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Hopefully Bobbi Kristina is getting the help she needs in order to cope with the horrible tragedy she has been faced with. Perhaps Whitney couldn’t battle her addictions, but hopefully her daughter’s future happiness and health is in the right hands.
Queen's Birthday honour Professor Ian Frazer is no stranger to winning prizes. But receiving Australia's highest civic honour has taken him by surprise.
His groundbreaking work on developing the human papillomavirus vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, has already earned him more than 20 scientific awards, including the 2008 Prime Minister's Prize for Science.
But when a letter arrived in the post recently telling him that he had received Australia's highest civic honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), even he was taken by surprise.
"I wasn't expecting it at all," says Frazer, who leads the new Translational Research Institute in Brisbane. "I've had a number of scientific awards, but I wasn't expecting to be recognised in the civic realm."
The Companion of the Order of Australia is awarded for achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or humanity at large.
Considering that more than 60 million women worldwide have now received a human papillomavirus vaccine, it is not hard to see why Frazer was nominated.
And although the honour was unexpected, Frazer says he will use the opportunity of being on the Queen's Birthday honour list to extol the benefits of medical research.
"It's a great thing to see the benefits of science being recognized through the civic system," he says. "After all, that's what it's all about - we are doing this work in the hope that it will bring public benefits."
"I think the major message that we have to get across is that medical research produces a tremendous benefit for your children. There is a time lag of about 20 years between when you do the research and when the benefits become apparent, but the more funding you put in, the more you get out."
Born in Scotland, Frazer moved to Australia in the mid 1980s. His work on the human papillomavirus vaccine dates back to the early 1990s, and work he did with virologist Jian Zhou, and Zhou's wife, Xiao-Yi Sun.
Twenty years later, he is now looking forward to the vaccine being made more available to women in developing countries. More than 85 per cent of the 275,000 women who die every year from cervical cancer live in the developing world.
Frazer is also currently investigating whether viruses might play a part causing skin cancers. There's a growing body of evidence that in addition to sun exposure, viruses may be involved, he says.
For example, people whose immune systems are suppressed are much more likely to develop skin cancer. This indicates that in healthy people, the immune system might be helping to control viruses that contribute to skin-cancer risk.
"The obvious smoking gun points to a group of viruses known as polyomaviruses," Frazer says. "These infect skin and are oncogenic, and the numbers of these viruses are markedly increased in immunosuppressed people."
This research is in the early stages, but the ultimate end-point might be a vaccine that could reduce your risk of developing skin cancer. "It wouldn't eliminate your risk, but it could significantly reduce it if there was a vaccine available," he says.
Meanwhile, Frazer says he is also looking forward to the November opening of the Translational Research Institute. The institute will focus on translating the benefits of basic research into patients, particularly in the areas of diabetes, the liver, arthritis and cancer.
Use these social-bookmarking links to share HPV vaccine creator receives top honour.
Joe Scarborough took a verbal jab at Donald Trump on Friday, informing his “Morning Joe” audience that the president knew he’s “scared to death” to be interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The monologue and its cutting personal attacks were classic Scarborough. The former Trump ally, who once lavished the real estate magnate with praise, has turned against the president in the last year.
The MSNBC host and former GOP Congressman recently compared Trump to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and his mother with dementia. Trump hasn’t been shy about firing back at Scarborough, calling him “psycho Joe” and his “Morning Joe” co-host, Mika Brzezinski as “low IQ” and “crazy” on Twitter.
As we swing into 2017, let’s look at the people, shows and events certain to make news on Broadway in the months ahead.
Bette Midler is shaping up as the No. 1 box-office draw this season as the title character in “Hello, Dolly!” She doesn’t set foot on the stage of the Shubert Theatre until March, but her name above the title has pulled in more than $25 million. She just completed a four-week workshop with director Jerry Zaks and chore...
Meanwhile, “Dolly” composer Jerry Herman is determined to make the opening. He’s 85 and doesn’t travel much anymore, but I hear he may take the train up from Miami to cheer on his latest Dolly Levi.
