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Camilla's panic attack nixes her first public appearance (Go To Top)

     London: Camilla Parker Bowles it seems is not comfortable with making public appearances without Prince Charles, or so it seems. According to Daily Mail, she was due to visit Southampton General Hospital put pulled out of the first solo official engagement prompting fears over her suitability to take on high-profile Royal duties. She asked courtiers to cancel the trip and the hospital was told of her decision only four days ago. "There was to have been a visit by the Duchess of Cornwall in her capacity as patron of the National Osteoporosis Society, but that has now been postponed and no new date has been scheduled," a spokesperson at the hospital was quoted as saying. However, Charles's press secretary, Patrick Harrison, said the abrupt cancellation was due to the announcement of the General Election and "strict rules" about Royal Family engagements in the run-up to elections. "It had nothing to do with it being too soon for the Duchess or with her being anxious about appearing on her own," Mr Harrison said. "The Election was called and so the visit was postponed until after that. Health is a key political issue and it was felt that a visit would not be appropriate under the circumstances," Harrison added.

Britney to buy home near site of baby's conception (Go To Top)

     London: Britney Spears and her dancer husband Kevin Federline are reportedly buying a 1.3 million pounds bungalow close to the Las Vegas hotel where their baby was conceived. According to the Mirror, Model Claudia Schiffer and rocker Billy Idol have also booked properties at the Hard Rock Hotel. Meanwhile, sources claim that, Britney, who already has a 4 million pounds home in Malibu, wants to raise her child near her mother's home in Kentwood, Louisiana, where she grew up. "We might build our dream house right behind my mum's," the report quoted the pop singer as saying.

Genghis Khan was a visionary, not a villain (Go To Top)

     London: The reputation of one of the world's most notorious warlords, Genghis Khan, is set for an overhaul. Long regarded as an embodiment of evil, a man with a barbaric streak, who slaughtered millions of people across Asia and Europe, Genghis Khan may soon be projected as a heroic figure who achieved greatness against all odds. A BBC drama-documentary to be aired on Monday is aiming to change Khan's image from that of a barbarian to that of a visionary who brought literacy, law and culture to his Mongolian nomads. "Genghis Khan is right up there with the likes of Hitler and Attila the Hun as one of the bogeymen of history," The Telegraph quoted Ed Bazalgette, the producer of the documentary, as saying. "We hear the phrase 'somewhere to the Right of Genghis Khan'. Everyone has heard the name yet few people know much about his story. It is one of the great untold stories of history and we wanted to get behind the myths. No one is suggesting that he was a benign individual, but his history was written by those he defeated," Bazalgette adds. "To make a parallel, imagine if our country's history was written by the people of Africa or India. He was intent on sharing his riches with his people, and wanted to raise levels of culture, law and literacy. He also brought Chinese medicine to his people," Bazalgette claims further.

      According to Mike Yates, the founder of LeaderValue, a company which provides leadership resources, uses him as an example of a figure who achieved success through the "four Es of leadership" - envision, enable, empower and energise". He said: "Amassing material wealth did not matter much to him, as he shared everything with his loyal supporters. He was seen as a generous leader. "Genghis Khan also demonstrated a rather liberal and tolerant attitude to the beliefs of others, and never persecuted people on religious grounds." Khan was born in Mongolia sometime after 1160 and during the course of the next 60 years formed an empire that stretched from the Pacific to the Black Sea. His father was killed when he was nine and, at the age of 13, he killed his half-brother over a dispute on who would lead the family. Bazalgette's programme involved six weeks of filming on the Mongolian steppes in 100F heat and cost a million pounds. The cast included 150 horsemen from the Mongolian army, as well as a team of Hungarian stuntmen.

Australia awaits a Bollywood blast  (Go To Top)

     Melbourne: Steve Bracks, the Premier of Victoria in Australia seems to be wooing the Indian Film Industry. According to The Herald Sun, Bracks was in India lobbying director Yash Chopra and executives at Mumbai's Film City to set up base in Melbourne. Yash Raj films, which makes six features a year, is eyeing Melbourne and their upcoming film, Salaam Namaste is being shot in Victoria. "The best advertisement for Melbourne and Victoria is the film itself. Bollywood is already in Victoria. There is great potential. This is a big budget movie in Bollywood terms and, if this is successful, I have no doubt others will follow," he added.

Internet shopping more popular than mail order buying: Study (Go To Top)

     London: A new report has revealed that Internet shopping has become extremely popular with buyers, and has for the first time overtaken purchases from mail order catalogues. According to The Independent, online retail has practically replaced the "big book" buying therapy and so much dominated the market that many of the retail groups are cutting jobs and shutting shops, with retail group Littlewoods announcing to cut 3,200 jobs and shutting down 126 of its Index catalogue-based shops. The study conducted by market Analyst Mintel has revealed that Britons now spend more than 800 pounds online per month on everything from cut-price books and CDs to top-end furniture and diamond jewellery, adding that the number of people using Internet to buy goods has increased manifold.

