Who's in

Bobby Brown jailed over child support

A Massachusetts judge sentenced R&B singer Bobby Brown to 30 days in jail on Monday unless he pays $20,000 in child support for two of his children his second arrest in less than a year.

Brown, who is in the process of a divorce with singer-actress Whitney Houston, appeared in handcuffs at Norfolk Probate and Family Court, a day after he was arrested while attending his daughter's cheerleading competition.

Last October, an arrest warrant was issued for the 38-year-old Grammy winner after he failed to show up at a hearing on overdue child support payments to Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children.

Brown was also sentenced to jail in 2004 and 2005 in Massachusetts for failing to pay child support. In both cases he paid up.

He made headlines last March when police arrested him for an outstanding motor vehicle violation dating to 1992.

Brown, a Boston native, reached fame with the group New Edition and for his 1988 solo album Don't be Cruel.

Angelina Jolie voted sexiest star ever

Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has been voted the sexiest star ever in an online poll for the BBC's 100 Greatest Sex Symbols special. The BBC's Channel 4 recently conducted an Internet poll to determine the top 100 sexiest stars of all time.

Jolie was No 1, Elvis Presley No 2 and Brad Pitt No 3, followed by Marilyn Monroe and Beyonce Knowles.

The only fictional character in the Top 10 was video game vixen Lara Croft, who was played on the big screen by Jolie, at No 6.

Actor George Clooney was placed seventh, Kylie Minogue made the list at No 8, Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp was voted in at No 9 and Scarlett Johansson finished off the top tier at No 10.

Rostropovich honored with presidential award

Russian President Vladimir Putin has conferred renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with a presidential award for "Services to the Fatherland," the Kremlin announced on Monday.

A statement from Putin's office cited Rostropovich's work as a musician and conductor as well as his support for gifted music students through the Rostropovich Fund.

Putin recently visited the famed cellist in a Moscow clinic after the 79-year-old fell ill late last year, cancelling a November trip to the United States on his doctors' orders.

Born in Soviet Azerbaijan, Rostropovich left Russia in 1974 to settle in the United States.

Star couple's daughter to have more surgery

Chinese pop diva Faye Wong's husband, actor Li Yapeng, said in his blog recently that their daughter was recovering and would receive further surgery in the United States for a cleft lip.

The couple took the baby girl Li Yan to the United States for an operation three months after her birth in May.

"She was very healthy and recovers well," Li said in his blog.

The couple and their celebrity friends set up a charity for children with cleft lips.

Wong, a Beijing native who made her name in Hong Kong, was hugely popular in the mid-1990s but has unofficially retired in recent years.

She has another daughter from her previous marriage to Chinese rocker Dou Wei.

Agencies-China Daily

(China Daily 02/28/2007 page18)