SOCIETY AND PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD

MORE NEWS AND GOSSIPS ABOUT CELEBRITIES IN:

rSOCIETY AND PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. SOCIETY AND CELEBS GRAPEVINE

rTHIS WEEK HOT NEWSFLASH: THE BEST OF NEW YORK CITY

WHY MOVIES STARS, CELEBRITIES AND ORDINARY WOMEN POSE NAKED? By Maximillien de Lafayette. Brigitte Bardot: "Animals walk around naked and they have more loyalty than men. I have never been betrayed by my pets. But I have been cheated so many times by men and women who were fully clothed..."Josephine Baker: " I will strip by the name of God, if I have to feed those orphans...". WHY SOME WOMEN STRIP IN PUBLIC AND WHY STARS POSE NAKED? For one million reasons. And it has nothing to do with money, as many ingenious minds and rednecks believe or imagine. Kate Moss does not need to pose naked to make money. She appeared in full armored clothes on major glossy magazines covers. And she earns zillions, just by holding a product or looking at the camera. She does it because it is part of the fabric of the business. Almost 88% of stars and celebrities, including university professors, anchorwomen, women-wrestlers, top executives and moms posed in the nude at one time in their lives and careers for pragmatic, incomprehensible reasons, fantasy, celebrity quest, notoriety exposure... Read full article and see photos

Herb and Evelyn Strauss Gala Benefit Concert.

For the past fourteen years, Evelyn and Herb Strauss have presented a gala benefit concert at Carnegie Hall to raise funds for leukemia in honor of their daughter, Lauri Strauss. This year’s line up of stars offers "something for everyone," including Metropolitan and City Center Opera star - Mark Rucker, TV actor and talk show host - Tony Danza, Award winning actor - Len Cariou, and Catskill comic - Freddy Roman.

LSLF GALA BENEFIT CONCERT: “THE SUN’LL COME OUT TOMORROW!”. Monday, November 21, 2005 - 7:30 PM Carnegie Hall

New York- "“Tomorrow is only a day away,” sings the heroine of Charles Strouse’s beloved musical, Annie. So, too, is the “tomorrow” when, thanks to ongoing medical research, leukemia and allied cancers will be defeated. You can help bring that day even closer: join us at the Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation’s 2005 Gala Benefit Concert, on Monday evening, November 21, at Carnegie Hall. We’ll be presenting a great lineup of great stars and great friends, including: Skitch Henderson, co-hosting the evening and conducting The New York Pops for the 14th consecutive year. Charles Strouse himself, composer of such Broadway hit musicals as Annie, Applause, Bye Bye Birdie, and Rags — honored this evening with the LSLF Lifetime Achievement Award.

Photo: Herb Strauss, Vickie Smith and Evelyn Strauss.

Songs by Strouse, a special segment of Charles Strouse’s show-stopping songs, directed by Barry Levitt and featuring the voices of Eric Michael Gillett, Jason Graae, Hilary Kole, Terri Klausner, Connie Kunkle. Deborah Tranelli and Sal Viviano. EXTRA! - Dick Van Dyke, who starred in Bye Bye Birdie, will appear via video. Tony Danza, popular television actor, host of his own daily talk show, and master of Doo-Wop. Len Cariou, star of Applause, award winning Broadway star of both dramas and musicals. Mark Rucker, Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera star, hailed for his exceptional baritone – singing in memory of LSLF’s good friend, Robert Merrill. Kenny White, international singer/songwriter/pianist/guitarist, introduced by LSLF’s own Judy Collins. Jon Weber, jazz and stride pianist, a favorite at Birdland and The 92nd Street Y’s Jazz Festival, whose playing stopped the show at the 2005 MAC Awards. Di Wu, acclaimed classical pianist — introduced by Gary Graffman, celebrated pianist and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Freddy Roman, comic star of Broadway, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and the Catskills, a laugh favorite at LSLF Galas. Midge Woolsey, co-host, a New York favorite heard on WQXR and over PBS’s Channel 13. Don Abbott, once again keeping the evening rolling with his golden announcing tones from backstage. Save the date now! Better yet, to make sure that you’ll be part of this festive evening. .

Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation

30 Park Avenue- Suite 11F
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: 212-696-1033 / Fax: 212-689-1622
Email:lslf@aol.com Web:www.lslf.org

Elvis Could Get Own License Plate in Tennessee

MEMPHIS, Tennessee- The folks who keep the world supplied with Elvis T-shirts and coffee mugs have a new project in the works, an Elvis license plate. Not a fake Elvis license plate, mind you, but a real one sanctioned by the state of Tennessee. Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. can move ahead with its plan when 1,000 orders for the plates are assured. The state requires that minimum number of sales to approve a so-called specialty license plate, which costs $35 more than a regular tag. If approved, the Elvis license plates would be available only for cars registered in the state of Tennessee. Proceeds would go to the Regional Medical Center, the Memphis region's main publicly supported hospital and home of the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center. The license plate would feature an image of Presley with a guitar and "1956" in large, bold numbers. That was the year Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" made No. 1 on the pop music charts. Tennessee already has 150 such plates that brought in $8.4 million last year.

Julie L. Maher©WCS Sea Monsters Weekend - A Halloween Celebration
Presented by Pepsi Supported by Norweigian Cruise Lines. October 29 - 30

A safe and not (too) scary way to spend Halloween weekend with the family. Enter the Pavilion, a 7,000 square-foot structure which is transformed into a holiday activity center. Join us for a pumpkin-patch-filled arts and crafts center. Activities for this event are free with general admission and run from Noon - 4 pm each day. Come down and see all our sea monsters.

PZN Special ‘Walking the Thin Line’ to air Wednesday, Nov. 2

CNN anchor Paula Zahn dedicates a full hour of Paula Zahn Now to in-depth coverage of eating disorders affecting more than 10 million Americans, in a special “Walking the Thin Line” on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. (ET). The special will feature the following segments: Actress Jamie-Lynn DiScala of The Sopranos talks frankly about her near-suicidal battle with bulimia and her fears that the only way young starlets can succeed in Hollywood is to risk it all to be thin; Jane Fonda explains how she began bingeing and purging when she was in high school and continued for 30 years.

Photo: Jamie-Lynn DiScala.

Fonda is part of a growing number of adult women suffering from eating disorders; Jockey Shane Sellers found that success on the racetrack meant bingeing and purging to make his body lighter and smaller. Sellers suffers from depression after years of abusing his body for his career. More than a million men in the United States suffer an eating disorder. Zahn will also explain the most current treatments for young patients with eating disorders. These segments will include the story of a five-year-old child suffering from anorexia and a rare, behind-the-scenes visit to a clinic where a young woman struggles to overcome her life-threatening obsession with food and exercise.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean chooses Juno Beach for first foreign visit

Photo: Gov.-General Michaelle Jean on Juno Beach in Courseullies-sur-Mer, France on Saturday.

COURSEULLES-SUR-MER, France- Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean chose Normandy's historic Juno Beach for her first foreign visit Saturday, joining aboriginal youths taking part in a spiritual journey to honour aboriginal veterans and fallen soldiers. Jean spent close to an hour inside the Juno Beach Centre with the 14 youths from across Canada, discussing the horrific D-Day battle June 6, 1944 that resulted in almost 1,000 Canadian casualties. The group then spent several minutes on the sandy shore with two interpreters who painted a vivid picture of that turning point in the Second World War - from the fact it was drizzling rain, to how many men were nauseous from the Force 4 winds rocking their landing barges. Jean listened intently, asking several questions while also including the youths in the discussion. "I'm really moved," Jean told The Canadian Press before departing to meet with the 20 aboriginal veterans taking part in the trip. "I think there's a presence here of what happened here and it is very powerful." Jean accepted an eagle feather from one of the youths, symbolizing majesty, protection and power. Her two-day trip falls near the midway point of the 300-member delegation's eight-day trip to France and Belgium to honour the aboriginal contribution to the First and Second World Wars. The trip - called an aboriginal spiritual journey - has included visits to key battlegrounds and cemeteries, as well as performances to showcase Metis, Inuit and First Nations culture and a calling home ceremony to bring the spirits of fallen soldiers back to Canada. Jean said the trip is not an official state visit, although she has received an invitation from French officials and hopes to return soon. Instead, she wanted to join the group to "bring as much visibility as possible" to the delegation. "To me, it's very important to stand by them," said Jean, adding the trip's mandate fits with her goal of breaking down solitudes because aboriginal veterans have not received the recognition they deserve. Jean's visit clearly meant a lot to the youths, who were selected through an essay contest. One girl gave her a long, tight hug while another asked her to pose for a photo. "It felt good," said Delilah Misheralak, a 17-year-old Inuit from Coral Harbour, Nunavut. Misheralak, who invited Jean to visit Canada's North, said her visit to Europe has helped explain the stories she heard her grandmother and the elders tell about the war when she was a child. "My grandmother would call her old friends on Remembrance Day and she'd be all emotional," said Misheralak. "I used to wonder why because she'd never been to war but I've started understanding more and now that I'm here it means a lot." Susie Tulugak, an Inuit from Puvirnitug, Que., said the day was an emotional one. "It was kind of unreal, like thinking 60 years ago they were here," said Tulugak, 17. "I couldn't really imagine it." Jean will participate in a remembrance service at a Canadian war cemetery Sunday and take part in a ceremony to dedicate an Inuit Inusuk in front of the Juno Beach Centre before heading back to Canada. The one political element to Jean's first international visit was a story in the French conservative newspaper Le Figaro under the headline: Canada's Black 'Little Queen' is in France. Jean said she was not offended by the headline, although she noted she is not a queen but rather the monarch's representative. "To see myself described as a little queen, it doesn't matter that they add the word black after," said Jean. "It's banal; it's true I'm a black woman and it's rare that you find a black woman in this job." She said she is using her status as a visible minority to teach aboriginal youth and those from other cultures that they can aspire to be whatever they want and have confidence they can reach their goal. - Michele McKafee.

