Life in General

Little Suri Cruise may not realize the effort involved, but her family made sure she celebrated her first birthday in style.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes organized a birthday lunch on April 18 at the Cruise compound in Los Angeles, where the entire clan dined on pizza and cupcakes from Sprinkles bakery in Beverly Hills.

"Suri is walking and talking," says a source close to the family, who adds that dragonfly and butterfly piñatas were part of the entertainment.

Looks like somebody doesn't want to have her picture taken, and that somebody is Kirsten Dunst. But why so shy Kirsten? Well, according to the Daily Mail, even though Kirsten's night started out fine at the Spiderman 3 premiere, after hitting several parties and clubs, little miss Kiki D wasn't in the mood to deal the papz.

The 24-year-old actress began the evening at 6pm looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on the red carpet in Leicester Square. She wore a demure high-necked dress which reached below the knee.

But two parties later, Kirsten - who by now had changed into a shorter dress with a bustier bodice - was looking more than a little dishevelled.

Well, after the Spider-Man 3 premiere, she went on to the afterparty at the Freemasons' Hall in Covent Garden.

After that, Johnny whisked her off to the Hawley, popular with stars like Sadie Frost and Amy Winehouse, where she apparently availed herself of the refreshments on offer.

She eventually stumbled back to the Covent Garden Hotel just before 4am.

If Britney Spears is capable of actually looking like this, what the hell was that Crack and Cheetos bender all about? Sure, you might say having two kids in less than two years takes its toll on a woman's body, but I'm not buying it.

I'm also not buying that this person is really Britney Spears. I think the real Britney Spears died of a drug overdose, and the record labels used her placenta to create a clone. Of course, since cloning technology still hasn't been prefected yet, Britney 2.0 went a bit crazy.

Bono U2 Frontman has brought succesfully the issue of African poverty to the world's wealthiest nations. The Irish rocker, a campaigner for third world debt relief, met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday where he secured a pledge to use the G8 summit in northern Germany in June to plead Africa's case.

He says, "Africa is this magical, extraordinary continent and we've got to start describing it more as an opportunity than a burden."

World Boxing Council (WBC) light-middleweight champion Oscar dela Hoya continued his high-intensity training in Puerto Rico to prepare for his fight with undefeated challenger Floyd Mayweather next month.

Dela Hoya has been doing a lot of “roadwork,” jogging an uphill route while wearing a 25-pound vest. His conditioning coach made him do 200-meter dash eight times to boost his stamina.

Dela Hoya showed dedication in training by putting his body through pain to get himself in tip-top shape. He is eager to give Mayweather his first loss.

Prince William has broken up with his long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton after a romance conducted under the full glare of the media spotlight.

The breakup was "amicable," according to a friend of the couple.

The prince, 24, and Middleton, 25, have been dating for nearly five years, after meeting at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

The young couple seen hugging and kissing during a skiing holiday in Switzerland only last month.
William simply hasn't been paying her enough attention.
She is stuck in London while he is living in an officer's mess. Kate feels hugely frustrated that their relationship just seems to be going backwards at a rate of knots.

1. The typical lovemaking session lasts around 15 minutes: roughly 10 to 12 minutes of foreplay and around 3 to 5 minutes of intercourse.

2. Humans aren't the only horny members of the animal kingdom doing it just for fun. Dolphins and a type of chimpanzee called the bonobo have also been observed engaging in sexual activity when they are not in their natural reproductive cycles.

3. While Viagra has made erectile dysfunction (affecting 10 to 12 percent of men) a household phrase, the opposite problem -- premature ejaculation -- is more common (affecting 24 to 27 percent of men). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing a drug called dapoxetine as a cure for this problem.

4. Crank up that thermostat... orgasms may be more intense in warmer conditions. The degree of vasocongestion, reddening or darkeing of the skin known as the "sex flush," is both more common in warmer temperatures and an indication of how intense an orgasm may be.

5. If a woman experiences orgasm during sex, she is more likely to become pregnant, since orgasmic spasms in pelvic muscles help move sperm up the vaginal canal to the uterus.

6. Homosexuality is not unique to humans. Many species have been observed engaging in homosexual activity, and in fact male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of all mammals.

7. On any given day 400,000,000 people around the world -- 1 in 17 of us -- will have sexual intercourse. Broken down further, 4,000 people are having sex at any given time.

