The 2009 Beauty Queen Joahana Mariel Lasic, stand 1.82 m tall , will represent Argentina in Miss Universe 2009 Beauty Contest.

Miss Universe 2009 , the 58th Beauty Universe Pageant, will be held at the Atlantis Paradise Island, in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23, 2009.

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• Beauty Queens : Joahanna Lasic

Elham, who stands 1.75 m tall, will represent Egypt at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in the Bahamas in August.

She was 1st runner-up at the Miss Egypt 2005 contest and has also represented the country internationally in events like Miss Earth and Miss Intercontinental.

Links

• Beauty Queens : Elham Wagdi

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Ingibjörg Egilsdóttir will compete for Iceland for the Miss Universe 2009 title.  The competition will take place in the Bahamas in August.

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• Beauty Queens : Ingibjörg Egilsdóttir

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Flay has hosted seven Food Network television programs and appeared regularly on an eighth. He has also appeared as a guest on other Food Network shows and hosted a number of specials on the network.

Personal life

Bobby Flay was born December 10, 1964 to Bill and Dorothy Flay in New York City, where he was raised and continues to live. He is a fourth generation Irish American. He married Debra Ponzek, another well-known New York City chef, on May 11, 1991. Flay and Ponzak divorced in 1993. He later married Kate Connelly on October 1, 1995, who subsequently divorced him. Mariska Hargitay then set up Flay on a blind date with actress Stephanie March, her co-star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in March 2001. The two began dating, and Flay proposed on December 19, 2003, while ice skating at Rockefeller Center. They were married on February 20, 2005, exactly four years after their first date at Nobu restaurant.

As The New York Times reported, “An early draft of Bar Americain’s menu had a beet and goat cheese salad with lentils, but Mr. Flay rejected it before the restaurant opened. ‘When I go on vacation, they run specials on lentils,’ he said.” In 2007, Flay stated that he had “made peace” with lentils. Flay also dislikes fiddlehead ferns, stating that they “taste like grass.”

Professional life

Flay dropped out of high school at age 17. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Flay said that his first jobs in the restaurant industry were at a pizza parlor and Baskin-Robbins. Flay then took a position making salads at Joe Allen Restaurant in New York’s Theatre District, where his father was a partner. Joe Allen was impressed by Flay’s natural ability and decided to pay his tuition at the French Culinary Institute.

Flay received a degree in culinary arts and was a member of the first graduating class of the French Culinary Institute in 1984. After culinary school, he started working as a sous-chef, quickly learning the culinary arts. Flay was handed the executive chef’s position after a week when the executive chef was fired. Flay quit when he realized he was not ready to run a kitchen. He took a position as a chef working for restaurateur Jonathan Waxman at Bud and Jams. Waxman introduced Flay to southwestern cuisine, which came to define his culinary career. Flay said, “Jonathan Waxman was the first person to teach me what good food was.” Flay additionally worked for a short time on the floor at the American Stock Exchange. Flay’s first job back as a chef was as the executive chef at Miracle Grill in the East Village, where he worked from 1988 to 1990. This caught the attention of restaurateur Jerome Kretchmer, who was looking for a southwestern style chef. Impressed by Flay’s food, Kretchmer offered him the position of executive chef at Mesa Grill, which opened on January 15, 1991. Shortly after, Flay became a partner. In November 1993, Flay partnered with Laurence Kretchmer to open Bolo Bar & Restaurant in the Flatiron District, just a few blocks away from Mesa Grill.

Flay opened a second Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 2004, and in 2005 he opened Bar Americain, an American Brasserie, in Midtown Manhattan. He continued to expand his restaurants by opening Bobby Flay Steak in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was followed by a third Mesa Grill in The Bahamas, located in The Cove at Atlantis Paradise Island, which opened on March 28, 2007.

Bolo Bar & Restaurant closed its doors on December 31, 2007 to make way for a new condominium.

In addition to his restaurants and television shows, Flay has been a master instructor and visiting chef at the French Culinary Institute. Although he is not currently teaching classes, he occasionally visits when his schedule permits.

