Angelina turns to chef for pre-nuptual plumping help

Actress Angelina Jolie, who is set to tie the knot this summer with her partner of seven years, Brad Pitt, reportedly wants to gain 10 pounds before her big day. The slim and svelte actress wants some curves to fill out her dress, reports dailystar.co.uk. The couple has reportedly asked British chef Jamie Oliver to give her recipes for hearty yet healthy meals.

Various media reports claim Pitt is also keen that Jolie puts on some pounds as he prefers her curvier figure.

"Brad would love her to have curves like she did when they met on 2004 movie Mr and Mrs Smith," one internet source said. Other "sources" mocked reports of Jolie's force-feeding plans as a "ridiculous story".

TV celebrity chef Oliver has reportedly been to the "Bradgelina" home several times. Jolie's supposed new "menu" includes jambalaya and risotto, burgers and fries, and chocolate profiteroles.

Foreigners can't pick new German names, court rules

A German court has refused to allow a family to shed their "foreign-sounding" names for new German ones they said would protect them from discrimination and aid integration into a country becoming attractive for immigrants. The family, living in Germany under asylum after fleeing Azerbaijan, were given the opportunity to take on German versions of their names, some of which carry Islamic associations, the administrative court in Goettingen, in the state of Lower Saxony, said in a document.

Michele Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen ... no, wait

The Minnesota congresswoman and former Republican presidential candidate was recently granted dual citizenship.

"Congresswoman Bachmann's husband is of Swiss descent so she has been eligible for dual-citizenship since they got married in 1978," a spokeswoman told CNN last week. "Recently, some of their children wanted to exercise their eligibility for dual-citizenship, so they went through the process as a family."

But the media attention on her sudden "change of nationality" was seen as bad press for her re-election campaign. Now Bachmann is saying thanks but no thanks.

California seller of suicide kits sentenced for tax offense

A great-grandmother who made headlines by selling suicide kits from her California home was placed on five years of supervised probation on Monday and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for a tax-related offense stemming from her mail-order business. Sharlotte Hydorn, a retired science teacher, pleaded guilty in December to a federal charge of failing to file income tax returns from 2007 through 2010, a period during which investigators said at least seven customers used her kits to kill themselves.

Celebrity hair stylist Vidal Sassoon dead at 84

Vidal Sassoon, a celebrity hair stylist who created a young, natural look in hair in the 1960s and built a multi-million dollar business, died of apparent natural causes last week at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84.

Disney captures the softer side of Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne made a name for herself as the tough, plain-speaking manager who revived the career of her rocker husband Ozzy, and put the crazy life of her family on view in reality series "The Osbournes". Now the British celebrity, a judge on "America's Got Talent" and member of morning female chat show "The Talk", has taken on a rare character role, lending her voice to four episodes of the pre-school Disney Junior series "Jake and the Neverland Pirates", which began airing this weekend in the US.

Limbaugh rallies his "Babes" to conservative cause

Rush Limbaugh has taken to Facebook in an attempt to fight back against opposing women-advocacy groups by creating his page "Rush Babes For America".

Limbaugh spoke out Tuesday against what he calls 'faux female groups' saying,"I've been tired for a long time of these faux female groups, which are really nothing but groups of liberals."

He said The National Organization for Women, for example, represents "a tiny number of highly-agitated activist types. They're basically miserable and unhappy women, for whatever reason."

China Daily - Reuters

(China Daily 05/13/2012 page4)