8. Sex cures headaches. Endorphins released into our bloodstream when we have sex not only give us pleasure but also act as painkillers. Useful information to whip out the next time your partner uses a headache as a reason to say no.

9. Many elderly can and do have frequent sex. At age 70, 73% of males are still potent, and 30% of women 80 or older have still have sex.

10. 70% of women would rather eat chocolate than have sex.

SAN ANTONIO -- Manny Pacquiao stopped Jorge Solis with a powerful right hand in the eighth round Saturday night after struggling through the opening five rounds and being cut by a head butt in the sixth.

Pacquiao was listed as a -685 favorite against Solis.

Pacquiao (44-3-2, 34 knockouts) holds the WBC international super featherweight belt, and is the WBC's No. 1 contender to the super flyweight title held by Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico. Solis, the brother of IBF light flyweight champion Ulises Solis, lost for the first time in 35 fights.

''With respect to Manny Pacquiao, my wife hits harder,'' Solis said. ''He's very fast, very quick, and I didn't see those punches.''

The head butt occurred when Pacquiao lunged toward Solis in the middle of the ring. Pacquiao appeared clearly upset, and began connecting efficiently on Solis.

''He decided to move his head (in this fight),'' Pacquiao said. ''Every time he danced, he moved his head.

''When I got the cut, I decided to pressure him and make it a (slug) fest.''

Later in the sixth, Pacquiao pushed Solis into the corner and threw a flurry of punches. Pacquiao knocked down Solis twice in the eighth, the end coming 1:16 into the round in the scheduled 12-round bout.

A survey is suggesting that only a tiny minority of us are getting eight hours' sleep a night. But do we really need that much?

"Getting your eight hours" is one of those injunctions, like drinking plenty of water or not to swim in canals, that most people take at face value.

When former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was reported to need only five hours' sleep a night, it was taken as evidence of a near-supernaturally tough constitution.

And it's become an increasingly common sentiment that too much work and stress and missing out on our eight hours is the modern plague.
But the good news, says Prof Jim Horne, director of Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre, is that we don't need eight hours at all.

"It's nonsense. It's like saying everybody should have size eight shoes, or be five foot eight inches.

"There is a normal distribution - the average sleep length is seven, seven and a quarter hours."

Lots of people report having more or less than the average, he said. It may all be down to genes, and what people are accustomed to.

The US National Sleep Foundation suggests seven to nine hours a night is advisable for adults, and a survey it conducted in 2002 suggested three-quarters of Americans had problems sleeping and a third were so sleepy during the day their activities were affected.
The foundation says: "In the past century, we have reduced our average time in sleep. Though our society has changed, our brains and bodies have not. Sleep deprivation is affecting us all and we are paying the price."

But Prof Horne says: "The test of insufficient sleep is whether you are sleepy in the day or if you remain alert through most of the day."

In a nutshell, if you sleep for eight hours a night go to work and find yourself lolling and drooling on the keyboard, you aren't getting enough. If you're sleeping five hours and running the country, you probably are getting enough.

And Prof Horne, the author of Sleepfaring: A journey through the science of sleep, says the idea that Victorians got lots of sleep and had a better work-life balance is a myth.

Indeed a classic demand of the 19th Century labour movement was "Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest".

Women may need more sleep than men, Prof Horne says, due to the structure of their brains. And he says there is evidence that young children are getting too little sleep, with a detrimental effect on their behaviour.

Sleep patterns disrupted by shift work have been linked to heart disease, but this has also been linked to stress caused by unpleasant jobs, Prof Horne notes.

He stresses that sleep disorders are a 24-hour phenomenon with sufferers spending their days stressed and unable to clear their heads at night.

Leaving the bedroom and doing a jigsaw is one course of action, Prof Horne says. And the insomniac must not dwell on his problems or his condition.

As Mrs Thatcher once told the Sun: "If you brood and brood and brood... you won't go to sleep."

Latino pop heartthrob Enrique Iglesias is set to make a big comeback splash this summer with a new album, a duet with rapper Lil' Wayne, a TV sitcom appearance and a performance at Live Earth.

The Hero singer plans to release Insomniac, his first album in four years, in June and to promote it Iglesias will appear on hit show Two And A Half Men in May and perform a free concert on breakfast show Today in New York on June 15.

The hunky star will also perform at a city to be announced as part of the Live Earth concert on July 7.

