London, July 10 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan Friday became Dr. Shah Rukh Khan. He was presented an honorary doctorate in arts and culture by Bedfordshire University at a ceremony here for his contribution to culture.

Les Ebdon, vice chancellor
 of the university, presented the honorary doctorate to Shah Rukh. Dressed in the traditional scholar’s robe, the Indian superstar looked slightly bemused as he walked into the hall in a procession of scholars led by Ebdon. Shah Rukh was nominated by Routes to Roots, an NGO that works across the SAARC region to bring South Asian people together, for the doctorate “in recognition of his exceptional achievement as a film actor and producer”.

Indian High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee and Rakesh Gupta of Routes 2 Roots were also present. Bedfordshire University, whose 29,000 students include 1,300 from India, was ranked second in Britain for dance, sixth for journalism and 11th for marketing accounts in a 2008 national survey

-www.bollywood.com

Michael Jackson’s sister La Toya has sensationally backed calls for a detailed probe into the star’s death -- insisting he was murdered for his fortune.The King of Pop’s sibling claims a number of people took advantage of the singer and killed him -- and she is determined to find out who was responsible for his death last month.

She tells British newspaper the News of the World, “I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start. Not just one person was involved; rather, it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle... Less than a month ago, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he was surrounded by people who didn’t have his best interests at heart... I said to my family a month ago, ‘He’s never going to make it to London.’ He was worth more dead than alive.”

The 53-year-old’s concerns grew after Jackson’s doctor at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, disappeared, and another medic revealed the star had fresh needle marks on his body.La Toya adds, “He had needle marks on his neck and on his arms and more about those will emerge in the next few weeks.

I cannot discuss that any further as I may jeopardize the investigation. I can,however, say that I have not changed my mind about my feeling that Michael was murdered.

A senior Los Angeles police chief has confirmed that cops are refusing to rule out the possibility Jackson was murdered. The head of L.A. police, William Bratton, told CNN, “Are we dealing with a homicide or are we dealing with accidental overdose? I don’t have that information... We are still awaiting corroboration from the coroner’s office as to cause of death.”

www.hollywood.com

Paris Hilton took to the stand in a Miami court on Friday-- hitting out at allegations that she failed to fully promote her 2006 movie flop Pledge This!.The hotel heiress is being sued for breach of contract by bosses at Worldwide Entertainment Group Inc., who claim she neglected to honor promotion and publicity agreements for the film and owes investors a massive $8.3 million.

The movie executives claim Hilton was paid $1 million for her acting services and for “reasonable promotion and publicity” for the film,which featured the socialite/actress as the president of an exclusive sorority. After the socialite’s legal team failed to get the lawsuit dismissed in May, Hilton was forced to attend the trial to defend herself against the claims.

In true Hilton style, the hotel heiress attended court in a black dress and high stilettos, and even gave the judge a cheeky wave. She told the courtroom that the film’s failure had nothing to do with her -- insisting she takes promotional work for her ventures very seriously.

www.hollywood.com