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EVA LONGORIA and her on-off basketball beau TONY PARKER are engaged.
The DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES actress, 31, and the French-born sports star, 24 - a point guard for the San Antonio Spurs - met in November 2004.
Longoria’s representative LIZA ANDERSON confirms, "Eva and Tony are officially engaged. The couple have never been happier." The pair split briefly in September (06), but quickly rekindled their relationship after a romantic trip to Paris. This is the second marriage for Longoria, who was previously married to actor TYLER CHRISTOPHER from 2002 until 2004. This will be Parker’s first marriage.

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America has given new best pals PARIS HILTON and BRITNEY SPEARS their blessing to party - readers of top magazine In Touch like the pop pair together.
Despite fears that hotel heiress Hilton is a bad influence on the young single mum, fans want the media to give the girls a break after they spent the Thanksgiving weekend (ends26NOV06) partying around Hollywood.
Of those polled, 68 per cent felt Britney and Paris should be given a pass to party, while 32 per cent felt Spears should be more choosy about her pals.

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THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA star STANLEY TUCCI’s new TV medical drama has been cancelled after just three episodes.
In 3 LBS, the actor played a brain surgeon. The show failed to take off and low ratings prompted bosses at US network CBS to scrap it.
The medical drama suffered a series of setbacks before it even aired - DYLAN McDERMOTT was originally slated to play Tucci’s ambitious medic and played the neurosurgeon, DR DOUGLAS HANSEN, in a pilot episode last year (05), but producers felt the project was too dark.
The show, titled for the weight of the average human brain, also featured former SEX AND THE CITY star CYNTHIA NIXON as Hansen’s wife.

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EDDIE MURPHY will reprise his role as Detective AXEL FOLEY in the fourth installment of the BEVERLY HILLS COP franchise.
Executives at Paramount Pictures are keen to revive the classic action-comedy series which dominated the box office in the 1980s.
The first two pictures in the franchise were produced by JERRY BRUCKHEIMER and his former partner DON SIMPSON.
Producer LORENZO DI BONAVENTURA says, "Axel Foley is one of the great action-comedy characters, a character that Eddie loves. "I’m lucky enough to help bring it back. This genre is missing from the landscape."

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Actor and voiceover artist TIMOTHY HAYES ROONEY, a son of MICKEY ROONEY, has died. He was 59.
Rooney died on 23 September (06) in Hemet, California after a five-year battle with the muscle disease dermatomyositis.
He was the second son of the veteran actor and his wife, singer BETTY JANE RASE, who performed as BJ BAKER.
As a child, Rooney had polio, which left him paralyzed for two years, but he eventually recovered.
He was chosen as one of the original Mouseketeers for the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB in 1955, but never appeared on the show after being fired after getting into mischief in the Disney paint shop.
His later career included parts in RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP and VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS. He appeared on TV shows including DRAGNET, BEWITCHED, PETTICOAT JUNCTION and GIDGET and did voiceover work for cartoons including THE JETSONS and MR T.

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MEL GIBSON is optimistic film fans will flock to see his new movie APOCALYPTO despite his July (06) drink driving arrest and anti-Semitic controversy.
Critics feel sure the upcoming epic, which focuses on the plight of the early Mayan race, will fail at the box office because film fans are still scarred by the anti-Jewish remarks the actor/director made to a Jewish cop during a late-night traffic stop and arrest.
Disgraced Gibson has since publicly apologised for his drunken comments and he thinks he’s done enough to bring people to the cinema to see his latest movie.
He says, "People aren’t like that… (My new film) is primarily entertainment… The movie will stand on its own, regardless of any unfortunate experience I may have stumbled upon."

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LATEST: BARBARA WALTERS insists DANNY DeVITO is welcome back on her breakfast show THE VIEW, even though he appeared to be drunk during an interview yesterday (29NOV06).
The star was promoting his new movie DECK THE HALLS on the show, and admitted he was still tipsy after a night of partying with pal GEORGE CLOONEY.
Walters seemed far from impressed by the actor’s behaviour, but has quickly forgiven him after he apologised personally to her.
Speaking on the show this morning (30NOV06), Walters said, "We love him, we’ll have him on again." Walters found a message from DeVito in her office after the show. She says, "I called him back on his cell phone and he had already left on a plane, but he said he was not going to say anything until he had talked to me." The 62-year-old star appeared on the live show slurring his words and ranting against US President GEORGE W BUSH. He ended his appearance by sitting on co-host ROSIE O’DONNELL’s lap.
O’Donnell laughed off DeVito’s disheveled appearance this morning, adding, "Danny DeVito is not an alcoholic. He’s just a guy who had too many drinks with his friends. He had a wonderful night out, and he was a little drunk."