Duke of Kent honoured for helping restore Dresden cathedral

Photo: The Duke of Kent.

DRESDEN, Germany - Germany handed a top honour to the Duke of Kent on Saturday for his contribution to the two countries' reconciliation since the Second World War. Georg Milbradt, governor of Saxony, presented Germany's Great Order of Merit to the duke at a ceremony in the eastern city Dresden. Milbradt praised the duke for helping close the wounds left by the war and lauded his patronage of the Dresden Trust, a British group that raised the equivalent of $1.5 million Cdn for the reconstruction of the city's Frauenkirche cathedral. The rebuilt church, which Allied firebombing raids destroyed at the end of the war, is to be dedicated Sunday. "It is thanks to you that many people in Britain made donations for the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche," said Milbradt, who presented the award on behalf of German President Horst Koehler. The duke said he was "deeply moved" to receive the award, the highest possible for a foreigner who is not a head of state. For many, the restoration of Dresden's domed 18th-century cathedral is more than just the return of a cherished landmark: it is a testament to the strength of the human spirit, to its ability to forgive and maintain hope. To honour that sentiment, more than 100,000 people are expected to gather Sunday in the city for the dedication of the Frauenkirche, whose bell-shaped, sandstone dome, toppped with a golden cross and orb, once again graces the skyline. "This restored church stands as a symbol of peace and forgiveness," said Eberhard Burger, construction manager who oversaw every detail of the Baroque church's painstaking reconstruction. Koehler, outgoing chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and chancellor-designate Angela Merkel are all expected to attend Sunday's service and celebration. Of the project's $250-million cost, roughly $140 million came from donations. "Donations came from around the world: from England, France, the United States and even Japan," Burger said.

"There was a tremendous outpouring of friendship and support that allowed us to rebuild the church." The project was not always so popular. When a group of Dresden residents first proposed rebuilding the church to authorities in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, many said it couldn't - and shouldn't - be done. For 47 years, Dresden residents had known the Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, as a 13-metre-high mound of rubble flanked by two jagged walls. That was all that remained after Allied planes demolished the city with firebombs on the night of Feb. 13-14, 1945. East German authorities left it untouched as a memorial. "The Dresdeners loved their Frauenkirche, even when it was just a pile of rubble," said Burger. Yet the project gathered momentum. As hundreds of architects, art historians and engineers sorted the thousands of stones, identifying and labelling each for reuse in the new structure, others worked to raise money. One was Gunter Blobel, a German-born American who saw the original Frauenkirche as a boy when his family took shelter in Dresden toward the end of the war. In 1999, when Blobel won the Nobel prize for medicine, he gave most of his nearly $1-million prize to the project. Then he returned to his New York City home and raised more funds. For him, as for many others, the Frauenkirche was more than just a church. It was a place where Bach and Wagner had played and composed, a fairy-tale structure of soaring spires and graceful lines. Edith Weise, a Dresden resident who was married in the Frauenkirche in 1943 and donated part of her pension toward the rebuilding, will be there Sunday. "It is a wonderful church," she told ZDF television as she stared up at the dome. "It brings tears to your eyes to see it again." Inside, the cathedral is bright, painted in pastel yellows, pinks and blues and trimmed with gold. Light from clear glass windows high in the dome illuminate the space below. Part of the church's uniqueness is its round structure, the pews fanning out from the altar in a circle like ripples from a stone thrown into water. The upper galleries also hold pews. And while the inside smells of new wood and fresh paint, reminders of the past are everywhere. Two thousand pieces of the original altar were cleaned and incorporated into the new structure. The church's outer walls are mottled with original stones, blackened with time and age. Most visible, to the right of the new altar, is the cross that once topped the dome, now twisted and charred.

