TOKYO/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin is in good health, his chief of staff said on Friday after Japanese media said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had postponed a visit to Moscow next month because the Russian president had a health problem.
A former KGB officer who enjoys vast authority in Russia, Putin has long cultivated a tough-guy image, and health issues could damage that. His condition though has been questioned in some media since he was seen limping at a summit in September.
Three Russian government sources told Reuters late in October that Putin, who began a six-year term in May and turned 60 last month, was suffering from back trouble, but the Kremlin has dismissed talk that he had a serious back problem.
Putin's health troubles stem from a recent judo bout, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said this week.
Then on Friday Japanese news agencies Kyodo and Jiji reported that Prime Minister Noda talked about the delay of a visit planned for December in a meeting with municipal officials on the northern island of Hokkaido.
'It's about (President Putin's) health problem. This is not something that can easily be made public,' Jiji cited one of the officials as quoting Noda as saying.
But Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov denied there was any problem.
'Please don't worry, don't be concerned. Everything is in order with his health,' Putin's said in Vienna, according to state-run Russian news agency RIA.
In an interview published on Friday in the popular Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said rumors about a spine problem were 'strongly exaggerated'.
'He is working as he has before and intends to continue working at the same pace,' Peskov said.
'He also does not plan to give up his sports activities and for this reason, like any athlete, his back, his arm, his leg might sometimes hurt a little - this has never gotten in the way of his ability to work.'
Putin had been expected to make several foreign trips in late October or November, but they did not take place.
Putin is however due to visit Turkey on Monday and Turkmenistan on Wednesday.
Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, made amply clear the Kremlin was displeased by the public discussion of scheduling by Japanese officials and denied that Noda's visit had been postponed, saying no date had been set.
'It is just unethical to name the dates that were discussed. There were several: at first it was October, November, December, January ... then we even shifted to February,' Ushakov said, adding that the sides eventually agreed tentatively on January.
He said the diplomatic process of agreeing dates for the visit should have been 'hermetically sealed'.
Putin's image as a fit, healthy man helped bring him popularity when he rose to power 13 years ago because of the stark contrast with his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who was sometimes drunk in public and had heart surgery when president.
He has used activities like scuba diving and horseback riding to maintain that image.
On Friday, Putin met leaders of parliamentary factions in his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. He appeared in good health and was walking without any sign of a limp.
Likely to be on the agenda in talks between Russian and Japanese officials are energy cooperation and a decades-old dispute over islands north of Hokkaido known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
(Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Tomasz Janowski and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jon Hemming)
This news article is brought to you by TECHNOLOGY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Korean pop rides "Gangnam Style" into U.S. music scene
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 'Gangnam Style,' the catchy Korean song by rapper Psy, may have danced its way into the American charts but the Korean pop industry isn't horsing around when it comes to capitalizing on the singer's phenomenal U.S. success.
With 'Gangnam Style' topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views, fellow Korean pop, or K-pop, artists are positioning themselves for similar U.S. breakthroughs.
Korea's pop music industry is thriving. Over the past two years, a handful of K-pop acts including girl group 2NE1, boy band Super Junior and nine-piece band Girls Generation have embarked on mini-promotional tours around the United States to build their audience.
'Psy has opened doors and is shining a spotlight on K-pop. People are paying attention to what's being done there,' Alina Moffat, general manager at YG Entertainment group, which manages Psy, told a recent entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles.
Psy's vibrant music video, featuring his invisible pony-riding dance, also featured K-pop artists Kim Hyun-a of girl band 4Minute, and Deasung and Seungri of boy band Big Bang, all of whom are attempting to crack the U.S. market.
'YouTube has really changed the awareness of K-pop. Both American kids and second-generation Korean American kids are discovering it,' Kye Kyoungbon Koo, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, told a panel at a Billboard and Hollywood Reporter conference in Los Angeles in October.
MARKETING THE NEXT BIG THING
For U.S. companies looking to invest, K-pop is being marketed as the next big thing, boasting young, stylish and influential artists who command devoted fan followings.
Moffat said car companies and mobile phone brands were among those being courted at KCON, a convention held in October in Irvine in Southern California that showcased K-pop artists.
'Kids are coming, they're engaged, they want to spend money and sponsors saw that,' Moffat said.
Whether Psy or other K-pop artists can command a global following to rival Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Rihanna remains to be seen, but John Shim, senior producer at MTV World, believes it is the right genre to compete with pop music's biggest names.
'K-pop admittedly is a very niche genre but I also think it's the best equipped of Asian pop to cater to the U.S. audience,' Shim told Reuters.
Psy has helped to break down language barriers, keeping 'Gangnam Style' in its original Korean form instead of adapting it to English when it became an international hit.
The singer told Reuters he was persuaded to keep it that way by his manager Scooter Braun, the talent scout responsible for Justin Bieber's success, who signed Psy to his record label.
'I thought, 'Should I translate this or not?' because (the fans) have got to know what I'm talking about, and lyrics are a huge part,' Psy said.
CHATTING IN ENGLISH
But industry executives say at least one member of each K-Pop group is usually taught to be fluent in conversational English.
'The investment in language is costly, but effective,' said Ted Kim, president of South Korean music television channel Mnet. 'It really matters that Psy can go on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show and have a conversation.'
Psy said he was proud his song succeeded in Korean, but he now wants to branch out into English.
''Gangnam Style' is not the sort of thing that's going to happen twice. I've definitely got to make something in English so I can communicate with my fans right now,' the singer said.
In Korea, bands such as SM Entertainment's Super Junior and Girls Generation have became branding powerhouses, scoring endorsements ranging from cosmetics, fashion, video games, electronics and beverages.
In the United States, companies such as Samsung have already jumped on the K-pop train, sponsoring Korean boy band Big Bang's U.S. tour.
But while the genre is gaining steam in the charts, it has yet to spill into ticket sales for tours, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief at Pollstar.com, which tracks concert sales.
'Psy may be able to sell out arenas in Asia, but not yet here. For the American audience, he has to prove that he's more than a novelty act,' Bongiovanni said.
'K-pop has to prove itself before large companies spend money on it,' he added.
(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
This news article is brought to you by SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
With 'Gangnam Style' topping the current Billboard Digital Songs chart and becoming the most-watched video on YouTube ever with more than 800 million views, fellow Korean pop, or K-pop, artists are positioning themselves for similar U.S. breakthroughs.
Korea's pop music industry is thriving. Over the past two years, a handful of K-pop acts including girl group 2NE1, boy band Super Junior and nine-piece band Girls Generation have embarked on mini-promotional tours around the United States to build their audience.
'Psy has opened doors and is shining a spotlight on K-pop. People are paying attention to what's being done there,' Alina Moffat, general manager at YG Entertainment group, which manages Psy, told a recent entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles.
Psy's vibrant music video, featuring his invisible pony-riding dance, also featured K-pop artists Kim Hyun-a of girl band 4Minute, and Deasung and Seungri of boy band Big Bang, all of whom are attempting to crack the U.S. market.
'YouTube has really changed the awareness of K-pop. Both American kids and second-generation Korean American kids are discovering it,' Kye Kyoungbon Koo, director of the Korea Creative Content Agency, told a panel at a Billboard and Hollywood Reporter conference in Los Angeles in October.
MARKETING THE NEXT BIG THING
For U.S. companies looking to invest, K-pop is being marketed as the next big thing, boasting young, stylish and influential artists who command devoted fan followings.
Moffat said car companies and mobile phone brands were among those being courted at KCON, a convention held in October in Irvine in Southern California that showcased K-pop artists.
'Kids are coming, they're engaged, they want to spend money and sponsors saw that,' Moffat said.
Whether Psy or other K-pop artists can command a global following to rival Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Rihanna remains to be seen, but John Shim, senior producer at MTV World, believes it is the right genre to compete with pop music's biggest names.
'K-pop admittedly is a very niche genre but I also think it's the best equipped of Asian pop to cater to the U.S. audience,' Shim told Reuters.
Psy has helped to break down language barriers, keeping 'Gangnam Style' in its original Korean form instead of adapting it to English when it became an international hit.
The singer told Reuters he was persuaded to keep it that way by his manager Scooter Braun, the talent scout responsible for Justin Bieber's success, who signed Psy to his record label.
'I thought, 'Should I translate this or not?' because (the fans) have got to know what I'm talking about, and lyrics are a huge part,' Psy said.
CHATTING IN ENGLISH
But industry executives say at least one member of each K-Pop group is usually taught to be fluent in conversational English.
'The investment in language is costly, but effective,' said Ted Kim, president of South Korean music television channel Mnet. 'It really matters that Psy can go on the Ellen DeGeneres TV show and have a conversation.'
Psy said he was proud his song succeeded in Korean, but he now wants to branch out into English.
''Gangnam Style' is not the sort of thing that's going to happen twice. I've definitely got to make something in English so I can communicate with my fans right now,' the singer said.
In Korea, bands such as SM Entertainment's Super Junior and Girls Generation have became branding powerhouses, scoring endorsements ranging from cosmetics, fashion, video games, electronics and beverages.
In the United States, companies such as Samsung have already jumped on the K-pop train, sponsoring Korean boy band Big Bang's U.S. tour.
But while the genre is gaining steam in the charts, it has yet to spill into ticket sales for tours, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief at Pollstar.com, which tracks concert sales.
'Psy may be able to sell out arenas in Asia, but not yet here. For the American audience, he has to prove that he's more than a novelty act,' Bongiovanni said.
'K-pop has to prove itself before large companies spend money on it,' he added.
(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
This news article is brought to you by SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Lindsay Lohan risks jail return after double trouble
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lindsay Lohan on Thursday faced the possibility of being sent back to jail after a tumultuous 24 hours in which she was arrested in New York for assault, and charged in California with reckless driving and lying to police over a June car crash.
Lohan, 26, who has been to rehab, jail and court multiple times since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession, is still on unsupervised probation in Los Angeles for a 2011 jewelry theft.
But prosecutors in Santa Monica, California, said in a statement on Thursday that the 'Mean Girls' actress lied to police when she told them she was not at the wheel of her Porsche when it smashed into a truck on a busy highway in the summer.
They charged Lohan with three misdemeanor counts stemming from that collision, hours after the troubled starlet was arrested on suspicion of punching a woman in the face at a Manhattan nightclub.
Frank Mateljan of the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, which handled the jewelry case, said prosecutors were still awaiting paperwork from New York and Santa Monica to determine if they will pursue a probation violation case against Lohan.
A Los Angeles judge told Lohan in March that she must obey all rules until 2014, and advised her to stop night clubbing and focus on her work.
Lohan's publicist and attorney did not return calls for comment on Thursday.
The two incidents came during a rough week for the former 'Parent Trap' child star, who was once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood.
Her comeback performance on Sunday as screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick,' was panned by critics and watched by a disappointingly small U.S. TV audience of 3.5 million.
In New York, Lohan was briefly arrested shortly after 4 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Thursday on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge against a 28-year-old woman, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries, New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn said.
Celebrity website TMZ.com said Lohan had been drinking heavily and lashed out in a stand-off over one of the members of British boy band The Wanted, who were also at the club after playing a concert in New York.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have featured run-ins with police and public spats over the last three months.
In October, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina, after a loud argument, though no arrests were made. In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police her car had struck him in an alley, but charges were not filed.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins in New York and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Xavier Briand and Bernadette Baum)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
Lohan, 26, who has been to rehab, jail and court multiple times since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession, is still on unsupervised probation in Los Angeles for a 2011 jewelry theft.
But prosecutors in Santa Monica, California, said in a statement on Thursday that the 'Mean Girls' actress lied to police when she told them she was not at the wheel of her Porsche when it smashed into a truck on a busy highway in the summer.
They charged Lohan with three misdemeanor counts stemming from that collision, hours after the troubled starlet was arrested on suspicion of punching a woman in the face at a Manhattan nightclub.
Frank Mateljan of the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, which handled the jewelry case, said prosecutors were still awaiting paperwork from New York and Santa Monica to determine if they will pursue a probation violation case against Lohan.
A Los Angeles judge told Lohan in March that she must obey all rules until 2014, and advised her to stop night clubbing and focus on her work.
Lohan's publicist and attorney did not return calls for comment on Thursday.
The two incidents came during a rough week for the former 'Parent Trap' child star, who was once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood.
Her comeback performance on Sunday as screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick,' was panned by critics and watched by a disappointingly small U.S. TV audience of 3.5 million.
In New York, Lohan was briefly arrested shortly after 4 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Thursday on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge against a 28-year-old woman, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries, New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn said.
Celebrity website TMZ.com said Lohan had been drinking heavily and lashed out in a stand-off over one of the members of British boy band The Wanted, who were also at the club after playing a concert in New York.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have featured run-ins with police and public spats over the last three months.
In October, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina, after a loud argument, though no arrests were made. In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police her car had struck him in an alley, but charges were not filed.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins in New York and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Xavier Briand and Bernadette Baum)
This article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE.
Lohan arrested in NY, charged also for California car smash
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested outside a New York nightclub on an assault charge early Thursday, police said, while in California, she was charged with reckless driving and lying to police over a car crash in June.
