Marvel’s The Avengers, the movie that brings Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk together, has just joined an elite group of its own. The film has become the 12th film in history to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office.

After breaking the U.S. record for the biggest opening weekend with a $207 million debut, “The Avengers” also scored the highest-grossing second weekend ever with an estimated $103 million. It’s the fastest domestic release to reach the $300 million mark and although it was released in other countries first, it did not set the record for the quickest to cross $1 billion worldwide. That record is still held by the reigning champ, “Avatar,” which did it in 17 days, two days fewer than “Avengers.” And only two films have made more than $2 billion and both of them are from director James Cameron.

The other 11 members of The Billion Dollar Club.

‘Avatar,’ 2009 | $2.78 billion
(20th Century Fox)
The first of the two titles that make James Cameron the undisputed boss of the billion-dollar club, “Avatar” came out in 2009 and broke records worldwide.

‘Titanic,’ 1997 | $2.16 billion
(Paramount Pictures)
Rumored to be wildly over budget and expected to sink at the box office, Cameron’s “Titanic” turned into a juggernaut, taking top dollar and top prizes at the Oscars.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2,’ 2011 | $1.33 billion
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
The final installment of the adventures of the boy wizard made magic.

‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon,’ 2011 | $1.12 billion
(Paramount / DreamWorks)
Audiences turned out big for the first two “Transformers” movies in 2007 and 2009, but went supernova for the third iteration in 2011.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,’ 2003 | $1.12 billion
(New Line Cinema)
Like its “Transformers” cousins, the first two installments of director Peter Jackson’s “LOTR” trilogy were enormous hits, but third time was the charm for entry into the billion-dollar box-office club. One key difference: The “LOTR” sequels, at under $100 million, cost about half what the third “Transformers” cost.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,’ 2006 | $1.07
(Walt Disney Pictures)
The second installment in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s fabulously successful “Pirates” series beat its three brothers domestically and abroad when it came out in 2006, opening a dead man’s chest of gold for star Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski.

‘Toy Story 3,’ 2010 | $1.06 billion
(Pixar / Disney)
More than a decade passed between parts 2 and 3 of the continuing CGI adventures of Woody and Buzz, in the Pixar series started by John Lasseter in 1995. It was also the only one Lasseter didn’t direct.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ 2011 | $1.04 billion
(Peter Mountain / Disney)
Penelope Cruz came aboard as Capt. Jack Sparrow’s enamorata, and “Chicago” director Rob Marshall took the helm, in this fourth installment of the successful series. Critics hated it, but audiences made it the No. 3 movie of 2011 — after the releases of the year’s “Harry Potter” and “Transformers” films — and the eighth-biggest-grossing of all time.

‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,’ 1999 | $1.03 billion
(Lucasfilm)
Like “Jaws,” the 1977 original created a new template for the wide, national releases that define the modern-day blockbuster. But it was this fourth movie in the long-running series that went hyperspace.

‘Alice in Wonderland,’ 2010 | $1.02 billion
(Disney Enterprises)
Tim Burton’s 2010 retelling of the fairy tale classic makes Johnny Depp the only billion-dollar box-office club acting three-peater.

‘The Dark Knight,’ 2008 | $1 billion
(Warner Bros.)
Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine returned, and Heath Ledger (pictured) joined in, to topline this 2008 sequel to “Batman Begins.”

The Avengers Trailer:

She’s new to the music scene and she’s only 21-years-old. She’s already taken the music world by storm and her song “R.I.P.” just hit the top of the UK singles chart this week.

Rita herself has commented on the comparisons to Rihanna saying: “It’s a compliment to be compared to someone like her. She’s so successful and an amazing woman. I’d rather be compared to her than someone not as successful, so it’s good. I’ll take that!”

With her music career taking off in a big way, check out her single below.

As you can see from the first full length trailer, classic 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon ‘Top Cat’ has got a big screen makeover.

Produced by a Mexican animation house Anima Studios, it sees T.C., Benny the Ball, Fancy Fancy, Choo Choo, Spook and Brains return for a feature length adventure, where one again the gang are still at war with Police Chief Strickland.

