Feel younger at heart, live longer

Fauja Singh is recognized as the first 100-year-old to ever run a marathon. The great-grandfather, now 103, continues to run or walk every day. Nicknamed the "Turbaned Tornado," he took up running to overcome his grief after the death of his wife and a son. He ran his first marathon at age 89. The key to life: "Laughter and happiness," he says. "That's your remedy for everything."

Ruth Frith died February 28 at the age of 104. At 102, the Australian native was the oldest living competitor at the World Masters Games in Sydney, where she won several gold medals and set world records. Her advice for a long life? Avoid smoking, drinking and vegetables. She was also an optimist: "Every year brings something new. I've always been content with what I have."

James Sisnett was born on February 22, 1900, in Barbados. He made it to 113. He worked as a blacksmith, a sugar factory worker and a farmer before retiring at age 70. His longevity made him a local celebrity. His only real health challenge toward the end of his life was hearing loss. He died "peacefully in his sleep at home" in May 2013.

Mississippi Winn was born on March 31, 1897, in Benton, Louisiana, and she lived to be 113. She maintained her independence until age 103; at 105, she was still walking and working out daily at a local track. Winn said exercise and an optimistic attitude helped her stay healthy for most of her life. She worked primarily as a domestic and child caretaker. She died in January 2011.

Jiroemon Kimura was born April 19, 1897, and died June 12, 2013, at the age of 116. The retired Japanese postman attributed his long life to eating light, working in the sunshine and not smoking. After his postal career, he worked on a farm: "I am always looking up towards the sky; that is how I am." Of his six siblings, five lived to the age of 90. He died of natural causes.

Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875, and lived to the age of 122 in Arles, France (home of the painter Vincent Van Gogh, whom she met as a little girl). At 85, she took up fencing lessons. At 100, she was still riding her bike. She said she ate more than two pounds of chocolate a week and only quit smoking at age 120 -- not for health reasons, but because she could not see well enough to light her cigarettes. She credited her longevity to port wine, her sense of humor and a diet rich in olive oil. She died in August 1997.

Ann Nixon Cooper became famous after President-elect Barack Obama used her story on election night 2008 to talk about the country's progress. "She was born just a generation past slavery," Obama said. "At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot." She died in 2009 at age 107. The secret to her long life, she said, was being cheerful: "I've always been a happy person, a giggling person, a wide-mouthed person." She also kept fit, dancing the electric slide until age 103.

Alexander Imich, a New Yorker who had been certified as the world's oldest living man, died Sunday, June 8, at the age of 111. Imich was born in Poland on February 4, 1903, but fled when the Nazis took over in 1939. Despite a doctorate in zoology, Imich's passion was investigating paranormal activity. He detailed his encounters with the supernatural in "Incredible Tales of the Paranormal," a journal that was published when he was 92.

The oldest living woman alive is Misao Okawa, a 116-year-old from Japan. She was born March 5, 1898, and had three children. Her husband died in 1931. She kept in shape throughout much of her life. At 102, she said she did leg squats to keep healthy. She didn't start using a wheelchair until she turned 110. She currently lives in a nursing home.

Edward Rondthaler was born on June 9, 1905, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and he died in 2009 at the age of 104. He was a noted typographer, earning a national reputation for helping to usher in the age of photographic typesetting, according to The New York Times. Photographic typesetting was an easier way to print than hot-metal type. Rondthaler credited cold showers with his longevity. He died at his home in Cedar City, Utah.

• Research found people who felt younger than their age lived longer than those who felt their age or older


• Scientists don't know what the link is the causes the effect


• Other studies show that optimism and conscientiousness helps people live longer

(CNN) -- Go ahead lie about your age. It may be the very thing that helps you live a longer life.

If those fibbers truly believe that they are younger than what it says on their birth certificate, a new study shows they are among a group of people who have a lower death rate.

That's compared with those who felt their age or who even feel older than their years.

The land of the elders

Study: Feel young, live longer

Silver Dancers

113-year-old lies to get on Facebook

Kiddie's mortality meltdown

The new research letter is published in JAMA Internal Medicine online.

The study looked at data from from 6,489 people with an average age of 65.8 years who reported that they felt a little less than 10 years younger. What's interesting is most people in the study didn't feel like their actual age. Most said they felt about three years younger. Only a tiny percent, some 4.8%, felt at least a year older than their actual age.

When University College London researchers followed up on these people over the next eight years, the scientists found only a little over 14% of those who felt younger than their years had died. That was compared with the more than 24% of the people who reported feeling older or feeling their age who had died. Some 18% of the people who felt like their chronological age died in that same time period.