Lohan, 26, was arrested shortly after 4:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge after punching another woman in the face at a club in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, New York police said.
The charges in California were more serious, and could result in the 'Mean Girls' actress having her probation revoked and being sent back to jail.
Lohan's publicist and attorney did not return calls for comment on Thursday.
Lohan, who has been to rehab, jail and court numerous times since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession, is currently on informal probation, following her January 2011 conviction for stealing a gold necklace from a California jewelry store.
A Los Angeles judge had lifted her formal probation in March but told her to comply with all laws and stay out of trouble.
Police in the beach city of Santa Monica said Lohan was formally charged on Thursday with reckless driving and lying to police after telling them she was not driving the Porsche that smashed into a truck on a busy highway. No one was seriously injured in the collision.
Lohan was also charged with obstructing an officer in his duty. A court date has not been set, Santa Monica police said in a statement.
In New York, Lohan was accused of punching a 28-year-old unidentified woman multiple times in the face, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn. The victim sustained 'minor, minor injuries,' he said.
The actress was released from police custody later on Thursday morning.
The two incidents come during a rough week for the former child star, once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood.
Her most recent performance, as screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick,' was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film, which premiered last weekend.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.
Last month, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, after a loud argument, though no arrests were made. In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police her car had struck him in an alley, but charges were not filed.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins in New York and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Xavier Briand and Bernadette Baum)
This news article is brought to you by CELEBRITY GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Lohan, 26, was arrested shortly after 4:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge after punching another woman in the face at a club in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, New York police said.
The charges in California were more serious, and could result in the 'Mean Girls' actress having her probation revoked and being sent back to jail.
Lohan's publicist and attorney did not return calls for comment on Thursday.
Lohan, who has been to rehab, jail and court numerous times since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession, is currently on informal probation, following her January 2011 conviction for stealing a gold necklace from a California jewelry store.
A Los Angeles judge had lifted her formal probation in March but told her to comply with all laws and stay out of trouble.
Police in the beach city of Santa Monica said Lohan was formally charged on Thursday with reckless driving and lying to police after telling them she was not driving the Porsche that smashed into a truck on a busy highway. No one was seriously injured in the collision.
Lohan was also charged with obstructing an officer in his duty. A court date has not been set, Santa Monica police said in a statement.
In New York, Lohan was accused of punching a 28-year-old unidentified woman multiple times in the face, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn. The victim sustained 'minor, minor injuries,' he said.
The actress was released from police custody later on Thursday morning.
The two incidents come during a rough week for the former child star, once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood.
Her most recent performance, as screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick,' was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film, which premiered last weekend.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.
Last month, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, after a loud argument, though no arrests were made. In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police her car had struck him in an alley, but charges were not filed.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins in New York and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Xavier Briand and Bernadette Baum)
This news article is brought to you by CELEBRITY GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Lindsay Lohan arrested in New York, accused of punching woman
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lindsay Lohan was arrested outside a New York nightclub on an assault charge early Thursday after she punched another woman in the face, police said, marking another legal dustup for the 26-year-old 'Mean Girls' actress.
Lohan and the 28-year-old unidentified woman had some sort of dispute inside the club Avenue in Manhattan around 4 a.m., police said.
Lohan, who has faced a series of legal and financial troubles in recent years, punched the woman in the face multiple times, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn, who said the other woman sustained 'minor, minor injuries.'
Lohan refused medical attention and was arrested on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge. She will have to return to court at a later date to face the charge, police said.
The arrest came during an already rough week for Lohan, whose latest performance as Hollywood screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick' was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said on Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film that premiered last weekend.
Earlier this month she canceled an in-depth interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress' publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.
Last month, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, where she and her mother had become involved in a loud, early-morning argument. Nassau County Police left the scene without making any arrests.
In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police that her Porsche had struck him in an alley. She was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor, but a late October court date was canceled and another date was not scheduled, an indication prosecutors decided not to proceed with that case.
Also in September, she scuffled with a man at New York hotel over what media reports described as her demand that photographs he had taken of her be deleted from his cellphone.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins and Dan Burns; Editing by Vicki Allen)
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
Lohan and the 28-year-old unidentified woman had some sort of dispute inside the club Avenue in Manhattan around 4 a.m., police said.
Lohan, who has faced a series of legal and financial troubles in recent years, punched the woman in the face multiple times, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn, who said the other woman sustained 'minor, minor injuries.'
Lohan refused medical attention and was arrested on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge. She will have to return to court at a later date to face the charge, police said.
The arrest came during an already rough week for Lohan, whose latest performance as Hollywood screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie 'Liz & Dick' was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said on Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film that premiered last weekend.
Earlier this month she canceled an in-depth interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress' publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.
Lohan's recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.
Last month, police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, where she and her mother had become involved in a loud, early-morning argument. Nassau County Police left the scene without making any arrests.
In September, Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police that her Porsche had struck him in an alley. She was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor, but a late October court date was canceled and another date was not scheduled, an indication prosecutors decided not to proceed with that case.
Also in September, she scuffled with a man at New York hotel over what media reports described as her demand that photographs he had taken of her be deleted from his cellphone.
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins and Dan Burns; Editing by Vicki Allen)
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Sculptor Gormley wants us to get inside his head
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's foremost living sculptor Antony Gormley wants us to get inside his head with his latest work 'Model', a 100-tonne steel maze of cubes and squares, dark corners and splashes of light on show at the White Cube gallery in London.
The giant grey-black work, based on a human form lying down, is entered via the right 'foot', and combines the fun of an adventure playground with the unnerving quality of a labyrinth often plunged into darkness.
For the first time, the Turner Prize-winning artist who has always been preoccupied with the human form allows us to get inside, and draws parallels between the body and the architectural spaces we inhabit.
'I think we dwell first in this borrowed bit of the material world that we call the body,' Gormley told Reuters, standing beside the imposing structure made up of interlocking blocks.
'It has its own life that is unknowable. But the second place we dwell is the body of architecture, the built environment,' he added.
'We're the most extraordinary species that decided to structure our habitat according to very, very abstract principles of horizontal and vertical planes.'
Model has plenty of surprises. The more nimble visitor can crawl through its left 'arm', which is a passage around three feet high, or clamber on to a roof bathed in light.
'There are places that you wouldn't necessarily know are there,' Gormley said. As if to prove his point, he disappeared into a large raised 'aperture' invisible in the darkness.
Sound also plays a part, with the resonance of voices and rumble of footsteps giving clues to the size of each space.
PLAYGROUND
The artist said he encouraged people to explore the work rather than just look, unlike most sculptures which are strictly off-limits.
'Psychological architecture suddenly starts to reverberate with human life,' he explained, adding that the sense of unease when entering the dark spaces was part of its appeal.
'I think creepiness is good,' he said in the pitch-black 'head'. 'I think it's necessary to get under people's skin. You don't want them to easily ingest or accept something.'
Several times he referred to the Seagram murals of American painter Mark Rothko, works that inspired him as an artist and which he had in mind while making Model.
'Their surfaces give you this idea of space, or an invitation, they seat you at a threshold and allow you to dream of what exists beyond that threshold,' he said.
'You could say this is the literal version of that.'
Gormley, born in 1950, won the Turner Prize in 1994 and is probably best known for his 20-metre high public 'Angel of the North' sculpture located near Newcastle in northern England.
He would not say what price the White Cube gallery had put on Model, and the gallery itself could not immediately provide a figure when asked, but Gormley has become one of the most sought-after British artists at auction.
A life-size iron maquette for Angel of the North fetched 3.4 million pounds ($5.4 million) at an auction at Christie's in October last year.
Early critical reaction to Model was mixed.
'We think of the pyramids, of tombs in lightless spaces,' wrote Michael Glover in the Independent. 'We have entered this space hoping for a visceral response of some kind, but it never quite happens.'
Model is on display at White Cube, Bermondsey, until February 10, 2013.
(This story has fixed typos in paragraph six)
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by FREE DATING.
The giant grey-black work, based on a human form lying down, is entered via the right 'foot', and combines the fun of an adventure playground with the unnerving quality of a labyrinth often plunged into darkness.
For the first time, the Turner Prize-winning artist who has always been preoccupied with the human form allows us to get inside, and draws parallels between the body and the architectural spaces we inhabit.
'I think we dwell first in this borrowed bit of the material world that we call the body,' Gormley told Reuters, standing beside the imposing structure made up of interlocking blocks.
'It has its own life that is unknowable. But the second place we dwell is the body of architecture, the built environment,' he added.
'We're the most extraordinary species that decided to structure our habitat according to very, very abstract principles of horizontal and vertical planes.'
Model has plenty of surprises. The more nimble visitor can crawl through its left 'arm', which is a passage around three feet high, or clamber on to a roof bathed in light.
'There are places that you wouldn't necessarily know are there,' Gormley said. As if to prove his point, he disappeared into a large raised 'aperture' invisible in the darkness.
Sound also plays a part, with the resonance of voices and rumble of footsteps giving clues to the size of each space.
PLAYGROUND
The artist said he encouraged people to explore the work rather than just look, unlike most sculptures which are strictly off-limits.
'Psychological architecture suddenly starts to reverberate with human life,' he explained, adding that the sense of unease when entering the dark spaces was part of its appeal.
'I think creepiness is good,' he said in the pitch-black 'head'. 'I think it's necessary to get under people's skin. You don't want them to easily ingest or accept something.'
Several times he referred to the Seagram murals of American painter Mark Rothko, works that inspired him as an artist and which he had in mind while making Model.
'Their surfaces give you this idea of space, or an invitation, they seat you at a threshold and allow you to dream of what exists beyond that threshold,' he said.
'You could say this is the literal version of that.'
Gormley, born in 1950, won the Turner Prize in 1994 and is probably best known for his 20-metre high public 'Angel of the North' sculpture located near Newcastle in northern England.
He would not say what price the White Cube gallery had put on Model, and the gallery itself could not immediately provide a figure when asked, but Gormley has become one of the most sought-after British artists at auction.
A life-size iron maquette for Angel of the North fetched 3.4 million pounds ($5.4 million) at an auction at Christie's in October last year.
Early critical reaction to Model was mixed.
'We think of the pyramids, of tombs in lightless spaces,' wrote Michael Glover in the Independent. 'We have entered this space hoping for a visceral response of some kind, but it never quite happens.'
Model is on display at White Cube, Bermondsey, until February 10, 2013.
(This story has fixed typos in paragraph six)
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by FREE DATING.
X Factor judge Louis Walsh settles defamation case
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Television personality and pop music producer Louis Walsh on Wednesday settled a 500,000 euro ($640,000) defamation case against News Group Newspapers in Ireland.
The deal came after Walsh, best known for his role as a judge on the hit television show 'The X Factor', sued the group for publishing a story last year based on false allegations that he had groped a man in a Dublin night club.
Leonard Watters, who made the accusations before later retracting them, was jailed for six months earlier this year.
Paul Tweed, Walsh's solicitor, said: 'The publishers of the Irish, UK and online editions of the Sun have this morning unreservedly apologized to Louis Walsh.
'They have also agreed to pay very substantial damages of 500,000 euros together with his legal costs.'
Walsh, who managed Irish boy bands Westlife and Boyzone, said the story had a 'terrible effect' on him.
'I'm very satisfied with this morning's total vindication for me, but I remain very angry at the treatment I received at the hands of the Sun,' he said outside court.
'I have the utmost respect and time for most journalists with whom I've always enjoyed a good relationship, and I'm therefore absolutely gutted and traumatized that these allegations should have been published
'I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.'
The Sun said it apologized 'unreservedly'.
(Reporting by Sarah O'Connor)
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The deal came after Walsh, best known for his role as a judge on the hit television show 'The X Factor', sued the group for publishing a story last year based on false allegations that he had groped a man in a Dublin night club.
Leonard Watters, who made the accusations before later retracting them, was jailed for six months earlier this year.
Paul Tweed, Walsh's solicitor, said: 'The publishers of the Irish, UK and online editions of the Sun have this morning unreservedly apologized to Louis Walsh.
'They have also agreed to pay very substantial damages of 500,000 euros together with his legal costs.'
Walsh, who managed Irish boy bands Westlife and Boyzone, said the story had a 'terrible effect' on him.
'I'm very satisfied with this morning's total vindication for me, but I remain very angry at the treatment I received at the hands of the Sun,' he said outside court.
'I have the utmost respect and time for most journalists with whom I've always enjoyed a good relationship, and I'm therefore absolutely gutted and traumatized that these allegations should have been published
'I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.'
The Sun said it apologized 'unreservedly'.
(Reporting by Sarah O'Connor)
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Ex-Elmo puppeteer faces new sex-with-minor allegation
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The puppeteer formerly behind the 'Sesame Street' character Elmo faces a new accusation of having sex with an underage boy, a week after a similar allegation prompted him to resign from the iconic public television children's program.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a man identified only as John alleges Kevin Clash engaged in oral sex and other sex acts with him when John was 16 years old. The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages.
