Halle Berry Breaks Silence Over Engagement to Olivier Martinez

Halle Berry has finally acknowledged her engagement to Olivier Martinez. Making her first red carpet appearance since her "Dark Tide" co-star popped the question, the 45-year-old beauty admitted to Terri Seymour of "Extra" on Saturday, April 14 that she shocked herself with her decision to marry again.

"Who knew? I swore it off, right?" said the actress playing Storm in three "X-Men" movies when congratulated on her engagement during an interview at the 2012 Jenesse Center Silver Rose Gala, an event benefitting victims of domestic violence. She then added with a laugh, "Never say never, people!"

Berry indeed had sworn to never get married again back in 2007. The former Bond girl, who at the time was dating Gabriel Aubry, told InStyle magazine, "I will never, never get married again. Actually it's just that now I've come to a place where I think two people can share their lives without the ring, without the piece of paper."

The Oscar winner has been married and divorced twice before. She was married to baseball player David Justice from 1992 to 1997. In 2001, she tied the knot with singer Eric Benet, only to separate two years later. She and Benet had their divorce finalized in 2005.

Berry met Martinez while shooting "Dark Tide". News of their engagement first came out in January when Berry was spotted with a sparkler on her ring finger. Then, a jeweler named Gurhan claimed to have designed the ring per request from Martinez. When Martinez confirmed their engagement in March, he told The Miami Herald, "There is a jeweler taking credit for doing the ring and it's a lie!"

AceShowbiz

South Korea central bank trims GDP, inflation forecasts

South Korea's central bank on Monday trimmed its forecast for economic growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy this year due to a global downturn and weak domestic demand.

The Bank of Korea said it expected gross domestic product to grow a real 3.5 percent, down from its previous forecast in December last year for 3.7 percent growth.

The revision was attributed to a weaker contribution from foreign trade as well as rising commodity prices.

Annual private consumption growth was also seen weaker at a real 2.8 percent from 3.2 percent previously. However the bank expected consumption to improve steadily throughout the year in line with trade, as consumption is heavily influenced by the performance of major exporting companies.

The bank also slightly wound back its forecast for inflation, saying consumer prices were expected to rise 3.2 percent on average in 2012, down from a forecasts for growth of 3.3 percent previously.

Inflation in South Korea is largely expected to ease on expanded government subsidies for child daycare and free school lunches this year.

"The current situation of (the South Korean economy) is more stable with less volatility compared to the previous few months," said Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo last Friday after interest rates were held for a tenth straight month.

Despite mainly positive comments on the economy, Kim provided few clues on future policy direction as interest rates are expected to be held steady for the rest of the year.

South Korea's headline annual inflation growth slowed to a two-year low of 2.6 percent in March, but the central bank has emphasized that inflation expectations are still high.

Revised export numbers in March were unchanged from preliminary numbers, which showed negative 1.4 percent growth last month due to slowing demand.

Geopolitical tension in the Korean Peninsula also remains a risk that could destabilize the region, as government officials in South Korea have said North Korea could make sudden provocations following its failed missile launch.

(Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Reuters

Spain's King Juan Carlos under fire over elephant hunting trip

While ordinary Spaniards cope with harsh austerity, recession and soaring unemployment, the country's royal family has been enjoying expensive hunting trips, one of which resulted in King Juan Carlos ending up in hospital.

The 74-year-old monarch's fall in a park in Botswana provided an excuse for Spanish newspapers, who normally treat their royal family with kid gloves, to plaster their pages with photos of the king standing proudly in front of a dead elephant.

The photograph came from the website of Botswana-based Rann Safaris, which had been taken down by Sunday. The pictures, taken before the latest hunting trip, also showed the king with two dead water buffaloes.

Shoots with Rann Safaris cost upwards of $8,700 (£5,500) a week, with an elephant costing a further $15,000 to kill. A day out with professional hunter Jeff Rann, pictured with the king, costs a further $2,000.

The king's accident, after which he was flown back to Madrid for a hip operation, came days after his grandson, 13-year-old Froilán Marichalar, shot himself in the foot while hunting in Spain. He also had to be hospitalised and doctors removed the contents of a 36-calibre shotgun cartridge from his foot. Newspapers reported that it was illegal for a 13-year-old to handle that type of gun.

The king's hunting trip, which officials described as private, has caused a storm of angry comment from animal lovers and those wanting to know how much it had cost.

A promotional video on YouTube shows Rann shooting elephants – which can be killed with licences bought at auction from the Botswana government – in the Okavango delta.

"You have to manage the world's animal populations, to their betterment," says Rann, who did not answer queries from the Guardian. "We are trying to improve their habitat."

