UPDATED: At least two dead in San Francisco airport jet crash: Terror after 'tail snapped off Boeing 777 on landing' and it burst into flames

A Boeing 777 plane carrying 291 crash landed at San Francisco airport this afternoon reportedly killing at least two passengers and injuring 61.

The tail of the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 flight from South Korea was ripped off in the tragic accident around 11.30am PDT and a huge blaze tore through the plane which onlookers described as spinning around on impact.

Horrific photographs of the damage emerged moments after the crash as well as cellphone videos of the plane as it spun out of control. At least two of those on-board were killed with a further 61 injured, local broadcaster KTVU.COM reported.

A San Francisco General Hospital official told the Associated Press that at least 10 people were in a critical condition including two children and eight adults. Six of the patients are female and four are male. San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White said during a press conference Saturday evening that 190 people used emergency slides and walked away from the wreck. However, she added that at least 60 people remain unaccounted for at this time, but they are not presumed dead. 

Of the 190 people who left the wrecked plane to safety, 82 have been transported to hospitals in San Francisco and San Mateo with injuries ranging from abrasions to fractures and possible internal damage. According to Asiana Airlines, 141 of the passengers aboard Flight 214 are Chinese, 77 are South Korean, 61 are American and one is Japanese. 

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with passengers. We are deeply saddened by this incident,’ said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee during the news briefing. 

A class of vacationing school children were on board while one passenger relayed what happened to a relative via a plane phone, according to CBS San Francisco. Sixteen crew members were on board the craft.

 Crash: Two passengers dies in the crash: This pictures was tweeted by Samsung executive David Eun who survived the crash

This aerial photo shows the wreckage of the Asiana Flight 214 airplane after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport

Tail snapped off: The plane that was carrying 291 passengers is missing its tail section

A fire gutted the aircraft cabin after the tail snapped off the plane on landing. The Boeing 777 skidded along the runway

Disaster: It is not known what caused the crash but eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane come down tail-first before the runway

Fatal crash: At least two people have been confirmed dead in the crash at San Francisco International Airport this morning, according to local reports

Major accident: The plane which may have been carrying up to 450 passengers crash landed at San Francisco today

Landing: The plane failed to land safely and witnesses described watching the tail and then the wings being ripped off as it hurtled along the runway on its belly

Tail snapped: Onlookers said that the plane's tail snapped off when the plane crashed down near where the runway meets the water at the airport

Several other passengers managed to escape unscathed and could be seen fleeing down emergency inflatable slides. A U.S. Coast Guard team was also dispatched to search the nearby water. It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the plane as it was landing, but some eyewitnesses said the aircraft seemed to lose control and that the tail may have hit the ground.

Audio recordings of conversations between the airport's control tower and Flight 214 crew members suggested that those on the ground knew there was some sort of problem, promising that 'emergency vehicles are responding.'

'We have everyone on their way,' the air traffic controller said, according to LiveATC.net, a website that provides air traffic control audio, CNN reported. However, when the plane ditched down near the water, no fire trucks were there to meet the flight, raising questions about the state of radio equipment aboard the Boeing 777.

Intact: The plane that ended up crashing in San Francisco was an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 similar to the one in the photo

Flight plan: This shot from the flight tracking site FlightAware shows the departure and expected arrival times of the Asiana plane

Sheared off: Investigators pass the detached tail and landing gear of Asiana Flight 214

Unsettling news: San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White (right) said that at least 60 passengers remain unaccounted for 

NTSB officials have said that at this point, it is too early to tell what exactly happened on board the aircraft. Among the questions that the NTSB 'go team' will have to answer is whether a human error on the part of the pilot played a part in the crash.   

A huge smoke cloud could be seen for miles from the site of San Francisco International and tourists in the airport terminal and on waiting flights could only look on in horror as the plane spun across the runway on its belly.

During a short news briefing in Washington DC just before 6pm, NTSB Chairwoman Debbie Hersman said that three members of an investigative team will be arriving on the scene of the crash later this evening to begin the probe.

