Vladimir Putin

• Born: 7 October 1952
• Birthplace: Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg)
• Best Known As: President of the Russian Federation,

As the hand-picked successor of Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin was elected president of the Russian Federation in 2000. After earning a law degree in 1975, Putin joined the KGB, the security force of the former Soviet Union. He spent years working primarily in East Germany, then left the service in 1991 and became active in the politics of St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). He was brought to Moscow by Yeltsin in 1996 and served as an administrator in the Kremlin and an official for the security organizations which replaced the KGB. In 1999 Putin became Yeltsin's fifth prime minister in 17 months, then became acting president when Yeltsin left office. He was officially elected to the office in 2000 and then re-elected in a landslide vote in March of 2004.
The Prime Minister Tony Charles Lynton Blair

Born: 6 May 1953

The son of a barrister and lecturer, Tony Blair was born in Edinburgh
He studied law at Oxford, and went on to become a barrister himself.

The government began to implement a far-reaching programme of constitutional change, putting the question of devolution to referendums in Scotland and Wales. An elected post of Mayor of London was established at the head of a new capital-wide authority, and all but 92 hereditary peers were removed from the House of Lords in the first stage of its reform. The government has also implemented an investment programme of £42 billion in its priority areas of health and education. Tony Blair was re-elected with another landslide majority in the 2001 General Election. Outside Number 10 on the day after his victory, the PM said that 'respect' would play a big part in his third term agenda. He said he wanted to bring back:

"A proper sense of respect in our schools, in our communities, in our towns and our villages."

Mr Blair is married to the barrister Cherie Booth QC, and they have four children. Their youngest, Leo, was the first child born to a serving Prime Minister in over 150 years.


NEWS: Famous and Fabulous Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie says she and Brad Pitt, who have three children including a newborn daughter, are planning to adopt another child.

"Next, we'll adopt," Jolie tells CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview to air Tuesday on "Anderson Cooper 360."

Jolie, 31, gave birth to daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in Namibia last month. The couple has two older children, 16-month-old Zahara, adopted from Ethiopia, and 4-year-old Maddox, adopted from Cambodia.

"We don't know which — which country. But we're looking at different countries," the actress tells Cooper. "And we're — I'm just — it's gonna be the balance of what would be best for Mad and for Z right now. It's, you know, another boy, another girl, which country, which race would fit best with the kids."



Paris Hilton could get probation revoked for new driving citation
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Paris Hilton's fast-lane lifestyle may have come to a screeching halt.
The heiress' $200,000 convertible was towed away and she was cited for driving with a suspended license Tuesday night after zooming down Sunset Boulevard without headlights, authorities said.
Hilton, 26, was stopped about 11 p.m. after Los Angeles sheriff's deputies saw her speeding with the lights off in her blue Bentley Continental GTC, sheriff's Deputy Bill Brauberger said Wednesday.
The hotel heiress and star of "The Simple Life" was cited for misdemeanor driving with a suspended license and released. The car was towed away and impounded for 30 days.
Car sale Web sites put the price of the vehicle at about $200,000, depending on options.
The Los Angeles city attorney's office, meanwhile, said it will ask a judge to revoke the heiress's 36-month probation from a previous reckless driving offense if it's determined she was behind the wheel without a valid license.
The punishment for violating probation can range from a fine to community service to 90 days in jail.
"Our office is waiting to obtain a copy of the citation," city attorney's office spokesman Nick Velasquez said. "Once we're able to verify that Miss Hilton was driving the vehicle, we will request that the court revoke her probation and set a probation violation hearing."
Jail "is certainly one of the possibilities," he said. "The judge would make that determination."
Hilton spokesman Elliot Mintz said Hilton didn't realize her lights were off because she had just left a brightly lit parking structure.
She was on her way home from buying DVDs at Virgin Megastore in West Hollywood after spending the day at home for a photo shoot, Mintz said.
"When she called me, she asked if her license was suspended," Mintz said. "If that's the case, she and I are unaware of it."
In January, Hilton pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving stemming from a Sept. 7 arrest in Hollywood and was sentenced to probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines. (by Associated Press)

B S.
Бритни Спирс, добровольно обрившаяся наголо, теперь появляется на вечеринках в парике а-ля Мэрилин Монро, а глаза прячет под огромными солнцезащитными очками. Ее волосы продадут на интернет-аукционе за $1 млн. Друзья звезды всерьез обеспокоились психическим здоровьем поп-дивы.

Как сообщает издание The Evening Standart, в облике Мерелин Монро лысая поп-дива появилась в ночном клубе на караоке-вечеринке в честь чьего-то дня рождения. При этом певица даже не пряталась, как обычно, от папарацци.

«Мы испытали шок, увидев Бритни в парике после того, что она сделала с собой», – говорят очевидцы. Посетители клуба предполагают, что певица была не совсем адекватна, что часто с ней случается в последнее время. Так, уже через 45 минут после своего приезда в клуб Roxy она умчалась в другой клуб Polo Lounge. По словам диджея, это случилось сразу после того, как он поставил «в честь» Спирс ее первый хит Hit Me Baby One More Time. Возможно, певица не рассчитывала на то, что ее узнают, но ошиблась и смутилась.

Тем временем стало известно, что в Лос-Анджелес из Луизианы прилетела мать певицы Линн: она опасается за психическое здоровье своей дочери. «Возможно, Бритни находится на грани нервного срыва. Иначе чем объяснить то, что она выхватила у парикмахера машинку и начала стричь себя налысо?» – поделились c журналистами переживаниями друзья Спирс.
Бритни Спирс добровольно лишилась всех своих волос в минувшую пятницу в голливудском салоне красоты Эстер Тогноцци. За стрижку она заплатила всего $20, в то время как другим за новую стрижку Brit Buzz Special придется теперь выложить $200.


NAZARBAEV: FAMOUS FACE...

Семейное положение

Жена Сара Алпысовна — инженер-экономист. В настоящее время возглавляет Международный детский благотворительный фонд «Бобек» («Малыш»). Имеет трех дочерей:
* Дарига — председатель Совета директоров ЗАО «Информационное агентство „Хабар“», доктор политических наук;
* Динара возглавляет Фонд образования имени Н. А. Назарбаева;
* Алия занимается бизнесом, руководит строительной компанией «Элитстрой».
У Н. А. Назарбаева — четыре внука, одна правнучка.

Автор книг

* «Стальной профиль Казахстана»
* «Без правых и левых»
* «Стратегия ресурсосбережения и переход к рынку»
* «Кремлёвский тупик»
* «Стратегия становления и развития Казахстана как суверенного государства»
* «Рынок и социально-экономическое развитие»
* «На пороге XXI века»
* «Н. А. Назарбаев. Евразийский союз: идеи, практика, перспективы. 1994-1997» * «В потоке истории»
* «Эпицентр мира» * и др.

Увлечения

"Cinema never saved anyone's life, it is not a medicine that will save anyone's life. It is only an aspirin."

"What's so special about all those amazing British children's writers, those who gave us Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe and Pooh Bear and Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit and the rest, was that they didn't set out to seduce. The great children's writers were authentic, they copied no one, they didn't set out to make money or to preach ideas. They just transcribed their dreams."

"I do think that kids today miss out on a lot of those guidelines. Parents are always at work; school doesn't necessarily give the framework; politicians are all corruption and scandal; even sporting heroes are tainted with drugs and what have you. Rules are important for kids."