The suit alleges the incident occurred in either 2000 or 2001 when John, who is from Florida, visited New York for modeling opportunities. John came to know Clash, then 40, through a telephone chat line for gays on which Clash claimed to be a 30-year-old named Craig, according to the suit.
John returned to New York when he turned 18, and he and Clash renewed the relationship, the lawsuit said.
'Mr. Clash believes the lawsuit has no merit,' Clash's publicist, Risa B. Heller, said in an emailed statement.
It is the latest charge levied against Clash, now 52, who resigned on November 20 from Sesame Workshop, the company behind 'Sesame Street,' after nearly 30 years on the show.
His resignation came the same day Cecil Singleton filed a claim seeking more than $5 million in damages from Clash. Singleton claims he met the then-32-year-old puppeteer in 1993 in a gay chat room when he was 15.
It added that on numerous occasions over a period of years Clash engaged in sexual activity with Singleton.
The newest allegation comes about two weeks after another man recanted his claims that Clash had sex with him when he was 16 years old. The man later said the relationship was consensual.
Clash had denied the allegations and acknowledged a past relationship with his first accuser. He added the pair were both consenting adults at the time.
The Elmo character debuted on 'Sesame Street' in 1979, 10 years after the show premiered and introduced the now-iconic characters Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among others, to American children.
While Clash was the third performer to animate the child-like shaggy red monster, Sesame Workshop credits him with turning Elmo into the international sensation he became.
(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Osterman)
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In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, a man identified only as John alleges Kevin Clash engaged in oral sex and other sex acts with him when John was 16 years old. The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages.
The suit alleges the incident occurred in either 2000 or 2001 when John, who is from Florida, visited New York for modeling opportunities. John came to know Clash, then 40, through a telephone chat line for gays on which Clash claimed to be a 30-year-old named Craig, according to the suit.
John returned to New York when he turned 18, and he and Clash renewed the relationship, the lawsuit said.
'Mr. Clash believes the lawsuit has no merit,' Clash's publicist, Risa B. Heller, said in an emailed statement.
It is the latest charge levied against Clash, now 52, who resigned on November 20 from Sesame Workshop, the company behind 'Sesame Street,' after nearly 30 years on the show.
His resignation came the same day Cecil Singleton filed a claim seeking more than $5 million in damages from Clash. Singleton claims he met the then-32-year-old puppeteer in 1993 in a gay chat room when he was 15.
It added that on numerous occasions over a period of years Clash engaged in sexual activity with Singleton.
The newest allegation comes about two weeks after another man recanted his claims that Clash had sex with him when he was 16 years old. The man later said the relationship was consensual.
Clash had denied the allegations and acknowledged a past relationship with his first accuser. He added the pair were both consenting adults at the time.
The Elmo character debuted on 'Sesame Street' in 1979, 10 years after the show premiered and introduced the now-iconic characters Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among others, to American children.
While Clash was the third performer to animate the child-like shaggy red monster, Sesame Workshop credits him with turning Elmo into the international sensation he became.
(Reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Cynthia Osterman)
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Monday, November 26, 2012
Beyonce to direct documentary about herself for HBO
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop superstar Beyonce is stepping behind the camera to direct a behind-the-scenes documentary about her personal and professional life, U.S. cable channel HBO said on Monday.
The currently untitled film will debut on February 16 and show the Grammy-winning singer's life in the recording studio, readying for live performances and running her own TV and music production company.
'Everybody knows Beyonce's music, but few know Beyonce the person,' HBO Programming President Michael Lombardo said in a statement. 'Along with electrifying footage of Beyonce on stage, this unique special looks beyond the glamour to reveal a vibrant, vulnerable, unforgettable woman.'
The documentary will also feature moments in the 'Crazy in Love' singer's family life and first-person footage Beyonce captured on her laptop.
Beyonce, 31, who is married to hip hop artist and mogul Jay-Z, will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on February 3.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andrew Hay)
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The currently untitled film will debut on February 16 and show the Grammy-winning singer's life in the recording studio, readying for live performances and running her own TV and music production company.
'Everybody knows Beyonce's music, but few know Beyonce the person,' HBO Programming President Michael Lombardo said in a statement. 'Along with electrifying footage of Beyonce on stage, this unique special looks beyond the glamour to reveal a vibrant, vulnerable, unforgettable woman.'
The documentary will also feature moments in the 'Crazy in Love' singer's family life and first-person footage Beyonce captured on her laptop.
Beyonce, 31, who is married to hip hop artist and mogul Jay-Z, will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on February 3.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andrew Hay)
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Saturday, November 24, 2012
Larry Hagman dead at 81, portrayed notorious TV villain J.R. Ewing
(Reuters) - Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's most supreme villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of 'Dallas,' died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.
Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on 'I Dream of Jeannie,' a popular television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.
'Dallas,' which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programs, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
'Dallas' was the night-time soap-opera story of a Texas family, fabulously wealthy from oil and cattle, and its plot brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, family feuds, violence, adultery and other bad behavior.
In the middle of it all stood Hagman's black-hearted J.R. Ewing - grinning wickedly in a broad cowboy hat and boots, plotting how to cheat his business competitors and cheat on his wife. He was the villain TV viewers loved to despise during the show's 356-episode run from 1978 to 1991.
'I really can't remember half of the people I've slept with, stabbed in the back or driven to suicide,' Hagman said of his character in Time magazine.
In his autobiography, 'Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life,' Hagman wrote that J.R. originally was not to be the focus of 'Dallas' but that changed when he began ad-libbing on the set to make his character more outrageous and compelling.
'WHO SHOT J.R.?'
To conclude its second season, the 'Dallas' producers put together one of U.S. television's most memorable episodes in which Ewing was shot by an unseen assailant. That gave fans months to fret over whether J.R. would survive and who had pulled the trigger. In the show's opening the following season, it was revealed that J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin, with whom he had been having an affair, was behind the gun.
Hagman said an international publisher offered him $250,000 to reveal who had shot J.R. and he considered giving the wrong information and taking the money, but in the end, 'I decided not to be so like J.R. in real life.'
The popularity of 'Dallas' made Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and earned him a fortune that even a Ewing would have coveted. He lost some of it, however, in bad oil investments before turning to real estate.
'I have an apartment in New York, a ranch in Santa Fe, a castle in Ojai outside of L.A., a beach house in Malibu and thinking of buying a place in Santa Monica,' Hagman said in a Chicago Tribune interview.
An updated 'Dallas' series began in June 2012 on the TNT network with Hagman reprising his J.R. role with original cast members Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, and Patrick Duffy, who was his brother Bobby. The show was to focus on the sons of J.R. and Bobby.
Hagman had a wide eccentric streak. When he first met actress Lauren Bacall, he licked her arm because he had been told she did not like to be touched and he was known for leading parades on the Malibu beach and showing up at a grocery store in a gorilla suit. Above his Malibu home flew a flag with the credo 'Vita Celebratio Est (Life Is a Celebration)' and he lived hard for many years.
In 1967, rock musician David Crosby turned him on to LSD, which Hagman said took away his fear of death, and Jack Nicholson introduced him to marijuana because Nicholson thought he was drinking too much.
Hagman had started drinking as a teenager and said he did not stop until the moment in 1992 when his doctor told him he had cirrhosis of the liver and could die within six months. Hagman wrote that for the past 15 years he had been drinking about four bottles of champagne a day, including while on the 'Dallas' set.
LIVER TRANSPLANT
In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.
After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his zest for life.
'It's the same old Larry Hagman,' he told a reporter. 'He's just a littler sober-er.'
Hagman was born on September 21, 1931, in Weatherford, Texas, and his father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray. He was still a boy when his parents divorced and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a Broadway and Hollywood musical star.
Hagman eventually landed in New York to pursue acting, making his stage debut there in 'The Taming of the Shrew.' In New York, he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of 'South Pacific. The marriage produced two children, Heidi and Preston.
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows, and on his return to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap 'The Edge of Night.' His breakthrough came in 1965 when he landed the 'I Dream of Jeannie' role opposite Barbara Eden.
In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner. He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organization in California.
Hagman told the Times that after death he wanted his remains to be 'spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry.'
(Writing by Bill Trott in Washington; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuszinkis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his battle with throat cancer, the newspaper said, quoting a statement from his family. He had suffered from liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver in the 1990s after decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was stage and movie star Mary Martin and he became a star himself in 1965 on 'I Dream of Jeannie,' a popular television sitcom in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a beautiful genie in a bottle.
'Dallas,' which made its premiere on the CBS network in 1978, made Hagman a superstar. The show quickly became one of the network's top-rated programs, built an international following and inspired a spin-off, imitators and a revival in 2012.
'Dallas' was the night-time soap-opera story of a Texas family, fabulously wealthy from oil and cattle, and its plot brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, family feuds, violence, adultery and other bad behavior.
In the middle of it all stood Hagman's black-hearted J.R. Ewing - grinning wickedly in a broad cowboy hat and boots, plotting how to cheat his business competitors and cheat on his wife. He was the villain TV viewers loved to despise during the show's 356-episode run from 1978 to 1991.
'I really can't remember half of the people I've slept with, stabbed in the back or driven to suicide,' Hagman said of his character in Time magazine.
In his autobiography, 'Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life,' Hagman wrote that J.R. originally was not to be the focus of 'Dallas' but that changed when he began ad-libbing on the set to make his character more outrageous and compelling.
'WHO SHOT J.R.?'
To conclude its second season, the 'Dallas' producers put together one of U.S. television's most memorable episodes in which Ewing was shot by an unseen assailant. That gave fans months to fret over whether J.R. would survive and who had pulled the trigger. In the show's opening the following season, it was revealed that J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin, with whom he had been having an affair, was behind the gun.
Hagman said an international publisher offered him $250,000 to reveal who had shot J.R. and he considered giving the wrong information and taking the money, but in the end, 'I decided not to be so like J.R. in real life.'
The popularity of 'Dallas' made Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and earned him a fortune that even a Ewing would have coveted. He lost some of it, however, in bad oil investments before turning to real estate.
'I have an apartment in New York, a ranch in Santa Fe, a castle in Ojai outside of L.A., a beach house in Malibu and thinking of buying a place in Santa Monica,' Hagman said in a Chicago Tribune interview.
An updated 'Dallas' series began in June 2012 on the TNT network with Hagman reprising his J.R. role with original cast members Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s long-suffering wife, Sue Ellen, and Patrick Duffy, who was his brother Bobby. The show was to focus on the sons of J.R. and Bobby.
Hagman had a wide eccentric streak. When he first met actress Lauren Bacall, he licked her arm because he had been told she did not like to be touched and he was known for leading parades on the Malibu beach and showing up at a grocery store in a gorilla suit. Above his Malibu home flew a flag with the credo 'Vita Celebratio Est (Life Is a Celebration)' and he lived hard for many years.
In 1967, rock musician David Crosby turned him on to LSD, which Hagman said took away his fear of death, and Jack Nicholson introduced him to marijuana because Nicholson thought he was drinking too much.
Hagman had started drinking as a teenager and said he did not stop until the moment in 1992 when his doctor told him he had cirrhosis of the liver and could die within six months. Hagman wrote that for the past 15 years he had been drinking about four bottles of champagne a day, including while on the 'Dallas' set.
LIVER TRANSPLANT
In July 1995, he was diagnosed with liver cancer, which led him to quit smoking, and a month later he underwent a liver transplant.
After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his zest for life.
'It's the same old Larry Hagman,' he told a reporter. 'He's just a littler sober-er.'
Hagman was born on September 21, 1931, in Weatherford, Texas, and his father was a lawyer who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would later come to portray. He was still a boy when his parents divorced and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a Broadway and Hollywood musical star.
Hagman eventually landed in New York to pursue acting, making his stage debut there in 'The Taming of the Shrew.' In New York, he married Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a production of 'South Pacific. The marriage produced two children, Heidi and Preston.
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending five years in Europe as the director of USO shows, and on his return to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap 'The Edge of Night.' His breakthrough came in 1965 when he landed the 'I Dream of Jeannie' role opposite Barbara Eden.
In his later years, Hagman became an advocate for organ transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner. He also was devoted to solar energy, telling the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar panel system at his Ojai estate, and made a commercial in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime member of the Peace and Freedom Party, a minor leftist organization in California.
Hagman told the Times that after death he wanted his remains to be 'spread over a field and have marijuana and wheat planted and harvest it in a couple of years and then have a big marijuana cake, enough for 200 to 300 people. People would eat a little of Larry.'
(Writing by Bill Trott in Washington; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuszinkis in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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Friday, November 23, 2012
Author Bryce Courtenay dies 2 weeks after publishing final novel
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Best-selling Australian author Bryce Courtenay, who wrote about the struggles of life in Australia and South Africa, died at his home in Canberra, his publisher said on Friday, just two weeks after his latest novel was published.
His death late on Thursday came less than three months after he told fans he had stomach cancer. He was 79.
'We'd like to thank all of Bryce's family and friends and all of his fans around the world for their love and support for me and his family as he wrote the final chapter of his extraordinary life,' his wife Christine Courtenay said in a joint statement with publisher Penguin Books.
