Jolie sees benefit in US surge in Iraq

Actress and humanitarian activist Angelina Jolie said Thursday that the reinforcement of U.S. troops in Iraq has created an opportunity for humanitarian programs to boost assistance for Iraqi refugees.

In an op-ed piece published by the Washington Post, titled "A Reason to Stay in Iraq," Jolie details the plight of refugees and says their conditions have not improved since she visited the country last August to urge governments to provide more support.

Jolie, who has been a U.N. goodwill ambassador since 2001, was in Baghdad earlier this month to again highlight the refugee problem. She talked with Gen. David Petraeus, the American military commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the U.S. Embassy said.

Petraeus "told me he would support new efforts to address the humanitarian crisis" as much as possible, "which leaves me hopeful that more progress can be made," the actress wrote.

She said she stressed to Iraqi officials there must be a coherent plan for helping some 2 million Iraqis who are taking advantage of the downturn in violence to begin trickling back to abandoned homes from havens elsewhere in the country. A similar number fled Iraq to escape the bloodshed.

"It will be quite a while before Iraq is ready to absorb more than 4 million refugees and displaced people," Jolie wrote. "But it is not too early to start working on solutions."

The actress, who works on behalf of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, urged America's presidential candidates and congressional leaders to step up financing for aid to displaced Iraqis. UNHCR has asked for $261 million this year — "less than the U.S. spends each day to fight the war in Iraq," she wrote.

Addressing the question of whether the "troop surge" has worked, Jolie said that "I can only state what I witnessed."

"When I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq," she wrote. "They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible."

Body of top model Katoucha found

Paris judicial police say the body of former top model Katoucha Niane has been found in the River Seine.

Police say the body was found Thursday and that a subsequent autopsy confirmed it as the model's.

Police say the body showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she may have falled accidentally in the river.

The former model went missing in January.

Records: Jackson late on home payments

Public documents show Michael Jackson has repeatedly failed to make mortgage payments on a Los Angeles home that has been used for years by his family.

Documents filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office indicate the reclusive pop star was most recently in default last month on the property in Encino, an area in the San Fernando Valley.

The singer had $153,910 in missed payments as of Jan. 17 on a $4 million loan serviced by Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp. Documents dated Feb. 7 show the notice of default was withdrawn.

Documents also show Jackson previously faced possible default over missed payments on the home in April and August.

A spokeswoman for Jackson did not immediately return a call for comment.

Jackson's Neverland property in Los Olivos, Calif., is set to be auctioned off March 19 because of missed payments on a $24.5 million loan.

Paris police find body in search for missing model

Paris police said Thursday they may have found the body of a missing Guinean former model, a one time muse of couture giant Yves Saint Laurent, who vanished from her houseboat on the Seine this month.

A woman's body was recovered Thursday in the Seine, in Boulogne just west of the capital, according to a police official, who said investigators were at the scene gathering evidence.

Nicknamed the "black princess", the 47-year-old Katoucha Niane went missing from her home on a central stretch of the river on the night of February 1.

The mother-of-three disappeared after being dropped off from a party and her handbag was later recovered near her houseboat.

Born in Conakry, Katoucha worked with the greatest couture stars at the height of her career in the 1980s including Saint Laurent.

Katoucha left the catwalk for good in 1994, but in recent years she made headlines as an outspoken campaigner against female circumcision, launching a foundation against the practice.

Excised at the age of nine, in her home country Guinea, Katoucha recounted the ordeal in a recent book entitled "In My Flesh".

She said she saw her career as a top model as a form of "revenge" for the horror of excision.

"I embodied the most arrogant and admired kind of femininity, I who was supposed to be diminished," she wrote.

Olsen twins working on `Influence' book

The Olsen twins are hoping to spread a little "Influence."

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are working on a coffee-table book about fashion, titled "Influence," that a division of Penguin Group (USA) will release in the fall.

According to a statement issued Wednesday by Penguin, the book will include "exclusive photographs of Ashley and Mary-Kate from world renowned photographer Rankin, and a wide variety of other never-before-seen materials and interviews from Mary-Kate and Ashley's personal collections."

The 21-year-old actresses will be writing about photographers, artists and designers including Bob Colacello, Terry Richardson, Jack Pierson and Christian Louboutin.

"Mary-Kate and I have filled `Influence' with the most interesting, challenging, creative people we know — the ones who helped pave the way for us and our generation," Ashley Olsen said in a statement.

"Ashley and I interviewed the people who have inspired us, with the hope that they will inspire and teach others," Mary-Kate Olsen said in a statement.

Singer denies false imprisonment charge

Boy George has denied imprisoning a 28-year-old Norwegian man at his London home last year.

The former Culture Club singer pleaded not guilty to the charge of false imprisonment during a court hearing in London on Thursday.

Audun Carlsen claims Boy George handcuffed him to a wall after he went to the singer's apartment as a photo model. The alleged incident took place last April.

Boy George appeared in court under his real name, George O'Dowd. The 46-year-old singer is free on bail and is due to stand trial in November.

Police reviewing alleged Spears drugging

Los Angeles police say they are looking into allegations that someone drugged Britney Spears but have not decided whether to open a formal investigation.

Police Capt. Kyle Jackon said in a statement Wednesday that the allegations "are being considered" by the Robbery-Homicide unit to determine if laws have been violated.

