Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt has spent more than half-a-million pounds at an art fair in Switzerland on an oil painting. The "Troy" actor spent 5,85,000 pounds to buy the painting by German artist Neo Rauch, reports mirror.co.uk.
Called Etappe, it's a nine-feet-long picture, which shows a swirling view of a race car on a track.
MS Dhoni’s salary will be delayed next month. Ditto VVS Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, S. Sreesanth and R.P. Singh. Reason: These India cricketers are among the 200-odd sportspersons employed by Air India. Also on the list are India hockey captain Sandeep Singh and Jhulan Goswami who captains the national women’s cricket team. “Frankly, we are still not clear on the status but yes, the salary has been deferred by a fortnight,” said Shekhar Guha, head of Air India Sports Promotion Board. An Air India hockey coach, who didn’t want to be named, also said: “By the 20th of every month we get PLI (Performance Linked Incentive), but we have not got it till now and there are rumours that we won’t be paid at all.”
Some of the big names mentioned above may not be affected by this but for sportspersons, present and former, surviving only on salaries this is a big blow. Neither Raina nor Sandeep, a deputy manager, said they knew about this. “I have been hearing about it in the news, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen. I will have to speak to my coach,” Raina, assistant manager, Commercial, said. Sandeep, however, felt if they did not get the salary on time would be a big problem.
Former India wicketkeeper and Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said he would be hit by this but added that since “Air India takes care of its employees and this is a crisis, I urge all my colleagues to stand by it.”
In Mumbai, Bimal Ghosh, coach of the Air India football team which plays in the I-League, said training hasn’t stopped despite the announcement.
Company spokesman Jitender Bhargava said sportspersons, if hired as permanent staff, are usually recruited as assistant-managers. Their educational qualification too matters, he said. “We don’t employ sportspersons as brand ambassadors, but spot them young and groom them. So, their salaries are not higher than that of the top level managers,” he said.
As of now, the loss-making airline has formed a four-member committee comprising members from finance and personnel departments to look into its salary structure. Air India employs 31,000 people and has an annual wage bill of about Rs 3,000 crore. Its cumulative loss is about Rs 5,300 crore.
Air India has an annual sports budget of approximately Rs 4 crore and officials said, as of now there are no plans to curtail that.
The Transformers actress Megan Fox has topped the 100 'sexiest women in the world' poll for the second successive year.
Kangana Ranaut’s career is going great guns post her break up with Adhyayan Suman. The actress, who walked away with the much-eyed Best Supporting Actress trophy at the IIFA awards this year, has now signed a film with ace actor Amitabh Bachchan. 
Are they together, are they not? Pranks and Shasha keep their fans guessing. Recently Shahid tried to clear the air, but not to much avail, as their electrifying chemistry tells it all. Our filmy birdie tells us, that the couple was recently seen lunching together at a suburban restaurant. Rumour goes that the couple went out on a date to celebrate Priyanka's victory at IIFA awards.
Besides who hasn't heard the latest buzz that the two have taken their romance from Facebook to Twitter. The two are perhaps becoming tech savvy together. Piggy Chops taught Shasha Facebook. And as if as return gift he's taught her how to tweet. And the buzz is that both keep writing regularly on each other's walls.
Now do you have anything to say Shahid?
Well this is what we would title our post after having a peek at Aishwarya Rai’s latest look. Aishwarya Rai was invited at 2009 Royal Ascots race as an ambassador to Longines watches. Aishwarya Rai’s hat is designed by designer Ilda De-Vico which she paired it with a light gray Armani suit.
Like Aishwarya in the hat?
Two beautiful young ladies from Islamabad, Pakistan poses for the camera in these candid photos. Having recently moved to England from Pak, Ambreen is fond of casual photography as these pictures aptly demonstrate. She says she loves modeling different desi outfits as well as spending time at the beach, though that can’t be too sunny in the UK.But she needs urgent some good friends from heart meaning life partner. She likes desi boys from India and Pakistan.
Respectable viewers this picture was sent to us by Aalia from Wah Cantt. Aalia tells that she reads this blog at daily basis. She wants to introduce herself to our readers Aalia tells that if you see girls walking on street, in school, in shopping market, or other places,
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Pop star Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles, aged 50.
Paramedics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home at about midday on Thursday after he stopped breathing.
He was pronounced dead two hours later at the UCLA medical centre. Jackson's brother, Jermaine, said he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest.
Jackson, who had a history of health problems, had been due to stage a series of comeback concerts in the UK, beginning on 13 July.
Speaking on behalf of the Jackson family, Jermaine said doctors had tried to resuscitate the star for more than an hour without success.
Jermaine Jackson on his brother's sudden death
He added: "The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time."
"And Allah be with you Michael, always. I love you."
TV footage showed the star's body flown from UCLA to the LA County Coroner's office where a post-mortem is expected to take place on Friday.
