutely Fabulous.

Jennifer Saunders said: “Its great that we are able to celebrate our 20th birthday with all the original cast. Like a good bottle of champagne we hope that we have got better with time without losing any of our sparkle. Last week when we started filming in dear old West London, it was as if nothing had changed. It was raining. Nevertheless, we are so happy to be working for an audience that has grown just a tiny bit older like us, but is still willing to let us fall over on TV in the name of PR.”

Jon Plowman, Executive Producer, BBC Comedy and original producer of the Absolutely Fabulous series, said: “Viewers have been fantastically loyal in their devotion to our show, so we’re really thrilled to say that it’s coming back for three new shows to celebrate our 20th anniversary. All of the originals who are back together again are still truly absolutely fabulous and the new adventures of Edina, Patsy, Saffy, Bubble and Mother, plus a few surprising guests, will be a real treat for viewers.”

Source: unrealitytv

Gadhafi wife, 3 children reportedly flee to Algeria

 Gadhafi wife, 3 children reportedly flee to Algeria

Members of Moammar Gadhafi's family have entered Algeria, Algeria's state news agency said Monday, but the whereabouts of the ousted Libyan leader were unknown. Libyan rebels claimed to have killed one of his sons.

The report by APS news agency cited Algeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry as saying Gadhafi's wife Safia, his sons Mohammed and Hannibal, and his daughter Aisha entered the neighboring country on Monday. It did not immediately provide additional details or say whether Gadhafi himself was with the family.

The Egyptian news agency MENA, quoting unidentified rebel fighters, had reported from Tripoli over the weekend that six armored Mercedes sedans, possibly carrying Gadhafi's sons or other top regime figures, had crossed the border at the southwestern Libyan town of Ghadamis into Algeria. Algeria's Foreign Ministry had denied that report.

Libya's de facto government said it considers Algeria's apparent sheltering of members of Gadhafi's family an act of aggression and will seek their extradition.

"We have promised to provide a just trial to all those criminals and therefore we consider this an act of aggression,'' Mahmoud Shamman, a National Transitional Council spokesman, told Reuters.

"We are warning anybody not to shelter Gadhafi and his sons. We are going after them in any place to find them and arrest them,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Libyan rebels commanders said another of Gadhafi's son, Khamis Gadhafi, was killed in an airstrike about 60 km (37 miles) south of Tripoli, Britain's Sky News reported.

Khamis was said to have been in an armored four-wheel-drive vehicle that was struck by a missile apparently fired from a NATO Apache helicopter, Sky News said.

Sky News' chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, who was at the scene, said a man claiming to be Khamis' bodyguard confirmed that Khamis had died in the vehicle.

Col. Al-Mahdi Al-Haragi, in charge of the Tripoli Brigade of the rebel army, said he had confirmation that Khamis was badly wounded in the clash near Ben Walid and Tarhoni. He was taken to a hospital but died of his wounds and was buried in the area, Al-Haragi said, without giving the timing.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the U.S. could not yet independently confirm Khamis' death but said similar information was being received in Washington from "reliable sources."

Earlier on Monday, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court told Reuters he may apply for an arrest warrant for Khamis.

Human Rights Watch said members of the Khamis Brigade, a force commanded by him, appeared to have carried out summary executions of detainees whose bodies were found in a warehouse in Tripoli.

The Hague-based ICC has already approved warrants for the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi on charges of crimes against humanity.

The developments came as rebel forces were converging on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, hoping to deliver the coup de grace of their revolution.

The fugitive Gadhafi's whereabouts were still not known and it was possible he was still in hiding in Tripoli after it fell to rebel forces and his 42-year-old reign collapsed.

The U.S. has seen no indication that Gadhafi has left Libya, the White House said on Monday.

"If we knew where he was, we would pass that on to the opposition forces,'' White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

There was some fighting Monday on the eastern and western approaches to Sirte. Some have speculated that Gadhafi and other senior regime figures may have fled there.

A NATO officer, who asked not to be identified because of alliance rules, said there was fighting 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Sirte. He said there are still clashes around Sirte, Bani Walid south of Misrata and Sebha further south.

Taking Sirte will mean getting past entrances that are reportedly mined and an elite military unit. Gadhafi's tribe is the most powerful in the city. Libyans familiar with the coastal city on which Gadhafi has lavished building projects say its first line of defense is a heavily fortified area called the al-Wadi al-Ahmar, 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the east.

The rebels asked NATO Monday to keep up pressure on remnants of Gadhafi's regime.

"Even after the fighting ends, we still need logistical and military support from NATO," Abdul-Jalil said in Qatar. NATO has been bombing Gadhafi's forces since March under a United Nations mandate to protect Libyan civilians.

In other developments, the chairman of the African Union on Monday accused Libyan rebels of indiscriminately killing black people because they have confused innocent migrant workers with Gadhafi's mercenaries. Jean Ping, speaking to reporters in Ethiopia, added this is one of the reasons the AU is refusing to recognize the National Transitional Council as Libya's interim government.

Ping's charges are much stronger than any that have been levied at the rebels by international rights groups. The groups have, however, expressed concern about beatings and detentions of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Gadhafi had recruited fighters from further south on the continent, but many sub-Saharan Africans are in the country as laborers.

National Transitional Council spokesman Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga denied the AU claims.

"These allegations have been made during the early days of the revolution. This never took place."

Source:msnbc.msn

Laura Ingraham and apology

Laura Ingraham: "I Never Called Meghan McCain Fat!"

 While filling in for Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Wednesday night, conservative commenter Laura Ingraham denied having insulted Meghan McCain's weight.

