Hot: Hottest faces and bodies. The new list of the most attractive and hottest faces includes a puzzling variety of stars, celebrities, media personalities, as well as female authors with impressive academic credentials, ranging from super model Nikki Visser to Dr. Monica Crowley, the most brilliant and prettiest face of the American media. Little we did know that many of those beauties have authored books, lectured on the international circuit and served as advisors in multicultural disciplines and endeavors. Some wee selected by our editorial staff and others were chosen by our readers around the globe. Beauty and brains are blending in unison. Although, they have different personalities and colorful tempers, almost all of them make millions in so many different ways and means.................................................................................................51-56

Lavigne: I have been labelled like I'm this angry girl - I'm like, this rebel, I'm like, punk, and I am SO not any of them. It's so funny, and I'm actually really shy," the petite, Canadian-born Lavigne says in typical teenspeak, sitting on a hotel bed wearing a black hooded sweat shirt, greyish pants, boxy shoes and socks bearing the message "boys are dumb." Lavigne the one-dimensional angry rocker chick is just one misconception she hopes to dispel as she releases her second album, Under This Skin, on Tuesday. It's the follow-up to her hugely successful debut, 2002's Let Go. Though she's only 19, Lavigne has had a profound effect on the pop world in her short career. In 2002, most teen female singing stars were little more than sexy nymphets singing prepackaged pop that was neither distinctive nor written by the stars themselves...................................................................................................................57

Geoffrey Rush: For a movie about the life of Peter Sellers, who could possibly star as the comic genius who played Dr. Strangelove and Inspector Clouseau? Answer: Geoffrey Rush, the man who played the Marquis de Sade and Leon Trotsky. In The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, the Academy Award winner gave one of the Cannes Film Festival's strongest performances playing the tormented title character and his pantheon of comic creations. The role was so daunting that Rush initially turned the part down. "I was very frightened of putting myself on the line," the Australian actor said before the film's Cannes debut..................................................................................................................59

Doyle: Arthur Conan Doyle: He died in 1930 and he is still the hottest author. Thousands of personal papers belonging to Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fetched almost $1.8 million US at an auction Wednesday, with many of the items sold to private U.S. collectors. Christie's Auction House had expected the entire archive of letters, notes and handwritten manuscripts to raise about double the amount. However, 31 of the 135 lots on offer failed to meet their reserve price and remained unsold. The highest successful bid for an individual lot was $250,000 US for a collection of items including the author's notebooks from his time as a young medical doctor in Southsea, southern England. The lot, which was snapped up by a private American buyer, also contained the author's drawing for the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes in the novel A Study in Scarlet, with the original title of ...................................62

10-HEALTH 63

Bug: Concerned about picking up a nasty bug while in hospital? Forget about whether your doctor washed his hands before examining you. Ask when he last dry-cleaned his tie. Neckties worn by doctors can and do carry dangerous pathogens, a clever new study released Monday reveals. It suggests a bedside visit by a well-dressed physician could dole out disease along with comfort and care. The presence of bugs on ties suggests doctors aren't washing their hands enough, or at the right times, said Dr. Allison McGeer, one of Canada's leading infection control experts. "If physicians washed their hands when they were supposed to, their ties would not be contaminated," she said flatly. McGeer suggested these finding probably also pertain outside hospitals, noting male pediatricians often wear ties with cartoon themes to entertain their young patients. "...................................................................................................63

Sperm: A British woman gave birth to a baby boy using sperm from her husband that was frozen 21 years earlier, their doctor said Tuesday. Dr. Elizabeth Pease, a consultant in reproductive medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in Manchester where the baby was born two years ago, said she believed the age of the sperm made the case a world record. Pease said the father had five vials of his sperm "cryopreserved" at the age of 17, before treatment for testicular cancer that left him sterile...........................................................63

11-BUSINESS 64

Business: Kmart: What rate version? Kmart will fail if it tries to be a "second- or third-rate version" of Wal-Mart and must stake out a different niche, the discount retailer's chairman told shareholders Tuesday. Edward Lampert, Kmart Holding Co.'s chairman and majority shareholder, said the company should focus on giving customers specific reasons to shop at Kmart, such as its revamped exclusive clothing lines that will hit stores this summer. He said when it comes to technology allowing speedy movement of inventory, no retailer could beat Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer. "If that's who our competition is going to be, and we're going to be a second- or third-rate version, I don't think we're going to win," Lampert said during Kmart's .... PetroFalcon. PetroFalcon Corp. said Tuesday it has signed a mandate letter with International Finance Corp., an arm of the World Bank, calling for up to $40 million US in financing to develop gas reserves in the state of Falcon, Venezuela. Gas from the Cumarebo and La Vela fields will be delivered to a gas pipeline being constructed by under construction by Petroleos ...Deutsche Telekom is paying $2.3 billion US to end a joint venture with the U.S. wireless company Cingular Wireless and buy Cingular's mobile phone network in California and Nevada. The agreement announced Tuesday would unwind a joint venture set up in 2001, under which Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA customers phoned over the Cingular network in California and Nevada and Cingular's customers used the T-Mobile USA network in New York. "Deutsche Telekom will further strengthen its presence and growth potential in the United States," the Bonn-based firm, Europe's biggest...........................64