Known for his dedication to work and prolific output, often writing for 12 hours a day, Courtenay sold more than 20 million books. He turned to writing in the late 1980s after a 30-year career in advertising.
His first novel, 'The Power of One', the story of a child growing up under apartheid in South Africa, was an instant hit, selling more than 8 million copies and later made into a movie.
Born into poverty in South Africa, Courtenay studied journalism in London and then settled in Australia with his first wife, Benita, in 1958.
In 1993, he turned to non-fiction with 'April Fool's Day', a personal account of his son Damon's death after he contracted the AIDS virus from a routine blood transfusion.
He usually wrote a book each year. His final novel, 'Jack of Diamonds', was published in early November, and featured a farewell from Courtenay to his readers.
'It's been a privilege to write for you and to have you accept me as a storyteller in your lives. Now, as my story draws to an end, may I say only, 'Thank you. You have been simply wonderful'.'
Courtenay is survived by his wife Christine, and two sons from his first marriage.
(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
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His death late on Thursday came less than three months after he told fans he had stomach cancer. He was 79.
'We'd like to thank all of Bryce's family and friends and all of his fans around the world for their love and support for me and his family as he wrote the final chapter of his extraordinary life,' his wife Christine Courtenay said in a joint statement with publisher Penguin Books.
Known for his dedication to work and prolific output, often writing for 12 hours a day, Courtenay sold more than 20 million books. He turned to writing in the late 1980s after a 30-year career in advertising.
His first novel, 'The Power of One', the story of a child growing up under apartheid in South Africa, was an instant hit, selling more than 8 million copies and later made into a movie.
Born into poverty in South Africa, Courtenay studied journalism in London and then settled in Australia with his first wife, Benita, in 1958.
In 1993, he turned to non-fiction with 'April Fool's Day', a personal account of his son Damon's death after he contracted the AIDS virus from a routine blood transfusion.
He usually wrote a book each year. His final novel, 'Jack of Diamonds', was published in early November, and featured a farewell from Courtenay to his readers.
'It's been a privilege to write for you and to have you accept me as a storyteller in your lives. Now, as my story draws to an end, may I say only, 'Thank you. You have been simply wonderful'.'
Courtenay is survived by his wife Christine, and two sons from his first marriage.
(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
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Thursday, November 22, 2012
Narnia author Lewis to be honored at Poets' Corner
LONDON (Reuters) - 'Chronicles of Narnia' creator C.S. Lewis will be honored next year with a memorial stone in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey in central London, the abbey said on Thursday.
The novelist, poet, essayist and literary critic will join the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy who are either buried or commemorated in the famous location.
The memorial will be dedicated at a special service to be held on November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death at the age of 64. He was buried in Oxford.
Vernon White, Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey, called Lewis 'an extraordinarily imaginative and rigorous thinker and writer who was able to convey the Christian faith in a way that made it both credible and attractive to a wide range of people.
'He has had an enduring and growing influence in our national life,' White added.
Lewis is best known for his Narnia children's fantasy series about the adventures of a group of children who stumble across a magical world where they encounter the talking lion Aslan and the evil White Witch among others.
The most famous was 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' published in 1950, and the seven-book series as a whole has sold over 100 million copies and been adapted for radio, television, stage and film.
Lewis's other works include 'The Screwtape Letters', and Westminster Abbey described his 'Mere Christianity' as 'a classic of Christian apologetics, seeking to explain the fundamental Christian teachings to a general audience.'
Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and won a scholarship to study at Oxford University in 1916.
In 1917 he was commissioned as an officer and fought on the frontline during World War One where he was wounded in 1918.
Lewis returned to Oxford where he taught English and was a close friend of 'The Lord of the Rings' author J.R.R. Tolkien.
He married late in life and his relationship with American Joy Gresham was captured in Richard Attenborough's award-winning film 'Shadowlands'. Lewis died on the same day that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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The novelist, poet, essayist and literary critic will join the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy who are either buried or commemorated in the famous location.
The memorial will be dedicated at a special service to be held on November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death at the age of 64. He was buried in Oxford.
Vernon White, Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey, called Lewis 'an extraordinarily imaginative and rigorous thinker and writer who was able to convey the Christian faith in a way that made it both credible and attractive to a wide range of people.
'He has had an enduring and growing influence in our national life,' White added.
Lewis is best known for his Narnia children's fantasy series about the adventures of a group of children who stumble across a magical world where they encounter the talking lion Aslan and the evil White Witch among others.
The most famous was 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' published in 1950, and the seven-book series as a whole has sold over 100 million copies and been adapted for radio, television, stage and film.
Lewis's other works include 'The Screwtape Letters', and Westminster Abbey described his 'Mere Christianity' as 'a classic of Christian apologetics, seeking to explain the fundamental Christian teachings to a general audience.'
Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and won a scholarship to study at Oxford University in 1916.
In 1917 he was commissioned as an officer and fought on the frontline during World War One where he was wounded in 1918.
Lewis returned to Oxford where he taught English and was a close friend of 'The Lord of the Rings' author J.R.R. Tolkien.
He married late in life and his relationship with American Joy Gresham was captured in Richard Attenborough's award-winning film 'Shadowlands'. Lewis died on the same day that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012
McCartney, Houston, Dylan lead Grammy Hall of Fame inductees
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Music by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Elton John and late singers Whitney Houston and James Brown will be inducted into the 2013 Grammy Hall of Fame, The Recording Academy said on Wednesday.
Paul McCartney & Wings' 1973 album 'Band on the Run,' long credited with reigniting McCartney's career following the Beatles' split in 1970, was one of the 27 new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame, on display at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was also named an inductee, following the singer's sudden death aged 48 in February this year. Australian hard-rock band AC/DC's top-selling 1980 'Back in Black' album was also named a new entry.
The Recording Academy, which also runs the Grammy awards, picks songs and albums from all genres that are at least 25 years old, with either 'qualitative or historical significance' to be considered annually for the Grammy Hall of Fame by a committee.
'Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add (the 2013 inductees) to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social and cultural history,' The Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.
As well as albums, the Grammy Hall of Fame also includes songs of historic and cultural significance and the inductees for 2013 see a range of classic American songs.
Iconic Dylan song 'The Times They Are A-Changing' from 1964, R&B singer Ray Charles' 1961 tune 'Hit the Road Jack,' Rat Pack star Frank Sinatra's 1980 'Theme from 'New York, New York'', and 'Godfather of soul' James Brown's 1965 classic 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' were all honored.
Other 2013 inductees include Elton John's 1970 self-titled second album and American debut, Billy Joel's 1973 hit 'The Piano Man' and Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton's 1953 R&B classic 'Hound Dog,' later covered by Elvis Presley.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)
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Paul McCartney & Wings' 1973 album 'Band on the Run,' long credited with reigniting McCartney's career following the Beatles' split in 1970, was one of the 27 new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame, on display at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was also named an inductee, following the singer's sudden death aged 48 in February this year. Australian hard-rock band AC/DC's top-selling 1980 'Back in Black' album was also named a new entry.
The Recording Academy, which also runs the Grammy awards, picks songs and albums from all genres that are at least 25 years old, with either 'qualitative or historical significance' to be considered annually for the Grammy Hall of Fame by a committee.
'Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add (the 2013 inductees) to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social and cultural history,' The Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.
As well as albums, the Grammy Hall of Fame also includes songs of historic and cultural significance and the inductees for 2013 see a range of classic American songs.
Iconic Dylan song 'The Times They Are A-Changing' from 1964, R&B singer Ray Charles' 1961 tune 'Hit the Road Jack,' Rat Pack star Frank Sinatra's 1980 'Theme from 'New York, New York'', and 'Godfather of soul' James Brown's 1965 classic 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' were all honored.
Other 2013 inductees include Elton John's 1970 self-titled second album and American debut, Billy Joel's 1973 hit 'The Piano Man' and Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton's 1953 R&B classic 'Hound Dog,' later covered by Elvis Presley.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Camembert to clocks: Dali's genius on show in Paris
PARIS (Reuters) - The broadest-ever retrospective of Salvador Dali, opening in Paris this week, seeks to move beyond the shameless self-promotion that the 20th century Surrealist was often derided for and stress his indelible influence on artists today.
Once dubbed 'Avida Dollars' for his love of money, Dali is regarded by some as little more than a marketing product, his Spanish home an obligatory tourist stop, his trademark melting watches the inspiration for money-spinning souvenirs.
But a new show at the Pompidou Centre lays bare the extent of his creative genius, exploring how his experiments with painting, cinema, advertising and installations influenced movements from Pop Art to today's performance art.
The show, which runs from November 21 to March 25, is set to be a blockbuster of the Parisian art calendar. The last Dali retrospective at the Pompidou in 1979 remains the most visited exhibition in the museum's history.
'There's this vision we have of there being a good Dali, the Surrealist, and then the one who came after, who made money,' said exhibition curator Jean-Michel Bouhours.
'We needed to go beyond this distinction between the good and the bad and show how the experimental Dali was extraordinarily important in the history of art and the artistic models that developed in the 60s and 70s.'
The exhibition features some 200 works by the Spanish master, including the famous 1931 'The Persistence of Memory' with melting pocket watches, which Dali said was inspired by watching camembert cheese liquefying in the sun.
Also on show are dozens of works on paper, projects for stage and screen, photographs and films such as the 1929 'Un Chien Andalou', written with Spanish director Luis Bunuel.
His designs for ballet, decorative arts and even a pavilion for the 1939 New York World Fair earned him the derision of fellow Surrealists such as Andre Breton.
But Dali saw mass media as a more efficient way than painting of getting across his 'paranoid critique' of the world.
His 1935 installation, 'Mae West's Face Which May be Used As An Apartment' with its lip-shaped sofa showed an obsession with celebrity that would later influence the Pop Art of Andy Warhol.
Born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali in 1904 in the Catalan town of Figueres, Spain, Dali remains a controversial artist, loved for his creative genius but dismissed by some as a madman and hated for his at times grotesque artistic vision.
Although an anarchist in his youth and deeply attached to his native Catalonia, he was criticized for later declaring himself a monarchist, turning to religion and moving closer to the post-war authoritarian regime of Francisco Franco.
His love of show business and manic declarations such as 'Surrealism is me', alienated many. But he is cited as an influence for many artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.
Dali died of heart failure in Figueres in 1989, seven years after the death of his wife and muse Gala.
(Reporting By Vicky Buffery, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Once dubbed 'Avida Dollars' for his love of money, Dali is regarded by some as little more than a marketing product, his Spanish home an obligatory tourist stop, his trademark melting watches the inspiration for money-spinning souvenirs.
But a new show at the Pompidou Centre lays bare the extent of his creative genius, exploring how his experiments with painting, cinema, advertising and installations influenced movements from Pop Art to today's performance art.
The show, which runs from November 21 to March 25, is set to be a blockbuster of the Parisian art calendar. The last Dali retrospective at the Pompidou in 1979 remains the most visited exhibition in the museum's history.
'There's this vision we have of there being a good Dali, the Surrealist, and then the one who came after, who made money,' said exhibition curator Jean-Michel Bouhours.
'We needed to go beyond this distinction between the good and the bad and show how the experimental Dali was extraordinarily important in the history of art and the artistic models that developed in the 60s and 70s.'
The exhibition features some 200 works by the Spanish master, including the famous 1931 'The Persistence of Memory' with melting pocket watches, which Dali said was inspired by watching camembert cheese liquefying in the sun.
Also on show are dozens of works on paper, projects for stage and screen, photographs and films such as the 1929 'Un Chien Andalou', written with Spanish director Luis Bunuel.
His designs for ballet, decorative arts and even a pavilion for the 1939 New York World Fair earned him the derision of fellow Surrealists such as Andre Breton.
But Dali saw mass media as a more efficient way than painting of getting across his 'paranoid critique' of the world.
His 1935 installation, 'Mae West's Face Which May be Used As An Apartment' with its lip-shaped sofa showed an obsession with celebrity that would later influence the Pop Art of Andy Warhol.
Born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali in 1904 in the Catalan town of Figueres, Spain, Dali remains a controversial artist, loved for his creative genius but dismissed by some as a madman and hated for his at times grotesque artistic vision.
Although an anarchist in his youth and deeply attached to his native Catalonia, he was criticized for later declaring himself a monarchist, turning to religion and moving closer to the post-war authoritarian regime of Francisco Franco.
His love of show business and manic declarations such as 'Surrealism is me', alienated many. But he is cited as an influence for many artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.
Dali died of heart failure in Figueres in 1989, seven years after the death of his wife and muse Gala.
(Reporting By Vicky Buffery, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.
Jackie Chan: upcoming film will be last big action movie
BEIJING (Reuters) - Kung Fu superstar Jackie Chan said that while the upcoming film 'Chinese Zodiac 2012' will be his last major action movie, citing his increasing age, he will still be packing punches in the world of philanthropy.
Chan wrote, directed and produced his latest film, set to premiere in cinemas in China next month. He also plays the lead role and said that he regarded it the 'best film for myself' in the last ten years.
'I'm the director, I'm the writer, I'm the producer, I'm the action director, almost everything,' the 58-year-old Hong Kong actor told Reuters while in Beijing to film a documentary.