Lucky escape: An elderly woman in a wheelchair is seen talking to paramedics (left) after getting off the crashed aircraft (right)

A young passenger from the crashed Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 talks to the press at San Francisco International Airport before being interrupted by the police and escorted to a waiting room designated for families and friends of passengers

Charred remains: An airliner passes the wreckage of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport

Disaster area: This aerial photo shows the wreckage of the Asiana Flight 214 airplane, right, after it crashed, as another plane approaches at the San Francisco International Airport

Stranded: Hermann Heider, from left, sits next to Alphonse Roig, wife Christine Roig, and their daughters Marine, 15, and Lara, 12, as they wait for news on their British Airways flight after Asiana Flight 214 crash

Waiting game: Bob Merberg, foreground, sits with son Oren, 19, center, and daughter Maya, 16, after their flight to Rochester, New York was canceled after Asiana Flight 214 crashed

The official also said that the investigation into the crash will likely involve representatives from Boeing and South Korea. FBI Special Agent David Johnson, who is leading the investigation, said: ‘At this point in time there is no indication of terrorism. We currently have all our resources to assist.’

Onlookers said much of the tail came off in the crash while others reported seeing the plane's fuselage spinning around as it journeyed across the concourse. 

The entire ceiling of the plane was destroyed in the blaze that immediately followed. Emergency workers rushed to its aid and doused it with white foam to try and control the flames. They were able to help those who were miraculously able to escape the wreckage and were seen fleeing down emergency slides. According to an excerpt of the radio recorded at the airport tower the plane was cleared to lane at 18.21, just over a minute later the flight called in and appears to have called for emergency assistance. 

Witnesses spoke of their horror.

'The plane started coming in at an odd angle, there was a huge bang and you could see the cloud of huge black smoke,' Kate Belding, told the broadcaster.

Response: A huge emergency response has been launched with firefighters and paramedics rushing to assist those on board

Near the water: The plane crashed just before reaching the runaway just beyond the shoreline

'It was a horrible thud,' Kelly Thompson, who saw it unfold from the parking lot of the Westin Hotel added. 'The airliner bounced and then slid to a stop on the runway.'

'It didn't manage to straighten out before hitting the runway,' Stephanie Turner, who was in a nearby hotel and witnessed the flight told ABC News. 'So the tail of the plane hit the runway, and it cartwheeled and spun and the tail broke off...I mean we were sure that we had just seen a lot of people die. It was awful.

'And it looked like the plane had completely broken apart,' she said. 'There were flames and smoke just billowing.'

Danielle Wells tweeted: 'I just saw a plane crash start to finish. I can't stop crying, I can't believe this.' One witness Jennifer Sorgen said: 'It hit the end of the runway by the water and the tail broke off at that point. It continued down the runway on its belly then proceeded to make 360 spin.'

An onlooker named Kristina Stapchuck told CNN it looked like the tires split and the plane leaned back on the tail before the tail broke off. Others described it as 'cartwheeling' across the runway.

Wreckage: According to local reports two were killed in the crash of a large passenger jet flying into San Francisco from South Korea

Asiana flight: The passenger jet crash landed after seemingly suffering no issues while in the air

Debris: Bits of the large 777 were thrown from the plane

One witness told CNN that there didn't seem to be any preparations for a crash landing before the plane came in suggesting it was an issue that only emerged on landing. 

The weather conditions were also described as ideal for San Francisco airport which can often be blighted with fog and poor visibility. 

Luckily no other standing planes were caught in the accident despite dozens waiting to take off from the major airport. The plane departed Incheon airport near South Korea's capital around 10 hours ago and was due to land at 9.45am on the West Coast. All flights in and out of San Francisco were temporarily cancelled with several being diverted to nearby Oakland International. At 2.30pm PDT the airport said it was looking to open two runways to allow limited arrivals and departures. 

Airport officials urged travelers to check their flight status online. 