Jackson says no suspect has been identified.

Spears' mother claimed in recent court papers that the pop star's sometime companion Sam Lutfi drugged Spears and tried to take control of her life. Those claims led to a restraining order against Lutfi.

Spears is currently under a court-ordered conservatorship.

Bollywood star's marriage mired in paper trouble

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who married his girlfriend at a Hindu temple, has been unable to register the marriage after the bride forged residence documents, leaving the alliance legally invalid, an official said on Thursday.

The spotlight seems to refuse to leave Dutt, a beefy, action hero, whose third marriage is making as much news as his court battles to clear his name in an illegal guns case.

Dutt and girlfriend Manyata married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the western city of Mumbai this month, two years after they started dating.

The couple applied to register their marriage in the tourist haven of Goa where Manyata said she had lived, and provided residence documents.

But their application was put on hold after her documents were found to be forged, and they have now withdrawn their application to register the marriage.

"We had kept the marriage pending, but now they do not wish to pursue it further," Vithal Salkar, marriage registrar in Goa, said. "The documents were not proper."

Dutt, 48, could not be immediately reached for a comment. Neither was it immediately clear if they could apply to register the marriage in another state.

The actor, among the highest paid in Bollywood, is out on bail, while he challenges his conviction for getting illegal guns from gangsters connected with India's worst bombing in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.

Dutt's first wife died of brain tumor, while his second marriage ended in divorce. Dutt has a daughter from his first marriage.

(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal)

Bollywood star's marriage mired in paper trouble

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who married his girlfriend at a Hindu temple, has been unable to register the marriage after the bride forged residence documents, leaving the alliance legally invalid, an official said on Thursday.

The spotlight seems to refuse to leave Dutt, a beefy, action hero, whose third marriage is making as much news as his court battles to clear his name in an illegal guns case.

Dutt and girlfriend Manyata married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the western city of Mumbai this month, two years after they started dating.

The couple applied to register their marriage in the tourist haven of Goa where Manyata said she had lived, and provided residence documents.

But their application was put on hold after her documents were found to be forged, and they have now withdrawn their application to register the marriage.

"We had kept the marriage pending, but now they do not wish to pursue it further," Vithal Salkar, marriage registrar in Goa, said. "The documents were not proper."

Dutt, 48, could not be immediately reached for a comment. Neither was it immediately clear if they could apply to register the marriage in another state.

The actor, among the highest paid in Bollywood, is out on bail, while he challenges his conviction for getting illegal guns from gangsters connected with India's worst bombing in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.

Dutt's first wife died of brain tumor, while his second marriage ended in divorce. Dutt has a daughter from his first marriage.

(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal)

Bollywood star's marriage mired in paper trouble

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who married his girlfriend at a Hindu temple, has been unable to register the marriage after the bride forged residence documents, leaving the alliance legally invalid, an official said on Thursday.

The spotlight seems to refuse to leave Dutt, a beefy, action hero, whose third marriage is making as much news as his court battles to clear his name in an illegal guns case.

Dutt and girlfriend Manyata married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the western city of Mumbai this month, two years after they started dating.

The couple applied to register their marriage in the tourist haven of Goa where Manyata said she had lived, and provided residence documents.

But their application was put on hold after her documents were found to be forged, and they have now withdrawn their application to register the marriage.

"We had kept the marriage pending, but now they do not wish to pursue it further," Vithal Salkar, marriage registrar in Goa, said. "The documents were not proper."

Dutt, 48, could not be immediately reached for a comment. Neither was it immediately clear if they could apply to register the marriage in another state.

The actor, among the highest paid in Bollywood, is out on bail, while he challenges his conviction for getting illegal guns from gangsters connected with India's worst bombing in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.

Dutt's first wife died of brain tumor, while his second marriage ended in divorce. Dutt has a daughter from his first marriage.

(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal)

Bollywood star's marriage mired in paper trouble

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who married his girlfriend at a Hindu temple, has been unable to register the marriage after the bride forged residence documents, leaving the alliance legally invalid, an official said on Thursday.

The spotlight seems to refuse to leave Dutt, a beefy, action hero, whose third marriage is making as much news as his court battles to clear his name in an illegal guns case.

Dutt and girlfriend Manyata married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in the western city of Mumbai this month, two years after they started dating.

The couple applied to register their marriage in the tourist haven of Goa where Manyata said she had lived, and provided residence documents.

But their application was put on hold after her documents were found to be forged, and they have now withdrawn their application to register the marriage.

"We had kept the marriage pending, but now they do not wish to pursue it further," Vithal Salkar, marriage registrar in Goa, said. "The documents were not proper."

Dutt, 48, could not be immediately reached for a comment. Neither was it immediately clear if they could apply to register the marriage in another state.

The actor, among the highest paid in Bollywood, is out on bail, while he challenges his conviction for getting illegal guns from gangsters connected with India's worst bombing in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.

Dutt's first wife died of brain tumor, while his second marriage ended in divorce. Dutt has a daughter from his first marriage.

(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sugita Katyal)

Naomi Campbell hospitalized in Brazil

Naomi Campbell was hospitalized in Sao Paulo for the removal of a small cyst, her publicist said Tuesday.

