Jay’s pad..

Great Gatsby Mansion To Be Torn Down – It could be a tragic ending for this mansion. The Sands Point, L.I., mansion that was said to be author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s inspiration for his legendary novel “The Great Gatsby” is about to be demolished, Newsday reported. After sitting on the market at $30 million, the home — called Lands End — is set to be knocked down, and plans are in the works to split the 13 acres of land into five lots worth an estimated $10 million each. [nydaily]

Charlie Sheen Fired – Warner Bros. Television says it has fired actor Charlie Sheen from the hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” The studio that produces the CBS series said the decision was made after “careful consideration.” Sheen’s erratic personal life had prompted Warner to suspend production on the show for the season, and Sheen in return had been waging an angry media campaign against the show’s producers. [timeslive]

Rebels Lose Ground In Libya Clashes – Libyan rebels ceded ground to Muammar Gaddafi’s advancing forces on Monday as the United States came under increasing pressure to arm the opposition and the UN appointed a humanitarian envoy. World oil prices rose again, while Nato said attacks on civilians by Gaddafi’s troops could amount to crimes against humanity. [mail&guardian]

Rebels Reject Talks With Gaddafi For Him To Step Down – Al Jazeera television said Libyan rebels on Monday rejected an offer by Muammar Gaddafi to hold a meeting of parliament to work out a deal under which he would step down – this, following his latest attacks. Al Jazeera said sources from the rebel interim council told its correspondent in Benghazi that the offer was rejected because it would have amounted to an “honorable” exit for Gaddafi and would offend his victims. [reuters]

LVMH Take Control Of Bulgari – Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French luxury conglomerate, said Monday that it would take control of Italy’s Bulgari in an all-share deal, adding another high-end brand to its formidable stable in a deal worth 3.7 billion euros. The Bulgari family has agreed to exchange its 51 percent controlling stake in the jeweler for 16.5 million LVMH shares, making it the second-largest family shareholder in the group. The family will also gain two seats on LVMH’s board, the company said. [newyorktimes]

Alexander McQueen Fashion House To Design Royal Wedding Dress? – Have Prince William and Kate Middleton chosen a wedding dress designer for the royal nuptials? With April 29 fast approaching, work on the gown needs to get started. Even though mum’s the word, there are some interesting rumors that point to the late Alexander McQueen’s fashion house as having been given the commission. [yahoo]

World’s Most Expensive Painting On Show In London – Pablo Picasso’s “Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur”, the world’s most expensive painting, was to go on display Monday for the first time at London’s Tate Modern museum. The 1932 painting set a world record when it was snapped up by a mystery bidder for 106.5 million dollars at New York’s Christie’s auction house last May. It will be the first time the painting has been displayed anywhere since 1961. [luxuo]

Skype To Start Running Ads – In an attempt to create a new revenue stream, Skype this week will roll out ads from the likes of Groupon, Universal Pictures and Visa. New advertising will appear in the home page in Skype, according to the company’s blog. Chief marketing officer Doug Bewsher says Skype has already run some test ads via online music service Rdio “in the last month or two.” [mashable]

Gwyneth Paltrow Close To Signing Record Deal – Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s been shopping for a music deal, is in advanced talks with Atlantic Records. The Oscar-winning actress is poised to sign a contract with the Warner Music-owned label to produce a country album following her starring role in “Country Strong.” Paltrow, 38, is married to Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. Chris has clearly been lying to her about her ability. [nypost]

Subway Beats McDonald’s As World’s Largest Fast Food Chain – It’s official: the Subway sandwich chain has surpassed McDonald’s Corp. as the world’s largest restaurant chain, in terms of units. At the end of last year, Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide, compared to McDonald’s 32,737. The burger giant disclosed its year-end store count in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late last month. [wallstreetjournal]

Sarah Ferguson Is Sorry About Paedophile – Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson has apologised for letting paedophile billionaire businessman Jeffrey Epstein pay back some of her debt. She said it was a “gigantic error of judgment” to accept help from Epstein, as the pressure on her ex-husband Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, mounted after his links with the US financier became public. [heraldsun]

World’s Youngest Granny At 23 – A wife told yesterday how she became the world’s youngest gran – at just 23. Mum-of-two Rifca Stanescu was 12 when she had her first child Maria. She urged the girl not to follow her example – but Maria gave birth to son Ion while only 11. Rifca had married jewellery seller Ionel Stanescu when she was 11 and he was 13. Brilliant. Well done. [thesun]

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