Mel Gibson: "What I'm doing is making an action-adventure film of mythic proportions,"

Photo: Actor/director/producer Mel Gibson.

VERACRUZ, Mexico -- Mel Gibson says a fascination with ancient cultures and great civilizations is what led him to make his upcoming movie Apocalypto, starring unknown Mexican actors speaking in an ancient tongue. "What I'm doing is making an action-adventure film of mythic proportions," Gibson, sporting a plaid flannel shirt, jeans and a long salt-and pepper beard, told a news conference Friday. The movie is scheduled to begin production Nov. 14 and will be shot almost entirely in the jungle of Mexico's Veracruz state. The film's stars will be unrecognizable to most moviegoers, and they will speak in the Mayan tongue of Yucateco, Gibson said. It will be light on dialogue and heavy on images and action. It's set 600 years ago, prior to the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico and Central America. The most anyone will see of the movie star "is my fingernail," said Gibson, 49. "If I was in it, it would wreck everything." In his first public explanation of the movie, both written and directed by Gibson, he said he decided to hold a news conference "to satisfy people's curiosity a little bit" and knock down inaccurate speculation.

The movie is "a story about a man and his woman, his child and his father, his community," adding that the man "is put in an incredibly heightened, stressful situation . . . has to overcome tremendous obstacles. So it's a universal story in that respect." Like his last film, the stunningly successful The Passion of Christ, Gibson will bankroll Apocalypto himself. Disney has signed on to release it in the United States. Gibson said that although he researched the writings of a Spanish missionary and the Mayan bible, the Popol Vuh, and visited Mayan sites in Guatemala and Mexico, the Mayan setting is merely the backdrop of the movie. he chose it because "it's just fascinating to me. There's still a lot of mystery about the culture." "I'm hoping by focusing on this civilization we can . . . analyze ourselves," he said, adding that the movie "is kind of an anthropological journey." The film's title, Apocalypto, a Greek word for an unveiling or new beginning, "just expresses so well that I want to convey," Gibson said. "I think it's just a universal word. In order for something to begin, something has to end. All of those elements are involved. But it's not a big doomsday picture or anything like that." Asked about future endeavours, Gibson replied, "I have many other projects planned. I might just try one in English." -Lisa Adams.

Lopez ex-husband drops legal case

Photo: Jennifer Lopez.

The first ex-husband of singer Jennifer Lopez has dropped his legal case claiming she fired him as manager of her Pasadena restaurant without cause. Ojani Noa's lawyer David deRubertis did not say why he asked the LA court to dismiss the case with prejudice, which would stop him from refiling it. Mr Noa alleged last year that he was fired after six months of working at Madre's for $1,000 (£563) a week. He and Lopez met when he was a waiter and their 1997 marriage lasted a year. Lawyers for both of them were unavailable for comment.

Mixed career: Lopez, who is also a Hollywood actress, married dancer Cris Judd in 2001. They got divorced just seven months later. She and ex-fiance Ben Affleck split in early 2004, and she married singer Marc Anthony five months later. Lopez emerged in the 90s as one of the new wave of Latin pop stars, but she has not always maintained her early film success in movies including 1998's Out of Sight with George Clooney. Gigli, released in 2003 and co-starring Affleck and 2004's Jersey Girl were two of the most critically panned movies of recent times.

LIDO. PARIS

Establishment Photo On the most beautiful avenue in the world, one of the greatest shows on earth : «Bonheur !» at the Lido de Paris. An enchanting show in a sumptuous decor where magic and hi-tech combine to offer you the very best of Paris. A show not to be missed for un unforgettable evening! This new show will be available from December 2003,Book it now through their website!