The 37-year-old British supermodel, a frequent visitor to Brazil who earlier this month celebrated Carnival in the northeastern city of Salvador, was treated at Sirio Libanes Hospital.

"Naomi Campbell was admitted to the hospital last night to have a small cyst removed," Jeff Raymond, Campbell's publicist, said in a statement. "Following the successful procedure, she is now resting and is looking forward to getting back to work. She would like to thank the doctors who have kindly looked after her."

Campbell underwent successful emergency abdominal surgery, gynecologist Jose Aristodemo Pinotti told the Agencia Estado news service.

"I cannot reveal what Naomi had, nor how serious her condition was, but I can say I operated on her yesterday and that she is completely cured," Pinotti said.

He described the procedure as a laparoscopy, in which doctors use a thin, lighted scope to view internal organs.

The hospital said Campbell was admitted Sunday night and added that "the patient and her advisers have determined that the hospital's medical staff will not issue any formal or informal information on her medical condition."

The hospital said David Uip, one of Brazil's leading experts in the treatment of infectious diseases, was also caring for Campbell.

Complete list of Oscar winners

Complete list of winners at the 80th annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men."

Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood."

Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose."

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."

Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."

Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria.

Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno."

Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille."

Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood."

Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli.

Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side."

Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld."

Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Makeup: "La Vie en Rose."

Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf."

Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')."

Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass."

___

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

Honorary and technical Oscars: Robert Boyle; Eastman Kodak Co.; David A. Grafton.

Angelina Jolie shows off baby bump

If the bump on her belly is any indication, Angelina Jolie really is pregnant.

The actress created a stir at Saturday night's Spirit Awards when she showed up with partner Brad Pitt on her arm and a noticeably pregnant bulge.

Jolie ignored reporters' questions on the awards show carpet, but People magazine reported on its Web site that a source close to the couple confirmed that she and Pitt are "thrilled to be adding to their brood."

Pitt's publicist, Cindy Guagenti, declined comment to The Associated Press.

Jolie and Pitt are parents of a 1-year-old daughter, Shiloh, and three children adopted from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Their adopted children are Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; and Zahara, 3.

Jolie's appearance helped give a theme to Saturday's Spirit Awards, where the big winner was the teen pregnancy comedy "Juno," taking awards for best independent film, best actress for Ellen Page and best first screenplay for Diablo Cody.

Britney Spears visits her 2 young sons

Britney Spears was reunited briefly with her sons Saturday, spending about three hours with the two little boys nearly two months after the troubled pop star last saw them.

Spears' father, James, played a key part in making possible the visit with Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, said Elliot Mintz, a spokesman for Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Mintz wouldn't say where the reunion took place or who else was there, but People magazine reported that Spears' psychiatrist was present.

Spears had not been allowed to see the boys since Jan. 3, when she refused to return the children after a visitation. Police were called to her home, and a scene ensued that ended with Spears being taken to the hospital. She was hospitalized a second time four weeks later.

The visit came a day after Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan announced that the couple "agreed to a modification of the court's order" that had stripped Spears of her visitation rights.

Spears' parents went to Los Angeles around the time of her second hospitalization and have pushed to restore visitation rights to help their daughter recover.

A court commissioner gave Federline sole physical and legal custody of the former couple's boys and suspended Spears' visitation rights on Jan. 4.

Leading up the hospitalizations, Spears enaged in bizarre public behavior. Since divorcing Federline in November 2006 she shaved her head, was seen in public without underwear, ran over a celebrity photographer's foot and attacked a vehicle with an umbrella.

Will Smith gets apology for Hitler story

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for Will Smith say a British media group has apologized for a story that falsely claimed the U.S. actor said Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was a good person.

Celebrity news and photo service World Entertainment News Ltd., or WENN, published an article in December about a Smith interview that appeared in a Scottish newspaper.

Smith's lawyer, Rachel Atkins, said, "The defendant published an article about the claimant entitled Smith: Hitler was a Good Person. The article alleged that the claimant had declared in an interview that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was a good person."

"It wholly misrepresents the claimant's actual words, given in an interview to the Daily Record, a Scottish newspaper and Web site," Atkins said.

WENN apologized for the piece, but Smith's lawyers say that was not enough. WENN has now made a formal apology at London's high court, and agreed to pay unspecified damages.

WENN'S lawyer, John Melville-Smith, says the company accepts that the report was wrong and is apologizing.

Report: Lopez gives birth to twins in NY

Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins early Friday, making the singer and husband Marc Anthony the parents of a boy and a girl after one of pop music's most closely watched pregnancies.

"She's thrilled," Lopez's manager, Simon Fields, told The Associated Press. He said the babies were born "just after midnight this morning."

Fields confirmed that the girl arrived first, weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces. "Her boy is 6 pounds even and arrived about 15 minutes later" at a Long Island hospital, he said. The location was not identified.

Ending months of speculation, Lopez confirmed her pregnancy at a Miami concert in November. Her father, David Lopez, told Telefutura's "Escandalo TV" earlier this month that the 39-year-old singer was expecting twins.

Lopez and Anthony, 38, married in 2004. The twins are her first children, and his fourth and fifth.

Hollywood gets ready for Oscar arrival

If there's anything Hollywood loves more than the spotlight, it's a glamorous party — and it doesn't get more glamorous than the Academy Awards.

