Arsenio Hall plans US TV comeback
Talk show host Arsenio Hall, a star of US TV in the 1990s, is returning with a new late-night show.
The 57-year-old actor and comedian is working with CBS Television Distribution on the format, which will air from autumn 2013.
The Emmy Award-winning Arsenio Hall Show ran from 1989 to '94 and featured guests from Bill Clinton to Hall's Coming to America co-star Eddie Murphy.
His TV comeback follows his recent win on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice.
When Hall's original show premiered, it was a surprise hit in the US late-night slot that had long been dominated by Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
His programme regularly featured up-and-coming rappers and stars such as director Spike Lee, comedian Bill Cosby and boxers Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.ts place in history was secured in 1992 when then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton played Heartbreak Hotel on the saxophone.
Hall's acting credits include regular appearances on Martial Law in the late 1990s and a variety of roles alongside Eddie Murphy in 1988 comedy Coming to America.
Clooney to make August: Osage County film
George Clooney is to produce the film version of Tracey Letts' play, August: Osage County, which will star Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
The play, about a dysfunctional family brought back together after their poet father disappears, won the Pulitzer and the Tony awards for best drama in 2008.
Streep and Roberts will play mother and daughter in the film.
"It's such a terrific group and we feel honoured to help bring it to the screen," said Clooney in a statement.
The Weinstein company is backing the movie adaptation, while John Wells is directing.
Wells is best known for his TV work including ER, Mildred Pierce and the US adaptation of Shameless.
And Clooney will be joined by co-producer Grant Heslov, who was also behind the star's previous films The Ides of March and Good Night and Good Luck.
Dysfunctional family
"Grant and I are thrilled to work on this project... I can't think of anyone better than Harvey to put this all together," Clooney continued.
Weinstein returned the compliment: "George and Grant are gifted producers, with great taste and instincts, and a work ethic that is second to none."
Streep will play a matriarch who is addicted to prescription drugs, while Roberts will portray her eldest daughter Barbara.
The play made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago's Steepenwolf theatre earlier that year.
The rest of the cast has still to be announced.
Shooting will begin in the autumn.
BBC
Dwyane Wade’s Ex-Wife Arrested For Attempted Child Abduction
The drama between Dwyane Wade and his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches-Wade, just won’t stop.
Siohvaughn has been charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest.
Just hours ahead of game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat superstar is requesting that a Chicago judge suspend his ex-wife’s right to visitation with their two children after a weekend incident that delayed the boys’ return to his custody and led to her arrest, according to an Associated press report.
Wade’s attorney, James Pritikin, filed an emergency motion and appeared in court Tuesday to have it heard, hours before the Miami Heat guard was to play in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A hearing was set for June 26, which would be the date of Game 7 if the Heat and Thunder extend the series to its limit.
Wade told The Associated Press that his sons have been with him in Miami since about 6 a.m. Sunday – “That’s what mattered most to me, getting them here to be with me on Father’s Day,” he said – and that the incident has not adversely affected his play in the championship series.
Siohvaughn Funches-Wade was charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest, Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Frank Bilecki told The AP on Tuesday. Another woman at the home at the time, Nadgee Alarcon, was charged with one count of resisting arrest, Bilecki said. All the charges are misdemeanors.
Funches-Wade posted $10,000 bond on Monday, Bilecki said, and is due back in court in August. It was not known if she had an attorney.
“Once again, S.L. has used our minor children as the proverbial pawns in this contentious dissolution of marriage action,” Wade wrote in the filing, using initials to protect identities but referring to his ex-wife. “This court must take action to protect our minor children from further exposure to the present environment S.L. creates while they are in her care and preventing S.L. from exercising her parenting time in a manner that is harmful to our children.”
LeBron James answers Serge Ibaka
LeBron James and Serge Ibaka were both on the NBA's All-Defensive Team this season, but Ibaka is not impressed with James' skills on that end of the court.
Ibaka, the Oklahoma City Thunder's power forward, said Monday that James was "not a good defender" and that "he can play defense for two or three minutes but not 48 minutes." James responded to the comments before Tuesday's Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
"I don't really care what he says, he's stupid," James said. "Everyone says something to me every series, then (the media) tries to get a quote. It's stupid."
Ibaka made the comments to The Palm Beach Post.
"LeBron can't play (Kevin Durant) one-on-one. They're playing good defense like a team," Ibaka told the newspaper.
