Is that you, Renee Zellweger?

When Renee Zellweger arrived at the 2014 Elle Women in Hollywood awards October 20, some people said they couldn't recognize her. Perhaps that's because the "Bridget Jones" star has spent less time in the public eye recently; her last film credit was in 2010. That should change soon, however: Zellweger's next film, "The Whole Truth," is due in 2015.

Hip-hop artist Missy Elliott proved she can still work it as she flaunted a slimmed-down figure October 16 at the launch of designer Alexander Wang's line for H&M. Apparently, an autoimmune disorder is not slowing down the "supa dupa fly" producer, who tweeted a picture of herself in a workout cap that reads "You Can't Workout With Us" after performing at the runway show.

Is that you, Zach Galifianakis? If it weren't for the scruff, we might not recognize the comedic actor and "Between Two Ferns" host as he arrived at a New York Film Festival screening of his newest movie, "Birdman," on Saturday, October 11. The actor first started slimming down in 2013, when he decided to stop drinking.

"#RichKids of Beverly Hills" star E.J. Johnson lost 50 pounds in five weeks after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery. In September, he told People he is not setting a specific number in terms of his goal for weight loss.

On April 15, Dave Chappelle was spotted leaving Live Nation's offices in Los Angeles carrying some extra muscle. Apparently, the comedian has been spending his free time in the gym.

Roseanne Barr recently showed off a slimmer figure at the 2014 NBCUniversal Summer Press Day in Pasadena, California. Barr has been delighted by all the attention fans have paid to her new figure, and she thanked them via Twitter.

Lorraine Bracco of "The Sopranos" has lost 35 pounds since the HBO drama's end in 2007. She said it was the death of her parents three years ago that inspired her to make a change. Before their death, she remembers "sitting there, dividing these medications, who gets what when," she told ABC News. "It was insane. I watched and realized, 'I don't want to go like that.' ... I want to live every day the best I can be."

At 46, Lisa Marie Presley is feeling 16 again. Eating clean and organic has helped her to reach "the weight I was at when I was a teenager," she told People magazine. Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, was inspired to get fit because of her father's family history of shorter life spans. "I didn't know where I would land," she said. "So I said, 'OK, I'm going to play it safe and try to be as healthy as I can be.' "

Tom Arnold has lost about 90 pounds since his first child was born last year, and he was looking quite thin at this year's South by Southwest festival. He'd actually lost the same amount of weight before but regained it when he didn't maintain healthier habits. After his son was born, he knew he needed to make a lasting change. "I saw that little baby, and I thought, 'I gotta stay alive for as long as possible,' " Arnold said in January. "That's a lifelong commitment."

Jessica Simpson shows off a supersvelte look in a Weight Watchers ad released in February. "I was so insecure -- I couldn't even believe what I weighed," Simpson told "Good Morning America." The singer/fashion mogul says she is feeling better than ever since giving birth to her second child in June.

Christina Aguilera turned heads on the American Music Awards' red carpet for two years in a row. At the awards ceremony in 2013, Aguilera surprised onlookers by arriving in a skin-tight white gown with revealing cutouts, displaying a much different look than her voluptuous appearance at the 2012 event.

At the 2013 CMA Awards, singer Miranda Lambert revealed a slimmer physique. Apparently, her fit frame is courtesy of personal trainer Bill Crutchfield: "Hey @CrutchCamp," Lambert tweeted November 7. "I got some compliments last night thanks to you!"

Chaz Bono told People in April 2013 that he had lost 60 pounds since appearing on season 13 of "Dancing With the Stars." "Diets don't work," he told the magazine. "You just have to change what you eat, and I have." Bono is pictured arriving at the GLAAD Media Awards in April 2010, left, and in April 2013.

There's no way Marissa Jaret Winokur could play "Hairspray's" zaftig Tracy Turnblad these days. The Tony-award winning actress dropped 60 pounds in 2012.

Jennie Garth slimmed down after splitting with husband Peter Facinelli in 2012.

Lisa Lampanelli said she underwent surgery to help her shed 80 pounds and give her a new look.

From thong to thin: Matthew McConaughey reportedly dropped 40 pounds for a role in "The Dallas Buyers Club," and the transformation was startling on the "Magic Mike" star.

Paula Deen announced in June 2012 that she lost 30 pounds over a six-month period after she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. These days, she is looking slimmer than ever.

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Successful start for ocean race and Alicante

A WEEK after the Volvo Ocean Race was launched from Alicante port, those responsible for the Race Village and the Alicante experience said it was “the most successful edition in the history of the race in Spain.”

Adolfo Rodriguez, director of the Alicante Race Village, said attendance during the 10 days it was open “has been spectacular with both domestic and international visitors and they have not been disappointed.”