As celebrities flock to Los Angeles from all over the world, the city itself is abuzz with all things Oscar. The Kodak Theatre swarms with activity as stand-ins and stars rehearse for Sunday's big show. Camera-toting tourists and film fans fill the Hollywood & Highland complex that surrounds the theater. Stylists flit about town gathering pricey jewels to bedeck the necks, earlobes, wrists and lapels of their red-carpet clients.

It all feeds the magic of one of the world's grandest pageants, the Academy Awards.

Restraining order against Lutfi extended

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered Britney Spears' pal Sam Lutfi to stay away from the struggling pop star.

U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez extended a restraining order against Lutfi until March 17, when a hearing was scheduled on the matter.

The action came on the same day Lutfi was formally served with the restraining order, which was issued earlier this month by a Superior Court commissioner.

In court papers, Jeffrey Wexler, an attorney for her father, James Spears, wrote that "after three weeks of apparently evading service," Lutfi was served at 11 a.m. outside his Los Angeles apartment.

The order, which requires Lutfi to stay 250 yards away from Spears and her home, was set to expire Friday. Wexler had asked for the order to be extended.

On Feb. 7, Spears' mother, Lynne, requested the temporary restraining order against the troubled singer's frequent companion and sometime manager. She claimed Lutfi had held Spears hostage in her own home, drugged her and took over her finances.

Attorneys for James Spears, who was named co-conservator of his daughter's estate, told a Superior Court commissioner that investigators spent more than 200 hours trying to locate Lutfi and serve him the restraining order.

Spears and her estate, estimated to be worth $100 million, were placed under a temporary conservatorship after she was taken to UCLA Medical Center on Jan. 31. Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to care for themselves or their affairs.

Gutierrez's action was somewhat unusual because the case was being tried in Superior Court. However, a lawyer claiming to represent Spears filed papers on Feb. 14 to move it to federal court, claiming the terms of the conservatorship violate her civil rights.

On Wednesday, Gutierrez ordered attorney Jon Eardley to clarify by Feb. 29 why the pop star's conservatorship belongs in federal court.

Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said Gutierrez's decision to extend the restraining order appeared to be an attempt to "maintain the status quo" in the case until the jurisdictional issue is sorted out.

Report: Lopez gives birth to twins in NY

Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins early Friday, making the singer and husband Marc Anthony the parents of a boy and a girl after one of pop music's most closely watched pregnancies.

Lopez representative Simon Fields told People magazine the babies were born at 12:45 a.m. on Long Island. The location was not identified.

"Jennifer and Marc are delighted, thrilled and over the moon," Fields told the magazine.

Lopez' publicists and agent did not return telephone calls from The Associated Press early Friday.

Ending months of speculation, Lopez confirmed her pregnancy at a Miami concert in November. Her father, David Lopez, told Telefutura's "Escandalo TV" earlier this month that the 39-year-old singer was expecting twins.

Lopez and Anthony, 38, married in 2004. The twins are her first children, and his third and fourth.

Gag order denied in Britney Spears case

A lawyer for Britney Spears was turned down Tuesday in a bid for a gag order on attorneys in the pop star's child-custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline. Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon rejected the request after attorney Anne Kiley argued that media coverage was "emotionally and physically" dangerous to Spears.

Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, contended that the absence of a gag order doesn't leave Spears' children in jeopardy and that Spears is more concerned about the paparazzi frenzy that follows her.

Kaplan noted that the paparazzi swarms existed before Spears filed for divorce in November 2006.

Neither Spears nor Federline were present at the hearing.

Spears has not been allowed to see sons Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, since an incident at her home that led to the first of her two hospitalizations in a psychiatric facility this year and a decision by another court to put her father, James Spears, in charge of her affairs.

Outside court, Kaplan told reporters that Federline would like the singer to see her children.

"Both sides want to see the day that visitation can resume. It's a question of working out the details of how that can happen," said Kaplan. "Mr. Federline looks forward to his children having their mom in their life."

The gag order request was discussed in open court before other issues were taken behind closed doors.

Kiley said she wanted a "narrowly tailored" order that would only restrict attorneys from speaking to the media.

Kaplan, who frequently speaks to reporters outside the courthouse after hearings, told Gordon he only summarizes what went on in court when the commissioner allows it and he never discusses the children's whereabouts or schedules.

Kiley also argued that media vehicles and cameras outside the courthouse were "distressing because of other people trying to use the courthouse."

"And you think this order would fix that?" asked Gordon.

"I think the First Amendment is important but this is about the practical aspects of the case," said Kiley.

The commissioner said the public has a right to know court orders. He agreed that public safety and access to the courthouse was a concern but "that's a law enforcement issue."

Kaplan said he hoped things will be different now that the conservatorship is in place because there will be "no pre-leaking of information to favored media outlets as to where they (Spears and companions) are going and how they will get there."

Pink and racer hubby Carey Hart split up

Pink and motocross racer Carey Hart have separated after two years of marriage.

"This decision was made by best friends with a huge amount of love and respect for one another," Pink's representative, Michele Schweitzer, said Tuesday in a statement. "While the marriage is over, their friendship has never been stronger."

Pink, whose real name is Alecia Moore, met Hart at the 2001 X Games in Las Vegas and proposed to him four years later during a race in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. They were married Jan. 7, 2006, in Costa Rica.