"Let the record show: I never called Meghan McCain fat! She isn't!" Ingraham said. "And as I have repeatedly said on my radio show and on Fox, she is an attractive young woman. If that throwaway comic line highlighted anything, it was Hollywood's obsession with stick-figure women!" Later, she added, "This diversion about -- 'Oh, it's about her weight' -- my point was that she has no real world political experience to make the case for moderation."

On her radio show last Thursday, Ingraham mocked McCain, saying she didn't get a "role in the Real World" because "they don't like plus-sized models."
"Ok, I was really hoping that I was going to get that role in the Real World, but then I realized that, well, they don't like plus-sized models," Ingraham imagined McCain saying. "They only like the women who look a certain way. And on this 50th anniversary of Barbie, I really have something to say."

Meghan McCain called the comment "terrible" on "The View" Monday and invited Ingraham to "Kiss my fat ass!"
Source

joplin missing

In Joplin, a push to find missing; reconnect families

A large metal cross soars above the ruin of the Catholic church, a beacon in a Joplin, Missouri, neighborhood made unrecognizable by Sunday's powerful tornado.

"If we didn't have faith right now, I don't know how we would get through this," said Sharyn Dawson, while her husband, Jerry, continued the search for his mother, Patricia Dawson, 74, who lived across the street from the church.

As the Dawsons dug through the debris Wednesday afternoon, 25 volunteers from Texas stopped by, helping to move steel trusses from St. Mary's Church that landed in the front yard of the housing unit.
Patricia Dawson has been missing since Sunday, when the twister hit the two-story quadplex in which she was living, her daughter-in-law told CNN. A neighbor was killed, Sharyn Dawson said.

The storm killed at least 125 people, and an estimated 750 people were treated at area hospitals.

The city said Wednesday it had no official tally for the missing.

An undetermined number of people remained unaccounted for Wednesday, after the tornado ravaged phone service, destroyed homes and cars, and gutted the regional hospital.


Gov. Jay Nixon told CNN he ordered 20 more state troopers to Joplin to help speed up the process of identifying remains and assisting people looking for missing loved ones.

Nixon said he acted after he became aware of complaints that the process was moving too slowly and that many families felt they were getting conflicting and confusing information. Such additional resources will help agencies dealing with the magnitude of the disaster, he said.

Nixon told CNN's Anderson Cooper officials were working overnight Wednesday on synthesizing information they can release to families.

About 100 volunteers are cross-referencing lists and cell phone numbers in a bid to reconnect families and determine who is truly missing, Lynn Onstot, Joplin public information officer, said earlier Wednesday.

"We feel like we are getting a better handle on it," Onstot said.

Earlier in the week, Keith Stammer, emergency management director for the city and surrounding Jasper County, told CNN that 1,500 people were unaccounted for.

But "when we open up the area and start letting them come back in ... that number of unaccounted for will start to dwindle," Stammer said.

Joplin officials caution that the 1,500 number doesn't equate to missing.
"This does NOT mean they are injured or deceased, just that loved ones are not aware of their whereabouts," the city said on its Facebook page. "Some people may have been out of area when the storm hit or have since left."

Nixon said he expects the 1,500 number to be much smaller Thursday.

The city is encouraging residents to use its Facebook page, a Red Cross website or call 417-659-5464.

Sharyn Dawson has been impressed by the effort, which has included several agencies.
"They've been amazing, given the colossal task," said Dawson, of Springfield, Missouri.

Since Sunday, some 1,500 people in Joplin have registered at safeandwell.org to let loved ones and acquaintances know their status, said Attie Poirier, media relations associate for the American Red Cross, which operates the site.

Site users have conducted 73,000 searches. They must have a name and a predisaster address or telephone number in order to search, Poirier said.

The effort to locate the missing or unaccounted for has gone viral, with Facebook pages allowing users to exchange information.

One, "Joplin, MO - Missing Persons & Survivors Page," includes photos of those who have not been located. Occasionally, someone posts that a relative or friend has been found.

The "Help Find Will Norton" Facebook page asked volunteers to distribute to local hospitals flyers showing the 18-year-old man, who was ripped from his vehicle during the tornado.

Michael Hare continued his search for son, Lantz, 16, who was last seen before the tornado. "I've got to keep pushing," he told CNN Wednesday evening. "You've got to have hope."

Hare said he can't wait for word from officials and will check other cities to see if his son is hospitalized there.

A heart-lifting reunion between a "John Doe" and his family took place Wednesday at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin.

Hundreds of patients arrived Sunday night at the hospital, among them a critically injured man whose face was swollen and was unable to speak, said Allen Overturf, director of critical care.

The patient had no identity and the staff was going to have state police fingerprint him.

The family of Mark Lindquist had heard of a "John Doe" at the hospital and called, informing them that Lindquist has a distinctive brown spot in the eye.

The match was made.

Later Wednesday, Lindquist's 11-year-old son and sister came to the hospital, where their loved one remained in critical condition.
Source:articles.cnn.com

Paralyzed man implant

Paralyzed man freely moves after getting implant

After Rob Summers was paralyzed below the chest in a car accident in 2006, his doctors told him he would never stand again. They were wrong.

Despite intensive physical therapy for three years, Summers' condition hadn't improved. So in 2009, doctors implanted an electrical stimulator onto the lining of his spinal cord to try waking up his damaged nervous system. Within days, Summers, 25, stood without help. Months later, he wiggled his toes, moved his knees, ankles and hips, and was able to take a few steps on a treadmill.

"It was the most incredible feeling," said Summers, of Portland, Oregon. "After not being able to move for four years, I thought things could finally change."

Still, despite his renewed optimism, Summers can't stand when he's not in a therapy session with the stimulator turned on, and he normally gets around in a wheelchair. Doctors are currently limiting his use of the device, made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Inc., to several hours at a time.