Concerns were raised last month when four of Jackson's planned comeback concerts were postponed, but organisers insisted the dates had been moved due to the complexity of staging the show.
 | AT THE SCENE  Rajesh Mirchandani BBC News Michael Jackson was brought here to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles around 12 hours ago. Earlier there were several hundred people here, before it got dark - there was a sense of grief, of disbelief. But in the last few hours, these people have been singing his songs, dancing, there was a guy on a keyboard earlier, playing his songs for people to dance along to. This has turned into an impromptu celebration of Michael Jackson's music. He's the king of pop as far as they're concerned. They're still shocked by his sudden death but they're here because they want to show their support. |
A spokeswoman for The Outside Organisation, which was organising the publicity for the shows, said she had no comment at this time.
Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini said: "I always doubted that he would have been able to go through that schedule, those concerts. It seemed to be too much of a demand on the unhealthy body of a 50 year old.
"I'm wondering that, as we find out details of his death, if perhaps the stress of preparing for those dates was a factor in his collapse.
"It was wishful thinking that, at this stage of his life, he could be Michael Jackson again."
Tributes have poured in from the entertainment industry. Sir Paul McCartney described Jackson's death as " sad and shocking".
The pair worked together on two hit tracks, Say Say, Say and The Girl Is Mine from Jackson's Thriller album.
He said " I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul.
"His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.
"I send my deepest sympathy to his mother and the whole family, and to his countless fans all around the world."
Speaking outside New York's historic Apollo theatre, civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton paid tribute to his friend.
"I knew him 35 years. When he had problems he would call me," he said.
Can't believe it. I'm gutted. RIP Michael, thanks for everything you gave us.
"I feel like he was not treated fairly. I hope history will be more kind to him than some of the contemporary media."
Melanie Bromley, west coast bureau chief of Us Weekly magazine, told the BBC the scene in Los Angeles was one of "pandemonium".
"At the moment there is a period of disbelief. He was buying a home in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles and the scene outside the house is one of fans, reporters and TV cameras - it's absolute craziness.
"I feel this is the biggest celebrity story in a long time and has the potential to be the Princess Diana of popular culture."
Musical icon
Tributes from the world of music and film have already flooded in from celebrities including Madonna, Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley.
|   |
Large numbers of fans have also gathered outside Jackson's home and at the UCLA medical centre with lit candles to mourn the star while playing his greatest hits.
Facebook groups have also been set up for fans to share their memories.
The singer's albums are occupying the top 15 slots of online music retailer Amazon.com's current best-seller chart, led by his 1982 smash hit Thriller.
Paramedics were called to the singer's house in Bel Air at 1221 (1921GMT) following an emergency phone call.
They performed CPR on Jackson and rushed him to the UCLA medical centre.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department said the robbery and homicide team was investigating Jackson's death because of its "high profile", but there was no suggestion of foul play.
Jackson began his career as a child in family group The Jackson 5.
| MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009 Full name: Michael Joseph Jackson Born: August 29, 1958, Gary, Indiana, US Also known as: The King of Pop, Wacko Jacko Biggest hits: I Want You Back, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Bad, Black or White, Earth Song |
He then went on to achieve global fame as a solo artist with smash hits such as Billie Jean and Bad.
Thriller, released in 1982, is the biggest-selling album of all time, shifting 65m copies, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
He scored seven UK number ones as a solo artist and won a total of 13 Grammy awards.
"For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don't have the words," said Quincy Jones, who produced Thriller, Bad and Off The Wall.
"He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I've lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him."
The singer had been dogged by controversy and money trouble in recent years, becoming a virtual recluse.
Michael Jackson's body is delivered by helicopter for a post mortem report
He was arrested in 2003 on charges of molesting a 14-year-old boy, but was found not guilty following a five-month trial.
The star had three children, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.
He is survived by his mother, Katherine, father, Joseph and eight siblings - including Janet, Randy, Jermaine and La Toya Jackson.
ET has confirmed that the international superstar and pop-music legend Michael Jackson passed away Thursday afternoon. He was 50.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's office tells ET that Jackson was transported from his residence in full cardiac arrest on Thursday. They say life-saving efforts were made by paramedics throughout transport to the hospital and efforts in the hospital emergency room continued on unsuccessfully.
Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The King of Pop, who will be forever immortalized for his world-famous, trademark dance moves and chart-topping success, was arguably one of the most popular recording artists of all time, his success peaking during the 1980s.
Jackson was born in Gary, IN on August 29, 1958. Before he became a solo artist, Jackson was the youngest member of the Jackson Five, the explosive '60s band formed by his four older brothers -- Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon Jackson -- put Jackson on the path to stardom.
Jackson's talent was brought to the attention of producer Quincy Jones, who cast him in the role of Scarecrow in 'The Wiz' (1978), a musical based on 'The Wizard of Oz.' The film also featured Diana Ross and Richard Pryor. The rising pop star reunited with Jones in 1982 with the mega-hit album, Thriller. The title track, along with "Beat It," "The Girl is Mine," and "Billie Jean," would make him an indelible icon of pop culture. The album garnered seven Grammy awards. His unmatchable musical talent was coupled with an intriguing idiosyncratic image that, in later years, overshadowed the singer's own success. But the '80s marked Jackson as a contemporary legend.
