London, Nov 2 : The British government is learnt to have urged the BBC to end the culture of “fat cat” pay for top presenters, else it would risk a cut in its 3.4 billion-pounds-a-year of public funding.

According to official figures, the BBC’s top 50 highest paid executives earn up to 14.3 million pounds a year between them, with 50 managers earning more than 190,000 pounds last year. Director-General Mark Thompson gets a package of 816,000 pounds per annum. 

London, Nov 2 : Peaches Geldof fell head over heels in love with Max Drummey after discovering his interest in a Satanist.

Geldof and the rocker exchanged marriage vows in Las Vegas after a four-week romance and are said to have bonded over their love for occultist Aleister Crowley.

Crowley, dubbed the Great Beast, died in 1947 but his fondness for drug abuse, spells and ritualistic sex has lived on through his followers.

According to sources, the 19-yer-old Peaches has become fascinated by Crowley – who filed his teeth into fangs and started his own religion – since picking up his book Magick Without Tears. 

London, Nov 2 : Ashton Kutcher’s new job as a football coach is surely paying off – his Harvard-Westlake High Wolverines are off to a 4-2 winning start this season.

The ‘That’s 70s Show’ actor, who is coaching the team, admits he''s getting a lot out of his new job. 

"Though football is no great step for mankind... it''s a great step for me,” the Daily Star quoted him, as telling Sports Illustrated magazine.

"I''m not there to teach them; they are there to teach me,” he added.

Melbourne, November 2 : Rihanna, who is trotting the Australian continent with fellow singer and beau Chris Brown, kicked off her tour in a teasing skin-tight outfit.

The 20-year-old, whose hit single ‘Umbrella’ has been polled as the ‘catchiest song of all time’, clad herself in a lacy leather suit while performing in Brisbane, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The Barbadian singer, who has sold more than 11 million albums worldwide, will next shake a leg in Adelaide followed by Sydney to perform at the Acer Arena from November 7.

Washington, Nov 2 : Experts have said that reports of today’s newer and high-tech forms of media overshadowing traditional media have been unnecessarily exaggerated.

A new study led by Iowa State University researchers have found large gains in the use of new media like the Internet and e-mail, but also a slight increase in the use of traditional media newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

They team found that the overall consumption of advertiser-supported mass media increased over the four-year period, although the magnitude of that change tended to be small.

In addition, increased use of new media occurred at a more rapid pace than decreases in the use of traditional media.

Baghdad - An explosion on Sunday struck a neighbourhood restaurant in eastern Baghdad. The number of casualties is still unknown, witnesses told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

Police cordoned off Palestine street in eastern Baghdad where the detonation took place.

Separately, gunmen disguised in police uniforms broke into a house in Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad, killed a woman and injured three others from the same family, police told VOI.