Pink, 28, won a Grammy for best female rock vocal performance for her song "Trouble" in 2003. Her hits include "Get the Party Started," "Stupid Girls" and "Don't Let Me Get Me."

Klum says she wants to help Spears

Heidi Klum wants to help Britney Spears. The 34-year-old model says she'd be willing to open her home to Spears while the troubled pop singer puts her life back together.

"She can call me and come live in our house with us for a couple of months," said Klum, a mother of three who is married to the singer Seal and lives in Beverly Hills, Calif. "I would help set her straight."

"I am sorry when a young person gets thrown so off track," Klum said, according to a transcript of an interview that will be aired Monday night by the German broadcaster ARD. "She has, of course, lived an extremely wild life."

After more than a year of bizarre behavior and two stints in a psychiatric hospital this year, Spears was placed under a conservatorship by the Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner at the beginning of February. Conservatorships are established when a court determines that someone cannot take care of themselves or their affairs.

To hear Klum, the host of Bravo's "Project Runway," describe it, her own life seems like a fairy tale.

"I have never been as happy as I am today," Klum said. "I have found the man of my life and we have three great kids. They are all so different and fantastic that it really can't get better than this."

Free business book is Web sensation

NEW YORK (AP) — The Oprah touch doesn't just work for traditional books. More than 1 million copies of Suze Orman's "Women & Money" were downloaded after the announcement last week on Winfrey's television show that the e-book edition would be available for free on her Web site, http://www.oprah.com, for a period of 33 hours.

"I believe `Women & Money' is the most important book I've ever written," Orman said in a statement released Saturday by Winfrey. "So this was not about getting people to buy the book, but getting them to read it, and that was the intention behind this offer."

The download offer "has built excitement for Suze's book across all formats," Julie Grau, the book's publisher, said in a statement.

According to Saturday's statement from Winfrey, more than 1.1 million copies of Orman's financial advice book were downloaded in English, and another 19,000 in Spanish. The demand compares to such free online sensations as "The 9-11 Commission Report," which the federal government made available for downloads, and Stephen King's e-novella, "Riding the Bullet."

The publishing community has endlessly debated the effects of making text available online, with some saying that free downloading is a valuable promotional tool and others worrying that sales for paper editions would be harmed. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers each have sued Google for its plans to scan and index books for the Internet.

The offer for "Women & Money," originally released a year ago by Spiegel & Grau, a division of Random House, Inc., has not kept people from buying the traditional version. As of Saturday, the book ranked No. 6 on Amazon.com. The paper edition of "The 9-11 Commission Report," published in 2004 by W.W. Norton and Co., was a best seller for months.

"I can tell you that with respect to the `9-11 Report,' the free download did not seem to hurt sales at all," Norton publisher Drake McFeely told The Associated Press on Saturday. "There were people who wanted it quickly, in a less convenient form, and that was clearly a different market from the people who wanted the traditional book."

He said free downloading of books does concern publishers, but "if Norton had been given the opportunity for an Oprah Winfrey plug, and part of the deal was making the book free online, we would have gladly taken it."

Auction nets over $40 million for AIDS in Africa

Contemporary art collectors opened their wallets on Thursday and shelled out $42.6 million at a Valentine's Day charity auction spearheaded by rocker Bono and British artist Damien Hirst to benefit the fight against AIDS in Africa.

Spirited bidding and prices far in excess of pre-sale estimates marked "The (Red) Auction" at Sotheby's, where all but one of the 83 contemporary works, each donated by the artists or their estates, found buyers.

The $42,584,300 total easily eclipsed even the highest expectations of about $29 million for the sale, which Sotheby's said was among the biggest single charity events in history.

Proceeds from the sale were earmarked for the United Nations' Global Fund's fight against AIDS in Africa in conjunction with Bono's "Red" brand, wherein products from major corporations including Apple, the Gap, Microsoft and Hallmark have generated $58 million for AIDS.

"This was a really historic night," said Bono, sporting his trademark sunglasses.

"I'm really very, very moved," he said, having "seen people dying for lack of the two pills a day" it takes to treat AIDS.

While contemporary artists have been among the chief beneficiaries of the art market boom of the past decade, Bono said, "They're the heroes tonight."

"I can't get over the selfless acts of the artists," he said before leading the packed salesroom into joining his a Capella rendition of "All You Need Is Love," a somewhat surreal and in all likelihood unprecedented, scene in the rarefied auction world.

Among those gathered for the bidding were rap impresario Russell Simmons, TV host and publishing mogul Martha Stewart, Jordan's Queen Noor, rocker Michael Stipe and former tennis star John McEnroe. Bidding -- some of it by telephone -- was aggressive at all levels with works soaring to two, three and even 10 times their estimates.

Hirst contributed seven works, including "Where there's a will there's a way," a monumental medicine chest sculpture containing hundreds of metal HIV pills that fetched $7.15 million. It had been the sale's top-priced lot, estimated to bring $5 million to $7 million.

Five Hirsts were among the top 10 lots in the sale, which also set 17 artist's records. Sotheby's lowered its commission for the auction and made no profit, using the 10 percent fee to fund the event's costs and donating any remainder to the U.N. fund.

