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BRAD PITT is putting his passion for architecture to good use in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, Louisiana - he’s the big name behind a new project to build affordable, green housing in the city.
The movie star has sponsored a Global Green competition to find forward-thinking architects who can help rebuild New Orleans - and he was in Louisiana yesterday (31AUG06) to announce the winner, New York firm Workshop/APD.
Pitt used the design competition’s conclusion to make his own feelings known about the US government’s reaction to the Hurricane Katrina devastation.
In an exclusive interview this morning with breakfast news show TODAY, Pitt said, “The first responsibility is helping those that are most vulnerable and we failed, we failed miserably, and, to some extent, we’re still failing. “We’re a country of great ingenuity and the fact that we can’t get in there and clean up this quagmire is ridiculous and it’s shameful.” Pitt’s new Global Green initiative will create communities of low-income, stylish housing which makes the most of natural resources to cut bills by as much as 65 per cent.
The movie star explains, “I love that it can be replicated and not in a cookie-cutter style. At the same time, where it really wins is, if done properly, we can completely get rid of the idea of an energy bill.
“You can cut your energy bill down 65% just by the way you position your house, the way you structure it for airflow and ventilation and shielding from the sun.” Pitt hopes American leaders embrace the new Global Green design initiative and start supporting similar projects throughout the country.
He adds, “We’re still the most powerful nation in the world. Beyond policing the world we could be inspiring the world. We could be at the forefront of this kind of movement.”

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Argentina’s reworking of hit series DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES is breaking TV records in South America.
The show, AMAS DE CASA DESESPERADAS, features similar plotlines, settings and characters to its American counterpart, but features local stars.
The new series debuted late on Wednesday night (30AUG06) in Argentina and pulled in an audience of 1.2 million - the strongest series premiere in four years for the Artear-Canal 13 network.

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FARRAH FAWCETT is campaigning to have HEATHER LOCKLEAR play her in a new biopic.
The former CHARLIE’S ANGELS star let Locklear in on her plans backstage at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night (27AUG06), when she was overheard begging the newly-single actress to consider playing the younger Fawcett.
Fawcett was heard telling Locklear, "I think there should be a movie about my life and you should play me as the younger Farrah and I’ll play myself as the older Farrah."

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Fatherhood has turned BRAD PITT into a leading philanthropist because he wants other children to realise the same advantages as his own.
The movie star has embraced charity projects in Africa and hurricane-ravaged Louisiana since he started dating actress and humanitarian ANGELINA JOLIE, who gave birth to his first child SHILOH NOUVEL earlier this year (06).
And he admits that family life with his MR & MRS SMITH co-star has inspired him to give more of his time and money.
After sponsoring a design competition to build low-income, green housing in New Orleans - which ended yesterday (31AUG06), Pitt admits he’s desperate to help struggling families.
He explains, "To be able to have some small hand in improving anyone’s life… I mean, I’m a father now and what that does to you is makes you more aware of other children and the plight of other families.
"It bothers me to see these people (in New Orleans) getting left behind and not getting a big hand up. These are the people that need the most help." Giving back helps Pitt accept his blessed life as a dad: "There are a lot of great things in my life and that comes from this family that we’ve created.
"It’s incredibly grounding and, walking in the door at the end of the day and seeing these faces light up, I don’t know anything more rewarding."

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Late TV mogul AARON SPELLING’s Hollywood estate has reportedly been sold to an Arab prince for a whopping $130 million (£72.2 million).
Despite dismissing ongoing reports that the impressive Beverly Hills estate was even on the market, Spelling’s widow CANDY has sold up.
The sprawling Spelling estate has 123 rooms and is the largest private home in California. It comes with a doll museum, a citrus orchard and three kitchens.