The animation style is mixed 2D animation and CGI, and it’s already broken box-office records in Mexico. It became the highest grossing Mexican-produced film ever. So when will it be out in the US?

Foxconn chief Terry Gou let slip that his company is getting ready to start producing an Apple television.

According to China Daily, Gou today held a news conference in Shanghai about his company’s plans for the future. During that conversation, he mentioned that Foxconn is currently preparing its facilities to start producing Apple’s long-rumored television, though “development or manufacturing has yet to begin,” the China Daily report said.

Gou’s comments are notable for coming from a prominent executive who could be expected to have knowledge of Apple’s plans. The vast majority of reports surrounding the development of the television have come from unidentified sources and analysts claiming insight into Apple’s plans. For its part, Apple has stayed tight-lipped on any possibility that it might be working on a television.

Still, the rumors keep coming, and they’re suggesting, among other things, that Apple’s television could be equipped with support for the company’s virtual personal assistant Siri, a built-in camera for FaceTime, and access to the App Store.

Analysts have said for years that Apple is planning to launch a television, but it became a huge topic last year when Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson revealed that the company’s co-founder had “cracked” the code for developing a user-friendly television.

“I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs told Isaacson. “It would be seamlessly synched with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”

Here’s all of Adam “MCA” Yauch’s opening lines from EVERY Beastie Boys song. #SWEET #RIPMCA #BeastieBoys

[above L to R: Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, Floyd Mayweather & 50 Cent]

Floyd Mayweather took care of business last night against Miguel Cotto. Mayweather also had some extra music celebs in the corner with him like Lil Wayne, 50 Cent and Justin Bieber?

Bieber walked out with Mayweather before the fight and was even in the ring with him after the win to celebrate.

Earlier in the day, Bieber tweeted, “cinco de mayo…. #MayweatherCotto yeah @FloydMayweather today is a BIG day.”

Beastie Boys” rapper MCA – real name Adam Yauch – has sadly passed.

In 2009, MCA announced he was being treated for a cancerous parotid gland and a lymph node (below). He had since undergone surgery and radiation therapy.

MCA co-founded Beastie Boys in 1979 with Mike D, and Ad Rock … and went on to churn out some of the most iconic albums in hip-hop … including License to Ill, Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication.

The group has won multiple Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, although Adam could not make the event.

[from left to right: Mike D, Adrock and MCA]

History of the Beastie Boys [see below]

The first UK clinical trials of an electronic eye implant designed to restore the sight of blind people have proved successful and “exceeded expectations”, according to scientists.

Eye experts developing the pioneering new technology said the first group of British patients to receive the electronic microchips were regaining “useful vision” just weeks after undergoing surgery.

The news will offer fresh hope for people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP) – a genetic eye condition that leads to incurable blindness.

Retina Implant AG, a leading developer of subretinal implants, fitted two RP sufferers with the wireless device in mid-April as part of its UK trial. The patients were able to detect light immediately after the microchip was activated, while further testing revealed there were also able to locate white objects on a dark background, Retina Implant said.

Ten more British sufferers will be fitted with the devices as part of the British trial, which is being led by Tim Jackson, a consultant retinal surgeon at King’s College Hospital and Robert MacLaren, a professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and a consultant retinal surgeon at the Oxford Eye Hospital.

They said: “The visual results of these patients exceeded our expectations. This technology represents a genuinely exciting development and is an import step forward in our attempts to offer people with RP a better quality of life.”

The patients will undergo further testing as they adjust to the 3mm by 3mm device in the coming months.

The subretinal implant technology has been in clinical trials for more than six years with testing also taking place in Germany. Developers are planning to seek commercial approval following the latest phase of testing.

David Head, head of charity RP Fighting Blindness, said: “The completion of the first two implants in the UK is very significant and brings hope to people who have lost their sight as a result of RP.”

RP is an inherited condition which gets worse over time and affects one in every 3,000-4,000 people in Europe.

Donations have been flooding in for the runner who tragically lost her life while taking part in the London Marathon.

The 30-year-old woman, named in reports as Claire Squires from Leicestershire, collapsed within yards of Buckingham Palace and the last turn into The Mall which marked the final stretch of the 26.2 mile race on Sunday.