12-TECHNOLOGY 65-66

Technology: An Air Force plan to acquire 100 refueling tankers from Boeing Co. was put on hold Tuesday for at least six months by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said the delay will give officials time to complete two additional studies he has ordered to evaluate the controversial deal. The studies will include an analysis of alternatives that requires a comprehensive look at other refueling options, he said. The decision was based in part on recommendations made by the Defense Science Board, which submitted a report critical of the tanker deal earlier this month. The report by the advisory panel said there is no compelling reason for the Air Force to immediately acquire 100 refueling tankers. Contrary to Air Force claims, corrosion of the aging tanker fleet is "manageable" and several options exist to refurbish the fleet, the report said....Russia successfully launched a cargo spacecraft loaded with fuel, food and mail for the Russian-American crew of the International Space Station, an official at mission control said. The Progress M-49 craft lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz-U rocket at 8:34 a.m. EDT, spokeswoman Vera Medvedkova said....Frank Quattrone, the former star technology banker convicted earlier this month of obstructing justice, requested a new trial Tuesday based on "unorthodox and confusing" jury instructions. Lawyers for Quattrone said U.S. District Judge Richard Owen misled jurors about the legal standards the government was required to meet in order to find the ex-banker guilty. "These errors were highly prejudicial to the defence and seriously compromised the fairness of the trial," Quattrone................65-66

13-ART: PAINTING 67-72

© 1997-2007 Copyright Lebanon Art Painting: Joseph Matar. The artist is an intriguing, prophetic and captivating presence which transcended the frontiers of conventionalism and the limitations of the power of mind and esthetical visions. For he is a poet, a philosopher, a published author, an academician, a religious visionary, a painter, a raconteur and...probably, the last of the illustrious "true artists" of the Near East. Classically trained, nourished with French and Lebanese culture, traditions, history and arts, Mr Joseph Matar continued to discover new themes and new esthetical landscapes through his religious and philosophical contemplations. Admirably he paints sceneries and landscapes of the magical lands of Lebanon, its old warm and ethnic houses, colorful villages, faces of shepherds and peasants, small town gatherings, weddings, prairies and enchanted mountains enrobed in captivating horizons and memories of the Grand Orient and his majestic homeland. Equally grandiose and lyrical is his style of blending and creating colors which transform.......................................................................67-71

Untitled - 2003 - chinese ink on paper, 34x32 cm

Zeidan: Salwa Zeidan, the strokes of intellectual elegance and lyrical beauty. Salwa Zeidan was born in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon. Daughter of a poet and a vivid student of world art and humanities, her attachment to inner world of human feelings and contemporary art metamorphoses enlarged the perimeter of her artistic creativity to include the simplistic yet eloquent expressions and forms of lyricism, romanticism and quasi-religious fervour embraced with delicate lines, curves and sensitive structural escapades. Relatively a newcomer to the abstract world, Zeidan succeeded in attracting the interest and attention of eminent scholars and art critics at home and abroad. She began to exhibit her work in 1989. In 2003, she won several awards including the the 4th place at the International biennale of arts in Italy, 2004........................................................................................................72

14-POLITICAL HORIZONS 73-76

Re-election: Baghdad failures might threaten Bush's chances for re-election. The failures in Baghdad threaten to drown his chances for re-election in November. In order to truly persuade critical swing voters, Mr. Bush requires a very different message than he does when trying to persuade the rest of the world to help create a stable Iraq. So when he recast his objectives for Iraq in last night's televised speech, it was supposed to satisfy two audiences. Few Americans will cast their ballots next November on whether prospects for Middle East peace have improved or Baghdad's streets are safer........................................................................................................73

Cleric: American forces trying to crash Iraq cleric's supporters. Parts of one of the most sacred shrines of Shia Islam suffered damage during clashes Tuesday between U.S. forces and radical Shiite militiamen that left at least nine people dead. In Baghdad, a car bomb near a hotel wounded at least five Iraqis, the U.S. military said. The target of the blast, about 100 metres from the Australian Embassy, was not immediately clear. After the fighting in Najaf eased, people gathered at the Imam Ali shrine to look at the damage. The inner gate of the shrine, leading into the tomb of Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, appeared to have been hit by a projectile. Bits of debris were scattered along the ground. Al-Jazeera television showed a torn veil covering the door to the inner shrine.......................................75

Terrorism: U.S. officials have obtained new intelligence deemed highly credible indicating al-Qaida or other terrorists are in the United States and preparing to launch a major attack this summer, The Associated Press has learned. The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday. Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.....................................................................................................................................................................76