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CHARLIE SHEEN and DENISE RICHARDS are no longer husband and wife - their marriage was terminated in Los Angeles on 17 November (06), according to new documents.
The couple split last year (05) and briefly reconciled at Christmas (DEC05) before waging a messy war of words in the divorce courts.
They were married for just under three years and had two daughters together.
Richards is now dating BON JOVI rocker RICHIE SAMBORA.

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Blues pianist ROBERT ‘H-BOMB’ FERGUSON died on Sunday (26NOV06) from complications related to emphysema and cardiopulmonary disease. He was 77.
Ferguson, who got his Cold War-era nickname thanks to his booming voice, passed away at Ohio’s Hospice of Cincinnati.
He sang and played piano in a flamboyant style, often wearing colourful wigs.
His early works were featured in the recent re-issue H-BOMB FERGUSON: BIG CITY BLUES, 1951-54.
A native of Charleston, South Carolina, and the 11th of 12 children, Ferguson said his interest in the blues dated back to his childhood.

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Rapper-turned-minister REV RUN found something to smile about at his first public outing since his wife suffered a miscarriage - he turned trendy New York club Tenjune into a star-studded belated birthday party yesterday (29NOV06).
The rap icon and his second wife JUSTINE lost their third child together.
Their baby girl was born on 21 September (06) but died shortly after her birth.
JAMIE LYNN-SIGLER and rappers METHOD MAN, REDMAN, TREACH and RASHEED were among the celebrities who joined the RUN-DMC star, real name JOSEPH SIMMONS, his wife and five kids for a ’surprise’ 42nd birthday party, which was filmed for the new season of hit MTV reality show RUN’S HOUSE.
The party’s biggest surprise guests were GOOD CHARLOTTE stars BENJI and JOEL MADDEN, who helped Simmons belatedly celebrate his 14 November birthday (06).
The event marked Joel’s first public outing since splitting from longtime girlfriend HILARY DUFF.

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Pop star MICHAEL JACKSON is a huge fan of the JAMES BOND series of movies, but refused to go to the premiere of CASINO ROYALE while he was in London because he was terrified of meeting British royal QUEEN ELIZABETH II.
The latest Bond film, starring DANIEL CRAIG, had its Royal Command Performance earlier this month (NOV06) in London.
According to veteran entertainment columnist LIZ SMITH, Jackson was in town but didn’t attend the event because he said he was "too nervous" to be near the monarch.
Jackson asked executives from the film’s production company to send him a screener tape and he watched Casino Royale in his hotel suite instead, drinking Diet Coke and munching on popcorn.

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An estimated 100,000 people crowded the streets of Manhattan, New York last night (29NOV06) to witness the star-studded Christmas tree lighting festivities at the Rockefeller Center.
The two-hour extravaganza, which was televised across America, was headlined by CHRISTINA AGUILERA and featured show-stopping performances from ENYA, SARAH McLACHLAN and AMERICAN IDOL winner TAYLOR HICKS.
Olympic ice skater SASHA COHEN performed solo on the centre’s ice rink as Aguilera performed her latest hit HURT to highlight the evening.
Unusually warm temperatures for the Big Apple brought music fans out in force, turning the free Christmas tree lighting concert, which also featured performances by JOHN LEGEND, MARTINA McBRIDE, BETTE MIDLER, STING, HALL & OATES and LIONEL RICHIE, into one of the best attended ever.
Disgraced comedian TRACY MORGAN, who was arrested earlier this week on drink driving charges, was supposed to join his 30 ROCK castmates ALEC BALDWIN and TINA FEY for the lighting switch-on, but failed to show.

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Senegalese R&B star AKON has made chart history in the US by becoming the first artist to replace himself at number one on the Billboard Pop 100.
He also becomes the first act to top the new Hot RingMasters chart, which launches tomorrow (01DEC06).
Meanwhile, the singer’s I WANNA LOVE YOU, which was displaced by his EMINEM collaboration SMACK THAT on the Pop 100, scores a second week at the top of the main singles chart.
Smack That will officially become the first Hot RingMasters chart number one tomorrow.
BEYONCE’S IRREPLACEABLE scores the Hot 100’s greatest airplay gainer honour for a third successive week and rises to number two. The former DESTINY’S CHILD star also remains number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a second week.
Meanwhile, rapper SNOOP DOGG’s collaboration with R KELLY, THAT’S THAT S**T shoots up the charts from 85 to 20 and former AMERICAN IDOL star CHRIS DAUGHTRY’s new act DAUGHTRY scores the week’s highest debut - IT’S NOT OVER enters the Hot 100 at 65.

