NEW YORK - A SERGEANT Pepper's souvenir poster signed by the four Beatles sold for US$52,500 (S$76, 353) at a Christie's auction of pop culture memorabilia on Tuesday, along with an array of rock, punk and grunge-era items that fetched strong prices.

The sale of some 300 items, from handwritten Bob Dylan lyrics to actor Bob Crane's leather jacket from the 1960s television comedy 'Hogan's Heroes' took in a total of US$650,863, including the auction house's commission.

LOS ANGELES - IF THERE'S going to be a third 'Transformers' movie, director Michael Bay says he'll be back to make it.

And star Shia LaBeouf promises it'll be darker than the first two.

WASHINGTON - IT FELL to President Barack Obama to confirm the gossip that his aides had spent weeks trying to snuff out: He still sneaks an occasional cigarette.

But, the president hastened to add, he never smokes in front of his young daughters and not on a daily basis. Oh, and he is '95 per cent cured.' It was the first public acknowledgment from the president that he still has not kicked the habit completely. In the past, he had alluded to his three-decades-old habit without giving direct answers.