Trailblazing TV journalist Barbara Walters to retire in 2014

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.

Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.

"It was very much her decision. I think she will best explain it herself," the source told Reuters.

ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.

ABC News executives declined to comment.

Walters, the creator and host of ABC's all-women talk show "The View," had open heart surgery in 2010.

She fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January, and was then diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.

Walters is best known as one of the top interviewers on U.S. television, counting an array of world leaders as subjects, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.

In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for "ABC Evening News." Walters has also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine "20/20" and as a correspondent for ABC News.

ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

(This story has been repeated to fix a typo in the lead)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Post head-injury, Kristin Chenoweth goes on a "Family Weekend"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tony and Emmy Award winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth is known for her perky personality ranging from roles in Broadway's "Wicked" to television's "Glee" and performing a closing number at February's Oscar ceremony with host Seth MacFarlane.

On Friday, the diminutive (4ft 11in) actress moves to the dark side in the indie movie "Family Weekend." She plays a mother so consumed by work that she ignores her own children and squabbles with her husband, until her teenage daughter kidnaps and ties up both parents in a bid to get their attention.

Chenoweth, 44, talked to Reuters about the film, her Christian faith and the serious accident last year that forced her to re-evaluate her life.

Q: What was it like being tied up for most of the duration of "Family Weekend?"

A: I am done with that tape! I was mostly in the same room and in the same position for four weeks. Lots of times I couldn't speak so I had to moan or grunt. And when I was spoken to, the tape (on my mouth) had to be ripped off. I was constantly getting waxed, I guess you could say.

Q: Are the parents the villains in the film?

A: One thing I learned is the basic good nature of people. They want to do right. This woman has a full plate and it has gone awry. It wasn't always bad. But with the pressure of being the breadwinner, she lost sight of what was truly important.

Q: Speaking of things going awry, you were cast on "The Good Wife" TV series but that all changed when a lighting rig fell on your head on the set last July.

A: It was bad. I was banged up, completely black and blue. My head was cut open, I had a skull fracture and cracked teeth. I had to get my memory going again (because) I was knocked out. My mom and dad came to stay with me and I was saying, "Why me? Why me? I was just standing there!"

My mom said: "Why not you? Life happens and you're no special or different or worse off or better off than anybody else. You're lucky to be alive and we are going to be grateful." It was a great piece of advice.

Q: Besides the physical trauma, what was the emotional damage?

A: One thing I really struggled with was having to stop and be quiet and still. That was the worst part about it. So I was like, Okay, clearly I'm supposed to be still. I've been going at it for so long, and so hard in so many different areas. Honestly, I think it was good. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it really makes you take stock of what's important.

Q: So how have you restructured you life post-accident? You still have a lot going on - voicing next year's animated film "Rio 2" and promoting a new ship that's being built for Royal Caribbean, among others things.

A: I'm being choosy with how I spend my free time. I can be very much a hermit and I'm trying not to do that anymore. I'm trying to enjoy the moments instead of going, 'Okay, I've got that behind me, what's next? I've got to do that and that and that ...' I want to enjoy it when it's happening.

Q: How does your Christian faith inform your professional and personal life?

A: Being a person of faith in show business is interesting. I've done lots of things maybe some Christians wouldn't do. But I've also said no to a lot of things that nobody knows about. It's a fine line to walk, but I have to keep true to my faith and pray and do the best I can.

I was at the History Channel (premiere) for "The Bible" miniseries and it's as important for me to go to that event as it is for me to go to a GLAAD event because I'm a gay rights activist. In some people's views, that is a direct conflict. But I don't see it as such. It's something that I've taken heat for and been praised for.

Q: You're adopted. How does that shape you?

A: Mainly that I feel a lot of love from my mom and dad who adopted me. Maybe I would have had a very different life had I not been adopted but my parents have really helped shape who I am. I do things sometimes they don't agree with, but I'm their kid and they love me. I know they feel like they won the lottery and I feel like I won the lottery. They got me and I got a home. The right home.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Jill Serjeant)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Harry Potter actor Richard Griffiths dies after surgery

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday.

Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on stage, and received some of his industry's top awards for his role in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys".

The portly actor filled the screen as the lascivious Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 film 'Withnail and I'.

But younger fans will remember him for his portrayal of a much crueler avuncular figure - Harry Potter's red-faced and bullying uncle Vernon Dursley.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard and performed with Griffiths in the stage play "Equus", said the veteran performer had encouraged and coached him and helped him get over his nerves.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career ... any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said in a statement.

Griffiths' agent, Simon Beresford, described him as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors". He said Griffiths died in hospital on Thursday.

The actor was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in Yorkshire, northern England, the son of a steelworker. Both his parents were deaf and he learned sign language to communicate with them.

After studying drama in Manchester, he worked in radio and theatre, building a reputation as a Shakespearean clown.

He reprised his role as teacher Hector in a film of "The History Boys" in 2006. One of his best known roles on television was a cookery-loving detective in "Pie in the Sky".

On stage, he was known for his intolerance of mobile phones ringing during performances, and halted plays several times to complain and even eject offending audience members.

Nicholas Hytner, director of Britain's National Theatre, said Griffiths' unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends".

"Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest," Hytner said in a statement.

Griffiths was given an OBE in 2008 and is survived by his wife Heather.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Trailblazing TV journalist Barbara Walters to retire in 2014

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.

Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.

"It was very much her decision. I think she will best explain it herself," the source told Reuters.

ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.

ABC News executives declined to comment.

Walters, the creator and host of ABC's all-women talk show "The View," had open heart surgery in 2010.

She fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January, and was then diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.

Walters is best known as one of the top interviewers on U.S. television, counting an array of world leaders as subjects, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.

In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for "ABC Evening News." Walters has also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine "20/20" and as a correspondent for ABC News.

ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

(This story has been repeated to fix a typo in the lead)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Post head-injury, Kristin Chenoweth goes on a "Family Weekend"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tony and Emmy Award winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth is known for her perky personality ranging from roles in Broadway's "Wicked" to television's "Glee" and performing a closing number at February's Oscar ceremony with host Seth MacFarlane.

On Friday, the diminutive (4ft 11in) actress moves to the dark side in the indie movie "Family Weekend." She plays a mother so consumed by work that she ignores her own children and squabbles with her husband, until her teenage daughter kidnaps and ties up both parents in a bid to get their attention.

Chenoweth, 44, talked to Reuters about the film, her Christian faith and the serious accident last year that forced her to re-evaluate her life.

Q: What was it like being tied up for most of the duration of "Family Weekend?"

A: I am done with that tape! I was mostly in the same room and in the same position for four weeks. Lots of times I couldn't speak so I had to moan or grunt. And when I was spoken to, the tape (on my mouth) had to be ripped off. I was constantly getting waxed, I guess you could say.

Q: Are the parents the villains in the film?

A: One thing I learned is the basic good nature of people. They want to do right. This woman has a full plate and it has gone awry. It wasn't always bad. But with the pressure of being the breadwinner, she lost sight of what was truly important.

Q: Speaking of things going awry, you were cast on "The Good Wife" TV series but that all changed when a lighting rig fell on your head on the set last July.

A: It was bad. I was banged up, completely black and blue. My head was cut open, I had a skull fracture and cracked teeth. I had to get my memory going again (because) I was knocked out. My mom and dad came to stay with me and I was saying, "Why me? Why me? I was just standing there!"

My mom said: "Why not you? Life happens and you're no special or different or worse off or better off than anybody else. You're lucky to be alive and we are going to be grateful." It was a great piece of advice.

Q: Besides the physical trauma, what was the emotional damage?

A: One thing I really struggled with was having to stop and be quiet and still. That was the worst part about it. So I was like, Okay, clearly I'm supposed to be still. I've been going at it for so long, and so hard in so many different areas. Honestly, I think it was good. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it really makes you take stock of what's important.

Q: So how have you restructured you life post-accident? You still have a lot going on - voicing next year's animated film "Rio 2" and promoting a new ship that's being built for Royal Caribbean, among others things.

A: I'm being choosy with how I spend my free time. I can be very much a hermit and I'm trying not to do that anymore. I'm trying to enjoy the moments instead of going, 'Okay, I've got that behind me, what's next? I've got to do that and that and that ...' I want to enjoy it when it's happening.

Q: How does your Christian faith inform your professional and personal life?

A: Being a person of faith in show business is interesting. I've done lots of things maybe some Christians wouldn't do. But I've also said no to a lot of things that nobody knows about. It's a fine line to walk, but I have to keep true to my faith and pray and do the best I can.

I was at the History Channel (premiere) for "The Bible" miniseries and it's as important for me to go to that event as it is for me to go to a GLAAD event because I'm a gay rights activist. In some people's views, that is a direct conflict. But I don't see it as such. It's something that I've taken heat for and been praised for.

Q: You're adopted. How does that shape you?

A: Mainly that I feel a lot of love from my mom and dad who adopted me. Maybe I would have had a very different life had I not been adopted but my parents have really helped shape who I am. I do things sometimes they don't agree with, but I'm their kid and they love me. I know they feel like they won the lottery and I feel like I won the lottery. They got me and I got a home. The right home.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Jill Serjeant)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Harry Potter actor Richard Griffiths dies after surgery

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday.

Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on stage, and received some of his industry's top awards for his role in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys".

The portly actor filled the screen as the lascivious Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 film 'Withnail and I'.