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LATEST: Yellow Wiggle GREG PAGE has revealed the nature of the medical condition which has forced him to quit children’s supergroup THE WIGGLES.
In a video farewell played before the launch of the group’s latest national tour in Australia yesterday (29NOV06), Page said he had orthostatic intolerance.
The condition prevents his heart from pumping enough blood around his body when he stands up. He explained, "It’s not a life-threatening condition by any means but it is one that’s going to be with me for the rest of my life. "I’ll no longer be able to sing and dance the way I want to and, as a result, I’ve decided to stop performing with The Wiggles." The problem - related to a lack of pressure in the circulatory system - is further exacerbated by fast movement, heat and stressful situations.
Page has suffered from the condition for 12 years, but it wasn’t diagnosed until recent bouts of the illness increased in severity.
The remaining members of the group - JEFF FATT, ANTHONY FIELD and MURRAY COOK - say it is an emotional and depressing time for them.
Cook adds, "It’s been so hard to work out what we should do because he (Page) would really love to get into that big red car and be singing, ‘Toot toot, chugga chugga,’ but his body just wasn’t letting him do it."

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LATEST: Pop superstar MADONNA is refusing to be daunted by an imminent challenge to her Malawian adoption, insisting she’s got "no problem" with the legal action.
Yesterday (29NOV06), a judge in baby DAVID BANDA’s homeland ruled his 18-month interim adoption could be challenged by a coalition of 67 human rights groups.
Members claim the Malawian government "fast-tracked" the adoption process for the singer and husband GUY RITCHIE, and point out intra-country adoptions are not allowed in the African nation.
But Madonna’s Malawian lawyer ALAN CHINULA says, "They (Madonna and Ritchie) called me from London and I explained to them the ruling. They have no problem with the ruling and are also willing to sit back and wait." He added of the coalition’s suit, "It’s good for the law. Let’s build the law, let the court hear other views. It’s not Madonna using an antiquated law, we followed the law to the letter in the adoption process, but it’s just a bad law."

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SIR PAUL McCARTNEY’s estranged wife HEATHER MILLS is trying to divert the media glare from her upcoming divorce to the plight of dogs and cats killed for their fur.
The animal rights campaigner was in Belgium today (30NOV06) to deliver a 250,000-signature petition calling for the trade to be banned in Europe - just hours after photos of her holding a notebook of divorce game plan scribblings were splashed over British front pages.
Mills’ petition will put pressure on European ministers to impose the ban, which the European Commission proposed earlier this month (NOV06).
An estimated two million cats and dogs are being killed each year in China alone to fuel the trade, but the country insists it’ll be difficult to stamp out the practice without this European intervention.

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Hit American wrestling show SMACKDOWN faces a TV ban in Indonesia after a boy died when a gang allegedly copied some of the wrestlers’ violent moves.
The nine-year-old passed away earlier this month (16NOV06) from injuries thought to have been sustained in an attack from schoolboys in October (06).
The programme, which features wrestlers flamboyantly punching, kicking, choking and slamming one another to the ring floor, has been blasted by parent groups in the country and some government officials.
Women Empowerment Minister MEUTIA HATTA says, "It is just proper for these kind of shows to be wisely stopped. It seems as if there are no better shows.
"This is not only a problem for parents to deal with. This is about society failing to filter what shows are good for our children." Private broadcaster Lativi, which airs the show in Indonesia, has agreed to move SmackDown to a later time in the evening but refuses to stop showing the programme.
Indonesia’s broadcasting commission has yet to decide whether to impose a ban.

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US funnyman CHRIS ROCK’s comedy creation EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS took home a top award at the Family Television Awards in California last night (29NOV06).
The show, inspired by Rock’s childhood, was named Best Comedy during the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
CBS crime drama NUMB3RS scooped the Best Drama prize while celebrity talent show DANCING WITH THE STARS was named Best Reality Show.
The star-studded evening honouring the best of family-friendly scheduling was co-hosted by STEPHEN COLLINS and HAYLIE DUFF of 7TH HEAVEN.
Other winners included I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER beauty JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT for her role as a medium in GHOST WHISPERER while the Best Actor award went to TONY SHALHOUB for quirky detective show MONK.

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