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Beloved US soap star SUSAN LUCCI and her husband called on the help of a New York restaurateur when the couple was left stranded in rising flood waters yesterday (31AUG06).
Lucci’s Mercedes broke down on New York Route 104, leaving the couple desperate for a lift.
But, as motorists ignored Lucci and her husband for almost 30 minutes, the couple started to worry they’d be left stranded in the flood.
Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse owner WILLIAM JACK DEGEL eventually stopped to help the couple out.
He tells the New York Daily News, "I drove up to the car really, really slowly and I pulled up next to the gentleman and they both looked frightened.
Their electrical system didn’t work.
"She was a sweetheart and her husband was a gentleman. He said to me, ‘Not too many people can say they picked up Susan Lucci.’"

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Celebrated MICHAEL JACKSON biographer J RANDY TARABORRELLI is set to expose ELIZABETH TAYLOR’s early 1960s medical emergencies - claiming the headline-grabbing incidents may have been suicide attempts.
Taraborrelli has spent more than 20 years researching his new book ELIZABETH and admits the most compelling part of the tome revolves around Taylor’s medical mysteries.
The biographer says, "There were so many times along the way when Elizabeth Taylor was lucky that she didn’t die." Taraborrelli claims Taylor almost died at 30 in 1962 when she was admitted to hospital for what many people close to her thought was an attempt to take her own life.
He adds, "People thought that she’d tried to commit suicide and maybe she did. Only she would really know.
"She had taken so many pills and had so much in her system that people were wondering how she was even able to survive." The biographer is convinced that Taylor’s past addictions to painkillers have left her in agony with ongoing back and hip problems.
He explains, "She was over-medicated and over-prescribed. Nothing was working because she had built such a tolerance to everything that no drug was ever enough."

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HELEN MIRREN has been attacked for "vulgar and obscene" comments she made during the Emmy Awards live telecast last Sunday (27AUG06).
The British actress raised giggles at the Los Angeles ceremony when she joked she almost fell "a**e over tit" as she stepped up to receive one of the night’s Best Actress awards for her portrayal of ELIZABETH I - but one family group wasn’t amused.
Washington, DC-based The Parents Television Council has reprimanded Mirren and CALISTA FLOCKHART, who repeated the phrase minutes later.
PTC officials feel studio bosses at NBC, the network which broadcast the Emmys, should have censored the two stars’ comments.
PTC President L BRENT BOZELL says, "It is utterly irresponsible and atrocious for NBC to air this vulgar language… when millions of children were in the viewing audience." The family values organisation has filed a complaint with US broadcasting watchdogs the Federal Communications Commission.

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Movie legend ELIZABETH TAYLOR has again fired back at reports she’s close to death, revealing she has been swimming with sharks in Hawaii.
Pictures of a frail-looking Taylor holidaying in Hawaii have prompted US tabloids to speculate about the ailing actress’ health, with some suggesting this could be her final vacation.
But Taylor is keen to play down reports of her demise, and she has written a postcard from Hawaii to US gossip columnist LIZ SMITH to insist she’s having the time of her life.
Taylor writes, "For someone who has been in bed with a bad back, I have done all the things I’ve dreamed of.
"I did get into the shark cage. It was the most exciting thing I’ve done in my life - there were 12 sharks cruising the cage."

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DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES producers have launched an investigation in an effort to find out how a sex scene from the upcoming season of the show were leaked onto Internet site YouTube.com.
Executives insist the provocative scene, featuring MARCIA CROSS and KYLE MACLACHLAN, was not an official leak.
It’s the first time rough footage from an in-production TV series has appeared on the popular YouTube.com site.
A spokesman for ABC, the network behind the show, tells industry trade paper Daily Variety, "We are looking into the unauthorised clips of Desperate Housewives on YouTube, and will be having them taken down."

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R&B star RIHANNA celebrated her MTV Video Music Award nomination two days before the big event last night (31AUG06) - by getting a tattoo.
The S.O.S singer had a Manhattan, New York artist tattoo a friendship symbol behind her right ear.
The sexy singer says, "My best friend from Barbados was here so we had to do something crazy. She got one too."

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SNOOP DOGG is convinced he and his wife SHANTE are destined for a long, happy life together after they briefly separated in 2004.
The rapper quickly realised he couldn’t go through with a lengthy separation and the couple quickly reunited - after he went so far as to file for divorce.
And now Snoop is convinced they’ll never split again.
He says, "I just thought about what I had established with my wife. You gotta really work at it for it to work.
"It ain’t easy, but I think we’re gonna grow old together."