Flay established The Bobby Flay Scholarship in 2003. This full scholarship to the French Culinary Institute is awarded annually to a student in the Long Island City Culinary Arts Program. Flay personally helps select the recipient each year.

Flay opened Bobby’s Burger Palace in Lake Grove, New York on July 15, 2008. The restaurant is located at the Smith Haven Mall. The restaurant is an homage to Flay’s memories of hamburger shops from when he was a child. A second location opened on December 5, 2008 at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey and a third location opened March 31, 2009 in the Bergen Town Center in Paramus, New Jersey.

Lawsuit

On January 15, 2009, a lawsuit was filed against Flay’s company, Bold Food LLC, in Manhattan federal court by current and former employees. The lawsuit claims that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law by practicing improper tip-pooling practices, failure to properly pay overtime, failure to reimburse employees for required expenses, and unlawful retaliation.

Food Network

Flay has hosted seven cooking shows and specials on Food Network, of which five continue to run:

• Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay (no longer airing)
• Grillin’ & Chillin’ (no longer airing)
• FoodNation
• Boy Meets Grill
• BBQ with Bobby Flay
• Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
• Grill It! with Bobby Flay

Flay served as a judge on The Next Food Network Star and The Next Iron Chef. He has cooked with Emeril Lagasse on his show Emeril Live, and with Paula Deen on her program Paula’s Party.

Iron Chef

Flay is an Iron Chef on the show Iron Chef America.

In 1997, when the original Iron Chef show traveled to New York for a special battle, he challenged Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto to battle rock crab. After the hour battle ended, Flay stood on top of his cutting board and raised his arms in premature victory. Not realizing that cutting boards and knives are sacred in Japan, he offended Morimoto who criticized his professionalism, saying that Flay was “not a chef”. Flay went on to lose the battle.

Flay challenged Morimoto to a rematch in Morimoto’s native Japan. In this battle, at the end of the hour, Flay threw his cutting board on the floor and stood on the counter yet again to raise the roof with the audience. This time, Flay won. Though they share a heated past, Flay and Morimoto, who are both Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America, are now friends. They even teamed – and won – against fellow Iron Chefs Mario Batali, Locke Michaels and Hiroyuki Sakai in the Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters “Tag Team” battle.

On a special episode of Iron Chef America originally airing on November 12, 2006, Flay and Giada De Laurentiis faced off against, and were defeated by, Rachael Ray and Mario Batali. This was the highest rated show ever broadcast on Food Network.

The team of Iron Chefs Bobby Flay and Michael Symon defeated the team of Iron Chefs Cat Cora and Masaharu Morimoto in a special episode titled “Thanksgiving Showdown”, which originally aired on November 16, 2008.

Specials

• Bobby’s Vegas Gamble — Covers the opening of Mesa Grill Las Vegas.
• Restaurant Revamp — Flay tries to help a family restaurant.
• Chefography: Bobby Flay — Biography of Flay’s life and career.
• Tasting Ireland — Flay takes a food tour of Ireland, his ancestral homeland.
• Food Network Awards — The Food Network recognizes people and places that have impacted the food world.
• All-Star Grill Fest: South Beach — Flay joins Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, and Tyler Florence for a barbecue.

Other cooking shows

In 1996, Flay hosted The Main Ingredient with Bobby Flay on Lifetime Television. Twice a month, he hosts a cooking segment on CBS’ The Early Show.

Other television and film appearances

Flay cameoed in the Disney Channel original movie Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off as the host of the cook-off. Bobby appeared as a judge on the CBS television show “Wickedly Perfect” during the 2004-2005 season. He also appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Design”, which originally aired on September 22, 2005. Flay appeared on the television game show Pyramid with fellow Iron Chef Mario Batali as the guest celebrities in an episode originally airing on November 18, 20403. He had a small role as himself in the 2006 film East Broadway, in which his wife, Stephanie March, had a larger role. Jeopardy! featured a special “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” category during the March 12, 2008 episode, in which each of the clues featured Flay. Flay also participated in the 2008 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game played at Yankee Stadium after the 2008 MLB All Star Game; Flay played for the National League.