Many but not all of the 83 works on offer were specially created for the Valentine's Day auction and were rendered in vibrant shades of red, or used the color as a thematic element.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

Winehouse's mom: Amy on road to recovery

Amy Winehouse's successful performance at the Grammys shows the troubled young singer is on the road to recovery, her mother said in an interview to be broadcast Tuesday.

Winehouse's spirited appearance via satellite Sunday is an indication that she is overcoming the personal demons which have threatened to overshadow her music career, Janis Winehouse told Britain's GMTV.

"Well, it's Amy coming back, she's definitely on the way back," she said.

Sunday was Winehouse's first public performance since being released from a London rehabilitation clinic for substance abuse. The satellite performance was arranged when the U.S. government rejected her application for a work visa. The decision was reversed, but it was too late to make the trip at that point.

Janis Winehouse said her daughter's appearance at the Grammys spoke for itself.

"Well, as you saw, she looks good and it's a case of she's on the road — and that's what it's about — she's on the road to recovery," Janis said.

Winehouse's representatives said Monday the singer was still being looked after.

"She is an outpatient and she is under medical supervision and the treatment continues," said Chris Goodman of Winehouse's public relations firm, the Outside Organization. He declined to elaborate.

Winehouse's five-Grammy win was the crowning achievement to what has been spectacular 18 months for the 24-year-old singer-songwriter. Her album, "Back To Black," has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and she has won MTV Europe's Artists' Choice Award, the Elle Style Award and the Q Award for Album of the Year.

Goodman said it was too early to say whether a rumored performance at the Brit Awards on Feb. 20 with "Back to Black" collaborator Mark Ronson would happen.

Performer-producer Ronson is nominated for the best British single prize for "Valerie," which features Winehouse on vocals.

Kanye West, Amy Winehouse lead Grammy winners

British soul singer Amy Winehouse and hip-hop star Kanye West, both recovering from personal tragedies in the past year, won four Grammy Awards each on Sunday and remain in contention for more of the music industry's top honors.

Winehouse, 24, won two key Grammys -- song of the year for her signature hit, "Rehab," and best new artist -- as well as awards for female pop vocal solo performance for "Rehab," and pop vocal album for "Back to Black," her breakthrough release.

Winehouse, who received six nominations, was unable to bask in the public acclaim. She is in London, being treated at a rehab clinic for a drug problem that kept her in the headlines for much of last year.

She was scheduled to perform both "Rehab" and another tune, "You Know I'm No Good," via satellite from a recording studio later during the Grammy telecast. She will compete for record of the year and album of the year at the end of the ceremony.

West, 30, who led all Grammy contenders with eight nominations, won his awards in the rap field. He will also compete for album of the year and best rap/song collaboration.

Still mourning the death of his mother, college professor Donda West, who died in November after plastic surgery, West performed an emotional version of his song "Hey Mama." He had also shaved the word "MAMA" into the back of his head.

In accepting the best rap album Grammy for "Graduation," he tried to pay tribute to his mother, but was being drowned out by the orchestra music.

"It would be in good taste to stop the music," he said, and the orchestra duly complied.

"Mama, all I'm going to do is keep making you proud," he said.

SPRINGSTEEN TAKES HOME 3 AWARDS

His earlier awards were for best rap solo performance ("Stronger"), rap performance by a duo or group with vocals ("Southside"), and rap song ("Good Life"). He competed against himself in the latter two categories.

Other multiple winners included veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen, who took home three Grammys. He would have enjoyed a clean sweep, but lost his fourth race -- best rock album -- to the Foo Fighters. His triumph helped to make up for his surprise omission from the album of the year category.

In addition to winning best album for "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," the Foo Fighters took the hard rock performance award for their hit song "The Pretender."

In both cases, frontman Dave Grohl thanked his daughter, Violet, "for giving me the inspiration to write another record." His band also was up for album of the year, a field rounded out by country singer Vince Gill's "These Days" and jazz veteran Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters."

Hancock won the contemporary jazz album Grammy for "River," which is a tribute to Joni Mitchell. The Canadian singer-songwriter, coincidentally, also won a pop instrumental Grammy for "One Week Last Summer."

Other double winners included R&B singers Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan and Alicia Keys, late jazz soloist Michael Brecker, pop star Justin Timberlake, rock band the White Stripes, and Beatles producer George Martin.

Martin and his son, Giles, were honored for producing "Love," a collection of remixed Beatles tunes released in conjunction with the Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil stage show of the same name.

(Editing by Steve Gorman)

Court: Britney's dad can fire manager

A Superior Court commissioner gave Britney Spears' father the power to fire the singer's business manager, according to documents released Friday.

Commissioner Reva Goetz also ordered Howard Grossman to turn over "all documents, records and assets relating to Britney Spears" to James Spears, who is the court-appointed conservator of his daughter and her estate.

Goetz issued her decision after an emergency closed-door hearing requested Thursday by James Spears. Grossman showed up at the hearing, but he and others were ordered to leave the courtroom.

Grossman would not say if had been fired or how long he had worked for Spears.

"My reputation speaks for itself," he said, declining to comment further on the order because it would be speculative.

Meanwhile, attorneys who have represented Spears in her child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline filed papers to withdraw from that case.

Attorney Sorrell Trope filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court asking to quit the case, said court spokeswoman Mary Hearn. Trope previously withdrew a similar request.