Why happiness is healthy

The researchers say they want to better understand what made the difference with this group.

"Possibilities include a broader set of health behaviors than we measured (such as maintaining a healthy weight and adherence to medical advice), and greater resilience, sense of mastery and will to live among those who feel younger than their age," the study concludes. "Self-perceived age has the potential to change, so interventions may be possible. Individuals who feel older than their actual age could be targeted with health messages promoting positive health behaviors and attitudes toward aging."

Dr. Sharon Bergquist, a physician and assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine who specializes in healthy aging, isn't surprised by the results.

"Research is showing us that personality can so be tied to your destiny," Bergquist said.

Your happiness type matters

New research into the link between personality and aging finds that there are two main traits that seem to help people live a longer life: conscientiousness and optimism.

People who have both traits may have more of a will to do the right thing to live a healthy lifestyle that can keep them healthy long into old age.

"Aging well can certainly become a self-fulfilling prophecy," she said.

Sydney gunman's ex had been slain

• Man Haron Monis had history of "infatuation with extremism and mental instability," Abbott says


• Hostage-taker was granted political asylum in Australia in 2001; was on bail for violent offending


• His former lawyer says he campaigned against "the victimization of Muslims and Islamists"


• On Monis' apparent website, there is a pledge of allegiance to ISIS

(CNN) -- The gunman who held hostages for more than 16 hours in a Sydney cafe was no stranger to police -- and was on bail for violent criminal offenses at the time of the siege.

Man Haron Monis, an Iranian-born refugee who was granted political asylum in Australia in 2001, had "a long history of violent crime, infatuation with extremism and mental instability," Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters.

"It's pretty obvious that the perpetrator was a deeply disturbed individual," he said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that the 50-year-old was "well known" to federal and state police, as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organization.

"But I don't believe he was on a terror watch list at this time."

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird said authorities were investigating why Monis -- who was killed in the siege -- was at large, given his criminal background.

"We're all outraged that this guy was on the street," he told reporters. "We need to understand why he was. We also need to understand why he wasn't picked up."

What we know, what we don't know

Accessory to murder, sex charges

Gunman made hostages use social media

Firefight occurs during hostage crisis

Sydney gunman identified

Witness: Woman screamed, 'He has a gun'

The self-styled Muslim cleric, also known as Sheikh Haron, was facing dozens of charges at the time of the siege, including two counts of being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, according to the Attorney General of New South Wales.

Noleen Hayson Pal was found dead with multiple stab wounds in a stairwell, and her body had been set on fire, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"They should have put him away and thrown away the key," the dead woman's godfather, Ayyut Khalik, told NBC News. He said Monis used to beat Pal, forcing her to wear a hijab all the time and forbidding her from talking to "outsiders."

Court documents show Monis was also facing 45 sex-related charges, including sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated indecent assault.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the initial charges, laid in May 2014, related to an alleged sexual assault on a woman in western Sydney in 2002, before other sex-related charges were added regarding six additional victims.

Monis was using the name Mohammad Hassan Manteghi -- his birth name, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA -- and claimed to be a "healer," according to the report.

Monis also pleaded guilty last year to writing offensive "poison pen" letters to the families of Australian soldiers who died in Afghanistan, and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. The letters were "sadistic, wantonly cruel and deeply wounding," one High Court judge said at the time, according to CNN affiliate Seven News.

But the criminal accusations against him began even before he came to Australia.

Monis fled his homeland in 1995 while being sought for allegedly committing fraud, Iran's semi-official Fars News reported.

A spokesperson at Iran's embassy in Canberra told CNN that Tehran had officially requested Monis's extradition but nothing had come of it. Monis had been granted political asylum in 2001 and had had no further contact with his birth country, the spokesperson said.

Who were the victims?

An extremist theology

Manny Conditsis, a lawyer who acted for Monis in relation to the accessory to murder and letter-writing charges, told CNN his former client had been a cleric in Shiite Iran, but had become critical of the Islamic Republic's government in the late 1990s, and fled to Australia "because he was going to be killed."

He had left behind a wife and two children, who he believed Monis had not seen since.

Throughout the 2000s, said Conditsis, Monis "became sympathetic to what he perceived ... was the victimization of Muslims and Islamists around the world, and partly at least took up that cause."

His broader cause, he said, was lobbying governments around the world, particularly Australia, not to wage wars on Muslim soil.

"He was so blinded by that objective that it would seem he had lost sight of objectivity and rationality and acted in extreme ways," he said, describing his former client as "intensely conflicted and contradicted and inconsistent."

While older footage of Monis preaching shows him dressed in typical Shiite cleric's attire, in his social media posts, he appears to embrace a radical Sunni extremist theology.