'This really, really is my baby. You know, I've been writing the script for seven years,' and the film took a year and half to make, he added.
In the film, Chan is a treasure hunter seeking to repatriate sculpture heads of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which were taken from Beijing's Summer Palace by French and British forces during the Opium Wars.
He said it was an important movie for him because it will be his last major action feature, although he insisted it is not the end of his action career.
'I'm not young any more, honestly,' he said, noting that with special effects technology and doubles a lot can be done without physical risk.
'Why (do) I have to use my own life to still do these kind of things?' he said. 'I will still do as much as I can. But I just don't want to risk my life to sit in a wheelchair, that's all.'
Chan was recently awarded the Social Philanthropist of the Year award by Harpers Bazaar magazine. He said he wanted to increase time devoted to charitable work and hoped China's leagues of newly wealthy will follow his example - which he underlined by auctioning a Bentley 666 for around 6 million yuan ($961,837).
China now has more billionaires than any other Asian country, but very few philanthropic organizations, and giving to charity remains a relatively new phenomenon in the world's most populous country.
Chan said while Chinese philanthropists have made some encouraging strides, much more still needs to be done - a task made harder by the Internet, with netizens willing to leap on every perceived wrong move.
'Right now people (must) very, very be careful, but that doesn't stop them to want to do the charity. I think it's a good sign,' Chan said. (Reporting by Reuters Television, editing by Elaine Lies and Christine Kearney)
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Chan wrote, directed and produced his latest film, set to premiere in cinemas in China next month. He also plays the lead role and said that he regarded it the 'best film for myself' in the last ten years.
'I'm the director, I'm the writer, I'm the producer, I'm the action director, almost everything,' the 58-year-old Hong Kong actor told Reuters while in Beijing to film a documentary.
'This really, really is my baby. You know, I've been writing the script for seven years,' and the film took a year and half to make, he added.
In the film, Chan is a treasure hunter seeking to repatriate sculpture heads of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which were taken from Beijing's Summer Palace by French and British forces during the Opium Wars.
He said it was an important movie for him because it will be his last major action feature, although he insisted it is not the end of his action career.
'I'm not young any more, honestly,' he said, noting that with special effects technology and doubles a lot can be done without physical risk.
'Why (do) I have to use my own life to still do these kind of things?' he said. 'I will still do as much as I can. But I just don't want to risk my life to sit in a wheelchair, that's all.'
Chan was recently awarded the Social Philanthropist of the Year award by Harpers Bazaar magazine. He said he wanted to increase time devoted to charitable work and hoped China's leagues of newly wealthy will follow his example - which he underlined by auctioning a Bentley 666 for around 6 million yuan ($961,837).
China now has more billionaires than any other Asian country, but very few philanthropic organizations, and giving to charity remains a relatively new phenomenon in the world's most populous country.
Chan said while Chinese philanthropists have made some encouraging strides, much more still needs to be done - a task made harder by the Internet, with netizens willing to leap on every perceived wrong move.
'Right now people (must) very, very be careful, but that doesn't stop them to want to do the charity. I think it's a good sign,' Chan said. (Reporting by Reuters Television, editing by Elaine Lies and Christine Kearney)
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Robert Pattinson looks for danger after "Twilight"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Robert Pattinson has set young hearts aflutter as the teen vampire Edward Cullen in the 'Twilight Saga' films, but as the sun sets on the franchise that launched his career, the actor is looking for more grown-up and 'dangerous' roles.
'Breaking Dawn - Part 2,' released this week, is the fifth and final in the series, and Edward's character shifts from brooding, tormented lover to a contented husband and father who must protect his family from an ancient vampire clan.
But Pattinson, 26, still has those rakish good looks that drew a screaming fan base and made him a tabloid fixture. While the avid fan excitement around the 'Twilight' series overwhelms him, the British actor hopes his audience will follow him as he moves on.
'It's all about control. Now, I don't feel like I have any control whatsoever,' he told Reuters with a laugh.
'They're a very ardent fan base, so to figure out a way to harness that vehement audience, it's definitely an important thing.'
Pattinson became a pinup as the angst-ridden Edward, but said he wasn't worried he might be typecast as the perpetual brooding hero. 'I'm not particularly brooding in my real life,' he said.
The actor has already been laying the ground for a career beyond 'Twilight.' He played a 19th century French gigolo in 'Bel Ami' and a billionaire with an existential crisis in David Cronenberg's 'Cosmopolis,' although both films fared poorly at the box office earlier this year.
Next up is a drama, 'Map to the Stars,' again with Cronenberg, and 'The Rover,' a Western-style action movie set in the Australian desert.
'Everything I've signed up for now is very physical, because I feel like I've done quite a few things where I'm quite still. I'm trying to find people that are doing things that feel dangerous,' Pattinson said.
ROMANCE ON AND OFF SCREEN
Away from the series with its apple motif, symbolizing forbidden love, Pattinson's fame has also been fueled by his off-screen romance with 'Twilight' co-star Kristen Stewart, 22, who plays Bella Swan.
Their relationship was thrust into the spotlight in the summer when Stewart publicly admitted she had an affair with her married 'Snow White and the Huntsman' director, Rupert Sanders.
The actress apologized in a rare, heartfelt public statement but the affair shocked 'Twilight' fans. Pattinson and Stewart have since reconciled, and the paparazzi have spotted them together, but they have stayed mum on their relationship.
'I just try and avoid it,' Pattinson said when asked about the scrutiny of his personal life.
'I don't think it's good in terms of a career as an actor. I think being in gossip magazines - I don't like the whole industry, I think it's a lazy industry, and it's a weird media consumer culture,' the actor said.
'(Success) is so much based on luck as an actor. No one knew that the audience would connect to the 'Twilight' series the way that they did ... it's just luck, you've got to do the things that interest you.'
For now, Pattinson is coming to terms with saying goodbye to the franchise.
'It sounds cheesy, but it's been such a life-changing experience where you share a bond with people, it's weird. I remember hearing about 'Lord of the Rings,' they all got tattoos ... that'd be so funny, maybe we could get a little apple, a 'tramp stamp' with an apple,' the actor mused, laughing.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Gary Hill)
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
'Breaking Dawn - Part 2,' released this week, is the fifth and final in the series, and Edward's character shifts from brooding, tormented lover to a contented husband and father who must protect his family from an ancient vampire clan.
But Pattinson, 26, still has those rakish good looks that drew a screaming fan base and made him a tabloid fixture. While the avid fan excitement around the 'Twilight' series overwhelms him, the British actor hopes his audience will follow him as he moves on.
'It's all about control. Now, I don't feel like I have any control whatsoever,' he told Reuters with a laugh.
'They're a very ardent fan base, so to figure out a way to harness that vehement audience, it's definitely an important thing.'
Pattinson became a pinup as the angst-ridden Edward, but said he wasn't worried he might be typecast as the perpetual brooding hero. 'I'm not particularly brooding in my real life,' he said.
The actor has already been laying the ground for a career beyond 'Twilight.' He played a 19th century French gigolo in 'Bel Ami' and a billionaire with an existential crisis in David Cronenberg's 'Cosmopolis,' although both films fared poorly at the box office earlier this year.
Next up is a drama, 'Map to the Stars,' again with Cronenberg, and 'The Rover,' a Western-style action movie set in the Australian desert.
'Everything I've signed up for now is very physical, because I feel like I've done quite a few things where I'm quite still. I'm trying to find people that are doing things that feel dangerous,' Pattinson said.
ROMANCE ON AND OFF SCREEN
Away from the series with its apple motif, symbolizing forbidden love, Pattinson's fame has also been fueled by his off-screen romance with 'Twilight' co-star Kristen Stewart, 22, who plays Bella Swan.
Their relationship was thrust into the spotlight in the summer when Stewart publicly admitted she had an affair with her married 'Snow White and the Huntsman' director, Rupert Sanders.
The actress apologized in a rare, heartfelt public statement but the affair shocked 'Twilight' fans. Pattinson and Stewart have since reconciled, and the paparazzi have spotted them together, but they have stayed mum on their relationship.
'I just try and avoid it,' Pattinson said when asked about the scrutiny of his personal life.
'I don't think it's good in terms of a career as an actor. I think being in gossip magazines - I don't like the whole industry, I think it's a lazy industry, and it's a weird media consumer culture,' the actor said.
'(Success) is so much based on luck as an actor. No one knew that the audience would connect to the 'Twilight' series the way that they did ... it's just luck, you've got to do the things that interest you.'
For now, Pattinson is coming to terms with saying goodbye to the franchise.
'It sounds cheesy, but it's been such a life-changing experience where you share a bond with people, it's weird. I remember hearing about 'Lord of the Rings,' they all got tattoos ... that'd be so funny, maybe we could get a little apple, a 'tramp stamp' with an apple,' the actor mused, laughing.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Gary Hill)
This news article is brought to you by GIRLS TEACH DATING - where latest news are our top priority.
Lindsay Lohan pushed for Elizabeth Taylor TV role
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lindsay Lohan so wanted to play Elizabeth Taylor in the upcoming film 'Liz & Dick' that she cut out the middle man and went straight to the producer herself, the tabloid-favorite star said in an interview on Friday.
Lohan, 26, plays Taylor in an upcoming television movie that dramatizes the long love affair between the late Hollywood legend and actor Richard Burton.
'It's a funny story, actually. I had seen that they were going to be making the movie and I got the producers' numbers and started harassing (producer) Larry Thompson,' Lohan said on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'
'I didn't even care if my agents were going to do it or not, I just did it myself, too,' the 'Mean Girls' actress said. 'Because I was like, 'No one else is going to play this role, I have to do this.''
Early reviews of 'Liz & Dick,' which premieres on U.S. cable channel Lifetime on November 25, have ranged from middling to poor. But TV critics noted the similarities between Lohan and Taylor, both often-troubled actresses who started life as child stars.
''Liz & Dick' truly drags,' said the Hollywood Reporter. 'Luckily, you can't take your eyes off of Lohan playing Taylor, which the producers clearly thought would work because they share similar back stories.'
Lohan's acting alongside New Zealand's Grant Bowler as Burton was described by Variety on Friday as 'adequate, barring a few awkward moments, thanks largely to the fabulous frocks and makeup ... she gets to model.'
Lohan's reputation, much like Taylor's, has been built from her tabloid persona more than on-screen performance.
In and out of legal trouble, jail and rehab since 2007, Lohan faced media blow-back this week after canceling an in-depth interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress' publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Jill Serjeant and Matthew Lewis)
This news article is brought to you by CELEBRITY GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Lohan, 26, plays Taylor in an upcoming television movie that dramatizes the long love affair between the late Hollywood legend and actor Richard Burton.
'It's a funny story, actually. I had seen that they were going to be making the movie and I got the producers' numbers and started harassing (producer) Larry Thompson,' Lohan said on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'
'I didn't even care if my agents were going to do it or not, I just did it myself, too,' the 'Mean Girls' actress said. 'Because I was like, 'No one else is going to play this role, I have to do this.''
Early reviews of 'Liz & Dick,' which premieres on U.S. cable channel Lifetime on November 25, have ranged from middling to poor. But TV critics noted the similarities between Lohan and Taylor, both often-troubled actresses who started life as child stars.
''Liz & Dick' truly drags,' said the Hollywood Reporter. 'Luckily, you can't take your eyes off of Lohan playing Taylor, which the producers clearly thought would work because they share similar back stories.'
Lohan's acting alongside New Zealand's Grant Bowler as Burton was described by Variety on Friday as 'adequate, barring a few awkward moments, thanks largely to the fabulous frocks and makeup ... she gets to model.'
Lohan's reputation, much like Taylor's, has been built from her tabloid persona more than on-screen performance.
In and out of legal trouble, jail and rehab since 2007, Lohan faced media blow-back this week after canceling an in-depth interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress' publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; editing by Jill Serjeant and Matthew Lewis)
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Thursday, November 15, 2012
Drug charges dropped against Jon Bon Jovi's daughter
(Reuters) - Drug charges against the daughter of rock star Jon Bon Jovi were dropped on Thursday, a day after she suffered a suspected heroin overdose, officials in New York said.
Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara said in a statement that Stephanie Bongiovi could not be charged because New York law prohibits the prosecution of people who had overdosed and were in possession of small amounts of drugs.
Bongiovi, 19, was found unresponsive in a dormitory room at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, early on Wednesday and was later booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), marijuana possession and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, which were found in the room.
A message left with the singer's representative was not immediately returned.
Heroin and marijuana charges against fellow student Ian S. Grant, 21, in connection with Bongiovi's case were also dropped as a witness or victim to a drug or alcohol overdose cannot be prosecuted in New York.
Bongiovi is the oldest of four children of Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andre Grenon)
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Oneida County District Attorney Scott D. McNamara said in a statement that Stephanie Bongiovi could not be charged because New York law prohibits the prosecution of people who had overdosed and were in possession of small amounts of drugs.
Bongiovi, 19, was found unresponsive in a dormitory room at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, early on Wednesday and was later booked on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), marijuana possession and criminal use of drug paraphernalia, which were found in the room.
