Cate Blanchett has revealed she slept with her Oscar last night, joking it was the closest she and her husband had ever come to a threesome.
Just hours after her best actress win at the Academy Awards, Cate, 44, appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, telling Ellen – who hosted the awards ceremony – that she had taken her golden statuette to bed with her the previous night.
“It’s the closest my husband and I have ever come to a threesome!” she exclaimed.
Cate was still obviously unwilling to part with her trophy, bringing it on the Ellen show with her, where she let audience members pass it around – but only after warning how heavy it was.
“Actresses don’t work out so you want to win awards so your arms get really ripped,” she joked.
Cate also confessed she couldn’t remember her acceptance speech – in which she praised the “extraordinary performances by women” – saying she was too shocked she had won.
“I have no idea what I said … as long as it made sense, did I dribble? … I’m in the middle of hormone replacement therapy,” she said.
Scarlett Johansson is reportedly expecting her first child with fiancé Romain Dauriac.
The 29-year-old actress is said to be five months pregnant, according to People magazine.
Romain, a French journalist, proposed to Scarlett six months ago, presenting her with a vintage art deco diamond ring.
The couple have been dating since November 2012 and Scarlett revealed they were thinking about having children in an interview in December last year.
“I would like to have my own family, that would be nice,” she said. “They say it’s never the right time and I am sure that’s true, but I think you have to plan it like anything else.
“At some point it is something I look forward to. I am fortunate in that I have had a long career – 20 years – that has been very diverse. So, you know, picking a time to plan a family feels like something that I could do and not feel as though I was missing out.”
When the couple tie the knot, it will be Scarlett’s second marriage – she was married to Ryan Reynolds from 2008 to 2011.
The long-awaited murder trial of former Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius got underway in Pretoria today with sensational testimony from a witness who claimed she heard a woman’s screams followed by four gunshots on the night Pistorius’ girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead at his Pretoria home.
The witness, Dr Michell Burger, one of Pistorius’ neighbours, was woken at 3am on February 14 last year to the sound of a woman’s “terrible screams”.
Dr Burger described the screams as “blood-curdling” and said the woman sounded “very scared” as though her life might be in danger.
But Dr Burger said she also heard a man: “Three times he yelled for help,” she said.
Pistorius’ defence counsel Barry Roux, SC, suggested it was part of the defence case that when Mr Pistorius became anxious, he could scream like a woman. He suggested to Dr Burger that in fact she may have heard his client screaming.
However, Dr Burger was adamant she heard a woman screaming, and then a male yelling for help.
Pistorius, a paralympian also known as the Blade Runner, denies the charge of murder and says that while he admits shooting his girlfriend through a toilet door, he believed that she was an intruder. The trial continues.
On her 37th birthday, Jodi underwent a double mastectomy. Thanks to her twin sister, she is now a living example of how early detection of breast cancer saves lives.
Michelle and Jodi on the day of Jodi's wedding. Photo: Supplied
Jodi Beattie’s twin sister, Michelle McCormack, was in the shower when she felt a lump in her breast. They were 34, in good health and had no family history of breast cancer. A doctor’s visit and scan temporarily put Michelle’s fears to rest. But a couple of months later, with the lump still there, she began to worry.
“Your breasts can get lumpy and they go down,” Jodi says. “But this one stayed there.” Michelle was soon diagnosed with advanced-stage breast cancer.
When news of sister’s diagnosis came, it did not occur to Jodi that she might have the same disease. “I was just concerned with her,” Jodi says, “I was devastated by her diagnosis.”
It was Michelle who, despite facing her own grave prognosis and an arduous regime of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, was concerned about her sister. “It was only when she, as gorgeous as she was, thinking about me, brought it up and asked her specialist ‘Should my twin sister get checked?’ “
Twin diagnoses
After learning that Michelle had a twin and in light of the aggressiveness of Michelle’s disease, Dr Daniel De Viana was on “high alert”. He recommended that Jodi have annual mammograms, ultrasounds and even an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan.
“Some people might say it’s a bit of overkill”, Jodi says Dr De Viana told her, but she should “do it to have the peace of mind”.
Michelle and Jodi on the day of Jodi’s wedding. Photo: Supplied
“He kept asking if I didn’t mind because I know it’s very expensive … I was so grateful that we were able to get the money.” A breast MRI can cost around $400 and an MRI with biopsy is up to $3000.
Less than two years later, as Jodi sat in hospital with Michelle who was now in the final stages of her disease, she received her own diagnosis. Her sister was lying unconscious in a hospital bed and, knowing that Jodi would be at the hospital with her, their shared specialist telephoned Michelle’s room. He gave Jodi the news that her second MRI scan revealed a small area of cancer.
“That was really difficult,” Jodi says. “Not so much to hear the news. I think I was feeling quite optimistic because it was early … Michelle didn’t have to know that I was going to go through, potentially, what she had just gone through.
“But just the timing and knowing everything that she went through … that was hard,” she says.