But younger fans will remember him for his portrayal of a much crueler avuncular figure - Harry Potter's red-faced and bullying uncle Vernon Dursley.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard and performed with Griffiths in the stage play "Equus", said the veteran performer had encouraged and coached him and helped him get over his nerves.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career ... any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said in a statement.

Griffiths' agent, Simon Beresford, described him as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors". He said Griffiths died in hospital on Thursday.

The actor was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in Yorkshire, northern England, the son of a steelworker. Both his parents were deaf and he learned sign language to communicate with them.

After studying drama in Manchester, he worked in radio and theatre, building a reputation as a Shakespearean clown.

He reprised his role as teacher Hector in a film of "The History Boys" in 2006. One of his best known roles on television was a cookery-loving detective in "Pie in the Sky".

On stage, he was known for his intolerance of mobile phones ringing during performances, and halted plays several times to complain and even eject offending audience members.

Nicholas Hytner, director of Britain's National Theatre, said Griffiths' unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends".

"Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest," Hytner said in a statement.

Griffiths was given an OBE in 2008 and is survived by his wife Heather.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

France's Bruni makes emotional defense of husband Sarkozy

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French first lady Carla Bruni took up a passionate defense of her husband Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, saying it was unthinkable he could have tricked an old lady out of millions of euros.

In a blitz of interviews with French media, Bruni said a formal investigation of the ex-president opened last week for allegedly exploiting the mental frailty of 90-year-old L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt was causing her great pain.

"It's impossible to imagine that this man could have abused the frailty of a lady the age of his mother... It's unthinkable," Bruni told RTL radio in a shaky voice.

Sarkozy, who retreated from front-line politics after losing his re-election bid last May, rejects accusations that he took advantage of Bettencourt, France's richest woman, in 2007 to raise funds for his first election campaign. He wrote on Facebook this week that the probe against him was "unfair and unfounded".

The case could scupper any political comeback for Sarkozy, whose remains a popular figure for center-right voters and has said he would consider running for president again in 2017.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, has said he would seek to have the case thrown out on grounds that the investigation conducted by judge Jean-Michel Gentil was biased against Sarkozy.

Singer-songwriter and former model Bruni played a restrained role as first lady while Sarkozy was in power but has since returned to the media spotlight, performing last week at the ECHO Music Awards in Berlin.

Her public defense of Sarkozy coincides with her promotion of a new album due for release on April 1.

Bruni's 2008 marriage to Sarkozy after a whirlwind courtship irritated many French people who felt the high-profile romance blurred the lines between the president's private and public lives.

Asked if she was tempted to fight back publicly against the accusations and "show her claws", Bruni said: "Yes, I want to but I don't dare. It is difficult for me to talk about this, it's painful for my family."

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Toby Chopra)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

U.S. rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rapper Gucci Mane was jailed in Georgia on Wednesday for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a champagne bottle at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, turned himself in to authorities late on Tuesday, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records.

Mane, 33, faces an aggravated assault charge after causing a "severe laceration" to the man whom he hit with a champagne bottle on March 16, according to a police report. The fan had approached Mane and tried to strike up a conversation, police said. Mane left the nightclub before police arrived.

A magistrate judge denied bond for Mane at his first court appearance on Wednesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.

Mane did not enter a plea. His next hearing will be on April 10, Flanagan said.

Mane's attorney, Drew Findling, told Reuters he would appeal the denial of bond to a higher court. He said six witnesses interviewed by his office about what he described as a melee at the club did not pin blame on the rapper.

"None of them said Gucci had anything to do with it," Findling said.

The incident is the latest in a long string of legal troubles for the rapper, who has appeared in remixes with the Black Eyed Peas and Usher.

In 2001, Mane was arrested for cocaine possession and spent 90 days in jail. He served a six-month prison term in 2005 for assault, and in 2009 was imprisoned for a year for violating probation in that case.

A Georgia judge sentenced Mane to six months in jail in 2011 after he admitted to pushing a woman out of his car.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Bernadette Baum and Leslie Adler)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Trailblazing TV journalist Barbara Walters to retire in 2014

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.

Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.

"It was very much her decision. I think she will best explain it herself," the source told Reuters.

ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.

ABC News executives declined to comment.

Walters, the creator and host of ABC's all-women talk show "The View," had open heart surgery in 2010.

She fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January, and was then diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.

Walters is best known as one of the top interviewers on U.S. television, counting an array of world leaders as subjects, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.

In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for "ABC Evening News." Walters has also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine "20/20" and as a correspondent for ABC News.

ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

(This story has been repeated to fix a typo in the lead)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Justin Bieber flies back to Los Angeles and into more trouble

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop sensation Justin Bieber flew from Europe back to his Los Angeles area home on Tuesday and into an argument with one of his neighbors - the latest in a series of odd incidents involving the teen singer.

Deputies were called to the 19-year-old's house in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday morning after a neighbor claimed that he had been threatened and struck by Bieber, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

A police report alleging battery and threats by Bieber had been filed and was being investigated, Whitmore said. No charges have been filed against the Canadian pop star and Whitmore declined to give details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Under California law, a misdemeanor battery charge can include unwanted touching or spitting.

The alleged altercation took place after the "Boyfriend" singer flew overnight from Poland, startling photographers and Lodz airport officials by stripping off his shirt on a freezing evening as he walked through security and to his private jet.

Bieber's publicist did not return calls for comment on Tuesday's incident, which follows odd behavior by the singer during his European tour, including turning up late for a London concert and wearing a gas mask on a night out.

A source close to the star said the Calabasas dispute stemmed from a neighbor who came by to complain about parties at the house while Bieber was away. Words were exchanged but no physical altercation took place, the source said, citing the singer's security detail.

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the dispute was provoked by Bieber driving a newly delivered Ferrari up and down the street at high speed early on Tuesday morning. The Bieber source disagreed with that claim.

Bieber has been playing concerts around Europe for his "Believe" tour for several weeks, and his next concert is scheduled for Munich, Germany, on March 28.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

France's Bruni makes emotional defense of husband Sarkozy

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French first lady Carla Bruni took up a passionate defense of her husband Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, saying it was unthinkable he could have tricked an old lady out of millions of euros.

In a blitz of interviews with French media, Bruni said a formal investigation of the ex-president opened last week for allegedly exploiting the mental frailty of 90-year-old L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt was causing her great pain.

"It's impossible to imagine that this man could have abused the frailty of a lady the age of his mother... It's unthinkable," Bruni told RTL radio in a shaky voice.

Sarkozy, who retreated from front-line politics after losing his re-election bid last May, rejects accusations that he took advantage of Bettencourt, France's richest woman, in 2007 to raise funds for his first election campaign. He wrote on Facebook this week that the probe against him was "unfair and unfounded".

The case could scupper any political comeback for Sarkozy, whose remains a popular figure for center-right voters and has said he would consider running for president again in 2017.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, has said he would seek to have the case thrown out on grounds that the investigation conducted by judge Jean-Michel Gentil was biased against Sarkozy.

Singer-songwriter and former model Bruni played a restrained role as first lady while Sarkozy was in power but has since returned to the media spotlight, performing last week at the ECHO Music Awards in Berlin.

Her public defense of Sarkozy coincides with her promotion of a new album due for release on April 1.

Bruni's 2008 marriage to Sarkozy after a whirlwind courtship irritated many French people who felt the high-profile romance blurred the lines between the president's private and public lives.

Asked if she was tempted to fight back publicly against the accusations and "show her claws", Bruni said: "Yes, I want to but I don't dare. It is difficult for me to talk about this, it's painful for my family."

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Toby Chopra)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

U.S. rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rapper Gucci Mane was jailed in Georgia on Wednesday for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a champagne bottle at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, turned himself in to authorities late on Tuesday, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records.

Mane, 33, faces an aggravated assault charge after causing a "severe laceration" to the man whom he hit with a champagne bottle on March 16, according to a police report. The fan had approached Mane and tried to strike up a conversation, police said. Mane left the nightclub before police arrived.

A magistrate judge denied bond for Mane at his first court appearance on Wednesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.

Mane did not enter a plea. His next hearing will be on April 10, Flanagan said.

Mane's attorney, Drew Findling, told Reuters he would appeal the denial of bond to a higher court. He said six witnesses interviewed by his office about what he described as a melee at the club did not pin blame on the rapper.

"None of them said Gucci had anything to do with it," Findling said.

The incident is the latest in a long string of legal troubles for the rapper, who has appeared in remixes with the Black Eyed Peas and Usher.

In 2001, Mane was arrested for cocaine possession and spent 90 days in jail. He served a six-month prison term in 2005 for assault, and in 2009 was imprisoned for a year for violating probation in that case.

A Georgia judge sentenced Mane to six months in jail in 2011 after he admitted to pushing a woman out of his car.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Bernadette Baum and Leslie Adler)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

"Avatar" director donates dive craft, says 3D movie due in fall

By John Gaudiosi

(Reuters) - Film director James Cameron is donating the Deepsea Challenger craft he used to make a record-setting solo dive a year ago to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to speed research into the deepest parts of the world's oceans.

Cameron, who is focused now on pre-production for the sequels to his blockbuster movie "Avatar," said he hoped the donation to the non-profit research facility in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, would bring the technology he developed for the undersea craft into the mainstream.

In a telephone interview marking the one-year anniversary of his nearly 7-mile-deep (11.2-km-deep) dive in the western Pacific, the Oscar-winning director said that scientists had identified more than 60 new species, including bacteria, from material he brought back.

