LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. singer Anastacia has been diagnosed with breast cancer having successfully battled the disease in 2003, she said in a statement posted on her Facebook page.
The 44-year-old, who had major success outside the United States with hits like the 2000 dance favorite 'I'm Outta Love', has been forced to cancel plans to tour Europe starting in London on April 6.
'I feel so awful to be letting down all my amazing fans who were looking forward to 'It's A Man's World Tour',' she said in a statement. 'It just breaks my heart to disappoint them,' she said.
She added that she will continue writing and recording her new album and hopes to schedule a new tour as soon as possible.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Spielberg to lead Cannes film festival jury
PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. director Steven Spielberg will preside over the 2013 Cannes film festival jury in May, organizers said on Thursday, an A-list casting that adds Hollywood firepower to the high-brow international festival.
Spielberg, whose presidential drama 'Lincoln' took home two Oscars at Sunday's Academy Awards, will succeed Italian director and actor Nanni Moretti, who helmed the jury for Cannes' 65th anniversary last year.
The 12-day festival, which takes place on the Cote d'Azur in the south of France, is a major showplace for new movies from around the world that attracts top and emerging screen writers, deal-makers and hundreds of film critics.
Spielberg's blockbuster film E.T. screened as a world premiere at Cannes in 1982, and festival President Gilles Jacob called the respected director a 'regular' at the prestigious film festival.
'Since then I've often asked Steven to be Jury President but he's always been shooting a film,' Jacob said. 'So this year, when I was told 'E.T. phone home,' I understood and immediately replied 'At last!''
Spielberg called the festival a 'platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world.'
The 66-year-old director's four-decade career has included such varied films as 'Jaws,' 'Schindler's List,' 'The Color Purple' and 'Jurassic Park.'
Spielberg was passed over at Sunday's Oscars for Best Director for 'Lincoln,' the story of the U.S. president battling to abolish slavery and end the civil war, but the film provided actor Daniel Day-Lewis with his third Best Actor award.
'Lincoln,' distributed by Disney, also won for production design.
The Cannes film festival runs from May 15 to 26.
(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Spielberg, whose presidential drama 'Lincoln' took home two Oscars at Sunday's Academy Awards, will succeed Italian director and actor Nanni Moretti, who helmed the jury for Cannes' 65th anniversary last year.
The 12-day festival, which takes place on the Cote d'Azur in the south of France, is a major showplace for new movies from around the world that attracts top and emerging screen writers, deal-makers and hundreds of film critics.
Spielberg's blockbuster film E.T. screened as a world premiere at Cannes in 1982, and festival President Gilles Jacob called the respected director a 'regular' at the prestigious film festival.
'Since then I've often asked Steven to be Jury President but he's always been shooting a film,' Jacob said. 'So this year, when I was told 'E.T. phone home,' I understood and immediately replied 'At last!''
Spielberg called the festival a 'platform for extraordinary films to be discovered and introduced to the world.'
The 66-year-old director's four-decade career has included such varied films as 'Jaws,' 'Schindler's List,' 'The Color Purple' and 'Jurassic Park.'
Spielberg was passed over at Sunday's Oscars for Best Director for 'Lincoln,' the story of the U.S. president battling to abolish slavery and end the civil war, but the film provided actor Daniel Day-Lewis with his third Best Actor award.
'Lincoln,' distributed by Disney, also won for production design.
The Cannes film festival runs from May 15 to 26.
(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
American classical pianist Van Cliburn dies at age 78
(Reuters) - American pianist Van Cliburn, who awed Russian audiences with his exquisite Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos and won fame and fortune back home, died on Wednesday at the age of 78.
Cliburn passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from advanced bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters. Cliburn announced in August 2012 that he had been diagnosed with the disease.
The lanky, blue-eyed Texan, who began taking piano lessons at the age of 3 and later trained at New York's prestigious Juilliard School, burst onto the world stage at the height of the Cold War and was the surprise winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.
His performance at the finale led to an eight-minute standing ovation, and the Russian judges asked Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for permission to give the top prize to the 23-year-old American.
Cliburn's triumph helped spur a brief thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and made him an overnight sensation in the United States, where his name was known even among those who did not follow classical music.
'It was he that was the symbol of peace for the Cold War,' Falcone said. 'He was embraced by both Eisenhower and Khrushchev in the 1950s and the only musician to have a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan.'
Time magazine dubbed him 'The Texan Who Conquered Russia' in a cover story following his victory, and New York City gave the pianist a hero's welcome upon his return from Russia.
Taken on by the powerful impresario Sol Hurok, Cliburn was able to command high fees and practically had carte blanche in the recording studio.
His recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, which he had played in Moscow, became the first classical album to go platinum and was the best-selling classical album for more than a decade.
Fans adored him for his innocence and charm more than for his music-making. In Philadelphia, a shrieking crowd tore the door handles off his limousine. In Chicago, the Elvis Presley fan club changed its name to the Van Cliburn fan club.
'He was an international legend,' Falcone said. 'Personally, he was a giant and publicly he was a giant.'
But in 1978, Cliburn walked off the stage, professionally exhausted. He played occasionally in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including a performance in the White House for President Ronald Reagan and visiting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
TAUGHT PIANO BY HIS MOTHER
Critics said the publicity-fueled demand and the public's taste had kept him from growing beyond a relatively narrow collection of romantic pieces, such as his signature Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos.
'Despite his fame, the Texas-sized pianist has been widely regarded among serious musicians as an immensely gifted but rather unreflective artist of unfulfilled and probably unfulfillable potential,' a New York Times critic wrote after Cliburn's retirement.
Born on July 12, 1934, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. was taught piano by his mother. He gave his first public recital at 4. By age 5, even though he could not read or write, he was completely literate in music.
He won several local and regional awards and in 1951 began studies at Juilliard under Rosina Lhevinne. She schooled him in the traditions of the great Russian romantic composers, setting the stage for Cliburn's victory in Moscow seven years later.
'My relationship with the Russians was personal, not political,' he said in a 1989 interview. He played in Moscow and St. Petersburg when he briefly returned to the concert stage years later.
Cliburn, a lifelong Baptist who did not smoke or drink, became a prominent and popular figure in the Fort Worth, Texas, area and was well known for his generosity, contributing vast sums to the Broadway Baptist Church and other causes.
He lived on what friends called 'Van Cliburn time.' He rose in the early evening, would dine at midnight and preside over after-dinner conversations at 4 a.m. Usually heading the dinner table was his mother, Rildia Bee, who lived with him until her death at 97.
In 1996, Cliburn was named in a palimony lawsuit by Thomas Zaremba, who claimed a portion of Cliburn's income and assets and accused Cliburn of possibly exposing him to the AIDS virus during a 17-year relationship. The lawsuit eventually was dismissed.
Cliburn also supported the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a private and nonprofit-based enterprise that offers winners cash prizes, a Carnegie Hall debut and two years of touring arranged and promoted by the competition.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2003 and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2011.
Cliburn is survived by his long-standing friend, Thomas L. Smith.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Paul Simao; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Alden Bentley, Gary Hill)
Cliburn passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from advanced bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters. Cliburn announced in August 2012 that he had been diagnosed with the disease.
The lanky, blue-eyed Texan, who began taking piano lessons at the age of 3 and later trained at New York's prestigious Juilliard School, burst onto the world stage at the height of the Cold War and was the surprise winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.
His performance at the finale led to an eight-minute standing ovation, and the Russian judges asked Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for permission to give the top prize to the 23-year-old American.
Cliburn's triumph helped spur a brief thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and made him an overnight sensation in the United States, where his name was known even among those who did not follow classical music.
'It was he that was the symbol of peace for the Cold War,' Falcone said. 'He was embraced by both Eisenhower and Khrushchev in the 1950s and the only musician to have a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan.'
Time magazine dubbed him 'The Texan Who Conquered Russia' in a cover story following his victory, and New York City gave the pianist a hero's welcome upon his return from Russia.
Taken on by the powerful impresario Sol Hurok, Cliburn was able to command high fees and practically had carte blanche in the recording studio.
His recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, which he had played in Moscow, became the first classical album to go platinum and was the best-selling classical album for more than a decade.
Fans adored him for his innocence and charm more than for his music-making. In Philadelphia, a shrieking crowd tore the door handles off his limousine. In Chicago, the Elvis Presley fan club changed its name to the Van Cliburn fan club.
'He was an international legend,' Falcone said. 'Personally, he was a giant and publicly he was a giant.'
But in 1978, Cliburn walked off the stage, professionally exhausted. He played occasionally in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including a performance in the White House for President Ronald Reagan and visiting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
TAUGHT PIANO BY HIS MOTHER
Critics said the publicity-fueled demand and the public's taste had kept him from growing beyond a relatively narrow collection of romantic pieces, such as his signature Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos.
'Despite his fame, the Texas-sized pianist has been widely regarded among serious musicians as an immensely gifted but rather unreflective artist of unfulfilled and probably unfulfillable potential,' a New York Times critic wrote after Cliburn's retirement.
Born on July 12, 1934, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Harvey Lavan Cliburn Jr. was taught piano by his mother. He gave his first public recital at 4. By age 5, even though he could not read or write, he was completely literate in music.
He won several local and regional awards and in 1951 began studies at Juilliard under Rosina Lhevinne. She schooled him in the traditions of the great Russian romantic composers, setting the stage for Cliburn's victory in Moscow seven years later.
'My relationship with the Russians was personal, not political,' he said in a 1989 interview. He played in Moscow and St. Petersburg when he briefly returned to the concert stage years later.
Cliburn, a lifelong Baptist who did not smoke or drink, became a prominent and popular figure in the Fort Worth, Texas, area and was well known for his generosity, contributing vast sums to the Broadway Baptist Church and other causes.
He lived on what friends called 'Van Cliburn time.' He rose in the early evening, would dine at midnight and preside over after-dinner conversations at 4 a.m. Usually heading the dinner table was his mother, Rildia Bee, who lived with him until her death at 97.
In 1996, Cliburn was named in a palimony lawsuit by Thomas Zaremba, who claimed a portion of Cliburn's income and assets and accused Cliburn of possibly exposing him to the AIDS virus during a 17-year relationship. The lawsuit eventually was dismissed.
Cliburn also supported the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, a private and nonprofit-based enterprise that offers winners cash prizes, a Carnegie Hall debut and two years of touring arranged and promoted by the competition.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2003 and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in 2011.
Cliburn is survived by his long-standing friend, Thomas L. Smith.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Paul Simao; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Alden Bentley, Gary Hill)
Famed classical pianist Van Cliburn dies at age 78
(Reuters) - American pianist Van Cliburn, who awed Russian audiences with his exquisite Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos and won fame and fortune back home, died on Wednesday at the age of 78.
Cliburn passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters.
The lanky, blue-eyed Texan, who began taking piano lessons at the age of 3 and later trained at New York's prestigious Juilliard School, burst onto the world stage at the height of the Cold War and was the surprise winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.
His performance at the finale led to an eight-minute standing ovation and was so unexpected that the Russian judges reportedly had to ask Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for permission to give the top prize to the 23-year-old American.
Cliburn's triumph helped spur a brief thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and made him an overnight sensation in the United States, where his name was known even among those who did not follow classical music.
'It was he that was the symbol of peace for the Cold War,' Falcone said. 'He was embraced by both Eisenhower and Khrushchev in the 1950s and the only musician to have a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan.'
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Paul Simao; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Alden Bentley)
Cliburn passed away at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters.
The lanky, blue-eyed Texan, who began taking piano lessons at the age of 3 and later trained at New York's prestigious Juilliard School, burst onto the world stage at the height of the Cold War and was the surprise winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958.
His performance at the finale led to an eight-minute standing ovation and was so unexpected that the Russian judges reportedly had to ask Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for permission to give the top prize to the 23-year-old American.
Cliburn's triumph helped spur a brief thaw in U.S.-Soviet relations and made him an overnight sensation in the United States, where his name was known even among those who did not follow classical music.
'It was he that was the symbol of peace for the Cold War,' Falcone said. 'He was embraced by both Eisenhower and Khrushchev in the 1950s and the only musician to have a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan.'
