 |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
| People facing blindness may pioneer stem-cell ther |
| Patients with a rare and incurable eye disease that causes blindness early in adulthood are expected to become the first people to benefit from an embryonic stem-cell therapy. Clinical trials of the treatment for Stargardt’s disease are expected to begin next spring, after an American company applied yesterday for regulatory permission to proceed. If the research is cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the 12 patients with Stargardt’s disease included in the trial could become the first in the world to receive any kind of treatment based on embryonic stem cells. |
| Language: English |
| RSS Feeds for this Blog |
|
Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 76 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 2650742 |
| Visitors Out: 442 |
| Total Visitors Out: 4871 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| Verizon leads carriers in customer satisfaction |
| 2010-05-10 13:20:00 |
Verizon's customers are a happy lot. AT&T's? Not so much, still.
At least those are the findings of a survey (PDF) released last week by ChangeWave Research that found Verizon tops among cell phone users for customer satisfaction and fewer dropped calls.
Of the 4,040 wireless subscribers questioned for the survey in March, 49 percent of Verizon's customers said they were very satisfied with their service. In second place was Sprint Nextel with a 35 percent satisfaction rate. T-Mobile and AT&T both tied for last with only 23 percent of their customers who said there were very satisfied.
(Credit: ChangeWave) Verizon also came out top in the fewest number of dropped calls, with its customers reporting only 1.5 percent of their calls lost over the prior three months. The dropped call rates were 2.4 percent for Sprint and 2.8 percent for T-Mobile, while AT&T was at the bottom with customers reporting 4.5 percent of their calls being lost. The dropped call rates mar...
|
| |
|
| Weisz: No competition with Katie |
| 2010-05-10 13:16:00 |
Rachel Weisz has brushed off any talk of competition between her and Katie Holmes, who are both playing Jackie Kennedy in two different projects.
The Oscar-winning star will portray the former First Lady in a biopic directed by her fiance Darren Aronofsky, while Katie will play her in a TV mini-series, The Kennedys, to be shown on the History Channel.
"She's a fantastic actress, she will be fabulous - it's not a competition," Rachel told People.com.
She added: "I'm surprised more people haven't played her thus far. It seems strange there hasn't been many versions, but it's great she has the opportunity to play her as well."
Rachel is keen to jump into the stylish shoes of Jackie Kennedy.
"It's extremely exciting and scary at the same time. She's American royalty, so there's some fear," she said.
"I haven't really got deep into it yet, but of course she's one of the 20th century's greatest and most fabulous fashion icons. I'm thrilled."
...
|
| |
|
| Favreau reveals Iron Man 3 plot |
| 2010-05-10 13:11:00 |
Director Jon Favreau has revealed his plans for Iron Man 3.
With Iron Man 2 currently topping the box office, the actor and director told MTV he wants the villain in his next movie to be Marvel character the Mandarin, a martial-arts expert who has superhuman powers that can tear apart Iron Man's suit with his bare hands.
Jon said: "You've got to do the Mandarin - the problem with the Mandarin is that the way it's depicted in the comic books, you don't want to see that."
He continued: "He has 10 magical rings - that just doesn't feel right for our [franchise]. So it's either tech-based, or the rings are not really rings. But maybe with Thor and all those others, you'll introduce magic to that world and it won't seem so out of place."
But while Jon said he is keen to make Iron Man a trilogy he admits all the other planned Marvel movies, with overlapping stories and characters, will affect his film
He said: "Iron Man 3 to pay it off, there's so much left to understa...
|
| |
|
| PM Gordon Brown ‘on brink of standing down |
| 2010-05-10 13:07:00 |
Speculation is increasing that Gordon Brown could tender his resignation as leader of the Labour Party as early as tomorrow.
Senior party figures yesterday urged Mr Brown to face up to the reality of the election result and stand down as soon as possible to enable the party to rebuild in opposition.
He could use a meeting of the party's ruling National Executive Committee to announce that he will stand down. Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, would take over as interim leader.
Last night allies of Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, refused to deny reports that he would stand for the leadership — even though his older brother, David, is also a likely contender for the post. Other likely candidates are Ed Balls, Alan Johnson and Ms Harman herself.
While the focus is on the formal Tory-Liberal Democrat talks, informal contacts were being maintained over the weekend between Labour and Nick Clegg's party through “ba...
|
| |
|
| Jessica Taylor welcomes baby boy |
| 2010-05-10 13:00:00 |
Jessica Taylor and her husband, England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, have become parents to a baby boy.
The baby - the couple's first - was born today (Monday) after Kevin jetted from Barbados, where he has been playing in the World Twenty20, to be by the former Liberty X singer's side.
A spokesperson said the baby, whose name has not yet been announced, was born without complication and that the new addition to the Pietersen family and his mother are doing well.
Kevin, 29, said: "This really is the most amazing experience of my life."