Sirius XM Radio

Flay will host a weekly call-in show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. He will offer advice to men on “everything from sports to current issues”, although food will be the focus. Flay confirmed that his wife, Stephanie March, will be an occasional guest on the show.

Books

Flay has authored several cookbooks, including:

• Bobby Flay’s Bold American Food (Warner Brothers, May 31, 1994) – ISBN 978-0-44-651724-9
• Bobby Flay’s From My Kitchen to Your Table (Clarkson Potter, March 31, 1998) – ISBN 978-0-51-770729-6
• Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill (Hyperion, May 19, 1999) – ISBN 978-0-78-686490-4
• Bobby Flay Cooks American (Hyperion, September 30, 2001) – ISBN 978-0-78-686714-1
• Bobby Flay’s Boy Gets Grill (Scribner, May 18, 2004) – ISBN 978-0-74-325481-6
• Bobby Flay’s Grilling For Life (Scribner, May 3, 2005) – ISBN 978-0-74-327272-8
• Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, October 16, 2007) – ISBN 978-0-30-735141-8
• Bobby Flay’s Grill It! (Clarkson Potter, April 18, 2008) – ISBN 978-0-30-735142-5

Flay was mentioned as the celebrity chef at a club opening in the novel Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis.

Awards

• New York Magazine Gael Greene’s Restaurant of the Year – Mesa Grill (1992)
• James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year (1993)
• French Culinary Institute Outstanding Graduate Award (1993)
• International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Design – Bobby Flay’s Bold American Food (1995)
• Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show – Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay (2000)
• Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill (2004)
• Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill (2005)
• James Beard Foundation’s National Television Food Show Award – Bobby Flay Chef Mentor (2005)
• James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America (2007)

Links

• Bobby Flay – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Official website
• Mesa Grill
• Bar Americain
• Bobby Flay Steak
• Bobby’s Burger Palace
• Bobby Flay – BestCuisine

Incoming search terms:

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Dominique Peltier will represent  Miss Bolivia, in the Miss Universe 2009 Pageant, scheduled to be held at the Atlantis Paradise Island, in Nassau, Bahamas on August 23, 2009.

Links

• Dominique Peltier Gallery

Howard K. Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor were charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors after a two-year probe by the attorney general, state medical and insurance officials and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Doctors do not have a license to pump innocent and often vulnerable people full of dangerous chemicals,” Brown told a news conference. “Somebody died here, and this is bad business.”

In addition to conspiracy, the charges filed Thursday include unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance to an addict. Stern faces six felony counts and the doctors face seven each.

Each defendant faces up to five years, eight months in prison, district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.

“Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler, and Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor are prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict and using false and fictitious names, all in violation of the law,” Brown said.

Medical Board of California spokeswoman Candis Cohen said action would be taken against the two doctors’ medical licenses after the criminal proceedings had been resolved. A range of disciplinary action could be taken, depending on the evidence, including possible revocation of their licenses.

Smith’s life had become a tabloid fixture by the time she died Feb. 8, 2007, in Florida. Embroiled in a battle to inherit millions of dollars from her late billionaire husband’s estate, her own son had died shortly after she gave birth to a girl.

Asked what may have been the motive for the alleged conspiracy, Brown suggested the potent allure of wealth and glamour.

“There’s a certain psychic gain here, part of the glitz and the celebrity and the power. There’s a lot of money floating around,” he said. “Is it self-indulgence? Is it some power trip? Is it just getting some contact high off of celebrity? That remains to be seen.”

Stern and Kapoor turned themselves in Thursday night and each posted $20,000 bond. Eroshevich was expected to surrender Monday.

Her attorney, Adam Braun, acknowledged Eroshevich wrote some of the prescriptions using fictitious names for Smith, but asserted it was for privacy reasons and not intended to commit fraud.