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey and Paul Simao; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Alden Bentley)
Famed classical pianist Van Cliburn dies in Texas at age 78
(Reuters) - American pianist Van Cliburn, who burst onto the world stage at the height of the Cold War, awing Russian audiences with his exquisite Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff concertos and winning fame and fortune back home, died on Wednesday. He was 78.
Cliburn died at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
Cliburn died at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, after suffering from bone cancer, his publicist Mary Lou Falcone told Reuters.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bowie is back to best on new album, critics say
LONDON (Reuters) - David Bowie's first album of new music in a decade sees the influential musician back to his best, critics said in reviews rushed out on Tuesday, two weeks before its release.
'The Next Day', which hits stores in Britain on March 11 and a day later in the United States, could even be the 'greatest comeback in rock'n'roll history', according to The Independent's Andy Gill.
As well as a series of glowing reviews, this week also saw the launch of the second single from the 14-track album called 'The Stars (Are out Tonight)', accompanied by a surreal video starring the Starman himself and Tilda Swinton as his wife.
In it the middle-aged couple's daily routine is upset by the arrival of a group of mysterious, androgynous celebrities next door who enter their dreams and reawaken old desires and fears.
'They burn you with their radiant smiles/Trap you with their beautiful eyes' read the lyrics on Bowie's official website.
As befits an 'event' album with so much hype surrounding it, several newspapers gave The Next Day a track-by-track analysis.
'David Bowie's The Next Day may be the greatest comeback album ever,' said Gill in his five-star assessment.
'It's certainly rare to hear a comeback effort that not only reflects an artist's own best work, but stands alongside it in terms of quality,' he added.
Neil McCormick of the Telegraph also gave the record top marks, calling it 'an ... emotionally charged, musically jagged, electric bolt through his own mythos and the mixed-up, celebrity-obsessed, war-torn world of the 21st century.'
BOWIE MANIA
Even in an age when veteran musical comebacks are a daily occurrence, the fascination with Bowie appears to be huge.
Music magazine NME is dedicating a six-page cover feature to the singer, while the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is staging a major exhibition looking at his music, art and groundbreaking fashion.
More than 26,000 tickets have already been sold to the show, which opens on March 23.
Alexis Petridis, writing in the Guardian, argued that, while containing references to Bowie's past work, it largely avoided becoming a sonic memoir of a stellar musical career.
And he said that the secrecy surrounding the making of the album, and genuine media surprise when it was announced on Bowie's 66th birthday last month, risked overshadowing the quality of the music itself.
'That doesn't seem a fair fate for an album that's thought-provoking, strange and filled with great songs,' he said. 'Listening to it makes you hope it's not a one-off, that his return continues apace.'
Songs singled out by critics included 'Valentine's Day', couched, according to Gill, 'in one of the album's most engaging pop arrangements', and 'Dancing Out In Space', described by Will Hodgkinson of The Times as a 'nightclub smash'.
'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die', the penultimate track, provides the climax which McCormick calls 'fantastic, a lush companion piece to Ziggy's Rock'n'roll Suicide that drips vitriol in place of compassion.'
Now that the album is complete, the question on many fans' lips is whether Bowie will return to the stage to perform live.
The singer himself has dodged the limelight altogether since the comeback, but guitarist Gerry Leonard told Rolling Stone magazine that he thought it was '50-50' that Bowie would tour.
The glam-rock star, born David Jones in south London in 1947, shot to fame with 'Space Oddity' in 1969, and later with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, before establishing himself as a chart-topping force in the early 1980s.
His long absence from the music scene led to speculation he had retired, with British newspapers reporting as recently as October that he had disappeared from the limelight for good.
Bowie's last album of new material was 'Reality', released a decade ago, and he underwent emergency heart surgery while on tour in 2004. His last stage performance was as a guest at a charity concert in New York in 2006.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
'The Next Day', which hits stores in Britain on March 11 and a day later in the United States, could even be the 'greatest comeback in rock'n'roll history', according to The Independent's Andy Gill.
As well as a series of glowing reviews, this week also saw the launch of the second single from the 14-track album called 'The Stars (Are out Tonight)', accompanied by a surreal video starring the Starman himself and Tilda Swinton as his wife.
In it the middle-aged couple's daily routine is upset by the arrival of a group of mysterious, androgynous celebrities next door who enter their dreams and reawaken old desires and fears.
'They burn you with their radiant smiles/Trap you with their beautiful eyes' read the lyrics on Bowie's official website.
As befits an 'event' album with so much hype surrounding it, several newspapers gave The Next Day a track-by-track analysis.
'David Bowie's The Next Day may be the greatest comeback album ever,' said Gill in his five-star assessment.
'It's certainly rare to hear a comeback effort that not only reflects an artist's own best work, but stands alongside it in terms of quality,' he added.
Neil McCormick of the Telegraph also gave the record top marks, calling it 'an ... emotionally charged, musically jagged, electric bolt through his own mythos and the mixed-up, celebrity-obsessed, war-torn world of the 21st century.'
BOWIE MANIA
Even in an age when veteran musical comebacks are a daily occurrence, the fascination with Bowie appears to be huge.
Music magazine NME is dedicating a six-page cover feature to the singer, while the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is staging a major exhibition looking at his music, art and groundbreaking fashion.
More than 26,000 tickets have already been sold to the show, which opens on March 23.
Alexis Petridis, writing in the Guardian, argued that, while containing references to Bowie's past work, it largely avoided becoming a sonic memoir of a stellar musical career.
And he said that the secrecy surrounding the making of the album, and genuine media surprise when it was announced on Bowie's 66th birthday last month, risked overshadowing the quality of the music itself.
'That doesn't seem a fair fate for an album that's thought-provoking, strange and filled with great songs,' he said. 'Listening to it makes you hope it's not a one-off, that his return continues apace.'
Songs singled out by critics included 'Valentine's Day', couched, according to Gill, 'in one of the album's most engaging pop arrangements', and 'Dancing Out In Space', described by Will Hodgkinson of The Times as a 'nightclub smash'.
'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die', the penultimate track, provides the climax which McCormick calls 'fantastic, a lush companion piece to Ziggy's Rock'n'roll Suicide that drips vitriol in place of compassion.'
Now that the album is complete, the question on many fans' lips is whether Bowie will return to the stage to perform live.
The singer himself has dodged the limelight altogether since the comeback, but guitarist Gerry Leonard told Rolling Stone magazine that he thought it was '50-50' that Bowie would tour.
The glam-rock star, born David Jones in south London in 1947, shot to fame with 'Space Oddity' in 1969, and later with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, before establishing himself as a chart-topping force in the early 1980s.
His long absence from the music scene led to speculation he had retired, with British newspapers reporting as recently as October that he had disappeared from the limelight for good.
Bowie's last album of new material was 'Reality', released a decade ago, and he underwent emergency heart surgery while on tour in 2004. His last stage performance was as a guest at a charity concert in New York in 2006.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
U.S. ex-basketball player Rodman arrives in North Korea
SEOUL (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea to film a television documentary on Tuesday with representatives of the Harlem Globetrotters celebrity team, North Korean state television reported.
Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.
Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.
Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organized by a New York-based television production company, VICE.
'I think most of guys are first time here so hopefully everything is OK and hopefully kids have a good time for the game,' Rodman, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, told North Korea's KCNA.
VICE, which has previously worked in North Korea, said the week-long trip would include running a basketball camp for North Korean children and engaging in community-based games.
The company hinted that Kim may attend one of its events, but that could not be independently verified.
Its North Korean footage with Rodman will be distributed on HBO in April.
U.S. citizens do not require clearance to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt visited in January.
The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on North Korea following its nuclear test two weeks ago.
The third member of the Kim family to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labor camps and where a third of children are malnourished, has a penchant for American culture.
On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.
There has been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.
None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
As Rodman and his colleagues arrived, North Korean state news agency KCNA issued yet another challenge to the United States, saying it had no choice but to respond to what it called U.S. 'provocations' over sanctions with 'military muscle'.
(Editing by Ken Wills and Robert Birsel)
Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.
Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.
Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organized by a New York-based television production company, VICE.
'I think most of guys are first time here so hopefully everything is OK and hopefully kids have a good time for the game,' Rodman, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, told North Korea's KCNA.
VICE, which has previously worked in North Korea, said the week-long trip would include running a basketball camp for North Korean children and engaging in community-based games.
The company hinted that Kim may attend one of its events, but that could not be independently verified.
Its North Korean footage with Rodman will be distributed on HBO in April.
U.S. citizens do not require clearance to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt visited in January.
The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on North Korea following its nuclear test two weeks ago.
The third member of the Kim family to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labor camps and where a third of children are malnourished, has a penchant for American culture.
On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.
There has been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.
None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
As Rodman and his colleagues arrived, North Korean state news agency KCNA issued yet another challenge to the United States, saying it had no choice but to respond to what it called U.S. 'provocations' over sanctions with 'military muscle'.
(Editing by Ken Wills and Robert Birsel)
Monday, February 25, 2013
Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop dies at 96
(Reuters) - Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, a pediatric surgeon known for his anti-smoking campaigns and efforts to improve diet and nutrition, died at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire on Monday. He was 96 years old.
Koop served as Surgeon General from November 1981 until October 1989, taking stern and sometimes controversial stands on abortion, AIDS, fatty foods, drugs and cigarettes.
His death was announced by Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, where he founded the C. Everett Koop Institute.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Christopher Wilson)
Koop served as Surgeon General from November 1981 until October 1989, taking stern and sometimes controversial stands on abortion, AIDS, fatty foods, drugs and cigarettes.
His death was announced by Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, where he founded the C. Everett Koop Institute.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Christopher Wilson)
Bela Tarr swaps film making for running unique school
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Revered Hungarian director Bela Tarr's famously uncompromising approach to cinema will now be passed to future generations as he begins a new course for budding filmmakers in Sarajevo.
The 57-year-old retired from directing after the release in 2011 of 'The Turin Horse', a bleak, black-and-white portrayal of a peasant and his daughter abandoned by man and God in their remote, windswept cottage.
Its long takes and sparse dialogue and narrative were trademarks of Tarr, who won over critics around the world and is perhaps most famous for his seven-hour epic 'Satantango' based on a novel by compatriot Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
It will come as little surprise to hear Tarr speak not of commercial success in cinema, but artistic integrity at a time when independent filmmakers are struggling to raise money to make movies that have limited box office potential.
'Film is different - you cannot teach, you can do only one thing which is to develop young filmmakers -- give them freedom, tell them they can be brave, they can be themselves, do what they really want,' Tarr said in an interview.
Last week classes began at his newly launched Film Factory at the Sarajevo University School for Science and Technology, offering a three-year programme which Tarr and his associates said would adopt a fresh approach to filmmaking.
'It started when I decided not to make any more movies,' Tarr said of his idea to launch an international PhD-level film programme for mature directors.
'I had the feeling this was the next step in my life because I want to share what I know, and I want to protect young filmmakers, give them the protection to be free,' he told Reuters in his offices in the Bosnian capital.
ART BACK INTO FILM
Accommodated in a building located in the old part of Sarajevo, his Film Factory is now home to 17 students who have come from as far as Japan and Mexico to explore the secrets of filmmaking.
'It's a unique attempt to really work artistically in film, and to bring film to the level of art again,' said Fred Kelemen, a German cinematographer and director who runs a camera workshop at the school.
'I think it's very important because it's something that many film schools around the world do not do any more,' he added before mentoring students in capturing light against a dark backdrop on camera.
Kelemen has worked with Tarr on several films, and has been branded by critics as the 'maestro of black and white silence'.
The programme includes a theoretical section based on analyzing films as well as practical workshops which will be run by independent cinema stars including Aki Kaurismaki, Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch and Tilda Swinton.
Students are expected to produce four films over the first two years and a feature in the final year.
'It looks like a menu,' Tarr said of his programme. 'In the end you have to cook your own food. The third part, when they are making their own movies, is where the real cooking is done, and that is my responsibility.'
Most students said they applied for the school because of its unconventional approach to film and its roster of prominent figures from the film industry.
