Sean Penn thanks Venezuela's Chavez for Haiti aid.

CARACAS, Venezuela – Sean Penn thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday for supporting the actor's relief organization in Haiti, saying the aid has helped its humanitarian work in distributing medicines.

Chavez met with Penn at the presidential palace and praised the actor's efforts with his J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which was founded in response to the catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Neither provided details about how much financial assistance Venezuela has provided to the group.

The Oscar-winning actor noted that in addition to Venezuela's financial help, his organization has also received support from the U.S. military.

Penn called that ironic, adding: "We hope that this kind of collaboration can be an example for future approaches to many other issues" — in spite of limited U.S.-Venezuelan diplomatic contacts.

The U.S. and Venezuela have been without ambassadors since December, when Chavez formally rejected the White House's nominee for envoy in a diplomatic dispute. The U.S. government revoked the visa of Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez in response.

Penn has met four times with Chavez in recent years. Chavez has praised the actor for his critical stance toward U.S. foreign policy.

The leftist president said their meeting Saturday was productive in discussing "new plans and ideas."


"Sean is an activist of the struggles for the world's oppressed peoples, and he's leaving for Haiti right now," Chavez said outside the presidential palace when they emerged from their meeting.

Music Freedom Day salutes Arab demonstrators.

ZURICH: Musicians in the Middle East will pay tribute to the Arab uprising and commemorate the death of an Egyptian musician during the Cairo demonstrations as part of this year’s international Music Freedom Day on Thursday.

Music Freedom Day, the brainchild of Freemuse, an independent organisation advocating freedom of expression for music makers worldwide, is bringing together artists in over 20 countries to highlight the plight of colleagues around the globe who suffer censorship, imprisonment and even death.

“It may not be difficult to silence the individual musician but you can’t really silence their songs,” Freemuse co-founder Ole Reitov told Reuters by phone. “We’ve seen with many of the songs or singers that have had problems that although they may put the musicians in prison, their songs somehow survive.”

The event kicked off with concerts in Mumbai and Kabul and ends with a session in New York and special broadcasting programmes in Canada after events in Egypt and Lebanon paying tribute to Egyptian musician Ahmed Basiouni, who died on the fourth day of demonstrations in Cairo earlier this year.

Freemuse was founded in the late 1990s to document censorship in music, raise awareness of the problem and offer support to the musicians and their families.

“Artists all over the world would speak up for all kinds of things but they never spoke out about their own conditions, so we would have writers speaking out on behalf of Salman Rushdie but you never heard Bono or Youssou N’Dour or anyone else talking about all the repression that took place with some of their colleagues,” Reitov said from his office in Copenhagen.

LISTEN TO THE BANNED

While huge organisations like Amnesty International campaign on behalf of political prisoners, Freemuse, which has just six full-time and part-time staff and struggles for funding, remains the only international organisation dedicated to campaigning against music censorship.

“Coming across Freemuse was a real godsend for me at a time when I really needed somebody for support,” Deeyah, a singer and composer born in Norway to Muslim parents of Pakistani origin, told Reuters by phone from her current home in Atlanta.
Deeyah, who has become a vehement campaigner for freedom of expression through music and other human rights issues, said the organisation helped her when she was experiencing problems because of her choice of profession and background.

“Music is a fundamental part of all our cultures, our history and our identity. It’s not just light entertainment that doesn’t need protection,” Deeyah said. “It is in many countries the only way for people to express themselves or even rebel.”

Deeyah last year produced a CD, “Listen To The Banned”, featuring many of the artists Freemuse has helped over the years, including Cameroon’s Lapiro De Mbanga, whose songs like “Constitution Constipee” (Constipated Constitution) have landed him in jail for almost three years.

De Mbanga will spend Music Freedom Day in court in Cameroon in relation to his current imprisonment, while cultural activists and musicians in Cameroon meet to discuss issues of music censorship in the country.

“His own analysis was that our help kept him alive in prison,” said Reitov.

Elsewhere in Africa, 2,000 composers in Zimbabwe will demand state radio stop playing their music because they haven’t received royalties for four or five years. Some of these musicians will hold a concert in the evening, including rapper Comrade Fatso, an outspoken critic of President Robert Mugabe.