His case is described in a paper published Friday in the journal, Lancet. The research was paid for by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

For years, certain people with incomplete spinal cord injuries, who have some control of their limbs, have experienced some improvement after experiments to electrically stimulate their muscles. But such progress had not been seen before in someone with a complete spinal cord injury.
"This is not a cure, but it could lead to improved functionality in some patients," said Gregoire Courtine, head of experimental neurorehabilitation at the University of Zurich. He was not connected to Summers' case. Courtine cautioned Summers' recovery didn't make any difference to the patient's daily life and that more research was needed to help paralyzed people regain enough mobility to make a difference in their normal routines.

The electrical stimulator surgeons implanted onto Summers' spinal cord is usually used to relieve pain and can cost up to $20,000. Summers' doctors implanted it lower than normal, onto the very bottom of his vertebrae.

"The stimulator sends a general signal to the spinal cord to walk or stand," said Dr. Susan Harkema, rehabilitation research director at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center in Louisville and the Lancet study's lead author.

Harkema and her colleagues were surprised Summers was able to voluntarily move his legs. "That tells us we can access the circuitry of the nervous system, which opens up a whole new avenue for us to address paralysis," Harkema said. She said prescribing drugs might also speed recovery.

Dr. John McDonald, director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, said the strategy could be rapidly adopted for the 10 to 15 percent of paralyzed patients who might benefit. He was not connected to the Summers case.

"There is no question we will do this for our patients," he said. McDonald added that since the electrical stimulators are already approved for pain relief, it shouldn't be difficult to also study them to help some patients regain movement.

For now, Summers does about two hours a day of physical therapy.

"My ultimate goal is to walk and run again," he said. "I believe anything is possible and that I will get out of my wheelchair one day."
Source:yahoo.com

Suspect in Stow case taken into custody

Suspect in Stow case taken into custody

A man suspected of being one of the two assailants in the brutal beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium was taken into custody early Sunday morning, Los Angeles police sources say.

At about 7 a.m. PT, the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team descended on an East Hollywood apartment building with a warrant in hand. According to apartment building manager Maritza Camacho, police, using loudspeakers and with guns drawn, called out to the occupants of Apartment 25. Inside was one of the men police suspect in the March 31 beating that left Stow with brain damage.

As residents of the three-story building stood watching from balconies, police removed, one by one, the people who were inside the apartment, according to Camacho. Among them was a man with a bald head and tattoos on his neck and arms, she said, a description that appeared to match the vague sketches released by police of one of the two suspects. She added that he did not appear to resist being taken into custody.

Several police sources confirmed that the man taken into custody was one of the two suspects in the beating.

Police officials declined to give details, including the name of the suspect, saying only that the investigation was ongoing.
Bryan Stow, 42, a father of two, was walking through the Dodger Stadium parking lot with two friends after the Dodgers'' opening-day victory over San Francisco when he was brutally assaulted. Stow, who lives in Santa Cruz and worked as a paramedic in Santa Clara, was wearing Giants apparel, police said, and two young men began taunting him. One of the assailants blindsided Stow with blows to the back and head, police said.

The two assailants repeatedly kicked and punched Stow while he was on the ground. Stow's friends attempted to help, and were also punched and kicked before the attackers fled in a car driven by a woman wearing an Andre Ethier jersey. Police said it appeared there also was a 10-year-old boy in the car.

As more time passed without an arrest, the reward fund grew to more than $200,000, and the suspects' sketches were plastered on about 200 billboards around the L.A. area.

Camacho said that the man taken into custody Sunday morning had not been a longtime resident of the East Hollywood apartment building, but she had begun to see him coming and going in the last few months.

Stow remains in critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital, where he was moved last week from County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Doctors in San Francisco told reporters Stow had opened his eyes but that his long-term recovery was far from certain.
Source:msn.com

12-mile-high ash plume shutters Iceland airports

12-mile-high ash plume shutters Iceland airports

Grimsvotn eruption not expected to have same effect as 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruptions

More than a year after an Icelandic volcano wreaked havoc for millions of air travelers across the globe, a new eruption has spewed an ash plume 12 miles in the air. Iceland's airports have been shut down, and ash could affect Europe later this week.

Ash could reach northern Scotland by Tuesday and parts of Britain, France and Spain by Thursday or Friday if the eruption continues at the same intensity, airlines were warned on Sunday.

The warning is based on the latest 5-day weather forecasts, but is being treated cautiously because of uncertainties over the way the volcano will behave and interact with the weather.

The Grimsvotn (GREEMSH-votn) volcano, which lies beneath the ice of the uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland, began erupting Saturday for the first time since 2004, sending ash, smoke and steam 12 miles into the air.

It was the volcano's largest eruption in 100 years.
Image: Grimsvotn volcano
Jon Gustafsson / AP
Smoke streams from the Grimsvotn volcano on Saturday.

The ash from Grimsvotn — about 120 miles east of the capital, Reykjavik — turned the sky black Sunday and rained down on nearby areas, covering buildings, cars and fields in a thick layer of gray soot. Civil protection workers helped farmers get their animals into shelter and urged residents to wear masks and stay indoors. No ash fell on the capital.

The eruption was far larger than last year's eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano 80 miles away, but scientists said it was unlikely to have the same global impact as that one, which left 10 million travelers stranded around the world.

"It is not likely to be anything on the scale that was produced last year when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted," University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson said. "That was an unusual volcano, an unusual ash size distribution and unusual weather pattern, which all conspired together to make life difficult in Europe."

With winds currently blowing the ash northwards, authorities said there was little risk of any further disruption to European or transatlantic airspace over the next 24 hours.

No-fly zone
Still, Icelandic air traffic control operator ISAVIA established a 120 nautical mile no-fly zone around the volcano, closed Keflavik airport, the country's main hub, and canceled all domestic flights. It said Keflavik would stay shut until at least noon Monday, canceling about 40 international flights.