'After 110 years of cinema we are at the point where everything is undone,' said Keja Ho Kramer from France, who has worked in the film business for the past 12 years.
'So to have an opportunity to rethink where the future is with all these amazing people is what interests me most.'
Tarr is confident the course will achieve its goal of promoting freedom of art and expression, and produce some 'good, strong movies.
'We are here, we have cameras, we have lights, we have fantasy, they have time, they are young, full of energy, full of hope - I do not see a problem. We just have to work, work, work, work.'
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)
The 57-year-old retired from directing after the release in 2011 of 'The Turin Horse', a bleak, black-and-white portrayal of a peasant and his daughter abandoned by man and God in their remote, windswept cottage.
Its long takes and sparse dialogue and narrative were trademarks of Tarr, who won over critics around the world and is perhaps most famous for his seven-hour epic 'Satantango' based on a novel by compatriot Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
It will come as little surprise to hear Tarr speak not of commercial success in cinema, but artistic integrity at a time when independent filmmakers are struggling to raise money to make movies that have limited box office potential.
'Film is different - you cannot teach, you can do only one thing which is to develop young filmmakers -- give them freedom, tell them they can be brave, they can be themselves, do what they really want,' Tarr said in an interview.
Last week classes began at his newly launched Film Factory at the Sarajevo University School for Science and Technology, offering a three-year programme which Tarr and his associates said would adopt a fresh approach to filmmaking.
'It started when I decided not to make any more movies,' Tarr said of his idea to launch an international PhD-level film programme for mature directors.
'I had the feeling this was the next step in my life because I want to share what I know, and I want to protect young filmmakers, give them the protection to be free,' he told Reuters in his offices in the Bosnian capital.
ART BACK INTO FILM
Accommodated in a building located in the old part of Sarajevo, his Film Factory is now home to 17 students who have come from as far as Japan and Mexico to explore the secrets of filmmaking.
'It's a unique attempt to really work artistically in film, and to bring film to the level of art again,' said Fred Kelemen, a German cinematographer and director who runs a camera workshop at the school.
'I think it's very important because it's something that many film schools around the world do not do any more,' he added before mentoring students in capturing light against a dark backdrop on camera.
Kelemen has worked with Tarr on several films, and has been branded by critics as the 'maestro of black and white silence'.
The programme includes a theoretical section based on analyzing films as well as practical workshops which will be run by independent cinema stars including Aki Kaurismaki, Gus Van Sant, Jim Jarmusch and Tilda Swinton.
Students are expected to produce four films over the first two years and a feature in the final year.
'It looks like a menu,' Tarr said of his programme. 'In the end you have to cook your own food. The third part, when they are making their own movies, is where the real cooking is done, and that is my responsibility.'
Most students said they applied for the school because of its unconventional approach to film and its roster of prominent figures from the film industry.
'After 110 years of cinema we are at the point where everything is undone,' said Keja Ho Kramer from France, who has worked in the film business for the past 12 years.
'So to have an opportunity to rethink where the future is with all these amazing people is what interests me most.'
Tarr is confident the course will achieve its goal of promoting freedom of art and expression, and produce some 'good, strong movies.
'We are here, we have cameras, we have lights, we have fantasy, they have time, they are young, full of energy, full of hope - I do not see a problem. We just have to work, work, work, work.'
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)
Final "Twilight Saga" movie gets mauling from Razzies
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Popular vampire movie 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' was savaged at the Razzie Awards on Saturday, earning seven 'wins' in the annual contest for the worst movies and performances of the year.
'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart, co-star Taylor Lautner and director Bill Condon were awarded Golden Raspberry statuettes for their parts in the final installment of the blockbuster film franchise. That film alone has taken an impressive $829 million at the global box office.
Robert Pattinson narrowly escaped a personal mauling, but the entire 'Twilight Saga' cast earned a Razzie for 'worst screen ensemble.'
The Razzies, created in 1980 as an antidote to the backslapping of Hollywood's glitzy awards season, also singled out R&B star Rihanna for scorn.
The singer was deemed worst supporting actress for her debut movie role as a sailor in 2012 sci-fi action movie 'Battleship.'
American comic actor Adam Sandler, a frequent Razzie target, was awarded not-so-coveted golden raspberry statuettes for worst actor and worst screenplay for his comedy 'That's My Boy' about a father reuniting with his long-abandoned son.
Last year, Sandler swept all 10 Razzie categories for his comedy 'Jack and Jill,' in which he played both the male and female leads.
The winners rarely turn up to the Razzie ceremony, which was held on Saturday night in a Hollywood hotel near the Dolby Theatre, where the 85th annual Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday.
The nominees and winners of the Razzies were chosen by more than 650 members of the Golden Raspberry Foundations and 70,000 votes cast on movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)
'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart, co-star Taylor Lautner and director Bill Condon were awarded Golden Raspberry statuettes for their parts in the final installment of the blockbuster film franchise. That film alone has taken an impressive $829 million at the global box office.
Robert Pattinson narrowly escaped a personal mauling, but the entire 'Twilight Saga' cast earned a Razzie for 'worst screen ensemble.'
The Razzies, created in 1980 as an antidote to the backslapping of Hollywood's glitzy awards season, also singled out R&B star Rihanna for scorn.
The singer was deemed worst supporting actress for her debut movie role as a sailor in 2012 sci-fi action movie 'Battleship.'
American comic actor Adam Sandler, a frequent Razzie target, was awarded not-so-coveted golden raspberry statuettes for worst actor and worst screenplay for his comedy 'That's My Boy' about a father reuniting with his long-abandoned son.
Last year, Sandler swept all 10 Razzie categories for his comedy 'Jack and Jill,' in which he played both the male and female leads.
The winners rarely turn up to the Razzie ceremony, which was held on Saturday night in a Hollywood hotel near the Dolby Theatre, where the 85th annual Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday.
The nominees and winners of the Razzies were chosen by more than 650 members of the Golden Raspberry Foundations and 70,000 votes cast on movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Friday, February 22, 2013
Actress Megan Fox to star in new "Ninja Turtles" film
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Megan Fox has been cast in the new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie, according to filmmaker Michael Bay, who directed the actress in two Transformers films.
The two appear to have resolved their differences after Fox compared Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview. The actress was replaced by British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the third Transformer film after making the comment.
'TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!' Bay wrote on his website.
Fox's agent confirmed that the 26-year-old new mother would play April O'Neil, the crime-fighting turtles' human friend.
In an interview with the British magazine 'Wonderland' in 2009 Fox described Bay as nightmare to work with.
'He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is,' she said.
Bay responded in a 2011 GQ interview saying executive producer Steven Spielberg had advised him to fire Fox.
'Megan loves to get a response,' he said. 'And she does it in kind of the wrong way.'
Bay has said that one of the original creators of the Ninja Turtles was helping to develop the script for the film that is due to be released in May 2014.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; editing by Patricia Reaney and Jackie Frank)
The two appear to have resolved their differences after Fox compared Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview. The actress was replaced by British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the third Transformer film after making the comment.
'TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!' Bay wrote on his website.
Fox's agent confirmed that the 26-year-old new mother would play April O'Neil, the crime-fighting turtles' human friend.
In an interview with the British magazine 'Wonderland' in 2009 Fox described Bay as nightmare to work with.
'He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is,' she said.
Bay responded in a 2011 GQ interview saying executive producer Steven Spielberg had advised him to fire Fox.
'Megan loves to get a response,' he said. 'And she does it in kind of the wrong way.'
Bay has said that one of the original creators of the Ninja Turtles was helping to develop the script for the film that is due to be released in May 2014.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; editing by Patricia Reaney and Jackie Frank)
Jay-Z, Timberlake announce summer tour
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake are teaming up for a 12-city summer stadium tour that will include concerts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, music promoter Live Nation said on Friday.
The 'Legends of the Summer' tour will kick off at the Roger's Center in Toronto on July 17, and finish on August 16 at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami.
Venues in Boston, Detroit and Baltimore will also be included in the tour.
Earlier this week Live Nation said the duo, who together have won 23 Grammy awards and two Emmys and have sold 67 million albums, will also be performing together in London at the Wireless Festival on July 12-13.
Timberlake's new album, 'The 20/20 Experience,' which will be released next month, features 'Suit & Tie,' a collaboration with Jay-Z. The two performed a duet together at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Vicki Allen)
The 'Legends of the Summer' tour will kick off at the Roger's Center in Toronto on July 17, and finish on August 16 at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami.
Venues in Boston, Detroit and Baltimore will also be included in the tour.
Earlier this week Live Nation said the duo, who together have won 23 Grammy awards and two Emmys and have sold 67 million albums, will also be performing together in London at the Wireless Festival on July 12-13.
Timberlake's new album, 'The 20/20 Experience,' which will be released next month, features 'Suit & Tie,' a collaboration with Jay-Z. The two performed a duet together at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Vicki Allen)
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin split after 8 years
(Reuters) - Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin are divorcing after more than eight years, their representatives said on Thursday.
'I can confirm Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage,' said Lane's spokeswoman, Kelly Bush.
A source close to the couple termed the split as 'amicable' and said it was a mutual decision.
The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin. They have no children together.
Lane, 48, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the 2002 film 'Unfaithful,' and Brolin, 45, married in August 2004 after being introduced by Barbra Streisand, the actor's stepmother through her marriage to James Brolin.
Josh Brolin played a lead role in last summer's sci-fi comedy franchise 'Men in Black 3' and his most recent film appearance was the January release 'Gangster Squad.'
(Reporting By Noreen O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
'I can confirm Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage,' said Lane's spokeswoman, Kelly Bush.
A source close to the couple termed the split as 'amicable' and said it was a mutual decision.
The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin. They have no children together.
Lane, 48, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the 2002 film 'Unfaithful,' and Brolin, 45, married in August 2004 after being introduced by Barbra Streisand, the actor's stepmother through her marriage to James Brolin.
Josh Brolin played a lead role in last summer's sci-fi comedy franchise 'Men in Black 3' and his most recent film appearance was the January release 'Gangster Squad.'
(Reporting By Noreen O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)
Lady Gaga has hip surgery, calls injury "bump in the road"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga said she has undergone surgery to repair an injured hip that forced the pop singer last week to cancel the remainder of her concert tour.
The 'Born This Way' singer thanked fans in a blog post on her littlemonsters.com fan website on Thursday, saying the setback was 'just a bump in the road.'
'As they wheeled me into surgery...I thought about all of your pain and perseverance, your unique family situations, school environments, health issues, homelessness, identity struggles,' wrote Lady Gaga, who often engages with her fans about their personal problems.
'So I thought to myself, 'I'm alive; I'm living my dream, and this is just a bump in the road,'' she added.
The 26-year-old singer tweeted on Wednesday that she was heading into surgery to treat a labral tear of her right hip.
No timetable has been set for Lady Gaga to return to performing, and her tour operator said last week that she would need 'strict downtime.'
Lady Gaga has been on the road for two years, performing concerts on six continents.
The injury forced her to cancel some two dozen concerts in the United States as part of her 'Born This Way Ball' tour.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
The 'Born This Way' singer thanked fans in a blog post on her littlemonsters.com fan website on Thursday, saying the setback was 'just a bump in the road.'
'As they wheeled me into surgery...I thought about all of your pain and perseverance, your unique family situations, school environments, health issues, homelessness, identity struggles,' wrote Lady Gaga, who often engages with her fans about their personal problems.
'So I thought to myself, 'I'm alive; I'm living my dream, and this is just a bump in the road,'' she added.
The 26-year-old singer tweeted on Wednesday that she was heading into surgery to treat a labral tear of her right hip.
No timetable has been set for Lady Gaga to return to performing, and her tour operator said last week that she would need 'strict downtime.'
Lady Gaga has been on the road for two years, performing concerts on six continents.
The injury forced her to cancel some two dozen concerts in the United States as part of her 'Born This Way Ball' tour.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
Palestinian filmmaker briefly detained in Los Angeles on way to Oscars
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Palestinian filmmaker on his way to the Academy Awards said on Wednesday he was held at Los Angeles International Airport and threatened with deportation before being allowed into the United States.
