LOS ANGELES: These were supposed to be the younger, hipper Academy Awards, the ones that shook up the ceremony’s conventions with popular, great-looking masters of ceremonies in actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway, who were unlike the middle-aged comedians and TV talk-show hosts of years past.
NEW YORK: Charlie Sheen says he wants a raise to come back to the CBS show "Two and a Half Men." The troubled star appeared on dueling morning show interviews Monday to continue an attack on CBS and producers of his hit sitcom for shutting down the show because of his off-set behavior. Both ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" show featured him in their first half hours.
SANTA MONICA, Calif.: The ballet thriller "Black Swan" won four prizes Saturday at the Spirit Awards honoring independent film, including best picture, best actress for Natalie Portman and director for Darren Aronofsky. James Franco was picked as best actor for the survival story "127 hours," while the Ozarks crime story "Winter's Bone" earned both supporting-acting prizes, for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey.
LOS ANGELES: The action fantasy "The Last Airbender" - about people who can command fire, air, water and earth - now controls something else: The Razzie awards for Hollywood's worst film achievements of 2010.
MUMBAI: Singer-composer Adnan Sami is none too pleased by attempts in the Pakistani media to club his case with that of Pakistani singer Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who was arrested in Delhi airport earlier this month for carrying undeclared foreign currency.
UDAIPUR: The mass marriage had all the trappings of match-making with a difference. For, the 15 couples did not bat their eyelids when they went round the fire, holding the willows and balls - and to prove their love for the game, they played a match after the nuptials.
MIAMI BEACH, Florida: British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver called Sarah Palin a "Froot Loop" for criticizing the Obama administration's healthy eating initiatives, and said getting healthy foods to kids is a civil rights issue.
NEW YORK: ABC says it will broadcast an interview with Charlie Sheen that was recorded after the incendiary rant that led CBS and Warner Bros. Television to halt production of "Two and a Half Men" for the season.
LOS ANGELES: The Academy Awards have been kind to actresses making their big-screen debuts. But men in debut performances? Not so much.
LONDON: International celebrity Pamela Anderson drank a glass of filthy water on US television to show how a cheap new filter can make water safe for drinking.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas: Latin Grammy winner Ramon Ayala is recovering at home after becoming ill while performing in Texas. KGBT-TV reports that Ayala sang a few songs at Brownsville's Sombrero Festival Thursday night before having to sit down.
RIVERSIDE, California: A Southern California judge has ordered an independent medical evaluation of ailing Etta James after her son's attorney contended that the "At Last" blues singer could be in "very serious danger" under the care of a live-in doctor.
NEW YORK: Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker said that she's leaving CNN's prime-time "Parker/Spitzer" talk show, which will be renamed and continue with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and others. CNN said the decision to cut ties with Parker was mutual.
JEDDAH: The 4th Asian Film Festival that opened here on Feb. 16 and will conclude on Tuesday has had a good turnout of movie fans. Fourteen nations participated in the festival, which was organized by the Asian Consuls General Club and opened by Philippine Consul General Ezzedin H. Tago. Similar to international film festivals, a day was given to each country to show its films.
LAS VEGAS: A 19-year-old Henderson, Nevada man arrested for burglary managed to drive off in a police car, despite wearing handcuffs, only to be nabbed on foot a few hours later.
MANILA: Sitars, balalaikas and a medley of other stringed instruments took center stage this week as musicians from across Asia and the Middle East transcended the bounds of language and culture for a Manila music festival. The four-day International Rondalla Festival gave each country a chance to showcase native stringed instruments in both traditional and modern tunes — an attempt to woo back young people more interested in iTunes than centuries-old instruments.
TOKYO: Japan’s population has grown at the slowest pace since 1920 as the rapidly aging country grapples with extremely low birthrates, a census report showed Friday.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand: In a bright moment amid the misery of New Zealand’s earthquake, a woman rescued from the quake zone has gone forward days later with her planned wedding.
SEATTLE: Seattle's bicycling mayor has had some explaining to do - to his wife about why her bike got swiped after he borrowed it to ride to work. Seattlepi.com says Mayor Mike McGinn sent a message on Twitter late Wednesday about Peggy Lynch's wheels.
LOS ANGELES: Television network CBS on Thursday canceled production of its top-rated comedy “Two and A Half Men” for the rest of this season because of actor Charlie Sheen’s “statements, conduct and condition.”
HILLIARD, Ohio: A condominium association in Ohio has told a woman to remove a statue of the Virgin Mary from outside her condo or face a possible $50 fine.
LOS ANGELES: The sheet music for “If I Rise” from the Oscar-nominated film “127 Hours” contains many words, but not many traditional lyrics.