Several Hundred People Remember the Late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin

By David Prince

P\hoto: Ambassador Mekel (left) meets with the late Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin's daughter, Dalia Rabin (center left), New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg (center right) and Yitzhak Rabin's grandson, Yonatan Ben-Artzi (right). PHOTO CREDIT: David Karp

New York- Several hundred people attended a memorial ceremony at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York last night (October 27, 2005) to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Joining members of the Rabin family at this tribute were: New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, Israel’s Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel, Israel’s representative to the United Nation’s, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, board members of the Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) and the UJA Federation of New York, foreign diplomats, local politicians and representatives from the Rabin Center for Israel Studies.

Photo: Israel's Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel (left) lights a memorial candle with Dalia Rabin (center) and Yonatan Ben Artzi (right). PHOTO CREDIT: David Karp.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the ceremony with a heartfelt speech, “tonight, on this important anniversary, let us all vow to keep the torch lit, and the mission of peace alive,” Bloomberg stated. “Together, we may achieve the glorious peace that Yitzhak Rabin was allowed to dream, but never allowed to see.” Dalia Rabin, daughter of the late Prime Minister gave the keynote speech and shared personal memories of her father and went on to discuss the role of the Rabin Center for Israel Studies in Israel. The Rabin Center is dedicated to commemorating the work and the image of Yitzhak Rabin and probing the lessons to be learned by Israeli society regarding his assassination, its circumstances and its implications. Israel’s Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel added, “We mourn the great loss and we cherish the memories. And we hope that we learned our lesson and that nobody in the State of Israel, our beloved homeland, will ever again dare to raise a finger or a hand against our leaders.” Television personality, Charlie Rose emceed the event and having met Rabin on several occasions shared personal stories of his first encounter with the late Prime Minister in his apartment in Tel Aviv as well as the last time seeing him just several days prior to his assassination as he accepted the Medal of Freedom Award on the USS Intrepid Museum. Rose, choked up about these memories, went on to talk about what a humble leader Rabin was and how sorely he is missed. Rose commenting on Dalia Rabin’s accomplishment added that if Yitzchak Rabin was alive today that, Dalia “is a daughter whom you would be very proud”. The ceremony included the readings of excerpts of two speeches given by Rabin by Mr. Matthew Maryles, President of the JCRC and Ms. Susan Stern, Chairman of the Board UJA Federation and musical pieces by Israeli singer Ariela Kalif-Carmi and pianist, Yuval Carmi.

Moulin Rouge Paris

Moulin Rouge tickets

First Show at 9:00 PM with or without dinner (every day)

“What A Wonderful Place” to be Opening Night film at The 21^st Annual Israel Film Festival

DAVID LINDE, JAMES SCHAMUS OF FOCUS FEATURES; AMOS GITAI ADDED AS HONOREES ON OPENING NIGHT DECEMBER 1, 2005

Photo: James Schamus.

California- Focus Features Co-Presidents David Linde and James Schamus and Israeli Filmmaker Amos Gitai will be honored at the Opening Night Gala of the 21st Annual Israel Film Festival, it was announced today by Festival Chairman Meyer Gottlieb, COO of Samuel Goldwyn Films. The festival’s opening night film is “What A Wonderful Place,” written and directed by Eyal Chalfon. The movie is Israel’s foreign language film entry for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Oscars. Manager/Producer/Best-Selling Author Bernie Brillstein will also be honored that evening, with Jerry Weintraub introducing Mr. Brillstein. The festival, the largest showcase of Israeli films in the U.S. and one of the oldest film festivals in California, will run from December 1-15, 2005 with the Opening Night Gala to be held at Grauman's Chinese Theater. The Opening Night film, “What a Wonderful Place,” directed by Eyal Halfon, centers on an ex-cop and family man whose career was ruined by compulsive gambling. He is forced to work off his gambling debt providing muscle, aiding illegal immigrants forced into prostitution and collecting money for a heartless, cruel racketeer. His conscience is reawakened by a desperate Russian woman he befriends. The film evokes sympathy for foreign workers assimilating into Israeli society.All other films in the Festival will screen at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 (corber of Sunset and Crescent Heights), Laemmle’s Town Center 5 (17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino) and Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills. Opening night tickets are $100. To purchase tickets and for further information on all screenings and events, cal 1-877-966-5566 or go to www.israelfilmfestival.com. A complete list of the over 40 titles to be screened at including features, documentaries, television dramas and selected student films, will be announced shortly.