Emad Burnat, whose '5 Broken Cameras' is competing for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, said U.S. immigration officials took him, his wife and 8-year-old son aside when they arrived in Los Angeles from Turkey on Tuesday evening.
'Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award ... and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day,' Burnat said in a statement.
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a series of Twitter messages that he stepped in to help resolve the situation.
'Although he (Burnat) produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine. ... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help ... I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times,' Moore tweeted on Tuesday evening.
Burnat said he and his family were detained for about an hour.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the incident, citing privacy laws.
'Travelers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of admissibility,' U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. 'The United States has been, and continues to be, a welcoming nation.'
Burnat, a farmer, is the amateur filmmaker behind '5 Broken Cameras,' which documents about five years of protests against land seizures by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in his village of Bil'in in the occupied West Bank. It was co-directed by Israeli activist and filmmaker Guy Davidi.
It is the first Palestinian film to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, according to representatives for the film.
'5 Broken Cameras' is one of five films nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. One of its competitors is Israeli film 'The Gatekeepers,' which looks at the decades-old Middle East conflict through the eyes of six top former Israeli intelligence bosses.
The Oscars, the highest awards in the movie industry, will be presented on Sunday in Hollywood.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)
Emad Burnat, whose '5 Broken Cameras' is competing for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, said U.S. immigration officials took him, his wife and 8-year-old son aside when they arrived in Los Angeles from Turkey on Tuesday evening.
'Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award ... and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day,' Burnat said in a statement.
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a series of Twitter messages that he stepped in to help resolve the situation.
'Although he (Burnat) produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine. ... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help ... I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times,' Moore tweeted on Tuesday evening.
Burnat said he and his family were detained for about an hour.
U.S. officials declined to comment on the incident, citing privacy laws.
'Travelers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of admissibility,' U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. 'The United States has been, and continues to be, a welcoming nation.'
Burnat, a farmer, is the amateur filmmaker behind '5 Broken Cameras,' which documents about five years of protests against land seizures by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in his village of Bil'in in the occupied West Bank. It was co-directed by Israeli activist and filmmaker Guy Davidi.
It is the first Palestinian film to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, according to representatives for the film.
'5 Broken Cameras' is one of five films nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. One of its competitors is Israeli film 'The Gatekeepers,' which looks at the decades-old Middle East conflict through the eyes of six top former Israeli intelligence bosses.
The Oscars, the highest awards in the movie industry, will be presented on Sunday in Hollywood.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Crime lab report confirms Mindy McCready's death a suicide
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - An Arkansas Crime Lab preliminary autopsy confirmed country music singer Mindy McCready's death was a suicide from a single gunshot wound to the head, the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday.
McCready, 37, whose career was overshadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon beside her boyfriend's dead dog. Officials have said she shot the dog.
'It is with the deepest sadness we say goodbye to an extraordinary and gifted talent, a daughter, a mother and friend, Miss Mindy McCready,' McCready's family said in a statement released on Wednesday.
The statement requested a time of 'quiet' for her family and friends and said McCready's 'friends in music' were planning to host a memorial in Nashville soon.
The singer's 1996 debut album, 'Ten Thousand Angels,' sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed. Her fifth album, 'I'm Still Here,' was released to acclaim in 2010.
McCready, though, had a complicated personal life with a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy. She was in a legal dispute over custody of her oldest son, Zander, with the boy's father at the time of her death.
In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter and regained custody.
Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of McCready's son Zayne, who was born last year, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Heber Springs. An investigation was ongoing into his death.
(Editing by David Bailey and Leslie Adler)
McCready, 37, whose career was overshadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon beside her boyfriend's dead dog. Officials have said she shot the dog.
'It is with the deepest sadness we say goodbye to an extraordinary and gifted talent, a daughter, a mother and friend, Miss Mindy McCready,' McCready's family said in a statement released on Wednesday.
The statement requested a time of 'quiet' for her family and friends and said McCready's 'friends in music' were planning to host a memorial in Nashville soon.
The singer's 1996 debut album, 'Ten Thousand Angels,' sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed. Her fifth album, 'I'm Still Here,' was released to acclaim in 2010.
McCready, though, had a complicated personal life with a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy. She was in a legal dispute over custody of her oldest son, Zander, with the boy's father at the time of her death.
In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter and regained custody.
Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of McCready's son Zayne, who was born last year, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Heber Springs. An investigation was ongoing into his death.
(Editing by David Bailey and Leslie Adler)
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Oscar "losers" to go home with $45,000 gift bags
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar nominees who don't end up with a coveted gold statuette at the Academy Awards on Sunday won't go home empty handed after all.
Los Angeles-based marketing firm Distinctive Assets will be handing out its annual 'Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag', valued at more than $45,000, to the talented and well-dressed 'losers,' the company said on Tuesday.
Among the items in the gift bags, known as swag bags, are trips to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, personal training sessions, condoms, a bottle of tequila, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, appointments for injectable fillers and 'portion-controlled' dinnerware for those watching their figure, Distinctive Assets said in a statement.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, stopped its practice of giving gift baskets to presenters and performers in 2007 after the practice came under closer scrutiny from U.S. tax authorities.
Celebrities who receive gifts and free trips at awards shows are expected to declare them to the Inland Revenue Service as income and pay the appropriate taxes.
The Distinctive Assets gift bag is not endorsed by the Academy but has been creating consolation goodie bags for 11 years now. The bags are delivered to the losing nominees to their homes directly or through their agents or publicists.
This year's 'Not Everyone Wins....' swag bag also includes an under-the-counter water filtration system, acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a one-week stay at a fitness and weight-loss retreat, and a one-year membership to London's Heathrow Airport's private VIP service.
Nominees' children also benefit: they get to enroll in professional all-kid circus classes.
The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the movie business, will be handed out a ceremony on Sunday in Hollywood.
(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
Los Angeles-based marketing firm Distinctive Assets will be handing out its annual 'Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag', valued at more than $45,000, to the talented and well-dressed 'losers,' the company said on Tuesday.
Among the items in the gift bags, known as swag bags, are trips to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, personal training sessions, condoms, a bottle of tequila, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, appointments for injectable fillers and 'portion-controlled' dinnerware for those watching their figure, Distinctive Assets said in a statement.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, stopped its practice of giving gift baskets to presenters and performers in 2007 after the practice came under closer scrutiny from U.S. tax authorities.
Celebrities who receive gifts and free trips at awards shows are expected to declare them to the Inland Revenue Service as income and pay the appropriate taxes.
The Distinctive Assets gift bag is not endorsed by the Academy but has been creating consolation goodie bags for 11 years now. The bags are delivered to the losing nominees to their homes directly or through their agents or publicists.
This year's 'Not Everyone Wins....' swag bag also includes an under-the-counter water filtration system, acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a one-week stay at a fitness and weight-loss retreat, and a one-year membership to London's Heathrow Airport's private VIP service.
Nominees' children also benefit: they get to enroll in professional all-kid circus classes.
The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the movie business, will be handed out a ceremony on Sunday in Hollywood.
(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)
Michael Jackson's teenage son lands U.S. television gig
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage son of late pop star Michael Jackson has signed up to be a correspondent for the 'Entertainment Tonight' television show, following in the footsteps of his show business family.
Prince Jackson, 16, was to debut on 'Entertainment Tonight' on Tuesday, interviewing actors James Franco, Zach Braff and director Sam Raimi as they promote their upcoming film 'Oz the Great and Powerful,' the program said.
Prince, who was born Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., is the oldest of Michael Jackson's three children.
Jackson told the syndicated tabloid news show that he wants to eventually get into the film business.
'I'm looking to become well-rounded as a producer, director, screenwriter and actor,' he said.
Jackson's sister Paris, 14, signed up in 2011 to star in a movie called 'Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys,' based on a young adult fantasy novel. The film is still in development.
Michael Jackson died unexpectedly at his home in Los Angeles in June 2009 at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and sedatives.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Bill Trott)
Prince Jackson, 16, was to debut on 'Entertainment Tonight' on Tuesday, interviewing actors James Franco, Zach Braff and director Sam Raimi as they promote their upcoming film 'Oz the Great and Powerful,' the program said.
Prince, who was born Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., is the oldest of Michael Jackson's three children.
Jackson told the syndicated tabloid news show that he wants to eventually get into the film business.
'I'm looking to become well-rounded as a producer, director, screenwriter and actor,' he said.
Jackson's sister Paris, 14, signed up in 2011 to star in a movie called 'Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys,' based on a young adult fantasy novel. The film is still in development.
Michael Jackson died unexpectedly at his home in Los Angeles in June 2009 at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and sedatives.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Bill Trott)
Monday, February 18, 2013
At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism
BERLIN (Reuters) - Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long 'bed-in' for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.
Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.
'When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist,' she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday.
'Even the corporations - John always used to say the corporations need to be with us... Corporations now say 10-20 percent of their profits will go to such and such charity. They have to do that almost for people to feel good about it.'
The late Beatle and Ono's 1969 bed-in to protest against the Vietnam war was repeated in Montreal, Canada. Press attention was huge, but much of it was mocking.
Ono, who gave a sell-out concert in Berlin on Sunday alongside their son Sean Lennon which closed with the anthem 'Give peace a chance', said it was still critical to stand up for peace despite new conflicts in the intervening decades.
'I don't want to be drowning in sadness. I think we have to stand and up and change the world,' she said.
The artist, born to a wealthy Japanese family in Tokyo in 1933, has recently become a passionate opponent of fracking, a controversial procedure which has sharply lifted energy output in the United States but which critics fear pollutes drinking water deep underground and could increase earthquake risks.
'Fracking is an incredible risk to the human race, I don't know why they even thought of doing it,' she said.
Ono, whose birthday is being marked by a major retrospective of her work in Frankfurt, said she feels she is becoming freer in her art.
'My attitude has changed... I'm allowing things to happen in a way I hadn't planned before,' she said.
Asked about her feelings on becoming an octogenarian, she said: 'I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it. Not everybody gets there.'
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Paul Casciato)
Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.
'When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist,' she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday.
'Even the corporations - John always used to say the corporations need to be with us... Corporations now say 10-20 percent of their profits will go to such and such charity. They have to do that almost for people to feel good about it.'
The late Beatle and Ono's 1969 bed-in to protest against the Vietnam war was repeated in Montreal, Canada. Press attention was huge, but much of it was mocking.
Ono, who gave a sell-out concert in Berlin on Sunday alongside their son Sean Lennon which closed with the anthem 'Give peace a chance', said it was still critical to stand up for peace despite new conflicts in the intervening decades.
'I don't want to be drowning in sadness. I think we have to stand and up and change the world,' she said.
The artist, born to a wealthy Japanese family in Tokyo in 1933, has recently become a passionate opponent of fracking, a controversial procedure which has sharply lifted energy output in the United States but which critics fear pollutes drinking water deep underground and could increase earthquake risks.
'Fracking is an incredible risk to the human race, I don't know why they even thought of doing it,' she said.
Ono, whose birthday is being marked by a major retrospective of her work in Frankfurt, said she feels she is becoming freer in her art.
'My attitude has changed... I'm allowing things to happen in a way I hadn't planned before,' she said.
Asked about her feelings on becoming an octogenarian, she said: 'I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it. Not everybody gets there.'
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Paul Casciato)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Lady Gaga needs hip surgery, cancels remainder of tour
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga canceled the remainder of her 'Born This Way Ball' concert tour to undergo hip surgery, promoters Live Nation said on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old singer announced she was suffering from an inflammation of the joints on Tuesday, but the tour operator said Gaga's injuries were more serious than she realized.
'After additional tests this morning to review the severity of the issue, it has been determined that Lady Gaga has a labral tear of the right hip,' Live Nation said in a statement.
'She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict downtime to recover. This, unfortunately, will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal,' it added.
Gaga has been on the road for two years, traveling across six continents.
On Tuesday, she postponed four U.S. shows saying she was suffering from synovitis that left her temporarily unable to walk. Synovitis is an inflammation of the joints that sometimes follows a sprain, strain or injury.
According to her website, the singer was due to play another 20 dates in the United States.