Double mastectomy an easy decision
Michelle died two days later, just days before the pair celebrated their 37th birthdays and before she was able to marry her fiancée. A week after her funeral and on the day of their birthday, Jodi received what she describes as “a good birthday present” – she underwent a double mastectomy.
“For me, the decision was made before I even had the diagnosis,” Jodi says.
“With my sister’s troubles, we often had discussions, she was incredible with her grace and courage all through hers … I said if something was found in me, I think that I would opt for both (breasts to be removed).”
Jodi and Michelle both wanted to be nurses from when they were children. Photo: Supplied
Jodi and Michelle both wanted to be nurses from when they were children. Photo: Supplied
Speaking about her breasts now she says, “They’re definitely not the most comfortable because they’re numb … But I can’t complain compared to some of these women. I’ve got minimal scars. My surgeon did a wonderful job.”
Jodi later underwent a complete hysterectomy and is cautiously optimistic about her future prospects. “Everything’s been cut out,” she says. “All those little avenues of oestrogen have been taken away and it was oestrogen feeding my breast cancer.” She admits that there is still some risk but counts herself as “one of the lucky ones”.
“It’s just so important that women realise it can happen to anyone.”
Jodi doesn’t believe the medical profession could have done any more for her sister, but she has become a fierce advocate for early detection and screening, even for young women with no family history of breast cancer.
“We put it in the back of our minds,” she says. “We think it’s not going to happen to me.
“But I want young women to realise it really can happen. You need to take it that little bit more seriously.”
She doesn’t like to speculate on what could have been, but says of her sister’s circumstances, “Maybe if she was checking her boobs earlier and more regularly, then things could have been addressed a lot quicker.”
Michelle was “very unlucky it was a little bit bigger,” she says. “I’m one of the lucky ones.” And she thanks her twin sister for it.
Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic
Jodi will this year participate in the Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic, a fun run/walk that raises money for National Breast Cancer Foundation research. One of Australia’s largest charity events, it takes place in all capital cities and dozens of other locations across the country.
Michelle took part in the event in 2011 whilst undergoing chemotherapy and rose close to $8000. Last year, Jodi wore the bridesmaid’s dress that she was supposed to wear at her sister’s wedding.
Jodi wearing her bridesmaid’s dress. Photo: Supplied
She will take part again on Sunday, May 11. The fundraising page for her team, Pink Puppies, can be found here.
Mysterious girl: No known photos of Perenna Kei, 24, exist.
The latest Forbes magazine power list declares a 24-year-old daughter of one of China’s biggest real estate moguls the richest young person in the world.
What is clear, however, is that Kei, a native of Hong Kong, is the daughter of Ji Haipeng, the chairman and chief executive of Chinese real estate giant Logan Properties. She also owns 85 per cent of the company shares and is a non-executive director worth an estimated $1.45 billion.
She is also known under the name Ji Peili – multiple identities being a reportedly a common practice in Chinese high finance – and holds a degree in finance and economics from the University of London.
Company records reported indicate that Kei acts “in accordance with Ji’s directions”. Which suggests that being a dutiful daughter has its own rewards.
Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby may have her long-awaited parole revoked following a TV interview by her sister Mercedes, says Indonesian Justice Minister Amir Syamsuddin.
The minister, speaking in Bali, was clearly angry following the interview, broadcast on the Seven Network’s Sunday Night current affairs program.
“I am still waiting for complete reports from the Bali Correction Board,” Mr Syamsuddin told reporters at his Jakarta office, “but for now, I can say that there is a possibility that I will review the Corby’s parole.”
The interview went ahead despite clear statements from Indonesian authorities that they were monitoring the Corby’s interaction with the Australian media and a ban on interviews with Schapelle.
Sunday Night instead ran an interview with Mercedes Corby and a montage of moving and still images of Schapelle during and after her release. Ratings for the show were well down.
But the program is now at the centre of a political storm in Indonesia as the country enters the lead up to elections in April with claims that the Corbys have been given special treatment and calls for Schapelle to be sent back to jail.
The controversy also follows reports that Schapelle has moved out of the luxury villa where she was holed up after her release and into the home her sister Mercedes shares with her Indonesian husband and their children.
From Italy to LA, headlines are speculating that David and Victoria Beckham have splashed out $70 million on the infamous Versace murder mansion.
But the current owners of the property, the Nakash family, have denied the sale, insisting they have “no idea” where the rumours came from.
While the lavish Miami villa is definitely grand enough for the Beckhams – it boasts a pool inlaid with 24-carat gold tiles, gold-plated bathroom fixtures, 10 bedrooms, custom-made mosaic floorings, hand-painted Italian frescoes and sumptuous gilded furnishings – it would be an odd choice of home for the young family.
The residence was the location of one of the most infamous murders of the 1990s, the slaying of fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was gunned down by a serial killer on the front steps as he went to buy the newspapers.
The mansion has been listed for sale for as much as $125 million, but last changed hands for a comparatively paltry $41.5 million in 2013.
The Beckhams are looking for a house in Miami after David announced he was the proud owner of a new soccer team in the city last month.
