Customers at a fast-food restaurant have escaped with minor injuries after a van veered off a road and smashed through the front window. More »Van Crashes Into Ohio Taco Bell On Video
Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan became the first Chinese actor to have his hands and feet cast in wet cement at Hollywood's famed Chinese Theatre, alongside generations of Tinseltown icons. More »Jackie Chan seals prints at famed Hollywood theater
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber is the latest celebrity to reach for the stars, signing up to go into space with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. British entrepreneur Branson announced on Twitter on Wednesday that Bieber, 19, and his manager, Scooter Braun, were the latest "future astronauts. ... More »Justin Bieber books space voyage on Virgin Galactic
Tiger Woods, whose four wins this season have seen him return to the top of golf's world rankings, is also back on top of Forbes' list of highest-paid sports figures. More »Woods back on top of Forbes' sports earnings list
By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Philip was taken to a London hospital on Thursday for a planned operation on his abdomen, Buckingham Palace said, in the latest round of medical treatment for Queen Elizabeth's 91-year-old husband. The British monarch's consort of more than 65 years, who turns 92 on Monday, is expected to spend two weeks at the London Clinic after undergoing "an exploratory operation following abdominal investigations", the palace said in a statement. A palace spokesman said the prince's admission had been planned and was not an emergency. ... More »Britain's Prince Philip, 91, in hospital for operation
By Peter N Henderson TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada has charged two of the world's biggest candy makers, Nestle SA and Mars Inc, with colluding to fix the price of chocolate, the Canadian competition watchdog said on Thursday. Canada's Competition Bureau recommended lenient treatment for the Canadian arm of Hershey Co, which cooperated with the investigation. Hershey said it had reached a deal with the bureau, and would plead guilty to a single count of price fixing. Both Mars and Nestle said they intend to "vigorously defend" themselves against the allegations. ... More »Canada charges chocolate makers Mars, Nestle with price fixing
By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Philip was taken to a London hospital on Thursday for a planned operation on his abdomen, Buckingham Palace said, in the latest round of medical treatment for the Queen's 91-year-old husband. The British monarch's consort of more than 65 years, who turns 92 on Monday, is expected to spend two weeks at the London Clinic after undergoing "an exploratory operation following abdominal investigations", the palace said in a statement. A palace spokesman said the prince's admission had been planned and was not an emergency. ... More »Prince Philip, 91, in hospital for operation
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar MUMBAI (Reuters) - After dominating Indian cinema for more than four decades, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is gearing up for his television acting debut this year. Bachchan is no stranger to television, having hosted several seasons of the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" but this will be his first role in a TV fiction series. It comes after Bachchan made his Hollywood debut last month in Australian director Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with Leonardo DiCaprio. ... More »Bollywood actor Bachchan switches gears for TV acting debut
(Reuters) - British actor Stephen Fry attempted suicide last year, he said during a podcast interview on Wednesday in which he talked openly about his ongoing battle with mental illness. Fry, 55, told comedian Richard Herring in the interview in front of a live audience that he was "a victim of my own moods" and that he was required to take medication "so that I don't get either too hyper or too depressed to the point of suicide." "I'd go as far as to tell you I attempted it last year. ... More »Actor Stephen Fry reveals suicide attempt last year
(Reuters) - Former Hollywood star Esther Williams died on Thursday at age 91. The following are facts about her life: * As a young swimmer, Williams set a world record for the 100-meter freestyle and was part of a record-setting 880-yard relay team. * Williams, who was trained at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, had by age 16 won a total of three U.S. national championships in freestyle and breaststroke. * She was set to compete in the 1940 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, but the games were cancelled because of World War Two. ... More »Factbox - Facts about swimming champ and Hollywood star Esther Williams
By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Esther Williams, whose experiences as a young swimming champion led to a career of Hollywood "aqua-musicals" designed just for her, died on Thursday in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 91, her spokesman said. Williams, one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1940s and 1950s, died peacefully in her sleep and had been in declining health due to old age, spokesman Harlan Boll said. Williams became known as "Hollywood's Mermaid" and "The Queen of the Surf. ... More »Hollywood's Mermaid, Esther Williams dies at 91