Live Nation said ticket holders would have their money refunded, starting on Thursday.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
The 26-year-old singer announced she was suffering from an inflammation of the joints on Tuesday, but the tour operator said Gaga's injuries were more serious than she realized.
'After additional tests this morning to review the severity of the issue, it has been determined that Lady Gaga has a labral tear of the right hip,' Live Nation said in a statement.
'She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict downtime to recover. This, unfortunately, will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal,' it added.
Gaga has been on the road for two years, traveling across six continents.
On Tuesday, she postponed four U.S. shows saying she was suffering from synovitis that left her temporarily unable to walk. Synovitis is an inflammation of the joints that sometimes follows a sprain, strain or injury.
According to her website, the singer was due to play another 20 dates in the United States.
Live Nation said ticket holders would have their money refunded, starting on Thursday.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
In newly released love letters, LBJ's sweet side comes to life
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Lyndon B. Johnson was so smitten when he met Claudia Alta 'Lady Bird' Taylor in 1934 that he took her on a first date the very next day -- and asked for her hand in marriage.
Taylor adored her suitor but was worried about rushing into marriage, according to dozens of love letters between the two set to be released for the first time by the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday, Valentine's Day.
In the pages of about 90 letters that the newly renovated library plans to post on its website, Johnson seems lonely and impatient, persistently urging Taylor to make up her mind. She says she wants to wait until they know each other better, though she also writes that she is afraid of losing him.
'All I can say, in absolute honesty, is -- I love you, I don't know how everlastingly I love you, -- so I can't answer you yet,' Taylor wrote him shortly after they met that September.
Johnson, then 26 and working in Washington, D.C., as a secretary to Congressman Richard Kleberg, met Taylor, 21, through a friend while visiting Texas and asked her for a date the next morning. They had breakfast at the Driskill Hotel in Austin and spent the day sightseeing. That same day, he popped the question, asking her to become his wife.
After he returned to Washington, they spent two and a half months exchanging a flurry of letters and phone calls before going to San Antonio on November 17 to, as she later put it, 'commit matrimony.'
In the letters, Johnson implores her to write to him frequently.
'Give me lots of letters next week,' he wrote to her. 'I'm going to need them. Mix some 'I love you' in the lines and not between them.'
Johnson's letters begin 'My dear' or 'Dear Bird.' She addresses him as 'My Dearest Lyndon' and signs 'Devotedly, Bird.' They sent each other photos. He sent her books.
'I wish you were here this minute because I feel silly and gay and I want to ruffle up your hair and kiss you and say silly things!' wrote Taylor, who had recently graduated from the University of Texas and was living with her father in Karnack, in East Texas.
A few of the letters had been released before, but this is the first time that all of the letters are being made public.
People probably won't be shocked to see a sweet side of Lady Bird Johnson, but reading tender sentiments from her husband, the hard-charging politician, is a different matter, said granddaughter Catherine Robb.
Johnson, who served in the U.S. House and Senate and as vice president, ascended to the presidency in 1963 as the nation grieved over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Johnson closed out his administration in 1969 under the cloud of Vietnam. He died in 1973.
He was known for giving the 'Johnson Treatment' -- he'd lean in close, push people's buttons and get under their skin.
'I don't think people think of him as being terribly vulnerable,' Robb, an Austin lawyer, told Reuters. In the letters, 'you see a much more personal side of him, much more unguarded.'
For example, he writes to his future wife that he carries a little orange comb in his billfold.
'It is the only thing I have from my little girl at Karnack and when I get lonesome and blue or happy and ambitious I always get pleasure when I look at the little comb and think . just think,' Johnson wrote.
Robb, who had weekly dinners with her grandmother for years before she died in 2007, recalled one meal at the Driskill Hotel - the site of her grandparents' first date.
'I asked her what she thought about this brash, impatient young man who proposed almost immediately and who she put off for a whopping two and a half months,' Robb said. 'She thought it was reasonable to wait an appropriate period of time, but she realized that she didn't want to be without him - he was something so special and this was an extraordinary adventure she was going to enjoy if she said yes.'
Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson honeymooned in Mexico and were married for 39 years. They had two daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb.
(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Taylor adored her suitor but was worried about rushing into marriage, according to dozens of love letters between the two set to be released for the first time by the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday, Valentine's Day.
In the pages of about 90 letters that the newly renovated library plans to post on its website, Johnson seems lonely and impatient, persistently urging Taylor to make up her mind. She says she wants to wait until they know each other better, though she also writes that she is afraid of losing him.
'All I can say, in absolute honesty, is -- I love you, I don't know how everlastingly I love you, -- so I can't answer you yet,' Taylor wrote him shortly after they met that September.
Johnson, then 26 and working in Washington, D.C., as a secretary to Congressman Richard Kleberg, met Taylor, 21, through a friend while visiting Texas and asked her for a date the next morning. They had breakfast at the Driskill Hotel in Austin and spent the day sightseeing. That same day, he popped the question, asking her to become his wife.
After he returned to Washington, they spent two and a half months exchanging a flurry of letters and phone calls before going to San Antonio on November 17 to, as she later put it, 'commit matrimony.'
In the letters, Johnson implores her to write to him frequently.
'Give me lots of letters next week,' he wrote to her. 'I'm going to need them. Mix some 'I love you' in the lines and not between them.'
Johnson's letters begin 'My dear' or 'Dear Bird.' She addresses him as 'My Dearest Lyndon' and signs 'Devotedly, Bird.' They sent each other photos. He sent her books.
'I wish you were here this minute because I feel silly and gay and I want to ruffle up your hair and kiss you and say silly things!' wrote Taylor, who had recently graduated from the University of Texas and was living with her father in Karnack, in East Texas.
A few of the letters had been released before, but this is the first time that all of the letters are being made public.
People probably won't be shocked to see a sweet side of Lady Bird Johnson, but reading tender sentiments from her husband, the hard-charging politician, is a different matter, said granddaughter Catherine Robb.
Johnson, who served in the U.S. House and Senate and as vice president, ascended to the presidency in 1963 as the nation grieved over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Johnson closed out his administration in 1969 under the cloud of Vietnam. He died in 1973.
He was known for giving the 'Johnson Treatment' -- he'd lean in close, push people's buttons and get under their skin.
'I don't think people think of him as being terribly vulnerable,' Robb, an Austin lawyer, told Reuters. In the letters, 'you see a much more personal side of him, much more unguarded.'
For example, he writes to his future wife that he carries a little orange comb in his billfold.
'It is the only thing I have from my little girl at Karnack and when I get lonesome and blue or happy and ambitious I always get pleasure when I look at the little comb and think . just think,' Johnson wrote.
Robb, who had weekly dinners with her grandmother for years before she died in 2007, recalled one meal at the Driskill Hotel - the site of her grandparents' first date.
'I asked her what she thought about this brash, impatient young man who proposed almost immediately and who she put off for a whopping two and a half months,' Robb said. 'She thought it was reasonable to wait an appropriate period of time, but she realized that she didn't want to be without him - he was something so special and this was an extraordinary adventure she was going to enjoy if she said yes.'
Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson honeymooned in Mexico and were married for 39 years. They had two daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb.
(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Beyonce shows marriage, miscarriage and Blue Ivy in documentary
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Beyonce is letting fans into her charmed life, introducing daughter Blue Ivy to the world and talking about motherhood, marriage and miscarriage in a new documentary.
The 31-year-old pop singer and her rapper husband, Jay-Z, 43, one of music's most influential couples, have been guarded about their private life.
But in 'Life is But a Dream,' airing on Saturday on cable channel HBO, Beyonce gives fans a glimpse of her working life and even a peek at baby Blue Ivy, who has been fiercely shielded from paparazzi since her birth in January 2012.
The 'Crazy in Love' singer addresses the widely reported claim from 2011 that she was faking her pregnancy, calling it 'the most ridiculous rumor I've ever heard of me.'
'To think that I'd be that vain ... especially after losing a child. The pain and trauma from that just makes it mean so much more to get an opportunity to bring life into the world,' she says in the documentary.
The Grammy-winning singer shows footage of a sonogram, her growing bump and grainy video of herself posing nude as she neared her due date.
The HBO film, which Beyonce co-directed, is part of a return to performing by the singer, who took a year off after her first child was born.
The arrival last year of Blue Ivy Carter gained worldwide media attention and prompted Beyonce to share more with her fans, launching a Tumblr page with snapshots that showed glimpses of her family life, including the baby.
Her miscarriage had been kept secret from the public until Jay-Z referred to it in his song 'Glory,' that he released following the birth of Blue Ivy.
In the documentary, Beyonce touched on the topic briefly, saying, 'It was the saddest thing I've ever been through.'
'My life is a journey. ... I had to go through my miscarriage, I believe I had to go through owning my company and managing myself ... ultimately your independence comes from knowing who you are and you being happy with yourself,' she said.
'Life is But a Dream' serves as a coming-of-age for the star as she entered motherhood.
She gives audiences a peek into her four-year marriage to Jay-Z, showing footage of the couple singing Coldplay's 'Yellow' to each other.
'This baby has made me love him more than I ever thought I could love another human being,' she says.
The documentary shows Beyonce putting herself and her team through grueling choreography rehearsals in 2011 and planning every second of her performances at big awards shows that year.
Beyonce began her comeback with a controversial lip-synched performance of the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January, followed by a live performance at the Super Bowl halftime show that wowed critics.
She has also announced a new album for this year. 'The Mrs Carter Show World Tour' - Jay-Z's real name is Sean Carter - will kick off in April with more than 40 performances in Europe and North America.
'Life is But a Dream' airs on HBO on Saturday, the same day as Beyonce's interview with Oprah Winfrey on the OWN cable channel.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Doina Chiacu)
The 31-year-old pop singer and her rapper husband, Jay-Z, 43, one of music's most influential couples, have been guarded about their private life.
But in 'Life is But a Dream,' airing on Saturday on cable channel HBO, Beyonce gives fans a glimpse of her working life and even a peek at baby Blue Ivy, who has been fiercely shielded from paparazzi since her birth in January 2012.
The 'Crazy in Love' singer addresses the widely reported claim from 2011 that she was faking her pregnancy, calling it 'the most ridiculous rumor I've ever heard of me.'
'To think that I'd be that vain ... especially after losing a child. The pain and trauma from that just makes it mean so much more to get an opportunity to bring life into the world,' she says in the documentary.
The Grammy-winning singer shows footage of a sonogram, her growing bump and grainy video of herself posing nude as she neared her due date.
The HBO film, which Beyonce co-directed, is part of a return to performing by the singer, who took a year off after her first child was born.
The arrival last year of Blue Ivy Carter gained worldwide media attention and prompted Beyonce to share more with her fans, launching a Tumblr page with snapshots that showed glimpses of her family life, including the baby.
Her miscarriage had been kept secret from the public until Jay-Z referred to it in his song 'Glory,' that he released following the birth of Blue Ivy.
In the documentary, Beyonce touched on the topic briefly, saying, 'It was the saddest thing I've ever been through.'
'My life is a journey. ... I had to go through my miscarriage, I believe I had to go through owning my company and managing myself ... ultimately your independence comes from knowing who you are and you being happy with yourself,' she said.
'Life is But a Dream' serves as a coming-of-age for the star as she entered motherhood.
She gives audiences a peek into her four-year marriage to Jay-Z, showing footage of the couple singing Coldplay's 'Yellow' to each other.
'This baby has made me love him more than I ever thought I could love another human being,' she says.
The documentary shows Beyonce putting herself and her team through grueling choreography rehearsals in 2011 and planning every second of her performances at big awards shows that year.
Beyonce began her comeback with a controversial lip-synched performance of the national anthem at President Barack Obama's inauguration in January, followed by a live performance at the Super Bowl halftime show that wowed critics.
She has also announced a new album for this year. 'The Mrs Carter Show World Tour' - Jay-Z's real name is Sean Carter - will kick off in April with more than 40 performances in Europe and North America.