The cricketer plans to stay with his 29-year-old wife, a Dancing On Ice finalist, for a couple of days before flying to the West Indies to continue the tournament.
The spokesperson added that the couple, who married in 2008, would like to spend time on their own to enjoy the new arrival.
...
|
| |
|
| Betty White hits a homerun on 'Saturday Night Live' |
| 2010-05-10 12:54:00 |
Betty White fans have another reason to appreciate Facebook. Not only did it provide the platform to petition for the TV icon to host "Saturday Night Live," it became a hilarious punch line in her opening monologue.
"When I first heard about the campaign to get me to host 'Saturday Night Live,' I didn't know what Facebook was," White said. "And now that I do know what it is, I have to say it sounds like a huge waste of time."
The jokes continued -- "When I was young we didn't have Facebook, we had phone book," she said, "but you wouldn't waste an afternoon with it" -- but White's Facebook fans can rest assured their online effort wasn't a waste. In fact, the actress, who appeared in every skit, is getting rave reviews.
"All it took to reinvigorate a 35-year-old comedy show was the presence of an 88-year-old woman," writes Dave Itzoff of the New York Times. "The only real disappointment of the night was when the clock struck 1 a.m. and Ms. White and the cast had to step o...
|
| |
|
| Will.i.am: I'm Cheryl's knight |
| 2010-05-10 12:48:00 |
Will.i.am has apparently claimed he could ride to Cheryl Cole's aid as her knight in shining armour.
The Black Eyed Peas frontman has shown his soft spot for the X Factor judge, who announced she was splitting from footballer husband Ashley following reports he had been unfaithful, and reckons he's man enough to be her protector.
"She needs rescuing after all she's been through and I'm the man to do it - whenever she needs me, she knows I'm straight there, no excuses," he told the Daily Star.
"The way Ashley treated her was just stupid and she knows I will always be there for her now."
Will, who first worked with Cheryl in 2008 when he asked her to sing on his single Heartbreaker, said he would drop everything for the Girls Aloud star, who is supporting the Black Eyed Peas on their UK tour.
"If she's in New York, I will get a flight straight away to see her. If she's in LA, I'll get on a flight there. I'll even come to London if she wants me to. I'd move to anywhere if it ...
|
| |
|
| Singing legend Lena Horne dies at age 92 |
| 2010-05-10 12:45:00 |
She started out as a 16-year-old dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, and later won two Grammys Lena Horne, the silky-voiced singing legend who shattered Hollywood stereotypes of African Americans on screen in the 1940s as a symbol of glamour whose signature song was "Stormy Weather," died Sunday. She was 92
Horne died at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. No cause of death was given.
Beginning as a 16-year-old chorus girl at the fabled Cotton Club in Harlem in 1933, Horne launched a more than six-decade career that spanned films, radio, television, recording, nightclubs, concert halls and Broadway.
As a singer, Horne had a voice that jazz critic Don Heckman described in a 1997 profile in the Los Angeles Times as "smooth, almost caressing, with its warm timbre and seductive drawl _ honey and bourbon with a teasing trace of lemon."
She was, Heckman wrote, "one of the legendary divas of popular music" _ a singer who "belonged in the ...
|
| |
|
| Phantom Of The Opera follow-up Love Never Dies premiers tonight |
| 2010-03-09 05:47:00 |
The world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies - the follow-up to The Phantom Of The Opera - takes place tonight.
The show opens at London's Adelphi Theatre and will be followed by unveilings in New York and Australia. The Phantom Of The Opera has been seen by more than 100 million people, has been translated into 15 languages and won 50 awards.
Love Never Dies continues the story of the Phantom, who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of New York's Coney Island.
The new production, which has been almost two decades in the making, sees Ramin Karimloo star as the Phantom, having already taken on the role in The Phantom Of The Opera in London.
Theatre impresario Lord Lloyd-Webber said: "It is the love story that is the essence of the piece. I tried to develop that story as much as I can."
...
|
| |
|
| The Chippendales know just what women want |
| 2010-03-09 05:35:00 |
Greetings and salutations, fellow stargazers! This is May Seah, your Showbiz Sista, who got lucky recently. I got to chat up three eminently desirable guys–but not just any guys. These guys pride themselves on being your perfect fantasy guy. These guys look really good gyrating in cowboy outfits. These guys are honest-to-goodness original Chippendales.
Yes, as you’ve probably heard, the world-renowned male revue is in Singapore for their “Ultimate Girls’ Night Out” tour, and will be performing their titillating, testosterone-charged routine from tonight till next Wednesday at the Hard Rock Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa.
From the wealth of their vast experience, hotties James Vaughan, Bryan Chan and Kevin Cornell tell us what women want–really. Take it from them. They’re professionals
Catch The Chippendales from March 5 to March 10 at Hard Rock Hotel’s Coliseum. Ticks from $138 from Sistic. Showbiz Sista, signing out. Live long and pop corn!
...
|
| |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
| |
|
 |
