Benedict's four-day state visit has been overshadowed by disgust over the abuse scandal and indifference in highly secular Britain, where Catholics are a minority at 10 percent and endured centuries of bloody persecution until the early 1800s.

Linda Fillinger had a new experience recently: She made pancakes without reaching for a box of prepared mix.

In his memoir, "The Road to Woodstock," then-promoter Michael Lang writes: "From the beginning, I believed that if we did our job right and from the heart, prepared the ground and set the right tone, people would reveal their higher selves and create something amazing."

Can France's first lady, top model turned songstress Carla Bruni who married President Nicolas Sarkozy in February, keep spinning the magic once her new album comes out July 11?

"King Kong" was less of a box-office brute than Hollywood expected, taking in $50.15 million in its first weekend, a sturdy start but unremarkable by Hollywood blockbuster standards.

The show has proven its international appeal even as the format is reproduced in more than 30 versions tailored to specific countries and languages.

Filters for blocking junk e-mail from inboxes have improved to the point that doing much more will needlessly kill legitimate e-mail, said Carl Hutzler, America Online Inc.'s anti-spam coordinator. So e-mail gatekeepers are shifting gears.

To somebody peeking into this little room, I'm just a middle-aged guy wearing a polka-dotted blue shower cap with a bundle of wires sticking out the top, relaxing in a recliner while staring at a computer screen.

The union representing striking writers aimed a blow at the glamorous heart of Hollywood, refusing to allow its members to write for the Academy Awards or Golden Globe ceremonies.

Hip-hop's latest battle between two of its biggest egos - Kanye West and 50 Cent - has been building like a title fight in Vegas.

Don Herbert, who as television's ''Mr. Wizard'' introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.