Wave of Alien Species Invade Mediterranean Sea

Aliens have invaded the Mediterranean by the hundreds — alien species, that is. In recent decades, more than 900 new alien marine species, including the poisonous puffer fish, have been encountered in the coastal environments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea,according to a new study.

This alien invasion has wrought changes on the food web of the sea, the four-year study conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found. The study warns, though, that a limited understanding of the ecosystems at risk makes dealing with the invaders more difficult.
"The Mediterranean is the world's most invaded sea, but our understanding of how alien species affect ecosystems is inhibited by a lack of basic


knowledge of the animal and plant communities on the coast," said study team member Stefan Kalogirou. "Once species have become established in the Mediterranean it is almost impossible to eradicate them."









The completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 opened a pathway for alien species to invade the eastern Mediterranean. In recent years, regular reports of alien species from several of the coastal environments of the eastern Mediterranean have caused concern over what will happen to indigenous species and ecosystems. Over a period of four years, Kalogirou, in cooperation with the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, has studied the structure and function of fish communities in sea grass meadows and on sandy bottoms in two important coastal environments on the island of Rhodes in southeastern Greece. This has provided important insights into the possible ecological consequences of alien species in the food chain. "The results show a clear ecological impact when alien species either become dominant, like puffer fish, or are piscivores [fish-eating species], like barracuda and cornetfish," Kalogirou said in a statement. "It is evident that the food chain is being restructured, but the lack of previous studies limited our conclusions." The poisonous puffer fish is one of the alien species that have recently been introduced. The puffer fish toxin, tetrodotoxin, causes muscle paralysis, which can lead to respiratory arrest. In worst cases the outcome can be fatal. In the coastal environments that Kalogirou has studied, the puffer fish has become a dominant species, which has led to both ecological and social effects.

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Lady Gaga Premieres New Track In 'GagaVille'

For her Little Monster gamers, Lady Gaga has hooked up with the makers of "FarmVille" to create "GagaVille," a campy, cotton-candy-colored, Gaga-fied version of the popular online game.

Fans can make their way through "GagaVille" starting on Tuesday (May 17), where they can unlock and stream a new unreleased Born This Waytrack every day through Thursday. Then, beginning this Friday through the album release day (May 23), players can start to unlock portions of tracks and remixes of songs off the album.
"Everything we've created has been in collaboration," Gaga said in a statement about the game. "From giving players a listen to unreleased songs as a reward for game play within 'FarmVille' to creating daily experiences in 'Words With Friends' that embody the album's messages and songs. We've had a lot of fun developing this program as a unique celebration of the album."
The first new song Gaga is sharing in "GagaVille" is "Marry the Night," a dance track about the revelry that happens when the sun goes down.


" 'FarmVille' players visiting 'GagaVille' will see a farm like none other," Raquel DiSabatino, director of entertainment and media at Zynga, told MTV News. "From planting crystals, to sheep riding motorcycles and special Lady Gaga unicorns, this farm has definitely been 'Gagafied.'  Additionally, this is the first time that Zynga is partnering with an artist to offer exclusive virtual items across 10 of our top games in RewardVille — including a Lady Gaga Gyrosphere in 'CityVille,' a Lipstick Gun in 'Mafia Wars' and a Paws Up Statue for 'FrontierVille.' "
DiSabatino noted that this collaboration is really all about Gaga's Little Monsters and the mythology of the pop superstar. "It became evident early on that Gaga is as passionate about her fans as Zynga is about our players, and since so many of Lady Gaga's fans already play Zynga games, we knew it was a good match," she said. "With the Born This Wayalbum launching on May 23, we found a great opportunity to create something together. Zynga is always focused on inventing new ways to entertain our players, and we're excited to bring them a unique experience in the games they love to play."

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Kate, queen of shops, boosts Britain's retailers

She may be the Duchess of Cambridge but she's also the queen of Britain's shops.