A total of 313,463 people visited the exhibitions and attractions for the Volvo Ocean Race at the port, along with delegates from 15 countries.

Hotel occupancy also received a boost recording an average of 90 per cent occupancy during the opening weekend which coincided with the in-port race.

Adolfo added: “Alicante has had a huge branding internationally, thanks in part to the 834 accredited journalists from 42 countries on five continents. Both the volunteer programme and the schools deserve special mention because of the great reception. More than 450 volunteers have been involved in the organisation, both at land and sea.” The school programme resulted in the visit of 2,800 schoolchildren from 57 schools.

Race latest

Dongfeng Race Team lost the lead at the weekend after the boat hit an unidentified object and broke their rudder. The problem enabled Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing to take the lead but the rest of the fleet were still hot on their heels. Follow all the race action at http://ift.tt/rYC0Kl

Hannah Graham suspect indicted

• Police don't know how long the forensic tests will take


• Weekend's remaining public searches were canceled after discovery


• "We have a great deal of work ahead of us," police chief says


• The University of Virginia student was last seen early on September 13

(CNN) -- Sgt. Dale Terry of the Chesterfield Sheriff's Department and his small search team were finishing up for the day when they made the discovery.

Behind an abandoned home -- just eight miles from where Hannah Graham was last seen -- they found a skull and bones scattered across a creek bed, he told a local television station

"It was not buried, and its location was not far from the road," he told the station. "There was not any crushing of any bones. As far as skull, everything looked to be in tact to me."

Nearby was a pair of black pants, similar to ones Graham was wearing.

Remains found in missing student search

Human remains found in Graham case

Body found just miles from another

Graham case: What's next?

Could these be the remains of the University of Virginia student who disappeared five weeks ago?

Authorities will have to await forensic tests to determine that. The Albemarle County Police Department said it didn't know how long the results will take.

'God wanted us to find what we found'

"I do believe God wanted us to find what we found," Terry said. "I don't know how else to explain it other than something inside me told me to just continue to look."

After Saturday's discovery, the weekend's remaining public searches were canceled so that authorities could focus their attention "on recent evidence," according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

Furthermore, police now consider the Graham case "a death investigation," said County Police Chief Steve Sellers.

"Today's discovery is a significant development, and we have a great deal of work ahead of us," Sellers said. "We cannot and we will not jump to any conclusions."

Forensic psychologist Mike Banks told CNN affiliate WTVR that forensic work could take some time.

"If it is Hannah Graham, 100%, then at least they have their child home," he said, referring to Graham's parents, John and Susan Graham.

One detained so far

Graham was last spotted, on several surveillance cameras, in Charlottesville's Downtown Mall area. The footage showed her leaving the Tempo Bar around 2 a.m. on September 13, followed by a man.

The man, identified by police as 32-year-old Jesse Matthew, is the only person who's been detained in connection with the disappearance. He's charged with abduction with the intent to defile.

Matthew has also been linked by forensic evidence to the case of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who was last seen hitchhiking along U.S. 29 outside of Charlottesville in October 2009. She was found dead on a nearby farm the following January.

Transporting suspected Ebola cases from Almeria to Sevilla by ground is not feasible, said nurses

TRANSPORTING suspected Ebola patients by ground from Almeria to Sevilla is not feasible and would be counter-productive, warned Spanish nurses.

On Monday (October 21) nurses from the Public Health Emergency Service (EPES) 061 in Almeria urged the Junta to refrain from sending all potential Ebola cases to Hospital Virgen del Rocio in Sevilla.

Taking the patients from Almeria to Sevilla by ground is implausible for emergency technicians and completely counter-productive for the patient, said Jose Miguel Garrido Molina, Union Delegate of Comisiones Obreras – largest trade union in Spain – talking to ideal.es.

As stated by Molina, it would take the emergency technicians between eight and ten hours to get the patient to Seville, they would have to stop four different times to change their protective suits (in Guadix, Loja, Osuna and Virgen del Rocio) and the entire journey would put the patient under excessive physical and psychological stress.

The journey would also increase the risk of contagion and destabilise the patient, said nurses.

Furthermore, it entails certain technical difficulties, including the potential dehydration of the emergency technicians. During a drill conducted weeks ago, their weight dropped two kilograms because of excessive sweating, said Garrido. “We were exhausted when we got there and it was just 100 kilometres. Imagine what would happen in an 8-hour journey,” he said.

According to Garrido, adapting a mobile intensive care ambulance – known in Spain as UVI movil – for Ebola patients is risky. “The ambulance is completely sealed so the temperature increases exponentially. If you add that to the fact that the patient is running a fever, it could do irreparable damage to his or her health.”

