Obama celebrates 48th birthday

On his own 48th birthday, US President Barack Obama Tuesday turned the spotlight on a reporter also celebrating her special day, who pitched up at the White House in the year he was born.Obama sang "Happy Birthday" and presented Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, with cupcakes and a single candle to celebrate her 89th birthday, before planting a kiss on her cheek.The outspoken Thomas, who has covered every president since John F. Kennedy, spoke quietly to Obama, who ignored reporters' shouted questions about his own birthday and ex-president Bill Clinton's mercy mission to North Korea."Helen wished for world peace, (and)...

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Paula Abdul will not return to 'American Idol'

If Paula Abdul’s abrupt Twitter announcement that she’s quitting “American Idol” is a contract negotiating ploy, it’s a spectacular one.If not, she’s potentially blown a hole in TV’s top-rated show — and rejected an eight-figure deal that represented a 30 percent raise, according to a person familiar with the talks. The person, lacking authority to speak publicly, asked not to be identified.Abdul dropped her online bombshell Tuesday evening, right before season-nine auditions begin Friday in Denver. That has the whiff of a pressure tactic on Abdul’s part, although boycotting the early auditions that skip from city to city might have been a less...

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Exam passes reach record levels in Scotland

Record numbers of Scottish teenagers opening their exam results this morning will have passed.A total of 98.5% of the nearly 160,000 15- and 16-year-olds were successful in their standard grade exams, with one in five pupils achieving the top level – grade 1 – and more than a quarter reaching grade 2.Nearly three quarters of the 167,635 higher exams taken by 16- and 17-year-olds this year resulted in passes, as did 77.8% of the advanced higher papers, sat by the brightest 17- and 18-year-olds.The success rate is the highest since the exams were introduced in the 1970s, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said. Last year, pass rates were...

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Michael Jackson's 2009 Rehersal on DVD

Michael Jackson’s last days have been entrance to a theater—or DVD rack, during least— nearby you.Sony-owned Columbia Pictures has purchased a rights to a King of Pop’s 2009 operation footage from unison upholder AEG Live for $60 million, according to justice papers filed Friday by Jackson’s estate. A decider still needs to pointer off upon a transaction, which would concede Columbia to qualification a PG-rated, feature-length movie revolving around Jackson’s preparations for what was ostensible to be a 50-date quip rendezvous in London.The $60 million encompasses merchandising rights, product tie-ins, a special director’s cut, etc. AEG has pronounced...

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Salman Khan’s ‘WANTED’ Trailer

Directed by Prabhu Deva, ‘WANTED’ stars Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia, Mahesh Manjrekar, Asseem Merchant, Vinod Khanna and Prakash Raj. The movie is the story of an undercover cop who infiltrates a gang of hardcore criminals to hunt down a notorious gangster. The movie will release on September 18, 20...

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