15-TELEVISION 77-79

Degeneres: Ellen DeGeneres capped a successful first year on daytime television by winning a Daytime Emmy award for best talk show on Friday. But Wayne Brady won the Daytime Emmy award as best talk show host even though his program has been cancelled. An overwhelmed DeGeneres turned and kissed her mother, Betty, before taking the stage to accept the trophy. She thanked television executives who convinced station managers across the country that people still wanted to see her on TV. "I have fun everyday," said DeGeneres, whose show won three other technical awards. "It's the best job I ever had." In what had to be bittersweet, Brady was honoured as best talk show host for the second straight year even though production had been stopped on his program for poor ratings...........................77

Ludwig: Wiebo Ludwig has always blamed the energy industry and its sour gas emissions for harming his land, livestock and family in northwestern Alberta. But his actions in the 1990s sharply divided the public, who still view him as either a danger or a simple man protecting his family. "I had great respect for the fact he wouldn't be stepped on," said Alan Scarfe, whose portrayal of Ludwig anchors Burn: The Robert Wraight Story, which airs Tuesday on CTV. Wraight (played by Scarfe's son, Jonathan Scarfe) is the former Ludwig confidant who turned RCMP informant after becoming alarmed by the escalating violence and sabotage between environmentalists and the Alberta oil industry. Ludwig's battle with resource companies in the late .................................................79

16-CINEMA 80-81

Shrek: Shrek 2 turned out to be even greener than expected. The sequel about a verdant ogre and his chatty sidekick Donkey collected $108 million US at the weekend box office, almost $4 million more than its studio, DreamWorks SKG, predicted Sunday, according to final figures released Monday afternoon. The computer-animated movie earned about $129 million Wednesday through Sunday for the highest five-day opening in Hollywood history, besting December's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which had $124.1 million. Shrek 2 had the second biggest three-day weekend debut, behind only 2002's Spider-Man with $114.8 million. It beat Spider-Man for the highest single-day gross. On Saturday, Shrek 2 earned $44.8 million, compared to the $43.6 million earned by Spider-Man on its first Saturday.....................................................................................................................................80

Review: Whatever was wrong with Shrek -- and there were more weaknesses than its beloved status would suggest -- has been eradicated or improved upon with Shrek 2, a rare example of a sequel that's better than the original. The computer-generated animation, which dazzled the first time in 2001, looks even better. The backgrounds and landscapes are even more lush and detailed, from the realistic drops of water during a thunderstorm to the contours left in the snow after a horse-drawn carriage has rumbled through. The characters' movements are smoother, not as herky-jerky -- especially those of Princess Fiona (voiced by Cameron Diaz) -- all of which contributes to the sensation of watching something truly filmic, not digitally manufactured. But the most important change of all, and the most fundamental, is in the screenplay.............................................................................................................................81

17-BOOKS 82

Fiction: On a leisurely spring afternoon, author E.L. Doctorow sits for an interview in his office at New York University, a professorial figure with a high forehead and soft beard, his wry smile fitting for a man who always seems to be debating how much he's willing to tell. With books by Stendhal, Tolstoy and other favourites stacked on shelves behind him and his own books on shelves in front of him, it is a comfortable setting for the author of Ragtime, Billy Bathgate and other acclaimed bestsellers. A professor of creative writing at NYU, the 73-year-old Doctorow has been publishing novels for more than 40 years and remains committed to storytelling at a time when readers seem preoccupied with politics, diets and spirituality. "Fiction writers have always faced obstacles of this sort," he says. "So part of the game is figuring out how to move the audience. "I stay away from theory, from any aesthetic plan or ideal of what fiction should be...............................................................................................82

18-DIVAS AND STARS 83-93

Diva: Anne Kerry Ford: A sparkling soprano, a superb actress, leading star of America’s best theatrical plays and musicals, a Broadway stage sensation with wit, humor and philosophical depth, American Cabaret sweet princess and shining star, an outstanding recording artist, a philosopher and an artist bigger than the world we live in!! Anne Kerry Ford had her ups and downs and her share of terrible experiences and disappointments in the world of art but, she remained the ultimate warrior, the art trooper and Cabaret ambassador to the world, the perfect lady and ever glowing star… Well spoken, articulate, educated, multi-dimensional, formidably trained, experienced and blessed with unsurpassed talent and captivating beauty, Anne Kerry Ford has been involved and excelled in about every imaginable artistic endeavors including but not limited to TV soap operas, Broadway stage productions, motion pictures, American and world theater performances, Europe theatrical tours, art world events and performances, big time recordings, singing, Cabaret acts, jazz, blues..................................83-91

Nancy: Nancy Kelly: POWERFUL!! A tornado of music! Explosive, mesmerizing and dangerously captivating Diva!! And there is nothing you can do about it, except, sit, listen, and witness how Goddesses descend on earth, take you by storm and lift you up to the magical firmament of music, splendors and delightful madness…Her performance on stage is the culmination of life in all its forms, passages, seasons and adventures. A performance which explodes from within, from the depth of her inner universe, abundant with wisdom, experience, knowledge, ups and downs, guts and reflections, beauty and reflective hesitations, mesmerizing personality and unsurpassed talent. Nancy Kelly is not a singer. Nancy Kelly is the high priestess of the altar of cosmic music where the best.................92-93