“We are not asking for a raise. We just want to continue offering people a quality service and our experience tells us that this protocol violates all recommendations regarding nurses’ exposure to the virus and it puts the patient in jeopardy,” he warned.

061 Almeria sent a document to the Junta de Andalucia detailing the risks involved in transporting a patient by ground from Almeria to Seville and recommend it be done by air.

Vicar child friendly city in Almeria Province

UNICEF Spain declared Vicar a Child Friendly City.

A child friendly city is defined as a local system of governance, whether urban or rural or large or small that is committed to fulfilling children’s rights. In Child Friendly Cities, children and young people get to influence decisions about their community, express their opinions, live in a clean and unpolluted environment and participate in family, cultural and community life.

“For Vicar it is an honour to have been awarded such an important Unicef distinction. It is a reward for the efforts made by our municipality to improve policies regarding children and young people,” said Mayor Antonio Bonilla.

The official ceremony, organised by Unicef, the Health, Social Services and Equality Ministry and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, is scheduled to take place on November 7 in Guadalajara.

How Oscar de la Renta was a pop icon

He's been called the "Sultan of Suave" and a fashion powerhouse. Oscar de la Renta died Monday, October 20, after half a century as a legendary designer. "I'm a very restless person. I'm always doing something. The creative process never stops," he said.

Most recently, he designed the gown worn by George Clooney's wife, Amal Alamuddin, at her wedding.

Jennifer Garner is among a slew of celebrities whose glamour factor has been upped by a de la Renta dress.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Oscar de la Renta onstage at the 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards on June 3, 2013, in New York. De la Renta won the Founder's Award at the event.

De la Renta and Oprah Winfrey attend the Costume Institute Gala Benefit to celebrate the opening of the "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is among the famous women he has dressed.

The Clintons pose with daughter Chelsea and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, at their wedding in July 2010. The bride wore a de la Renta gown.

• Oscar de la Renta was more than just a designer


• His name was synonymous with class and style


• His influence spread to film and TV

(CNN) -- Oscar de la Renta was far from just a fashion designer.

The man who died Monday at the age of 82 was as much an icon as some of the celebrities he dressed over the years. From haute couture to causal wear, his name became synonymous with glamour and style. After he spent decades making the beautiful all the more so, he became a part of the zeitgeist.

The following are five examples of the designer's influence on pop culture.

1. On the small screen

Fans of "Sex and the City" often tuned in as much for the style lessons as for the spicy plotlines.

Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw helped put Manolo Blahnik shoes on the map and had viewers trying to emulate some of her looks. Devotees can quote from season six when Bradshaw's artist boyfriend, Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov), casually mentions his friendship with de la Renta.

"Oscar? You ... you call him Oscar?" Carrie asks Aleksandr, stunned.

He later gifts her with an Oscar de la Renta dress, scoring points with us all.

Parker wore one of the designer's gowns at this year's Met Gala. It was literally a signature piece, as she had de la Renta's John Hancock etched on the back.

"I said to Mr. De la Renta, please let me use scarlet embroidery thread and splash your name across the back," the actress told Vanity Fair. "It was my idea. He would never in a million years have done it; he's far too modest."

2. In the music industry

Hip-hop often finds rappers waxing about luxury.

So it's no surprise that more than a few incorporated the designer into their lyrics. Whether it's Nicki Minaj musing about being "front row at Oscar de la Renta" or Kanye West's clever word play -- "especially if she can't get that dress from Oscar de la Renta they wouldn't rent her" -- many artists used his name to express the good life.

3. With the movers and shakers

His fashions were a favorite of this country's first ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, and he continued to draw the rich and powerful even in his later years.

Celebs like Beyonce and Victoria Beckham were often spotted at his shows, and some, like Oprah Winfrey, clamored to be photographed with the man who dressed them so elegantly.

"So sad for the loss of this legend. Oscar de la Renta thank for all the beauty and inspiration you shared with us," "Project Runway" judge Nina Garcia tweeted.

So sad for the loss of this legend. Oscar de la Renta thank for all the beauty and inspiration you shared with us. #odlr #oscardelarenta

— Nina Garcia (@ninagarcia) October 21, 2014

4. At the movies

Who can forget the scene in "The Devil Wears Prada" in which Meryl Streep as fashion editor Miranda Priestly explains to her assistant Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) how high fashion filters down to the masses -- including the blue sweater she is wearing.

"You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns," the tough-as-nails Priestly says. "And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin."

5. Among the people

His jeans were hot in the 1980s, and his brand encompasses everything from fragrance to sleepwear. Though his name often showed up in the media for designing Amal Clooney's wedding gown or dressing stars on the red carpet, de la Renta's style was also available to the much less famous.