Braun said Eroshevich began treating Smith in September 2006 when she suffered a nervous breakdown stemming from the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith, from an accidental drug overdose three days after his mother gave birth to a girl.

Brown declined to comment when asked if there was a trail leading to Daniel Smith from doctors in California, nor did he comment on whether other individuals may face charges.

“We have given you the evidence that we think is ready for the prosecution,” he said.

Eroshevich, who was Smith’s psychiatrist, traveled several times over six months to the Bahamas, where Smith was living with Stern and wrote the prescriptions.

The criminal complaint also alleges Kapoor gave her excessive amounts of sleep aids, opiates, muscle relaxants and methadone-like drugs used to treat addiction, knowing she was an addict. Kapoor saw Smith in the spring of 2006 when she was treated at a Los Angeles County hospital for opiate withdrawal and prenatal care for the pregnancy of her daughter Dannielynn, according to the complaint.

Stern’s attorney L. Lin Wood said he anticipated releasing a statement about the case sometime Friday.

Kapoor’s attorney, Ellyn Garofalo, said the charges were without merit.

“I was surprised that after all this time, these charges surfaced suddenly like they did,” she said. “They are attempting to impose criminal penalties against a doctor who acted in good faith and provided the best medical care he was able to under the circumstances. If not for the fact this was Anna Nicole, I don’t think these charges would have been filed.”

Garofalo said her client specialized in gerontology and had inherited Smith as a patient when he took over the medical practice of her former doctor in Los Angeles about five years ago.

Smith was found unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood, Fla. The former Playboy centerfold and Guess jeans model died the same day at a hospital. Her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose.

Aside from her time in the pages of Playboy, Smith gained notoriety for her marriage to J. Howard Marshall II, the Texas oil billionaire 63 years her senior whom she met while dancing at a Houston club. The pair married in 1994; she was 26, he was 89, and Marshall died the following year.

In 2002, Smith debuted her own reality TV show — the tagline for which was “she’s so outrageous” — in which cameras followed her through her daily life, often showing her in incoherent states. The star struggled with her weight and in 2003 became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa diet pills.

Stern originally claimed to be the father of Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn, but it was later established through a paternity test that photographer Larry Birkhead is the dad.

Jean Rosenbluth, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said prosecutors likely would have considered a range of charges including more serious ones.

They probably settled on the current charges, she said, because proving more serious allegations would have meant they needed to show malicious intent — something that may or may not have been present.

“The intent is always going to be key,” she said. “Was it always about making money, was it completely reckless and indifferent, or was there some, no matter how misguided, non-nefarious reason the defendant took the action?”

Loyola University Law School professor Laurie Levenson said prosecutors may have chosen not to file manslaughter or murder charges because “they did not establish exactly what caused her death. … It’s hard to say who is accountable for an accidental overdose.”

Brown, who is contemplating a run for governor next year, used his time at the podium to denounce abuse of prescription drugs and the “growing threat” from “people in white smocks in pharmacies … with their medical degrees.”

“Doctors do not have a license to pump innocent and often vulnerable people full of dangerous chemicals,” he said. “These cocktails of methadone and antidepressants and sleeping pills and Xanax — you put all that into a cocktail, it explodes.”

Arraignments had been set for May 13, he said.

Anna Nicole Smith’s boyfriend was ‘enabler

Tarino Lightbourn, an Emergency Services Tech II with the Rand Memorial Hospital ambulance squad in Freeport, has been in custody since his arrest on Jan. 23. He is charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion.

He pleaded not guilty on Monday and is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Carolita Bethel in Nassau on Wednesday. His attorney, who is charged with two counts of extortion, is also scheduled to appear before the magistrate.

The case revolves around Lightbourn’s efforts to allegedly sell a one-page “refusal to transport” document that Travolta signed when Lightbourn was treating the actor’s 16-year-old son, Jett, according to the Bahamian police.

Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames downplayed the importance of the document.