VILLA RICA, Georgia: A Girl Scout leader says young members of her troop thought they were headed to jail when a Georgia police officer told them to quit selling cookies.
LONDON: Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow looks set to enter the British music charts when the weekly ranking is confirmed, entering a domain normally dominated by husband and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin.
LONDON: Irish rockers U2 will perform at the Glastonbury music festival this year, joining Britain's Coldplay and US singer Beyonce as the main headline acts.
LOS ANGELES: Attorneys for Michael Jackson's mother have told a judge they will not pursue a civil conspiracy claim in a wrongful death lawsuit against the organizers of the pop singer's planned series of comeback concerts.
LOS ANGELES: Auditions for Simon Cowell's "The X Factor" are set to kick off next month in Los Angeles, with tryouts following in five other cities. Fox TV announced Thursday that the audition at the Los Angeles Sports Arena will be held March 27. Tryouts also will be held in Miami; Newark, New Jersey; Seattle; Chicago, and Dallas.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: If you want to see country singer Kellie Pickler on her wedding day, check out her husband's new music video. Songwriter Kyle Jacobs wrote and recorded a song for her, called "Say I Do."
LOS ANGELES: A single lock of Justin Bieber's newly-shorn hair is being auctioned off for charity and bids had reached $6,700 on eBay early on Thursday. The 16 year-old Canadian pop idol cut his trademark floppy hair earlier this week, and presented one of the locks to TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
BANGKOK: It’s game over for retired Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan and his wife, former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, who are separating after three years of marriage.
BEIJING: China is widening its Internet policing following online calls for protests like those in the Middle East, with social networking site LinkedIn and searches for the US ambassador’s name both blocked.
SAN FRANCISCO: An epic US surfing contest that in the past featured athletes riding huge waves is washing out this year, due to a lack of big surf, organizers said.
EBENSBURG, Pennsylvania: Police plan to cite two men who left a package containing a cow’s head on the doorstep of some friends in Pennsylvania.
LOS ANGELES: These days, Anne Hathaway is a busy woman. Or make that a busy Catwoman.
LONDON: From the Beatles to ballet - Paul McCartney is putting the finishing touches to his first original orchestral score for dance.
BERLIN: Germany’s superstar cross-eyed opossum Heidi will travel to Hollywood for the Academy Awards after all, appearing as a plush toy in celebrity “goodie bags” at Sunday’s annual awards show.
LOS ANGELES: British-born actress Elizabeth Taylor is getting better in hospital and she has not had a heart attack, a stroke or any kind of heart surgery, her representative said on Thursday.
NEW YORK: Larry King thinks his British successor, Piers Morgan, laid on the hype a little too thick before debuting last month.
SANAA: Yemen's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is preparing for an international conference on Yemen's distinctive mud-brick architecture that is expected to bring together one hundred architects from inside and outside the country in Seiyun, Hadramout, southeast of Yemen.
JEDDAH: The Italian Cultural Center in Jeddah with the support of the Consulate General of Italy, held a cultural event in Jeddah, showcasing the talent of singer-songwriter and visual artist Christophe Katrib (also known as Cristobal) on Wednesday night.
NAPLES, Fla.: Police say a brawl between roommates over Girl Scout cookies led to assault charges against one of them. According to the Naples Daily News, the Collier County Sheriff's Office reports that 31-year-old Hersha Howard woke up her roommate early Sunday and accused her of eating her Thin Mints.
LIMA: Sting says he is concerned by violence and repression in Libya and hopes peace will return to the troubled country. The British singer calls Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi a man trying to hold on to power unjustly amid protests and a crackdown by security forces.
BERLIN: A married father of two was ordained as a priest by the Catholic Church in Germany on Tuesday after receiving an exemption to priestly celibacy from Pope Benedict XVI. Harm Klueting, a theologian and former Protestant pastor, will not have to adhere to the Church's celibacy law for the duration of his marriage, the diocese of Cologne said. The case sheds light on a little-known 60-year-old Roman Catholic church law that allows ordained clergy from other Christian faiths to become priests.
NEW YORK: The estate of sultry jazz singer and actress Lena Horne is selling some of the fancy gowns, jewelry, fine art and books that filled her New York City apartment.
LOS ANGELES: A court order was lifted on Tuesday that had prevented R&B; singer Chris Brown from coming into close contact with his ex-girlfriend Rihanna since a violent altercation two years ago.
NEW YORK: Canadian teen pop idol Justin Bieber has become the latest celebrity to get his own wax figure, Madame Tussauds wax museum said on Tuesday, a day after the young pop star tweeted he had a new haircut. The wax figure of the 16-year-old pop phenomenon, who was as famed for his former bowl-cut as his soulful voice, will debut in March at Madame Tussauds in New York, London and Amsterdam.