A message left with the singer's representative was not immediately returned.
Heroin and marijuana charges against fellow student Ian S. Grant, 21, in connection with Bongiovi's case were also dropped as a witness or victim to a drug or alcohol overdose cannot be prosecuted in New York.
Bongiovi is the oldest of four children of Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea Hurley.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Andre Grenon)
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Judge throws out Justin Bieber paparazzo chase case
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Criminal charges filed against a photographer who pursued teen pop star Justin Bieber at high speeds on a Los Angeles freeway in July were thrown out on Wednesday, striking a blow to California's crackdown on overly aggressive paparazzi.
Celebrity photographer Paul Raef was the first person to be prosecuted under the state's 2010 law that criminalizes dangerous driving when taking photos commercially.
Raef was charged in July with two counts of violating the law stemming from a July 6 incident on a freeway in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.
Dismissing the charges, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Robinson called the state's anti-paparazzi law 'problematic' and 'overly inclusive.'
The law 'sweeps very widely and would increase the penalties for reckless driving' in unintended cases, Robinson said.
Robinson faulted the law's vague definition of commercial photography, saying that it could also apply to a photographer who was speeding to reach an arranged photo shoot with Bieber.
Raef could have faced up to a year in prison and $3,500 in fines, if convicted. His attorney, Brad Kaiserman, said the law is 'about protecting celebrities.'
A message left with Bieber's publicist requesting comment was not immediately returned.
Raef still faces lesser charges of misdemeanor reckless driving and failing to obey police orders after he allegedly pursued Bieber, 18, at high speeds. He will be tried on those charges at a later date.
Bieber, who was pulled over by police for driving 80 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone, told officers at the time that he was being hounded by paparazzi, and police said they noticed Raef's car following the 'Boyfriend' singer.
About 30 minutes after the traffic stop, Bieber called police to report that Raef continued to follow him. Police later found Raef and other paparazzi together in downtown Los Angeles.
The Canadian singer received a speeding ticket at the time.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)
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Celebrity photographer Paul Raef was the first person to be prosecuted under the state's 2010 law that criminalizes dangerous driving when taking photos commercially.
Raef was charged in July with two counts of violating the law stemming from a July 6 incident on a freeway in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.
Dismissing the charges, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Robinson called the state's anti-paparazzi law 'problematic' and 'overly inclusive.'
The law 'sweeps very widely and would increase the penalties for reckless driving' in unintended cases, Robinson said.
Robinson faulted the law's vague definition of commercial photography, saying that it could also apply to a photographer who was speeding to reach an arranged photo shoot with Bieber.
Raef could have faced up to a year in prison and $3,500 in fines, if convicted. His attorney, Brad Kaiserman, said the law is 'about protecting celebrities.'
A message left with Bieber's publicist requesting comment was not immediately returned.
Raef still faces lesser charges of misdemeanor reckless driving and failing to obey police orders after he allegedly pursued Bieber, 18, at high speeds. He will be tried on those charges at a later date.
Bieber, who was pulled over by police for driving 80 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone, told officers at the time that he was being hounded by paparazzi, and police said they noticed Raef's car following the 'Boyfriend' singer.
About 30 minutes after the traffic stop, Bieber called police to report that Raef continued to follow him. Police later found Raef and other paparazzi together in downtown Los Angeles.
The Canadian singer received a speeding ticket at the time.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Sandra Maler)
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Actor Channing Tatum dubbed People's sexiest man alive
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Channing Tatum, who set female hearts fluttering in the summer movie hit 'Magic Mike', was named the sexiest man alive by People magazine on Wednesday.
'My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me,' Tatum told the magazine after hearing the news.
The 32-year-old actor, who is married to actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum, is training to play an Olympic athlete in his upcoming film, 'Foxcatcher'.
The couple, who have been married since 2009, are ready to start a family, according to People.
'The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we'll see where we go after that,' he told the magazine.
Tatum joins a long list of Hollywood heartthrobs who also have also received the 'sexiest man' title from the magazine including Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney and Matt Damon.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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'My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me,' Tatum told the magazine after hearing the news.
The 32-year-old actor, who is married to actress Jenna Dewan-Tatum, is training to play an Olympic athlete in his upcoming film, 'Foxcatcher'.
The couple, who have been married since 2009, are ready to start a family, according to People.
'The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we'll see where we go after that,' he told the magazine.
Tatum joins a long list of Hollywood heartthrobs who also have also received the 'sexiest man' title from the magazine including Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney and Matt Damon.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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Saturday, November 10, 2012
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have broken up, reports say
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Justin Bieber and his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, a Disney actress and singer, have broken up, ending a relationship that made them one of Hollywood's most high-profile young couples, media reports said.
Bieber, 18, and Gomez, 20, disclosed their relationship in February 2011 when they appeared together at an Oscar night party after months of rumors of their dating.
E! Online late on Friday was the first to report the split, with other media outlets including US Weekly and People also saying the relationship was over. The reports cited unnamed sources close to the couple.
Representatives for Bieber and Gomez did not returns calls or emails on Saturday.
Bieber has released two No. 1 albums in just over a year - the holiday-themed 'Under the Mistletoe' and his latest, 'Believe.' In September, he topped Billboard's '21 Under 21' list of top young musical acts. It was his second year in a row with the title.
Gomez rose to fame as a teenager in the Walt Disney Co television series 'Wizards of Waverly Place' and has enjoyed success as a pop singer.
(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney)
Bieber, 18, and Gomez, 20, disclosed their relationship in February 2011 when they appeared together at an Oscar night party after months of rumors of their dating.
E! Online late on Friday was the first to report the split, with other media outlets including US Weekly and People also saying the relationship was over. The reports cited unnamed sources close to the couple.
Representatives for Bieber and Gomez did not returns calls or emails on Saturday.
Bieber has released two No. 1 albums in just over a year - the holiday-themed 'Under the Mistletoe' and his latest, 'Believe.' In September, he topped Billboard's '21 Under 21' list of top young musical acts. It was his second year in a row with the title.
Gomez rose to fame as a teenager in the Walt Disney Co television series 'Wizards of Waverly Place' and has enjoyed success as a pop singer.
(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Greg McCune and Peter Cooney)
Friday, November 9, 2012
Mick Jagger's love letters to singer Marsha Hunt up for auction
(Reuters) - Love letters written by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to American singer Marsha Hunt, discussing poetry and his personal turmoil, will hit the auction block next month.
Hunt, with whom Jagger had his first child, Karis, told Britain's Guardian newspaper she was selling the letters, written in July and August 1969, because she had been unable to pay her bills.
'I'm broke,' Hunt, who lives in France, told the newspaper.
The Guardian said on Friday the 10 letters would be sold by Sotheby's on December 12.
The auction house values the letters from between 70,000 and 100,000 pounds ($111,000-$160,000).
Jagger wrote them to Hunt while filming the Tony Richardson movie 'Ned Kelly' in Australia.
They are described as showing a sensitive side of the then-young singer, who wrote about the poetry of Emily Dickinson, meeting author Christopher Isherwood and an unrealized multimedia project.
Jagger's relationship with Hunt, who is African-American, was kept under wraps until 1972.
'The sale is important,' Hunt told The Guardian. 'Someone, I hope, will buy those letters as our generation is dying and with us will go the reality of who we were and what life was.'
Hunt has said she was the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' song 'Brown Sugar,' which Jagger wrote while in Australia.
The rock star also cites in the letters the disintegration of his relationship with singer Marianne Faithful, whom he was also dating at the time, and the death of Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Peter Cooney)
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Hunt, with whom Jagger had his first child, Karis, told Britain's Guardian newspaper she was selling the letters, written in July and August 1969, because she had been unable to pay her bills.
'I'm broke,' Hunt, who lives in France, told the newspaper.
The Guardian said on Friday the 10 letters would be sold by Sotheby's on December 12.
The auction house values the letters from between 70,000 and 100,000 pounds ($111,000-$160,000).
Jagger wrote them to Hunt while filming the Tony Richardson movie 'Ned Kelly' in Australia.
They are described as showing a sensitive side of the then-young singer, who wrote about the poetry of Emily Dickinson, meeting author Christopher Isherwood and an unrealized multimedia project.
Jagger's relationship with Hunt, who is African-American, was kept under wraps until 1972.
'The sale is important,' Hunt told The Guardian. 'Someone, I hope, will buy those letters as our generation is dying and with us will go the reality of who we were and what life was.'
Hunt has said she was the inspiration for the Rolling Stones' song 'Brown Sugar,' which Jagger wrote while in Australia.
The rock star also cites in the letters the disintegration of his relationship with singer Marianne Faithful, whom he was also dating at the time, and the death of Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Peter Cooney)
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Author Philip Roth says he is done with writing
(Reuters) - Seminal American author Philip Roth, whose novels explored modern Jewish-American life, has told a French magazine that he will write no more books because he has lost his passion for it.
The author of such novels as 'American Pastoral', for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, and 'Portnoy's Complaint' slipped his retirement announcement into an interview last month with French magazine Les Inrocks.
On Friday, Houghton Mifflin confirmed his decision. 'He told me it was true,' said Lori Glazer, executive director of publicity at the publisher.
Roth, 79, one of the world's most revered novelists and a frequent contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature, said he had not written for three years.
'To tell you the truth, I'm done,' Roth was quoted as telling Les Inrocks. ''Nemesis' will be my last book,' he said of his 2010 short novel set against a fictional polio epidemic in Newark, New Jersey, in 1944.
The novella 'Goodbye, Columbus' catapulted Roth onto the American literary scene in 1959 with its satirical depiction of class and religion in American life. Published along with five other short stories, it won the National Book Award in 1960. He again received that award in 1995 for 'Sabbath's Theater.'
Roth, who has written some 25 novels, told Les Inrocks that he had always found writing difficult and that he wanted nothing more to do with reading, writing or talking about books.
He said that when he was 74, he started re-reading his favorite novels by authors Ernest Hemingway, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and others, and then re-read his own novels.
'I wanted to see whether I had wasted my time writing,' he explained. 'After that, I decided that I was done with fiction. I no longer want to read, to write, I don't even want to talk about it anymore,' he was quoted as saying.
'I have dedicated my life to the novel: I studied, I taught, I wrote, I read - to the exclusion of almost everything else. Enough is enough! I no longer feel this fanaticism to write that I have experienced all my life. The idea of trying to write again is impossible,' Roth told the magazine.
Roth's four most recent novels, 'Everyman,' 'Indignation,' 'The Humbling' and 'Nemesis', have been short works, often focusing on ageing, physical decline, depression and death.
New Jersey-born Roth is best known for his semi-autobiographical and unreliable alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman, who appeared in nine of his novels.
Roth told Les Inrocks that he had spent most of his time in recent years preparing material for his biographer, Blake Bailey. 'If I had a choice, I would prefer that there is no biography written about me, but there will be biographies after my death so (I wanted) to be sure that one of them is correct,' Roth was quoted as saying.
Roth said he had asked his literary executors and his agent to destroy his personal archives after his death once Bailey has finished the biography. 'I don't want my personal papers hanging around everywhere,' he said.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles)
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The author of such novels as 'American Pastoral', for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, and 'Portnoy's Complaint' slipped his retirement announcement into an interview last month with French magazine Les Inrocks.
On Friday, Houghton Mifflin confirmed his decision. 'He told me it was true,' said Lori Glazer, executive director of publicity at the publisher.
Roth, 79, one of the world's most revered novelists and a frequent contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature, said he had not written for three years.
'To tell you the truth, I'm done,' Roth was quoted as telling Les Inrocks. ''Nemesis' will be my last book,' he said of his 2010 short novel set against a fictional polio epidemic in Newark, New Jersey, in 1944.
The novella 'Goodbye, Columbus' catapulted Roth onto the American literary scene in 1959 with its satirical depiction of class and religion in American life. Published along with five other short stories, it won the National Book Award in 1960. He again received that award in 1995 for 'Sabbath's Theater.'
Roth, who has written some 25 novels, told Les Inrocks that he had always found writing difficult and that he wanted nothing more to do with reading, writing or talking about books.
He said that when he was 74, he started re-reading his favorite novels by authors Ernest Hemingway, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and others, and then re-read his own novels.
'I wanted to see whether I had wasted my time writing,' he explained. 'After that, I decided that I was done with fiction. I no longer want to read, to write, I don't even want to talk about it anymore,' he was quoted as saying.
'I have dedicated my life to the novel: I studied, I taught, I wrote, I read - to the exclusion of almost everything else. Enough is enough! I no longer feel this fanaticism to write that I have experienced all my life. The idea of trying to write again is impossible,' Roth told the magazine.
Roth's four most recent novels, 'Everyman,' 'Indignation,' 'The Humbling' and 'Nemesis', have been short works, often focusing on ageing, physical decline, depression and death.
New Jersey-born Roth is best known for his semi-autobiographical and unreliable alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman, who appeared in nine of his novels.
Roth told Les Inrocks that he had spent most of his time in recent years preparing material for his biographer, Blake Bailey. 'If I had a choice, I would prefer that there is no biography written about me, but there will be biographies after my death so (I wanted) to be sure that one of them is correct,' Roth was quoted as saying.