“The document did not apply in the Travolta case,” Dames tells PEOPLE. “It did not apply because he was very ill, and so, the only alternative would be to take him to the hospital. Refusal to transport documents are for cases involving minor injuries. If your injuries are minor and you don’t want to be transported, the ambulance driver would produce that form. It waives responsibility on the part of the hospital.”

Dames insists the Travoltas did everything possible to save their son.

“We were satisfied from all our investigations that the Travolta family and those who rendered aid to Jett did all that was humanly possible to revive Jett,” Dames says. “All did what they were able to resuscitate him.”

“There’s no evidence to support that there was any effort to avoid medical treatment,” he adds. “Lightbourn said that himself in several interviews.”

According to Dames, the alleged case of attempted extortion took place nearly two weeks ago when Lightbourn’s attorney, former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, called an attorney for Travolta in the United States and said her client wanted to sell the document. Travolta then complained to the Royal Bahamian Police through his attorney.

“The complaint states the request was for $25 million,” Dames says. “At the time, she represented the young man. She would have made the request.”

When asked if Travolta might be called as a witness, should the case proceed to trial, Dames simply said, “He lodged a complaint. He’s the complainant on record.”

For now, the police are having difficulty determining the authenticity of the document Lightbourn allegedly tried to sell to Travolta.

“We don’t know where the original is,” the senior assistant commissioner says. “We don’t know if he generated the document.”

But Lightbourn is the crux of their case, he says.

“He’s the key person here,” Dames says. “He’s the one who made the attempt.”

Police Reveal Details of John Travolta Extortion Plot

Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, an attorney from Grand Bahama, said she plans to fight “untrue and unfair charges” stemming from actions she took as a lawyer.

“How these innocent actions can be so misconstrued, so perversely twisted to mean something other than it was, is a mystery,” she said without providing more details.

Bridgewater could not be immediately reached for comment.

Travolta had filed a complaint of attempted extortion, according to police, but did not release any details of the alleged plot. The actor and his wife Kelly Preston have returned home to Florida with the ashes of their 16-year-old, chronically ill son, Jett, who died of a seizure this month at their family vacation home on Grand Bahama.

Authorities arrested Bridgewater Thursday on charges of abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort. She was released Friday on $40,000 bail.

The leader of Bridgewater’s opposition party, former Prime Minister Perry Christie, said in a statement that he regrets the turn of events and accepted Bridgewater’s resignation.

“I believe that this is the right and appropriate thing to do in these most unfortunate circumstances,” Christie said.

Police also had detained ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former tourism minister Obie Wilchcombe. Lightbourne is still in custody but Wilchcombe has since been released pending further investigation. The parliamentarian has described himself as a friend of Travolta who was with the actor shortly after his son died.

Tabloids earlier had quoted Lightbourne on his efforts to revive Travolta’s son.

Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames said that Lightbourne was wanted for attempted extortion. He has not been charged.

The Associated Press: Bahamas senator accused in Travolta plot resigns

Jett Travolta, 16, died following a seizure at the family’s holiday home on Grand Bahama shortly after New Year.

An ambulance driver and a female senator have been detained and questioned, police said, but no charges have so far been brought.

Authorities have not revealed what the alleged extortion involved.

Some media outlets suggested it was a threat to sell pictures of Jett’s body if the actor refused to pay up to $20m (£15m), but later reports suggest that may not be the case.

Senator held

One of the detainees is ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne, who rushed the boy to hospital, and later spoke publicly of trying to revive him.

Senator Pleasant Bridgewater has also been held since Thursday, police said.

Ms Bridgewater, an attorney from Grand Bahama, is a former member of the Bahamian parliament who was defeated in the 2007 general election. She was later appointed to the Senate.

Jett’s body was cremated in the Bahamas and his ashes were returned to Florida, where a memorial service was held near the family home near Ocala.

Jett was the only son of 54-year-old film star John Travolta and and his wife Kelly Preston, 46. The couple also has an eight-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Travolta’s lawyers said making false claims for money was regrettable in a time of such grief.

Police on the islands continue to investigate.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Two detained over Travolta ‘scam