In addition to the Finals, James and Ibaka likely will face off this summer at the Olympics. Ibaka plays for the Spanish national team, expected to be the most serious challenger to Team USA's bid to repeat as gold medalists.
The Heat have been rotating defenders on Durant, who is averaging 31 points on 57 percent shooting in the series, but James was his primary defender in the fourth quarter of the Heat's 91-85 Game 3 victory on Sunday. Durant was 1-of-5 shooting in the quarter with James guarding him.
"For me as a defender, I just try to make plays and try to keep my body in front of a great player," James said. "First of all, I'm not playing 48 minutes, and Kevin's not playing 48 minutes. I'm not guarding him for 48 minutes. When I'm on him, I'm just trying to make it tough for him to make shots, which he's going to make."
In other Thunder-Heat player beef news, Heat forward Chris Bosh said there's no longer any bad blood between him and Durant. Last year Durant referred to Bosh when he said, "There are a lot of fake tough guys in this league, and he's one of them," after the two got in an exchange on the court at a game in Oklahoma City.
"We squashed that at the last All-Star Game," Bosh said Tuesday.
ESPN
Sandusky's wife testifies for defense
Jerry Sandusky's wife testified Tuesday that she remembers most of the men who told a jury that her husband sexually abused them, but she said he never had inappropriate contact with them as boys.
She also said the basement where the boys would stay wasn't soundproof, a statement that contradicted one man's testimony that he screamed during an assault but couldn't be heard.
Defense lawyers called the former Penn State assistant football coach's wife to the witness stand Tuesday after they went after two investigators, suggesting that police shared details among accusers and planted the seeds of the alleged victims' evolving accounts of abuse.
The jury also heard from a psychologist who testified that Sandusky has a personality disorder that might explain the "creepy" letters he sent to one of his accusers. The defense also offered more testimony touting Jerry Sandusky's reputation as a family man and community stalwart.
Sandusky is charged with 51 criminal counts related to 10 alleged victims over a 15-year span. He's accused of engaging in illegal sexual contact ranging from fondling to forced oral and anal sex.
Dottie Sandusky has stood by her husband, posting his bail, accompanying him to court proceedings and issuing a statement in December that proclaimed his innocence and said that accusers were making up their stories. She is not charged in the case.
In her testimony, she said she knew several of the accusers, some well. Some of them, she said, were "clingy" around her husband while another was "charming." Nearly all would stay overnight in the Sandusky home and her husband "would tell them good night," she said.
One witness testified last week that he was attacked by Jerry Sandusky in the basement of the ex-coach's home and cried out for help when Dottie Sandusky was upstairs. She, however, said the basement was not soundproof and she would have been able to hear shouting if she was upstairs.
She also rebutted one victim's claim that Sandusky tried to engage in oral sex with him while in a hotel bathroom at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. The man said the assault was interrupted when Dottie Sandusky walked into an adjoining room.
"They were just standing ... in a hallway kind of thing... they had their clothes on, they were fully clothed," she said.
The psychologist, Elliot Atkins, told jurors that he diagnosed Sandusky with histrionic personality disorder after talking with the ex-coach for six hours.
People with the disorder often interact with others in inappropriately seductive ways and don't feel comfortable unless they're the center of attention, Atkins explained.
"Often these are people who did not have as much success in relationships -- emotional or romantic -- (and) relationships in life," he said, responding to questions from Sandusky lawyer Joe Amendola.
According to the National Institutes of Health, histrionic personality disorder occurs more often in women than in men.
Sandusky's attorney is hoping to convince jurors that the disorder could explain his client's letters to the accuser known as Victim 4 and other interaction that prosecutors allege show his grooming of victims.
A prosecution psychologist, John Sebastian O'Brien II, however, testified that Sandusky was a man who juggled many tasks at once, something not akin to the disorder.
"I don't see anything in any of that information to suggest he was a person with a personality disorder that caused him any problems," O'Brien said.
Amendola also questioned two state police investigators about what details they shared during interviews with the alleged victims, in particular with Victim 4.
Amendola asked retired Cpl. Joseph Leiter if investigators told interviewees about others who had stepped forward.
"In some of our interviews ... we did tell them," he said.
Asked why, Leiter said it was to let possible victims know they were not alone.
"Each of these accusers was very, very seriously injured, and very concerned, and we had told them -- especially prior to going to the grand jury -- that they wouldn't be alone, that there were others," Leiter said.
