Mel Gibson‘s former partner, Oksana Grigorieva, wants the actor to pay her almost 10 times the US$5000 ($5465) a month he currently pays her in child support.
Oksana, who is the mother of Mel’s nine-month-old child, Lucia, has requested a US judge increase Mel’s child support payments from US$5000 a month to more than US$40,000 ($43,700), TMZ.com reported.
The 40-year-old mother of two currently receives payments of US$2500 ($2730) a month in child support from Timothy Dalton, the father of her first child, 13-year-old Alexander.
In July this year, eight voicemail messages exchanged between the pair were leaked to the public, in which Mel launched a number of insults towards Oksana.
Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva
Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva in February this year
A new Australian study had found that almost half of school-aged children are snacking on sugar- and fat-laden foods after school.
The CSIRO Preventative Health Flagship report, commissioned by Unilever Australia, found that almost half of Australian children, aged five to eight, consume biscuits, pastries and cakes in the after-school period, while 17 percent snack on sugar-dense chocolate, lollies and cereal bars.
The study, a re-analysis of the 2007 Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, which surveyed more than 4000 children, also found that children consume around a sixth of their total daily energy (1300kJ) between 3pm and 5pm. But rather than getting key nutrients in this period, children are consuming sugary, fatty foods with little nutritional value.
And according to leading paediatric dietitian Susie Burrell, after-school snacking on junk food could be making your kids fat. “These foods may also leave kids vulnerable to energy fluctuations and overeating,” said Burrell.
“Given that one in four Australian children are overweight or obese, it is time for the after-school period to be looked at as a key time for good nutrition in childhood.”
Burrell said a child-friendly snack should be nutrient dense, portion-controlled and low GI (to keep them fuller for longer) — but it has to be something they will want to eat. She suggests low-fat dairy snacks, such as yoghurt or ice-cream, which are low-GI and contain protein and calcium.
Some of Burrell’s top child-friendly snacks include:
Fruit
Cheese and crackers
Paddle Pop
Two low-fat cookies and a glass of low-fat milk
Peanut butter on corn crackers
Nut-based snack bar
Toasted mountain bread pizza
Two mini muffins and a glass of low-fat milk
Frozen yoghurt with fruit
Wholegrain crackers or veggie sticks and dips (hummus, tzatziki)
Parents need to be mindful of how kids are spending their afternoons as a lack of exercise is a major contributor to childhood obesity.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids aged eight to 18 watch an average of four hours of television and an extra two hours playing video games on their computer every night.
Burrell suggests limiting your child’s screen time to less than two hours every night and encouraging them to take up regular activity, like a team sport. “Kids need at least an hour of physical activity a day,” says Burrell. “So of course the more structured activity the kids can be enrolled in the better for them from a health perspective.”
Besides weight control, regular exercise also helps build strong bones, a healthy heart lungs and arteries and reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes later in life. According to the Raising Children Network, exercise also builds their self-esteem and helps them sleep better at night.
He is one of the most devoted Twitter users, so it seemed only natural that Ashton Kutcher defended his devotion to wife Demi Moore through the social networking site when he was accused of cheating.
The 32-year-old star, who has been married to 47-year-old Demi Moore for five years, expressed his clear anger at US magazine Star, which recently printed an article accusing Kutcher of infidelity.
“Star magazine — you don’t get to stand behind ‘freedom of the press’ when you are writing fiction,” he tweeted.
“I think Star magazine calling me a ‘cheater’ qualifies as defamation of character. I hope my lawyer agrees.”
And it didn’t take long for wife Demi, who is equally as fond of Twitter, to respond on her own page with, “Excellent point my love!”
It always feels good when you laugh so hard that you’re gasping for air. And, it usually fills us with an incredible sense of joy when we’ve shared that laughter with others. But laughter can also give us health benefits beyond feeling like we’ve given our lungs a good workout.
Research shows that laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain and can even help build bridges when we’ve had conflict with someone. In our busy lives where stress is accepted as a natural part of life, a simple laugh has the potential to support or physical and emotional health. And, the good news in these colder months is that it has the potential to boost your immunity too.
