David Beckham is out of the World Cup

David Beckham Is Out Of The World Cup – David Beckham checked into a Finnish hospital for surgery on his torn left Achilles’ tendon, hoping for a “swift and full recovery” from an injury that is expected to keep him out of the World Cup. He hobbled out of a private jet a Turku airport in southwestern Finland at about 4 p.m. and was whisked away in a Mercedes Benz. Just minutes later, he arrived at the hospital amid cheers from hundreds of fans. [wallstreetjournal]

iPad Sales : Zero to 51,000 In Two Hours – Apple Corp. sold 120,000 iPad digital readers on its first day, industry observers said. Apple may have needlessly limited iPad sales on Friday’s “pre-order” day to two per customer because the average sale was for 1.1 units. However, business was brisk, especially considering that, as a “pre-order,” none of the customers had even seen an iPad up close. [upi]

Gisele And Baby In Vogue Magazine – Oh my God the girls out there are going to plutz when they see these pics of Gisele and her baby in the latest issue of Vogue. How.Gorgeous.Is.That.Child!! The guys will also do a mini-plutz I’m sure, when they see the pics of Gisele riding on a white and brown horse in a boob tube. She was in the boob tube, not the horse. Maybe it’s a “sports bra” or something – but to me it’s a boob tube. [huffers]

News24 Prints The Words “Fucking Bitch” In First Paragraph – An “aggressive and drunk” policeman apparently called a female metro police official a “fucking bitch”, among other things. A member of the public recorded a sound clip during the incident and sent it to the crime-fighting network eblockwatch. On the clip the man can clearly be heard saying, among other things: “I’ve been in this business for 20 years… fuck you, bitch!” – As quoted directly from News24. Go boys! [news24]

Tiger Woods Sex Toys Have Arrived – It was only a matter of time: Tiger Woods has become a sex toy. Pipedream Products has released the Tuggin’ Tiger Wind-Up (“Watch him play with his 9-iron!”), the Take-Home Tiger Love Doll (“He’s got major wood!”), and the Tiger’s Wood Cover 4-inch condom. View the decidedly NSFW promo pictures in the gallery. [newser]

British Couple Jailed For Kissing In Dubai – A fairly hot British woman facing jail for kissing a man in public in Dubai insisted yesterday that she ‘only kissed him on the cheek’. Charlotte Adams, 25, and Ayman Najafi, a British marketing executive, have both been convicted of indecency and illegal drinking. During an appeal hearing yesterday, the pair admitted they were drinking but denied passionately kissing. [dailymail]

Madoff Inspired Website Spotlights Misdeeds of the Rich and Powerful – The swindling saga of legendary Wall Street conman Bernard Madoff has inspired the creation of The Vile Plutocrat, a website devoted to the notion that “rich people suck.” The Vile Plutocrat gathers news about the misdeeds of “the entitled class,” mixes in scathing editorial commentary and then links stories to biographies of the purported villains. “The idea was born out of the Bernie Madoff scandal,” [associated]

Tom Hanks Buys The Most Expensive House In L.A. – Amid the growing fears that the housing market could be facing a double-dip recession, there are reports that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have purchased a house in the Pacific Palisades for about $26 million (roughly R200 million) The 14,500-square-foot contemporary home, built in 1996, was formerly owned by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Quite mean. [bornrich]

Phillips-Van Heusen Buys Hilfiger for $3 Billion – Phillips-Van Heusen, the clothing conglomerate that owns Calvin Klein, announced Monday that it would buy Tommy Hilfiger for about 2.2 billion euros, or $3 billion, in cash and stock. With the acquisition, Phillips-Van Heusen, which also owns Arrow and Izod and licenses brands like Geoffrey Beene and Kenneth Cole New York, will seek to take advantage of Tommy Hilfiger’s strong European distribution channels for its own products. [nytimes]

Formula 1 Changes Urged To Improve Show – McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes Formula 1 needs to consider immediate rules tweaks to spice up the spectacle after new rules failed to deliver an exciting race in Bahrain. Whitmarsh admitted that the opening race of the season at Sakhir had lacked excitement as the sport adapted to the new regulations, including a ban on refuelling. [autosport]

Michael Jackson’s Furniture To Be Auctioned – Gold-studded sofa worth $150,000 and other luxury furniture of Michael Jackson will be auctioned in June with some clothes and accessories worn by the King of Pop before his death.The collection of 22 exquisite furniture lots commissioned by Jackson for his house in Kent, England, where he had planned to stay during his “This Is It” concert in London, will go under the hammer in Las Vegas on June 25. [sify]

Ryan Sandes Wins Atacama Crossing, Makes History – Over the weekend South African Ryan Sandes won the Atacama Crossing in Chile. He is now the first person in history to win 3 Deserts. Not only did he run a sub 7 hour long stage (75km), but he also went on to finish the entire 250km self supporting race in under 24 hours. Ryan travels to Antarctica in November to compete in the Final Desert, which could make him the first person to win all 4 Deserts in Racing the Planet’s 4 Deserts series. [wanderingfever]

[thanks greg, robert]