Photo: Amos Gitai.

David Linde and James Schamus are Co-Presidents of Focus Features, a motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company committed to bringing moviegoers the most original stories from the world's most innovative filmmakers. The duo formed Focus in May 2002. Mr. Linde is one of the specialized film world's most experienced executives, with his expertise coming from his informed perspectives on both the domestic and international film businesses as well as his longstanding relationships with a host of filmmakers. Mr. Linde has executive-produced such notable films as Happiness; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Y Tu Mamá También; and several award-winning nonfiction features. An integral contributor to the American independent film business for over a decade, Mr. Schamus has the unique distinction of being an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and producer who is also a film executive. Mr. Schamus has had a long collaboration as writer and producer with Ang Lee on nine feature films, with the director's Brokeback Mountain, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, due for release worldwide through Focus Features this winter. Brokeback Mountain, which Mr. Schamus produced, recently won the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at the Venice International Film Festival. Focus' top-grossing film to date is Lost in Translation, which grossed over $100 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The company's most-honored release to date is The Pianist, which won 3 Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Actor. Focus' other celebrated releases have included two more Academy Award winners, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Motorcycle Diaries; Far from Heaven; Swimming Pool; and 21 Grams. Current and upcoming Focus Features releases, in addition to Brokeback Mountain, include Fernando Meirelles' The Constant Gardener, starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz; Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers (winner of the Grand Prix at the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival), starring Bill Murray; Harold Ramis' The Ice Harvest, starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, and Connie Nielsen; and Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley.

Amos Gitai is known worldwide as Israel's most acclaimed director. Four of his films have been nominated for major prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, with Kippur winning an honor at the 2000 Festival. He has been nominated six times for awards at the Venice Film Festival, winning the Cinema for Peace Award in 2004 for Promised Land and the UNESCO Award in 2002 for September 11. His latest film, Free Zone, earned the Best Actress Prize for Hana Laszlo at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, as well as a nomination for the Golden Palm. Free Zone, which also stars Natalie Portman, will be released in the United States on December 16, 2005. "David and James have helped bring to the screen some of the most innovative, powerful and provocative films of the past decade, while Amos is widely hailed as Israel's premier filmmaker. All three men have helped shape the face of modern cinema, and we are proud that they will be part of a festival that helps bring the voice of Israeli film to American audiences" said Gottlieb. Over the past 21 years, the Israel Film Festival has welcomed to the United States hundreds of premieres and helped to bring Israel's finest film talents to American audiences. Prior honorees of the festival include Arnon Milchen, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Adam Greenberg, Sidney Lumet, Milos Forman, Larry King, Laura Ziskin, Elie Wiesel, Michael Fuchs, Tom Rothman, Mike Medavoy, Norman Jewison, Gale Anne Hurd and Penny Marshall. Under the skillful supervision of Founder/Director Meir Fenigstein, the Israel Film Festival and its parent company, The IsraFest Foundation, Inc., a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, has showcased more than 550 of the best of Israel's growing film and television industry for the past 21 years. Introducing Israeli life and culture to American audiences through the powerful medium of film and providing a comprehensive intercultural exchange. Through the years, more than 700,000 filmgoers in Los Angeles, New York and Miami have experienced the best of Israeli cinema. All films in the Festival other than the opening night gala film will screen at Laemmle's Sunset 5 and Laemmle's Town Center in Encino. For sponsorship and for further information on all screenings and events, call 1-877-966-5566 or visit www.israelfilmfestival.com <http://www.israelfilmfestival.com/> Following the Los Angeles festival, the 21st Israel Film Festival continues in New York from February 23-March 9 and in Miami from March 26-29, 2006.

Lawyer for ex-Cheney aide signals possible failure-to-remember defence

Photo: Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby walks from the White House on crutches, Friday.