Relaxes your body — the muscles in your body feel far more relaxed up to 45 minutes after you’ve had a hearty laugh.
Immunity — because laughter can decrease the number of stress hormones floating around the body, our immune system functions better and is in a better position to fight bugs and disease.
Releases endorphins — endorphins are the body’s natural feel good chemicals and laughter produces a plentiful supply. Endorphins improve our overall sense of wellbeing and in some instances can even relieve pain.
Improves mood — it’s difficult to feel anxious or sad when you’re laughing. Naturally, laughing cheers you up and improves our mood. Even when times are tough, a little simile or chuckle can make you feel better. So, next time you have a good belly laugh, remember that it’s also improving your health and happiness.
Your say: Do you think having a good laugh makes you feel better? Share with us below.
Related video June 3, 2010: Meg Morgan, a 73 year old P.E. teacher joins TODAY to reveal the secrets to staying young.
Michael Douglas appears on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Catherine Zeta-Jones has revealed she wasn’t surprised when her husband of 10 years, Michael Douglas, was diagnosed with throat cancer. Instead, the actress said she was angered at doctors who failed to detect her husband’s cancer earlier.
“It makes me furious they didn’t detect it earlier,” she told People magazine .
“He sought every option and nothing was found.”
The 40-year-old actress said her husband had been complaining about ear and throat pain for months , but doctors didn’t detect the small walnut sized cancer under the actor’s tongue until three weeks ago.
“It wasn’t a huge shock,” she said.
“I knew something was up. He knew something was up.”
Douglas, 65, who has undergone eight weeks of intensive treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, openly spoke for the first time about his condition on the Late Show with David Letterman. He said his stage-four cancer had spread to his neck and other parts of his head.
“I’m treating this as a curable disease. It’s a fight. I’ll beat this,” he said during the TV appearance.
When asked what he believed caused his cancer, the Wall Street: Money never sleeps star said it was partly due to his stressful “long year”, referring to his son Cameron Douglas who was sentenced to five years jail on drug charges.
The actor, who also admitted this type of cancer is caused by drinking alcohol and smoking, has been given an 80 percent chance of recovery by doctors.
It’s been months since we’ve had such a plethora of red carpet glamour to devour in the one sitting. Thank goodness for the 62nd Prime time Emmy Awards.
The Mad Men ladies were the stars of the red carpet with January Jones’ Versace gown sparking debate from the blogosphere and Christina Hendricks cementing her place atop of The Weekly’s style crush in a fabulous Zac Posen piece.
Here are the standout looks from the night.
*Mad Men* stars January Jones, Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks
Mad Men stars January Jones, Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks
Nothing screams red-carpet glamour like a long dress pulling a train behind it and it seems all of Hollywood got that memo before the Emmy Awards.
Celebrities opted for the latest glamour look, which is usually reserved for brides.
Stars such as Susan Sarandon, Tina Fey,Eva Longoria Parker and our own Rose Byrne all opted for the look, which certainly got them noticed on the red carpet.
Flick through our selection of the celebrities who pulled off the train trend flawlessly.
Tina Watson had been married for just 11 days when she died scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef. What part did her husband Gabe play in her death? This exclusive extract from new book Honeymoon Dive sheds some light on the tragedy.
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but for American newlyweds Gabe and Tina Watson, their honeymoon on the Great Barrier Reef turned into a nightmare when a scuba diving trip went disastrously wrong.
Gabe, a trained rescue diver, and his less experienced wife were diving off the Queensland coast in 2003 when she died. Her husband claims she got into unexplained difficulties and he could not save her, so he went for help. Experienced divers claimed this did not make sense.
This extract from a new book recreates the tension and scepticism on the charter boat Spoilsport when Gabe returned to the surface without his wife. On the Spoilsport the news was out: Tina was missing. From then on events speeded up, overlapping each other in the confusion. Rebecca Hayllar, the hostess on the Spoilsport, grabbed the oxygen resuscitation gear and the DAN 02 kit from a cupboard and brought it all up to the dive deck.