     The report states that while online buying has shown a rising trend, catalogue buying on the other hand has shown a declining trend. Whereas in 2004, more than one in three people, in other words as much as 32 percent bought things via the Internet, compared with just nine per cent in 2000, the number of people buying from a mail order catalogue fell from 53 per cent to just 25 per cent within that same period. The study further revealed that low prices, instant availability and the chance to shop on the Net during office hours have added popularised online buying compared to 1,000-page catalogues with weekly repayment options being looked at as "old fashioned and downmarket". "Mail order has failed to change or diversify sufficiently to appeal to today's more demanding and sophisticated home shopping audience. Home shopping retailers must admit that the days of the big book are over and the great hope of the home shopping industry is, or should be, the Internet. The big book is the wrong format for the 2000s, as customers want a more clearly targeted offer. Much the same has happened on the high street where the 'all things to all women' retailer has struggled and struggled badly. Both high street and home shopping retailers need to be much more clearly differentiated these days," the paper quoted Richard Perks, the director of retail research at Mintel as saying.

Drew Barrymore perfects the art of vomiting (Go To Top)

     Washington: Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore has said that she has spent years perfecting the art of vomiting and was thrilled to do a similar scene in her new film 'Fever Pitch'. "I do love throwing up in film and I feel like I'm getting better at it. I'm learning more tricks. When I first started I would just make a hacking noise... but then I started putting water in my mouth and it being more like there was a gurgling sound," Contactmusic.com quoted Barrymore as saying. "Then I discovered Cream Of Mushroom soup. That's the key. It really sounds authentic. It's a job; you wanna do it right. So I feel like I'm getting better at throwing up at work," she said.

Britain becomes world's food capital (Go To Top)

     London: Britain may officially have become the food capital of the world, with more than 25 percent of world's top restaurants based there, according to a new survey. The British-based magazine 'Restaurant' asked a panel of top chefs from around the world to rank their best places to eat and it was found that 14 of them were in Britain, leaving behind France and Italy, which are known for fine cooking worldwide. According to The Telegraph, the survey reflects the country's emerging reputation as one of the world's food centers. The list includes celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in Chelsea and Angela Hartnett's Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. Just three restaurants are outside the capital - two in the village of Bray, Berks, run by Heston Blumenthal and Michel Roux, and the third is the Manoir aux Quat'Saisons run by Raymond Blanc in Great Milton, Oxfordshire.

Orlando Bloom is U.K's most powerful star (Go To Top)

     London: Lord of the Rings actor Orlando Bloom has been voted as the most powerful star in Britain. In a survey conducted by the magazine, Film Review, the actor has been lauded as the most sought after star of the country. "Already one of the industry's most iconic faces, Bloom has the looks and abilities to become one of the screen's legendary actors." Femalefirst quoted the magazine as stating. Keira Knightley was second on the list, followed by Closer star Clive Owens on the third position.

100-year-old woman advised Eastwood to marry one younger (Go To Top)

     Washington: Clint Eastwood was advised by his spiritual guide to marry a younger woman for a long life. The Million-Dollar Baby director met her while he was on the election campaign for mayorship of a U.S. town. "When I was campaigning to be mayor of Carmel in the mid-1980s, I met a woman who was about 102 years old." Eastwood said. On her advice that age is a state of mind, he married his second wife Dina, who is several years younger than him. "She'd heard that I was then going out with someone 10 or 15 years younger than me and she said, 'Clint, you've got to look for someone (even) younger, someone who will love you and look after you.' Contact music quoted him as saying.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher planning a secret wedding? (Go To Top)

    London: Hollywood actress Demi Moore and model- turned-actor Ashton Kutcher are reportedly planning to wed secretly in Las Vegas. According to sources, the couple had recently approached celebrity jeweller Neil Lane to design matching wedding rings for them. "Demi and Ashton went to him for one reason, their wedding is being planned," the Daily Mail quoted a pal as saying. The pair was said to be resting last week at their three-story penthouse in Manhattan, but their private jet was parked at a nearby airport. "Members of their family have been told to assemble," an insider was quoted as saying.

Harry Potter's lady love comes under fans fire (Go To Top)

     London: Katie Leung, who will play Cho Chang in the fourth part of the series, 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire', has incurred the wrath of `Harry Potter fans who have reportedly posted hate messages on a number of Potter websites. Fake photographs in lewd poses on various sites and messages like "I hate you" and "ugly bitch" have left the young star distressed, and her Scottish-born father Peter worried for his daughter's safety. "It's frightening and I can't make sense of it. Katie has seen these sites too and It's a great on her", Female First quoted Peter as saying. Katie, however reportedly has the full backing of co-star Daniel Radcliffe, who thinks she's very pretty and cool.

Arun Nayar's wife hits back at his 'torture' claims (Go To Top)

     New York: Elizabeth Hurley's fiance, Arun Nayar might have claimed that his wife Valentia Pedroni "mentally tortured" him, but she has refuted his claims. According to New York Post, Pedroni's mother, Anna Maria has fired back saying, "What rubbish. If anything it was Valentina who was tortured." Nayar had filed a 22-page divorce petition in Mumbai claiming Pedroni harassed him and "demand(ed) excessive amounts of money," noting also he "dreaded going home to my constantly nagging wife."

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