He used the Internet to spread extremist beliefs, garnering nearly 13,000 likes on his Facebook page.

During the siege, Abbott said, the hostage-taker "sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the (ISIS) death cult," Abbott said.

On his website, which has now been taken down, there was a pledge of allegiance to the so-called Islamic State terror group.

The site describes Monis as a Muslim cleric and activist based in Sydney who has "continuously been under attack & false accusation by the Australian government & media since he started his political letter campaign from 2007."

There's a graphic photo of slain children at the top of the site. Under the image, it reads, "This is an evidence for the terrorism of America and its allies including Australia. The result of their airstrikes."

A description on the site portrayed Monis as a victim of a political vendetta and compares him to Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has claimed the sex crime allegations he faces are politically motivated.

A YouTube video posted in November shows Monis standing on a street corner, chains draped over him, carrying a sign that says, "I have been tortured in prison for my political letters."

Police have refused to comment on that accusation.

His last tweet linked to his website, with a haunting message posted the day of his attack on the Sydney cafe: "If we stay silent towards the criminals we cannot have a peaceful society. The more you fight with crime, the more peaceful you are."

Conditsis told Australian public broadcaster ABC that Monis was an isolated figure who was probably acting alone.

Crisis in a cafe

Monday's hostage situation began around 10 a.m. Hundreds of police officers, including snipers, took position around the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney's central business district.

Australian media captured haunting images of hostages pressing their hands against the cafe's windows. They were reportedly taking turns holding a black flag with Arabic writing on it that said, "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God."

The man holding the hostages demanded to speak to Abbott. Police were monitoring social media because hostages appeared to be posting information about the man's demands.

Hours into the crisis, at least five hostages managed to escape, running terrified toward police in riot gear. That made the hostage-taker furious, reported Chris Reason, a correspondent for CNN affiliate Seven Network. Reason said he could see the gunman become "extremely agitated" when he realized what had happened, and he "started screaming orders" at the remaining hostages.

Gunfire erupted early Tuesday as police stormed the cafe where the gunman had been holding hostages.

Two hostages were killed during the standoff. Police later announced that the siege was over and that the lone gunman had been killed.

CNN's Euan McKirdy, Jethro Mullen, Chieu Luu, Errol Barnett, Elizabeth Joseph, Hamdi Alkhshali, Sara Mazloumsaki, Atika Shubert and Laurie Segall contributed to this report.

'Hobbit' star's true passion is writing

Peter Jackson's journey through his adaptation of "The Hobbit" has been unexpectedly long, as what was intended to be a two-part project was broken up into three movies. The first two, "An Unexpected Journey" and "The Desolation of Smaug," opened in 2012 and 2013. The final installment, "The Battle of the Five Armies," opens December 17. By now, Hollywood's proven that massive franchises aren't all bad, and the form has become so commonplace that studios are able to plan their movie release dates years into the future. So if you're curious about what you'll be watching in theaters come 2019, here's a hint: You've already seen it.

Along with the big "Hobbit" release, December 2014 will also host the sequel "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb."

One has to admire Liam Neeson's commitment to playing the gruff guy who saves the day. The actor will once again fill that role in "Taken 3," which opens January 9, 2015. That month, "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death" will also arrive, followed by "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" in February.

You've already heard of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," but its March 2015 sequel will focus on "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." (No, we are not kidding.) If you're more in the mood for a few ghost scares, the latest "Paranormal Activity" installment, "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" will also be out.

Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley had a hit on their hands when they starred in 2013's "Divergent." Like "The Hunger Games," this movie franchise is based on an action-centric young adult series, and like "The Hunger Games," it's also being told in four installments. The second movie, "Insurgent," debuts March 20, and will be followed by "Allegiant: Part I" in 2016 and "Allegiant: Part 2" in 2017.

The "Fast and Furious" franchise has been around long enough to have fallen out of favor before becoming popular again. The seventh film in the series, "Furious 7," is one of franchise star Paul Walker's final projects before his death in November 2013. Following "Furious 7's" April 3 release, we'll also get a look at "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2."

"The Avengers" was a game-changer in 2012, and the arrival of its sequel "Avengers: Age of Ultron," is likely going to eclipse everything else happening in May.

George Miller's apocalyptic "Mad Max" is back in May 2015 with the fourth installment, "Fury Road."

One huge sequel arriving in May 2015 will be the follow-up to 2012's a capella comedy "Pitch Perfect," with the full cast back and Elizabeth Banks behind the director's chair.

With the man in demand, Chris Pratt, leading the charge, the fourth "Jurassic Park" movie "Jurassic World" is setting itself up nicely to be a 2015 summer blockbuster.