Cameron expects to release a long-awaited 3D movie of the dive in movie theaters in the fall of 2013.

Cameron also directed the 1997 movie "Titanic" as well as undertaking and filming several underwater expeditions exploring the wreck of the ship in the North Atlantic.

Q: What impact do you hope the Deepsea Challenger's transfer to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will have on continued research?

A: It drives public attention to the need for new technology and funding for deep ocean work, which WHOI is the leader of in this country. It will have a very specific and immediate effect of new vehicles and new vehicle platforms, our cameras, our communications, our syntactic foam and battery systems, they'll incorporate into their future stuff. The way we solved problems is so outside the box, they're eager to bring that into their projects.

I could leave the sub in my barn, but that's not going to do anybody any good while I'm off making "Avatar" films for the next few years. I want this technology to be out there and dynamic and adaptive.

Q: What are some of the new species and findings that have come from this dive?

A: I met with Doug Bartlett out of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (who was the chief scientist on the dive expedition) and he said there are at least 68 new species coming out of this, and that includes a number of arthropods and invertebrate animals and a lot of new bacteria.

Q: What will audiences experience when your 3D movie of this dive is released.

A: "The Deepsea Challenge" is coming out this fall. You go on the journey. It's about the team of these young guys and how they tackled the problems and overcame a lot of hurdles and set-backs. They got to see some pretty amazing stuff and got to bring back the footage in 3D. You'll feel like you've been through the whole thing, including actually diving inside the sub. I was jammed into this 42-inch (106 centimeter) sphere with all this equipment and a 3D camera with me at all time.

Q: How has filming underwater in 3D with this dive and past Titanic dives helped you as a Hollywood director?

A: There's always been a good synergy between the technology that's been developed for these expeditions and the technology that's used for the films. "Avatar" was shot with a second generation of the 3D cameras that were built for my 2001 Titanic expedition. We're constantly building and improving the technology. Some of the things that went into building the Deepsea Challenger cameras, which had to be so tiny, will probably be used in action cameras in the next "Avatar" films.

The odds are other filmmakers will use this technology before me because my company, Cameron Pace Group, supplies cameras to most of the big movies that are shooting in 3D. We develop something new, I use it on an expedition, and while I go off and write and design and fool around in pre-production, five other movies have gone out and used the cameras in the meantime. That was the case even when I had made "Avatar," a number of other films had already used those cameras.

(Reporting By John Gaudiosi in North Carolina, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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Animals rock veteran Eric Burdon writing memoir

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eric Burdon, the singer of the 1960s blues-rock band The Animals, is writing a memoir detailing his five decades in the music industry, publisher Alfred Music said on Tuesday.

The book, entitled "Breathless," will be released late this year, the publisher said.

Burdon, 71, best known for merging U.S. blues music with 1960s British rock and roll, said the book will be a way for him to recall and recount the many details of his musical life.

"I'm writing this book to help myself remember the past, acknowledge the present and help the new generation to discover their own truth," Burdon said in a statement.

Burdon and The Animals rose to prominence and scored a No. 1 hit with his menacing and intense singing on "The House of the Rising Sun" in 1964, turning it into a definitive rendition of the American folk song.

The Animals, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, broke up in 1968 after five years together and reformed at times in the 1970s and 1980s. Burdon helped found the U.S. funk band War in 1969.

His latest solo album "'Til Your River Runs Dry" was released in January and was his first album of new material since 2006.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and David Brunnstrom)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Justin Bieber flies back to Los Angeles and into more trouble

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop sensation Justin Bieber flew from Europe back to his Los Angeles area home on Tuesday and into an argument with one of his neighbors - the latest in a series of odd incidents involving the teen singer.

Deputies were called to the 19-year-old's house in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday morning after a neighbor claimed that he had been threatened and struck by Bieber, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

A police report alleging battery and threats by Bieber had been filed and was being investigated, Whitmore said. No charges have been filed against the Canadian pop star and Whitmore declined to give details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Under California law, a misdemeanor battery charge can include unwanted touching or spitting.

The alleged altercation took place after the "Boyfriend" singer flew overnight from Poland, startling photographers and Lodz airport officials by stripping off his shirt on a freezing evening as he walked through security and to his private jet.

Bieber's publicist did not return calls for comment on Tuesday's incident, which follows odd behavior by the singer during his European tour, including turning up late for a London concert and wearing a gas mask on a night out.

A source close to the star said the Calabasas dispute stemmed from a neighbor who came by to complain about parties at the house while Bieber was away. Words were exchanged but no physical altercation took place, the source said, citing the singer's security detail.

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the dispute was provoked by Bieber driving a newly delivered Ferrari up and down the street at high speed early on Tuesday morning. The Bieber source disagreed with that claim.

Bieber has been playing concerts around Europe for his "Believe" tour for several weeks, and his next concert is scheduled for Munich, Germany, on March 28.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Kristen Stewart, One Direction win twice at Kids Choice Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Green slime spewed furiously at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, where "Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart and British boy band One Direction won two awards apiece.

Stewart, 22, escaped the slime but plunged her hands into the green goo, saying she "felt like I have finally found my kindergartner self," as she accepted trophies for movie actress and favorite female butt kicker.

Organizers said more than 350 million votes were cast online in more than 20 categories, spanning film, television, books, music and sport for the stunt-filled annual award show on youth channel Nickelodeon.

Hosted by "Transformers" actor Josh Duhamel, who is married to singer Fergie, the show in Los Angeles featured performances by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera, as well as Ke$ha.

Johnny Depp and Katy Perry accepted orange blimp-shaped trophies for favorite female singer and movie actor respectively and both stars had words of wisdom for the audience of kids and young teens.

"This is such a cool award ... stay safe, stay in school, don't do drugs," Perry told them. Depp said he was "truly honored and humbled. Thank you for what you are, which is the future."

Selena Gomez, 20, the ex-girlfriend of pop star Justin Bieber, took the female TV actress award for her Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place," even though the show came to an end more than a year ago.

Bieber, who is on tour in Europe, was voted favorite male singer and was among several stars who did not make it to accept their award in person.

No-shows included One Direction, who are also on tour and who won for favorite music group and song for "What Makes You Beautiful," "X Factor" judge Simon Cowell (favorite villain), and Ross Lynch, 17, who was named favorite TV actor for Disney Channel's pop star series "Austin & Ally."

Sandra Bullock, Neil Patrick Harris, Duhamel, Pitbull, Nick Cannon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and dozens of audience members got covered in slime gushing out from water cannons, presenter's podiums, ceilings, and even the tail of a fake gymnastic horse.

Other awards went to Nickelodeon's "Victorious" for top TV show, "The Hunger Games" for favorite movie, "Wreck-It Ralph" for top animated movie, and race car driver Danica Patrick and basketball player LeBron James for top athletes.

The Kids Choice Awards will be broadcast around the world in more than 25 languages, Nickelodeon said.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in glass box for NY museum performance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art in New York had the chance to see an unusual performance on Saturday: Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton sleeping in a glass box.

For a performance piece call "The Maybe," Swinton wore a light blue shirt, dark blue pants and shoes while lying on white bedding with eyeglasses beside her.

"Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water, and spectacles," a description card said.

First performed in London in 1995, the performance piece will be repeated periodically throughout this year, museum spokeswoman Margaret Doyle said.

"The nature of the concept is that it not be announced in advance, nor publicized by the museum," Doyle said.

Swinton, 52, won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the 2007 film "Michael Clayton." Other credits include the title role in "Julia," "Burn After Reading" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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Singer Dionne Warwick files for bankruptcy

(Reuters) - Grammy Award-winning singer Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey, citing tax liabilities she has attributed to financial mismanagement, her publicist said on Monday.

Warwick, 72, known for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and other popular songs, filed the petition on March 21 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, the state where she was born and currently lives. She listed total assets of $25,500 and total liabilities of more than $10.7 million, nearly all tax claims by the Internal Revenue Service and the state of California, according to the filing.

The personal bankruptcy filing was due to "negligent and gross financial mismanagement" in the late 1980s through mid-1990s, Warwick's publicist, Kevin Sasaki, said in a statement.

The IRS and California tax claims total more than $10.2 million, mostly from the 1990s, according to the petition, which listed Warwick's average monthly income as $20,950 and expenses at $20,940.

Sasaki said the actual back taxes owed had already been paid, but the penalties and interest has continued to accrue.

"In light of the magnitude of her tax liabilities, Warwick has repeatedly attempted to offer re-payment plans and proposals to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board for taxes owed," Sasaki said. "These plans were not accepted, resulting in escalating interest and penalties."

A five-time Grammy winner, Warwick took her first in 1968 for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" and her second two years later for the album "I'll Never Fall in Love Again."

(Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Bodybuilding icon Joe Weider dies in Los Angeles at 93

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Weider, the self-made fitness and bodybuilding guru who built a magazine empire that included more than a dozen popular publications such as Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness, died on Saturday at the age of 93.

Weider, also known for starting the Mr Olympia bodybuilding contest in the 1960s and mentoring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, passed away from heart failure at a Los Angeles area hospital, his longtime publicist Charlotte Parker said.

"Joe Weider was a titan in the fitness industry and one of the kindest men I have ever met," Schwarzenegger said in a statement posted on his official website.