“The wonderful thing about Music Freedom Day to me is that people locally have taken total ownership of the idea. There’s no way we either wish to or could control it,”

Sheen Has Industries Winning.

Charlie Sheen, who smashed the Guinness World Record for soaring past the 1 million follower mark on Twitter in a little over a day, says he’s contemplating using his new popularity to get endorsements and generate revenue.

But there are plenty of others already trying to cash in on Sheen and his "winning" comments.

Since the beginning of Sheen's rants a week ago, products including songs, T-shirts and coffee mugs, ring tones and even a radio station have been produced to capitalize on the mania around him.

SiriusXM Radio announced Friday that it is rolling out "Tiger Blood Radio," a 24-hour limited run channel dedicated to Sheen. As a ratings booster, it says it will examine the news, facts and media frenzy surrounding the actor and his hit CBS series, "Two and a Half Men," which has been cancelled for at least the rest of the season.

And owners of Android phones have the ability to download sound boards of Sheen's quotes and set them as ring tones. The app is currently free.

"It's the newsworthiness that makes the products interesting," said Marc Cowlin of Brand Marketing of CafePress. The website has over 17,000 Sheen products and allows users to upload and design their own Sheen product from T-shirts to bumper stickers. They are being sold from $4 to $25.

“Generally, it takes less than an hour for CafePress designers to jump on a trend and start designing products,” Cowlin told FoxNews.com, adding that four weeks ago there was “little to no interest” in Sheen products.

The online company Zazzle has also seen an influx of Sheen products created on its website. While the company did not comment on the actual amount of increase in sales, it did note a spike in Sheen products after his several high-profile interviews, Michael Karns, director of marketing at Zazzle, told FoxNews.com.

And could it be only be a matter of time before there is even a real cologne to follow Jimmy Fallon's spoof "Winning" cologne on his show "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"?

Click here to watch a youtube clip of Fallon's spoof

A rep for Elizabeth Arden, the company that endorses Britney Spears' and Mariah Carey's fragrance, didn't say that one was in the works and had no comment yet on future plans to sponsor Sheen. But who knows?

An explanation as for why people are jumping at the opportunity to exploit Sheen's antics could be attributed to his "bad boy" image, Ed Lebar CEO of BrandAsset Consulting, told FoxNews.com.

Lebar suggested that Sheen may work best with companies that would be able to use him as a "bad boy Charlie" or with a brand that promotes "no restraint."

Manufacturers can see what a huge potential he has. After Sheen as his girlfriend Rachel Oberlin tweeted a picture holding Naked Juice and a bottle of Broguiere's Dairy chocolate milk -- for FREE -- sales for the chocolate milk have reportedly spiked.

But Lebar said that the Sheen marketing campaign may be limited to a certain target market: mainly the young, male, urban segment. BrandAsset Consulting for example monitored Janet Jackson's brand pre-the infamous half time show of SuperBowl XXXVIII in 2004, and found that only one particular market; the young male urban segment responded positively post the wardrobe malfunction.

In nearly 10 other target market groups the company found that Jackson took a hit -- something that could happen when the Sheen mania beings to die down.

With Sheen's antics boosting sales for others, the question remains whether he can cash on that success -- either now or in the future.

"It's difficult to generally have a trademark claim. You have to have a trademark on file or some use of the trademark for the actual product or services," Tom Philbrick of AllMark Trademark told FoxNews.com. "If it's just stuff that he's saying, and someone grabs a couple of words and files for a trademark, that's something that they are generally free to do."

Philbrick explained that Sheen could take people using his quotes for products to court, but it's not necessarily a guaranteed win unless he has a pending application or an actual trademark for those terms. "If you put a picture that's something he could definitely sue for," he said.

However it may be looked at, Charlie Sheen has certainly given some industries to feel like they are "winning."

John Travolta reuniting with 'Welcome Back, Kotter' gang at TV Land Awards.

It'll be a high-school reunion of sorts when John Travolta reunites with the cast of the '70s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter" at the 2011 TV Land Awards.

The classic series, which ran from 1975-1979, starred Gabe Kaplan as Mr. Kotter, an inner city high school teacher whose students include the underachieving misfits the Sweathogs.