Broadway glamour will be in full force at the Palace Theatre on Feb. 9, when Glenn Close returns as Norma Desmond in the revival of “Sunset Boulevard.” She’ll be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra, Broadway’s largest in years. Close won raves in this revival when it opened in London in 2016. I hear Andrew Lloyd Webber...
What fun it will be to have a contested Tonys after 2016’s“Hamilton” sweep. Competition looks to be fierce in many categories, and fiercest for Best Musical. “Dear Evan Hansen” roared out of the gate with great reviews and swelling advance sales (I’m hearing $15 million). But nothing’s sure on Broadway, especially when...
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” underwent some major work since its middling London run, so don’t dismiss it as a theme-park kiddie show. And “Anastasia” has a huge following among millennials, based on the traffic it’s generating at Broadway.com. Joe Mantello may seem too old to play Tom in “The Glass Menagerie,” ...
Ushna bagged her first LSA nom for playing the much-discussed Nigaar in Balaa. Does she see this as a milestone moment?
Ushna Shah is on a roll.
After popular performances in TV dramas like Bashar Momin, Lashkara and Alif Allah Insaan, her portrayal of Nigaar in Balaa is the one that got her noticed by the Lux Style Awards. The actor has received a Best TV Actress nomination this year.
In Balaa, Ushna plays Nigaar, a spoiled, self-centered young woman whose personality has been stunted less by her actual disability than by others' reactions to it. She may have a congenital defect that makes her walk with a limp but it's her father's coddling that has warped her personality.
There is nothing outrageous about Nigaar, she isn’t rude nor is she loud but she understands human psychology just a little too well and has no qualms about manipulating others or pushing anyone out of her way.
We ask Ushna what it was like to play this complex character and how it feels to finally be recognised for her work.
Images: This is your first LSA nomination. Given your character was hotly discussed when Balaa was airing, were you expecting that this will be your year?
Ushna Shah: This is my first LSA nomination and I am very grateful for it. While I was working on Balaa, I hadn’t really given it much thought as I was completely focused on the character that I was playing.
I left the country soon after and couldn’t really live through the hype and love that the serial had received. I thoroughly appreciate all the love and response I have received from the public and it makes me so happy to see people love our work.
Images: Nigaar isn't the first of your characters to have provoked a response - people appreciated you in Bashar Momin, Lashkara, Alif Allah Aur Insaan, etc. Why do you think it took so long for critics to notice your acting prowess?
Ushna: I wouldn’t say that it took them long because when I did Bashar Momin, I won the best newcomer award for it. Likewise, I received a HUM TV award for Alif Allah Aur Insaan.
Lashkara was very successful critically rather than commercially and to me it has been one of my most favorite characters. The story was relatively dark and analytically it picked up; however, award shows pick an all-rounder that is both commercially and critically successful.
I do believe acting wise there are platforms that recognise artists properly.
Images: Coming to your character, why did you sign up to play Nigaar? Why did it appeal to you?
Ushna: I always like to challenge myself and as an actor I try to set a bar for myself with the character choices that I make.
After the character I did for Alif Allah Aur Insaan and Lashkara, I further wanted to play women who evolve and go through a journey. There were so many shades to my character in Alif Allah Aur Insaan and Lashkara and that was the same with Nigaar in Balaa.
She had so much more to her; you could say she was a textbook narcissist and a sociopath and having seen a few people like that, this complex character drew me towards her.
The writer and the production team were so encouraging and had full faith in me that I would be able to play Nigaar. It was absolutely flattering and though I was nervous about it, I am glad I got to play this character.
Images: What was the most challenging aspect of playing Nigaar?
Ushna: It was really difficult as we were shooting in May-June during Ramazan and I had just got a dental surgery done and couldn’t take painkillers while working as I was fasting.
Being away from family, carrying a hot heavy wig in sweltering heat and being in physical pain was all kinds of challenging and I channelled that physical pain into the character. It helped me play Nigaar.