'Life is But a Dream' airs on HBO on Saturday, the same day as Beyonce's interview with Oprah Winfrey on the OWN cable channel.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Doina Chiacu)
Kate Upton says body shut down after Antarctic bikini shoot
(Reuters) - Swimsuit model Kate Upton said on Tuesday her body shut down after she posed in a skimpy bikini in Antarctica for Sports Illustrated magazine.
Upton, wearing only a white bikini bottom and an unzipped white parka, was picked as the cover girl for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, unveiled on Monday, for the second consecutive year.
'It was freezing,' Upton, 20, told NBC's morning TV show 'Today' on Tuesday. 'I'm from Florida, so it wasn't easy for me.
'When I came back, I was losing my hearing and eyesight. My body was shutting down because it was working so hard to keep me warm.'
Upton joins celebrity models including Elle Macpherson, Christie Brinkley and Tyra Banks to appear more than once on the swimsuit issue's cover.
M.J. Day, a senior editor for Sports Illustrated, told Reuters that Upton braved temperatures as low as 24 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 Celsius) and wind chills as low as -20 Fahrenheit (-29 Celsius).
'We should name a passageway after her down there,' said Day, who accompanied Upton on the frigid shoot. 'She braved six days in a bikini while we were head-to-toe in jackets ... No one will ever accuse her of being a whiny model, ever.'
This year's 17 models were part of photo shoots that stretched across all seven continents.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
Upton, wearing only a white bikini bottom and an unzipped white parka, was picked as the cover girl for the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, unveiled on Monday, for the second consecutive year.
'It was freezing,' Upton, 20, told NBC's morning TV show 'Today' on Tuesday. 'I'm from Florida, so it wasn't easy for me.
'When I came back, I was losing my hearing and eyesight. My body was shutting down because it was working so hard to keep me warm.'
Upton joins celebrity models including Elle Macpherson, Christie Brinkley and Tyra Banks to appear more than once on the swimsuit issue's cover.
M.J. Day, a senior editor for Sports Illustrated, told Reuters that Upton braved temperatures as low as 24 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 Celsius) and wind chills as low as -20 Fahrenheit (-29 Celsius).
'We should name a passageway after her down there,' said Day, who accompanied Upton on the frigid shoot. 'She braved six days in a bikini while we were head-to-toe in jackets ... No one will ever accuse her of being a whiny model, ever.'
This year's 17 models were part of photo shoots that stretched across all seven continents.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)
This article is sponsored by real estate news.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Lady Gaga suffering from joint inflammation, postpones shows
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Lady Gaga said on Tuesday she was suffering from a severe inflammation of the joints that left her temporarily unable to walk, forcing her to postpone a handful of upcoming shows on the North American leg of her world tour.
'I am completely devastated and heartsick. I've been hiding this injury and pain from my staff for a month, praying it would heal, but after last night's performance, I could not walk,' the singer said in a statement.
Her condition is called synovitis, an inflammation that sometimes follows a sprain, strain or injury.
Gaga posted a similar message in a series of tweets to her 34 million Twitter followers.
'I will hopefully heal as soon as possible and be at 500 percent again, which is what you deserve,' she said.
'The Edge of Glory' singer postponed shows in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday, in Detroit on Saturday and in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday.
Lady Gaga, 26, has been on the road for two years on her 'Born This Way Ball' world tour. Her website showed tour dates through March 20.
The 200-plus date tour has taken the singer across six continents and was ranked as the sixth top-grossing tour of 2012 by Billboard magazine.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
This article is sponsored by free dating site.
'I am completely devastated and heartsick. I've been hiding this injury and pain from my staff for a month, praying it would heal, but after last night's performance, I could not walk,' the singer said in a statement.
Her condition is called synovitis, an inflammation that sometimes follows a sprain, strain or injury.
Gaga posted a similar message in a series of tweets to her 34 million Twitter followers.
'I will hopefully heal as soon as possible and be at 500 percent again, which is what you deserve,' she said.
'The Edge of Glory' singer postponed shows in Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday, in Detroit on Saturday and in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday.
Lady Gaga, 26, has been on the road for two years on her 'Born This Way Ball' world tour. Her website showed tour dates through March 20.
The 200-plus date tour has taken the singer across six continents and was ranked as the sixth top-grossing tour of 2012 by Billboard magazine.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)
This article is sponsored by free dating site.
"30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin expecting child with new wife
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Alec Baldwin and his new wife Hilaria Thomas Baldwin are expecting their first child together, a representative for the '30 Rock' star said on Tuesday.
Baldwin, 54, married the yoga teacher, who is 26 years his junior, in a July 2012 wedding in New York.
The child is expected in the summer, the spokesman said, but gave no other details.
The award-winning actor most recently played egotistical television executive Jack Donaghy on the NBC comedy '30 Rock,' which broadcast its last episode in January.
Baldwin was married to actress Kim Basinger from 1993-2002. The couple has one daughter, Ireland, who was born in 1995.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Todd Eastham)
This article is sponsored by technology.
Baldwin, 54, married the yoga teacher, who is 26 years his junior, in a July 2012 wedding in New York.
The child is expected in the summer, the spokesman said, but gave no other details.
The award-winning actor most recently played egotistical television executive Jack Donaghy on the NBC comedy '30 Rock,' which broadcast its last episode in January.
Baldwin was married to actress Kim Basinger from 1993-2002. The couple has one daughter, Ireland, who was born in 1995.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Todd Eastham)
This article is sponsored by technology.
Dave Clark Five bassist Rick Huxley dies aged 72
(Reuters) - Rick Huxley, the bassist for the 1960s British Invasion pop-rock group the Dave Clark Five, has died, the band's leader said on Tuesday. He was 72.
Huxley died unexpectedly at his home in the English countryside on Monday, Dave Clark told Reuters.
The band scored No. 1 hits on both sides of the Atlantic during its decade-long run from 1960-1970.
'Glad All Over' holds the honor of knocking the Beatles' 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' out of the top spot on the UK chart in 1964, while 'Over and Over' topped the U.S. chart in 1965.
The cause of death was not immediately known, said Clark, who added that Huxley had been 'sprightly and in good shape' despite suffering from emphysema for several years.
'I spoke to him on Friday and he was in great spirits,' Clark said in a telephone call. 'He went through a recent doctor's check and had a good, clean bill of health. This came totally out of the blue, and I'm just devastated.'
Clark remembered Huxley for his modest demeanor and humor.
'He always made me smile and I'll miss that immensely,' Clark said. 'He was never arrogant and flashy. He was a gentleman and very low key. He was a very, very talented musician and a great friend.'
The Dave Clark Five was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Huxley was born in Dartford, England, east of London, the same town that is home to the Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards.
Huxley is survived by two sons and a daughter.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)
Huxley died unexpectedly at his home in the English countryside on Monday, Dave Clark told Reuters.
The band scored No. 1 hits on both sides of the Atlantic during its decade-long run from 1960-1970.
'Glad All Over' holds the honor of knocking the Beatles' 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' out of the top spot on the UK chart in 1964, while 'Over and Over' topped the U.S. chart in 1965.
The cause of death was not immediately known, said Clark, who added that Huxley had been 'sprightly and in good shape' despite suffering from emphysema for several years.
'I spoke to him on Friday and he was in great spirits,' Clark said in a telephone call. 'He went through a recent doctor's check and had a good, clean bill of health. This came totally out of the blue, and I'm just devastated.'
Clark remembered Huxley for his modest demeanor and humor.
'He always made me smile and I'll miss that immensely,' Clark said. 'He was never arrogant and flashy. He was a gentleman and very low key. He was a very, very talented musician and a great friend.'
The Dave Clark Five was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
Huxley was born in Dartford, England, east of London, the same town that is home to the Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards.
Huxley is survived by two sons and a daughter.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey in Los Angeles; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Mohammad Zargham)
Monday, February 11, 2013
Trump may have trouble collecting on $5 million orangutan bet
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A comedian, a millionaire and an orangutan. It may sound like the beginning of a screwball joke, but Donald Trump isn't laughing.
The famously outspoken real estate magnate has sued famously outspoken television host Bill Maher, demanding the $5 million Maher offered to give to charity if Trump could prove his father is not an orangutan.
But legal experts say Trump is unlikely to get a dime from Maher, the host of the HBO series Real Time With Bill Maher, because his offer was clearly made in jest.
'It's parody,' said Bryan Sullivan, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer. 'You know Bill Maher is a comedian and a satirist. The offer is so ridiculous.'
Trump, however, has taken the comic at his word.
'Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan,' Trump's lawyer, Scott Balber, wrote to Maher last month.
When Maher did not respond, Trump filed a breach of contract lawsuit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
A Maher spokeswoman referred to his show Friday, in which he ridiculed Trump's lawsuit.
'It's never a joke when someone reneges on a commitment that benefits worthy charities,' said Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, in response. 'The tone of Mr. Maher's diatribe on Friday evening suggests he is far more concerned with the lawsuit than he wants the public to believe.'
Last year, during the presidential campaign, Trump offered to give $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama would release his college records. Trump, who flirted with a possible White House run, previously questioned Obama's citizenship and boasted that he prompted Obama to release his birth certificate.
As a guest on NBC's The Tonight Show last month, Maher offered to give $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not the son of an orangutan, since the ape's orange fur matches the color of Trump's trademark gravity-defying coiffure.
'He can donate to a charity of his choice,' Maher said. 'Hair Club for Men; the Institute for Incorrigible Douchebaggery. Whatever charity.'
Under contract law, a verbal offer can create a contractual obligation. But courts make exceptions for obviously satirical offers.
In a New York federal case, Leonard vs. Pepsico, a man sued the soft drink maker after it refused to honor a TV advertisement 'offer' of a fighter jet for redeemable Pepsi Points.
District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan said an offer made 'evidently in jest' is not a contract and noted the commercial featured a teenager using the jet to get to school.
'This fantasy is, of course, extremely unrealistic,' Wood wrote.
Trump's lawsuit alleges that Maher's show is political commentary, not comedy. In a Fox News appearance last week, Trump said he was certain Maher's offer was not a joke.
'That was venom,' Trump said. 'That wasn't a joke.'
(Reporting by Joseph Ax. Editing by Andre Grenon)
The famously outspoken real estate magnate has sued famously outspoken television host Bill Maher, demanding the $5 million Maher offered to give to charity if Trump could prove his father is not an orangutan.
But legal experts say Trump is unlikely to get a dime from Maher, the host of the HBO series Real Time With Bill Maher, because his offer was clearly made in jest.
'It's parody,' said Bryan Sullivan, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer. 'You know Bill Maher is a comedian and a satirist. The offer is so ridiculous.'
Trump, however, has taken the comic at his word.
'Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan,' Trump's lawyer, Scott Balber, wrote to Maher last month.
When Maher did not respond, Trump filed a breach of contract lawsuit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
A Maher spokeswoman referred to his show Friday, in which he ridiculed Trump's lawsuit.
'It's never a joke when someone reneges on a commitment that benefits worthy charities,' said Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump, in response. 'The tone of Mr. Maher's diatribe on Friday evening suggests he is far more concerned with the lawsuit than he wants the public to believe.'
Last year, during the presidential campaign, Trump offered to give $5 million to charity if President Barack Obama would release his college records. Trump, who flirted with a possible White House run, previously questioned Obama's citizenship and boasted that he prompted Obama to release his birth certificate.
As a guest on NBC's The Tonight Show last month, Maher offered to give $5 million to charity if Trump could prove he was not the son of an orangutan, since the ape's orange fur matches the color of Trump's trademark gravity-defying coiffure.
'He can donate to a charity of his choice,' Maher said. 'Hair Club for Men; the Institute for Incorrigible Douchebaggery. Whatever charity.'
Under contract law, a verbal offer can create a contractual obligation. But courts make exceptions for obviously satirical offers.
In a New York federal case, Leonard vs. Pepsico, a man sued the soft drink maker after it refused to honor a TV advertisement 'offer' of a fighter jet for redeemable Pepsi Points.
District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan said an offer made 'evidently in jest' is not a contract and noted the commercial featured a teenager using the jet to get to school.
'This fantasy is, of course, extremely unrealistic,' Wood wrote.