Travolta, who played ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino, uttering classic lines like, "Up your nose with a rubber hose," is set to accept TV Land's 35th Anniversary Award alongside fellow Sweathogs Ron Palillo ("Arnold Horshack") and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs ("Freddie 'Boom Boom' Washington"). Marcia Strassman, who played Mr. Kotter's wife Julie, will also join the guys.

It is not yet known whether Kaplan will attend the ceremony, to air April 17, but more cast members are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Are you looking forward to seeing the "Welcome Back, Kotter" gang reunite? Tell us in the comments below.

Bieber's lock of hair sells on Ebay for $40k.

Justin Bieber should grow his hair out for another round of trimming - surely there's another charity that could use the kind of cash a lock of his hair goes for.

Ellen DeGeneres tweeted that all she wanted for her birthday was world peace and a lock of Bieber's hair, and the now 17-year-old star came through, swinging by DeGeneres' daytime talk show in February to deliver the belated gift.

The duo teamed up to turn the present into a fundraiser for The Gentle Barn, a nonprofit organization that rescues abused farm animals. DeGeneres auctioned the lock of hair on Ebay beginning February 23, and the final bid came in today at $40,668.

The bidder will receive the lock of Bieber's hair enclosed in a Plexiglas box signed by the Bieb himself, as well as a letter of authenticity signed by DeGeneres. According to one of DeGeneres' tweets, the winner will also get to come on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" when Bieber's a guest.

Of course, 100 percent of the proceeds are going to The Gentle Barn.

Justin Timberlake plans to get back in the studio.

Justin Timberlake is about to give his music career a little tune-up: It sounds like the singer is finally ready to head back into the recording studio.

"I'm unemployed right now," Timberlake, who has focused on films since releasing his last album, 2006's "FutureSex/LoveSounds," tells E! Online. "I haven't been hired for anything so I may hire myself to write some music."

It's quite a turnaround for "The Social Network" star, who told Entertainment Weekly in October 2010 that he wasn't sure when, if ever, he would make another record.

"Does a painter make a painting because he has to make it by December 21st? No, he doesn’t. It happens when it pours out of him. That’s how music is for me," he told EW at the time. "I never stop making music. I don’t know what else to tell you, except that I just don’t know [in] what capacity I want to be involved anymore… All I’m saying is, in very simple terms, I’ll know when I know. And until I know, I don’t know."

Well, now he knows.

Timberlake tells E! Online, "I think I may spend some time in the studio this summer."

Gadhafi forces retake towns near Libyan capital.

TRIPOLI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's forces battled poorly armed rebels Tuesday for control of towns near the capital trying to create a buffer zone around his seat of power. The increasingly violent clashes threatened to transform the 15-day popular rebellion in Libya into a drawn-out civil war.

Amid the intensified fighting, the international community stepped up moves to isolate the longtime Libyan leader.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he ordered two ships into the Mediterranean, including the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, and he is sending 400 Marines to the vessel to replace some troops that left recently for Afghanistan.

Military leaders weighing a no-fly zone over Libya said it would be a complex task that would require taking out Gadhafi's air defenses, and Russia's top diplomat dismissed the idea as "superfluous" and said world powers should focus on sanctions.

Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, warned Western forces not to take military action against Libya and said the country is prepared to defend itself against foreign intervention.

"If they attack us, we are ready," he told Sky News, adding that the Gadhafis are ready to implement reforms.

Facing an unprecedented challenge to his 41-year rule, Gadhafi's regime has launched the bloodiest crackdown in a wave of uprising against authoritarian rulers in the Middle East. Gadhafi has already lost control of the eastern half of the country but still holds Tripoli and other nearby cities.

An exact death toll has been difficult to obtain in the chaos, but a medical committee in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising began on Feb. 15, said at least 228 people had been killed, including 30 unidentified bodies, and 1,932 wounded.


U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has cited reports that perhaps 1,000 have died in Libya.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told Congress that the U.S. must lead an international response to the crisis, including expanding already tough financial and travel sanctions against Gadhafi, his family and confidants and possibly imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

"In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war. The stakes are high," she said.