Leiter said that did not include sharing individual accusers' recollections of abuse, such as specific sex acts.
"We never told them what anyone else had ever told us," he said.
But Amendola later read Leiter portions of an interview transcript in which the investigator told the accuser that others had reported abuse that progressed to oral sex and rape.
Victim 4, now 28, testified last week that Sandusky sexually abused him in the locker-room showers and in hotels for five years while trying to ensure his silence with gifts and trips to bowl games.
On the stand, he admitted that he lied to police and his own lawyer about the alleged abuse, saying he had "denied it forever." But he testified calmly and firmly, saying Sandusky performed oral sex on him and sent him "creepy love letters."
The man's attorney, Ben Andreozzi, also was called to the stand and asked about a discussion he had with investigators during a break in an interview with his client.
On a difficult-to-hear recording of the discussion, Andreozzi and Leiter can be heard talking about the investigation while the accuser is out of the room.
Andreozzi acknowledged to jurors that a guilty verdict in Sandusky's trial could have an impact on his client if he files a civil lawsuit, but he told the court that hadn't been decided yet.
Andreozzi also denied coaching his client on what to say to investigators.
"He viewed Jerry as a father figure to him. It's been extremely difficult talking about this publicly," Andreozzi said.
The defense appeared to catch one of the investigators in a lie after recalling him to the stand.
Trooper Scott Rossman said that he hadn't spoken to Leiter about their testimony after he first left the stand Tuesday, but Leiter said they had talked about it.
Meanwhile, another witness told jurors she knew Victim 4 through her brother and that he had a reputation for "dishonesty and embellished stories." The woman, who said her brother was the alleged victim's best friend, is an Iraq war veteran who suffered a brain injury before she was discharged.
The defense also called former New York Jets linebacker Lance Mehl, who played for the Nittany Lions in the 1970s.
ESPN
Bolt listed 63 on Forbes’ money making list
The world’s fastest man Jamaica’s Usain Bolt is listed at number 63 on Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 highest-paid sports personalities over the past year.
The Olympic champion and world record-holding sprinter made 12.96 million pounds, just a quarter of highest paid sports star, boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Bolt, who is the most high-profile star going into the London 2012 Olympics, also brought in less than half of golfer Phil Mickelson’s 30.51 million pounds.
Mayweather has overtaken Tiger Woods at the top.
Mayweather, currently serving a three-month jail sentence for domestic assault, made 54.25 million pounds - a figure bolstered by promoting his own fights.
Golfing legend Woods dropped to third having received 37.92 millions with boxer Manny Pacquiao rising to second on earnings of 39.57 million pounds.
David Beckham is eighth on the list. He is the highest paid footballer with earnings 29.36 million pounds.
Rooney winner sets up Italy clash
Wayne Rooney marked his England return with the goal that secured a place in Euro 2012's last eight - but it was a rough passage eased by helpings of good fortune and controversy against Ukraine.
England manager Roy Hodgson instantly restored Rooney after a two-match suspension in place of Andy Carroll with orders to make a belated mark on the campaign after sitting out the draw against France and victory against Sweden.
And after missing a simple header in the first half, the Manchester United striker ensured England topped Group D to set up a quarter-final meeting with Italy in Kiev on Sunday.
England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.
Ukraine, however, will complain long and hard about a contentious second-half incident when Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved.
The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.
England will regard it as a measure of justice for Frank Lampard's disallowed goal against Germany in Bloemfontein at the 2010 World Cup - but it was also an illustration of how they rode their luck for long periods in front of a predictably partisan home crowd.
But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.
Oleg Blokhin's side lost the talismanic Andriy Shevchenko to the substitutes' bench because of a knee injury but still showed enough to put England through real turmoil in spells.
A lack of match sharpness was perhaps to blame for Rooney squandering England's best chance after 27 minutes.
It appeared he only had to make clean contact with Manchester United team-mate Ashley Young's cross to score but his far-post header lacked conviction and went tamely wide of keeper Andriy Pyatov's goal.
Either side of Rooney's fluffed chance, it was a tale of Ukrainian domination as they attacked England down both flanks and showed the greater fluidity of the teams.
Scott Parker was desperately urging England's players to keep possession - but it was easier said than done amid waves of Ukraine attacks and it needed a penalty area block from the Tottenham midfield man to thwart Devic.