Spears' parents have moved aggressively to take control of their daughter's life since she was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward Jan. 31.

On the same day James Spears won conservator status last week, his wife, Lynne, successfully applied for a restraining order against Sam Lutfi, his daughter's frequent companion and sometimes manager.

Lynne Spears told the court that Lutfi had treated her daughter like a hostage in her own home, drugged her and took over her finances.

"Sam told me, 'You'd better learn that I control everything,'" Lynne Spears wrote in a declaration filed with the court. "'I control Howard Grossman, Britney's business manager. I control her attorneys and the security guards at the gate. They don't listen to Britney, they listen to me.'"

Grossman said Friday that he had no association with Lutfi.

Spears' parents went to court Thursday after saying they feared their daughter's life was at risk after she was released from a hospital psychiatric ward on Wednesday.

Spears' affairs were placed under a temporary conservatorship after she was taken to UCLA Medical Center on Jan. 31 under heavy police escort. It was the second time in a month she had been taken from her home by ambulance.

Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to care for themselves or their affairs. The conservatorship lasts until Feb. 14.

Spears was discharged from the hospital against the recommendation of her psychiatrist and her parents' wishes.

Her parents said they were extremely disappointed she was released and they were deeply concerned about her "safety and vulnerability and we believe her life is presently at risk."

Spears slipped out of the hospital unnoticed by the pack of paparazzi that follow her every move in public, but they gave chase later in the day when she left her home behind the wheel of her Mercedes-Benz. She eventually showed up at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Spears' public life has been in a tailspin since she filed for divorce from Federline in late 2006. The swarm of photographers that tail her have captured incidents of bizarre behavior, erratic driving and public meltdowns.

She has lost custody and visitation rights with her sons, Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2.

Early last month, Spears was hospitalized after police were called to her home during a custody dispute.

Jennifer Lopez expecting twins, dad says

Jennifer Lopez is expecting twins, her father says. "They are twins, yes," David Lopez said on Telefutura's "Escandalo TV" program. He said his sister had twins. "To be a mother is something Jennifer has wanted for many years," Lopez said. "I feel superproud."

The 39-year-old singer, who is married to Marc Anthony, confirmed her pregnancy during a concert in November. "Marc and I are expecting," she told the crowd in Miami.

Lopez and Anthony, 38, were married in 2004.

Michael Jackson won't perform at the Grammy Awards

New York, Feb 6 (ANI): Pop idol Michael Jackson will reportedly appear at the Grammy Awards - but he won't be singing at the ceremony.

Jackson was rumored to be attending the Los Angeles bash on Feb 10 to promote a 25th anniversary re-release of his album Thriller.

The organizers of the show were eager for the star to duet on hits from the album with a number of contemporary performers, including Will.I.Am, Akon, Kanye West and Fergie, reports New York Daily News.

But Jackson was reluctant to take on such a big project at short notice.

The show’s producer Ken Ehrlich said that he would do the tribute only if Jackson sang and danced, said insiders.

"Michael can't go along with that. He needs more time to rehearse new versions of the songs. And everything requires new choreography,” the source added.

But, now the buzz making rounds is that Ehrlich has agreed to having Jackson just appear onstage - apparently believing viewers will tune in just to see what Jacko looks like now. (ANI)

Speedy LeBron's fine amounts to five-second violation

LeBron James pleaded no contest to an auto speeding violation Monday and was fined 259 dollars - about as much as the National Basketball Association superstar guard makes in five seconds of play.

The Akron Beacon-Journal reported the imposed fine Tuesday from an incident last December 30 - James' 30th birthday.

The NBA scoring leader was driving 101 mph, 36 miles over the posted speed limit, at 3 in the morning after the team's arrival by plane from a loss in New Orleans.

Given James' salary of more than 13 million dollars and an 82-game NBA season, he makes more than 55 dollars a second per game, so the violation will barely make a blip on the radar screen of his income.

The Cavaliers, who were swept by San Antonio in last year's NBA Finals, have started the season 26-20, the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Britney's fortune takes a tumble

New York, Feb 5 (ANI): Britney Spears' fortune seems to be facing a drastic fall after it was revealed that the troubled singer has filed a 17 million-dollar IRS tax audit against Jive Records.

The 'Toxic' singer's new lawyer Adam Streisand revealed that she has filed the IRS audit in a bid to get money back that had been paid by the label, reports the New York Post.

The pop star's business manager, Howard Grossman, had no comment to questions about the size and condition of her estate, after it was revealed in court that Britney is worth only 40 million dollars.

Meanwhile Spears is being held in a padded room after she hit an all-time low over the weekend.

The 26-year-old suffered a meltdown after being told on Feb 3 that she was to be locked in a psychiatric ward for another two weeks, claim sources.

Experts say that medics might even have to resort to using bed restraints or injections to calm the ranting star. (ANI)

50 Cent: De Niro makes me feel `

It's not every day that you see Robert De Niro on the cover of Vibe — with 50 Cent.

They posed for the magazine's March issue to promote their new crime drama, "Righteous Kill," co-starring Al Pacino and Brian Dennehy. The movie is expected to be released this fall.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, says he'd "hang out with Robert on Thursdays and Fridays" if he could.

