Pop songstress Kylie Minogue (above) yesterday edged out sports stars, personalities and the Prime Minister to take the title of Australia's best-known personal brand.
Girl-next-door Minogue had the most powerful branding of any famous Australian, according to a marketing and entertainment industry survey, with her name associated with music, acting, and ventures in perfume and underwear.
"I think what makes Kylie number one is overall she appeals to a broad stream of people," Mark Richardson from surveying company Talent Inc. said.
Supermodel Elle Macpherson came in at second, followed by cricketer Shane Warne, comedy persona Dame Edna Everage and golfer Greg Norman. Wildlife personality Steve Irwin and actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman also made the top ten, followed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at number nine and entrepreneur Dick Smith, who was in tenth place. (AFP)
Lego giraffe tail repeatedly stolen
Visitors to a tourist attraction in Berlin have been making off with an unusual memento - the 30 cm long tail of a Lego giraffe.
The Lego tail belongs to a six-metre tall model that has stood outside the entrance to the Legoland Discovery Centre on Potsdamer Platz since 2007.
"It's a popular souvenir," a spokesman for the centre said on Tuesday. "It's been stolen four times now ..."
The tail is made out of 15,000 Lego bricks. It takes model workers about one week to restore it at a cost of €3,000, the spokesman said. (Reuters)
Porn to be sold legally to kids!
Retailers who sell children violent or pornographic videos will be immune from prosecution for the next three months after the discovery of a government blunder 25 years ago.
Britain should have notified the European Commission of the existence of the Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA) - which regulated the industry - but failed to do so.
"Unfortunately, the discovery of this omission means that, a quarter of a century later, the VRA is no longer enforceable against individuals in UK courts," said Barbara Follett, Minister for Culture and Tourism.
Ms Follett said people currently being prosecuted under the act would not be convicted until a new act can take legal effect in three months, the period required for consultation with other EU member states.
In the interim, people will be able to sell pornographic and violent videos to children under the age of 18 without fear of prosecution.
However, anyone previously convicted for offences under the act will not be able to appeal their case. (Reuters)
Merkel criticised for birthday party
German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday defended herself against criticism for hosting a birthday party for the head of Deutsche Bank at taxpayers' expense, saying it was part of her job to entertain.
A month before a federal election, some opposition politicians have jumped on comments from the bank's chief executive Josef Ackermann, who revealed in a television show that Ms Merkel had asked him to invite 30 friends to spend an evening at the chancellery last year to celebrate his 60th birthday.
There is no controversy in Ms Merkel entertaining industry leaders for business purposes but the possibility that Germany's top banker decided on the guest list has triggered criticism as it gives the impression it was a private function. (Reuters)
Big Brother ditched in the UK
Channel 4 said it is to ditch the once-popular Big Brother reality television series amid falling ratings for this year's show.
Launched in Britain in 2000, the show in which contestants live together in an enclosed space and face a series of public eviction votes made celebrities out of Jade Goody and "Nasty" Nick Bateman.
Kevin Lygo, director of television and content at Channel 4, said next year's series of Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother would be the last on the network.
"Big Brother is still profitable for Channel 4 despite its reduced popularity and there could have been the option to renew it on more favourable terms," he said in a statement.
"That's what a purely commercial broadcaster would have done, but Channel 4 has a public remit to champion new forms of creativity. The programme (Big Brother) has reached a natural end point on Channel 4 and it's time to move on." (Reuters)