Rumours are swirling that David and Victoria Beckham have splashed out nearly $70 million on the infamous mansion where Italian designer Gianni Versace was gunned down in 1997.
The villa is one of the most lavish residential properties in the world.
The facade of the mansion. Versace was murdered on its front steps by a serial killer in 1997 in an apparently random crime.
Versace bought the property in 1992 and spent $33 million on renovations.
He converted the modest home into a 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom palace.
The centrepiece of the villa is the enormous pool, which is lined with 24-carat gold tiles.
The Versace family hasn’t owned the mansion since 2000 but it still bears their name.
The pool is rumoured to have cost more than $7 million to build.
The mansion has hand-painted frescoes on many of the walls, making the very structure of the building a work of art.
The home is in Miami’s ritzy South Beach district.
The home is located on Miami Beach’s Ocean Drive.
The house is decorated in a very distinctive style.
The home is lavishly furnished in the Italian style.
Each of the 10 bedrooms features enormous custom-made beds.
Velvet, hand-carved wood and gilded furnishings abound inside the property.
Versace was famous for his flamboyant style, which he poured into his home.
The world’s oldest person has revealed the lifestyle secrets behind her longevity and they have nothing to do with exercise.
Misao Okawa, who turns 116 years old this week, says a diet of sushi and oily fish such as mackerel has helped her live a life spanning three centuries. The Japanese great-grandmother eats three meals a day and sleeps eight hours a night.
Her favourite meal is mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice, which she eats least once every month, the head of the Kurenai retirement home where she lives, Tomohito Okada, told The Telegraph.
Misao Okawa.
Mrs Okawa went into the care home 18 years ago at the age of 98. She was widowed in 1931.
A mother of three, Mrs Okawa has a surviving son and daughter who are 94 and 92 years old themselves. She also has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Mrs Okawa became the world’s oldest person following the death of another Japanese person, Jiroemon Kimura, who died last year at the age of 116.
While Mrs Okawa is the oldest living person verified by original proof of birth, a Bolivian indigenous farmer claims to be 123 years old.
Official birth certificates were not issued in Bolivia until 1940, 50 years after Carmelo Flores Laura’s claimed year of birth, but the country’s Civil Registry Office has confirmed that a baptism certificate and national identity documents which list his birthday as July 16, 1890, are legitimate.
Flores Laura thanks his traditional Andean diet of quinoa, mushrooms and coca for sustaining such a long life – as well as lots of walking and alcohol.
Families wanting to adopt children from Taiwan and South Korea will find it easier from today.
In the first step in significant reform to Australia’s overseas adoption laws Prime Minister Tony Abbott has moved swiftly to introduce changes that are estimated to automatically help up to 30 families.
Until now, families who received an adoption compliance certificate from a Hague Convention country automatically had their adoption recognised under Australian law.
But families adopting from Taiwan and South Korea needed to obtain another adoption order in Australia.
Now adoption orders in Taiwan and South Korea will be automatically recognised.
Catherine McDonnell, John O’Neill and Helen McCabe with Tony Abbott.
Catherine McDonnell, John O’Neill and Helen McCabe with Tony Abbott.
Catherine McDonnell, John O’Neill and Helen McCabe with Tony Abbott.
The change is in response to Mr Abbott’s commitment to make it easier, cheaper and faster for families to adopt children from overseas while still meeting all necessary compliance requirements.
A committee set up to reform the sector is due to report later in the month but it is understood Mr Abbott did not think it was necessary to wait any longer in streamlining the process for couples seeking children from Taiwan and South Korea.
“I congratulate the Prime Minister on this announcement today, and I am particularly happy for the many families who will be directly affected by this immediate action,” National Adoption Awareness Week spokeswoman Deborra-Lee Furness said. “We have been calling for change for a long time, and I am absolutely thrilled to see the Prime Minister’s office committing to real action.”
It is expected the change will significantly reduce the time it takes to finalise adoptions from these countries.
In addition the Abbott Government has also looked at the controversial closure of the Ethiopian programme.
At the time of its closure there were a number of families who are awaiting the finalisation of their adoption.
These new laws will allow these adoptions to also be automatically recognised in Australia.
The committee’s report will help to inform discussion at the next COAG meeting.
Families who believe they might be affected by these changes are being encouraged to contact their state or territory for more information.
Helen McCabe is on the board of National Adoption Awareness Week.
Botox injections will be subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for people who suffer from chronic migraines.
Much more than simply a wrinkle freeze, Botox has both cosmetic and medicinal uses. It is used to treat severe headaches by injecting it into 31 places including the forehead, temples and back of the head.
In order to take advantage of the PBS subsidy a person must suffer headaches at least 15 days a month and have unsuccessfully tried at least three other preventive medications. If eligible for the treatment, a neurologist administers the injections into the head and neck every 12 weeks.
The PBS already funds Botox for other conditions including cerebral palsy, urinary incontinence and excessive sweating.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox injection to treat patients suffering chronic migraines in 2010.
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