The album's first single, Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song) has been written by Britney Spears collaborator Sean Garrett. Lil' Wayne will appear on album track Push.

Kirby Ann Basken has again proven that the beauty of a Filipina is a standout after winning this year's Miss Norway Universe crown.

Twenty-one-year-old Basken, half Filipino and half Norwegian, received a unanimous vote from the nine judges of the pageant. She also received the highest Internet vote of 59 percent.

Aside from the crown, Basken won 200,000 Kroner (P1.6 million), a diamond ring and a luxury trip to Phuket Island in Thailand. She will fly to Mexico next month to compete in the 2007 Miss Universe Pageant.

Basken's roots can be traced in Laguna, her mother's province. Her mother, Grace, married a Norwegian and is now a dance instructor in Oslo, Norway.

Before bagging the 2007 Miss Norway Universe crown, Basken emerged as the first-runner up in the same pageant last year.

She also joined the local beauty pageant, Mutya ng Pilipinas, last June and was crowned Mutya ng Pilpinas-Asia Pacific International 2006.

As summer approaches, the annual search for the perfect swimsuit has already begun for most women. While this search may often seem equally depressing and futile, it is possible to find the perfect swimsuit for your body shape, armed with the right information.

Large Bust

The nursing mother has plenty to show up top. Whether you're nursing or just plain busty, you can minimize your overflowing cups with spaghetti straps or wide straps on your swimsuit or bikini. (Though most busty women have already from hard experience that unless you are trying out for a spot on "Baywatch", there are slim pickings for full coverage in the bikini top department).

Busty women can also try a sports top. These tops keep everything in place and add the comfort of full coverage.

Small Bust
Ah! The freedom of the small bust! To give yourself a little boost in this department, try the vast array of padded bikini tops available. If you prefer something with a little more coverage, try suits with a horizontal neckline or bloused top. This will draw attention to your shoulders and give the illusion of a fuller bust.

Long Torso
Shorten a long torso by employing the use of horizontal stripes on a bikini. This will allow the eye to focus on the top and bottom, not the middle. A sports top will also camouflage a long torso by creating a more uniform look.

Short Torso

Surprise, surprise: vertical stripes.

Wide Shoulders

Choose a swimsuit or bikini with a halter top. Thick straps up top help make shoulders look more proportional.
Belly Bulge

Hey sister, nothing to be ashamed of. I'm there myself; it's just not the most fun thing to show off at the beach. Try an empire waist. You will find it draws attention to the bust line and slims the tummy area. Also, choose solid, dark-colored swimsuits for a more streamlined look. Some women like the look of a V neckline as it draws the eyes up towards the bust and the face.

Heavy Hips, Thighs and Backside

Employing a pretty skirt or shorts is a fun way to dress up a swimsuit while hiding heavy hips, thighs and backside. A bloused top also creates proportion and helps minimize the look of heavy legs.

Short Legged

A high cut leg on a swimsuit elongates your glamorous gams. A solid one-piece suit creates an elongating affect on the petite gal and doesn't break up the body (causing the body to look shorter). Stay away from shorts and skirts on the bottom as they tend to make you appear shorter.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind while shopping for the perfect beach side apparel:

* While trying on suits, notice where you eye is first drawn to on the suit. This will let you evaluate how flattering (or not) it is. You want your eyes to be drawn to your best features.

* Accentuate an hourglass figure with a belt or band across the smallest part of your waist.

* Choose something comfortable! Take a few steps, stand up, sit down, twist and turn to determine whether or not you will be tugging or pulling at your swimsuit all day.

Swimsuits are a tricky business, but by employing these simple tips, you should have no problem finding something perfect for your body type.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai doctors have successfully separated 8-month-old twin girls who were born joined from chest to abdomen, a Bangkok hospital said Thursday.

The girls, Panwad Tiyenjai and Pantawan Tiyenjai, were born with the upper chambers, or atriums, of their hearts connected, one pumping blood to the other, said Dr. Somchai Sriyoschati, who participated in the operation.

He said that the 12-hour surgery on Feb. 20, in which 61 doctors and nurses took part, left both girls in good condition, though one has a slight heart defect which can be fixed when she gets older, he said. The girls were eight months old when they were operated on.

Just over a week after reaching a divorce settlement, exes Britney Spears and Kevin Federline were in good spirits over the holiday weekend.