"He leaves behind a fantastic legacy of a fitter world," the film star and former governor of California said. "Very few people can claim to have influenced as many lives as Joe did through his magazines, his supplements, his training equipment and his big-hearted personality."

Born in a tough neighborhood of Montreal in 1920, Weider began lifting weights as a teenager to stand up to bullies and older boys before competing in his first bodybuilding contest at the age of 17, according to a biography provided by Parker.

He started his first magazine, Your Physique, in the early 1940s and with his younger brother Ben rented Montreal's Monument National Theater to host the first Mr Canada contest during that same decade.

The two brothers also founded the International Federation of Bodybuilders and in 1965 Weider created the Mr Olympia competition, the sport's premiere bodybuilding contest.

Weider met Schwarzenegger at a bodybuilding contest in Europe and convinced him to move from his native Austria to the United States to seek wider recognition.

"He saw a lot in Arnold," Parker said. "He felt that the sport needed a star and right away he could see that Arnold was something special."

Schwarzenegger, then nicknamed the "Austrian Oak," first gained fame by winning a string of Mr Olympia titles in the early 1970s before going on to a successful career in such films as "The Terminator" and "Total Recall."

He was elected governor of California in 2003 and served two terms before retiring from politics.

"Joe didn't just inspire my earliest dreams; he made them come true the day he invited me to move to America to pursue my bodybuilding career," Schwarzenegger, who visited Weider in the hospital before his death, said in the statement.

"I will never forget his generosity. One of Joe's greatest qualities is that he wasn't just generous with his money; he freely gave of his time and expertise and became a father figure for me," he said.

Schwarzenegger also credited Weider with getting him his first acting role, in a movie called "Hercules in New York," by claiming that the hulking young Austrian was a Shakespearean actor from Germany.

Weider, who also created a line of sports nutritional supplements and ultimately founded more than a dozen fitness magazines including Fit Pregnancy, Living Fit and Flex, sold his Weider Publicans to American Media Inc. in the early 2000s.

He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Betty.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, David Brunnstrom and Jackie Frank)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kristen Stewart, One Direction win twice at Kids Choice Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Green slime spewed furiously at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, where "Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart and British boy band One Direction won two awards apiece.

Stewart, 22, escaped the slime but plunged her hands into the green goo, saying she "felt like I have finally found my kindergartner self," as she accepted trophies for movie actress and favorite female butt kicker.

Organizers said more than 350 million votes were cast online in more than 20 categories, spanning film, television, books, music and sport for the stunt-filled annual award show on youth channel Nickelodeon.

Hosted by "Transformers" actor Josh Duhamel, who is married to singer Fergie, the show in Los Angeles featured performances by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera, as well as Ke$ha.

Johnny Depp and Katy Perry accepted orange blimp-shaped trophies for favorite female singer and movie actor respectively and both stars had words of wisdom for the audience of kids and young teens.

"This is such a cool award ... stay safe, stay in school, don't do drugs," Perry told them. Depp said he was "truly honored and humbled. Thank you for what you are, which is the future."

Selena Gomez, 20, the ex-girlfriend of pop star Justin Bieber, took the female TV actress award for her Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place," even though the show came to an end more than a year ago.

Bieber, who is on tour in Europe, was voted favorite male singer and was among several stars who did not make it to accept their award in person.

No-shows included One Direction, who are also on tour and who won for favorite music group and song for "What Makes You Beautiful," "X Factor" judge Simon Cowell (favorite villain), and Ross Lynch, 17, who was named favorite TV actor for Disney Channel's pop star series "Austin & Ally."

Sandra Bullock, Neil Patrick Harris, Duhamel, Pitbull, Nick Cannon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and dozens of audience members got covered in slime gushing out from water cannons, presenter's podiums, ceilings, and even the tail of a fake gymnastic horse.

Other awards went to Nickelodeon's "Victorious" for top TV show, "The Hunger Games" for favorite movie, "Wreck-It Ralph" for top animated movie, and race car driver Danica Patrick and basketball player LeBron James for top athletes.

The Kids Choice Awards will be broadcast around the world in more than 25 languages, Nickelodeon said.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Actress Tilda Swinton sleeps in glass box for NY museum performance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visitors to the Museum of Modern Art in New York had the chance to see an unusual performance on Saturday: Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton sleeping in a glass box.

For a performance piece call "The Maybe," Swinton wore a light blue shirt, dark blue pants and shoes while lying on white bedding with eyeglasses beside her.

"Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water, and spectacles," a description card said.

First performed in London in 1995, the performance piece will be repeated periodically throughout this year, museum spokeswoman Margaret Doyle said.

"The nature of the concept is that it not be announced in advance, nor publicized by the museum," Doyle said.

Swinton, 52, won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the 2007 film "Michael Clayton." Other credits include the title role in "Julia," "Burn After Reading" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

China's glamorous new first lady an instant internet hit

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - With a smile on her face, dressed in a simple black peacoat and carrying an elegant unbranded bag, China's new first lady, Peng Liyuan, stepped into the international limelight on Friday and became an instant internet sensation back home.

Stepping off the aircraft in Moscow - the first stop of President Xi Jinping's maiden foreign trip since assuming office - Peng's glamorous appearance and obvious affection for her portly husband caused Chinese microbloggers to swoon.

"So beautiful, Peng Liyuan, so beautiful! How composed, how magnanimous," wrote one user on China's popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

"Who could not love such a lady as this and be insanely happy with her?" wrote another.

Taobao, an online shopping site similar to eBay and Amazon, quickly began offering for sale coats in the same style of Peng's, advertising it as "the same style as the first lady's".

Others wondered what brand her bag and shoes were.

"Her shoes are really classic, and who designed her bag?" wrote a third Weibo user.

Peng is best known in China as a singer, and for many years was arguably better known and certainly more popular than her husband.

People who have met her and know her say that Peng is vivacious and fun to be around, though she was ordered to take a back seat after Xi became vice president in 2008 as he was being groomed for state power.

But she is expected to be given high-profile events of her own to attend on Xi's sweep through Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on a week-long trip, as the government tries to soften the image of China abroad.

Peng has won praise for her advocacy for pet causes, most notably for children living with HIV/AIDS, and may visit charities related to this while abroad.

Unlike the baby-kissing politicians of the West, China's Communist Party works hard to keep its top leaders from appearing too human - to the point that for many, even their official birthdates and the names of their children are regarded as a state secret.

Xi and Peng are different. Their romance has been the subject of dozens of glowing reports and pictorials in state media.

"When he comes home, I've never thought of it as though there's some leader in the house. In my eyes, he's just my husband," Peng gushed in an interview with a state-run magazine in 2007, describing Xi as frugal, hardworking and down-to-earth.

Peng is Xi's second wife, and the two have a daughter studying at Harvard under an assumed name. Xi divorced his first wife, the daughter of a diplomat.

Chinese first wives have traditionally kept a low profile over the past few decades, because of the experience of Jiang Qing, the widow of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.

Jiang was the leader of the "Gang of Four" that wielded supreme power during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. She was given a suspended death sentence in 1981 for the deaths of tens of thousands during that period of chaos.

(This story corrects the year Xi became vice president to 2008)

(Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan and Beijing newsroom, and Anita Li in SHANGHAI; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Bodybuilding icon Joe Weider dies in Los Angeles at 93

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Weider, the self-made fitness and bodybuilding guru who built a magazine empire that included more than a dozen popular publications such as Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness, died on Saturday at the age of 93.

Weider, also known for starting the Mr Olympia bodybuilding contest in the 1960s and mentoring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, passed away from heart failure at a Los Angeles area hospital, his longtime publicist Charlotte Parker said.

"Joe Weider was a titan in the fitness industry and one of the kindest men I have ever met," Schwarzenegger said in a statement posted on his official website.

"He leaves behind a fantastic legacy of a fitter world," the film star and former governor of California said. "Very few people can claim to have influenced as many lives as Joe did through his magazines, his supplements, his training equipment and his big-hearted personality."

Born in a tough neighborhood of Montreal in 1920, Weider began lifting weights as a teenager to stand up to bullies and older boys before competing in his first bodybuilding contest at the age of 17, according to a biography provided by Parker.

He started his first magazine, Your Physique, in the early 1940s and with his younger brother Ben rented Montreal's Monument National Theater to host the first Mr Canada contest during that same decade.

The two brothers also founded the International Federation of Bodybuilders and in 1965 Weider created the Mr Olympia competition, the sport's premiere bodybuilding contest.

Weider met Schwarzenegger at a bodybuilding contest in Europe and convinced him to move from his native Austria to the United States to seek wider recognition.

"He saw a lot in Arnold," Parker said. "He felt that the sport needed a star and right away he could see that Arnold was something special."

Schwarzenegger, then nicknamed the "Austrian Oak," first gained fame by winning a string of Mr Olympia titles in the early 1970s before going on to a successful career in such films as "The Terminator" and "Total Recall."

He was elected governor of California in 2003 and served two terms before retiring from politics.

"Joe didn't just inspire my earliest dreams; he made them come true the day he invited me to move to America to pursue my bodybuilding career," Schwarzenegger, who visited Weider in the hospital before his death, said in the statement.

"I will never forget his generosity. One of Joe's greatest qualities is that he wasn't just generous with his money; he freely gave of his time and expertise and became a father figure for me," he said.

Schwarzenegger also credited Weider with getting him his first acting role, in a movie called "Hercules in New York," by claiming that the hulking young Austrian was a Shakespearean actor from Germany.