England keeper Joe Hart had to save smartly from the dangerous Andriy Yarmolenko, who also raised the hopes of the Donetsk crowd as he evaded several challenges in the area before running out of space.
However, Rooney made no mistake with his second headed opportunity, Steven Gerrard's delivery from the right once again the creative source. The cross took two deflections and slipped from the grasp of Pyatov for a simple far-post header from the Manchester United striker.
The crowd was momentarily silenced but Ukraine refused to lose heart - and they were robbed of an equaliser when once again an effort that had crossed the line was not spotted by officials.
Artem Milevskiy should have done better than send a header wide but the real controversy came when Hart partially stopped Devic's effort and Terry desperately scrambled back to hook the ball off the line.
The Ukrainians immediately demanded a goal and their claims were vindicated as replays showed the ball crossed the line before Terry's intervention.
There was still time amid the drama for Ashley Cole to almost mark his 97th cap with a goal but the erratic Pyatov made a fine recovery save after another inelegant attempt to deal with a cross.
With 20 minutes left it was time for the entrance of Ukraine's great sporting icon Shevchenko.
He received a thunderous ovation as his country looked to him to rescue their Euro 2012 campaign but it was a task beyond even the veteran striker, who was soon booked for a rash challenge.
Before the game manager Hodgson had said England could dream a little - ahead of the confrontation with Italy in Kiev, they can now afford to dream a little more.
By Phil McNulty Chief football writer, BBC Sport
England v West Indies: Alastair Cook steers hosts to series win
Captain Alastair Cook scored 112 as England cruised to an eight-wicket victory over West Indies to clinch the one-day series with a match to spare.
Cook shared an opening stand of 122 with Ian Bell (53) and 81 with Jonathan Trott as the hosts chased down the tourists' below-par 238-9 in 45 overs.
Put in to bat, the Windies failed to build on Chris Gayle's explosive 53.
Dwayne Bravo top-scored with 77 off 82 balls but the innings fizzled out with only 19 runs in the last five overs.
Their total never looked enough on a true pitch and in bright sunshine, and Cook and Bell gave a masterclass in how to chase down a modest target, picking up singles off most balls and putting away any wayward deliveries for four.
Cook was marginally the more aggressive, taking a particular liking to the off-spin of Sunil Narine, who he cracked for successive fours on either side of the wicket in racing to a 51-ball half-century.
England were scoring at more than six runs per over when Bell, a centurion in the first match at the Rose Bowl, gifted his wicket to Darren Sammy with a loose drive to cover.
Cook marched on to reach his fourth century since taking over as one-day captain a year ago - and the sixth by an England opener in successive one-day internationals.
With Trott playing his usual game of steady accumulation, Cook steamed to three figures off 114 balls.
After 12 fours, he bludgeoned his first six off opposite number Sammy over long-on before falling trying to repeat the shot and ballooning the ball up in the air.
That left Trott, who finished 43 not out, and Ravi Bopara to steer England to a victory that was even more comprehensive than their 114-run Duckworth-Lewis win in Saturday's series-opener at the Ageas Bowl.
"It was a really good team performance," Cook told BBC Test Match Special.
BBC
Interior Minister Responds to Attack on Press Freedom in Haiti
The Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul, reiterated the government's firm commitment to investigate and prosecute anyone involved in the attack of Journalist Phebe Wendy.
SOS Journalists, a Haitian press freedom organization announced in Le Nouvelliste that it had partnered with national and international press freedom organizations to publish a list of Haitian politicians considered to be enemies and predators of journalists and press freedom.
SOS Journalist Secretary General, Joseph Guyler Delva named Interior Minister Thierry Mayard-Paul, the Mayor of Thomonde, Souverne Jean Delva and Deputy Marie Denise Bernadeau (Thomonde/Lavni) as government officials complicit in the attack of Phebe Wendy.
The Ministry of the Interior responded to the accusations saying the attack was committed by security officials at the mayor's office in Thomonde. The ministry added that the matter is in the hands of justice officials to judge and discipline as it finds appropriate.
Guyler Delva is not satisfied. He would like that Haitian authorities, namely Minister Thierry Mayard-Paul, to relieve Mayor Delva of his duties and other officials of his staff.
The Ministry of the Interior communicated to the press (below) that an effort was being made to shed light on the matter and it remains in the hands of justice.
The Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities informs the national and international community that it had ordered the formation of an administrative commission which visited Thomonde to investigate the incident.