Other than that, playing Nigaar was a great experience. I got to have so much fun with her and it gave me a chance to tap into my creativity and work with these incredible actors that gave me so much.
Images: How did you prepare for this role? How did you ensure that your portrayal of a person with a disability was authentic?
Ushna: As far as authenticity is concerned, I am always concerned about the reality of my character. I always want there to be absolute truth in all my characters. If I am not nervous, I am nervous! So that is how it works.
For every scene unless and until I can perform to the best of my ability and bring truth to the set and convince myself that this was real, I can’t be satisfied.
That is the evolution I have had as an actor over the years. I was very nervous about the authenticity and some changes had to be made to the character to make it more genuine. That is where the creative collaboration between the writer, actor and director comes into play.
Apart from that, I prepared for the role by studying narcissism as much as I could and bringing myself into that zone.
This is quite funny but my portrayal of Nigaar and her obsession with Taimoor is partly inspired by my dog. I have a rescue dog that was abused and was very aggressive towards other dogs. When we rescued her, there was this look she would give us because she had been loved for the first time. I actually brought that in...
She was horrible to everyone else but she would look at him starry eyed. So I gathered my inspiration from a lot of things like toxic people I have met before, from people who exhibited narcissist or sociopathic behaviour and even my dog.
Images: What do you make of the current controversy surrounding the Lux Style Awards? Do you think there should be greater transparency about the composition of the juries?
Ushna: I do not like to focus solely on the reliability of awards because I have had work that has been appreciated but I have also had work that I was expecting to be appreciated for but it wasn’t liked by the people.
This is not something that I rather give too much thought to because I feel it deters my creativity and that is something that I don’t want to compromise on at all.
As much as I appreciate and like awards I try not to be validated by them. I have won awards when I wasn’t expecting anything so I just want to focus on my work and see where the road leads me to.
Images: Could you tell us about your future projects?
Ushna: I am working on a couple of nice projects that I don’t want to give away right now. I like to surprise my fans and I promise you whatever it is will be entertaining.
Award is double-edged : a boon and a curse . It does increase artis's market value but at the same time it also increases people's expectations.
She appears a real down to earth type of a sensible person.
We have great artists but we do not producers who get max out of our artists. Their vision of ideas for dramas is closed minded. Pakistan need producers from abroad who can bring some novelty and thrill and get max out of our artists.
@M. Saeed . And surprisingly she resembles Rani Mukerjee.
The New York City Police Department Special Victims Division has opened an investigation into hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons after the publication of 11 allegations of sexual assault or sexual misconduct against him—at least seven of which allegedly happened in New York City.
An NYPD source spoke with the Los Angeles Times on the condition of anonymity Thursday and said that detectives have begun the process of reaching out to the women who have alleged that they were assaulted by Simmons in New York.
The allegations against Simmons started with a Nov. 19 account in the Times from former model Keri Claussen Khaligi, who alleged that Simmons sexually assaulted her in his New York City apartment in 1991. Less than two weeks later, screenwriter Jenny Lumet alleged in a Nov. 30 guest column written for the Hollywood Rep...
On Wednesday, both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times published separate accounts from a total of nine women who alleged that Simmons had either sexually assaulted them or sexually harassed them. Five women told their stories to the Los Angeles Times, and four women spoke on the record with the New York Times...
After the Instagram post, Simmons subsequently deleted his Twitter account.
TMZ reports that on Wednesday, Simmons hooked himself up to a polygraph machine in the L.A. area and claims that the results prove he did not sexually assault Khaligi.
Simmons’ attorneys Michael Sterling and E. Carlos Tanner told TMZ that the test was administered by “a national leader in the field of polygraphing” and that Simmons was asked questions about the allegations made by Khaligi.
Simmons plans to repeat the test for allegations made by four other women and will release the results once he has completed all of the tests.
The identity theft protection specialist is spending more on advertising to strengthen consumer awareness of its brand.