Weider, who also created a line of sports nutritional supplements and ultimately founded more than a dozen fitness magazines including Fit Pregnancy, Living Fit and Flex, sold his Weider Publicans to American Media Inc. in the early 2000s.

He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Betty.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, David Brunnstrom and Jackie Frank)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kristen Stewart, One Direction win twice at Kids Choice Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Green slime spewed furiously at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, where "Twilight Saga" star Kristen Stewart and British boy band One Direction won two awards apiece.

Stewart, 22, escaped the slime but plunged her hands into the green goo, saying she "felt like I have finally found my kindergartner self," as she accepted trophies for movie actress and favorite female butt kicker.

Organizers said more than 350 million votes were cast online in more than 20 categories, spanning film, television, books, music and sport for the stunt-filled annual award show on youth channel Nickelodeon.

Hosted by "Transformers" actor Josh Duhamel, who is married to singer Fergie, the show in Los Angeles featured performances by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera, as well as Ke$ha.

Johnny Depp and Katy Perry accepted orange blimp-shaped trophies for favorite female singer and movie actor respectively and both stars had words of wisdom for the audience of kids and young teens.

"This is such a cool award ... stay safe, stay in school, don't do drugs," Perry told them. Depp said he was "truly honored and humbled. Thank you for what you are, which is the future."

Selena Gomez, 20, the ex-girlfriend of pop star Justin Bieber, took the female TV actress award for her Disney Channel series "Wizards of Waverly Place," even though the show came to an end more than a year ago.

Bieber, who is on tour in Europe, was voted favorite male singer and was among several stars who did not make it to accept their award in person.

No-shows included One Direction, who are also on tour and who won for favorite music group and song for "What Makes You Beautiful," "X Factor" judge Simon Cowell (favorite villain), and Ross Lynch, 17, who was named favorite TV actor for Disney Channel's pop star series "Austin & Ally."

Sandra Bullock, Neil Patrick Harris, Duhamel, Pitbull, Nick Cannon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and dozens of audience members got covered in slime gushing out from water cannons, presenter's podiums, ceilings, and even the tail of a fake gymnastic horse.

Other awards went to Nickelodeon's "Victorious" for top TV show, "The Hunger Games" for favorite movie, "Wreck-It Ralph" for top animated movie, and race car driver Danica Patrick and basketball player LeBron James for top athletes.

The Kids Choice Awards will be broadcast around the world in more than 25 languages, Nickelodeon said.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

"Deep Throat" porn actor Harry Reems dies after turbulent life

(Reuters) - Porn actor Harry Reems, who made his name starring opposite Linda Lovelace in the 1972 movie "Deep Throat", has died at the age of 65, according to his wife Jeanne.

She told the New York Times that her husband died on Tuesday in hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was reported to have been battling multiple health issues, including pancreatic cancer.

His death comes just months before the release of "Lovelace", a biographical film starring Amanda Seyfried in the title role and Adam Brody as Reems which will put the spotlight back on one of the 1970s' most active porn actors.

Reems's rollercoaster life off set reads like a script for a Hollywood movie as he transitioned from the marines to porn movies to alcoholism and then to religion and suburban life.

He was born Herbert Streicher into a Jewish family from Brooklyn, New York, and joined the Marine Corps after school.

After leaving the marines, he struggled to make a career as a stage actor in New York so, needing money, worked in a number of pornographic films.

But his breakthrough came when director Gerard Damiano hired him as lighting director on "Deep Throat". The original male lead failed to show up so Reems stepped in, playing a doctor helping Lovelace with a sexually sensitive area in her throat.

"Deep Throat" was the first porn film widely shown in theatres and made an estimated $600 million at the box office -- although Reems claimed he only received $800 for his role.

It also became the nickname for a source who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigate the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

But the film also caused much outrage and Reems was convicted of obscenity in 1976. He admitted that the prospect of a five year jail sentence and trial put him under enormous pressure and set him on a path to alcoholism.

He launched a high-profile appeal backed by celebrities including Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty and the conviction was eventually overturned.

Reems, with a bushy black moustache and hairy chest exposed by his open shirts, went on to star in several other porn movies after "Deep Throat" but demand for his services started to wane by the 1980s as his battles with alcohol increased.

By the mid-1980s he was bankrupt, drinking heavily and homeless. It was not until 1989 that he sobered up, converted to Christianity, obtained a real estate license and married Jeanne in 1990.

In a 2005 interview with the Guardian, Reems described his battle with alcohol, his regret at going into the porn industry and the way his life had changed since he became sober.

"I'm happier today than ever. I saved my own life. I'm content with the way I conduct myself with my marriage, my home, my business," said Reems.

"I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody and nobody thinks of me as a porn actor."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith)

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Yoko Ono tweets against guns showing Lennon's bloody glasses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yoko Ono has taken up arms against gun violence with a raft of Twitter postings, including a photograph of blood-stained glasses apparently worn by John Lennon when he was shot and killed more than 30 years ago.

"Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980," Ono, the former Beatle's widow, tweeted.

Below the message she included a photo of what appears to be Lennon's blood-stained eyeglasses, perched on a ledge with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.

Lennon was shot and killed outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan as he and Ono returned to their home. Ono still lives there.

The bold text above the graphic photo is black, except for the words "Over 1,057,000" and "John Lennon," which appear in bright red.

Ono posted several more messages, including: "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon," and "31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into a war zone."

Earlier this week, Ono tweeted filmmaker Michael Moore asking for his support.

"Michael Moore @mmflint Join me to kick off a mass movement against gun violence from your living room on Sat March 23 - Yes! love, yoko".

In other Twitter messages Ono, 80, linked an Oxfam video about global arms and the ammunition trade, a newspaper article on actors joining the anti-gun movement and a YouTube video of the parents of girl killed in a shooting.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Maureen Bavdek)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

China's glamorous new first lady an instant internet hit

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - With a smile on her face, dressed in a simple black peacoat and carrying an elegant unbranded bag, China's new first lady, Peng Liyuan, stepped into the international limelight on Friday and became an instant internet sensation back home.

Stepping off the aircraft in Moscow - the first stop of President Xi Jinping's maiden foreign trip since assuming office - Peng's glamorous appearance and obvious affection for her portly husband caused Chinese microbloggers to swoon.

"So beautiful, Peng Liyuan, so beautiful! How composed, how magnanimous," wrote one user on China's popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

"Who could not love such a lady as this and be insanely happy with her?" wrote another.

Taobao, an online shopping site similar to eBay and Amazon, quickly began offering for sale coats in the same style of Peng's, advertising it as "the same style as the first lady's".

Others wondered what brand her bag and shoes were.

"Her shoes are really classic, and who designed her bag?" wrote a third Weibo user.

Peng is best known in China as a singer, and for many years was arguably better known and certainly more popular than her husband.

People who have met her and know her say that Peng is vivacious and fun to be around, though she was ordered to take a back seat after Xi became vice president in 2008 as he was being groomed for state power.

But she is expected to be given high-profile events of her own to attend on Xi's sweep through Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on a week-long trip, as the government tries to soften the image of China abroad.

Peng has won praise for her advocacy for pet causes, most notably for children living with HIV/AIDS, and may visit charities related to this while abroad.

Unlike the baby-kissing politicians of the West, China's Communist Party works hard to keep its top leaders from appearing too human - to the point that for many, even their official birthdates and the names of their children are regarded as a state secret.

Xi and Peng are different. Their romance has been the subject of dozens of glowing reports and pictorials in state media.

"When he comes home, I've never thought of it as though there's some leader in the house. In my eyes, he's just my husband," Peng gushed in an interview with a state-run magazine in 2007, describing Xi as frugal, hardworking and down-to-earth.

Peng is Xi's second wife, and the two have a daughter studying at Harvard under an assumed name. Xi divorced his first wife, the daughter of a diplomat.

Chinese first wives have traditionally kept a low profile over the past few decades, because of the experience of Jiang Qing, the widow of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.

Jiang was the leader of the "Gang of Four" that wielded supreme power during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. She was given a suspended death sentence in 1981 for the deaths of tens of thousands during that period of chaos.

(This story corrects the year Xi became vice president to 2008)

(Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan and Beijing newsroom, and Anita Li in SHANGHAI; Editing by Nick Macfie)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

U.S. rapper Too Short arrested on alcohol, drug charges

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. rapper Too Short was arrested on Wednesday in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunken driving and narcotics possession, local police said.

The "Blow the Whistle" rapper, who was born Todd Anthony Shaw, was booked shortly after 3 a.m. after a traffic stop in Hollywood, Los Angeles Police officer Cleon Joseph said.

Joseph said the 46-year-old rapper, who is best known as a pioneer of West Coast hip hop in the late 1980s and 1990s, was still in custody but offered no other details.

Too Short was being held on $10,000 bail and charged with at least one felony, according to Los Angeles County jail records. A bail hearing had yet to be scheduled, the records indicated.

Local media reported that the Oakland, California, native tried to run away but was immediately apprehended.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Doina Chiacu)

14.28 | 0 komentar | Read More

"Deep Throat" porn actor Harry Reems dies after turbulent life

(Reuters) - Porn actor Harry Reems, who made his name starring opposite Linda Lovelace in the 1972 movie "Deep Throat", has died at the age of 65, according to his wife Jeanne.