Federline, 29, headed to his favorite stomping ground – Las Vegas. But unlike his last visit to Sin City, this time he didn't bring the kids, just his close buddies.

After touching down Friday afternoon, Federline and crew caught a few rays at the Mirage's private adult pool, Bare, before heading out to dinner at Nobu. Next stop: Jet nightclub, where go-go dancers showered him with fake money to the tune of Fat Joe's "Make it Rain."

Just after 3 a.m., Federline and his entourage made their way to Caesars Palace's Pure Nightclub, where the aspiring rapper spent time in the DJ booth, and then on to the strip club Scores until the early morning.

Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne and her rock-star husband have paid about $9.5 million for a home in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

The three-story house, which 22-year-old Lavigne will share with Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, her husband of nine months, has eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

Other amenities include an elevator, sauna and garage space for 10 cars.

The New York Yankees have placed outfielder Hideki Matsui on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, Major League Baseball said on its Web site on Sunday.

Matsui suffered the injury during Saturday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

"When you play baseball, these things happen," Matsui told mlb.com through an interpreter. "You just can't help it. I look forward to just getting back as soon as possible."

Nicolas Cage is heading off to India to play another comic book hero. The Ghost Rider star will play a soldier-turned-mystic in Shekhar Kapur's new film The Sadhu, which is being adapted for the big screen by self-improvement guru Deepak Chopra.

Chopra's son Gotham, is the chief creative officer of Virgin Comics - the firm behind the graphic novel about English soldier James Jensen, who sets out to find the man who killed his family.

It is not known if Cage will have to adopt an English accent for the role.

Hayden Panettiere rocketed to fame as the self-healing cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes – but the 17-year-old is just getting started.

Since becoming the focal point of the show's "save the cheerleader, save the world" plot line, Panettiere has also started filming the drama Fireflies in the Garden with Julia Roberts and is gearing up to promote her debut pop album this fall.

In L.A. Panettiere has found a BFF in Bruce Willis and Demi Moore's daughter Rumer, 18 ("I stole my pink belly-button ring from Rumer," she admits), and a boyfriend in Laguna Beach's Stephen Colletti, 21, whom she's been dating for more than a year.
But Panettiere and Colletti are so low-key (their nights out usually consist of dinner and a movie) that the actress feels guilty about not giving gossipmongers more to work with.

"I had paparazzi on my street for a while," she says. "I think I bored them to tears. I'm no fun to watch."

It's "the Sistine Chapel of crystals," says Juan Manuel García- Ruiz.

The geologist announced this week that he and a team of researchers have unlocked the mystery of just how the minerals in Mexico's Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) achieved their monumental forms.

Buried a thousand feet (300 meters) below Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert, the cave was discovered by two miners excavating a new tunnel for the Industrias Peñoles company in 2000.

The cave contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found: translucent gypsum beams measuring up to 36 feet (11 meters) long and weighing up to 55 tons.

"It's a natural marvel," said García-Ruiz, of the University of Granada in Spain.

To learn how the crystals grew to such gigantic sizes, García-Ruiz studied tiny pockets of fluid trapped inside.

The crystals, he said, thrived because they were submerged in mineral-rich water with a very narrow, stable temperature range—around 136 degrees Fahrenheit (58 degrees Celsius).

At this temperature the mineral anhydrite, which was abundant in the water, dissolved into gypsum, a soft mineral that can take the form of the crystals in the Naica cave.

he gray wolf—a predator once hunted to near extinction in the United States—now joins a small but growing number of endangered species that have been cloned.

South Korean scientists announced that they duplicated two gray wolves using the same method that produced Dolly the sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal.

The process is known as somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).

"This study demonstrated that SCNT is a practical approach for conserving endangered canids [which include dogs, wolves, and foxes]," wrote the research team, led by Byeong Chun Lee, a professor at Seoul National University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

In South Korea, the researchers said, gray wolves are rarely found in the wild and only a small number live in captivity.

The clones, named SnuWolf and SnuWolffy, were born in October 2005.

Researchers reportedly delayed the announcement because disgraced stem-cell researcher Woo Suk Hwang is listed as one of the study authors, which prompted additional verification to confirm the clones were real.

An investigation by Seoul National University officials last year found that Hwang fabricated key stem-cell research, including claims to have cloned the first human embryo in 2004.