Gadhafi's regime has retaken at least two towns and threatened a third, while rebels repulsed attacks on three other key areas — Misrata to the east, Zawiya to the west, and the mountain town of Zintan to the south of the capital.

One of those retaken was the strategic mountain town of Gharyan, the largest in the Nafusa Mountains, which overlooks Tripoli, a resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. The town fell after dark Friday in a surprise attack, and the government troops detained officers who defected to the rebels and drew up lists of wanted protesters and started searching for them, the resident added.

Gadhafi supporters also have said they were in control of the city of Sabratha, west of Tripoli, which has seemed to go back and forth between the two camps in the past week.

But witnesses in Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the capital, said rebels shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great) for our victory," and carried an air force colonel who had just defected after six hours of overnight gunbattles failed to dislodge anti-Gadhafi forces who control the city.

"We were worried about air raids but that did not happen," said one resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The Zawiya rebels have tanks, machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. They beat back pro-Gadhafi troops, armed with the same weapons, who attacked from six directions. There was no word on casualties.

In Misrata, 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Tripoli, pro-Gadhafi troops who control part of an air base on the city's outskirts tried to advance Monday. But they were repulsed by opposition forces, who included residents with automatic weapons and defected army units allied with them, one of the opposition fighters said.

No casualties were reported and the fighter claimed that his side had captured eight soldiers, including a senior officer.

The opposition controls most of the air base, and the fighter said dozens of anti-Gadhafi gunmen have arrived from farther east in recent days as reinforcements.

In Zintan, 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Tripoli, residents said an attack by pro-Gadhafi forces Monday night was the second since the city fell in rebel hands late last month. But, they added, Gadhafi's loyalists were bringing in reinforcements.

One person in Zwara, which fell to anti-government forces days ago, said guards were posted at every sensitive building and all the entrances to the town.

"We are threatened every day by pro-Gadhafi forces," the nervous Zwara resident said, adding that a pro-Gadhafi figure met with the town's leaders a few days ago and told them they had "a choice" to go back in to orbit "and he will forget what happened, or else he is going to attack us with military force. He even offered us money."

One sergeant in the Libyan army who is of Tuareg ethnicity and is fighting on Gadhafi's side said the military is divided.

"Us foreigners, we don't have much choice. We have to support Gaddafi," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Mali. "It because of him we are here."

He added that everyone who supports Gadhafi has not been watching any foreign news.

"There is nothing that's going to convince Gaddafi to quit," the soldier said. "The only way Gaddafi is going to go is if someone puts a bullet in his head, and I can't imagine that. The soldiers who are close to him would never let it happen."

Many young citizens of Mali and Niger who flocked to Libya in the 1970s and 1980s were ethnic Tuaregs and were recruited into an "Islamic Legion" modeled on the French Foreign Legion.

With fears high that Gadhafi could wage airstrikes against his own people, the European Union and the United States have raised the possibility of a no-fly zone over Libya — a tactic used successfully in northern Iraq and Bosnia.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the idea "superfluous" and said world powers must instead focus on fully using the sanctions the U.N. Security Council approved over the weekend. Russia is a veto-wielding member of the Security Council.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, meanwhile, urged Gadhafi to consider exile, saying she's worried the African nation could plummet into a "humanitarian disaster."

"It's important that he get off the stage," Rice said told CBS on "The Early Show."

More than 140,000 people have streamed into Tunisia and Egypt, and the situation at the Tunisian border has reached a "crisis point," with up to 75,000 people gathering in just nine days said U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming. Many have returned to their homes in Tunisia and Egypt.

But thousands of Vietnamese and Bangladeshis at the Libyan side of border with Tunisia are "in urgent need of food, water and shelter," said Jemini Pandya, a spokeswoman for International Organization for Migration. Nepalese, Ghanaians and Nigerians are also sleeping unprotected at the borders, she added.

Thousands of foreigners — many of them Egyptians — have been stranded for at least a week at Tripoli's airport, where they have little food, no shelter and face mistreatment by Libyan authorities.

The workers were willing to stay in their homes across in various cities, including Tripoli, but said they were attacked by locals who stole their money, cell phones and threatened to shoot them unless they left. They said they came to the airport, thinking it would be safe, but have endured harsh conditions since arriving, unable to enter the terminal or even a bathroom at a mosque, without paying.