Trans-Atlantic planes — including Air Force One, due to carry President Barack Obama to Ireland later Sunday — were told to steer clear of Iceland.

Where it goes after that depends on the intensity of the eruption and weather patterns.

Map locates Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland that has started erupting

A Met Office spokeswoman said if the eruption continues at its current rate, "the U.K. could be at risk of seeing some volcanic ash later this week." She spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to be quoted by name.

University of Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said the Grimsvotn eruption was "much bigger and more intensive" than last year's eruption and 10 times as powerful as Grimsvotn's last explosion in 2004.

"There is a very large area in southeast Iceland where there is almost total darkness and heavy fall of ash," he said. "But it is not spreading nearly as much. The winds are not as strong as they were (last year)."

He said the ash now is coarser than in last year's eruption, falling to the ground more quickly.

In April 2010, the Eyjafjallajokull eruption prompted aviation officials to close Europe's air space for five days out of fear that the ash could harm jet engines. Thousands of flights were grounded, airlines lost millions of dollars and weary travelers slept on airport floors across northern Europe.

Some airline chiefs complained that regulators had overreacted. But a study last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded the shutdown had been justified. It said the hard, sharp particles of volcanic ash blasted high into the air could have caused jet engines to fail and sandblasted airplane windows.

Geological uncertainty
Grimsvotn's eruption in 2004 lasted for several days and briefly disrupted international flights. The volcano also erupted in 1998, 1996 and 1993.

Sparsely populated Iceland is one of the world's most geologically unstable countries, sitting astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American continental plates rub up against one another. Frequent earthquakes push magma from deep underground toward the surface, and volcanic eruptions are common. The ground is covered by hardened black lava from past eruptions and steam belches from the earth — harnessed by Icelanders for geothermal power.

Volcanic eruptions in Iceland often spark flash flooding from melting glacier ice but rarely cause deaths. Usually they only have a local impact, but when they do draw the world's attention, it's in a spectacular way.

The 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano spewed a toxic cloud over Europe, killing tens of thousands of people. Crops failed and famine spread.

Scientists said there were already signs that the latest eruption was tapering off.

"The intensity of the eruption has decreased markedly overnight," Matthew Roberts of the Icelandic Meteorological Office told the BBC, saying the ash plume had fallen to about 6 miles high.

Gudmundsson said the duration of the latest eruption would probably be short.

"In two or three days, the worst should be over," he said.
Source:msn.com

Why home prices are falling -- again

Why home prices are falling -- again

In all of the tumult, it's easy to forget that the root cause of all this mess -- now entering its fourth year -- continues to fester like an untreated wound. I'm talking about the U.S. housing market, which, by some measures, has fallen to new lows. After showing signs of hope late last year in the wake of the homebuyer tax credit, it's now suffering fresh setbacks and reaccelerating price declines.

Consumers, weighed down by rising inflationary pressure and lackluster job growth, are losing confidence. At the same time, tight lending standards and efforts to reform Wall Street and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are restricting access to mortgage credit. Right now, housing finance survives on government largesse: Government-backed entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now account for 95% of new mortgages.

All of this is limiting economic growth by keeping pressure on the financial system. And it risks the creation of a negative feedback loop in which lower home prices result in more homeowners falling into negative equity, leading to more foreclosures, more bank losses, tighter credit and, ultimately, further price declines.

All this leads the analysts to predict another drop in prices before a solid bottom is found. For potential landlords, especially those with cash in hand, this could mean it's time to buy property. For investors, it means bargains on a lot of related equities; I'll have some names later in this column, though I wouldn't start buying just yet.

But for homeowners? More pain. Here's why.
Hopes dashed

Longtime readers will remember that last December, when the economic outlook was much brighter, I penned a column ("Why it's safe to buy homes again") encouraging buyers to jump back into real estate. And if you got a low interest rate and you planned to stay put, it was. I also wrote that barring some "unforeseen calamity, another self-perpetuating cycle of higher home prices" could be seen as early as this year.

Unfortunately, we've had a few calamities since then; Fed-induced inflation, the Portuguese bailout, unrest in Libya and Japan's quake have led to a manufacturing slowdown. Economic growth slowed dramatically in the first quarter of this year to just 1.8% from 3.1% in the fourth quarter. The team at Capital Economics noted that households had "been hit hard by surging prices for everyday necessities such as food and energy."

And now there is evidence that the job market is softening again, with the unemployment rate popping back up to 9% in April. (I covered the economic slowdown and its impact on stocks in my April 27 column, "Investors, it's time to run and hide.")

Housing activity is way down because of all this. Home sales have stagnated near recessionary lows after unwinding the temporary boost from the homebuyer tax credit. Demand for new mortgages has dropped back to levels not seen since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008. Homebuilder confidence has sunk to very low levels -- and stayed there -- for more than three years and hasn't been positive since April 2006.

As a result, home prices have started falling again. What's more, the price declines seem to be accelerating, with the 20-city Case-Shiller Home Price Index off 3.3% in February from its year-ago level -- a drop of a magnitude not seen since late 2009. That's the eighth consecutive month-over-month price decline. The homeownership rate also continued to fall as more and more distressed owners became renters.
There are still some pluses

That's the bad news. The good news is that the long-term factors I mentioned back in December are still valid. These include record affordability, thanks to low prices and low borrowing rates, and still-favorable long-term demographics, as the United States is one of the few wealthy nations set to enjoy an expanding workforce in the years to come -- unlike Japan and most of Europe.
Source:msn.com

family divided over world ending

Kids hope to attend party — but parents say world's going to end

The Haddad children of Middletown, Md., have a lot on their minds: school projects, SATs, weekend parties. And parents who believe the earth will begin to self-destruct on Saturday.

family divided over world ending.The three teenagers have been struggling to make sense of their shifting world, which started changing nearly two years ago when their mother, Abby Haddad Carson, left her job as a nurse to “sound the trumpet” on mission trips with her husband, Robert, handing out tracts. They stopped working on their house and saving for college.

