Tiger wants to be "greedy host" at Congressional

By Casey Rodgers (AP)

Austrian fashion designer Lena Hoschek says she is not put off by the prospect of \"Bruno\" _ Sacha Baron Cohen\'s new film where he plays an over-the-top flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion enthusiast.

Hoschek, who is popular for her 1950s pinup girl style clothes with U.S. pop star Katy Perry, says she\'s actually looking forward to seeing the movie.

\"I think it\'s gonna be a fun film,\" she told The AP on the sidelines of the Mercedes Benz Fashion week in the German capital.

\"Bruno\" is the follow-up to the surprise 2006 box-office hit, \"Borat: Cultural Learnings of...

By Joel Ryan (AP)

George Clooney has lined up a new home for his production company.

According to Sony Pictures, Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov\'s Smoke House Pictures is in final negotiations on a two-year development and production deal with the studio.

Clooney had been set up at Warner Bros. for many years with Smoke House and prior to that, his Section Eight partnership with Steven Soderbergh.

While at Warner, Clooney won a supporting-actor Academy Award for \"Syriana\" (see-ree-AH\'-nuh) and had a best-director nomination the same year for \"Good Night, and Good...

By Joel Ryan (AP)

George Clooney has lined up a new home for his production company.

Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov\'s Smoke House Pictures is in final negotiations on a two-year development and production deal with Sony Pictures, studio Co-Chairwoman Amy Pascal said Tuesday.

For many years, Clooney had been set up at Warner Bros., first with his Section Eight partnership with Steven Soderbergh and later with Smoke House. Clooney said he felt like \"part of a family\" at Warner.

\"I\'m leaving a terrific company and a lot of dear friends. They\'re a class act,\" said Clooney,...

By Matt Slocum (AP)

Marc Colombo lowers his bald head and leans his sweaty, 6-foot-8, 318-pound frame toward the microphone, growling to the crowd that the next song will \"rip your face off.\"

The sometimes scary stage presence of the heavily tattooed guitarist and singer, who is one of three Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen in the heavy metal band Free Reign, is a thing of beauty for the head of the recording company that just signed them.

\"They\'re big guys _ big, ugly, mean guys,\" said John Howarth, owner and CEO of the Australian company Riot Entertainment. \"You see the press photos and...

By MICHEL LIPCHITZ (AP)

The final act of Michael Jackson\'s life came into clearer focus Friday, a picture of a fallen superstar working out with TV\'s \"Incredible Hulk\" and under the care of his own private cardiologist as he tried to get his 50-year-old body in shape for a grueling bid to reclaim his glory.

While the exact circumstances of his death remained unclear, early clues suggested he may simply have pushed his heart too far.

Police said they had towed the doctor\'s BMW from Jackson\'s home because it may include medication or other evidence, and a source familiar with the situation told...

By MICHEL LIPCHITZ (AP)

The final act of Michael Jackson\'s life came into clearer focus Friday, a picture of a fallen superstar working out with TV\'s \"Incredible Hulk\" and under the care of his own private cardiologist as he tried to get his 50-year-old body in shape for a grueling bid to reclaim his glory.

While the exact circumstances of his death remained unclear, early clues suggested he may simply have pushed his heart too far.

Police said they had towed the doctor\'s BMW from Jackson\'s home because it may include medication or other evidence, and a source familiar with the situation told...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

The final act of Michael Jackson\'s life came into clearer focus Friday, a picture of a fallen superstar working out with TV\'s \"Incredible Hulk\" and under the care of his own private cardiologist as he tried to get his 50-year-old body in shape for a grueling bid to reclaim his glory.

While the exact circumstances of his death remained unclear, early clues suggested he may simply have pushed his heart too far.

Police said they had towed the doctor\'s BMW from Jackson\'s home because it may include medication or other evidence, and a source familiar with the situation told...

By Reed Saxon (AP)

\"Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson has just died,\" the woman called out breathlessly upon boarding a Manhattan bus, moments after the news had broken. Not a word was spoken in response. But nearly every passenger reached for a Blackberry, a cell phone, whatever device was at hand.

\"People are already texting about it, putting it up on Facebook, remembering his greatest moments,\" noted Delmar Dualeh, sitting in the back. At 17, he confessed, the news didn\'t really move him emotionally. He was too young to recall the 50-year-old entertainer in his prime. But he was fully...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

Michael Jackson apparently suffered a heart attack, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday. Police sought to talk to the doctor who was with the pop icon during his last minutes and pumped his chest in a vain attempt to save his life.

As grief for the King of Pop poured out around the world, from the icons of music to heartbroken fans, an autopsy showed no sign of trauma to Jackson, whose death came just weeks before he was to launch an epic comeback bid in a series of 50 concerts in London.

The person, who was not authorized to speak...