Face CEO Sheryl Sandberg was supposed to be on the flight but decided to change her flight last minute so she could use air miles on a United flight instead, according to her post on Facebook.

'Taking a minute to be thankful and explain what happened. My family, colleagues Debbie Frost, Charlton Gholson and Kelly Hoffman and I were originally going to take the Asiana flight that just crash-landed. We switched to United so we could use miles for my family's tickets. Our flight was scheduled to come in at the same time, but we were early and landed about 20 minutes before the crash.'

Scroll Down for Video 

Crash landing: The plane pictured on the runway at San Francisco airport

Smoke cloud: Smoke from the plane crash could be seen for miles

David Eun, the executive vice president of Samsung, was on the flight when it crashed and posted on Twitter minutes later. 'I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok. Surreal...' he wrote.

Asiana is a South Korean airline, second in size to national carrier Korean Air. It has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States, and joined the oneWorld alliance, anchored by American Airlines and British Airways. The 777-200 is a long-range plane from Boeing. The twin-engine aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another. The airline's website says its 777s can carry between 246 to 300 passengers.

The last time a large U.S. airline lost a plane in a fatal crash was an American Airlines Airbus A300 taking off from JFK in 2001.

Smaller airlines have had crashes since then. The last fatal U.S. crash was a Continental Express flight operated by Colgan Air, which crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y. on Feb. 12, 2009. The crash killed all 49 people on board and one man in a house.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team of investigators to San Francisco to probe the crash. NTSB spokeswoman Kelly Nantel said Saturday that NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman would head the team.

Story by:
Katie Davies and Snejana Faberov, Daily Mail 

Technology | Apple's iPhone 5 is the most hated handset - while the majority of people love the Samsung Galaxy S4, study finds

Apple's iPhone 5 received the biggest customer backlash following its launch in 2012, according to new research.

One in five posts on social networks were critical of Apple's most recent handset, with the majority of people complaining about the introduction of a new power socket, the inaccuracy of Apple Maps and how similar the phone was to previous models. 

Samsung's Galaxy S4 received the least complaints - just 11 per cent - according to figures from analysts We Are Social.  

Apple's iPhone 5, pictured, was the most criticised handset on social networks after its launch in 2012, according to research by analysts. We Are Social. One in five people complained about the device's power socket and lack of innovation

We Are Social scanned Twitter, blogs and forums following the launch of four major handsets - Apple's iPhone 5 in September 2012, Samsung Galaxy S4 in March this year, the BlackBerry Z10 launch event in January and Nokia's launch of the Lumia 920, first announced in September 2012. 

The iPhone 5 came in for a barrage of complaints for everything from its lack of innovation to its new power connector socket and its mapping application. Apple added a Lightning to 30-pin power socket to the iPhone 5, which meant previous Apple users couldn't use their older chargers to charge the new device. 

Apple then charged extra for an adapter. Previous iPhones used a Google mapping application but this was replaced with Apple Maps in the iPhone 5. This led to complaints about misplacement of landmarks, poor satellite images and wrong directions. Less than a fortnight after the launch, Apple issued a statement apologising for the frustration Apple Maps had caused customers and recommended they try alternative mapping apps. 

There were also complaints about picture quality of photos taken on select iPhone 5s, with some customers saying there was a purple discolouration on images. Other iPhone 5 owners were left angry when the coating on their handset chipped off, exposing bright aluminium underneath. 

Samsung's Galaxy S4, pictured, was the least complained about handset on social networks after it launched in March this year. Figures from We Are Social claim that only 11 per cent of posts about the S4 contained negative comments

More than 300,000 conversations about the BlackBerry Z10, pictured, took place following its launch in January. This was more than the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Nokia 920

This became known as 'scuffgate' when Apple refused to acknowledge the problem.

Other iPhone 5 users reported that white handsets leaked light behind the screen.

Ed Kitchingman, senior analyst at We Are Social, said: 'Brands were often on the receiving end of criticism for their handsets offering nothing new to the previous model. 