Last weekend, the family traveled to New York, the parents dragging their reluctant children through a Manhattan street fair in a final effort to spread the word.

“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”

Thousands of people around the country have spent the last few days taking to the streets and saying final goodbyes before Saturday, Judgment Day, when they expect to be absorbed into heaven in a process known as the rapture. Nonbelievers, they hold, will be left behind to perish along with the world over the next five months.


With their doomsday T-shirts, placards and leaflets, followers — often clutching Bibles — are typically viewed as harmless proselytizers from outside mainstream religion. But their convictions have frequently created the most tension within their own families, particularly with relatives whose main concern about the weekend is whether it will rain.

Kino Douglas, 31, a self-described agnostic, said it was hard to be with his sister Stacey, 33, who “doesn’t want to talk about anything else.”

“I’ll say, ‘Oh, what are we going to do this summer?’ She’s going to say, ‘The world is going to end on May 21, so I don’t know why you’re planning for summer,’ and then everyone goes, ‘Oh, boy,’ ” he said.

The Douglas siblings live near each other in Brooklyn, and Mr. Douglas said he could not wait until Sunday — “I’m going to show up at her house so we can have that conversation that’s been years in coming.”

Ms. Douglas, who has a 7-year-old, said that while her family did not see the future the way she did, her mother did allow her to put a Judgment Day sign up on her house. “I never thought I’d be doing this,” said Ms. Douglas, who took vacation from her nanny job this week but did not quit. “I was in an abusive relationship. One day, my son was playing with the remote and Mr. Camping was on TV. I thought, This guy is crazy. But I kept thinking about it and something told me to go back.”

A 'fiery trial'
Ms. Douglas and other believers subscribe to the prophesy of Harold Camping, a civil engineer turned self-taught biblical scholar whose doomsday scenario — broadcast on his Family Radio network — predicts a May 21, 2011, Judgment Day. On that day, arrived at through a series of Bible-based calculations that assume the world will end exactly 7,000 years after Noah’s flood, believers are to be transported up to heaven as a worldwide earthquake strikes. Nonbelievers will endure five months of plagues, quakes, wars, famine and general torment before the planet’s total destruction in October. In 1992 Mr. Camping said the rapture would probably be in 1994, but he now says newer evidence makes the prophesy for this year certain.

Kevin Brown, a Family Radio representative, said conflict with other family members was part of the test of whether a person truly believed. “They’re going through the fiery trial each day,” he said.

Gary Daniels, 27, said he planned to spend Saturday like other believers, “glued to our TV sets, waiting for the Resurrection and earthquake from nation to nation.” But he acknowledged that his family was not entirely behind him.

“At first there was a bit of anger and tension, not really listening to one another and just shouting out ideas,” Mr. Daniels said.

But his family has come around to respect — if not endorse — his views, and as he drove from his home in Newark, Del., on Monday night in a van covered in Judgment Day messages to say goodbye to relatives in Brooklyn. “I know I’m not going to see them again, but they are very certain they are going to see me, and that’s where I feel so sad,” he said. “I weep to know that they don’t have any idea that this overwhelming thing is coming right at them, pummeling toward them like a meteor.”

Courtney Campbell, a professor of religion and culture at Oregon State University, said “end times” movements were often tied to significant date changes, like Jan. 1, 2000, or times of acute social crises.

“Ultimately we’re looking for some authoritative answers in an era of great social, political, economic, as well as natural, upheaval,” Professor Campbell said. “Right now there are lots of natural disasters occurring that will get people worried, whether it’s tornadoesin the South or earthquakes and tsunamis. The United States is now involved in three wars. We’re still in a period of economic uncertainty.”
Source:www.msnbc.msn.com

'Macho Man' Savage dies

'Macho Man' Savage dies in car wreck

Former pro wrestling star "Macho Man" Randy Savage died at age 58 Friday of injuries suffered in a car accident in Tampa, Fla., TMZ reported.

The Florida Highway Patrol told TMZ that Savage was driving his 2009 Jeep Wrangler when he veered across the center median and struck a tree. He did not hit any oncoming vehicles.

TRAGIC SPORTS DEATHS
Sports has lost many athletes way too soon. We list a few.

Savage's brother, Lanny Poffo, told TMZ the wrestling legend suffered a heart attack while behind the wheel.

Savage died of his injuries at Largo Medical Center, TMZ reported.

Savage's wife, Lynn, was a passenger in the vehicle and suffered minor injuries, authorities said. She was treated at a separate hospital.

According to the report, both Savage and his wife were wearing seatbelts, and police say alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Lanny Poffo, also a former pro wrestler, posted on his website, "In Loving Memory. Randy Mario Poffo November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011."

Savage, whose real name was Randy Poffo, was one of wrestling's biggest stars through the mid-1980s and 1990s. He retired in 2005.

A native of Sarasota, Fla., Savage signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly known as the WWF) in 1985 and quickly became a fan favorite. He squared off over the next decade with fellow wrestling legends like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior and Ric Flair.

Hogan expressed his sadness Friday on Twitter, saying he and Savage had just begun to rekindle their friendship after a decade.

"I'm completely devastated, after over 10 years of not talking with Randy, we've finally started to talk and communicate," Hogan wrote. "He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him. I feel horrible about the ten years of having no communication. This was a tough one."

