UK's Kate and William "saddened" by nurse's death

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate said on Friday they were 'deeply saddened' by the death of a nurse who fell victim to a prank call from an Australian radio station seeking details of the duchess's condition while she was in hospital for morning sickness.

The King Edward VII hospital earlier confirmed the death of the nurse, Jacinda Saldanha.

'Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time,' said a statement from William's office.

(Reporting by Tim Castle; editing by Stephen Addison)



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UK's Kate leaves hospital after morning sickness

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William's pregnant wife Kate left the King Edward VII hospital in central London on Thursday where she had spent four days being treated for acute morning sickness.

Accompanied by her husband, Kate, 30, appeared at the steps of the hospital smiling and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. Neither she nor William spoke to waiting reporters before being driven way.

Kate, who married the second-in-line to the throne in April last year, has been suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, an acute morning sickness which causes severe nausea and vomiting and requires supplementary hydration and nutrients.

There has been no announcement about when the baby is due, although the prince's spokesman has said Kate is less than 12 weeks pregnant.

Kate, known formally as the Duchess of Cambridge, will now recuperate at Kensington Palace, a royal residence in west London, her husband's office said.

'She is feeling better but now requires a period of rest,' a royal spokeswoman said. 'Their royal highnesses would like to thank the staff at the hospital for the care and treatment the duchess has received,' the spokeswoman added.

The onset of the severe sickness and the need for Kate to go to hospital brought forward the announcement of her pregnancy, sparking a frenzy in the British media and even taking by surprise her grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, according to reports.

Bookmakers have been quick off the mark to lay odds on a name for the unborn baby, who will be third in line to the British throne after William and his father Charles.

The government is passing legislation in time for the birth to change historic rules of succession so that males no longer have precedence over a female sibling.

There has even been speculation that Kate could be carrying twins, as the acute sickness she is suffering is slightly more common in twin pregnancies.

World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama were swift to follow British Prime Minister David Cameron in sending their congratulations.

(Reporting by Tim Castle and Stephen Addison, editing by Paul Casciato)



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Obama leads heads of state atop Forbes 2012 power list

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to power, politics trumps business, according to a new Forbes ranking on Wednesday that found heads of state occupying six of the top 10 spots among the world's most powerful people, led by President Barack Obama.

The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world's 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence.

Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The list's highest-ranked businessman was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at No. 4. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, both public officials, also made the top 10.

'This year's list reflects the changing of the guard in the world's two most powerful countries: the United States and China,' Michael Noer, Forbes' executive editor, told Reuters in an email.

Noer noted that China's President Hu Jintao, last year's third most-powerful person, fell off the list as he is leaving power, and his successor, Xi Jinping, ranked ninth instead.

Both U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have stated they will not be serving in Obama's second term, were not in this year's rankings.

While elected and appointed officials and business people made up the vast majority of Forbes' most powerful, Pope Benedict XVI placed fifth in the rankings.

Among the oddities was Joaquin Guzman Loera at No. 63.

Loera, far from a household name, is a billionaire nicknamed 'El Chapo' who as head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is the world's most powerful drug trafficker, according to Forbes.

Age was also not a barrier, with two of the youngest and oldest of this year's most powerful -- 28-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 81-year-old News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch -- back-to-back at numbers 25 and 26, respectively.

Forbes noted that Zuckerberg fell out of last year's top 10 after Facebook's IPO disappointed. A gainer, meanwhile, was Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who moved up four spots to No. 18 despite being only halfway into her first term of office.

To create the rankings, which Forbes readily concedes bore a measure of subjectivity, editors graded candidates on four criteria for power and averaged the four grades:

-- Power over many people

-- Control over financial and other valuable resources

-- Power in multiple spheres or arenas

-- Active use of power

Some measures, such as power over many people, favored leaders such as the Pope, while the world's richest man -- Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Hula, worth a reported $72 billion -- placed 11th on the strength of his wealth.

Others, such as New York's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, scored high in all areas, placing him at No. 16.

Noer said that Elon Musk, one of the co-founders of Paypal and Tesla Motors, was 'one of the more interesting newcomers' on the list due to his SpaceX company, a private space exploration venture.

'With NASA retiring the space shuttle fleet, private companies like SpaceX have been awarded huge contracts to do things like resupply the International Space Station. The commercialization of space is just beginning, but we expect it to be big business,' Noer said.

Former President Bill Clinton placed 50th, with editors noting that by hitting the campaign trail for Obama, Clinton 'cemented his status as a kingmaker', along with his nonpartisan Global Initiative raising more than $71 billion in commitments to fund charitable action worldwide.

Other high-ranking heads of state included French President Francois Hollande at No. 14, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at No. 19 and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei at No. 21.

Among businessmen in the top 20 were Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at No. 15, Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke at No. 17 and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at No. 20.

The entire list can be found at www.forbes.com/power as well as the December 24 issue of the magazine.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Andrew Hay)



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Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck dead at 91

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, whose choice of novel rhythms, classical structures and brilliant sidemen made him a towering figure in modern jazz, has died at the age of 91, his longtime manager and producer Russell Gloyd said on Wednesday.

Brubeck died of heart failure on his way to a regular medical exam at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., said Gloyd.

His Dave Brubeck Quartet put out one of the biggest selling jazz songs of all time: 'Take Five,' composed by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. Like many of the group's works, it had an unusual beat -- 5/4 time as opposed to the usual 4/4.

'We play it differently every time we play it,' Brubeck told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. 'So I never get tired of playing it. That's the beauty of jazz.'