The grass in front of the airport terminal were littered with clothes, shoes, sheets, cans and garbage.

Mohammed Shahat, 26, who works in a ceramics company in Zawiya, said he has camped at the airport for a week.

"I was told that I can enter the terminal but first I have to pay 200 dinars (about $160). I paid, but then they took my passport and kicked us out," he said.

On Tuesday, Gadhafi's regime sought to show that it was the country's only legitimate authority and that it continued to feel compassion for areas in the east that fell under the control of its opponents.

A total of 18 trucks loaded with rice, flour, sugar and eggs left Tripoli for Benghazi, the country's second-largest city 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) east of the capital. Also in the convoy were two refrigerated cars carrying medical supplies.

People in opposition-controlled areas were running low on medical supplies.

Dr. Abdullah Gleissa, head of surgery at Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi said that while it had enough basic medical supplies, it was short of some instruments, narcotics and personnel skilled in certain types of surgery.

"We are still clearing up cases that have been waiting for operations," he said.

The battles were not limited to Libyan cities and towns.

Libyan state television channel Jamahiriya-2 said on a news ticker that jamming of unknown origin had temporarily affected broadcasts of the main state-controlled channel, Jamahirya 1. The main channel was back on the air Tuesday night.

The news website Quryna, which has ties to Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, has been down for days. On Tuesday morning, it bore a monarchist flag of the pre-Gahdafi era and a statement saying the site had been hacked by the rebels. Later, it opened to a mostly blank page that read: "This Account Has Been Suspended."

Sheen media blitz heads to Twitter after TV shows.

LOS ANGELES – The public's fascination with Charlie Sheen's melodrama showed no sign of slackening as his new Twitter account took only hours to attract more than a half-million followers.

On Tuesday, the day production was to resume on CBS' "Two and a Half Men" after a break for Sheen's personal troubles, his Twitter postings were the only fresh entertainment starring the actor — unless news interviews also counted.

The Charliesheen Twitter account, which had been verified, featured a family-friendly photo of him and porn star Bree Olson, smiling and holding up bottles of chocolate milk and juice over the caption, "Winning! Choose your vice."

Another picture showed Sheen and a fake cake illustrated with an Oscar statuette bearing his face and "Oscar 2011."

"Winner! 2012," says the caption, apparently an optimistic prediction of glory days ahead in theaters for the "Wall Street" and "Major League" film star of the 1980s and early '90s.

Sheen, who joined Twitter the day after his publicist, Stan Rosenfield, resigned, had posted just a few tweets by Tuesday night. They included a one-liner about Chuck Lorre, the "Two and a Half Men" executive producer who's taken the brunt of Sheen's attacks in an escalating dispute with Warner Bros. Television and CBS.

"Just got invited to do the Nancy Grace show ... I'd rather go on a long road trip with Chuck Lorre in a '75 Pacer," Sheen tweeted.

After giving the actor a break to seek rehabilitation following wild partying and three hospitalizations in three months, Warner and CBS announced last week they had decided against resuming production on the remainder of the season. They cited Sheen's conduct and comments.


CBS Corp. chief Leslie Moonves said Tuesday the loss of eight episodes this season isn't causing financial pain for CBS in the short term, because paying for fewer half-hours than planned of the expensive sitcom is "financially a gainer."

Moonves told an investors' conference in San Francisco that he hoped TV's top-rated comedy would return to CBS, adding, "We'll see."

"Going down the road ... I don't know what's going to happen," Moonves said, then took a poke at Sheen's ongoing media tour. "He's on the air quite a bit these days. I wish he would have worked this hard to promote himself for an Emmy."

Sheen, 45, has been nominated four times for lead actor in a comedy series for "Men," but has never won.

He has found ready outlets at TV networks and other outlets eager to air his often-outrageous comments.

"Are we tired of Charlie Sheen? ... Or is it the kind of thing we can't get enough?" David Letterman asked Tuesday on his CBS late-night show. "If you thought you were going to see 100 wrecks a day, would you take a lunch? It's kind of like that, isn't it?"

Asked Tuesday on NBC's "Today" about reaction to comments in which Sheen called himself "a total rock star from Mars," among other startling descriptions, he shrugged off the reaction.