Using his signature finishing move, the flying elbow drop, the Macho Man won the WWF title for the first time at WrestleMania IV in 1988. Savage moved to World Championship Wrestling in 1994 for a five-year stint. He last wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2004 and 2005.

Savage married the late Elizabeth Hulette in 1984, and she would later go on to WWF fame as his ring escort, Miss Elizabeth. The couple divorced in 1992 and Savage remarried last May.
Source: msn.foxsports.com

Best companies to work for 2011

Best companies to work for 2011

In today’s competitive business environment, it is a distinction to be named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in Texas. This program was designed to recognize the best employers in the state, the ones that make it a priority to create better workplaces for their employees. Best Companies Group and its partners, the Texas Association of Business and the Texas State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, are breaking ground in Texas with this program.

The list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2011 program—published here for the first time in order of their ranking—names companies with the best practices among Texas employers. An awards luncheon, coordinated by the Texas Association of Business, was held in Austin on January 27, 2011 recognizing each of the 100 companies. Governor Rick Perry spoke at the special ceremony.
How the 100 Best Companies Were Selected
Best Companies Group, an independent organization managing this program in many states around the country and in Canada, launched its survey in Texas in the summer of 2010. According to Peter Burke, president of Best Companies Group, “Identifying outstanding employers is a very effective way of recognizing the importance of creating cultures where employees love to come to work. From recruiting advantages to increased morale, these organizations will enjoy many benefits from this prestigious distinction. All companies that participated also received the results of their employee survey, which will be used to help make their companies even better places to work.”

Companies that chose to participate completed a two-part survey, including an organizational overview of the company’s policies and procedures as well as an in-depth employee questionnaire. The survey, analysis, and list selection were conducted by Best Companies Group. Participation was available to for-profit and nonprofit companies with 15 or more employees working in Texas. Each company that participated, whether it made the Top 100 list or not, received an Employee Feedback Report. This report included a summary of the employee responses and state benchmarking.
The 100 Best Companies to Work for in Texas in Order of Their Ranking Under Size Categories


LARGE COMPANIES (500 or More U.S. Employees)

1. The North Highland Company northhighland.com

2. UMC Health System umchealthsystem.com

3. NuStar Energy LP nustarenergy.com/careers

4. SRC (Syracuse Research Corporation) srcinc.com

5. Medical City Dallas Hospital medicalcityhospital.com

6. Edward Jones edwardjones.com

7. Camden Property Trust camdenliving.com

8. Transwestern transwestern.net

9. CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System christusstmichael.org

10. Texas Mutual Insurance Company texasmutual.com

11. Flintco Inc. flintco.com

12. PAETEC paetec.com

13. Duke Realty dukerealty.com

14. Ryan Inc. ryan.com

15. Pioneer Natural Resources pxd.com

16. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union rbfcu.org

17. Deloitte LLP deloitte.com

18. Intuit Inc. intuit.com

19. Encompass Home Health Inc. ehhi.com

20. Burns & McDonnell burnsmcd.com

21. Vinson & Elkins velaw.com

22. Resources Global Professionals resourcesglobal.com

23. Administaff administaff.com

24. Hunton & Williams LLP hunton.com

25. Shared Technologies Inc. sharedtechnologies.com

26. T-Mobile, USA–Rio Grande Valley (Mission, Texas) t-mobile.com

27. Quest Diagnostics Inc.–Texas questdiagnostics.com

28. Eagle’s Trace ericksonliving.com

29. Sage sagenorthamerica.com

30. Longview Regional Medical Center longviewregional.com

31. Daisy Brand LLC daisybrand.com
Medium-Sized Companies (100 to 499 U.S. Employees)

1. Catapult Systems catapultsystems.com

2. Advancial advancial.org

3. Northstar Bank of Texas nstarbank.com

4. Healthpoint Ltd. healthpoint.com

5. Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southlake texashealthsouthlake.com

6. Cirrus Logic Inc. cirrus.com

7. Apex Capital Corp. apexcapitalcorp.com

8. Pariveda Solutions parivedasolutions.com

9. SOS Staffing Services Inc., SOS Professional and SOS Engineering & Technology sosstaffing.com

10. Strasburger & Price LLP strasburger.com

11. Guaranty Bond Bank gnty.com

12. ALK-Abelló Inc. alk-abello.com/us

13. Keller Williams Realty International kw.com

14. Happy State Bank happybank.com

15. Whitley Penn LLP pcpa.com

16. ProfitFuel Inc. profitfuel.com

17. Community National Bank & Trust of Texas mycommunitybanktexas.com

18. Security Bank mysbank.com

19. Radiant Healthcare Services LLC radianthomehealth.com

20. BuildASign.com buildasign.com

21. HCSS hcss.com

22. Associated Credit Union of Texas acutx.org

23. Stress Engineering Services Inc. stress.com

24. Coppermark Bank coppermarkbank.com

25. Linbeck Group LLC linbeck.com

26. StarTex Power startexpower.com

27. Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery thcds.com

28. Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas PC pkftexas.com

29. UMC Physician Network Services pnsonline.net

30. Austin Bank austinbank.com

31. The Dwyer Group dwyergroup.com

32. E2open e2open.com

33. San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind salighthouse.org

34. Farm Credit Bank of Texas farmcreditbank.com

35. Targetbase targetbase.com

36. USMD Hospital at Arlington usmdarlington.com

37. FKP Architects Inc. fkp.com

38. University Federal Credit Union ufcu.org

39. Velocity Credit Union velocitycu.com

40. Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP deandraper.com
Small Companies (15 to 99 U.S.Employees)