WASHINGTON, DC- The lawyer for U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide is outlining a possible criminal defence that is a time-honoured tradition in Washington scandals: A busy official immersed in important duties cannot reasonably be expected to remember details of long-ago conversations. Friday's indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby involves allegations that as Cheney's chief of staff he lied to FBI agents and a federal grand jury. Libby, who resigned immediately, was operating amid "the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government," according to a statement released by his attorney, Joseph Tate. "We are quite distressed the special counsel (Patrick Fitzgerald) has not sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements," Tate continued. "As lawyers, we recognize that a person's recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred." The lack-of-memory defence has worked with varying degrees of success in controversies from Iran-Contra to Whitewater. Only one person went to prison in the Iran-Contra affair, although several people pleaded guilty to making false statements. President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were cleared in the Whitewater investigation of fraudulent land deals in Arkansas, a subject well-suited to a lack-of-memory defence. The land deals took place a decade before they came under criminal investigation. Tate referred to another possible line of defence, saying that "for five years, through difficult times, Mr. Libby has done his best to serve our country." That argument worked in the administration of President George H.W. Bush in 1992, though not in court. Bush pardoned those in government who had been implicated in the Iran-Contra criminal investigation. Among others, the pardons went to former Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger, whose trial was scuttled. The case against Libby: He testified that he learned from NBC correspondent Tim Russert the identity of a covert CIA officer who is the wife of Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert says they never discussed it. The facts, prosecutor Fitzgerald said, are that the month before the conversation with Russert, Libby learned about the CIA status of Valerie Plame from Cheney, from a senior CIA officer and from an undersecretary of state. But Libby told the FBI and the grand jury that he informed reporters Matt Cooper of Time magazine and Judith Miller of The New York Times information about Wilson's wife that he had got from other reporters - information that Libby said he did not know to be true. Libby testified that he told the reporters he did not even know if Wilson had a wife. But Fitzgerald said that rather than being at the end of a chain of phone calls from reporters, Libby "was at the beginning of the chain of phone calls, the first official to disclose this information outside the government to a reporter. And then he lied about it afterwards." The indictment points to interesting behaviour by Libby that changed once Wilson went public with his criticism of the current Bush administration. The former ambassador accused the administration of twisting pre-war intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons program to exaggerate the Iraqi threat. Early on, the indictment said, Libby became concerned about an article in The New Republic magazine that referred to Wilson, though not by name, as having gone to Africa for the CIA to investigate allegations that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger. The unnamed ambassador was quoted as saying the "Niger story was a flat-out lie." The indictment said Libby told his deputy there would be complications at the CIA in disclosing information about the trip and that Libby could not discuss the matter on a nonsecure telephone line." After Wilson criticized the Bush administration on NBC's "Meet the Press," Libby had lunch with then-White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and advised him that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and noted that such information was not widely known, the indictment said. It said Libby proceeded to spread it more aggressively than he had previously. -Pete Yot

Jackson witness returns to court

Janet Arvizo, whose son's accusations of child abuse against Michael Jackson were rejected by a jury, has appeared in court on welfare fraud charges.. Superior Court Judge David Horwitz insisted she appear in the LA court after she initially sent her lawyer to deal with a case postponement. She is charged of perjury by illegally claiming $18,782 (£10,562) in payments between November 2001 and March 2003. Her lawyer agreed to a postponement to the case until 19 December. Prosecutors say her welfare claims were fraudulent because she allegedly failed to disclose she had received a $150,000 (£84,000) settlement of a legal case against a department store chain. Mrs Arvizo, 37, did not speak during the hearing on Friday and she declined to speak to reporters outside the court. At the trial of US pop singer Jackson, which ended in June, she invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination on the welfare fraud issue and did not testify about it.

Isabelle Huppert takes New York by storm

Isabelle Huppert, courtesy MoMA Photo: Isabelle Huppert is respected for not shying from challenging roles.