If you think pregnant women are grumpy, touchy and a pain in the neck, take one look at Claudine Barretto. Six months into her first pregnancy (by her and husband Raymart Santiago’s child), Claudine has yet to throw a fit or lapse into a scowl.

She has yet to give her co-stars on Walang Kapalit, her new teleserye for ABS-CBN, a headache. Ask Piolo Pascual, her leading man in their new project, loosely based on the ’80s film Hindi Nahahati ang Langit.

"Claudine showed no mood swings," Piolo relates how shooting - partly in Australia, went. "In fact, she’s grown even nicer now that she’s pregnant. She’d order food for everyone."

You could almost hear him say under his breath, "If only all pregnant women are like this."

The Patriarchs and Heads of Local Churches in Jerusalem remind us that as we celebrate the joy of Easter we must examine carefully where we stand in relation to God.

They say that many of us need to abandon the selfish instinct within us. They say if we would truly seek the power of the Resurrection in our lives then we must disregard any idea we might have of self-sufficiency or worldly hopes that hide from our eyes the things of heaven and of the Spirit. If we believe in the Resurrection, we must affirm that our security is with God and in the power of the Resurrection, they add.

Despite our weakness and despite the unjust circumstances imposed upon us, they maintain that the power of God can free us if we come to understand the logic of the Spirit in us and if we accept to behave accordingly.

SEPANG, Malaysia (AFP) - Brazilian Felipe Massa made clear he is aiming at nothing less than outright victory in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix after sweeping to pole position in the final seconds of Saturday's qualifying session.

The 25-year-old Ferrari driver overcame a worrying moment when rain threatened during his best flying lap, but went on to claim his fourth career pole and set up a bid for his first win this year in the hot, sultry conditions.

Reformed supermodel Naomi Campbell's community service wardrobe has lead to a huge demand for Christian Louboutin boots. The English beauty, 36, wore a string of expensive, designer labels as she arrived every day for her week-long stint at New York City's Sanitation Department last month. Once inside, she changed into department regulation workwear.

Scary Movie actress Anna Faris filed for divorce Tuesday from her husband of three years, actor Benjamin Indra.

Faris, 30, filed her petition in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split from Indra, 28.

According to court papers, the couple married in June 2004 and separated last month. Faris has requested that she not be required to pay any spousal support.

In addition to her recurring role as Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie films, Faris also appeared in Brokeback Mountain and the comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend.

I don't know what happened to Michelle Williams, but she's looking great here. Not that she doesn't look good all of the time, but since her pregnancy, well, let's just say she got a little more voluptuous.

But whatever diet she's on is definitely working. Maybe even working a bit too well. I don't think I've ever seen Michelle Williams look so skinny, and I've been watching her since Dawson's Creek. The biggest difference has to be in her face, though. Her slimmed down profile really highlight her large eyes, and striking features.

Let's just hope she doesn't lose any more weight. Anorexic actresses are a dime a dozen, and it looks like the only weight she has left to lose is in her breasts, and we definitely don't want that.

You might find it hard to believe, but Fergie has admitted to going on a drug-fueled, lesbian sex spree when she was just 18 years old. That's quite the shocker, coming from someone who openly admitted to being addicted to Meth. According to The Mirror, the Black Eyed Peas singer used drugs and lesbian sex as a means of rebellion against her catholic upbringing.

"I have had lesbian experiences in the past. I won't say how many men I've had sex with - but I am a very sexual person.

"When I was going through my out-of-control phase, I could have got into very dangerous situations."

Fergie, real name Stacy Ferguson, also got drawn into Los Angeles' sordid drug and gang culture.

She added: "I had a gun put to my head during a drug deal that went wrong. Luckily I got out of it."

Lesbian sex, drugs, guns... Sounds about right. Is it wrong that I'm completely not shocked by any of this? Quite honestly, it seems like if you haven't had a drug problem, or rampant, wild sex, that you can't even qualify as a celebrity. But I guess if those are the standards, then Fergie definitely makes the cut.

Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston is to be celebrated for her same sex kisses. The actress is slated to receive the Vanguard Award at this year's Los Angeles GLAAD Media Awards on April 14. The awards pay tribute to stars who help promote gay rights.

In recapping her onscreen 'gay' moments, celebrity blogger Marc Malkin lists her girl-on-girl kiss with Winona Ryder in an episode of Friends and her recent lesbian smooch with pal Courteney Cox on TV show Dirt.