1. Longnecker & Associates longnecker.com

2. Range Online Media rangeonlinemedia.com

3. Starr Tincup starrtincup.com

4. GDSX Ltd. gdsx.com

5. Möbius Partners mobiuspartners.com

6. PSK LLP pskcpa.com

7. MHT Partners LP mhtpartners.com

8. Decypher decypher.com

9. GlobalSCAPE globalscape.com

10. University Title Company utitle.com

11. Lasco Enterprises LLC lascoenterprises.com

12. Improving Enterprises improvingenterprises.com

13. SicolaMartin sicolamartin.com

14. The Medicus Firm themedicusfirm.com

15. Four Hands fourhands.com

16. Aquire aquire.com

17. The Search Engine Guys LLC tseg.com

18. CAPSHER Technology Inc. capsher.com

19. Patrick Henry Creative Promotions Inc. phcp.com

20. K2Share LLC k2share.com

21. The Albert Companies albertmoving.com

22. Workforce Solutions of Central Texas workforcelink.com

23. Providence Companies pristx.com

24. Hartman Leito & Bolt LLP hlbllp.com

25. Debt Education and Certification Foundation bkcert.com

26. Barhorst Insurance Group big-usa.com

27. Inspirus LLC inspirus.com

28. Award Solutions Inc. awardsolutions.com

29. Industrial Safety Training Council istc.net
source:www.texasmonthly.com

Shauna Sand Lamas domestic violence

Shauna Sand Arrested for Domestic Violence, Macing Husband

Shauna Sand, Lorenzo Lamas’ ex wife, was arrested last night after getting into an argument with her husband, Laurent Homburger, and attacking him. She’s been booked for domestic abuse, it has emerged.

The 36-year-old former Playboy bunny and glamour model got into a fight with her 25-year-old husband, and it escalated so fast that neighbors were forced to call the cops.

The dispute began shortly after midnight, and police made arrests in the early hours of the morning. Laurent has also been arrested, TMZ reports.

“Beverly Hills cops were called to Shauna’s home just before midnight, after someone called and reported a fight at her home,” says the e-zine.

“Shauna was arrested on a charge of felony domestic violence after cops noticed visible marks on her husband, Laurent Homburger. Homburger was arrested on two charges – spousal battery and making criminal threats,” TMZ adds.

Both were taken to the police station, where they were booked and had bail set. Shauna got out on bail some hours later, but he husband didn’t.

At the time the TMZ report came out, he was still in jail.

Reports online suggest that Shauna was so afraid for her own safety that she tried to flee from Laurent by locking herself in the bedroom.

He kicked the door in, which is when Shauna Maced him. No word yet on how he sustained the injuries that led to Shauna’s arrest.

Similarly, no one seems to know what the two were fighting about with such violence, especially since they haven’t been married for that long.

Shauna and Lorenzo Lamas, her first husband, were married for 6 years and have 3 daughters together. She was also married to Romain Chavent.

In light of Sand’s arrest and the details of the fight that led to it, Lamas is now trying to strip her of the custody of the children and has reportedly already taken the necessary legal steps for it.

Source:news.softpedia.com

Elisabeth moss divorce

Elisabeth Moss & Fred Armisen’s Divorce Finalized 

Elisabeth moss divorce.“Mad Men” actress Elisabeth Moss and “Saturday Night Live” funnyman Fred Armisen are officially divorced.

According to court papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 13 – and obtained by Access Hollywood – the couple’s split is now finalized.

Moss originally filed for divorce from Armisen in September 2010 after 11 months of marriage. The couple wed in October 2009 and actually separated in June 2010 leading up to Moss’ filing.
At the time, she cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason behind the breakup.
According to the new papers, neither party is seeking spousal support.

It was the second marriage for Armisen, 44, whose recent notable “SNL” characters include President Barack Obama and New York Governor David Paterson.

Moss, 28, plays Peggy Olson on the hit AMC series “Mad Men.”
Source:http:www.accesshollywood.com

justin bieber selena gomez

Selena Gomez: Justin Bieber Is "Such a Dork"

The actress-singer pokes fun at her superstar boyfriend and opens up about life after Disney

To millions of tween girls around the world, 17-year-old Justin Bieber is the epitome of cool. But to his former-Disney-star girlfriend, Selena Gomez, the Biebs is just a big dork.

In a new interview with Teen Vogue, the singer-actress, 18, opens up about her highly publicized romance with the teen idol -- and reacts to the comments he made to the magazine last fall.
When Bieber appeared on Teen Vogue in October, he mischievously said that he'd choose Gomez as his ideal romantic-comedy costar. "He'd say those things, and then he'd be like, 'Did you hear?'" Gomez explains. "He's such a dork."

And though she's quick to dodge direct questions about their relationship, Gomez does come clean about her views on love.

"At this moment in my life, I'm at a point where I want to be in love, to give my all and fall head over heels," she says. "I'm eighteen. I'm not going to marry anybody I'm with, and I know that. The next heartbreak I have, I'm sure I'll be like, How can I live without this person? But I'm still trying to dive in and enjoy it."

The teen star -- who just filmed the last episode for her Disney show Wizards of Waverly Place -- also dishes about her developing career and her fears about moving beyond the realm of Disney.

"I'm in a very crucial spot," she says. "It's like starting over... When they're putting together a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, I don't think they're going to go, 'Selena Gomez would be great for this!' I'm not an option. It's humbling, having to go from this Disney high back down to having to fight for roles."

But whatever happens, Gomez knows the support of her fans will carry her through. She mentions her appreciation for them throughout the interview and even clarifies that she recorded her new single "Who Says" expressly for them.

The song opens with the lyrics:

You made me insecure
Told me I wasn’t good enough
But who are you to judge
When you’re a diamond in the rough
I’m sure you got some things
You’d like to change about yourself
But when it comes to me
I wouldn’t want to be anybody else.