Esther Williams, a swimming champion who went on to become a star of Hollywood's golden era in the 1940s and 1950s, died Thursday at her home in Beverly Hills, her publicist told AFP. More »Movie star, swim queen Esther Williams dead at 91: rep
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Esther Williams, whose experiences as a young swimming champion led to a career of Hollywood "aqua-musicals" designed just for her, died on Thursday in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 91, her spokesman said. Williams, one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1940s and 1950s, died peacefully in her sleep and had been in declining health due to old age, spokesman Harlan Boll said. (Corrects spelling of Williams's first name in headline to Esther from Ester) (Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Cynthia Johnston) More »Hollywood star and swimmer Esther Williams dead at 91 - publicist
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee on Thursday voted 20-2 in favor of the nomination of Fred Hochberg to serve a second term as president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which provides financial assistance to support U.S. exports. "Today's bipartisan vote is a testament to Fred's dedication and record of success, and I hope the Senate will move quickly to confirm him for another term," Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, said in a statement. (Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Sandra Maler) More »Senate panel backs Hochberg for second term at U.S. Ex-Im Bank
British writer Tom Sharpe, author of the dark-humoured "Wilt" series about a harassed literature teacher, died Thursday at the age of 85 in northeastern Spain, his publisher said. More »British author Tom Sharpe dies aged 85
By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Paris Jackson, the 15-year-old daughter of late pop star Michael Jackson, was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital on Wednesday after an apparent suicide attempt, her mother said, but her family later reported she is "physically fine." "Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention," Perry Sanders, an attorney for Paris' grandmother and guardian, Katherine Jackson, said in a statement. "Being a sensitive 15-year-old is difficult no matter who you are," the statement added. ... More »Michael Jackson's teen daughter attempts suicide: mother
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar MUMBAI (Reuters) - After dominating Indian cinema for more than four decades, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is gearing up for his television acting debut this year. Bachchan is no stranger to television, having hosted several seasons of the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" but this will be his first role in a TV fiction series. It comes after Bachchan make his Hollywood debut last month in Australian director Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with Leonardo DiCaprio. ... More »Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan switches gears for TV acting debut
In their plush Manhattan apartment, Sweden's Princess Madeleine and her future husband, Anglo-American Christopher O'Neill, live a life far away from the Swedish throne. More »Sweden's latest royal couple fail to win over public
Former chess champion and anti-Kremlin activist Garry Kasparov has said he is staying out of Russia over fears he could be put on trial, becoming the latest Russian intellectual to leave the homeland amid a crackdown on the opposition. More »Chess great Kasparov joins exodus from Putin's Russia
Army bomb disposal teams were called to a primary school after a year five pupil took an artillery shell to show and tell. More »Pupil Takes Artillery Shell To Show And Tell
By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - British comic novelist Tom Sharpe, known for his "Wilt" series about a harassed and hen-pecked university lecturer, has died aged 85, his publisher said on Thursday. The London-born author, whose last and 16th novel "The Wilt Inheritance" was published in 2010, died in Spain where he had a home in the north-eastern coastal town of Llafranc. "Tom Sharpe was one of our greatest satirists and a brilliant writer: witty, often outrageous, always acutely funny about the absurdities of life," Susan Sandon, Sharpe's editor at Random House, said in a statement. ... More »Author Tom Sharpe dies aged 85
A wayward sea lion pup found itself about to join a busy motorway in California before being rescued. More »Sea Lion Pup Rescued From California Motorway
The first Pakistani woman to climb Mount Everest says she wants her achievement to stand as an inspiration to all the women of her troubled country that they can achieve their dreams. More »Pakistani woman climber hopes to inspire with Everest feat
By Peter Rutherford (Reuters) - Representatives at the United Nations may think twice about crossing Ban Ki-moon in future after the secretary-general was awarded an honorary 10th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo. While is unclear whether the 68-year-old Ban can break bricks with his bare hands, World Taekwondo Federation president Choue Chung-won said the awarding of the black belt reflected the common goals and values shared by the UN and federation. ... More »Enter The Diplomat - U.N.'s Ban gets black belt
Rock icon Elton John has urged compassion for people who inject drugs, saying "stigma and criminalisation" robbed them of their humanity and exposed them to a life of addiction and disease. More »People who inject drugs deserve help: Elton John