Roth said he had asked his literary executors and his agent to destroy his personal archives after his death once Bailey has finished the biography. 'I don't want my personal papers hanging around everywhere,' he said.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey and Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles)
This article is brought to you by DATING SERVICE.
U.S. author Philip Roth says he's done with writing
(Reuters) - Seminal American novelist Philip Roth, one of the world's most revered authors, is retiring from writing, his publisher Houghton Mifflin said on Friday.
The 'American Pastoral' author slipped his retirement announcement under the radar in an interview with French magazine Les Inrocks last month.
'To tell you the truth, I'm done,' Roth was quoted as telling the magazine. ' 'Nemesis' will be my last book,' he said of his 2010 short novel.
'He told me it was true,' Lori Glazer, Houghton Mifflin's vice president and executive director of publicity, told Reuters on Friday.
Roth, 79, whose most famous works include 'Goodbye, Columbus' and the sexually-explicit 'Portnoy's Complaint,' has never won the Nobel Prize for Literature despite his name often coming up as a leading contender for the award.
He is the author of more than 25 novels in a career spanning more than 50 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel 'American Pastoral' and two National Book Awards.
But Roth told Les Inrocks that he had always found writing difficult and wanted nothing more to do with reading, writing or talking about books.
He said that at the age of 74, he started re-reading all his favorite novels by authors including Ernest Hemingway, Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and then re-read all his own novels
'I wanted to see whether I had wasted my time writing,' he explained.
'After that, I decided that I was done with fiction. I no longer want to read, to write, I don't even want to talk about it anymore,' he was quoted as saying.
'I have dedicated my life to the novel: I studied, I taught, I wrote, I read - to the exclusion of almost everything else. Enough is enough! I no longer feel this fanaticism to write that I have experienced all my life. The idea of trying to write again is impossible,' Roth told the French magazine.
The New Jersey-born novelist is best known for his semi-autobiographical and unreliable narrator Nathan Zuckerman.
The novella 'Goodbye, Columbus' catapulted Roth onto the American literary scene in 1959 with its satirical depiction of class and religion in American life.
Published along with five other short stories, 'Goodbye, Columbus' won the National Book Award in 1960 - an award he would go on to win again in 1995 with the novel 'Sabbath's Theater.'
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Jan Paschal and Claudia Parsons)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
The 'American Pastoral' author slipped his retirement announcement under the radar in an interview with French magazine Les Inrocks last month.
'To tell you the truth, I'm done,' Roth was quoted as telling the magazine. ' 'Nemesis' will be my last book,' he said of his 2010 short novel.
'He told me it was true,' Lori Glazer, Houghton Mifflin's vice president and executive director of publicity, told Reuters on Friday.
Roth, 79, whose most famous works include 'Goodbye, Columbus' and the sexually-explicit 'Portnoy's Complaint,' has never won the Nobel Prize for Literature despite his name often coming up as a leading contender for the award.
He is the author of more than 25 novels in a career spanning more than 50 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel 'American Pastoral' and two National Book Awards.
But Roth told Les Inrocks that he had always found writing difficult and wanted nothing more to do with reading, writing or talking about books.
He said that at the age of 74, he started re-reading all his favorite novels by authors including Ernest Hemingway, Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and then re-read all his own novels
'I wanted to see whether I had wasted my time writing,' he explained.
'After that, I decided that I was done with fiction. I no longer want to read, to write, I don't even want to talk about it anymore,' he was quoted as saying.
'I have dedicated my life to the novel: I studied, I taught, I wrote, I read - to the exclusion of almost everything else. Enough is enough! I no longer feel this fanaticism to write that I have experienced all my life. The idea of trying to write again is impossible,' Roth told the French magazine.
The New Jersey-born novelist is best known for his semi-autobiographical and unreliable narrator Nathan Zuckerman.
The novella 'Goodbye, Columbus' catapulted Roth onto the American literary scene in 1959 with its satirical depiction of class and religion in American life.
Published along with five other short stories, 'Goodbye, Columbus' won the National Book Award in 1960 - an award he would go on to win again in 1995 with the novel 'Sabbath's Theater.'
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles, Editing by Jill Serjeant, Jan Paschal and Claudia Parsons)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Ex-oilman named new leader of world's Anglicans
LONDON (Reuters) - A former oil executive was named leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans on Friday, ending months of closed-door negotiations as the church struggles with bitter rifts over senior women clergy and homosexuality.
Justin Welby, 56, who has been bishop of the northern English city of Durham for barely a year, will replace incumbent Rowan Williams in December.
He is widely regarded as an opponent of gay marriage but in favor of the ordination of women as bishops, two of the most divisive issues facing the Church.
Welby's appointment as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury caps a meteoric rise in the Church of England hierarchy since he quit the oil business world and was ordained in 1992.
The bespectacled and soft-spoken Welby accepted the appointment at London's Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for 800 years.
'My initial reaction was, 'oh no',' a smiling Welby told reporters in a wood-vaulted room adorned with portraits of former archbishops and gold chandeliers.
'It's something I never expected. And the last few weeks have been a rather strange experience, to put it mildly.'
The long-awaited appointment, announced by Prime Minister David Cameron's office, follows weeks of intense speculation that a row over whether to choose a reformer or a safe pair of hands had stalled the nomination process.
'Well this is the best kept secret since the last cabinet reshuffle,' Welby told an audience that included his wife, five children and a baby grand-daughter, after opening his address with a brief prayer.
'It's exciting because I believe that we are at one of those rare points where the tide of events is turning and the church ... has great opportunities to match its very great but often hidden strength.'
Welby - who trained as a priest after the death of his infant daughter in a car crash - is likely to come under intense pressure to prevent the Anglican church tearing itself apart over women bishops and gay rights.
Liberal church leaders in the United States and Britain are at odds with more conservative figures in Africa and elsewhere.
'What the church does here deeply affects the already greatly suffering churches in places ... like Nigeria,' Welby said.
Williams once famously warned that his successor would need the 'constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros'. Commentators say Welby's experience of tough negotiation and deal-making in business will stand him in good stead.
(Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Andrew Roche)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Justin Welby, 56, who has been bishop of the northern English city of Durham for barely a year, will replace incumbent Rowan Williams in December.
He is widely regarded as an opponent of gay marriage but in favor of the ordination of women as bishops, two of the most divisive issues facing the Church.
Welby's appointment as the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury caps a meteoric rise in the Church of England hierarchy since he quit the oil business world and was ordained in 1992.
The bespectacled and soft-spoken Welby accepted the appointment at London's Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for 800 years.
'My initial reaction was, 'oh no',' a smiling Welby told reporters in a wood-vaulted room adorned with portraits of former archbishops and gold chandeliers.
'It's something I never expected. And the last few weeks have been a rather strange experience, to put it mildly.'
The long-awaited appointment, announced by Prime Minister David Cameron's office, follows weeks of intense speculation that a row over whether to choose a reformer or a safe pair of hands had stalled the nomination process.
'Well this is the best kept secret since the last cabinet reshuffle,' Welby told an audience that included his wife, five children and a baby grand-daughter, after opening his address with a brief prayer.
'It's exciting because I believe that we are at one of those rare points where the tide of events is turning and the church ... has great opportunities to match its very great but often hidden strength.'
Welby - who trained as a priest after the death of his infant daughter in a car crash - is likely to come under intense pressure to prevent the Anglican church tearing itself apart over women bishops and gay rights.
Liberal church leaders in the United States and Britain are at odds with more conservative figures in Africa and elsewhere.
'What the church does here deeply affects the already greatly suffering churches in places ... like Nigeria,' Welby said.
Williams once famously warned that his successor would need the 'constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros'. Commentators say Welby's experience of tough negotiation and deal-making in business will stand him in good stead.
(Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Andrew Roche)
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
"Dancing" co-host Brooke Burke has thyroid cancer
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 'Dancing with the Stars' co-host Brooke Burke said on Thursday that she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will need surgery.
The television presenter and model said in a three-minute video posted on the website Modernmom.com that she will need her thyroid removed.
'I need to have thyroid surgery and a thyroidectomy, which means I'm going to have a nice, big scar right here on neck,' Burke said, drawing a finger across her throat.
Burke, a former winner of ABC's celebrity ballroom dancing competition, said she had a biopsy in July, but it had taken her months to go public with the results.
'I'm ready to deal with it, and I'm going to be fine,' she said.
There was no word on when the surgery would take place, but Burke's publicist said her work schedule for 'Dancing with the Stars' would not be affected.
Burke, 47, said in July that her doctor suggested she undergo a thyroid ultrasound after he felt a lump in her neck during a routine physical.
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones that regulate vital body functions, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Burke's co-host Tom Bergeron said on Thursday during an appearance on the CBS chat show 'The Talk' that he had known about her condition for several months. 'We are all there with her,' he said.
'I've known about this for a few months ... I have had experience with this in my family. You never want to hear the word cancer. But thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable cancers. It has an incredibly high success rate,' he said.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant)
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The television presenter and model said in a three-minute video posted on the website Modernmom.com that she will need her thyroid removed.
'I need to have thyroid surgery and a thyroidectomy, which means I'm going to have a nice, big scar right here on neck,' Burke said, drawing a finger across her throat.
Burke, a former winner of ABC's celebrity ballroom dancing competition, said she had a biopsy in July, but it had taken her months to go public with the results.
'I'm ready to deal with it, and I'm going to be fine,' she said.
There was no word on when the surgery would take place, but Burke's publicist said her work schedule for 'Dancing with the Stars' would not be affected.
Burke, 47, said in July that her doctor suggested she undergo a thyroid ultrasound after he felt a lump in her neck during a routine physical.
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones that regulate vital body functions, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Burke's co-host Tom Bergeron said on Thursday during an appearance on the CBS chat show 'The Talk' that he had known about her condition for several months. 'We are all there with her,' he said.
'I've known about this for a few months ... I have had experience with this in my family. You never want to hear the word cancer. But thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable cancers. It has an incredibly high success rate,' he said.
(Reporting By Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant)
This news article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
UK PM warns of witch-hunt against gays in pedophile scandal
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Thursday that speculation about the identity of an unidentified member of his ruling Conservative party accused of sexually abusing children could turn into a witch-hunt against gay people.
Cameron, who leads a troubled two-party coalition, ordered an investigation this week after a victim of child sexual abuse in Wales said a prominent Conservative political figure had abused him during the 1970s.
The claims, which follow the unmasking of late BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile as one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders, have stoked concern that a powerful pedophile ring may have operated in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s.
'I have heard all sorts of names bandied around and what then tends to happen is of course that everyone then sits around and speculates about people, some of whom are alive, some of whom are dead,' Cameron said during an ITV television interview.
'It is very important that anyone who has got any information about any pedophile no matter how high up in the country go to the police,' he said.
Britain's interior minister warned lawmakers this week that if they named suspected child abusers in parliament they risked jeopardizing future trials.
MPs benefit from 'parliamentary privilege' - meaning they can speak inside parliament freely without fear of legal action on a host of legally sensitive issues that might otherwise attract lawsuits.
Reports of child abuse have provoked fevered speculation on the Internet about the identity of the Conservative figure from the era of Margaret Thatcher, prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
When the ITV interviewer passed Cameron a piece of paper with the names of people identified on the Internet as being alleged child abusers, Cameron said:
'There is a danger if we are not careful that this could turn into a sort of witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay.'
'I am worried about the sort of thing you are doing right now - giving me a list of names you have taken off the Internet,' Cameron said.
The BBC aired a program last week in which Steven Messham, one of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse at children's care homes in Wales over two decades, said he had been sexually abused by a prominent Conservative political figure.
However, the BBC reporter said he could not name the figure because there was 'simply not enough evidence to name names'.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
This news article is brought to you by ECONOMY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Cameron, who leads a troubled two-party coalition, ordered an investigation this week after a victim of child sexual abuse in Wales said a prominent Conservative political figure had abused him during the 1970s.
The claims, which follow the unmasking of late BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile as one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders, have stoked concern that a powerful pedophile ring may have operated in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s.
'I have heard all sorts of names bandied around and what then tends to happen is of course that everyone then sits around and speculates about people, some of whom are alive, some of whom are dead,' Cameron said during an ITV television interview.
'It is very important that anyone who has got any information about any pedophile no matter how high up in the country go to the police,' he said.
Britain's interior minister warned lawmakers this week that if they named suspected child abusers in parliament they risked jeopardizing future trials.
MPs benefit from 'parliamentary privilege' - meaning they can speak inside parliament freely without fear of legal action on a host of legally sensitive issues that might otherwise attract lawsuits.
Reports of child abuse have provoked fevered speculation on the Internet about the identity of the Conservative figure from the era of Margaret Thatcher, prime minister from 1979 to 1990.
When the ITV interviewer passed Cameron a piece of paper with the names of people identified on the Internet as being alleged child abusers, Cameron said:
'There is a danger if we are not careful that this could turn into a sort of witch-hunt particularly against people who are gay.'
'I am worried about the sort of thing you are doing right now - giving me a list of names you have taken off the Internet,' Cameron said.