King Juan Carlos has been involved in hunting scandals before. Six years ago, officials dismissed as ridiculous allegations that he had shot a drunken Russian bear that had been plied with honey and vodka. The royal family has a troubled history with guns. The king shot and killed his brother in an accident when he was a teenager.

The Guardian

Deadly tornadoes strike US Midwest

Tornadoes have struck the US states of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma following a warning by forecasters to residents across the US Midwest about "life-threatening" weather.

The National Weather Service said in an advisory on Saturday afternoon that severe storms were possible from Texas in the south to Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota in the north.

"Conditions will remain favourable for strong to violent and possibly long-lived tornadoes into the overnight hours," it said.

Tornadoes during the overnight hours can be particularly dangerous because people are often sleeping and don’t hear the warnings, plus it’s impossible to see them coming in the dark.

Local television station KOCO in Oklahoma City reported that the death toll reached four on early Sunday morning.

Citing the local medical examiner, KOCO reported that all four deaths occurred in Woodward just after midnight, and that two of the deaths were children.

KOCO also said that there the twister in Woodward caused "significant structural damage and several injuries".

In the Iowa town of Creston, the Greater Regional Medical Center hospital was damaged by a possible tornado, said a woman who answered the phone there but declined to give her name.

A dispatcher for the Union County sheriff's office said he was unable to release any information about damage to the hospital or buildings.

In northwestern Oklahoma, a tornado touched down for less than a minute in the afternoon, according to Rick Smith, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the town of Norman.

The area was, however, hit by severe hail, breaking windows and damaging buildings.

Emergency operations

A tornado was also spotted in Mustang, a suburb of Oklahoma City, before dawn. Kristy Yager, a spokeswoman for Oklahoma City, said that trees, power lines and fences were reported to have collapsed in the area.

"We'll have storms all night long in Oklahoma," Smith said. The pair of Oklahoma twisters hit a day after a tornado sliced across Norman on Friday afternoon.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said the worst conditions were expected to hit late on Saturday between Oklahoma City and Salina, Kansas, while other areas could see baseball-sized hail and strong winds.

Oklahoma activated its emergency operations center as a precaution before the storms.

"We really want to make sure that the public is aware that this is a serious threat and make sure that people are prepared," said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

The National Weather Service could not immediately confirm the storm was a tornado.

The US tornado season started early this year, with twisters already blamed for 57 deaths in 2012 in the Midwest and South, raising concerns that this year would be a repeat of 2011, the deadliest tornado year in nearly a century.

Some 550 people died in tornadoes last year.

Aljazeera

At least 11 militants killed in south Yemen clashes: government

At least 11 al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in clashes and an air strike in southern Yemen on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said on the sixth day of a government offensive which has killed about 200 people.

Yemeni air force planes destroyed a vehicle in the southern province of Bayda, killing three "leading al Qaeda terrorists", the ministry said on its website.

Ansar al-Sharia (Partisans of Islamic Law), a group affiliated with al Qaeda, said in a statement that three of its militants had been "martyred" in the attack which it said was carried out by a U.S. drone.

Meanwhile, outside the nearby port of Aden, militants opened fire on a checkpoint from two vehicles, prompting government troops to return fire, the ministry said. Eight militants and five soldiers were killed in the exchange of fire, it added. One of the militants' vehicles was also destroyed.

The deaths came as Yemen's military pressed ahead with an offensive against Islamist insurgents who attacked a military camp outside the southern city of Lawdar last week.

The ministry said troops were consolidating their gains in Lawdar on Saturday, flushing out pockets of militant resistance.

On Friday, at least 34 people, mostly Islamist militants, were killed near Lawdar, officials said, after the government intensified its operations, sending an elite anti-terrorism unit from the capital Sanaa to join the fight.

Ansar al-Sharia has repeatedly denied reports of government success in the fighting, and the killing of its leaders.

On Friday, it said in an emailed statement that its fighters had killed 37 tribesmen fighting for the government in the previous two days.

The conflict in the south is one of several challenges facing Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the new president.

Ansar al-Sharia seized a significant chunk of territory in the southern province of Abyan during the turmoil that led to the replacement of his predecessor President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Hadi vowed to fight al Qaeda in a deal that eased Saleh from power. Saudi Arabia and the United States hoped the deal would prevent al Qaeda getting a foothold near key oil shipping routes in the Red Sea.

Washington, which has pursued a campaign of assassination by drones and missiles against alleged al Qaeda targets in Yemen, wants him to reunify a military that is split between Saleh's foes and allies, and direct its efforts at "counter-terrorism.

Hadi also faces challenges from Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north and southern secessionists.

(Reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa; Writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Reuters