Claire decided to run the marathon in the hope of raising £500 for the Samaritans and had set up a Just Giving page for people to donate.

As the news of her death spread across the internet, people poured onto her page to start donating. By 4.30pm on Monday Claire had posthumously raised over £50,000, and as the story gathered momentum over £5 per second began pouring in. An hour later, at 5.40pm, the total had topped £75,000 with almost 7,000 people having made a donation.

By 7.30pm donations had topped £120,000, and at 8.53pm in the evening the total raised surpassed £150,000.

Claire wrote on her Just Giving page: “Hi guys as you all know I am running the London marathon it was just going to be for fun but it’s a fab opportunity to raise money for my charity the Samaritans if everyone I know could donate £5.00 that would be a great help and change lives.”

Users who donated money on her page praised her efforts.

One user who gave £20 said: “My heartfelt condolences to all Claire’s family & friends. I hope those like me, who did not know her, continue to give generously in Claire’s memory.”

Another who contributed £5 commented: “What you did and have done is an inspiration that will last, our thoughts and prayers to you and your family, you have provided a light in this world.”

Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Samaritans, said the organisation was deeply saddened at news of her death.

She said: “We are devastated following the tragic death of one of our marathon runners and are supporting the family through this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone who knew her.

“We appreciate all that our marathon runners do; it is with their support, commitment and fundraising efforts that we are able to offer our vital service for people with nowhere else to turn.”

In 2011 Claire successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for the Royal Air Force and raised £1,430.

If you would like to donate to Claire’s JustGiving page, you can do so by clicking HERE

The food truck phenomenon has taken the country by storm. From New York to Los Angeles, the number, the variety, and the quality of food trucks are on the rise.

In 2011, the mobile food industry in the United States was estimated to be at $630 million. I think this sum dramatically underestimates the size of the industry. I believe that the mobile food industry in New York City alone is at least $450 million. The National Restaurant Association stated in 2011 that food trucks are the single fastest growing sector of the restaurant industry.

If you have any doubts, you can see this for yourself on the streets. Fans are queuing up across the country for tasty food from local trucks. According to an American Express survey, the percentage of respondents who had visited a food truck doubled, from 13 percent in August 2009 to 26 percent in July 2010.

From Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race (a cross-country food-truck trek) to the Cooking Channel’s Eat Street, media coverage on popular television shows reflects the food truck phenomenon. Zagat’s inclusion of food truck for the first time in its 2011 New York City Restaurants guide has helped make food trucks an integral part of contemporary city life.

Picture above [A newborn in Romania via AP/Vadim Ghirda]

Newborn baby found alive in morgue 12 hours after being declared dead

A newborn in Argentina was found alive in a morgue by her mother 12 hours after hospital staff had declared the baby dead. Crazy huh!?

The mother, Analia Bouguet, tells TeleNoticias TV that the hospital still has issued her only a death certificate for the infant rather than a birth certificate. Bouguet said she is planning to pursue a medical malpractice suit.

The Daily Mail in the UK reports that the baby was Bouguet’s fifth and was born prematurely.

Two hours after being issue a death certificate, Bouguet and her husband visited the morgue because they wanted to see their child one more time.

“The baby was there and they put the little casket on a stretcher. We looked for a bar to pry it open,” the baby’s father, Fabian Veron, said in a press conference. “My wife looked and uncovered it slowly. She saw the little hand and then uncovered the face. That’s when it let the first little cry out.”
“That night, we went to the morgue. We wanted to take a photo of our daughter,” Bouguet told Argentina’s Clarin newspaper. “But when a worker opened the drawer, we heard a cry and she was alive.”

The newborn has been named Luz Milagros, or “Miracle Light.” She is still listed as being in critical condition but is said to be improving. The deputy provincial health minister announced that five medical professionals involved in the case have been suspended, pending further investigation.

“At the moment we have no explanation,” hospital director Jose Luis Meirino told the paper. “The baby was attended to by obstetricians, gynecologists and a neonatologist. They all reached the same conclusion, that this girl was stillborn.”

[via yahoo]