The raunchy and lovable teddy bear that Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane introduced us to in 2012 is back for a second time in June 2015.

For his follow-up to the 2012 stripper movie "Magic Mike," Channing Tatum is raising the stakes. Instead of camping out in a strip club, he's taking his male dancers on the road to a stripper convention.

Technically, 2015's "Terminator: Genisys" will be a reboot of the original 1984 story, and will kick off a new, stand-alone trilogy from Paramount. But if we were looking at all the "Terminator" movies as a whole, including remakes, this would be the fifth film. And we're not stopping with "Genisys" -- there's another installment on the books for 2018.

The "Despicable Me" franchise's little yellow "Minions" are getting their own movie, despite speaking an unintelligible language. But as one of the trailers for the upcoming film proves, we don't need to understand exactly what the minions are saying to understand that we'd totally watch this movie. A "Despicable Me 3" is on the way, too, and is scheduled for June 2017.

Following "Sinister 2" in August, the sequel to 2014's "The Maze Runner," "The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials," arrives in September along with "Hotel Transylvania 2."

Jennifer Lawrence has been Katniss Everdeen, the arrow-slinging heroine of "The Hunger Games" franchise, since 2012, and we're only halfway through the franchise. The third film, "Mockingjay -- Part I," opened in theaters in November 2014, and the final film, "Mockingjay -- Part II," will bow in November 2015.

Rumors that Sam Smith will sing the theme song for "Bond 24" is just one of the things that has us beyond excited for this installment's arrival. Daniel Craig returns as 007, and the femme fatale in this film will be played by Lea Seydoux.

The Force will "Awaken" on December 18, 2015, as "Star Wars: Episode VII" bows in theaters.

Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible 5" will see the actor reprise his daredevil character Ethan Hunt in a new installment arriving on Christmas Day 2015. Also arriving in theaters that month will be "Kung Fu Panda 3."

The comedy of Ice Cube and Kevin Hart is a beautiful thing to watch, and we'll get a second dose of their buddy humor in January 2016's "Ride Along 2." That month will also see the release of the animated sequel, "The Nut Job 2."

After a bit of maneuvering, the sequel to 2013's "Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," has found a home on the movie release calendar in March 2016.

The last time we saw Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley, it was in 1994's "Beverly Hills Cop III." But the passage of time is nothing to a movie studio eager to bet on a proven franchise; "Beverly Hills Cop 4," again starring Murphy as Det. Foley, is slated for March 2016.

Johnny Depp returns as the Mad Hatter in the long-awaited followup to 2010's "Alice in Wonderland." This 2016 release is called "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass," and it'll follow April 2016 sequels "The Best Man: Wedding" and "The Huntsman," which is a follow-up to 2012's "Snow White and the Huntsman."

The "X-Men" franchise has been thoroughly revived with the arrival of 2011's "X-Men: First Class" and 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past." Now we can look forward to "X-Men: Apocalypse," which is currently scheduled for May 2016, along with another "Captain America" installment, "Captain America: Civil War."

When it comes to sequels, few have been as longed for as "Finding Dory," the next installment following Disney/Pixar's heartwarming 2003 film, "Finding Nemo." This will arrive in theaters along with "Now You See Me 2" and "Independence Day 2."

So Michael Bay's 2014 take on "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" suffered some criticism; it still did well enough at the box office to make a sequel an obvious choice. Reporter April and her four turtle friends will return to theaters on June 3, 2016.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a pleasant surprise in 2011, and 2014's sequel, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," was considered one of the best releases of the summer. All of that means the still untitled third installment, due in July 2016, has a lot to live up to. Also arriving that month will be another "Bourne" installment, as well as "Ice Age 5."

What's a holiday season without at least one kids movie franchise? In December 2016, that go-to will be "Alvin and the Chipmunks 4." Also arriving this month will be another "Star Wars" installment.

It's been a while, but James Cameron is making a return to Pandora in December 2016 with "Avatar 2." This installment will be followed by two others: "Avatar 3" in 2017, and "Avatar 4" in 2018.

Guillermo del Toro's visually resplendent "Pacific Rim" is getting a follow-up in April 2017. The script isn't expected to be done until spring 2015, but it's a safe bet you can look forward to more sea monsters.

Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" was either going to be a complete disaster or a complete hit; lucky for us, it was the latter. Following the August 2014 release's insane run at the box office, Marvel is planning to deliver a second "Guardians" on May 5, 2017.

It isn't often that another sequel is celebrated, but a fourth installment of "Toy Story"? We're in.

More certain -- at least for now -- are the release dates for the third "How to Train Your Dragon" movie, and the third "Amazing Spider-Man" movie.