"His celebrity is so strong that I get a chance to feel like a normal person for a little bit," the 31-year-old rapper tells Vibe. "People get nervous around him. We had a table read, and it was amazing because there were people who came in who were like, all recognizable faces ... and Robert comes in and Al comes in and it's almost like, their knees are going shaky under the table. It's great."

50, who has sold millions of records, launched his film career with the autobiographical tale "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" in 2005.

De Niro won an Oscar for portraying a mob boss in "The Godfather: Part II." His screen credits also include "Goodfellas" and "Heat." The 64-year-old actor says he doesn't mind being famous for playing gangsters.

"Those characters are more exciting," he says. "People like to watch and identify with them in some ways. It's a fantasy. The other side is, for an actor, (those parts are) more fun, in a way, to do."

Is 50 that cold-blooded?

"Yeah," says the rapper, who's famously been shot nine times.

When asked the same question, De Niro responds: "No, I don't know. I'm actually ... more sensitive."

Celebs heat up Maxim Super Bowl party

It wasn't what you would call a hot party.

Sure, there was sizzlin' music, plenty of drinks and stars like Nick Lachey and Ryan Seacrest in attendance, but with temperatures dipping into the 30s Friday night, many partygoers at Maxim's mostly outdoor Super Bowl soiree at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess huddled around heat lamps and fire pits.

And getting into one of the Super Bowl's most exclusive events was like going on a ride at a theme park: lots of lines, lots of patience.

Non-chauffeured guests were required to park in a carnival-like lot next to the resort, trek to a large white tent in another parking lot, enter a line where employees guarded the guest list, get a wristband, haul up to the hotel itself and then have the wristband verified with a flashlight by a security guard at the entrance.

Once inside, attendees sipped cocktails made with Patron Tequila, drank Heineken beer, mingled with scantily clad models posing in Perry Ellis garments and watched go-go dancers gyrate next to DJs on two outdoor stages. Later, surprise musical guests Akon and T-Pain performed.

"It's too packed," said Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Chuck Liddell. "I like dive bars."

Partygoers were bottlenecked at the two entrances to the Stone Rose Lounge, nightclub mogul Rande Gerber's lush bar overlooking the pool. Guards ushered people away from the event's only indoor space.

Even celebrities like brothers Jerry and Charlie O'Connell had trouble gaining access.

"I came in with that guy, my father," said Jerry O'Connell, pointing at his dad standing on the other side of the lounge's glass exterior. "He's a VIP — and I'm out here," he said jokingly of his non-celebrity father.

Other stars at the Maxim party included Tom Petty, Sean "Diddy" Combs, John Elway, Larry David, Rob Schneider, Kim Kardashian, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from "The Hills," former "Dancing with the Stars" contestants Stacy Kiebler, Ian Ziering and Mario Lopez, and cast members from "Entourage."

Jury acquits Wesley Snipes of tax fraud

Action star Wesley Snipes was found not guilty of federal tax-fraud and conspiracy charges Friday, but was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.

Snipes had faced up to 16 years in prison if convicted on all charges, but can now only get up to three years. The "Blade" star and two co-defendants had been indicted in 2006 after Snipes stopped paying, using tax protest arguments long rejected by the courts.

Snipes sat emotionless as his verdict was read, then nodded in relief. He refused to talk with reporters after the verdict, and is still liable for millions in taxes likely to be pursued in civil court.

"Mr. Snipes has always been committed to doing the right thing, and after this trial is over he'll make whatever amends are required," defense attorney Robert Bernhoft said. "But this is a man of integrity."

Snipes' lawyers argued that he was a victim of crooked advisers, and the jury seemed to believe it. Co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn, the founder of a tax protest group, and Douglas P. Rosile, an accountant who lost his licenses, were convicted Friday by the same panel of tax fraud and conspiracy. Both face up to 10 years in prison.

The government said Snipes failed to file tax returns from 1999 to 2004, a period in which he signed two contracts for more than $10 million on sequels in the "Blade" trilogy.

The actor, who also appeared in "White Men Can't Jump," is among the most famous targets of an IRS criminal investigation, and his prosecution was key for the government.

"We thought there was sufficient evidence for a conviction on all counts, but obviously the jury disagreed," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill said.

Snipes used bizarre arguments to justify his position, saying the IRS' own code meant income earned in this country wasn't taxable, and the agency had no legal authority because it's not a proper government entity.

Later, the actor threatened the government and individual agents in his pursuit, declaring himself a "nonresident alien" not subject to tax laws.

Prosecutors say Snipes paid taxes in the 1990s, but changed his mind after meeting Kahn in 2000. He allegedly stopped filing returns, illegally sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes paid and drew fake checks to pay the U.S. Treasury.

Kahn founded the central Florida tax protest group American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light of God Ministries. He has been using tax scams since at least the early 1980s, according to government documents, and refused to defend himself in court against these charges.

Rosile, a CPA who lost his licenses in Florida and Ohio, allegedly prepared the fraudulent documents for Snipes, along with numerous other Kahn clients.

Judge and jury have long rejected their ideas, but there were exceptions.

The IRS bears a unique burden of proof in criminal tax cases. It must show not only that someone broke the law, but he or she did so with willful, bad purpose to defraud the government.

A few defendants have won acquittal because the jury thought they sincerely believed they did not have to pay.