The Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has formally accepted the position of brand ambassador of West Bengal, reported the Indo Asian News Service yesterday.
The position was offered to him the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, after the two met last November at the Kolkata Film Festival.
Banerjee confirmed the news to reporters at the state secretariat Writers' Building in Kolkata on Monday.
Khan apparently accepted the position in the form of a personal letter addressed to Banerjee. "West Bengal is my second home," the 46-year-old actor wrote.
The Artist dog wins Golden Collar award
Uggie, the four-legged star of The Artist, was named Tinseltown's top dog at the inaugural Golden Collar Awards.
The ceremony held on Monday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel proceeded like a traditional Hollywood-style awards show, with the likes of NCIS star Pauley Perrette and Hot in Cleveland actress Wendie Malick presenting trophies for the best dog performances in film and television.
Uggie's owner-trainer, Omar Von Muller, was on hand to accept the award. He said the Jack Russell terrier, who stole hearts in the silent film that's up for 10 Oscars, is a "great performer, but also a great family member".
Organised by dognewsdaily.com, the awards were broadcast online by The Hollywood Reporter, and are expected to be televised next year.
Martin Scorsese appeared at the ceremony by video. His Doberman in the film Hugo, Blackie, lost out to Uggie. Other winners included the French bulldog Brigitte, which plays Stella in TV's Modern Family.
* Associated Press
Madonna raffles off necklace
Madonna is giving her fans the chance to own the Swarovski Montaigne necklace she wore in the promo video for her new single Give Me All Your Luvin', reported contactmusic.com.
The pop star has teamed up with the jewellery brand to raffle off the prize on the internet. Fans need to log on to Madonna's official Facebook page to enter the giveaway, which also includes an autograph from the artist.
Entries will be accepted until Sunday, with the winner announced on March 12.
Authorities: Houston was underwater in tub
In addition to having prescription drugs in her room, Whitney Houston was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub, authorities said on Monday.
Two days after her death, Houston's body was flown from Los Angeles to New Jersey, where her family was making arrangements for a funeral at the end of the week.
An autopsy was performed on Sunday, and authorities said there were no indications of foul play or obvious signs of trauma on Houston's body. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner's office completes toxicology tests to establish her cause of death.
The 48-year-old singer had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills.
Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they weren't authorised to speak for the family, said Houston's relatives raised the possibility of a wake on Thursday and a funeral on Friday at Newark's Prudential Center, an arena that can seat about 18,000 people.
* Associated Press
Ali Mostafa to endorse Britain in the UAE
The British tourism agency VisitBritain has appointed the Emirati film director Ali Mostafa as the UAE Goodwill Ambassador, endorsing Britain's tourism credentials among UAE citizens.
Mostafa, who directed the first Emirati feature film City of Life, joins a stellar group of tourism ambassadors, including Judi Dench, Dev Patel and Jamie Oliver.
Mostafa, whose father is Emirati and mother British, was born and educated in London.
'Wax museum' offers window to Iraq's past
Baghdad's version of a wax museum features figures that depict Iraq's past, rather than replicas of celebrities.
The Baghdadi Museum features sculpted works of wax and plaster that depict scenes of Iraq from about a century ago, with women standing in balconies, men in barber shops and artists hard at work.
Other exhibits show Sufi ceremonies or marriages, as well as women in Turkish baths - all carefully recreated in the museum, located inside an elegant Ottoman-era house.
Formerly an archaeological museum founded by the British adventurer Gertrude Bell, the building lies in Baghdad's old Baab Al-Muadham area near the banks of the river Tigris. The museum has more than 500 figurines.
* Agence France-Presse