Gomez wrote the song in response to the current epidemic of bullying in schools. She says of her fans, "I just thought they needed it, because of bullying, I hope it inspires them to be who they are."

Source:www.ivillage.com

Queen makes historic visit

British queen makes historic peace trip to Ireland

Undeterred by real or fake bombs, Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday began the first visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, a four-day trip to highlight strong Anglo-Irish relations and the success of Northern Ireland peacemaking.

Resplendent in a cloak of emerald green and a dress of St. Patrick's blue, the 85-year-old queen stepped out from a bombproof, bulletproof Range Rover outside the official residence of Irish President Mary McAleese. Irish Army artillery units fired a 21-gun salute as a military brass band played "God Save the Queen."

The painstakingly choreographed visit has been designed to highlight today's exceptionally strong Anglo-Irish relations and the slow blooming of peace in neighboring Northern Ireland following a three-decade conflict that left 3,700 dead.

The queen arrived 100 years after her grandfather George V visited Dublin and an Ireland that was still part of the British Empire.

Beaming smiles by the queen and McAleese — a Belfast-born Catholic who has spent 14 years lobbying for Elizabeth II to visit — demonstrated genuine warmth between the two women, who have met several times before.

McAleese said Britain and Ireland were "determined to make the future a much, much better place." The queen didn't comment ahead of her planned speech Wednesday night at Dublin Castle, the former seat of British rule of Ireland.

Four fixed-wing propeller aircraft from Ireland's minuscule Air Corps flew overhead in tight formation as a white-gloved, gun-toting honor guard stood to attention.

Inside the president's residence, McAleese introduced the queen and husband Prince Philip to Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. Outside, the queen introduced the president to British Foreign Minister William Hague. The two leaders then planted a tree as two children rang the residence's Peace Bell.

A 33-motorcycle police escort led the queen to McAleese's residence in Dublin's vast Phoenix Park through the unusually empty streets of Dublin — cleared to ensure no anti-British extremist could launch an attack. Nearby Dublin Zoo was closed as a security precaution and no civilian aircraft were permitted over Dublin for the day.

Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to reconciliation with Britain still tried to undermine the visit with real and hoax bombs, but they caused no significant disruption.

Irish Army experts overnight defused one pipe bomb on a Dublin-bound bus that was detected in Maynooth, 15 miles (25 kilometers) west of the capital. Police said the bomb was properly constructed but not primed to detonate.

A second device abandoned near a light-rail station in west Dublin was deemed a hoax Tuesday morning. Later, police responded to at least two more reports of suspicious packages in working-class districts of north Dublin, but no further bombs were confirmed.

Police said IRA dissidents using a recognized codeword warned about the bus bomb, which was left in overhead luggage.

Several small IRA splinter groups concentrated along the Irish border continue to plot gun and bomb attacks in Northern Ireland in hopes of undermining the success of its 1998 peace accord, particularly its stable Catholic-Protestant government.

But Irish and British officials were keen to stress that the queen's visit to Dublin, Kildare, Tipperary and Cork would proceed as planned — accompanied by the biggest security operation in the Republic of Ireland's history.

"This is the start of an entirely new beginning for Ireland and Britain," Kenny said. "I really do hope that the welcome she gets will be genuine and memorable for her."

On her first day in Dublin, the queen was also visiting Trinity College — founded in 1592 by her royal namesake, Queen Elizabeth I — and laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance, a central Dublin memorial that honors two centuries of Ireland's rebel dead.

The latter gesture has been designed to symbolize Britain's reconciliation with Ireland 90 years after a brutal guerrilla war led to independence for the Catholic south of the island.

More than 8,000 police, two-thirds of the entire country's police force, shut down key roads in central Dublin and erected pedestrian barricades for several miles (kilometers). About 1,000 Irish troops were kept in reserve.

Police made it extremely difficult for protesters to get within sight of any of the queen's engagements. Onlookers were given few vantage points to see the queen unless they had been included in carefully vetted guest lists.

A few dozen supporters of an anti-British pressure group Eirigi — Gaelic for "rise" — scuffled with police on Dublin's major thoroughfare several hundred yards (meters) from the Garden of Remembrance. No serious injuries were reported as police successfully moved the protesters to a fenced-off area.

Britain and Ireland spent decades in frosty opposition following Ireland's 1919-21 war of independence and the creation in 1922 of the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland, created in 1921, remained in the United Kingdom.

Ireland stayed neutral in World War II and offered condolences to Germany over Adolf Hitler's death. It broke all symbolic ties with Britain by declaring itself a republic in 1949 and offered sympathy and a relatively safe haven when the modern IRA in 1970 began shooting and bombing in Northern Ireland.

But after Britain and Ireland joined the European Union in 1973, and as the bloodshed in Northern Ireland spilled over into the Catholic south, the governments in London and Dublin gradually found common cause.

Their cooperation provided the essential bedrock for Belfast's Good Friday peace accord in 1998. IRA disarmament and a coalition government of Northern Ireland's British Protestant majority and its Irish Catholic minority eventually followed.

While the Irish remain proud of their independence, many concede that they are closely linked culturally and economically to their much bigger neighbor.

Today's Ireland is home to 4.5 million residents who watch British television and read newspapers daily, and shop in the British chain stores that dominate Irish retail life.

Many follow English and Scottish soccer with passion while the English, in turn, have made the Emerald Isle a favored tourist destination.

Ireland's struggle to prevent a national bankruptcy — the Irish have spent three years raising taxes and cutting spending, and six months ago received a euro67.5 billion ($95 billion) credit line from international lenders — has found its greatest champion in Britain, its No. 1 trading partner.

Prime Minister David Cameron's government offered Ireland a particularly low-interest loan and is pressing other European Union members to give the Irish a cheaper deal, too.

 Source:news.yahoo.com