"I am grandiose because I live a grandiose life. I'm tired of being `aw shucks.' That's not me. ... What's wrong with that?" he said.

Sheen also had high praise for the two women living with him whom he called "goddesses."

"These women don't judge me. ... They don't lead with opinion. They don't lead with their own needs all the time," he said.

Asked if the pair help care for his children, which include nearly 2-year-old twins with Brooke Mueller, Sheen replied, "Oh, yeah. If I can't be there, they're there, and it's like everybody helps out. ... There's nothing broken here."

Sheen asserted he isn't using drugs, saying "drug tests don't lie" and presenting recent test results with "the word `negative' is, like, printed, like, 18 trillion times."

"Don't remember, don't care," he said when asked the last time he'd used drugs.

He has rejected attempts by his family, including father Martin Sheen ("The West Wing," "Apocalypse Now") to intervene in his life and told them, "'I appreciate your love and your, and your compassion, if that's what you want to call it.'"

"I'm not interested in people treating me like a 12-year-old," Sheen said.

Kings of Leon's Matthew Followill is a dad-to-be .

Kings of Leon will soon welcome a new prince -- or princess -- into the band.

Guitarist Matthew Followill, 25, and wife Johanna Bennett are expecting their first child, a rep for the band confirms to People.

The baby, reportedly due this spring, will arrive around the time Kings of Leon head back out on the road in support of their latest album, "Come Around Sundown."

Followill and Bennett, 26, are the first couple to announce they have a child on the way -- although other members have begun to settle down.

Drummer Nathan Followill wed singer Jessie Baylin in November 2009, while frontman Caleb Followill popped the question to model Lily Aldridge in September 2010.

Gulf states to aid unrest-hit Bahrain, Oman.

Energy rich Gulf states plan to launch a massive Marshall-style plan to assist Bahrain and Oman which have been hit by unrest, Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper reported.

Citing unnamed senior sources, the daily said the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council states were holding discussions that may culminate in a summit to launch the aid package.

Besides Oman and Bahrain, the GCC groups Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, which together are estimated to have $1.35 trillion in surplus assets amassed in the past few years from oil revenues.

The aid programme was aimed at boosting economic and social conditions, and living standards in Bahrain and Oman, as well as provide housing to the needy, create jobs and upgrade public services, Al-Qabas said.

It also calls for according priority to Omani and Bahraini job-seekers in the four GCC nations. The report provided no details about the expected cost of the plan.

Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa led a high-level political and economic delegation to Kuwait on Tuesday, and was expected in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday.

No details were provided about the purpose of his visits.

Bahrain and Oman are the poorest of the six-nation GCC alliance, with limited oil resources and problems finding jobs for their native population.

Protesters have taken to the streets of Bahrain, demanding political and economic reforms, while demonstrators in Oman have focused on jobs and fighting corruption.

The United States launched the "Marshall Plan" in 1947 to rebuild western Europe after World War II. The scheme was named after its architect, US secretary of state George Marshall.

Swift and Gyllenhaal ‘have heart-to-heart’.

Cover - EN Music - Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal were spotted having a “serious discussion” at the VanityFairOscar party on Sunday.

The country musician, 21, dated the 30-year-old actor for several months last year, although he is understood to have ended the romance over the phone in December.

Both stars were out in Los Angeles to celebrate the Academy Awards on Sunday, and attended the exclusive bash held at Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. It had been thought they would ignore each other if they went to the same party, but they actually took the opportunity to catch up.

“They were outside near the restroom having a discussion,” a source told People. “It seemed a bit more serious – it certainly wasn't a 'Hi, how are you?' talk.”

The pair weren’t overly affectionate, but did seem happy to see each other. They apparently took the opportunity to “sort something out”, and were relaxed in each other’s company.

Taylor and Jake were keen to keep their time together private, so had several burly bodyguards surrounding them.

“It looked like they had just had a heart-to-heart talk. There were handlers and security all around them trying to keep everybody away,” a source told New York Post.

After their talk Jake left the party, while Taylor continued having fun with friends.

“They completely kept to themselves,” the onlooker told People of Taylor’s group. “She couldn't be bothered by anyone.”