Under the terms of the report, Justice in the person of the magistrate, has begun already regularly hearing the case, the Interior Ministry is therefore withdrawn. At this stage of the proceedings, the Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities is available to any injunction of Justice for an order against any person such administrative action as ordered by a court of law.
The Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities reiterates its absolute commitment to respect fundamental freedoms and especially the human rights and press freedom in Haiti. Minister Thierry Mayard Paul recalls that "for over three decades, Haiti has been working to build a democratic regime. Government to which I belong is fully dedicated to the consolidation of a system where human rights , freedom of the press and generally the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Charter of Human Rights and the citizen are guaranteed for all Haitians. lawyer by profession, comes from a long line of legal practitioners I have always opposed any kind of violence or abuse against journalists and against any other citizen."
The rule of law, the backbone of any democratic government must prevail in Haiti and is the only safeguard against arbitrariness and popular passions. The Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities, all the Minister wish to reaffirm their total commitment and complete the process of consolidating the rule of law that the country requires of all his wishes and wait for the formulation of any request from Justice to respond immediately in accordance with the Act.
Wikileaks' Julian Assange seeks asylum in Ecuador embassy
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking political asylum at Ecuador's London embassy, the country's foreign minister has said.
"Ecuador is studying and analysing the request," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino told reporters in Quito.
Last week the UK's Supreme Court dismissed Mr Assange's bid to reopen an appeal against extradition to Sweden over alleged sex crimes he denies.
The Foreign Office says it will work with Ecuador to resolve the situation.
Mr Assange could still take his case against extradition to the ECHR and has until 28 June to make the move, or extradition proceedings will begin.
Swedish prosecutors want to question him over allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two female former Wikileaks volunteers in mid-2010 but have not filed any charges.
Mr Assange, whose Wikileaks website has published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed several governments and international businesses, claims the sex was consensual.
'Minimum guarantees'In a statement, Ecuador's embassy said he had arrived there on Tuesday afternoon to seek asylum.
"As a signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights, with an obligation to review all applications for asylum, we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in Quito," it said.
"While the department assesses Mr Assange's application, Mr Assange will remain at the embassy, under the protection of the Ecuadorean government."
It said the decision to consider the bid for asylum "should in no way be interpreted as the government of Ecuador interfering in the judicial processes of either the United Kingdom or Sweden."
Mr Assange issued a statement, saying he was "grateful to the Ecuadorean ambassador and the government of Ecuador for considering my application".
Associated Press quoted Mr Patino as telling reporters Mr Assange had written to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa saying he was being persecuted.
Mr Patino said the Australian had claimed "the authorities in his country" would not "defend his minimum guarantees in front of any government".
Mr Assange said he would not be protected from being extradited to "a foreign country that applies the death penalty for the crime of espionage and sedition," Mr Patino said.
The Foreign Office said the UK had now been officially informed by the authorities in Ecuador that Julian Assange was seeking asylum.
Since he was now in the embassy of Ecuador, he was "on diplomatic territory and beyond the reach of the police," a spokesman said.
The anti-secrecy campaigner fears extradition to Sweden may lead to him being sent to the US to face separate charges relating to Wikileaks, for which he could face the death penalty.
Swedish assurance
But Swedish authorities have said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would intervene if Mr Assange was to face the prospect of "inhuman or degrading treatment or an unfair trial" in the US.
Mr Assange was on £200,000 bail which was provided by several high-profile supporters including socialite Jemima Khan and Ken Loach, who each offered £20,000 as surety.
Ms Khan said on Twitter that she had expected him to face the allegations, adding, "I am as surprised as anyone by this".
Vaughan Smith, a friend who allowed Mr Assange to stay at his Norfolk home until December 2011, told the BBC he was surprised by the move but understood why he may have decided to seek asylum.
"There's been an organised campaign to undermine him," Mr Smith said. "And he believed that if he was sent to Sweden he would be sent to America."
Wikileaks has posted an alert on its Twitter feed: "ALERT: Julian Assange has requested political asylum and is under the protection of the Ecuadorian embassy in London."
It said Ecuador had offered asylum as early as November 2010.
Ecuador's deputy foreign minister said in 2010 his country was offering Mr Assange residency because it wanted to give him the opportunity to freely present the information he had.
However, President Rafael Correa subsequently dismissed the idea, which he said neither he nor Mr Patino had approved.
BBC