Gold and black trimmings, feather handbags and dinner jackets: the new Gucci spring-summer 2012 collection at Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday leant heavily on some of the most iconic images of Art Deco.

Like ball-goers emerging on to the deck of a luxury cruise liner at dawn circa 1932, androgynous-looking models swept down the catwalk with chiffon neck scarves fluttering in the wind and gold belts twinkling in the meager light.

U.S. ballet star David Hallberg is to join Russia's Bolshoi Theatre for the new season, the first time an American has become a member of the legendary company, sources said Wednesday.

Whereas Russian dancers including Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov famously defected to the West from the Soviet Union, this is the first time that a Western dancer is to perform full time with the Bolshoi.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she will not be watching a controversial TV comedy Wednesday that portrays her in a compromising position with her boyfriend on the floor of her office.

The third episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's satirical "At Home with Julia" has sparked widespread condemnation with some MPs calling for a rethink of the state broadcaster's funding.

The earliest known film from British director Alfred Hitchcock screens in Los Angeles this week for the first time in more than 80 years -- but it would have been lost to history if not for an eccentric hoarder half a world away in New Zealand.

The only known print of the 1923 feature "The White Shadow" lay in a garden shed in the North Island town of Hastings for decades, alongside hundreds of other films from the silent era.

Some 400 dresses and accessories that belonged to the late U.S. film star Elizabeth Taylor will be auctioned in December, as well as more than 200 pieces of her jewelry.

Christie's auction house said Tuesday that the December event will include dresses, shoes and handbags that span 50 years in the life of the Hollywood star, including items by Chanel, Christian Dior and Versace.

Style icon Pippa Middleton took a front row seat as one of her favorite designers, Temperley London, unveiled its Spring/Summer 2012 collection at London Fashion Week.

The catwalk show Monday at the British Museum launched elegantly glamorous designs inspired by the silver screen.

Al-Jazeera's top executive, Waddah Khanfar, resigned Tuesday after eight years as the head of the satellite news channel, the station announced on its website.

"For some time I have been discussing my desire to step down with the chairman of the board," Khanfar wrote. "He has kindly expressed understanding and has accepted my decision."

Canadian rock band The Tea Party is in talks to sell its web domain to the American conservative political movement for up to one million dollars, a U.S. magazine reported Monday.

BusinessWeek said the band's teaparty.com is among the top results for online searches for the phrase "tea party," which has both annoyed and given an unexpected boost to the nearly forgotten Windsor, Ontario band.

Thieves stole John Travolta's vintage Mercedes-Benz while he was gone for only minutes -- visiting a Jaguar dealership -- police said.

The "Grease" and "Pulp Fiction" star left his vintage Mercedes-Benz 280SL parked in a residential district in Santa Monica on Sunday, said Sergeant Richard Lewis.

"Two and a Half Men" star Jon Cryer on Monday received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and thanked former co-star Charlie Sheen and the show's co-creators for intervening during last season when troubles arose.

Cryer, 46, was honored with the 2,449th star on the famed walkway. Among those who attended were "Two and a Half" creator Chuck Lorre and co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Angus T. Jones.