Trump's lawsuit alleges that Maher's show is political commentary, not comedy. In a Fox News appearance last week, Trump said he was certain Maher's offer was not a joke.
'That was venom,' Trump said. 'That wasn't a joke.'
(Reporting by Joseph Ax. Editing by Andre Grenon)
Actor Steven Seagal trains Arizona posse on school security
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Arizona (Reuters) - Action film star Steven Seagal, who racks up big body counts in his on-screen battles with bad guys, took on a new role on Saturday, training posse volunteers for controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio in how to use guns to protect schools in shooting incidents.
Arpaio, who styles himself as 'America's Toughest Sheriff,' enlisted Seagal to train his Maricopa County posse members at a school in Fountain Hills, a suburb northeast of Phoenix, with children used as stand-ins for scared students.
Seagal, a burly martial arts expert turned actor, guided 48 volunteers through various aspects of responding to a shooting, including room-to-room searches, and critiqued their work.
'I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children,' Seagal said.
Arpaio, whose tough stances on crime and illegal immigration have made him a national figure, has dispatched the volunteer posse to patrol schools in response to the shooting rampage that killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December.
Those killings touched off a renewed debate over gun violence in the United States. President Barack Obama proposed a sweeping package of gun-control measures, including a ban on assault weapons.
The National Rifle Association, which opposes the gun-control proposal, has advocated placing armed security guards in schools.
Arpaio's volunteers, some trained and qualified to carry the same guns as deputies, can intervene if there is an imminent threat to life. To add realism to the training event, guns firing non-lethal rounds that leave a color mark were used.
'It's important to help protect our children and our schools and we need to do that with whatever means we have,' said Rick Velotta, a posse member and retired General Electric manager who attended the training.
About a dozen people protested the event.
'No gun should ever be in a school,' said protester Cynthia Wharton, a Fountain Hills resident.
Arpaio's 3,450-strong posse of unpaid men and women has for years helped the sheriff target drunken drivers and illegal immigrants, and chase down fathers who are behind on child support.
Last year, Arpaio sent posse members to Hawaii to investigate the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate at the request of local Tea Party activists, a key Arpaio constituency.
A sometime resident of the Phoenix Valley and member of Arpaio's posse, Seagal, 60, starred in big-budget films in the 1980s and early 1990s, earning a reputation as an action star in movies like 'Above the Law' and 'Under Siege.'
He more recently played a corrupt Mexican drug lord in the 2010 film 'Machete.'
Seagal also has been sworn in as a sheriff's deputy in a Texas county along the border with Mexico and appeared in a reality TV show detailing his work as a reserve deputy in New Orleans.
(Reporting by Aron Ranen; Writing by Tim Gaynor and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Bailey and Eric Beech)
Arpaio, who styles himself as 'America's Toughest Sheriff,' enlisted Seagal to train his Maricopa County posse members at a school in Fountain Hills, a suburb northeast of Phoenix, with children used as stand-ins for scared students.
Seagal, a burly martial arts expert turned actor, guided 48 volunteers through various aspects of responding to a shooting, including room-to-room searches, and critiqued their work.
'I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children,' Seagal said.
Arpaio, whose tough stances on crime and illegal immigration have made him a national figure, has dispatched the volunteer posse to patrol schools in response to the shooting rampage that killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December.
Those killings touched off a renewed debate over gun violence in the United States. President Barack Obama proposed a sweeping package of gun-control measures, including a ban on assault weapons.
The National Rifle Association, which opposes the gun-control proposal, has advocated placing armed security guards in schools.
Arpaio's volunteers, some trained and qualified to carry the same guns as deputies, can intervene if there is an imminent threat to life. To add realism to the training event, guns firing non-lethal rounds that leave a color mark were used.
'It's important to help protect our children and our schools and we need to do that with whatever means we have,' said Rick Velotta, a posse member and retired General Electric manager who attended the training.
About a dozen people protested the event.
'No gun should ever be in a school,' said protester Cynthia Wharton, a Fountain Hills resident.
Arpaio's 3,450-strong posse of unpaid men and women has for years helped the sheriff target drunken drivers and illegal immigrants, and chase down fathers who are behind on child support.
Last year, Arpaio sent posse members to Hawaii to investigate the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate at the request of local Tea Party activists, a key Arpaio constituency.
A sometime resident of the Phoenix Valley and member of Arpaio's posse, Seagal, 60, starred in big-budget films in the 1980s and early 1990s, earning a reputation as an action star in movies like 'Above the Law' and 'Under Siege.'
He more recently played a corrupt Mexican drug lord in the 2010 film 'Machete.'
Seagal also has been sworn in as a sheriff's deputy in a Texas county along the border with Mexico and appeared in a reality TV show detailing his work as a reserve deputy in New Orleans.
(Reporting by Aron Ranen; Writing by Tim Gaynor and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Bailey and Eric Beech)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Chris Brown crashes car on eve of Grammy Awards
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Embattled R&B singer Chris Brown crashed his car into a wall in upscale Beverly Hills on Saturday, and later told police officers he was trying to elude aggressive paparazzi, police said.
The crash came on the eve of the Grammy Awards, almost exactly four years after Brown assaulted his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, the night before the awards show in 2009.
In the latest incident, Brown told Beverly Hills police that photographers were chasing him right up until the crash, said police Sergeant Kurt Haefs.
The singer was not cited or arrested at the scene, Haefs said. He added the damaged vehicle may have been towed away.
Media reports indicated Brown was driving a black Porsche.
A representative for Brown, who was not injured in the accident, did not immediately return calls on Saturday evening.
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching Rihanna and he faces ongoing legal troubles stemming from the case.
A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday ordered a new report on the community service Brown was due to perform as a result of the conviction, after prosecutors accused the singer of cutting corners on the work.
Prosecutors have cited occasions when they said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead was performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Rihanna, who has admitted that she has resumed dating Brown, accompanied him to his court hearing on Wednesday.
Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, has denied the latest allegations about the singer's community service and accused prosecutors of persecuting his client.
This year, Brown's 'Fortune' is nominated for best urban contemporary album at the Grammy Awards.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Sandra Maler)
The crash came on the eve of the Grammy Awards, almost exactly four years after Brown assaulted his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, the night before the awards show in 2009.
In the latest incident, Brown told Beverly Hills police that photographers were chasing him right up until the crash, said police Sergeant Kurt Haefs.
The singer was not cited or arrested at the scene, Haefs said. He added the damaged vehicle may have been towed away.
Media reports indicated Brown was driving a black Porsche.
A representative for Brown, who was not injured in the accident, did not immediately return calls on Saturday evening.
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching Rihanna and he faces ongoing legal troubles stemming from the case.
A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday ordered a new report on the community service Brown was due to perform as a result of the conviction, after prosecutors accused the singer of cutting corners on the work.
Prosecutors have cited occasions when they said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead was performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Rihanna, who has admitted that she has resumed dating Brown, accompanied him to his court hearing on Wednesday.
Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, has denied the latest allegations about the singer's community service and accused prosecutors of persecuting his client.
This year, Brown's 'Fortune' is nominated for best urban contemporary album at the Grammy Awards.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Sandra Maler)
Friday, February 8, 2013
California boy to be arraigned in "swatting" prank on actor Kutcher
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors charged a 12-year-old boy on Thursday with making a false emergency call that sent police swarming to the home of actor Ashton Kutcher in a 'swatting' prank.
The name of the boy, who was arrested by Los Angeles police in December, was withheld due to his age. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a juvenile court in Los Angeles on Friday.
The trend toward placing false emergency calls is known as 'swatting' because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers often are sent to the purported crime scenes. Authorities say such situations can be dangerous due to the risk of a misunderstanding between police and occupants of a building.
The boy has been charged with two felony counts each of making false bomb threats and computer intrusion in connection with the October 3 emergency call that drew police to the Hollywood Hills home of Kutcher, star of the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men,' and a similar call on October 10 that sent police to a Wells Fargo Bank.
Authorities have accused the boy of having reported men armed with guns and explosives in Kutcher's home and that several people had been shot. Dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the house. Kutcher was not home at the time.
Swatting calls in recent months have also sent police to the homes of singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Trott)
The name of the boy, who was arrested by Los Angeles police in December, was withheld due to his age. He was scheduled to be arraigned in a juvenile court in Los Angeles on Friday.
The trend toward placing false emergency calls is known as 'swatting' because SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers often are sent to the purported crime scenes. Authorities say such situations can be dangerous due to the risk of a misunderstanding between police and occupants of a building.
The boy has been charged with two felony counts each of making false bomb threats and computer intrusion in connection with the October 3 emergency call that drew police to the Hollywood Hills home of Kutcher, star of the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men,' and a similar call on October 10 that sent police to a Wells Fargo Bank.
Authorities have accused the boy of having reported men armed with guns and explosives in Kutcher's home and that several people had been shot. Dozens of emergency personnel were sent to the house. Kutcher was not home at the time.
Swatting calls in recent months have also sent police to the homes of singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bill Trott)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Court to probe singer Chris Brown's community service records
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to find R&B singer Chris Brown in violation of his probation because they say community service records stemming from his 2009 assault on girlfriend Rihanna contain 'significant discrepancies.'
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Brown is scheduled to appear at a hearing on Wednesday in Los Angeles, at which time a judge could decide to revoke the 'Don't Wake Me Up' singer's probation.
But Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, told Reuters the allegations are 'scurrilous, libelous and defamatory.'
'The prosecution has lost their collective minds,' Geragos said. 'I'm going to seek sanctions against the (district attorney's) office for bringing a frivolous motion.'
Brown pleaded guilty in 2009 to beating and punching R&B singer Rihanna and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community service and domestic violence counseling.
The community service involved tasks like cutting grass, picking up trash and removing graffiti. He was allowed to complete it in his home state of Virginia.
'After a thorough review of all documents and evidence submitted to the court it appears there are significant discrepancies indicating at best sloppy documentation and, at worst fraudulent reporting,' Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray said in a court filing on Tuesday.
Murray cited three occasions when she said Brown was not at the recorded location of his community service and instead performing or traveling, once on a private jet bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Brown, in another instance, never stripped or waxed the floors at a Virginia community center as a report said he did, according to the 19-page court document.
Murray also accused Virginia authorities of poor and incorrect management of the singer's service and records, and said his community service case should be transferred to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg in November praised Brown for 'actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you.'
R&B singer Rihanna and Brown have recently rekindled their romance and are dating again, Rihanna told Rolling Stone magazine last week.
Brown was in a brawl last month with fellow singer Frank Ocean outside a West Hollywood recording studio. A police report indicates he punched Ocean in the face but Ocean said over the weekend he did not want Brown prosecuted.
(Editing by Xavier Briand and Eric Walsh)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Singer Gloria Estefan, husband, plan Broadway show of their lives
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan and her music entrepreneur husband, Emilio, are developing a new Broadway show based on their lives, the show's producer said on Tuesday.
The couple is working with the Nederlander Organization on the show that will trace their lives from leaving Cuba to international stardom.
'The Estefans' journey of success, led by raw talent and passion, is captivating as it drove them from relative obscurity to global sensations,' Jimmy Nederlander, the organization's president, said in a statement announcing the deal.
Estefan, one of the most successful Latin crossover stars, fled Cuba with her family as a toddler. She met her husband in Miami and became the lead singer of his band, which was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. The couple married in 1978.
She has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammy Awards and produced a list of hits including 'Conga,' 'The Rhythm is Going to Get You,' and '1,2,3.'
Emilio, a music, television and film director, was instrument in his wife's career, and helped to develop stars such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez.
'Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come,' the couple said in a statement.
The Nederlander Organization said no creative team has been announced yet.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Eric Walsh)
The couple is working with the Nederlander Organization on the show that will trace their lives from leaving Cuba to international stardom.
'The Estefans' journey of success, led by raw talent and passion, is captivating as it drove them from relative obscurity to global sensations,' Jimmy Nederlander, the organization's president, said in a statement announcing the deal.
Estefan, one of the most successful Latin crossover stars, fled Cuba with her family as a toddler. She met her husband in Miami and became the lead singer of his band, which was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. The couple married in 1978.
