Jolie-Pitt Foundation donates $1 mil to Iraqi kids (AP)
AP - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's love for children is by no means limited to their own: The couple has donated $1 million to help kids affected by the war in Iraq, the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict announced Wednesday. More »
Former tough-guy actor sets sights on US Senate (AP)
AP - Sonny Landham carved out a tough-guy reputation in a series of big-screen roles, from roughing up Sylvester Stallone to getting tossed out a window by Carl Weathers. He pulls no punches in his newest role: Libertarian challenger to a man known for political toughness, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. More »
Tom Hanks loses Idaho home construction dispute (AP)
AP - A Blaine County judge has rejected Tom Hanks' second request for arbitration over what the actor says was $2.5 million in faulty workmanship by the construction company that built his sprawling compound north of this central Idaho resort town. More »
Russian state backs films that push Kremlin agenda (AP)
AP - When Vladimir Putin visited the set of the latest movie by Oscar-winning filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov, he sat in the director's chair while actors playing Soviet soldiers marched toward the front. More »
"Wall-E" charts new territory for Disney-Pixar (Reuters)
Reuters - Disney-Pixar blasts off into uncharted territory with Friday's release of animated film "Wall-E," a space adventure mixing an unusual love story with somber messages about the future of Earth and humankind. More »
Christian Bale: A "Kindred Spirit" to Heath Ledger (E! Online)
E! Online - Christian Bale wants people to know Heath Ledger's work as the twisted and morose Joker in The Dark Knight was just that?work! More »
Casting Couch: SVU Switcheroo; Carter's Post-Files Flick; Leo's Gal-Pal's New Gig (E! Online)
E! Online - The Law & Order revolving door has just opened up a big opportunity for Michaela McManus. More »
Shiloh's "Debut" Debunked (E! Online)
E! Online - Shiloh Jolie-Pitt makes her "acting debut" in the trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Or so we're told. (Watch the trailer below.) More »
Musician Shawn Colvin working on memoir (AP)
AP - Shawn Colvin, the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, is working on a memoir, "A Few Small Repairs," named for her best-known album and tentatively scheduled to come out in the fall 2009. More »
Kid Rock jokingly urges fans to `steal everything' (AP)
AP - Kid Rock wants fans to know it's OK to illegally download his music. More »
George Jones duets album features Richards, Gill (Reuters)
Reuters - Country legend George Jones has raided the archives for his next album, "Burn Your Playhouse Down: The Unreleased Duets," which features 12 collaborations with the likes of Keith Richards and Dolly Parton. More »
Kanye West rails against Bonnaroo criticism (AP)
AP - Kanye West defended himself from criticism over his delayed performance at Bonnaroo, saying on his blog that the flak he's taken has left him "the most offended I've ever been." More »
Cher harassed at Nashville club, man is arrested (AP)
AP - A Nashville man has been charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication after he repeatedly harassed Cher at the famed honky-tonk Tootsies Orchid Lounge. More »
Jakob Dylan sets aside the band, goes to school with Rubin (AP)
AP - At 38 years old and the father of four, Jakob Dylan won't be taking any backpacking trips through Europe. A musician's equivalent of that, however, inspired the first solo album of his career. More »
Boy George Breaks Up Boring State Dept. Presser (E! Online)
E! Online - Who knew cracking wise was part of the job description at the U.S. Department of State? More »
Jailed ex-press baron Conrad Black loses appeal (Reuters)
Reuters - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of former press baron Conrad Black and three ex-colleagues found guilty last year of defrauding shareholders of one-time newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International Inc. More »
You Wouldn't Like Kanye (Blogging) Angry (E! Online)
E! Online - Ever write something in anger and think it sounds totally rational and then look back at it a few months later and laugh at your own sense of self-importance? More »
Michaela McManus joining `Law & Order: SVU' (AP)
AP - Michaela McManus, who played book editor Lindsey on "One Tree Hill," is joining "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as an assistant district attorney. More »
`Big Bird' costume creator Kermit Love dies at 91 (AP)
AP - Kermit Love, the costume designer who helped puppeteer Jim Henson create Big Bird and other "Sesame Street" characters, has died. He was 91. More »
David Hasselhoff's Pity Party of One (E! Online)
E! Online - "I didn't get a chance to see the show until the final product, and it was clearly not what it could've been...It's going to miss the target a little bit...It's like [having] Indiana Jones without Indiana Jones." More »
Venezuelan 'System' brings classics to the barrios (AP)
AP - A violin case slung over her shoulder, 10-year-old Daniela Fagundez trudges home along a row of muddy yards where chickens scratch among banana trees and laundry hangs drying on wire fences. More »
Man is acquitted in Amy Winehouse husband case (AP)
AP - A British court on Wednesday acquitted a former pub manager of taking a bribe to drop assault charges against Amy Winehouse's husband. More »
Jazz vocalist faces foreclosure in Seattle (AP)
AP - Jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson is facing foreclosure on her home in Seattle in yet another sign that the mortgage loan crisis is hitting traditional working-class neighborhoods hard. More »
Miley Wants Her Ex "to Be Upset" (E! Online)
E! Online - While Miley Cyrus has remained mum on the specifics of her love life, she does admit that her new song, "7 Things," is indeed about an ex of hers. More »