Britney’s family wants her to skip showbiz

The family members of troubled pop star Britney Spears want her to leave showbiz. They are keeping a constant eye on her and did not allow her to go out, not even with her cousins, IANS reports from London.
“Britney desperately wanted to come out with us to party but we had to tell her ‘no’. She needs to rein herself in. She needs to take a break from the limelight, from showbiz, and just concentrate on getting herself better, and being with her family,” mirror.co.uk quoted Spears’ cousin Alli Simms as saying.

Franklin slams Beyonce

Music legend Aretha Franklin slammed Beyonce Knowles for calling Tina Turner the “Queen of Soul” at the recent Grammy Awards, IANS reports from London.

When Franklin was honoured with the Grammy MusciCares Person of the Year award, she was shocked that Knowles introduced Turner as the ‘Queen of Soul’. Franklin is generally referred to as the ‘Queen’ and she felt snubbed by the fellow singer’s comment.

Franklin said: “I am not sure of whose toes I may have stepped on or whose ego I may have bruised between the Grammy writers and Knowles. However, I dismissed it as a cheap shot for controversy.”

Now, fly in birthday suit

There are nudist beaches, nudist resorts and nudist hotels. It was only a matter of time before an enterprising travel agency came up with nudist charter flights, reports DPA from Hamburg. Step aboard the charter flight, take off all your clothes and stow them along with your hand luggage in the overheard compartment. Then take your seat, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy air travel in the all-together.

You do have to wear clothing in the departures and arrivals lounges and in transit to your nudist destination. But for diehard “naturists” this is altogether the dream of travelling in the all-together.

“People are booking flights like crazy,” says Enrico Hess, the travel agent in the eastern German city of Erfurt who came up with the gimmick only a couple of weeks ago. “Word has spread like wildfire around the world. There’s a naturist network and they have been calling me day and night,” the Hess said.

The first flights for next summer to the German Baltic Sea island of Usedom have already been booked out -- six months in advance.

Saudi Arabia bans roses

Alleging that Valentine’s Day promotes extramarital affairs, Saudi Arabia has clamped down on the sale of red roses to mark the day falling on February 14, reports UNI from Dubai.

Saudi Arabian police raided flower shops and told owners to keep the red roses associated with romance and love out of the shelves, Saudi Gazette reported.

Mutawwa, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the kingdom, frowns upon open displays of love and considers the day as un-Islamic and believes it promotes extramarital affairs.