By Vahid Salemi (AP)

EDITOR\'S NOTE: Iranian authorities have barred journalists for international news organizations from reporting on the streets and ordered them to stay in their offices. This report is based on the accounts of witnesses reached in Iran and official statements carried on Iranian media.

___

A senior cleric on Friday urged Iran\'s protest leaders to be punished \"without mercy\" and said some should face execution _ harsh calls that signal a nasty new turn in the regime\'s crackdown on demonstrators two weeks after its disputed election.

Hard-liners have ordered long...

By DAN STEINBERG (AP)

A record-shattering vinyl album and its moonwalking maestro. A paper poster of a golden-haired beauty in a one-piece swimsuit that was gossamer and clingy in all the right places.

It all seems so quaint now, the fragmented dream memories of a fleeting micro-era that began with words like \"bicentennial\" and \"pet rock\" and ended with MTV, Atari and absurdly thin cans of super-hold mousse.

The man-child named Michael Jackson and the luminous girl known as Farrah Fawcett-Majors jumped into our consciousness at a plastic moment in American culture _ a time when the celebrity...

By JACQUES BRINON (AP)

Bold prints, harem pants and beefy sailor looks ruled the catwalks Thursday on day one of Paris\' menswear displays, with strong spring-summer 2010 collections by Belgium\'s critical darling Dries Van Noten, French luxury label Louis Vuitton and the country\'s one-time enfant terrible, Jean Paul Gaultier.

Japanese label Issey Miyake gave a Turkish spin to its East-meets-West aesthetic, sending out a mosaic and tulip-print collection fit for a sultan. Emanuel Ungaro kept the color popping with a flamenco-meets-rock-\'n\'-roll collection that was heavy on fuchsia and...

By (AP)

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 5-11:

July 5: Actress Katherine Helmond (\"Who\'s The Boss,\" \"Soap\") is 80. Actress Shirley Knight is 73. Musician Robbie Robertson is 66. Singer Huey Lewis is 59. Country keyboardist Charles Ventre of River Road is 57. Singer Marc Cohn is 50. Actress Edie Falco (\"The Sopranos\") is 46. Actres Kathryn Erbe \"Law and Order: Criminal Intent\") is 44. Rapper RZA is 40. Singer Joe is 36. Drummer Bengt Lagerberg of The Cardigans is 36. Rapper Bizarre of D12 is 33. Singer Jason Wade of Lifehouse is 29. Musician Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum...

By (AP)

The U.S. Olympic team is staying with the Polo look for the opening and closing ceremonies in Vancouver and London.

The U.S. Olympic Committee announced Thursday it was renewing its apparel deal with Ralph Lauren. The 2010 uniforms will be unveiled later this year.

The federation says the uniforms will \"celebrate the rich history of the Olympic Games with a nod to the Lake Placid Games of 1932,\" with a classic uniform of red, white and blue.

This is not a cash deal for the USOC, which is trying hard to keep sponsors signed up through the 2012 Games and beyond. But the...

By (AP)

Weekly charts for the nation\'s best-selling recorded music as they appear in next week\'s issue of Billboard magazine. Reprinted with permission. (Platinum signifies more than 1 million copies sold; Gold signifies more than 500,000 copies sold.):

Billboard Hot 100: Top 10

(Airplay monitored by Nielsen/BDS. Sales data compiled by Nielsen/SoundScan.)

1. \"Boom Boom Pow,\" The Black Eyed Peas. will.i.am/Interscope.

2. \"I Gotta Feeling,\" The Black Eyed Peas. Interscope.

3. \"Best I Ever Had,\" Drake. Bryant/Frozen Moments/Hip Hop Since 1978.

4. \"Knock...

By (AP)

Weekly charts for the nation\'s best-selling recorded music as they appear in next week\'s issue of Billboard magazine. Reprinted with permission. (Platinum signifies more than 1 million copies sold; Gold signifies more than 500,000 copies sold.):

Billboard Hot 100: Top 20

(Airplay monitored by Nielsen/BDS. Sales data compiled by Nielsen/SoundScan.)

1. \"Boom Boom Pow,\" The Black Eyed Peas. will.i.am/Interscope.

2. \"Poker Face,\" Lady GaGa. Streamline/KonLive/Cherrytree/Interscope.

3. \"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho),\" Pitbull. Ultra.

4. \"Birthday...

By (AP)

A record-shattering vinyl album and its moonwalking maestro. A paper poster of a golden-haired beauty in a one-piece swimsuit that was gossamer and clingy in all the right places.

It all seems so quaint now, the fragmented dream memories of a fleeting micro-era that began with words like \"bicentennial\" and \"pet rock\" and ended with MTV, Atari and absurdly thin cans of super-hold mousse.

The man-child named Michael Jackson and the luminous girl known as Farrah Fawcett-Majors jumped into our consciousness at a plastic moment in American culture _ a time when the celebrity...