Jackson's eccentric persona was perpetuated with the help of his one-gloved hand. In 1993, a mother accused Jackson of molesting her 13-year-old son during a visit. The case was eventually settled out of court for a reported $20 million. Still, America remained enamored with the pop star; a reported 62 million viewers tuned in to his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. The later years of his career and personal life proved to be a tumultuous affair. The change was perhaps foreshadowed most significantly a year after he married Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. His album, HIStory, released in 1995, failed to become the success it was anticipated to be. His 2001 album, Invincible, which reportedly cost $30 million to produce, would suffer the same fate.
During the same year, in November, he married former nurse Debbie Rowe. She gave birth to Prince Michael Jackson I in 1997. Two years later Jackson and Rowe filed for divorce. In November 2003, more legal trouble emerged when a 12-year-old boy claimed that Jackson molested him at his Neverland Valley Ranch. A year later Jackson gave his DNA sample to authorities after police searched his estate for evidence.
In 2005, Jackson was tried and exonerated of child molestation, conspiracy and alcohol charges that could have sent him to prison for nearly 20 years.
Despite the tribulations in his personal life, Michael Jackson's mark in history never faded. He has inspired young pop stars like Justin Timberlake and Usher, and his classic, instantly recognizable songs continue to be heard in dance clubs and households across the world.
Jackson is survived by his three children: Prince Michael Jackson I, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.
 The sheer number of queries concerned Google |
The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of Michael Jackson's death.
Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack.
Millions of people who searched for the star's name on Google News were greeted with an error page.
It warned users "your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application".
"It's true that between approximately 2.40PM Pacific and 3.15PM Pacific, some Google News users experienced difficulty accessing search results for queries related to Michael Jackson and saw the error page," said Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker.
It was around this time that the singer was officially pronounced dead.
Google's trends page showed that searches for Michael Jackson had reached such a volume that in its so called "hotness" gauge the topic was rated "volcanic".
The BBC news website reported that traffic to the site at the time of Jackson's death was 72% higher than normal.
Fail
Google was not the only company overwhelmed by the public's clamour for information.
The microblogging service Twitter crashed with the sheer volume of people using the service.
 Searches for topics related to Michael Jackson peaked at 3PM Pacific |
Queries about the star soon rocketed to the top of its updates and searches. But the amount of traffic meant it suffered one of its well-known outages.
Before the company's servers crashed, TweetVolume noted that "Michael Jackson" appeared in more than 66,500 Twitter updates.
According to initial data from Trendrr, a Web service that tracks activity on social media sites, the number of Twitter posts Thursday afternoon containing "Michael Jackson" totaled more than 100,000 per hour.
That put news of Jackson's death at least on par with the Iran protests, as Twitter posts about Iran topped 100,000 per hour on June 16 and eventually climbed to 220,000 per hour.
Early reports of Mr Jackson's death and the confusion surrounding it caused a rash of changes and corrections to be made on his Wikipedia page as editors tried to keep up with events and the number of people trying to update the page.
TMZ, the popular celebrity gossip site that broke the story following a tip-off that a paramedic had visited the singers home also crashed.
There was a domino effect as users then fled to other sites. Hollywood gossip writer Perez Hilton's site was among those to flame out.
Keynote Systems reported that its monitoring showed performance problems for the web sites of AOL, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and Yahoo.
Beginning at 2.30PM Pacific "the average speed for downloading news sites doubled from less than four seconds to almost nine seconds," said Shawn White, Keynote's director of external operations.
He told Data Center Knowledge that "during the same period, the average availability of sites on the index dropped from almost 100% to 86%".
Zaib-un-Nisa is another cute babe of this blog. She sends us her photo and writes some lines about herself that “I am “zaib” and zaib means “lovely”…. but I don’t think I am! I am just a talented girl but not so much hard worker! I want to live simple and happy life and I am living that. I mostly used to spend my time with my friends but it’s not possible for all the time.I want to be a kind person and a lovely human being! I like those who never laugh on others. I am so cool but I am too much notice at the time when I am with my friends. I have my aims but I never told anyone about them because I believe in achieving not sharing!”
Benish the beautiful girl from Hyderabad has sent us her pictures. Benish has a really cute smile with a real sparkle in her eye. She demonstrates yet again that the land of the famous sweet Sindhi language has equally sweet ladies. Here we see her in a Mehndi dress, what appears to be a yellow Salwar Kameez.Hyderabad, the ancient city of Pakistan, is famous for its Sufi culture, awe-inspiring architecture and of course, the well-known Bangles. What we didn’t know until now is that it had amazingly attractive inhabitants too!
Robina is the regular reader of our blog, she sends us her picture and says that I am pretty young and sexy belong to Islamabad. I want to meet new friends and I am also looking for a boyfriend who is sweet and kind. I am still studying and can do crazy things when I am horny.