For that, we'll all remember him.

'Talk to the bad guys -- even ISIS'

An ISIS militant stands guard at a checkpoint captured from the Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery, Iraq, on June 19, 2014.

• Revenge is not the best way to go about tackling terrorist groups, writes Jonathan Powell


• History suggests you need a coolly thought out strategy, he says


• Powell: Talking is not an alternative to fighting -- they have to go hand in hand


• All conflicts are capable of resolution, he writes

Editor's note: Jonathan Powell was Chief of Staff for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and is now head of the charity Inter-Mediate. His book "Talking to Terrorists How to End Armed Conflicts" is published by Bodley Head. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

London (CNN) -- When people watch the cold-blooded beheading of a western journalist on TV they react emotionally. They want revenge. So do I. But I have come to understand that is not the best way to go about tackling terrorist groups. History suggests you need a coolly thought-out strategy if you want to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS as U.S. President Barack Obama put it, rather than a knee-jerk reaction.

Colin Parry's 12-year-old son Tim died in his arms after being blown up by an IRA bomb in the northern English town of Warrington in 1993. Last week at Cheltenham Literary Festival Parry said that if he had known that Prime Minister John Major had been corresponding with the IRA when that bomb went off he would have been horrified. But if you had asked him six months later he said he would have welcomed Major's attempt to end the conflict through talking.

READ: ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women

If even victims can see the wisdom of talking to terrorists why can't policy makers? I have been accused of being naive for even suggesting the idea. But it is not an idea I have pulled out of thin air -- a study of conflicts over the last 30 years shows that governments when confronted by a new terrorist group invariably say they won't talk to them but nearly always end up doing so from South Africa to El Salvador to Indonesia.

This is not to say that talking is an alternative to fighting -- they have to go hand in hand. Nor am I suggesting sitting down with ISIS now to negotiate even if they were prepared to sit down with us. Negotiations can only happen when the conditions are right, usually when a mutually hurting stalemate is in place and both sides realize they cannot win by military means.

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They went from inmates to ISIS

But people forget how long the process leading up to a successful negotiation can take. The British government opened up a secret channel to the IRA in 1972 and yet the real negotiations only happened in 1991-93 when Major opened his correspondence with Irish republican politician Martin McGuinness. It takes a long time for armed groups to realize that their demands are unachievable and to start to consider what else they would settle for.

READ: Who's doing what in the coalition battle against ISIS

The same is true of ISIS. No one is going to agree to a universal caliphate. But once ISIS realizes they can't win then they may be prepared to talk and we need to open a secret channel now to give time to establish enough trust to move to negotiations when the moment comes. There are practical things we can talk to them about. The ex-Baathists and ex-Iraqi army offices that make up a major part of the ISIS force have genuine grievances about the way they were treated by the sectarian Maliki government. We can discuss with them ways of ensuring Sunnis have a powerful voice in a Shia majority Iraq.

The real problem is that each new terrorist group comes as a surprise to us. The philosopher John Gray considers that the "obstacle to coping with the terrorist threat is the belief that it is unlike anything in the past."

I suggested in 2008 when I had left government that on the basis of my experience in Northern Ireland we ought to speak to Hamas, the Taliban and al Qaeda. The government spokesman dismissed my comments saying that while Her Majesty's Government might be prepared to talk to the IRA and the PLO, they would never talk to these new groups. In the subsequent six years however the Israeli and U.S. governments have negotiated a cease-fire with Hamas, the U.S. government has negotiated the release of Sergeant Bowe Berghdal with the Taliban and a former Director-General of MI5 has said we should be talking to al Qaeda.

If the position can change so quickly on these groups then there is every reason to suppose the same can happen with ISIS.

Terrorism is not going to disappear even if we deal with al Qaeda and ISIS. People keep hoping for technological solutions like drones or jungle penetrating radar, but as fast as we develop them the terrorists find a way round them. So we should recognize that we already have the only tools we will ever have for dealing with terrorism and those are fighting and talking. By using only one tool, counter terrorism measures, we are not going to solve the problem unless we think we can kill each and every one of them. What we need to do is to combine security pressure down on the terrorist group with giving them a political way out through talking.

Negotiations with terrorists are almost never successful straight away. Eventual success is built on multiple failures as in Northern Ireland and Spain. But all conflicts are capable of resolution. What we need is leaders who believe they can solve the problem and are willing to take the necessary risks to do so. Above all we need to learn from our past mistakes and successes instead of trying to reinvent the wheel very time we meet a new armed group.

READ: I'm a feminist, and I converted to Islam