'Take Five' was the first million-selling jazz single.

Brubeck injected classical counterpoint, atonal harmonies and modern dissonance into his music, hinting at composers such as Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky and Bach.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)



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Hugh Hefner heads to altar again, with "runaway bride"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is headed to the altar again - with the blonde Playmate who ditched him five days before their planned wedding in 2011.

Hefner, 86, and his former 'runaway bride' Crystal Harris, 26, obtained a marriage license in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, Los Angeles County Recorder spokeswoman Elizabeth Knox said.

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the couple, who reunited earlier this year, are planning a New Year's Eve wedding.

Harris was Playboy magazine's Miss December 2009 and appeared on the July 2011 cover of the adult magazine with a 'runaway bride' sticker covering her bottom half.

In what was described at the time only as a 'change of heart,' Harris dumped the magazine mogul and left his Playboy Mansion five days before a lavish June 2011 wedding before 300 guests.

This time around, the couple are playing it low-key, staying mum on their busy Twitter accounts with Hefner's spokeswoman declining to confirm or deny their plans.

Hefner, founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire, has been married twice before. He and his second wife Kimberley Conrad, also a former Playmate, divorced in 2010 after a lengthy separation. His first marriage to Mildred Williams ended in divorce in 1959. He has two children from each marriage.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant)



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And the most overpaid actor award goes to: Eddie Murphy

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eddie Murphy was once among Hollywood's top box office draws, but he now has the dubious honor of being crowned its most overpaid actor, according to Forbes magazine.

In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their films' box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as 'Trading Places' and 'Beverly Hills Cop', displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.

'Murphy's career has just collapsed,' Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as 'Imagine That', 'A Thousand Words' and 'Meet Dave'.

Weighing box office receipts against paychecks, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three films, they returned an average of just $2.30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.

Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with 'returns' ranging from $3.40 to $5.

Forbes took issue with Witherspoon's 'questionable' choices such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy 'How Do You Know', which was one of 2010's worst-performing films. It cost $120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry $49 million.

The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as actors generally considered solid at the box office such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.

'Washington's films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheck on those movies,' Forbes noted. His current hit 'Flight' was not included for this year's list.

Washington's return was the same $6.30 calculated for Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent performers -- except when they're not, such as the disappointing 'Jack and Jill'.

It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said 'earns so much money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid. That's what happened with 'Tower Heist', in which the actor co-starred with -- Eddie Murphy.

Will Ferrell, who topped the list for two of the last four years and came in third a year ago, didn't place.

The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/overpaidactors.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)



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For rock legends Fleetwood Mac, it's 'til death do us part

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Do not call it a comeback and don't even think of it as a farewell tour.

After more than four decades making music and a 2010 tour, Fleetwood Mac will hit the road again next year. But it won't be its last tour, singer Stevie Nicks vowed, dismissing any notion that the band could be packing away their instruments in the near future.

'It's never going to be a final tour until we drop dead,' Nicks told Reuters. 'There's no reason for this to end as long as everyone is in good shape and takes care of themselves.'

The 34-city tour with dates in the United States and Canada will begin on April 4 in Columbus, Ohio, and finish up on June 12 in Detroit.

The tour coincides with the 35th anniversary of the blockbuster 1977 album, 'Rumours,' which landed the group four hit singles and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. The album will be reissued with unreleased studio and live recordings, Fleetwood Mac said.

After frequent changes to the lineup since the band formed in London in 1967, the 2013 tour will feature Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, and founding members Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass.

Touring again is 'a big deal,' said Nicks, 64, who is known for her floor-length blonde hair and frilly outfits.

'I don't want a Fleetwood Mac tour every year or year and a half. That's why people get so excited. ... All of a sudden the world is on edge and that's what gets you out there.'

For Nicks, who recently finished a two-year solo tour promoting her 2011 album 'In Your Dreams,' making music and being on the road is her life.

'If you never stop, you don't lose your energy,' the 'Landslide' singer said of keeping pace with a demanding tour schedule when each band member is into their 60s. 'Even when we stop, everybody is still doing a lot of stuff.'

'EVERYBODY IS NERVOUS'

Like Nicks, Buckingham has his own solo career, and Fleetwood has a restaurant in Hawaii and a U.S. vineyard as well as his own music gigs.

Fleetwood and McVie are both founding members of the band, and Buckingham and Nicks joined the group in 1974.

Singer and songwriter Christine McVie, who wrote the big hit 'Don't Stop' that was on 'Rumours,' joined the band in the early 1970s after marrying John McVie, but retired from touring after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. She still contributes on occasion to studio efforts.

Although the band will not kick off the tour until April, Nicks said the anxiety-filled grind begins months before during rehearsals when band members hammer out which songs to play.

Of the 22 songs Fleetwood Mac will play during a concert, 11 will be hits, such as 'Dreams,' 'Don't Stop' and 'Hold Me,' Nicks said.

For herself, it is a daily routine of vocal exercises and primping that can take hours.

'It's overwhelming in a good way, but it's still overwhelming,' Nicks said of the process. 'By the third day (of rehearsals) you start to calm down and get into your role. At first, everybody is nervous and not knowing what they'll do.'

But a decade removed from their last studio album 'Say You Will,' Nicks admits it may be time for another Fleetwood Mac release, adding that she and Buckingham had spent time writing songs together recently.

'Personally, I think we feel better than before,' Nicks said. 'We're not doing drugs and stuff like that ... You don't know what you'll do when you're not doing this.'

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)