At this point, Johnny Depp might want to consider making his eyeliner permanent. The actor is stepping into Captain Jack Sparrow's costume once again for the fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, which is titled "Dead Men Tell No Tales."

Thor may now be a woman, but at the movies Chris Hemsworth is still wielding the hero's hammer. Following "Thor" and "Thor: The Dark World," the third installment, "Thor: Ragnarok," is slated for July 28, 2017.

A new and improved Godzilla stormed into theaters in May 2014, and in 2018 we'll get a second look at the fearsome monster. As with the 2014 installment, director Gareth Edwards again sits at the helm.

But when it comes to the fourth installment in "The Amazing Spider-Man" franchise, Sony is already planning to see the masked hero fly into theaters again in 2018.

The penguins from Dreamworks' "Madagascar" films have turned into breakout stars. The scheming seabirds now have a movie all of their own called "Penguins of Madagascar," which opened November 26. In 2018, we'll also get a fourth installment of the "Madagascar" series.

Marvel already has two more "Avengers" movies on the calendar: "Avengers: Infinity War Part I" opens May 2018, followed by "Avengers: Infinity War Part 2" in May 2019.

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• 'Lost' star Evangeline Lilly has found big screen fame with 'The Hobbit'


• She also stars in the upcoming 'Ant-Man'


• She plans to mostly leave acting behind and concentrate on writing

(CNN) -- Evangeline Lilly is in three of the highest-profile movies of the last few years: the last two "Hobbit" movies (the final one out this week), and next year's Marvel extravaganza "Ant-Man."

Despite all this, Lilly's heart is really in writing.

The actress, who first gained fame on the hit show "Lost," recently spoke with CNN about "The Hobbit" and her current career and plans.

CNN: You're now nearing the end of your journey on "The Hobbit"" with "The Battle of Five Armies." What attracted you to the role of Tauriel?

Lilly: 'The Hobbit' was one of my favorite books as a kid. I was extremely honored to be representing Tolkien on the screen, and working with Peter Jackson. Working on that project is what inspired me to start writing [her children's book] "The Squickerwonkers" and get it published. It really got me moving and inspired me to set off and do something with my writing.

CNN: Tauriel is an original character created for the movie. What was it like tackling that?

Lilly: Tauriel was half as daunting as a character from the book. [With] Tauriel, there was no preconceived idea of who she should be. There was a lot of freedom to really play with it, and be open to my own interpretation of her. The scariest part was accepting the role in the first place -- I had to agree to play a character who would be very likely hated by most of the fans. Once I decided (that) I didn't have to live up to anyone's expectation of her, not knowing who she was.

CNN: Since she is not in the book, we don't know what will become of her.

Lilly: We left her in a situation where she had betrayed her king, and we weren't sure where her heart was at. We start to realize where her alliances are, and who she cares about. Is it the dwarf or Legolas?

And she does more ass-kicking, which she does best. But there's a lot more emotional material for Tauriel in this film, which is good to see. We get to know her better.

CNN: What made you decide to make the leap to writing?

Lilly: When I finished shooting "The Hobbit," I took two years off to be an author.

A lot of that time was spent trying to help publish a limited edition run of 1,000 books for San Diego Comic-Con.

Then Titan swept in and said they would publish in 2014.

When I started to work on "Ant-Man," it was a return to being an actor for a little while. I was curious to see how it was -- and if there was a part of me that missed it.

Ultimately, my reaction was, "God, I can't wait to get back to full-time writing." There's nothing as pleasurable to me as writing. It was great affirmation that I was making the right choice and going in the right direction.

CNN: So you see yourself doing less and less acting?

Lilly: Acting has always been something that happened, but never something I dreamed about and pursued. I was fortunate to have such a wonderful job fall into my lap. If this wasn't the right fit -- an amazing job that most people would covet -- I thought that writing would be that. I think I was right.

CNN: You just wrapped "Ant-Man." What was that experience like?

Lilly: I've been astounded to discover how good to their teams and crew that Marvel are. They're so collaborative, so smart with their stories. They have rich, dynamic characters which are so much fun to play. I expected I'd be a cog in the wheel of a big machine -- I wasn't sure I'd like this experience. But I've been so astounded at how pleasurable the whole experience has been.

CNN: Who is your character, Hope Van Dyne?

Lilly: She is the daughter of the founders of The Avengers, Ant-Man and the Wasp. She is a very talented, intelligent, capable woman and a force to be reckoned with.

This one is very much a heist film. It has all the fun, tension and drama of a good heist film. The heist is being masterminded by myself, my father and Scott Lang.