She has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammy Awards and produced a list of hits including 'Conga,' 'The Rhythm is Going to Get You,' and '1,2,3.'
Emilio, a music, television and film director, was instrument in his wife's career, and helped to develop stars such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez.
'Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come,' the couple said in a statement.
The Nederlander Organization said no creative team has been announced yet.
(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Eric Walsh)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Ed Koch remembered as quintessential New York City mayor
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was memorialized on Monday as an in-your-face, wisecracking leader who helped transform the city from a symbol of urban decay to the vital, glittering metropolis it is today.
As Koch's casket was led out of Temple Emanu-El, a soaring Fifth Ave. synagogue opposite Central Park, an organ played Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' while mourners including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a who's who of New York politics stood and applauded.
Koch died on Friday at the age of 88 in Manhattan -- the only place other than heaven he could imagine living, as he was known to say.
'I come today with the love and condolences of 8.4 million New Yorkers who really are grieving with you at this moment,' said the city's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
Speakers joked about the famously attention-loving Koch's obsession with stage-managing his passing. His grave-stone, complete with an epitaph and a bench bearing Koch's name, has been ready since 2008, and his friends said he had been planning the funeral for years.
'We started talking about his death in the '80s,' said his former chief of staff Diane Coffey.
As mayor from 1978 to 1989, Koch, with his trademark phrase 'How'm I Doin?', was a natural showman and tireless promoter of both himself and the city. He helped repair the city's finances as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and later led a building renaissance that would see 200,000 units of affordable housing erected or rehabilitated in some of the city's most crime-infested areas.
He could also be a divisive figure. His determination to shut Sydenham, a poorly-performing Harlem hospital that was one of the only city hospitals employing black doctors, angered black New Yorkers. And AIDS activists said he was too slow to react to the epidemic that ravaged the city's gay population in the 1980s.
Tall, nearly bald and speaking with a high-pitched voice, Koch was an unmistakable presence. He was famously argumentative, and rarely walked away from verbal jousting.
His friend James Gill remembered Koch's response to someone who had written a letter criticizing the former mayor.
'You are entitled to your opinion of me and I am entitled to my opinion of you,' Koch replied. 'My opinion of you is that you are a fool.'
His nephews and grand-nephew and grand-niece remembered Koch, who never married, as devoted 'Uncle Eddie' - eager to hear what they thought of his appearances on talk shows but also happy join his 11-year-old grand-niece for a manicure.
Clinton read from a stack of letters Koch had sent him over the years and said Koch had 'a big brain, but he had an even bigger heart.'
Koch remained relevant in politics long after 1989, when he lost the Democratic nomination to David Dinkins for what would have been a record fourth term as mayor. But when asked if he would run for office again, he liked to say, 'The people threw me out and the people must be punished.'
His endorsement was coveted by candidates decades after he left office. And his unwavering and loud support of Israel made Koch 'one of the most influential and important American Zionists,' said former Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
At Monday's memorial, Bloomberg noted the synagogue Koch had chosen for the funeral stood just a few blocks from the midtown bridge that had been renamed to honor him. Last year, the city released a video of Koch standing at the bridge's entrance ramp, calling out to approaching cars: 'Welcome to my bridge! Welcome to my bridge!'
'No mayor, I think, has ever embodied the spirit of New York City like he did. And I don't think anyone ever will,' Bloomberg said. 'Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and chutzpah - he was our city's quintessential mayor.'
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alden Bentley)
As Koch's casket was led out of Temple Emanu-El, a soaring Fifth Ave. synagogue opposite Central Park, an organ played Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' while mourners including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a who's who of New York politics stood and applauded.
Koch died on Friday at the age of 88 in Manhattan -- the only place other than heaven he could imagine living, as he was known to say.
'I come today with the love and condolences of 8.4 million New Yorkers who really are grieving with you at this moment,' said the city's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
Speakers joked about the famously attention-loving Koch's obsession with stage-managing his passing. His grave-stone, complete with an epitaph and a bench bearing Koch's name, has been ready since 2008, and his friends said he had been planning the funeral for years.
'We started talking about his death in the '80s,' said his former chief of staff Diane Coffey.
As mayor from 1978 to 1989, Koch, with his trademark phrase 'How'm I Doin?', was a natural showman and tireless promoter of both himself and the city. He helped repair the city's finances as it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and later led a building renaissance that would see 200,000 units of affordable housing erected or rehabilitated in some of the city's most crime-infested areas.
He could also be a divisive figure. His determination to shut Sydenham, a poorly-performing Harlem hospital that was one of the only city hospitals employing black doctors, angered black New Yorkers. And AIDS activists said he was too slow to react to the epidemic that ravaged the city's gay population in the 1980s.
Tall, nearly bald and speaking with a high-pitched voice, Koch was an unmistakable presence. He was famously argumentative, and rarely walked away from verbal jousting.
His friend James Gill remembered Koch's response to someone who had written a letter criticizing the former mayor.
'You are entitled to your opinion of me and I am entitled to my opinion of you,' Koch replied. 'My opinion of you is that you are a fool.'
His nephews and grand-nephew and grand-niece remembered Koch, who never married, as devoted 'Uncle Eddie' - eager to hear what they thought of his appearances on talk shows but also happy join his 11-year-old grand-niece for a manicure.
Clinton read from a stack of letters Koch had sent him over the years and said Koch had 'a big brain, but he had an even bigger heart.'
Koch remained relevant in politics long after 1989, when he lost the Democratic nomination to David Dinkins for what would have been a record fourth term as mayor. But when asked if he would run for office again, he liked to say, 'The people threw me out and the people must be punished.'
His endorsement was coveted by candidates decades after he left office. And his unwavering and loud support of Israel made Koch 'one of the most influential and important American Zionists,' said former Ambassador Ido Aharoni.
At Monday's memorial, Bloomberg noted the synagogue Koch had chosen for the funeral stood just a few blocks from the midtown bridge that had been renamed to honor him. Last year, the city released a video of Koch standing at the bridge's entrance ramp, calling out to approaching cars: 'Welcome to my bridge! Welcome to my bridge!'
'No mayor, I think, has ever embodied the spirit of New York City like he did. And I don't think anyone ever will,' Bloomberg said. 'Tough and loud, brash and irreverent, full of humor and chutzpah - he was our city's quintessential mayor.'
(Reporting By Edith Honan; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Alden Bentley)
Singer Frank Ocean wants peace, says no charges against Chris Brown
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rising R&B star Frank Ocean said on Saturday he will not press charges against singer Chris Brown, who he said had 'jumped' him last week in a parking lot fracas.
The encounter between Ocean and Brown still could derail Brown's efforts to remain in compliance with his probation stemming from his 2009 assault against singer Rihanna, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, a legal expert said.
Earlier in the week, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Ocean was 'desirous of prosecution in this incident,' which occurred on January 27 outside a recording studio in West Hollywood.
Representatives for Brown could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Sheriff's deputies had cited witnesses as saying Grammy-winner Brown, 23, punched Ocean, 25, in the brief altercation.
But Ocean on Saturday posted a message on www.frankocean.com saying he wanted to move past the incident.
'I'll choose sanity,' he wrote. 'No criminal charges. No civil lawsuit. Forgiveness, albeit difficult, is wisdom. Peace, albeit trite, is what I want in my short life. Peace.'
Brown and Ocean both are nominated in the best urban contemporary album category at the Grammys Awards, which will be announced February 10 in Los Angeles.
On the day of the parking lot incident Ocean had said on Twitter that he 'got jumped by chris and a couple guys.' He also said he cut his finger and Brown was later photographed with a cast on his right hand.
Brown, whose hit songs include 'Look at Me Now' and 'Run It!,' was placed on probation for five years for the assault on Rihanna. He risks having his probation revoked if charges are filed against him.
But if the judge overseeing his case suspects Brown broke the law, the judge could move to find him in violation of probation even without a criminal charge, said Steve Cron, a defense attorney not connected to the case and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.
'Then, Brown would be entitled to have a hearing with witnesses and his lawyers questioning witnesses and so forth,' Cron said.
Cron said prosecutors still can file charges even if a suspected victim does not cooperate.
If Brown is found to have violated his probation, a judge could send him to jail or order counseling, he said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that if Ocean does not want to press charges, it would be difficult to proceed with the case.
Brown's entourage and that of Canadian rapper Drake were involved in a June 2012 brawl in a New York nightclub. No arrests or charges were brought in that case.
(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bill Trott)
The encounter between Ocean and Brown still could derail Brown's efforts to remain in compliance with his probation stemming from his 2009 assault against singer Rihanna, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, a legal expert said.
Earlier in the week, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Ocean was 'desirous of prosecution in this incident,' which occurred on January 27 outside a recording studio in West Hollywood.
Representatives for Brown could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
Sheriff's deputies had cited witnesses as saying Grammy-winner Brown, 23, punched Ocean, 25, in the brief altercation.
But Ocean on Saturday posted a message on www.frankocean.com saying he wanted to move past the incident.
'I'll choose sanity,' he wrote. 'No criminal charges. No civil lawsuit. Forgiveness, albeit difficult, is wisdom. Peace, albeit trite, is what I want in my short life. Peace.'
Brown and Ocean both are nominated in the best urban contemporary album category at the Grammys Awards, which will be announced February 10 in Los Angeles.
On the day of the parking lot incident Ocean had said on Twitter that he 'got jumped by chris and a couple guys.' He also said he cut his finger and Brown was later photographed with a cast on his right hand.
Brown, whose hit songs include 'Look at Me Now' and 'Run It!,' was placed on probation for five years for the assault on Rihanna. He risks having his probation revoked if charges are filed against him.
But if the judge overseeing his case suspects Brown broke the law, the judge could move to find him in violation of probation even without a criminal charge, said Steve Cron, a defense attorney not connected to the case and an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.
'Then, Brown would be entitled to have a hearing with witnesses and his lawyers questioning witnesses and so forth,' Cron said.
Cron said prosecutors still can file charges even if a suspected victim does not cooperate.
If Brown is found to have violated his probation, a judge could send him to jail or order counseling, he said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that if Ocean does not want to press charges, it would be difficult to proceed with the case.
Brown's entourage and that of Canadian rapper Drake were involved in a June 2012 brawl in a New York nightclub. No arrests or charges were brought in that case.
(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Bill Trott)
Friday, February 1, 2013
Schwarzenegger: Simple Austrian upbringing made me green
VIENNA (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his simple upbringing amid the lakes and hills of Austria for a recent conversion to fully fledged green activism, the latest stage in his varied career.
The former body-builder, star of the 'Terminator' action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21.
'Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity',' Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week.
'We didn't have video games, televisions or iPhones. We had the rolling hills, the castles, the ruins, and the beautiful lakes,' he said. 'Even after I made it big and became governor of California, I held on to this love of nature.'
The 'governator' - who left office and split with his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver in 2011, has recently returned to making action movies - expressed surprise at the turn his life had taken, after he had thought all his ambitions fulfilled.
'When I was a little boy in Austria, all I could think about was moving to America, to become the greatest bodybuilder champion in the world and make millions of dollars and be an action hero,' said Schwarzenegger.
'My dream became reality. Who knew my greatest achievement would be in the real world fighting for a green energy future? Green energy wasn't even in my vocabulary.'
(Reporting by Derek Brooks; Writing by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato)
The former body-builder, star of the 'Terminator' action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21.
'Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity',' Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week.
'We didn't have video games, televisions or iPhones. We had the rolling hills, the castles, the ruins, and the beautiful lakes,' he said. 'Even after I made it big and became governor of California, I held on to this love of nature.'
The 'governator' - who left office and split with his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver in 2011, has recently returned to making action movies - expressed surprise at the turn his life had taken, after he had thought all his ambitions fulfilled.
'When I was a little boy in Austria, all I could think about was moving to America, to become the greatest bodybuilder champion in the world and make millions of dollars and be an action hero,' said Schwarzenegger.
'My dream became reality. Who knew my greatest achievement would be in the real world fighting for a green energy future? Green energy wasn't even in my vocabulary.'
(Reporting by Derek Brooks; Writing by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Paul Casciato)
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