LifeLock (NYSE:LOCK) reported first-quarter results on April 27. The ID theft protection services provider delivered a larger net loss as it ramps up its marketing investments to drive new customer acquisitions.
Data source: LifeLock Q1 2016 earnings press release.
What happened with LifeLock this quarter?
Total revenue increased 18% year over year to $159.3 million, with consumer revenue rising 19% to $151.9 million and enterprise revenue growing 18% to $7.3 million.
Helping to drive consumer revenue higher was an 11% rise in members, which ended the first quarter at 4.3 million. The 345,000 gross new members added in Q1 made it the 44th consecutive quarter of sequential growth in cumulative ending members.
However, while monthly average revenue per member increased to $11.90 from $11.38 in the first quarter of 2015, that figure was down sequentially from $11.97 in the fourth quarter. LifeLock's customer retention rate also worsened, declining to 85.8% from 87.8% in the year-ago quarter.
In addition, Lifelock's total costs and expenses increased 21% -- outpacing revenue growth -- as the company continues to invest in its technology platform and marketing initiatives.
"These investments are to support our growing opportunity with both consumers and partners, and to reinforce our brand coming off of a period of negative headlines surrounding the FTC litigation last year," said CEO Hilary Schneider during a conference call with investors. "We are pleased that our efforts in this area ...
All told, net loss -- adjusted to exclude share-based compensation and non-recurring items -- was $5.5 million versus a loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2015. And adjusted net loss per share was flat year over year at $0.06.
LifeLock's management issued guidance for the second quarter including total revenue of between $162 million and $164 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.03 to $0.04.
Lifelock also raised its full-year revenue forecast to $662 million to $670 million, up from a range of $660 million to $670 million. And the company now expects adjusted EPS to be between $0.73 and $0.77, up from its prior guidance of $0.71 to $0.76.
"We have experienced impressive member growth over the past several years, and yet we are still in the early innings of addressing this market opportunity," added Schneider. "Our current member base represents approximately 5% of our total addressable market of US adults with incomes of $50,000 or more who have express...
The discovery of a new ritual pool under the Western Wall suggests a new theory that the Kotel was completed later than thought.
The discovery of a new ritual pool [mikveh] under the Western Wall suggests a new theory that the Kotel was completed years later than during the reign of King Herod, as was believed until now.
Israel Antiquities Authority excavations of an ancient drainage channel underneath the main street used by pilgrims 2,000 years ago revealed the ritual pool. The excavations beneath the paved road exposed sections of the Western Wall foundations.
Dr. Donald Ariel, a native of the United States, said the coins that were discovered in the area were struck by the Roman procurator in the years 17-18 in the Common Era, meaning that Robinson’s Arch, and possibly the longer part of the Western Wall, were built no sooner than a year later – 20 years after Herod died.
The Antiquities Authority said that building the walls of the Temple Mount and Robinson's Arch was a huge project that lasted for decades.
"This dramatic finding confirms the descriptions of Josephus that the work was not completed until the time of King Agrippa II, the grandson of Herod.” Archaeologists added that the completion of the Western Wall left up to 10,000 people unemployed.
Describing it as "nonsense" that the dog is still alive, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says “we will not defend the indefensible."
The dog that injured several people in Montreal North in August has yet to be euthanized, but Mayor Valérie Plante insists her administration is not standing in the way.
"This dog must be euthanized," she told Radio-Canada Thursday. Any further attempts to block the euthanization will be ignored, she added, and "we will proceed."
Describing it as "nonsense" that the dog is still alive, she said: "We will not defend the indefensible."
The dog, described by police as a one-and-a-half-year-old pit bull that weighs 70 pounds, injured four children and two adults in a Montreal North home on Aug. 19. The animal had a history of aggressive behaviour.
It is currently housed at the Montreal SPCA.
Soon after the attack, the borough signed an order calling for the dog to be killed, but Montreal police later obtained a court order to halt those plans.

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