Hawking tells fans Malik may be in parallel One Direction
What is the cosmological effect of singer Zayn Malik leaving the best-selling boy band One Direction and consequently disappointing millions of teenage girls around the worldIJ The advice of British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to heartbroken fans is to follow theoretical physics because Malik may well still be a member of the pop group in another universe. The physicist took a break from speaking about his work as one of the world’s leading scientists to answer the question from one upset fan during a talk at Sydney Opera House last weekend.
“Finally a question about something important,” Hawking, who appeared via hologram, said to loud laughs from the audience. “My advice to any heartbroken young girl is to pay attention to the study of theoretical physics because, one day, there may well be proof of multiple universes.
“It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that somewhere outside of our own universe lies another, different universe and, in that universe, Zayn is still in One Direction.”
(Reuters)
Pink concert did not harm New Jersey girl: judge
A New Jersey judge has ruled that a mother’s decision to take her 11-year-old daughter to a Pink concert is not “bad parenting”. The unidentified girl’s father claimed that his ex-wife had exposed their daughter to inappropriate song lyrics and “sexually suggestive” dancing when she took the girl to a Pink concert in 2013. But Ocean County Judge Superior Court Judge lawrence R Jones ruled that the girl’s mother had the right to determine what’s best for her child while they are together.
“Each parent has a basic constitutional right and ability to exercise reasonable discretion on child-related issues during his or her own parenting time, so long as such choices do not unreasonably compromise the child’s general health, safety and welfare,” Jones said.
Jones said he consulted the girl, who was a Pink fan, and found that she had enjoyed the show. “When all the smoke from the custody litigation clears, it will be self-evident that all which happened here is that a young girl went to her first rock concert with her mother and had a really great time,” he added.
(UPI)
Woman hits president with a mango, gets a new house
A woman who bashed President Nicolas Maduro on the head with a mango has been promised a new house for her troubles in a surreal tropical tale that has gone viral in Venezuela. The 52-year-old president was driving a bus through a crowd last weekend in the central state of Aragua when someone in the crowd tossed the fruit at him.
“It says: ‘If you can, call me’,” the former bus driver said later during the week, as he displayed the fruit with a name and phone number scrawled on it on television.
“Marleny Olivo had a problem with her house. (Officials) called her. She was scared. She couldn’t believe it was true. ... I’ve approved an apartment for you, Marleny, as part of the ‘Grand Venezuelan Housing Mission’,” he added, vowing to eat the mango.
Venezuela’s ever ebullient cybersphere did not miss a beat, with the President’s populist gesture drawing admiration and derision, plus plenty of jokes. “If for a mango they give you apartments, then you know what to do: throw him a pineapple!” quipped Dolar Today, a website that quotes the black market for dollars and is hated by Maduro.
like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013, Maduro collects heaps of petitions during trips, although most are scribbled on paper rather than hurled at him on fruit. In a habit that delights many poor supporters but irritates critics, Maduro — like Chavez — often personally gives away homes, appliances or pensions to low-income Venezuelans.
(Yahoo)
China cracks down on exotic dancers at village funerals
China will crack down on strippers who perform at rural funerals, the Ministry of Culture said, taking aim at performances it described as illegal and which corrupt “social morals”. State media said burlesque shows at some funerals aim to draw more mourners and show off the family’s wealth, in a practice that is infrequent, although gaining popularity.
In a notice on its website, the ministry called for a “black list” of people and workplaces that engage in such shows. It singled out a group of burlesque dancers, the Red Rose Song and Dance Troupe, who did a strip-tease after the small-town funeral of an elderly person in the northern province of Hebei in February. One leader of Red Rose, surnamed li, was punished with 15 days in detention and a fine of $11,300.
(Reuters)
Three women jailed in Russia for twerking
A court in southern Russia has sentenced three young women to brief jail terms for making a video showing them twerking next to a World War II memorial. Russia celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Allies’ victory in the World War II this month, an emotionally charged holiday the Kremlin has been using for propaganda purposes.
The sentencing in the Novorossiysk district court of a 19-year-old woman to 15 days in jail and two women in their 20s to 10 days comes after prosecutors launched a probe into a video showing a group of women twerking next to the memorial on the Black Sea. Twerking is a sexually provocative dance involving thrusting of the hips.
(AP)