Crewman Craig Haslet helped her place them in the dinghy. American tourist and experienced diver Ken Snyder had found Dr John Downie, a specialist doctor and diver from Chicago, who stepped hastily into the tender. Ken went to the back deck and found Gabe standing there. “My God. What happened?” Ken asked.
“We were into our dive – and at around 30 feet – Tina started to panic because she was over-weighted. I couldn’t control her. She was too heavy and she started flailing. She knocked my mask and regulator off and by the time I’d got myself organised, she had descended 10 feet below me and was sinking.
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The NCIS star talks to Laurie Sandell about his most important role – playing dad to five kids.
Chris O’Donnell first hit the big time as the perfect boy next door. But these days, the boy wonder we remember as Robin from the Batman movies is all grown up and has a family of five boisterous kids – Lily, 10, Christopher “Chip”, 9, Charles, 7, Finley, 4 and Maeve, 2. Now starring in NCIS: Los Angeles, Chris – the youngest of seven himself – attends every one of his kids’ weekend sporting events. Today, the 40-year-old and his wife of 13 years, Caroline, live a laidback existence in LA, and he says it’s at home, not in front of the bright lights, where he’s most comfortable.
How did you and Caroline meet?
I lived in the same building as her brother Andrew. She came to visit and we had a little smooch. I knew there was something special about her from that moment, but we didn’t see each other again for three years. One night I was out with Andrew and said, “What’s that little sister of yours up to? Let’s give her a call”. So we did, and she was like, “Why are you calling me?” I didn’t really know why, except that I had never forgotten her. And we started talking … We dated for three years and got married when I was 26.”
Do you think you’ll stop at five kids?
Oh, my God, yeah! To be honest, we got four and said, “Wow, this is a lot”. We really wanted to have another girl, but we thought, “That’s crazy”. A year later we found out [we were pregnant] and we were like, “Ok, a little miscommunication there …” [Laughs] But things work out for a reason, and we can’t imagine our life without Maeve. Look at those pigtails – she’s Cindy Lou Who!
How do you and Caroline manage to find time for yourselves?
Our time is after 8pm, after the kids are all in bed. Friday night we had dinner at this nice tapas restaurant; we were drinking sangria and came home at 12.15am. That’s a wild night for us, because you have to answer the bell the next morning. Maeve starts crying at 6.45am, and we’ll start kicking each other under the bed sheets: “Maeve is crying. Get her.” Or you do that fake pretend sleep where as soon as the other person gets up, you’ll say, “Oh, are you going to get her? I’ll stay here then. I didn’t even hear her.” We’ll also do weekends away occasionally, just the two of us, which I think is important.
Ever have one of those moments where you look around at your life and say, “Ah this is what it’s all about?”
For sure. When I’m sitting in the backyard at the end of the day with a glass of wine, watching the kids having fun and clowning around, for me, that’s what it all about. I have my own worries and concerns and frustrations, but I’m doing something that I love to do. My wife and kids are in good shape. What is there not to be happy about?
Older sister Isabella steps in as Suri shows who’s really the boss in the Cruise family.
Both her parents have described her as “determined” and “strong-willed”, and as our photographs show, little Suri Cruise certainly has a mind of her own.
In a scene familiar to mothers around the world, four-year-old Suri threw a whopper of a tantrum on an outing with her mum Katie Holmes and sister Isabella in Toronto last week, digging her heels in, stamping her feet and pulling away from Katie.
It was big sis Isabella who finally calmed down little Suri on the girls’ shopping trip, offering the pouting preschooler her favourite security blanket, while an embarrassed Katie, 31, watched on.
The daughter of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Isabella has in recent years grown much closer to stepmum Katie, who is in Canada filming the miniseries The Kennedys.
The 17-year-old receives scant media attention compared to her baby sister, who is fast developing a reputation for getting what she wants when she wants it – and dropping her famous bottom lip when she doesn’t.