The BBC aired a program last week in which Steven Messham, one of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse at children's care homes in Wales over two decades, said he had been sexually abused by a prominent Conservative political figure.
However, the BBC reporter said he could not name the figure because there was 'simply not enough evidence to name names'.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Taylor Swift reigns over Billboard 200, Meek Mill debuts high
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country-pop star Taylor Swift held onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday as her latest album 'Red' kept rapper Meek Mill from the top spot.
'Red,' Swift's fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
Last week, 'Red' scored the highest first week U.S. sales in a decade after selling 1.2 million copies. The album has outsold One Direction's 'Up All Night' to become the second-biggest album of 2012, behind Adele's juggernaut record '21,' which has sold more than 4 million copies this year.
Rapper Meek Mill entered the chart at No. 2 with his debut studio album 'Dreams & Nightmares,' selling 164,000 copies. The rapper collaborated with fellow Maybach Music artists for his debut, including Trey Songz, Wale, Rick Ross and Mary J. Blige.
Ahead of the holiday season, two festive albums debuted on the chart, with veteran crooner Rod Stewart's 'Merry Christmas Baby' at No. 3 and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's extended play record 'Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night)' at No. 9.
Country singer Toby Keith landed at No. 6 with his latest album 'Hope on the Rocks,' following his appearance and best music video win at the County Music Association (CMA) awards last week.
Country group Little Big Town also saw a boost from their CMA vocal group of the year win as their album 'Tornado' climbed the chart to No. 10.
Canadian singer Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse scored their second top ten album this year with 'Psychedelic Pill' at No. 8, following their 'Americana' album in June.
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Korean rapper Psy held the top spot with his infectious dance-pop single 'Gangnam Style,' while Bruno Mars' 'Locked Out of Heaven' remained at No. 2 and Ke$ha's 'Die Young' was a non-mover at No. 3.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)
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'Red,' Swift's fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
Last week, 'Red' scored the highest first week U.S. sales in a decade after selling 1.2 million copies. The album has outsold One Direction's 'Up All Night' to become the second-biggest album of 2012, behind Adele's juggernaut record '21,' which has sold more than 4 million copies this year.
Rapper Meek Mill entered the chart at No. 2 with his debut studio album 'Dreams & Nightmares,' selling 164,000 copies. The rapper collaborated with fellow Maybach Music artists for his debut, including Trey Songz, Wale, Rick Ross and Mary J. Blige.
Ahead of the holiday season, two festive albums debuted on the chart, with veteran crooner Rod Stewart's 'Merry Christmas Baby' at No. 3 and Trans-Siberian Orchestra's extended play record 'Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night)' at No. 9.
Country singer Toby Keith landed at No. 6 with his latest album 'Hope on the Rocks,' following his appearance and best music video win at the County Music Association (CMA) awards last week.
Country group Little Big Town also saw a boost from their CMA vocal group of the year win as their album 'Tornado' climbed the chart to No. 10.
Canadian singer Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse scored their second top ten album this year with 'Psychedelic Pill' at No. 8, following their 'Americana' album in June.
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Korean rapper Psy held the top spot with his infectious dance-pop single 'Gangnam Style,' while Bruno Mars' 'Locked Out of Heaven' remained at No. 2 and Ke$ha's 'Die Young' was a non-mover at No. 3.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)
This news article is brought to you by MOVIE GOSSIP NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
"Dad's Army" star Clive Dunn dies aged 92
LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Clive Dunn, best known as a bumbling old butcher in the popular World War Two sitcom 'Dad's Army', has died, his agent said on Wednesday.
Dunn passed away on Tuesday, Peter Charlesworth said, adding that he believed the actor died in Portugal where he has lived for many years. He was 92.
As Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad's Army - a hit television series in the 1960s and 1970s about a group of local volunteer members of the Home Guard - Dunn was famous for catchphrases such as 'Don't panic!' and 'They don't like it up 'em.'
He also had a No. 1 hit song with 'Grandad' in 1971, which he performed several times on TV music show 'Top of the Pops'.
Dunn was born in London in 1920 and enrolled in an acting academy after leaving school.
He played several small roles in films in the 1930s before serving in the army in World War Two, ending up in prisoner-of-war and labor camps for four years.
After the war he worked in music halls before enjoying success as Jones in Dad's Army.
Underlining his ability to play characters far older than his real age, he followed Dad's Army with a five-year run in children's comedy series 'Grandad' as an elderly caretaker.
According to the BBC, he is survived by his wife Priscilla Morgan and two daughters, Jessica and Polly.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Dunn passed away on Tuesday, Peter Charlesworth said, adding that he believed the actor died in Portugal where he has lived for many years. He was 92.
As Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad's Army - a hit television series in the 1960s and 1970s about a group of local volunteer members of the Home Guard - Dunn was famous for catchphrases such as 'Don't panic!' and 'They don't like it up 'em.'
He also had a No. 1 hit song with 'Grandad' in 1971, which he performed several times on TV music show 'Top of the Pops'.
Dunn was born in London in 1920 and enrolled in an acting academy after leaving school.
He played several small roles in films in the 1930s before serving in the army in World War Two, ending up in prisoner-of-war and labor camps for four years.
After the war he worked in music halls before enjoying success as Jones in Dad's Army.
Underlining his ability to play characters far older than his real age, he followed Dad's Army with a five-year run in children's comedy series 'Grandad' as an elderly caretaker.
According to the BBC, he is survived by his wife Priscilla Morgan and two daughters, Jessica and Polly.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by FREE DATING SITE.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Rihanna unveils Chris Brown duet "Nobodies Business"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B star Rihanna unveiled a duet entitled 'Nobodies Business' with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown on Tuesday, three years after Brown was charged with assaulting her.
The song was part of an official track list that Barbadian singer Rihanna tweeted to her followers for her upcoming album 'Unapologetic,' and comes after weeks of speculation in the media that the couple have rekindled their romance being spotted together at numerous events.
While Rihanna, 24, has stayed mum on her relationship status with Brown, the 'Turn Up The Music' singer attended Rihanna's Halloween party last week and tweeted a photograph of himself dressed in Arab robes and a rifle.
Brown, 23, is currently halfway through his five-year probation after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy awards in 2009. He was ordered to complete community service and a domestic violence program.
Brown was given permission by a Los Angeles judge to embark on his European tour at a recent hearing overseeing his progress on his probation.
The former couple have had a tumultuous relationship in the last three years, including a restraining order against Brown following the assault.
But recently the two singers have made peace, coming together on a remix of Rihanna's raunchy song 'Birthday Cake' earlier this year.
The Barbadian singer told Oprah Winfrey in an emotional interview in August that she and Brown now had a 'very close friendship,' and that she still loved him.
Other collaborations on Rihanna's upcoming 'Unapologetic' album include rapper Eminem, newcomer singer-songwriter Mikky Ekko and rapper Future.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)
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The song was part of an official track list that Barbadian singer Rihanna tweeted to her followers for her upcoming album 'Unapologetic,' and comes after weeks of speculation in the media that the couple have rekindled their romance being spotted together at numerous events.
While Rihanna, 24, has stayed mum on her relationship status with Brown, the 'Turn Up The Music' singer attended Rihanna's Halloween party last week and tweeted a photograph of himself dressed in Arab robes and a rifle.
Brown, 23, is currently halfway through his five-year probation after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy awards in 2009. He was ordered to complete community service and a domestic violence program.
Brown was given permission by a Los Angeles judge to embark on his European tour at a recent hearing overseeing his progress on his probation.
The former couple have had a tumultuous relationship in the last three years, including a restraining order against Brown following the assault.
But recently the two singers have made peace, coming together on a remix of Rihanna's raunchy song 'Birthday Cake' earlier this year.
The Barbadian singer told Oprah Winfrey in an emotional interview in August that she and Brown now had a 'very close friendship,' and that she still loved him.
Other collaborations on Rihanna's upcoming 'Unapologetic' album include rapper Eminem, newcomer singer-songwriter Mikky Ekko and rapper Future.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant)
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Sharon Osbourne has double mastectomy: magazine
LONDON (Reuters) - British celebrity Sharon Osbourne has had a double mastectomy after discovering she was carrying a gene that increased the risk of her developing breast cancer, she told Hello! magazine in an interview published on Monday.
Osbourne, 60, told the publication that the decision was a 'no-brainer' in the end.
'As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favor',' she said in remarks that also ran in the Daily Mirror tabloid.
'I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud: I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy.'
Osbourne, who put the eccentric life of her family on view in the reality TV series 'The Osbournes', said she did not want to spend the rest of her life with 'that shadow hanging over me.
'I want to be around for a long time and be a grandmother to Pearl,' she added, referring to her son Jack's first child.
'I didn't even think of my breasts in a nostalgic way, I just wanted to be able to live my life without that fear all the time. It's not 'pity me', it's a decision I made that's got rid of this weight that I was carrying around.'
Osbourne raised her profile by appearing as a judge on successful talent shows 'The X Factor' and 'America's Got Talent'. She is married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne.
Her London publicist referred Reuters to the interview which ran in Hello! and the Daily Mirror when asked to confirm the news.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
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Osbourne, 60, told the publication that the decision was a 'no-brainer' in the end.
'As soon as I found out I had the breast cancer gene, I thought: 'The odds are not in my favor',' she said in remarks that also ran in the Daily Mirror tabloid.
'I've had cancer before and I didn't want to live under that cloud: I decided to just take everything off, and had a double mastectomy.'
Osbourne, who put the eccentric life of her family on view in the reality TV series 'The Osbournes', said she did not want to spend the rest of her life with 'that shadow hanging over me.
'I want to be around for a long time and be a grandmother to Pearl,' she added, referring to her son Jack's first child.
'I didn't even think of my breasts in a nostalgic way, I just wanted to be able to live my life without that fear all the time. It's not 'pity me', it's a decision I made that's got rid of this weight that I was carrying around.'
Osbourne raised her profile by appearing as a judge on successful talent shows 'The X Factor' and 'America's Got Talent'. She is married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne.
Her London publicist referred Reuters to the interview which ran in Hello! and the Daily Mirror when asked to confirm the news.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
This news article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Brad Pitt turns designer for high-end furniture collection
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Brad Pitt has turned his talents to creating furniture for a luxury design house with a high-end collection inspired by both Art Nouveau and Art Deco, according to Architectural Digest.
Pitt, who collaborated on the collection with U.S. furniture designer Frank Pollaro, discussed his inspirations for the capsule collection in the December issue of the magazine.
'I'm drawn to furniture design as complete architecture on a minor scale,' Pitt said. 'I am obsessively bent on quality, to an unhealthy degree.'
Pitt said it was his obsession that introduced him to Pollaro, whom he said embodies the 'same mad spirit of the craftsmen of yore, with their obsessive attention to detail.'
The dozen-piece collection, which will be unveiled by the Pollaro furniture house in New York between November 13 and 15, will include tables, chairs, an elaborate bed and a bathtub made of marble.
The 48-year-old 'Fight Club' actor said he was influenced by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow Rose, drawn with a continuous line. He designed his collection with the fluidity of a single line, be it geometric or circular.
'There is something more grand at play, as if you could tell the story of one's life with a single line - from birth to death, with all the bloody triumphs and perceived humiliating losses, even boredoms, along the way,' the actor said.
Pitt has previously worked with well-known architects for his Make It Right foundation to create affordable quality housing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He also designed a diamond ring for his partner, Angelina Jolie, when the couple got engaged earlier this year.
The actor also became the latest and first male face of Chanel's iconic women's fragrance Chanel No.5 last month, mystifying critics and fashionistas with an enigmatic video commercial.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Patricia Reaney, Bernard Orr)
This news article is brought to you by MUSIC UNITED 1 - where latest news are our top priority.
Pitt, who collaborated on the collection with U.S. furniture designer Frank Pollaro, discussed his inspirations for the capsule collection in the December issue of the magazine.
'I'm drawn to furniture design as complete architecture on a minor scale,' Pitt said. 'I am obsessively bent on quality, to an unhealthy degree.'
Pitt said it was his obsession that introduced him to Pollaro, whom he said embodies the 'same mad spirit of the craftsmen of yore, with their obsessive attention to detail.'
The dozen-piece collection, which will be unveiled by the Pollaro furniture house in New York between November 13 and 15, will include tables, chairs, an elaborate bed and a bathtub made of marble.
The 48-year-old 'Fight Club' actor said he was influenced by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow Rose, drawn with a continuous line. He designed his collection with the fluidity of a single line, be it geometric or circular.
'There is something more grand at play, as if you could tell the story of one's life with a single line - from birth to death, with all the bloody triumphs and perceived humiliating losses, even boredoms, along the way,' the actor said.
Pitt has previously worked with well-known architects for his Make It Right foundation to create affordable quality housing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He also designed a diamond ring for his partner, Angelina Jolie, when the couple got engaged earlier this year.
The actor also became the latest and first male face of Chanel's iconic women's fragrance Chanel No.5 last month, mystifying critics and fashionistas with an enigmatic video commercial.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Patricia Reaney, Bernard Orr)
This news article is brought to you by MUSIC UNITED 1 - where latest news are our top priority.
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