'The most successful launches were those that captured the consumer's imagination by talking about the handset's new and innovative features. 'And while leaks can be an important tool in building success, give away too much and the handset loses its 'wow' factor upon launch.' 

He said Samsung had the most 'wow factor' with 56 per cent of discussions being about new or different features with a particular emphasis on its eye tracking. In contrast, only 29 per cent of conversations about the iPhone 5 launch were focused on different features as dissent grows about the lack of innovation at Apple. 

However, the iPhone 5 was by far the most talked-about launch on social media, with around 1.7 million conversations, compared to 300,000 mentions of the Z10, 140,000 references to the Galaxy S4 and 45,000 comments about the Lumia 920.

Nokia launched its Lumia 920, pictured, in September 2012. According to We Are Social there were only 45,000 social network conversations about the device after launch. However, the brand came second in a customer satisfaction survey by JD Power in March, beating Samsung

APPLE TOPS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

Apple's iPhone topped the J.D Power and Associates list of best smartphones for the ninth consecutive time in March. J.D. Power's scores are based on customer experiences with certain products. 

In the most recent report, customers said that their phone's performance was the most important feature, followed by its design and features. 

How easy the phone was to use also played a part. The Californian-based firm took the top spot with a score of 855 out of 1,000. Second place went to Nokia with 795.

Samsung came in a third at 793, followed by Motorola and HTC with 792 and 790, respectively. 

The average score was 796, while BlackBerry only scored 732. 

The research claims Apple still has the strongest brand loyalty, though, due to 42 per cent of conversations about the iPhone 5 launch based around the Apple brand itself.

Men dominate smartphone launch day conversations with 83 per cent of all mentions coming from men and just 17 per cent generated by women. On a non-launch day, however, anywhere between 28 per cent and 41 per cent of conversations about mobile phones come from women.

Apple's next iPhone could be announced on 10 September and go on sale ten days later, according to recent reports. The phone - dubbed iPhone 5S - is rumoured to have internet speeds around ten times as fast as 3G.

Analysts also expect a second, cheaper handset - dubbed iPhone 6 -  to be announced as early as 27 September. It will be the first time in Apple's iPhone history that the company has unveiled two handsets in the same month. 

We Are Social's figures contradict a recent study from Quality Insight in Korea. The marketing firm surveyed 44,168 people about their handset and the iPhone was rated the best smartphone. The participants said that the iPhone rarely failed, with only 17 per cent complaining about technical issues with their Apple phone.

This is compared to 31 per cent who reported issues with Samsung phones ranging from battery charging problems to screen quality issues. Apple’s faults were related to touch or button errors.

Story: 

Victoria Woollaston, Daily Mail

Blue Ivy Carter, Beyonce Tumblr Pictures Go Viral, Adorable Baby and Mom [PHOTOS]

Blue Ivy Carter in a crown

Looks like everyone loves a Blue Ivy Carter picture. The adorable baby posed in new photos posted by Beyonce on Tumblr, showing the baby wear a crown in on image and being playful with mom in another.

The 1-year-old Blue Ivy gazed into the camera in her royalty costume while playing dress up, reported The New York Daily News.

Beyonce's little princess has been a fixture for the paparazzi ever since her birth in January 2012, but perhaps the most viral photos of the baby girl are ones posted by her mom on social networks like Tumblr and Instagram.

Recently, rumors that pop star Beyonce may be having a second baby with husband Jay-Z have sparked, with tabloids reporting Blue Ivy will be getting a little sibling soon.

With news outlets like E! claiming the singer is pregnant, friend and CBS anchor Gayle King denied the false rumors. Beyonce also just added more dates to her "Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" this fall, which may be reason to believe the singer is indeed not pregnant.

Check out more Blue Ivy Carter photos on Beyonce's Instagram!

Beyonce/Tumblr

"I think Blue Ivy is totally gorgeous!"