While Jake has been linked to Jennifer Aniston since the break-up, Taylor is also thought to have moved on. She is reported to be dating Glee star Chord Overstreet, and has been spotted with him several times recently. The twosome attended an ice hockey game together last week, and also went to a pre-Oscars party with each other on Saturday.

“They are dating. It's in the early stages so who knows, but they seem to be into each other,” a source told E! Online.

“They spent most of the night [at Harvey Weinstein's pre-Oscar party at Soho House] talking closely and giggling. He would playfully touch her arm, and she couldn't stop smiling. It was cute!”

HK star Lau channels China earnings to local films.

HONG KONG – Hong Kong has produced Chinese cinema's biggest names, but for this former British colony's actors and directors, the future now lies in the thriving mainland market.

One of the territory's biggest stars is no exception. Andy Lau is spending more time away from his hometown, shooting period epics in China and filling mainland stadiums with his national concert tours.

But the 49-year-old veteran actor-singer is trying to preserve the Hong Kong industry's identity by channeling his earnings to lower-budget productions that highlight the cultural heritage of this southern city, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

On Monday, Lau spoke with reporters in a bungalow-style home in the scenic suburban Hong Kong neighborhood of Clearwater Bay as he got ready to shoot scenes for one of his latest investments, "To Tse," which means "Big Sister Tao" in the southern Chinese dialect Cantonese.

The $4.6 million production directed by Ann Hui is about the scion of an aristocratic family, played by Lau, who belatedly bonds with a longtime servant for the family, played by veteran actress Deannie Yip.

"When I invest in a movie, people say, 'Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid of losing money? These aren't the hottest stars. These aren't the biggest productions.' There are many questions. But sometimes I take action because I am moved by the sincerity of the project or the script," Lau said.

"I really work very hard, work very long hours every day to earn my money. I do not spend my money foolishly. But I think it's worth it when I invest my money in a way that makes me happy," he said.

Lau didn't reveal his current per-picture salary on Monday, but director Andrew Lau, no relation, once revealed in a TV interview that the actor had charged nearly HK$10 million ($1.3 million) for the hit 2002 crime thriller "Infernal Affairs." Lau's fee has likely risen since then given the booming mainland market.

Lau said he was barely spending any time in Hong Kong these days, instead busy belting out his hits for mainland fans and capitalizing on his stardom among entertainment-hungry Chinese audiences that accounted for a total box office of $1.55 billion last year. Lau has been the front man for most Chinese blockbusters in recent years, most recently a remake of the kung fu classic "Shaolin" and the fantasy-mystery "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame."

"It's been a long time since I experienced the atmosphere of shooting in Hong Kong," he said.

"To Tse" is Lau's second recent investment in a Hong Kong production. His production company, Focus Films Ltd., also backed the 2010 kung fu comedy "Gallants." "Gallants" was even cheaper than "To Tse," with a price tag of $642,000.

Their budgets pale in comparison to the expanding size of productions on the mainland. Another Hong Kong native, John Woo, returned from Hollywood several years ago to make the two-part historical epic "Red Cliff" in mainland China, which cost $80 million. But what they have in common is uniquely Hong Kong stories. "Gallants" combined a heartwarming and funny story of aging kung fu students staging a comeback with a throwback cast of 1970s and 1980s Hong Kong movie stars.

Lau's efforts have been warmly received in the Hong Kong community. "Gallants" was the big winner at the recent Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards, clinching best film and best actor for veteran Teddy Robin. It is up for seven honors at next month's Hong Kong Film Awards, including best film and best director.

"To Tse" also offers Lau the chance to repay a debt of gratitude to director Hui, who helped launch the actor's career when she cast him in her 1982 drama "Boat People," about a Japanese reporter who visits postwar Vietnam.

"I just think that I admire her principled approach to her work," Lau said.

Hui is one of the local directors who has sort of fallen by the wayside amid the rise of big-budget Chinese productions. She excels in Hong Kong-set family and domestic dramas that win critical acclaim, but struggles to find viewers on the mainland.

The 64-year-old filmmaker joked to reporters Monday that her career was nearly over.

"I am more or less done," she said as she laughed. When a reporter said she was a big fan of hers, Hui responded, "It doesn't matter if you say that. My box office results are poor. I hope the results are better for this movie."

