Vanity Fair has just announced the release of its 69th International Best Dressed list that includes actors, socialites, sports celebrities, political figures and their spouses.

Female celebrities who got top billing were Michelle OBama, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kate Middleton. In the men’s category, the following made the list: Daniel Craig, Kanye West, Karl Lagerfeld and David Beckham.

The recognition for the 2008 Best Dressed celebrity couple went to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Included in the top ten were: Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brad, Barack and Michelle Obama, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, David and Victoria Beckham, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, Justin Portman and Natalia Vodianova, and Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore.

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Officials at cosmetics giant L’Oreal have refuted stories that they resorted to technology to make Beyonce Knowles’ skin appear lighter in the company’s new ad campaign.

The 27-year-old singer is featured in a new campaign material for L’Oreal Paris set to appear in Elle, Allure and Essence.

Readers who came across the ad were astonished to see the singer’s skin tone looking several shades lighter in the new L’Oreal campaign, prompting numerous complaints and an investigation by the magazine’s publisher.

However, L’Oreal executives are firm in saying that they have nothing to do with the issue.

In a statement, a company representative said, “We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L’Oreal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin tone in the campaign.”

A spokeswoman for Knowles declined to issue a comment beyond the company’s assertion.

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The personality behind acid-tounged fashion critic Mr. Blackwell has regained consciousness Thursday after being admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for a serious infection.

Richard Sylvan Seltzer, 86, famous for slamming celebrities’ fashion sense and putting the worst of them in his annual Worst Dressed List, has fallen gravely ill after collapsing at his home Tuesday.

His business partner Robert Spencer would not reveal the nature of Seltzer’s illness, which was treated with antibiotics.

Publicist Harlan Boll stated, “He appears to be cognizant of his surrounding and acknowledged his partner, Spencer.”

Seltzer became a renowned fashion designer in the 50s and 60s who dressed such personalities as Dorothy Lamour and Jane Russell.

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Brian May, the founder and guitarist of legendary rock band Queen, has just completed publication of his doctoral thesis in astrophysics.

After taking 30 years off to play some guitar, May has finally finished his thesis, which looks into the mysterious marvel known as Zodiacal light. The phenomenon is otherwise referred to as a misty dispersed cone of light that becomes visible in the eastern sky before sunrise and in the western sky following sunset.

May’s effort, entitled A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud, is centered on the Fabry-Perot Spectrometer, a device that recorded 250 scans of morning and evening Zodiacal light that occurred between 1971 and 1972. The implement can be found at the Observatorio del Teide at Izana in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands.

The rocker declared, “I have thoroughly enjoyed my years playing guitar and recording music with Queen, but it’s extremely gratifying to see the publication of my thesis.”

He added, “I’ve been fascinated with astronomy for years, and I was happy to finally complete my Ph.D. last year and record my studies of the Zodiacal Light in this book.”

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R&B star Akon is considering retiring from the music scene after he had fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams of working with his childhood idol, Michael Jackson.

Akon was approached by Jackson to produce the latter’s forthcoming comeback project to be released under Konvict Music, the rapper’s record label.

To return the gesture, Jackson will be lending his vocals in Akon’s new track, Hold My Hand, to be included on the R&B star’s upcoming Acquitted album.

The R&B singer declares that working with the pop legend was his career’s greatest moment.

He tells MTV.com, “That was a dream come true. I had a wish list of all the collaborations I ever wanted to do. Mike was at the top. I was saying, ‘Well, if ever I get to Mike, then that’ll be the sign I can retire.’

“But I got to Mike 10 years earlier than I expected. So I decided not to make retirement goals anymore.”

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William Bratton, the head of the Los Angeles police department, dismissed propositions that “dangerous” paparazzi actions should controlled.Responding to proposals from local officials who claimed press photographers are uncontrollable, Bratton said the efforts are “a total waste of time.”

He said, “If the ones that attract the paparazzi behave in the first place, like we expect of anybody, that solves about 90% of the problem. The rest of it we can deal with.”

He joked that extra security is unnecessary as famous figures like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are out of the headlines.

Los Angeles City councilman Dennis Zine requested a meeting with officials from Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Malibu to discuss paparazzi problems. The assembly saw authorities suggest installing an emergency phone line for celebrities and licensing the paparazzi.

However, Bratton, who didn’t attend the meeting, threw out the suggestions calling for the creation of a safe and secure zone around celebrities.

He said, “What is this protected space that they are entitled to that the rest of us are not entitled to?”

He added that the photographers had “recently cooled their ways.”

Bratton stated, “Paris Hilton’s out of town, things are quiet. Lindsay Lohan’s got a new girlfriend, that’s keeping things quiet.

“And evidently Britney [Spears] has gone straight now in terms of cleaning her act up, so basically paparazzi are losing interest.”

The paparazzi have been accused of employing dangerous methods in pursuit of snapshots. Just recently, a group of surfers come to blows with photographers attempting to get shots of actor Matthew McConaughey in Malibu.

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Veteran comedian Jerry Lewis was taken into custody by Las Vegas authorities late last week after he was found to have been carrying a gun during routine baggage screening at the McCarran International Airport.

A representative for Las Vegas police stated that the 82-year-old actor, who was en route to Detroit, was cited for reportedly carrying a concealed .22-calibre Beretta without a permit and was then released.

According to Lewis’ manager, Claudia Marghilano, the weapon was a “hollowed-out prop gun” the comedian uses for his stage performances and was therefore “incapable of firing.”

But the police spokesperson said that if the gun were merely a prop, “it wouldn’t be a weapon and we couldn’t cite him for carrying a weapon.”

After he was given a citation, Lewis was permitted to board his Northwest Airlines flight.

The news comes just a week after another actor, Dennis Farina, was slapped with $510 and sentenced to probation after he was found to have been carrying a gun and attempting to board a plane in a Los Angeles International Airport in May.

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Alicia Keys and Jack White join forces to perform the official theme song for the latest Bond movie.

The No One hitmaker and White Stripes frontman have been engaged to do a duet entitled Another Way to Die, making their teamup the first to record a duet for a Bond movie.

The track was written and produced by White, who also plays the drums for the song.

Previously, Beyonce Knowles, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Leona Lewis and Duran Duran were rumored to be among the artists competing for the chance to sing the theme for the latest 007 flick.

Quantum of Solace, due out in November, stars Daniel Craig again as the blond Bond, with Dame Judi Dench as boss M, and French actor Mathieu Amarilic as the new Bond baddie.

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