Story by: 
Gabriela Barkho, FashionStyler Reporter

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Welcome their Newest Bundle of KimYe

As you surely know by now, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed their little bundle of KimYe into a world of reality television cameramen and paparazzi this past Saturday. We don’t know her name yet (we’re secretly still pulling for North West), but we do know that,  we are for her new parents.

We definitely wish them the best and all the happiness in the world. 

"Congrats KimYe!"

Courtesy:

Fashionista

Apple Unveils iOS 7, 'Biggest Change Since the Original iPhone'

As rumored, iOS 7 has a less skeuomorphic look, with a more flat design and lots of whites tinged with color. That doesn't mean, however, that the new iOS is free from gradient or panache. Instead, it's a more modern take on what makes iOS iOS.

Control Center
New in iOS 7 is a Control Center. It's an area that can be activated from within any app that brings control to Wi-Fi, brightness and other frequently accessed settings.

From Control Center you can access a flashlight, start a song, toggle AirPlay and more.

Multitasking
iOS 7 will bring better multitasking and background processing to all apps. It will monitor which apps you use frequently to help determine which ones need more full-functioning multitasking. When apps send push notifications, for instance, the phone will know to start to give that app background processing so that it will work more quickly and intuitively.

Apple has taken a major cue from webOS (RIP) and added full-previews of running apps for multitasking. No more tiny icons!

Safari
Safari for iOS 7 has a new look and feel — more similar to Chrome on iOS, we must say — including a new tabbed view. It also integrates with iCloud Keychain for password management.

The unified search menu, which was removed with iOS 3.0, is back. There is also access to shared links and the reading list improvements shown off with OS X Mavericks.

Tabs are now 3D and fully integrated with iCloud tabs. Users are no longer limited to eight tabs (hooray) and tabs can be reordered or removed with a swipe.

AirDrop
Apple is bringing OS X's AirDrop to iOS. AirDrop will let users share photos or files peer-to-peer with other iOS users who are nearby. "No bumping required."

AirDrop will only work on iOS devices running the latest wireless chipsets, meaning the iPhone 5, fourth generation iPad, iPad mini, and the latest iPod touch.

Photos and Camera
The Camera and Photo apps received a major overhaul. Not only is it easier to manage large numbers of photographs, users can now create Shared Photostreams — think group albums — into which other users can post photos as well as share with others.

Users can also share video with iCloud Photostreams in iOS 7.

Visually, the app looks similar to the latest Flickr redesign, is less focused on 4 x 4 grids of thumbnails, and offers users a better look at their photographs.

Siri
Siri has a new look and a new voice. Users can choose between male and female voices for Siri. Siri is also getting smarter: It will now pull in data from Twitter, Wikipedia and Bing.

iOS in the Car
Apple is going to bring iOS to the dashboard of your car. Support for iOS in the car will be coming to Honda, Mercedes, Nissan, Chevy, Kia, Volvo, Acura and others.

New App Store
The App Store has a new design and will show apps that are popular nearby, as well as apps popular with your friends. The best part? Your apps now update automatically.

Music and iTunes Radio
The Music app gets the same visual overhaul as the rest of the system but the big feature with music and iOS 7 is iTunes Radio. Think of it as a hybrid between Pandora and Songza, built into iOS.

Users can listen to theme-centric playlists or stations ("Songs for summer") or listen to artist-centric stations. And, like Last.fm, iTunes Radio keeps track of all the stuff you listen to across iTunes, Apple TV and on iOS 7.

It's free with ads, though iTunes Match subscribers get it free without ads.

More
Notification Sync

Audio-only Facetime

Weibo Integration in China

Per-app VPN for Enterprise

Plus more than 1500 APIs, support for third-party game controllers, new multitasking APIs.

Apple is also introducing a feature called Activation Lock, which will prevent a thieves from activating your iPhone on another network unless they know your iCloud password.