Even though "To Tse" is clearly geared toward a Hong Kong audience, production executives aren't giving up on the mainland market either. In a sign of the changing economics of Hong Kong productions, publicists for the movie bused in about 20 mainland reporters for Monday's press call. Lau, Yip and Hui devoted a big chunk of the 90-minute event meeting with the Chinese press corps, reserving little time for Hong Kong journalists.

The cultural differences between Hong Kong and mainland China were also on display.

Lau and Yip, though fairly fluent in the national dialect of Mandarin, occasionally dipped into English phrases — a legacy of Hong Kong's colonial rule — before searching for the equivalent Mandarin term.

One mainland reporter questioned whether Chinese audiences could relate to the relationship between a wealthy man and his servant — given servants are a rarity for rank-and-file mainlanders, although now increasingly affordable for wealthy urbanites.

While mainland China is now enjoying the fruits of rapid economic growth after years of political upheaval and central economic planning, Hong Kong has long enjoyed a high standard of living thanks to its bustling port economy. Filipino maids and domestic helpers from other Southeast Asian countries are common among middle-class Hong Kong families, let alone the super wealthy.

Bieber's 17th birthday plans Hopefully, cheesecake.

Unlike most 17-year-olds, Justin Bieber doesn't want a big blowout when he celebrates his birthday March 1.

"I'm just going to relax, because I start my world tour starting on [March 4] — so [I'm] going to mentally prepare and just relax. No birthday bash," he tells "Entertainment Tonight" of his plans.

That's not to say that he won't have a sweet time. "Hopefully my grandparents will be out here and I'll be able to spend time, a little bit, with them. My grandma makes the best cheesecake — cherry cheesecake," he says. "She made that for my 13th birthday."

The singer recently showed off a more mature haircut but tells "ET" it had nothing to do with trying to look older. "I just wanted to, that's all, not really a big reason; I just woke up and said, 'I don't want this anymore,' so I just cut it," he explains.

Speaking of his famous follicles, the Justin Bieber doll collection is being re-released in August with "real" hair taking the place of plastic. Even better: The mini Biebs will sport his original swoopy hairstyle.

George Vorkas of the Bridge Direct toy company tells MTV News, "Every girl at home can now play with his hair and style it the way they want."

Hunter sues after failing to find elephant

A Polish hunter who dreamed of shooting an elephant has sued a German-based travel company after it sent him to a part of Africa where he said there were no elephants to be found, a newspaper reported.

The company, which organizes hunting expeditions, insists there are elephants in the area of Zimbabwe it sent the hunter, identified only as Waldemar I, the newspaper said.

"From what I know, (the hunter) should have seen elephant excrement there," it quoted the company owner as saying.

Even though the company organized a second trip for the luckless hunter during which he managed to kill a male elephant, the man still filed for damages worth $130,000 over his first expedition.

Cameron calls in Larry the cat to catch the rats

LONDON: Downing Street has a new occupant -- a street-smart character with a licence to kill.

Larry the cat has been brought in to the Prime Minister's official residence to clean up a gang of rats who have been openly parading in front of the TV cameras.

He had lately been living at the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home after having been taken in as a stray.

He was recruited on Tuesday specifically for catching rats, but Prime Minister David Cameron's young children are believed to have been in favour of seeing him move in.

Larry will be looked after by Downing Street staff, who helped choose him, and will have the run of most of the offices and official rooms as well as the garden.

Battersea said Larry showed all the signs of the hunter instinct needed for seeing off rats as well as the right qualities in coping with the demands of daily life at Number 10.

"He's quite independent and has bags of character," it said in a statement. "I can definitely see Larry holding his own at Downing Street."

The BBC has shown footage of rats scuttling down the London street as correspondents reported live on camera.

Downing Street had asked for a cat that was happy meeting new people, but had few other requirements, the shelter said.

The last cat to stalk Downing Street, Humphrey, vanished shortly after Tony Blair and his wife Cherie moved in in 1997.

Humphrey's predecessor in the corridors of power, Wilberforce, served four prime ministers, including Harold Wilson and Margaret Thatcher, before his death in 1988. (Reuters)