New Orleans, Louisiana — A highly anticipated test designed to measure pressure within BP’s ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well began Thursday after a delay caused by leaking equipment.

A short time later, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells announced that for the first time in months, no oil was flowing into the Gulf. This was part of the test, as BP measures pressure in the well to see how it’s holding. Higher pressure readings mean the well is containing the oil, while lower pressure means some is leaking out.

At the moment, it is “too soon” to conclude results because “this is a test,” BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said. BP will formally review data from the test with government officials every six hours, Suttles said, so a key time will occur later Thursday night.

President Obama also expressed guarded optimism over the halt of the oil flow, calling it “a positive sign.”

“We’re still in the testing phase,” he noted. “I’ll have more to say about it tomorrow.”

The “well integrity” test could end after six hours if the results are disappointing. But it could go on for 48 hours. The longer it goes, the better indications are that the well is holding with a custom-made sealing cap.

BP cautioned that the oil cutoff, while welcomed, won’t go beyond the 48 hours. Valves will open after that to resume siphoning oil to two ships on the surface, the Q4000 and Helix Producer, as government and BP officials assess the data and decide what to do next.

“It felt very good to see no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico,” Wells said in a briefing. He said company officials are “obviously very encouraged” but they are “trying to maintain a strict focus” on remembering the whole purpose of the test, which is to gather data and decide how to proceed.

Read more and see the VIDEO from CNN HERE!

Vince Vaughn and wife Kyla Weber are expecting their first child, a source tells UsMagazine.com.

The actor, 40, wed Weber, a Canadian real estate agent, this past January outside his hometown of Chicago. They got engaged last Valentine’s Day.

Vaughn previously told Ellen DeGeneres that Weber makes him “laugh … she is wonderful. I’m just thrilled.”

Last year, while promoting his comedy Couples Retreat, he told reporters, “It’s the first time that I really want to have kids. I’ve been very fortunate in my career, and my life has been about that for so long that you get bored of it. You’re ready for your life to be about other people and other things.”

Wonder if his ex, Jennifer Aniston, is a wee bit jealous? Maybe?

[SOURCE: US Magazine]

Grammy-winning musician Carlos Santana proposed to his girlfriend, acclaimed drummer Cindy Blackman, during a concert stop on his Universal Tone Tour this past weekend in Tinley Park, Ill.

The 62-year-old guitarist popped the question to the 50-year-old drummer onstage after the fourth song in his concert set, ‘Corazon Espindo.’

Blackman had just performed a drum solo on Santana’s song before the Arista Records artist asked her to be his wife. After she accepted, the couple locked lips, and the audience broke out into cheers.

“Cindy and I are blessed to have found each other. Being in love is a gift from the universe, and the spirit and vibrations that come with it are infinitely powerful. I look forward to expressinCarlos Santanag that incredible energy through my music, and in helping to tip the balance toward more love in the world with what Cindy and I share,” said Santana said in a statement to BV Buzz.

Santana, who is best known for hits like ‘Smooth,’ ‘Maria Maria,’ ‘Nothing at All,’ ‘Oye Como Va’ and ‘Black Magic Woman,’ will play a string of late August/early September performances of ‘Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits’ at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.

Blackman is a jazz and rock drummer who has recorded and toured extensively with Lenny Kravitz and played with a wide range of artists, including Pharoah Sanders, Cassandra Wilson, Angela Bofill and Bill Laswell.

Santana was previously married to Deborah King, the daughter of the late blues singer and guitarist Saunders King. The couple, who divorced after 34 years in 2007, have three children: Salvador, Stella and Angelica.

[Source: BV Buzz]

I happen to enjoy the parody, here…

A source tells UsMagazine.com that LeBron James is flying to Miami tonight to begin celebrating his decision to join the Miami Heat.

He should land at Opa-Locka Executive Airport just before 2 a.m.

Folks at the W Hotel South Beach are awaiting his arrival.

That’s where he has rented six cabanas for the weekend to party, Us exclusively reported Thursday afternoon.

James, 25, is expected to announce the Miami Heat news at a press conference Thursday night.

The clip features six soldiers on patrol in Hebron, an ancient city on the West Bank, which is home to many sites that Jews, Muslims and Christians consider holy. Some 600 Israeli settlers live in the city among roughly 160,000 Palestinians — which means it has also been the site of tension over the Israeli occupation.

As the soldiers canvass the street with weapons in hand, a muezzin can be heard leading a call for Muslim prayers. Suddenly, Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” abruptly comes on and the six soldiers break out into a dance routine. After a few seconds of hearty gyrating, the soldiers promptly return to their patrol duty and to appropriate military postures.

The Israeli Defense Forces brass is not amused, AFP reports: In a statement, the IDF leadership called the performance a “joke by the soldiers” that amounts to “inappropriate conduct during a military operation” and will be “investigated by battalion commanders.” The video, first posted to YouTube on Friday by the user “cleangrunge,” has since disappeared from its original account — but several other users have reposted it.

Since women also serve in the Israeli army, it bears noting that they, too, have lately succumbed to a bit of dance fever. A video uploaded to YouTube on Monday allegedly features female Israeli soldiers shaking it to Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend.”

[SOURCE: Yahoo!]

Former world competitive-eating record holder Takeru Kobayashi, who was barred from participating in Nathan’s International Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday, was arrested for rushing the stage — and demanding some boiled meat slurry, stat.

The event was mired in controversy and sticky ketchup before it even began, thanks to Kobayashi’s ban following a contract dispute. He showed up anyway, and when fans began chanting for him to be allowed to participate, he leaped over a barrier and tried to grab a hot dog before getting dragged away by the NYPD.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who this year won his fourth consecutive Nathan’s title, was unfazed by Kobayashi’s bum rush, putting away 54 frankfurters in 10 minutes.

But, Kobayashi’s antics, both during and after the contest, stole the spotlight from the winner. The Daily News overheard the former champion saying, “I’m really hungry. I wanted to eat hot dogs.” A translator told NPR that Kobayashi had explained, “I was there as a spectator, just to cheer on my buddies … In the heat of it, I jumped on the stage, hoping they would let me eat.”

His explanation stinks more than Chestnut’s breath after more than four dozen of Nathan’s Famous dogs. Keep reading for an even more unconvincing video of his bust.

[SOURCE: TMZ]

Vienna Girardi says she is happy with how her July 5 reunion segment with ex Jake Pavelka went because it gave fans a glimpse of what he is really like: Volatile.

During the ugly sit-down, Girardi, 24, and Pavelka, 32, pretty much argued about everything. “I’m disgusted with you,” he told her at one point. At the end of the interview, he shouted at her — “Please, stop interrupting me!” — forcing her to storm off in tears. (Later, he insisted to host Chris Harrison that he’s never screamed at a woman like that.)

“Thank you for all your support,” Girardi Twittered after the show. “The truth will always prevail. I’m so glad people see what I have been going through. Love you all.”

Pavelka simply Twittered, “Thanks everybody! I really appreciate the ongoing support.”

During their interview, Girardi said their relationship began to sour after just one month. She said she thought that they would be moving to Pavelka’s hometown of Dallas to live “a normal life.” Instead, they headed to Los Angeles so Pavelka, whom Girardi called a “fame whore,” could pursue an acting career. There, she claimed he put their relationship on the back-burner because he was too consumed with the spotlight.

Pavelka said Girardi was too “mean” to him, criticizing everything he did, and that’s why he began drawing back. He even admitted to withholding sex from her.

“What guy in America would ever want to be intimate with someone who undermines him, emasculates and doesn’t respect him?” he asked.

[SOURCE - US Magazine]