The girl once called Kate Middleton is undeniably a fashion icon with huge influence – and now she's got cash tills ringing at retailers right across the United Kingdom.


Economists credit the 29-year-old with helping to boost consumer confidence figures, released in the UK Friday, while April retail sales also grew as women across the nation scrambled to get the Kate look. Everything she wears - seemingly everything - is scrutinized, analyzed and promptly sells out within hours. It’s a dream come true for the sales department but a nightmare in terms of I.T. A case in point: The blue dress the Duchess wore to announce her engagement to Prince William helped to boost sales by 45 percent for the London label Issa.



This week, unprecedented demand for a flesh-toned satin number she donned to meet the U.S. President and First Lady crashed the website of its maker Reiss. The garment retails at just $300 – a pretty penny, certainly, but hardly an extravagance for one so wealthy. It was also reportedly several times cheaper than the designer outfit chosen by Michelle Obama, showing it’s hard to put a price on elegance.
The Middleton effect is worth big money, especially in a premium clothing market which Barclays Corporate estimates will be worth a third more by 2014 at just shy of $15B. And no British fashion chain has benefited more from the Duchess’s patronage than Reiss. The company began with just one menswear store on the fringes of London’s financial district, known as The City. Today, it’s a multi billion-dollar business, with 106 stores around the world. Reiss now employs 1,500 people and has branches in 10 countries, including the burgeoning economies of China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. That’s good news because Middleton mania is a truly global phenomenon. The dress the Duchess wore this week is now completely sold out on both sides of the Atlantic.  It’s not the first time Britain’s newest royal has provoked a surge in demand for its designs. On four separate occasions the Duchess turned up to events wearing Reiss, prompting huge interest in the brand and a fair bit of overtime for its press relations team. Reiss’s suitably hip Head of Media is Helena Choudhury. She says the Middleton effect has been “absolutely phenomenal” for the company. “She is one of the most watched women in the world at the moment so anything she wears is bound to have an impact,” Choudhury says. “Of course it will have an impact on sales but it also introduces us to completely different type of customer.” Kate may now be married but the Middleton boost lives on in the form of her younger sister Pippa, who after a stellar performance at the royal wedding is now making waves for her wardrobe too. A blue blazer she wore after the big day sent fashion bloggers into a frenzy. As you can imagine, that’s likely to be good news for its maker Zara, owned by Spain’s textile giant Inditex.
The Middleton sisters’ whimsical choice of clothes has helped change the way companies manufacture their garments. When Kate sported Reiss’s white “Lynette” dress to her official engagement photo shoot with legendary snapper Mario Testino, Reiss’s phone began to ring.  After releasing the dress for a second time in January, the store is now on it's second order. By the time I spot it in their flagship boutique, they are down to their last three (sadly none are my size).
Choudhury concedes it’s challenging reordering items at such short notice.  The dress in question, she says was unavailable at the time the pictures were released as it was from a previous season. “We had to re-release it and it sold out very quickly afterwards. It takes a few weeks to produce the clothes but luckily people are prepared to wait. The Duchess of Cambridge’s trendsetting and dedication to Main Street is one of a number of factors changing the way women consume all sorts of apparel across the UK.
In a new book called “To Die For” writer Lucy Siegle estimates that the average woman demands about four times as many clothes today as she did in 1980.  If that doesn’t make you think, listen to this: Because clothes have become cheaper, Siegle says the average female shopper in Britain accumulates about 28 kilograms of them each year.

That may be good for those who sell clothes - but it’s a nightmare for the environment with over 2,500 tonnes of clothing going to landfills each year across the country.
For those shoppers as keen on saving the planet as updating their image, the solution comes in the form of initiatives like The Clothes Exchange, set up by Marks and Spencer and Oxfam in 2008.  These schemes encourage customers of certain stores to give their old clothes to charity in return for discount vouchers. Endorsing an initiative like that would win the Duchess of Cambridge more brownie points in my book than her love of modestly-priced dresses.