She told the New York Times that her husband died on Tuesday in hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was reported to have been battling multiple health issues, including pancreatic cancer.

His death comes just months before the release of "Lovelace", a biographical film starring Amanda Seyfried in the title role and Adam Brody as Reems which will put the spotlight back on one of the 1970s' most active porn actors.

Reems's rollercoaster life off set reads like a script for a Hollywood movie as he transitioned from the marines to porn movies to alcoholism and then to religion and suburban life.

He was born Herbert Streicher into a Jewish family from Brooklyn, New York, and joined the Marine Corps after school.

After leaving the marines, he struggled to make a career as a stage actor in New York so, needing money, worked in a number of pornographic films.

But his breakthrough came when director Gerard Damiano hired him as lighting director on "Deep Throat". The original male lead failed to show up so Reems stepped in, playing a doctor helping Lovelace with a sexually sensitive area in her throat.

"Deep Throat" was the first porn film widely shown in theatres and made an estimated $600 million at the box office -- although Reems claimed he only received $800 for his role.

It also became the nickname for a source who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigate the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

But the film also caused much outrage and Reems was convicted of obscenity in 1976. He admitted that the prospect of a five year jail sentence and trial put him under enormous pressure and set him on a path to alcoholism.

He launched a high-profile appeal backed by celebrities including Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty and the conviction was eventually overturned.

Reems, with a bushy black moustache and hairy chest exposed by his open shirts, went on to star in several other porn movies after "Deep Throat" but demand for his services started to wane by the 1980s as his battles with alcohol increased.

By the mid-1980s he was bankrupt, drinking heavily and homeless. It was not until 1989 that he sobered up, converted to Christianity, obtained a real estate license and married Jeanne in 1990.

In a 2005 interview with the Guardian, Reems described his battle with alcohol, his regret at going into the porn industry and the way his life had changed since he became sober.

"I'm happier today than ever. I saved my own life. I'm content with the way I conduct myself with my marriage, my home, my business," said Reems.

"I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody and nobody thinks of me as a porn actor."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith)

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Yoko Ono tweets against guns showing Lennon's bloody glasses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yoko Ono has taken up arms against gun violence with a raft of Twitter postings, including a photograph of blood-stained glasses apparently worn by John Lennon when he was shot and killed more than 30 years ago.

"Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980," Ono, the former Beatle's widow, tweeted.

Below the message she included a photo of what appears to be Lennon's blood-stained eyeglasses, perched on a ledge with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.

Lennon was shot and killed outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan as he and Ono returned to their home. Ono still lives there.

The bold text above the graphic photo is black, except for the words "Over 1,057,000" and "John Lennon," which appear in bright red.

Ono posted several more messages, including: "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon," and "31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into a war zone."

Earlier this week, Ono tweeted filmmaker Michael Moore asking for his support.

"Michael Moore @mmflint Join me to kick off a mass movement against gun violence from your living room on Sat March 23 - Yes! love, yoko".

In other Twitter messages Ono, 80, linked an Oxfam video about global arms and the ammunition trade, a newspaper article on actors joining the anti-gun movement and a YouTube video of the parents of girl killed in a shooting.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Maureen Bavdek)

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A Minute With: Selena Gomez about growing up with "Spring Breakers"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress and singer Selena Gomez breaks out of her squeaky clean Disney Channel image to star in the independent film "Spring Breakers" for filmmaker Harmony Korine.

In the film, which opens in wide release Friday, Gomez stars as a young girl who is part of a quartet of college students whose spring break in Florida takes them from parties to jail and a criminal underworld.

Gomez is best known as pop star Justin Bieber's ex-girlfriend and the star of Disney's "The Wizards of Waverly Place," which ended its four season run last year. She recently returned to the channel for a reunion film, "The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex."

Gomez, 20, spoke to Reuters about her career, growing up and transitioning into more adult roles.

Q: Harmony Korine has a reputation for shocking his audience with movies like "Kids," "Gummo" and "Trash Humpers." Weren't you nervous about doing this film?

A: I was more excited and enticed. When I auditioned for Harmony, we talked about how he wanted to leave my lifestyle behind and have me go on this adventure with him. I knew it was going to be crazy, but I was comfortable with it.

Q: What do you mean by lifestyle? The squeaky clean Disney lifestyle which was totally flipped upside down in this movie?

A: It was more that Harmony wanted an innocence because he thought it would be creepier. I agree with him.

Q: You spend most of the film in a skimpy bikini. Did you feel self conscious?

A: When we did the spring break scenes, we were surrounded by hundreds of spring breakers in bikinis who wore even less, so that was okay. I was more uncomfortable in the scenes where I was (in a bikini) getting arrested, in jail and in the pool hall with strangers. It added vulnerability and helped me feel grossed out, which was what my character is supposed to feel.

Q: For someone who started her career on the pre-school show "Barney & Friends" and spent her teen years on the Disney Channel, this must have been unlike any other acting job.

A: It was completely liberating. (Up until this film), everything I've been a part of definitely has been a bit more processed, like how many pieces of jewelry I have on, what my hair looks like. With Harmony, I never wore makeup and he never cared about my hair.

Q: After an experience like that, you must come out the other side feeling like you've grown and changed somewhat.

A: I think that's a really good way of putting it because I feel like I did grow up shooting this. This was the first movie I shot by myself without my mom coming. It was the first time I got to improvise as much as I have.

And to work with someone like James Franco, it was the first time I was around someone of that acting caliber. Harmony believed in me and pushed me to be a better actor, so there's a special place in my heart for Harmony for sure.

Q: You've got a couple of other films in the can - the action film "The Getaway," a cameo in the horror film, "Aftershock." Now that your film career is taking off, why did you go back to Disney for a reunion with your "Wizards" cast?

A: I missed them. I missed the channel, I missed everybody on the show. It was a big part of my life that I'm thankful for. That's where I started so I wanted to go back.

Q: Your younger fans can't see "Spring Breakers." Was this TV movie your way of giving them something new as well?

A: It always made me happy that we got to bring families together every night. I love having that connection with the younger audience and I missed that feeling.

Q: How do you chart a film career from this point on?

A: I'm actually taking a complete turn now and going in to music. My album comes out this summer and I'll be touring. I always structure my music and tours in a way that is geared for my fans and supporters that have been there from the beginning. My music is definitely the kind I would want them to hear.

Q: How do you balance between moving forward into more adult roles while bearing in mind that you are role model to many young girls?

A: It's a very awkward transition to make. I want to challenge myself and (my choices) may not be appropriate for a young audience. I'm choosing movies that I feel are artistically fun and creative. I hope people are appreciative of the work I do. I feel like I'm doing the best I can and hopefully it works out.

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Vicki Allen)

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David Bowie exhibition breaks box office records

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - Ziggy played guitar. But as a new exhibition devoted to singer David Bowie's long and innovative career makes clear, he also wrote lyrics, checked every detail of his outlandish costumes, appeared in movies and helped design his own stage sets.

"David Bowie is", which runs from March 23 to August 11, has broken box office records at London's Victoria & Albert Museum, with 50,000 advance tickets sold.

Organizers at a press preview on Wednesday were at pains to point out that more tickets were available and the demand underlines 66-year-old Bowie's lasting impact on music, fashion, video and beyond.

It also coincides with the release just over a week ago of Bowie's new album "The Next Day", his first new material for a decade. The record hit number one in the British album charts at the weekend, marking his return to the top after 20 years.

"His radical innovations across music, theatre, fashion and style still resound today in design and visual culture and he continues to inspire artists and designers throughout the world," said Martin Roth, director of the V&A.

Drawing heavily on the David Bowie Archive, the show features more than 300 objects, with pride of place going to Bowie's stage costumes which allowed him to adopt alternative personas and create an aura of mystery and invention.

Among the recognizable outfits are a striped bodysuit by Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto for the Aladdin Sane tour in 1973 and the Pierrot costume by Natasha Korniloff which featured in the groundbreaking music video for "Ashes to Ashes".

"SEISMIC SHIFT"

Among the costumes on display from Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" phase is the blue, gold and red padded jumpsuit by Freddie Burretti that marked a turning point in Bowie's career.

He wore the suit for a performance of "Starman" on Britain's TV chart show "Top of the Pops" on July 6, 1972 complete with flame-orange hair, make-up and red patent boots, representing what organizers called a "seismic shift" in pop culture.

People were intrigued and appalled in equal measure at the sight of the otherwordly androgynous being, a bold new creation which has inspired performers ever since.

True to Bowie's multi-media experimentation, the show includes footage from famous concerts shown on giant screens as well as a mime show enacted by Bowie in 1969 which anticipates the downside of becoming famous.

His attention to detail can be seen throughout.

On a design sketch for an outfit to be worn on the U.S. "Saturday Night Live" show Bowie wrote: "may be I'm wrong about color? What do you think."

He also appeared not to take himself too seriously, describing a short bodysuit, designed by Yamamoto, as his "impossibly silly 'bunny' costume".

He soaked up culture and history wherever he went, including his stay in Berlin in the late 1970s where he absorbed Brecht, cabaret and Expressionist art and produced three acclaimed albums - "Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger".

He recorded a Mandarin version of his 1997 song "Seven Years in Tibet", reflecting his interest in the region and its Buddhist religion.

The track prompted one Chinese fan to write, in a note on display at the exhibition: "I think I am flying in the sky when I listen to your mandarin song, you know!"

