``A Chorus Line'' composer Marvin Hamlisch dies at 68
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marvin Hamlisch, the award-winning
composer of ``A Chorus Line'' and ``The Way We Were,'' has died
suddenly at the age of 68, prompting warm tributes from Barbra
Streisand, Liza Minnelli, former U.S. first lady Nancy Reagan
and dozens of stage and screen stars. Hamlisch, the musical
force behind ``The Sting'' and numerous other movies and Broadway
shows, died in Los Angeles on Monday, a family spokesman said.
He collapsed following what was called ``a brief illness.''
Details were not made public.
``Avengers'' helps power Disney profit in quarter
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co quarterly
earnings rose 31 percent, exceeding Wall Street expectations,
lifted by higher spending at theme parks and the blockbuster
''The Avengers'' superhero movie. The media and theme park
company reported on Tuesday earnings per share of $1.01,
beating the 93 cents a share that analysts had forecast,
according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Country singer Randy Travis charged with drunk driving
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Grammy-winning country music singer
Randy Travis has been charged with drunk driving and
retaliation after a Texas state trooper found him lying naked
in a road, authorities said on Wednesday. Travis, 53,
threatened to ``shoot and kill'' troopers investigating the case
while he was being transported to jail, Grayson County
Sheriff's Sergeant Rickey Wheeler said.
Colorful Brazilian mural stirs controversy in Boston
BOSTON (Reuters) - Like many famous works of art before it,
a colorful mural that dominates a park across from Boston's
main train station has stirred some controversy. The
70-foot-by-70-foot (21-metre-by-21-metre) painting by Brazilian
twin brothers Otavio and Gustafo Pandolfo, known as Os Gemeos,
depicts a character wearing bright, mismatched clothes, his
face wrapped in what appears to be a scarf except for his
squinting eyes.
Madonna urges Russia to free Pussy Riot at Moscow concert
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Pop singer Madonna donned the trademark
balaclava worn by punk band Pussy Riot during a concert in
Moscow to demand Russia free three group members on trial for
bursting into a Russian Orthodox church and singing a protest
against Vladimir Putin. The U.S. singer also stripped to a
black bra to show the band's name written on her back in
support of Pussy Riot's protest in Moscow's main cathedral
against close links between the president and the clergy.
Rapper Rick Ross scores 4th No. 1 album on Billboard 200
chart
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Rick Ross notched his fourth
No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday, as his
solo album ``God Forgives, I Don't,'' knocked country group Zac
Brown Band to claim the top spot. Ross, who founded the Maybach
Music Group, sold 218,000 copies of his latest album according
to Nielsen SoundScan, scoring his best sales week to date.
Sales were fueled by a special offer on Amazon MP3, that priced
''God Forgives, I Don't'' at $5 for the month of August.
James Cameron takes 3-D film venture to China
