NEW YORK (AP) Beginning work a few years ago on her latest book, an anthology of poems for young people, Caroline Kennedy found herself looking through one of her mother's scrapbooks. She burst into laughter, she says, as she came across a poem that her brother John, as a youngster, had picked...

LOS ANGELES (AP) After a nine-month delay, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" deployed to the top spot at the box office. The action film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum as the gun-toting military toys brought to life marched into the No. 1 position at the weekend box...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc, getting a headstart on the annual tradition of April Fools' pranks, released a YouTube clip on Sunday declaring that the world's most popular video website will shut down at the stroke of midnight. The three-minute video intended as a gag - a montage of clips...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A formal complaint filed with New York's lobbying board asks it to investigate whether Artists Against Fracking, a group that includes Yoko Ono and other A-List celebrities, is violating the state's lobbying law, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press. The...

BERLIN (AP) Justin Bieber had to leave a monkey in quarantine after landing in Germany last week without the necessary papers for the animal, an official said Saturday. The 19-year-old singer arrived at Munich airport last Thursday. When he went through customs, he didn't have the documentation...

LONDON (AP) Richard Griffiths was one of the great British stage actors of his generation, a heavy man with a light touch, whether in Shakespeare or Neil Simon. But for millions of movie fans, he will always be grumpy Uncle Vernon, the least magical of characters in the fantastical "Harry Potter"...

NEW CITY, N.Y. (AP) Stephen Baldwin, the youngest of four brothers in show business, said Friday he's looking forward to "clearing the wreckage of my past." Step 1 will be coming up with $300,000 for the tax man. Baldwin, 46, admitted in Rockland County Court that he failed to pay New York state...

NEW YORK (AP) Martin Scorsese is developing a TV series based on his 2002 film "Gangs of New York." The director is partnering with Miramax, which released the Oscar-nominated film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis. The planned show doesn't yet have a TV network. The series expands...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) Her show had been cancelled, but that didn't stop alternative folk and rock singer Michelle Shocked from showing up at a Santa Cruz nightclub where she staged a sit-in with tape across her mouth that read "Silenced By Fear." Moe's Alley was one of several nightclubs that...

By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - After more than 50 years, loyal fans have one last chance to visit the Easter bunny and other Easter-themed mosaics made of thousands of brightly colored eggs on a lawn in an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The displays have drawn thousands of visitors each year...

NEW YORK (AP) India.Arie is laughing off talk that she may have lightened her skin. The R&B songstress is known for singing about being authentic and celebrating one's true self. But some accused India.Arie of lightening her skin when a publicity photo for her song "Cocoa Butter" released...

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. shareholder lawsuit accusing smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry of seeking to fraudulently obscure its falling market position was dismissed on Friday. U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan granted the company's motion to dismiss the proposed...

NEW YORK (AP) Lil Wayne says he's an epileptic and has had seizures for years. In an interview with Los Angeles-based radio station Power 106 on Thursday, the 30-year-old rapper said epilepsy caused his most recent health scare earlier this month when he was rushed to a hospital. Wayne said he...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) It's back. The virtual reality headset, the gizmo that was supposed to seamlessly transport wearers to three-dimensional virtual worlds, has made a remarkable return at this year's Game Developers Conference, an annual gathering of video game makers in San Francisco. After...

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) A Moroccan rapper known for his protest songs said Friday after completing a yearlong prison sentence that he will be concentrating on his studies and improving his music and is unsure about further activism. Mouad Belghouat's angry rap songs excoriating the gaps between...

By Steve Pond LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Paul Williams, a pioneering music journalist who started the first magazine devoted to rock 'n' roll criticism, died on Wednesday in Southern California. He was 64. Williams was the founder of Crawdaddy! magazine and the author of more than two dozen...

By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tony and Emmy Award winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth is known for her perky personality ranging from roles in Broadway's "Wicked" to television's "Glee" and performing a closing number at February's Oscar ceremony with host Seth MacFarlane. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday. Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on...

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it plans to acquire the book recommendation website, Goodreads. In buying Goodreads, Amazon gets a community of bibliophiles primed to buy and recommend books - one of its key areas of business. "Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss...

TORONTO (AP) Research In Motion Ltd., once written off as dead amid fierce competition from more modern mobile devices such as the iPhone, surprised Wall Street Thursday by returning to profitability and shipping more BlackBerry 10 phones than expected in the most recent quarter. It will take...

By Brent Lang LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Fay Kanin, an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning screenwriter, died Wednesday of natural causes. She was 95. In addition to her award-winning work, Kanin served as the second female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, the nonprofit...

NEW YORK (AP) Fox network says Demi Lovato is returning as a judge of "The X Factor." The singer-songwriter will be back alongside series creator Simon Cowell when the singing competition begins its third season this fall. Although calling Lovato "really, really annoying," Cowell said he enjoys...

PARIS (Reuters) - A French actress has filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor for breach of privacy over Internet rumors alleging she has a relationship with President Francois Hollande, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday. A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office told Reuters that...

NEW YORK (AP) A new girl is coming to Fox's "New Girl" and her name is Taylor Swift. A representative for the Grammy-winning singer said Thursday that Swift will appear on the May 14 season finale of the hit show. No other details were provided. "New Girl" stars actress-singer Zooey Deschanel...

(Reuters) - Airlines should charge obese passengers more, a Norwegian economist has suggested, arguing that "pay as you weigh" pricing would bring health, financial and environmental dividends. Bharat Bhatta, an associate professor at Sogn og Fjordane University College, said that airlines should...

NEW YORK (AP) The Tribeca Film Festival will close with a 30th anniversary restoration of Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy." This year's festival will bow out on April 27 with a classic from one of its founders: Robert De Niro. In the 1983 dark comedy, he stars as the aspiring comedian Rupert...

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as one of the most prominent figures on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday. Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming...

HAVANA (AP) Fight your way through mangrove swamps shoulder-to-shoulder with bearded guerrillas clad in the olive green of Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Your mission: Topple 1950s Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Out to foil you are helmeted Batista soldiers and police in mustard-yellow...

By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry reported a surprise quarterly profit on Thursday and said it shipped 1 million of its all-new Z10 smartphones in the period, but the company has yet to convince some investors that its turnaround plan is succeeding. The Canadian smartphone maker's...

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index was lower on Thursday, led by declines in gold shares that followed the bullion price lower, but a jump in BlackBerry after the smartphone maker reported a surprise quarterly profit offset some of the losses. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Actress Ashley Judd announced Wednesday she won't run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky against Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, saying she had given serious thought to a campaign but decided her responsibilities and energy need to be focused on her family. The former Kentucky...

LONDON (AP) Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban as she returned home from school, is writing a book about the traumatic event and her long-running campaign to promote children's education. Publisher Weidenfeld and Nicolson announced that it would release "I...

By Tim Molloy NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Speculation that Matt Lauer isn't long for NBC is only about to get more intense: The New Yorker has a detailed rundown on how it says Lauer earned a $25 million annual contract by threatening to leave for ABC. Joe Hagan's lengthy, detailed piece describes...

By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - With the U.S. Supreme Court preparing to hear arguments on whether California's Proposition 8 should be overturned Tuesday, "Modern Family" co-creator Steve Levitan told TheWrap on Monday that he'd be "happy" if his hit ABC sitcom helped influence the...

By Sharon Waxman LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Tom Cruise is planning on a courtroom confrontation with the publishers of "In Touch" and "Life & Style" magazine despite ongoing private mediation, his attorney exclusively told TheWrap. "I don't expect there will be a settlement," attorney Bert...