Pop star Miley Cyrus says she's no "twerk queen"

United States pop singer and former Disney television child star Miley Cyrus brushed off any suggestions that dropping her squeaky clean image was a sign she was "going off the rails". Cyrus, who starred in Walt Disney Co's 2006-11 Hannah Montana TV series about a high school student with a double life as a famous musician, told Reuters her newly cropped hair, tattoos and adult music videos do not mean she is following the well-worn path to perdition trodden by other child stars.

Actors Evan Rachel Wood, Jamie Bell welcome first child

American actress Evan Rachel Wood and British actor Jamie Bell welcomed their first child, a boy, Wood's spokeswoman said. Wood, 25, best known for her role in 2008's The Wrestler and the 2003 coming-of-age drama Thirteen, announced in January that she was expecting a child with Bell, whom she married last October.

Sexuality under the microscope in Showtime series

The sexual revolution has been well-documented on TV shows like HBO's Sex and the City, but a new Showtime drama Masters of Sex turns the lens on the pioneering couple who started the public conversation about sexuality. The show, which premieres on Sept 29, explores the early relationship of groundbreaking sex researchers Virginia Johnson and William Masters. It documents their discoveries based on Thomas Maier's 2009 biography Masters of Sex.

Real Housewives appear on federal fraud charges

Two stars of The Real Housewives of New Jersey were released on $500,000 bond each on Tuesday after appearing in federal court on fraud and tax evasion charges that could get one of them kicked out of the United States. Teresa Giudice, 41, and her husband Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, 43, held hands during their appearance on a 39-count indictment at the hearing before US Magistrate Judge Cathy Waldor.

Angelina Jolie highest earning US actress: Forbes

Angelina Jolie, who will next be seen on the big screen in the film Maleficent, is Hollywood's highest paid actress with estimated earnings of $33 million in the last year, according to Forbes. She easily surpassed this year's Best Actress Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, who came in second with $26 million, and pushed Kristen Stewart of the Twilight series, who topped the list last year, into third place with earnings of $22 million.

Rihanna wins Topshop T-shirt legal case

Barbadian singer Rihanna on Wednesday won a legal case against British fashion chain Topshop over the use of her image on a T-shirt it sold without her approval.

Scrooge tops list of the 2013 Forbes Fictional 15

Scrooge McDuck, or Uncle Scrooge, the billionaire bird who keeps his $65.4 b fortune in gold coins, tops the list of The 2013 Forbes Fictional 15. The world's richest duck owns some of the world's largest mining concerns. Fiction's second richest character is the red-gold dragon Smaug in Hobbit and third is doctor Carlisle Cullen from Twilight. Each year Forbes calculates the net worth of the wealthiest characters from novels, movies, television and games, valuing them using real-world commodity and share prices.

Private Benjamin actress Eileen Brennan dies

American actress Eileen Brennan, best known for her Oscar-nominated role in the 1980 film Private Benjamin, has died from bladder cancer. She was 80. Los Angeles-born Brennan died on Sunday at her home in Burbank, a Los Angeles suburb, surrounded by her family, said Kim Vasilakis, a media representative for the actress.

Beckham to release picture book in October

Former England soccer captain David Beckham will release a picture book in October featuring images from his playing career in a deal with a United Kingdom publishing unit of French media company Lagardere. The ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder, who retired from football in May after a brief spell with French club Paris St. Germain, is expected to release the book on Oct 31 with Lagardere's UK-based Headline Publishing Group.

Reuters

(China Daily 08/04/2013 page4)