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Superstar couple GWEN STEFANI and GAVIN ROSSDALE have a new Beverly Hills address - and it used to be JENNIFER LOPEZ’s.
The pair plan to set up a family home at Lopez’s former two acre property.
The lavish four-bedroom home comes with a swimming pool and tennis and basketball courts.
Lopez put the estate on the market shortly after she wed singer MARC ANTHONY in 2004. The Rossdales paid a reported $15.5 million (£8.6 million) for the property.

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Friends of BILLY PRESTON are determined to make sure the late soul star is remembered on what would have been his 60th birthday tomorrow (02SEP06) - by urging US radio stations to play his last recording.
Preston’s friend and manager JOYCE MOORE and her husband SAM MOORE, are asking radio controllers to give the singer’s last record a spin and wish him a happy birthday.
The track, a reworking of his YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL hit, was recorded as a duet with Moore for the SOUL MAN singer’s new tribute album SAM MOORE OVERNIGHT SENSATION just before Preston died on 6 June (06).
The track also features a guitar solo recorded by ERIC CLAPTON and vocals from Italian pop star ZUCCHERO.

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JESSICA SIMPSON struggled with voice problems to perform on US breakfast show TODAY this morning (01SEP06) after spending much of the week croaking through TV interviews.
The pop star burst a blood vessel in her vocal cord at the beginning of the week (28AUG06) and was forced to pull the plug on a number of TV performances to promote her new album A PUBLIC AFFAIR.
She struggled through one interview on MTV’s TOTAL REQUEST LIVE on Tuesday (29AUG06) and appeared much better when she presented the Best Dance Video at last night’s (31AUG06) MTV Video Music Awards.
But she barely made it through a two-song set on the outdoor Rockefeller Plaza stage this morning, asking thousands of fans, who had gathered for the free concert, "Are you guys gonna help me out with this one because my voice is shot?" She then struggled to hit the high notes on 2005 hit WITH YOU, joking, "Alright, I tried that one." Simpson supped a secret potion in between songs, but confessed she had no idea what was in the medication.
She said, "That is some concoction. My vocal coach, RON ANDERSON, makes this nasty (stuff)."

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ROBBIE WILLIAMS has confessed he has a crush of pop queen MADONNA, but fears retribution from her husband GUY RITCHIE.
The singer insists his infatuation is a recent one - he fell for her when he saw her dressed as a cowgirl in the video for MUSIC.

He says, “I do fancy Madonna.
“I didn’t fancy Madonna in the 80s or the 90s. Since the cowgirl video. I’ve fancied her since then.” “I think she’s sexy. I’m probably gonna get beat up by Guy Ritchie. He’s hard.
“He spends all week wrestling with men.”

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Besotted new dad BEN AFFLECK is thrilled he found love with his stunning DAREDEVIL co-star JENNIFER GARNER - even though he’s not sure why she loves him.
After failed high-profile engagements with JENNIFER LOPEZ and GWYNETH PALTROW, Affleck enjoyed a low-key 11 month courtship with the ALIAS actress, before marrying on the Caribbean’s Turks and Caicos islands in June 2005.
Affleck says, "I can legitimately, honestly, say I don’t know what she see’s in me!"

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BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD would love to work with her director father RON HOWARD, but her schedule is simply too busy for them to collaborate.
The 25-year-old is carving herself a career as a successful actress after appearing in THE VILLAGE and MANDERLAY, and with a starring role in SPIDER-MAN 3 on the way the only way is up.
Her ultimate goal is to work with her film-maker dad, who has garnered critical acclaim for his work on movies including the RUSSELL CROWE-starring CINDERELLA MAN.
But currently she is just happy to have his support - even if they barely have a chance to see each other.
She says, "I’d love to work with him but there aren’t any plans right now.
"I am doing a short film called ORCHARD at the moment, for which Dad’s giving me the most important kind of support, ‘You can do it’."

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