Iranian-born Las Vegas resident Antonio Esfandiari took out some of poker's biggest names to claim the richest ever tournament prize, more than $18 million, event organizers said Wednesday.

The $1 million buy-in "Big One for One Drop Texas Hold'em" event was held Sunday through Tuesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as part of the World Series of Poker.

Eric Sykes, a giant of British comedy for sixty years and a familiar face to fans of the Harry Potter films, has died aged 89, his manager announced on Wednesday.

A statement released by Norma Farnes confirmed that the veteran performer died on Wednesday morning, surrounded by his family, after a short illness.

New music license fees could threaten the livelihood of Berlin's legendary all-night clubs, or drive them underground in a return to the heady post-Wall 1990s, the city's tourism body said Wednesday.

The head of the public-private marketing group Visit Berlin, Burkhard Kieker, said the German capital's renowned nightlife remained one of its biggest draws and warned against a planned hike in levies on discos.

Elie Saab used Ottoman motifs to give his fall-winter 2012-2013 show an imaginative lift.

The move expanded his strict repertoire of va-va voom column dresses and created a strong offering for this year's couture season.

Seventeen magazine, responding to a gutsy high school student's petition, is pledging to feature only real, unaltered images of girls in its pages, social action platform Change.org said Tuesday.

In a letter to readers in its August issue, editor Ann Shocket said the magazine, aimed at U.S. teenage girls, is embracing a "Body Peace Treaty" set of guidelines to "always feature real girls and models who are healthy."

Virtuoso embroidery concealed within a sleeve, beneath a cape or slit skirt: Givenchy on Tuesday unveiled a haute couture line fed by gypsy culture and brimming with a dark, secretive sensuality.

To craft his 10 floor-length silhouettes of plaited leather, bejeweled fur and beaded silk, the house's Italian designer Riccardo Tisci took his cue from gypsy folklore, from Russia to moorish North Africa.

Tom Cruise was named the highest paid actor in Hollywood on Tuesday, on his 50th birthday -- but the "Mission Impossible" star has little to celebrate.

Days after his wife filed for divorce, apparently taking him by surprise, questions are stacking up about the role of his controversial Scientologist faith at the end of his five-year marriage to Katie Holmes.

Actor Andy Griffith, 86, a beloved icon of U.S. television for programs including "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s and the popular legal drama "Matlock," died Tuesday.

President Barack Obama led tributes to the star, calling him "a performer of extraordinary talent," adding that he "was beloved by generations of fans and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps.

Katie Holmes was spotted in New York on Monday without her wedding ring after filing for divorce from fellow actor Tom Cruise.

The 33-year-old Hollywood star left a shoot for a television series in Times Square, her hair pulled back conservatively in a sleek pony tail and wearing a navy ensemble. Throngs of television satellite trucks and paparazzi were camped outside the Manhattan building where she was staying.

CNN presenter and journalist Anderson Cooper outed himself as gay Monday, saying he "couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

The 45-year-old confirmed what for many was common knowledge in an email to a journalist for The Daily Beast online who had asked Cooper to comment on the issue of celebrities coming out.