Coming This Fall
Developers will have access to iOS 7 on Monday and it will hit iOS devices this fall.

courtesy: Mashable.com

Introducing Google Nose

It is, according to Google, the new “scentsation” in search: Google Nose.

“Google Nose,” still in Beta, “leverages new and existing technologies to offer the sharpest olfactory experience available.” Scratch and sniff books are one way to use Google Nose; self-driving new car smell is another possible experience.

Google Nose is not real; it’s among the company’s many April Fool’s Day jokes. But the idea of a an artificial nose—something that would navigate the world solely using its sense of smell—isn’t a joke at all.

At least not to Cyrano Sciences, a California-based company that is hard at work developing an electronic nose that will come pre-programmed with a database of all sorts of smells—a database like the one at the heart of Google’s joke.

What, exactly, is the value of an electronic nose? “This American Life’s” Nancy Updike did a piece on it last year, and found a few.

“Factories could put electronic noses throughout their plant to detect dangerous gases that might be leaking during the manufacturing process,” she reported. “Doctors could use a handheld electronic nose to diagnose pneumonia and other conditions that have distinctive smells.”

In one especially unique example, Updike reports that Germany has considered adding a unique smell to its currency as a means of combating fake money. While its not yet possible to smell this radio segment, you can listen to it right here.

Big cartel

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/01/google-nose-is-fake-the-artificial-nose-isnt/

Google Glass for Eyeglass Wearers Revealed

Mark Shand, a Google Glass engineer with a long history in tech, shows off a prototype Google Glass fitted for prescription glasses. (Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

May 15, 2013: Google Glass team members wear Google Glasses at a booth at Google I/O 2013 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The Google.com/glass microsite from the web giant offers specs and images of the forthcoming Google Gass product, such as this one. (Google)

FoxNews.com's Jeremy Kaplan tests Google Glass, a futuristic head-mounted computer that Google hopes will change the world. (FoxNews.com / Perry Chiaramonte)

Hey four eyes! How about a fifth?

A special, prototype version of Google Glass for eyeglass wearers was spied on the faces of at least three engineers and developers at the Google I/O conference, CNET’s Seth Rosenblatt reported.

'Wearing prescription Google Glass is no harder than [dealing with] sunglasses.' - Glass engineer Adam Haberlach

Rosenblatt said he saw Mark Shand, a Google Glass engineer with a long history in tech that stretches back to Xerox PARC, wearing a prototype model fitted for prescription glasses. And two other Google employees at the show also wore what appeared to be exactly the same prototype model.

"Wearing prescription Google Glass is no harder than [dealing with] sunglasses," said Glass engineer Adam Haberlach, who was spotted wearing the same frames.

Glass for the eyesight-impaired replaces the titanium band in the standard model with a generic pair of black plastic glasses, onto which the display arm and other components are melded. The module did not appear to be removable.

Many experts have surmised that manufacturers such as Warby Parker, which has refocused the eyeglass industry through online sales of inexpensive eyeglasses and sunglasses, could offer Google Glass as an option for consumers. Alternately, the manufacturers of protective eyewear for sports -- such as Oakley, which has a history with high-tech gear -- may offer integrated modules.

Google’s weird, cyber-gizmo may not be ready to leave the nest, but it’s finally reaching adolescence, following a series of other announcements and revelations from the developer-centric Google I/O conference that wrapped up in California Friday. Chief among them: the release of half a dozen or more apps to augment the device’s functionality.

In addition to The New York Times app, which was released about two weeks ago, new tools from Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, CNN and Elle were pushed out to the approximately 500 developer model glasses in the wild.

Rather than accessing them through an app store as on iPhones or Windows 8 computers, the apps simply appear when the MyGlass app is updated on the Android device paired with Glass. The Facebook app, for instance, lets users share pictures and other content with that network's billion-plus users, rather than the struggling Google Plus.

Still, with only the developer price tag of $1,500 to look at and concerns over privacy escalating, consumers appear hesitant about the bleeding-edge device.