LONDON: Danny Boyle made the world root for a Mumbai street urchin in “Slumdog Millionaire” and made James Franco sweat as a climber trapped in a Utah canyon for “127 Hours.” Then for his next trick, he made a monster. The Academy Award-winning director returns to the British stage after 15 years with “Frankenstein,” a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic chiller about a scientist who builds himself a man, with tragic consequences for himself and his creation.
GUWAHATI: The more, the merrier is certainly true for Ziona Chana, a 66-year-old man in India's remote northeast who has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren - and wouldn't mind having more. They all live in a four storied building with 100 rooms in a mountainous village in Mizoram state, sharing borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, media reports said. "I once married 10 women in one year," he was quoted as saying.
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: Grammy Award-winning singer and philanthropist Shakira has been honored by Harvard University. The Harvard Foundation, the university's center for intercultural arts and science initiatives, gave Shakira its 2011 Artist of the Year award on Saturday.
KIEV: Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi looks likely to be ditched by yet another close confidant — his Ukrainian nurse who says she will flee the violence in the North African nation and return home.
LONDON: Fashion label Dior has suspended its designer John Galliano after he was arrested for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks to a couple. The fashion designer was questioned and escorted home by police in Paris after he allegedly hurled abuse Friday at a couple who were seated on a cafe terrace in Paris.
LONDON: Singer Kelly Osbourne, who is the new face of Madonna and her daughter Lourdes' fashion line - Material Girl, seems to be in awe of her, as she thinks Madonna is a "fantastic mother."
LAS VEGAS: Motley Crue singer Vince Neil has been released from jail after serving 10 days of a 15-day sentence for a drunken driving conviction. The Las Vegas Sun reports the 50-year-old rocker got out of the Clark County Detention Center on Friday.
DAMMAM: More than 500 Saudis and expatriates from India turned out Thursday to hear legendary musician Amjad Ali Khan perform at the Sheraton Hotel in Dammam.
CINCINNATI: Nothing like a chance to see hometown hero George Clooney up close to warm a freezing morning. Dozens of fans stood for hours in sub-freezing temperatures, cameras and cell phones at the ready, to watch him filming Wednesday on Cincinnati's downtown Fountain Square.
LOS ANGELES: A judge on Wednesday gave Lindsay Lohan roughly two weeks to decide if she will fight or take a plea deal in a felony grand theft case, but either decision could send the troubled starlet back behind bars. Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz told Lohan he would sentence her to jail if she accepted a plea deal involving the theft of a $2,500 necklace from an upscale jewelry store. “If you plead in front of me, if this case is resolved in front of me, you are going to jail,” Schwartz said.
TOKYO: The world’s first robot marathon is under way in western Japan, with five two-legged participants racing on an indoor track.
Looking back a few months ago, it seemed as though nothing could make it up to all the disappointed UAE trance fans for not being able to witness Tiësto live in concert in Abu Dhabi.
BOGOTA: New photos show Colombian singer Shakira and Barcelona soccer player Gerard Pique holding hands as they enter a restaurant in the Catalonian city. Rumors that the two were having an affair surfaced during last year's World Cup in South Africa.
BERLIN: Iranian drama “Nader and Simin: A Separation” won the Golden Bear for best picture at the Berlin film festival on Saturday, while its ensemble cast also picked up the best actor and actress prizes on a triumphant night.
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Indonesians are fighting to keep Hollywood films in local theaters after the Motion Picture Association of America warned that a new tax on foreign-made movies could lead to studios pulling out of the country.
LOS ANGELES: Justin Bieber finally won a trophy in L.A. The Canadian teen singing sensation, who was shut out at the Grammys, was chosen most valuable player despite playing for the losing team in the National Basketball Association All-Star celebrity game on Friday night.
LOS ANGELES: Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" has become the fastest-selling single ever on Apple's iTunes store worldwide, racking up more than one million downloads in five days, Apple said on Friday. Apple said the song — a Madonna-influenced dance track that the 24 year-old singer performed after "hatching" from a giant egg at the Grammy Awards - had hit the No. 1 spot on iTunes in 23 countries.
NEW YORK: More leaks about the WikiLeaks founder will soon be published. The Cogito Media Group is releasing "Julian Assange - WikiLeaks: Warrior for Truth," an unauthorized biography by Sophie Radermecker and Valerie Guichaoua.
LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson's estate has generated $310 million in revenue from album sales, a film, merchandising and other products since the "Thriller" singer died in 2009, according to court papers filed on Thursday.
NEW YORK: Logistical problems and other concerns have led Madonna to abandon her plan to build a girls-only school in Malawi, but the new leader of her effort says the superstar instead plans many more schools with educational groups already working toward that goal.