New York- The 52-year-old French film star has just made her New York stage debut in a play written by the late British playwright, Sarah Kane. 4.48 Psychosis is a harrowing meditation on mental illness and suicide - a virtual monologue delivered in French with minimal supertitles. "When desperation visits," the character says, "I shall hang myself to the sound of my lover's breathing." But audiences here in the United States adored her stark rendition. "It's not the Folies-Bergere," Huppert had observed. But perhaps what these theatregoers loved was the sheer proximity to her. New York, it seems, is in the grip of all things Huppert at the moment. As well as her theatrical debut, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is running a major retrospective of her films; she has made more than 70 in three decades. This selection celebrates her work with filmmakers great and good, from Jean Luc Godard to the French master of mystery, Claude Chabrol, as well as the American auteur Otto Preminger. And if that is not enough, this weekend, an exhibition entitled La Femme Aux Portraits will open at MoMA's sister museum, PS 1 Contemporary Arts Center in Queens. It features portraits from legendary photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Helmut Newton and Robert Frank. The images run the gamut from freckled teenager to tragic beauty. But what does all of this adoration mean to Isabelle Huppert? What does it mean to be feted like this, tagged as legendary, an icon? "I think these are just words," she says. "I think it's an exterior perception, but if it becomes your perception of yourself, then you are in bad shape, I would say." Huppert has earned this stateside status through her body of work, not necessarily by showbiz outings on the red carpet. "She is not a star in the traditional western or Hollywood sense of being a celebrity," says Laurence Kardish, the MoMA curator who put together the Huppert retrospective. "She is a star by virtue of her passion. A Hollywood celebrity might choose roles that enhance their image, but Isabelle Huppert chooses roles that make her vulnerable."

Isabelle by Peter Lindbergh, courtesy MoMA Photo: Isabelle Huppert has long been revered in her native France.

Tour de force: Huppert has played many women who are seemingly quite placid but who quietly burn with hidden desire. Her latest film, Gabrielle, is another tour de force which just premiered at the New York Film Festival. It is a period drama based on a Joseph Conrad story that explores the collapse of an upper class marriage; the relationship deteriorates rapidly when Gabrielle decides to leave her proud husband. But she returns on the very same day to excavate her loveless marriage. Huppert sees the role as a cousin to Madame Bovary, perhaps the quintessential anti-romantic heroine which she played in 1991. "These women go very far in trying to seek a certain truth about themselves and their desires," she says. More recently, Huppert won the best actress award at Cannes for her role in the disturbing 2001 film, The Piano Teacher, in which she plays a woman with hidden sado-masochistic desires. In each case, it is alarming to see how she transforms silent despair into something so charged and potentially violent.

Huppert in Coup de foudre (Entre nous, 1983), courtesy MoMA Photo: Isabelle Huppert has been making movies for more than 30 years.

"Horrifyingly honest': So what makes her want to act? "I just expect to forget, to have pleasure. It's a very personal and private experience. But I don't think I learn," she says. "I would say on the one hand I know who I am, and on the other hand, whatever I don't know about myself I don't think I will find out from acting." In the United States, Huppert is known primarily for her film work, but her stage debut is a reminder to American audiences that she comes from a background in theatre; she trained at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris. Her performance in 4.48 Psychosis has revealed yet another side to this actress - and even the tabloids could not resist chipping in. Although some critics here were not thrilled by this chilly French production, most seem to agree that Huppert delivered a pitch perfect performance - "horrifyingly honest" said one. "It's more like breathing for me to act," says Huppert, a few hours before one of the sold-out performances which are part of a season-long Act French Festival. "It's not difficult; it's not a big effort. But it's a big effort for me to pursue what I want to do, so that's the effort. When I act, it's just a relief. It's just a respiration." -Damian Foler

HOTEL & SPA SAINT-JAMES & ALBANYbR. Forfait Soirée Spa - France

Cure Incluse, Ile de France
Paris

L’hôtel possède 195 chambres dont 52 standards, 67 supérieures, 65 junior suites et 11 suites, réparties sur 5 corps de bâtiments, ordonnées autour d’un jardin et de cours intérieures. Les suites, en duplex, peuvent accueillir des réunions en petit comité (jusqu’à 12 participants).Tons ocres et fruités, mobilier merisier de style Louis Philippe accentuent l’atmosphère conviviale, chaleureuse et moderne, qui règne dans l’Hôtel.

Ancienne demeure des Ducs de Noailles, construit en 1672, l’Hôtel bénéficie d’un passé riche en événements. Il a vu célébrer le mariage du Marquis de La Fayette avec la fille du Duc de Noailles le 11 avril 1774, ainsi que sa rencontre avec la Reine Marie Antoinette, le 15 février 1779.

Situé rue de Rivoli, face au jardin des Tuileries, à deux pas des Champs Elysées et de la Concorde. Environné de hauts lieux culturels : Musées du Louvre et d’Orsay, Opéra Garnier, Comédie Française, il se trouve au cœur du quartier de la Mode : voisin de la boutique « Colette » rue Saint Honoré, proche de la Place Vendôme et de la rue de la Paix.

MORE NEWS NEXT