A new poll from BiTE Interactive claims that only one in 10 American smartphone users would use Google Glass regularly.

“Google Glass represents a profound social barrier for the average consumer,” BiTE vice president Joseph Farrell said.

Courtesy: Fox News, Google Glass

David Beckham Retires From Soccer, Ending Storied Career

David Beckham, who starred for Manchester United, Real Madrid and England's national team before heading to the United States and Paris, is retiring. The news was confirmed Thursday by England's Football Association.

The midfielder played his first game for Manchester United in 1992 and eventually rose to become captain of England's international team for more than 50 games, including several World Cup tournaments. He appeared in 115 matches for the squad.

The site of the English national squad posted these comments from Beckham, on his retirement:

"I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level.
"I want to thank all my team-mates, the great managers that I had the pleasure of learning from. I also want to thank the fans who have all supported me and given me the strength to succeed.
"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy."
"I'm fortunate to have realised those dreams."
As he rose to international fame, Beckham also became a style icon and gained fame for his deadly ability to beat goaltenders on free kicks, a talent that even inspired a movie, Bend It Like Beckham.

"Despite the offer of an extended one-year deal at Paris Saint-German, the 38-year-old has played his last game, bowing out on a high after helping Carlo Ancelotti's side win the French title for the first time in 19 years," reports The Daily Mail.

Before this season, Beckham spent six years with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, where he helped boost interest in the league. The team won two championships in Beckham's final two seasons with the squad.

Prior to this season, Beckham returned to Europe with his wife, Victoria, and their children.

"We're never going to replace David Beckham," Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told the Los Angeles Times this week. "David Beckham is a global personality, and he was tremendous for our franchise, tremendous for the league."

Update at 11:25 a.m. ET. More From Beckham:

Beckham has posted a statement on his Facebook page that includes the paragraphs quoted above. Here is the rest of the statement:

"To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country. I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following in a long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that cared passionately about their country. I'm honoured to represent England both on and off the pitch.
"I wouldn't have achieved what I have done today without my family. I'm grateful for my parents' sacrifice, which made me realise my dreams. I owe everything to Victoria and the kids, who have given me the inspiration and support to play at the highest level for such a long period. I also want to thank Simon Fuller and his team for their continued support.
"I want to thank all my team-mates, the great managers that I had the pleasure of learning from. I also want to thank the fans who have all supported me and given me the strength to succeed.
"Nothing will ever completely replace playing the game I love, however I feel like I'm starting a new adventure and I'm genuinely excited about what lies ahead. I'm fortunate to have been given many
opportunities throughout my career and now I feel it's my time to give back."

Courtesy:

Bill Chappell 

npr.org 

dailymail.co.uk

Tribute to All Mothers!

'Dear Mom, 

Thanks for Rocking Those Gigantic Varicose Veins, Which I Caused'

In search of a greeting card that does justice to the drastic, often permanent physical changes women's bodies undergo when they become mothers...

Photo culled from The Atlantic

Every Mother is required to ...

"... For the love of Mothers"

Saturday Fashion News Roundup! Nigeria’s Tiffany Amber Takes Fashion Retail To Another Level

Tiffany Amber, creatively directed by Folake Coker- a 15 year brand developed in Nigeria has embarked upon its global expansion plans with three new retail outlets launching in the second quarter of this year. The Spring/Summer 2013 Collection of Tiffany Amber will now be sold at Italy’s Leading Department Store – La Rinascente from April 2013.

Folake Coker

In addition to Europe, Tiffany Amber is also concentrating its expansion efforts on the brand’s home Continent of Africa where they are launching an in-store concession in Ghana’s largest and most respected boutique, Viva on 27 April 2013 bringing its ready-to-wear label to the discerning Ghanaian fashionista.

This move to Ghana will be followed by a partnership with leading South African Salon Store, Merchants on Long in Cape Town, a store that specializes in contemporary African design stocking fashion, art and homeware sourced from around the continent.

Story by: Desola Ade-Unuigbe