The displays are accompanied by an impressive soundtrack that includes hits like "Space Oddity", "Changes" and "Under Pressure", which he released with Queen in 1981.

In fact, all that is missing from "David Bowie is" is the man himself. If he were to visit, it would most likely be incognito, as Bowie has shunned the limelight altogether for much of the last decade.

"We're really hoping David does appear at some point," said co-curator Geoffrey Marsh.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

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U.S. rapper Too Short arrested on alcohol, drug charges

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. rapper Too Short was arrested on Wednesday in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunken driving and narcotics possession, local police said.

The "Blow the Whistle" rapper, who was born Todd Anthony Shaw, was booked shortly after 3 a.m. after a traffic stop in Hollywood, Los Angeles Police officer Cleon Joseph said.

Joseph said the 46-year-old rapper, who is best known as a pioneer of West Coast hip hop in the late 1980s and 1990s, was still in custody but offered no other details.

Too Short was being held on $10,000 bail and charged with at least one felony, according to Los Angeles County jail records. A bail hearing had yet to be scheduled, the records indicated.

Local media reported that the Oakland, California, native tried to run away but was immediately apprehended.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Doina Chiacu)

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}vJ=>gMEcqe30Ilq&'P,yžj [|M2bRꪮ=6vUFhm0qI<~ב/W1pwsSKٓ\L*͍F=A ='ߴ'YW4;@j'|7{ _^IiMj&=׎v1p@,HX- kdAx)?OaHK?,07@xsj0e_ܯt"WÉyW,̳C8cFCƔfQO7'+[J{'y,ZFS\odf+c+nʸUכكp+*9V3a8w1=(6Do3O6}Kղ]כ̸tcIy݃8gM5$. -7h=.qE$s?Nb+{^_AI$G 4>!1)UT=UJ[%k\*YVqFF&^ ƛ"t7a7K~9f{ugkjp?͙~G~yNxܿ9==܋`\>wN>l9߬|3E@P&&z2ٓI;[^˥jzwʝnY{s~7O>oO6u @R i"q]YPi\1#O7f_8p髩+?D27H3,f`O#wQhşPE܀nf)Ss=`Y{>jd1O,ÉXi2YY$ >+&'lz/.{P8|@*fn<匔[P%.fr@E8s`we$X?9y`XD>,ݘ9]_XQ_Vb)|m!9̜g8ZzJ }Ѽd4eo8Ao )߶Hp+M\5w|uEF`A{fUD)F:yaa3P/k6#Í7~i~zTF8nƛ&k][1.s ZyxFqK(ׂכ+3MP,[H5Z5Zp Q<̪*ȃ%M B`9zi,6PF,=XV@q&>_fÃQ$|xAg9ܪU*j}o|?uu?zYυ[R]+/1dW0Ctq;jd~((cSD;MDG#TNʬId]OBFpP4T16?ѮʹRA5!B09MtD'8 u5+Wu18"enb.hT&:;}X0W1-a*/ipA5R1rg9S*^!M"AqbؼUXCşB\E=GW@".豭{ڭFe}F +W5:JtDJtD %4LS_l\O`(}xJRD=rmWZ0GnN RʘDݼ"}OƋ;TFs8M91M;XJ;}1g-/6o+DAF.!ZRT>lx䥉Sv6Xtb0_%h#ef/Y BK5D8a䬘WkcP|]=q^iڡw? u a8'NhN48C<]Y\KJr}Z~܃뮐buĎ\}`sᜃ{6Q:tc=aI!pOqP5^.W˥NNvE_~[o|,[f矫yg*W;vw 1|ƒQcS.V5ήInQAr8dl?فTG!玏{s5!@>LJ##iC8g};pEHV~Gjߍu, R _`\Ç9z.=m*=LNDM/8p4ҩ2ؼ7 OG꧸rh8@GR?|OR+r?rb̗cE]Bv@Ǒq޷|ncANjt=9/|2s._Le``<-\L5`)?AyҪS+~_VkVkߨƯ S:}00ئ!00aXA;81jdIв6H ` ̱aӖ$9A?b:$dDH5%\獏b$lǜ9 \*`a|S;^F0)؛dAD/- lfGBO+ROl$GL#7Y |r`fPr0qo9ў)iGF݆&b COVfƊznO&B,mgU2A"נ~ ir 崌|,#^)*ZcGǭ][ypPMXp_$S$6`筘 n=cE|\mlx?518jt#a1g,nHJ<&[tulR9xuSsT\yp &J-~ t61/SPO ]T~2B*NPےr쉋$tm[#5D~ϻ\B@I d`qD4(%IM& @K ;ta@=NUdN;o'5#(jTJǞ=1#? N.uAQU2xQZZV4H1L/` 6DHJ`de{<*S`;:tW6MtE4na-7JaeT,=X(,[ /B!LjaO߱\r0oH=әÈRb^!0%G ؁/|Ḧ́ :|QSeC(VÐΜVW/ܴ5e JG(>L>AlĬGDG1ԉ=Wl,`60<@)|6uc܁U!]f+p |[Dp{ƙc;e^Vu3[VAl .Pamв<֎]ɥNk+KWcO eb jͺJL`cA&{+ @-1o;iWgZ#k_HxIe:,eg?r3# v;o+ᥛBG )漅<݄;Et)@;% R\wnoj%0@;0Dh/#Ss9\Z=w"Βjx Ӌwût@ySFE_r 0zfq94p6!2~Rsxץ KDapo;(c{* /o=;]8>>1Fto^#VkVk߮)y+SO^@Tک~a+Wl~J<)yZJ̍Pt{2n[YKh.F.\\|9ۡ֠b2@;HT E8LM:ffb7+1!cd9.)=^*>ک߆ק]T˭pױƍna?|زV;+ckί Qj k{wlIl\y*T%5SF˶B m?Y"#V*FܗzLA$LinB^7_JbX&ރn!D@—r)8IĦ#UvO(1Z[r̲B1G: j`,{" .)=䋲1G8TxiޟDXX>qTFH$K暸!q`-17D{RL`(EQӨw&6W M1']5ɨ0|IId^!w{X'[PxP_ Z!Z!of/tDu0i/L̍&TP$G 7K\4OIsˉ.rV[;νci?-6OIk\[q9X:VaiFcH-ؤÜ`UZW4RqYvL=O*vQI:qؕ{ V; }V|2Tw%P�%#RاrZV`=:iY!LCcx.d/t 3#ac`q)s-Q%\iGs]2vQ.Z2vI^ZQ&+UP>M);-5pPS|.N7s 1 U]@(DPY8scv]ɋ<|<@oB.6r !'UÎ &p#Vxfؑ"!y)QT#)_5׫^z9~RE,yizb%@#WQ]12Xڱ{ZY$6!fdB3)/ `L0(AOFŚ|,ƀHM։0Vd[iSܔ\]p�N,Sđ)ϡ/8örE,l9N<,tc(KVszʝP /5l)26>DE!IJT/z)XfDFHtF>Qce[S|R}RjS^CxHNo^"[5gYc}X5~Ɠ^ꠀeL1+, wxv[>j/n3$.VTvnK4GXz+>Uk{{ϥTʵ=~8:GO'}m:'Ѻ/3oA}[Д2D8*ltw4v XtDrdaʾ1VӴ֌&UýnS+kSE/AXj ]=7uFG`E50I # ..>ˬQܭ `HDZ3My¾ĄJ/)Lؗ-],k0 =:%A:;8DӿZ*g|.m vi-Wz[-֬h#y/Q^:q}X9`}xsXT2ȷX2^(Bdo5u/sΑ2Or$ʉz4kJ6-q}svp|{;?}.-50ȇ[~:A5ōIPcs*pš s2kD2|ϫI+rS7#`LjSfnm8јƐD!JdS+9J7Ƨ WwTħڗti.tz '/hF]ĕ,cӞnM|Y `*r.dؿNfN/z)YOo_d쀲վR!B8k/8IQrފׄGSx\xΜuUX}w`>15ePS/x 6=R얶wk姶;UAE[[GTyOch6ޛҘ8\O0Ŗ%ny-ѥC׃RD#UTK;r*oYn֡}T+`8h?W[vCo g~礋y| 0y'ǑYŏ0/ 6Or,WeSGX PSΩ17Qaˣ x(? s? 7ʰnlh,iw(pljl(Y$v\Kپ7q(<$Jw2jtFjtFn54(/GՄ:>š"{LjrCID\z0Vy7ר[0+nym@>@ٸ ( 1|B=tOG'ݺ-DpPp#eMd0[dF\]7QwZ" R 92u\Ŭrrw &FHs1Ԋ;Iy 9Tm!f<:0#Y>8V'wT;8987&Oj:bk`g(<s'*a)pʦ.64L`$5W?7޳7<$8R67"wzJm;Q,Xϳe"^#ScŰ^nJrw:߸V'l.U=Qk]A0Yxc:u`QTM`vg2%I*8z( k(0@%I�2u7&ZDdxk+P+f&i~I M5%tEb*=&nWduW:zxG=8j%6[Ǹp OIj=ɧOe˺>:Rd v{кk,c~H730㾢=r-wz aJ.Fw6ڈKwWFٰ#yZWna}ٓ ?%)6j~Ej"g#Re ܙ4u3M'Ƒz*f2t5 RnrN$|ϝF[)+jJf&p҉]h3-`!hD^2aB3 :JORubc<] 57PrCamW[y~-Cx/^Z+^+^+箛* ]O0O̤;~WF0ثC0պԨlԉ%;/&^0`o>ᖅ-}#n5}QΰtTU'F}b5>}O=t>owP Z|~+d!ł:?e$a:uK}Xu=*l7e#K^;ȝLպWFA$~ }1!@KT3G7->[ã{h Wɡv%(Y Hh JtE@'[3`17kXA"\A?z WPl:Ewb\餑F{8C90`2U/8qß+MJd=q0 Ha󤸊ʶ'0Mt"d$cRuLu|'B:U`M{ L/Ne6\:kZۭ>yGC2~'=E'c}X8'4#`w ~m]iϙ_PG+|瘧c{Fxl,MC0I"vam|e67=j@Y:VHt,#2i 9Yn2zytm2e`mP,S颛 z{;Z,q.GO/X޵P>#xB˦iuZ׭uZ={{`a}[+$~`P-1L9\hSFVh<"$HRsCy9l*[r-Tӳ}͕ &~T W*[@:8LB"{X>]x=O%Ƹ`aROAIg}in `A M! ĊeBv96=b.SPb+ʤCG]tFў:e7 B|FȦ_2A99a̠i|YfFRjDw2oEt %5c~تI\E;ISQ#ӽ`B4B% `9^>`0K'A/Ę~|O>aArB#d{^zlA0w݁?ϑpuQ]EMr]+%O]]s}_ڗ0,ؾ ^8/Fۧg$DĀ}nQ1{f43qN\ p =.Qs}#5^oJk(ntSaLtɡkrR%FaWھc?enmk]f2 suR%]'�ېԎ?,[ M@7vR"tq7anwކs4/~?=3k,%knPT -=Klש{l=°kxExy?<܆s(?bv=Te&X0ؕ}gZ`(?>:V9p]ã뗊8==E$i^>mmV5:uWǗ;hwG˄\.tL׻spGEA\ۖ;Anj&/Ms?{VXhOẤA'R]F4fN´.m%4A@JtHc#wLbp&bq&!+u,ߜ[J3,Tr@GL ych:ۺ;OM5"%ӭsڗl2КIꝮ6x*waQ,a\b|L/[ Al2=2WoИ@3$6sk28 o& t/۳e~Pζ/kf[7zI(<}uw0Wz{7=Љq^$ouqІF;V8>}oPԈ|bD=3BfqX{iV޷ĥ=4FT%ǑdEH &l&`ꇽNbtFU/XUc׫zǭ]ȣ5~7a:0O$ND[n;qcz~CHd!X!XAJũW5>ƥZ{ꇁdj2]ܨzY/޹ݝ"NWYq*vt`:vZ6ϛ'+ ^ek(ox:̬@<$|5F{2KyX9֧;Z#pHǚ.QX(s@8z)&ЍBi7' ],1uѵG:8)H`lnWg h_h^2>dZ0eQ0@44,%eBO46{/ O XnH`޸̉ PˇB(.V?I>>İV_)?Dm]z alq- yKԛo1t{no!e}z2[T[Gjx8֊jU,|e+_ҾrKt(U2\.>CqX4(Dń,L/FjHZRo;5^BgWO:'I{{ح+O헪wzz*T4Ϗh^vNNϯ' 4]17GgYK:z?Rĵs2 ^IYK; p`R-sG7&ES^눌0m,x>Lёjg ͎dtoLB|<~;ƞ-eQs)=vh(=B?+ZT,~׎$+~99(9C^<ɋ@w*9";1`Uޭ>$pIzW?jsؽ8y92rԀ݇D_)eڊw8NKkDʂR*2%?YPne?jFqpMSYK䣾ziͶ,v﷡.Θ$cYA0P%@]T8.ݘ3!G,́,kųLℬS hv^ZY}A@w+VMWq GԟQUHK536KOJу!Iil,莩yKwÁRS.7220V qԜv\,O

