World News

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks' actor son Colin Hanks has got engaged to his publicist girlfriend Samantha Bryant.

The 31-year-old recently popped the question to the Manhattan-based PR executive and the Hollywood family is ecstatic about the engagement, reports contactmusic.com.

'Rita (Wilson, Colin's mother) gave Samantha a $10,000 handbag to congratulate them,' said a source.

Socialite heiress Paris Hilton has built a luxurious 'mini mutt mansion' for her dogs.

The singer-actress has got the tiny estate, which is a replica of her own Los Angeles mansion, custome-made in her backyard next to her swimming pool, reports mirror.co.uk.

It also features replicas of her own furniture including a chandelier, wardrobes and chic furniture and to top it all, the dog pad is fully air-conditioned.

The reality star proudly posted pictures of the posh kennel on her Twitter page and wrote: 'I love and treat my puppies as if they were my own children...I have to admit, I may have spoiled them a little too much. But how can I not? Just look at those sweet lil' faces, they deserve to be treated like my lil' prince and princesses. I love my babies.'

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio has split from his supermodel girlfriend Bar Rafaeli.

The 'Revolutionary Road' star, who has been dating Refaeli on and off since 2005, has decided he needs some space from the Israel-born beauty, reports People.com.

The relationship, according to the magazine, fizzled out because 24-year-old Bar was keen to settle down and set up home with the actor, while DiCaprio didn't feel he was ready to fully commit to her.

'They're taking time off for the time being, they've split. It could just end up as a break but for now they're doing their own thing...She wanted to move faster than he did, she wanted to move in together, so he broke it off,' said a source.

Upscale jeweler Tiffany & Co would have to see at least a five percentage point improvement in U.S. same-store sales in order to call business better, as jewelry remains one of the trickiest things to sell in the recession.

Speaking at the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in New York, Tiffany Chief Executive Michael Kowalski said that he has not seen any "game changer" so far in any of its markets.

When asked what the company needs to see to call business better, Kowalski said: "I would say a trend that represents a 5 percentage point comp movement" in the United States.

"If comps went from minus 25 (percent) to minus 15 (percent), we would say that's significant," Kowalski said, pointing to the U.S. market. "We haven't seen that yet."

New York-based Tiffany, known for its blue boxes and flagship store in Manhattan, has faced a huge sales drop recently, as many other luxury retailers have, in the economic slump.

Mounting job losses, tight credit access and the turbulence in stock markets have made matters worse for even affluent consumers. More shoppers are trying to haggle for lower prices at Tiffany stores now, Kowalski said.

Tiffany has vowed that it will not discount its jewelry, as it tries to protect its luxury brand image

Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp has an alternative career lined up should he ever decide to quit acting - he's a secret portrait artiste.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor has been nurturing his talent for years and picks up a paintbrush whenever he has difficulty sleeping, reports contactmusic.com.

He's been honing his talents by creating oil portraits of literary heroes and celebrity friends.

'I started painting people I admire, like (author Jack) Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Nelson Algren, Marlon Brando, Patti Smith, my girl (Vanessa Paradis), my kids. I painted (late journalist) Hunter (S. Thompson) a couple of times (and) Keith Richards...What I love to do is paint people's faces, you know, their eyes. Because you want to find that emotion, see what's going on behind their eyes,' he said.

Rumours are rife that pop diva Britney Spears is dating her agent, Jason Trawick.

Mirror.co.uk reports that the 'Toxic' singer, currently in Britain on her 'Circus' tour, was visited by the media man here last weekend and love sparked between the two.

Friends of 27-year-old singer said even her dad Jamie approves of her choice and thinks Trawick apparently makes her very happy and is said to get on well with her two sons, Sean Preston, 3, and Jayden James, 2, by ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Internet reports also claim that Trawick can't wait for Spears to finish her tour so he can take her on a holiday.

For the residents of Dhankawadi slum on the city outskirts, a few minutes of bad transmission is usually forgivable. But on Wednesday evening as residents of Sai Dutta Nagar in Dhanakwadi prepared for the show of all shows, they made sure no such ''crisis-situation'' would interrupt even a few seconds of viewing. For none of them wanted to miss those precious moments when 17-year-old Rahul Mane of their basti garnered accolades from ace choreographer Farah Khan for his performance on the reality show Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega. For Mane himself, the class XII student who earns an extra bit of income for his family as a newspaper vendor, the choreographer's compliments were a dream come true.

Bowled over by Mane's performance judges Anu Malik and Farah Khan regarded the act as a commendable one. Applauding the 17 year old's passion for dance the judges congratulated Mane's parents. The dance guru herself requested his parents to allow him to pursue a career in dance. Putting up a unique act — a dance performance with four legs — Mane had Farah Khan asking for an encore and won Rs 10,000 on the show. Elaborating on the act Mane's choreographer Ganesh Jadhav says, "The act gives you the impression that the person is dancing with four legs. The dancer uses two hands to make it look like two other legs and the coat has two artificial hands mad of cotton and thin rods."

Creditably enough the one-minute act was extended by 45 seconds as neither the audience nor judges could get enough of it. "The act was a little different because by attaching two artificial legs, I had to dance like a four-legged dancer. I used my hands to move the artificial legs and performed to the number Behka main behka from Ghajini. When Farah Khan, who has made even King Khan dance to her tunes, complimented me, I could not hold back tears of joy," says Mane. Khan commented that she had never seen something like this before.Calling it a unique concept she added that Mane is a born dancer.

Today, Mane, who went to a low-profile dance school to learn the art and put up with many disparaging comments, stands tall. In a parking space in Bibewadi, Mane's dance teacher Ganesh Jadhav conducted his classes. "Many of us did not even have chappals to wear. Other kids laughed at us. But the passion to learn dance kept us going," reminisces Mane.

However, Mane, who qualified for the one-minute round, could not advance to Friday's grand finale. Nevertheless, his spirits soar high. "I will definitely make a career in dance if supported," he says.