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Bipasha Basu pays for excess baggage at airport

Bollywood actor Bipasha Basu was Thursday asked to cough up Rs.12,000 for excess baggage by  the Customs at the airport here.
Customs officials said Bipasha was not detained but simply asked to pay for excess baggage.


“While her baggage was being checked, some items were found in excess. Hence she was charged customs duty for the items,” Commissioner of Customs (Airport) P.M. Govande told IANS.
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“She was not detained, just made to pay a duty, like anyone else who carries baggage in excess,” he added.
Bipasha agreed that she had gone overboard with her shopping and hence had to pay for the excess items she was carrying.
“It was a routine check and many others were being checked as well. I paid Rs.12,000 as tax against some personal goods. I think the Customs is doing an excellent job,” Bipasha said in a statement.










On May 18, Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba was detained at the airport for 16 hours by the customs department for carrying undeclared jewellery worth nearly Rs.50 lakh.



She was intercepted while crossing the Green Channel at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. She was reportedly returning from the Cannes International Films Festival.

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Five Things You Need to Know about Pippa Middleton

When princess-to-be Kate Middleton, 29, and her younger sister, Pippa Middleton, are out around town, Brits notice how much they look and act alike.


As was said of actress Patty Duke's TV characters, "They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike." The Middletons are much more than just sisters. Thrust into the spotlight after Kate Middleton asked her sister to serve as the chief bridesmaid, a role Brits traditionally give to a much younger girl, Pippa, 27, has garnered almost as much attention as the bride herself. But she's more than the little sister. Here are five things any royal wedding follower needs to know about the chief bridesmaid:


Off The Market?



While her sister is engaged to one of the world's most eligible bachelors, Pippa's love life has also been in the spotlight. In 2008, Tatler magazine named her the No. 1 Society Singleton, beating out musician James Blunt and Princess Eugenie, daughter of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. But Pippa may be off the market now that Alex Loudon, an old friend ofPrince William, is in the picture. The couple reportedly started dating before Christmas, and it's rumored we'll see Loudon on Pippa's arm as her date to the royal wedding.






Pippa is Just a Nickname

Although commonly referred to as Pippa, Kate's younger sister's full name is Philippa Charlotte Middleton. But family members, including the princess-to-be, call her Pip. The origin of Philippa means "lover of horses" in Greek. Although she has never taken up horseback riding, Pippa can often be seen with her sister on the sidelines at Prince William's polo matches.






She's Following in Her Family's Footsteps


In summer of 2010, Pippa put her English degree from Edinburgh University to use when she launched The Party Times, an online party magazine. The site is a must-see destination with everything you need to know about planning parties, and includes theme ideas, tips and games. Pippa knows a lot about the party planning business considering her parents founded Party Pieces, an online party supply company in 1987. It is even rumored that party-planner Pippa will be at the helm of the biggest event this year: her sister's wedding.

She Is Dedicated to a Good Cause





Pippa serves as an ambassador to the charity, Too Many Women, which raises money for breast cancer research. Putting her party-planning skills to good use, she threw a Spanish-themed party last fall for Too Many Women that raised more than $7,500. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Pippa said, "[The event] was very simple: We had about 95 people and really good music. I was going for quite cool Ibiza chic, and a lot of good dancing."

In addition to playing hostess, Pippa has been known to attend charity events, including parties and polo matches.

Pippa Has Her Own Royal Ties





Besides being Prince William's sister-in-law-to-be, Pippa has formed many of her own royal relationships. While at Edinburgh, her two roommates were George Percy, the oldest son of the Duke of Northumberland, and Lord Ted Innes-Ker, the second son of the Duke of Roxburghe. Indeed, Lord Ted's older sister was one of Sarah Ferguson's bridesmaids at her royal wedding to Prince Andrew. And a former fling, Alexander Spencer-Churchill, is a distant relative to the late Princess Diana. So, if they had hit it off, Pippa and William would have been related.

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