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British actor Frank Thornton of "Are you Being Served?" dies, 92

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Frank Thornton, who played the pompous Captain Peacock in the television department store sitcom "Are You Being Served?", has died aged 92, his agent said on Monday.

David Daly said Thornton died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Barnes, London, on Saturday.

Thornton, who mainly played comedy roles, was also known for his role as Truly in "Last of the Summer Wine" and starred in comedies such as "Hancock's Half Hour", "The Goodies" and "Steptoe and Son".

Thornton was best known for his role of Captain Stephen Peacock, an uptight store walker who bragged about his wartime exploits in "Are You Being Served?".

The sitcom, packed with double entendres and sexual innuendoes, ran for 13 years from 1972 and was based in the fictional London department store Grace Brothers.

The series became popular in the United States on PBS stations and on BBC America, as well as in many Commonwealth nations around the world.

Thornton is survived by his wife of 67 years, Beryl, daughter Jane and three grandchildren.

"I have been Frank's agent since 1986 and he has been the most wonderful client as well as being a great friend. He will be sorely missed," Daly said in a statement.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Paternity suit dropped against basketball legend Michael Jordan

By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) - An Atlanta woman who says basketball legend Michael Jordan is the father of her 16-year-old son has dropped her paternity suit against him.

Pamela Smith, 48, filed a paternity suit against Jordan last month seeking child support. Jordan denies he is the father of the child and has also filed a counterclaim seeking sanctions against Smith for making false claims.

Smith acknowledged in a previous divorce proceeding that her now ex-husband is the father of the child, according to Jordan's lawyers.

The case has not been settled, Smith's attorney, Randy Kessler, told Reuters on Monday. His client has voluntarily dismissed the case "without prejudice" which means she can re-file it later if she chooses, Kessler added.

"She began this case without an attorney and did her best to file what she believed to be a legally appropriate case," Kessler said.

"She then hired our firm just before the first court appearance. Ms. Smith has relied on our advice and determined that dismissal at this time, without prejudice, is in her son's best interests," he said.

In a statement, Estee Portnoy, Michael Jordan's spokeswoman, confirmed that the suit has been dropped and said, "There has been no settlement or money paid to Ms. Smith."

Jordan, 50, is widely hailed as the best basketball player of all time and was a member of six NBA championship teams with the Chicago Bulls. He is majority owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats team.

John Mayoue, Jordan's attorney, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the case.

Last week, Smith asked a Georgia court to force Jordan to submit to a DNA test to prove or disprove whether he is the father.

"My son has the right to know who his father is," Smith told reporters after the hearing. "He has had an issue with it over the years."

(Editing by David Adams and Andrew Hay)

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Lindsay Lohan avoids jail in plea deal, gets 90 days in rehab

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan avoided jail on Monday but was ordered to spend three months in a locked rehabilitation facility and undertake 30 days of community labor in a plea bargain over charges arising from a June car crash.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Dabney said Lohan, whose once promising Hollywood career has been wrecked by legal woes and erratic behavior, must also undergo psychotherapy for 18 months and sentenced her to two years' probation.

The plea deal was struck on the first day of a scheduled trial when the 26-year-old "Mean Girls" actress agreed to plead no contest to charges that she lied to police when she said she was not behind the wheel after her Porsche sports car smashed into a truck on June 8, 2012, in Santa Monica, California.

Lohan, who is still on probation for a 2011 conviction for stealing a necklace, had faced the prospect of being sent to jail if she was convicted on the latest charges, or if she was deemed to have violated the terms of her 2011 probation.

Under Monday's plea bargain, however, she was given a suspended 180 day jail term that will not be invoked unless she violates the terms of the agreement with prosecutors. It was announced after prosecutors and Lohan's attorney met with Dabney in chambers for more than two hours before the trial opened.

Dabney told Lohan, who spends much of her time in New York City, to stay out of cars and out of trouble.

"A suggestion: Don't drive. You're in New York, you don't need a car. ... This is it. If you violate your probation we're not going to be having these discussions," Dabney said after reading out the plea agreement.

LOHAN ATTORNEY HAPPY WITH DEAL

Lohan left court without speaking to reporters, but her attorney, Mark Heller, told reporters he was happy with the deal.

"I'm very, very satisfied with the results today ... I think that the prosecutors treated her fairly. I'm very confident that you won't be seeing Lindsay Lohan in any criminal courts any time in the future," Heller said.

"Today marks the first day of the rest of her life and her comeback is before her," he said.

Lohan's father, Michael, heckled Heller during his news conference and accused him of lying to the actress and keeping her in the dark about the plea agreement.

The actress has been jailed or placed under house arrest for short periods numerous times since 2007, including three times in 2011. She has also spent at least five periods in rehab in the last six years.

She underwent court-ordered psychological counseling in 2012, and has claimed in numerous TV and magazine interviews that she is a changed woman and understands her past mistakes.

Lohan arrived 45 minutes late for her trial on Monday after taking an overnight flight to Los Angeles from New York and dashing through rush-hour traffic to the courthouse.

She had previously pleaded not guilty to reckless driving, obstructing police, and lying to police about who was driving the car in Santa Monica in June 2012.

Lohan made her name as a cute, freckled 11-year-old in Disney's 1998 movie "The Parent Trap" and went on to find commercial and critical success in films like "Freaky Friday" and "Bobby."

But she has not made a feature film since the independent thriller "Machete" in 2010. Her last effort - a comeback performance as late actress Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie "Liz & Dick" in November - was largely panned by critics.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Mohammad Zargham and Paul Simao)

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