My Tweety

"Transformers" debut ticket sales top $13 million - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Action flick "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" opened to $13.5 million at box offices in its late night and midnight screenings in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates released on Wednesday.

The 3-D film based on toys from the 1980s saw its debut night box office figures come in below the last movie in the series, 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which opened to $16.6 million in midnight screenings.

But with the July 4 weekend approaching, the film is expected to earn between $150 million and $180 million over its first six days in the U.S. and Canada, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box Office.

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Justin Timberlake part of group buying MySpace - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pop star Justin Timberlake is part of a group that said Wednesday it will buy MySpace from News Corp., a bid to add some cool to a social network that has been losing it for some time.

Timberlake will become a part owner and play "a major role in developing the creative direction and strategy for the company moving forward," according to Specific Media, the company that he will partner with.

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Grasso holds court on NYSE deal, trading, politics - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Would Dick Grasso have sold the New York Stock Exchange to the Germans?

"I was always a very deferential guy, I never minded taking the second seat," jokes the bald-headed, firebrand former Big Board chairman in an interview.

Grasso, who all but disappeared from public view after a long-running spat over his outsized pay, was ready on Tuesday to talk about everything, from exchange takeovers and trading to a potential run for New York mayor.

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Chinese star refreshed after New York career break - Yahoo! News

SHANGHAI – In her first decade as an actress, Zhang Jingchu has built a resume that many would envy: A starring role in an acclaimed Chinese drama that won the Berlin Silver Bear. A star-studded kung-fu epic featuring Donnie Yen. A German biopic. A Hollywood debut alongside Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.

But the 31-year-old Chinese star says she's been disappointed by the commercial nature of her recent roles. So she decided to recharge with a six-month break in New York City, where she has been taking acting classes, watching plays and lingering in museums.

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AP Source: Saxophonist Clemons suffers stroke - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – Saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band has suffered a stroke.

A person who has worked with Clemons in the past confirmed Sunday night that Clemons had the stroke. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the matter. The person had no additional information on Clemons' condition.

Clemons, 69, is known as the Big Man in the E Street Band and his sax has been one of the most defining elements of the band's sound. He has suffered from numerous ailments over the last few years. He had double knee surgery and even had to perform from a wheelchair at one point.

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Lady Gaga sings 'Born This Way' at Rome gay rally - Yahoo! News

ROME – Lady Gaga sang a few bars of her smash hit "Born This Way" and demanded the end of discrimination against gays as she proclaimed herself a "child of diversity" at a gay pride rally Saturday night in the ancient Circus Maximus.

The star, whose "Born This Way" album recently topped 1 million sales in a week, delighted tens of thousands of people at a brief concert in the vast field where the ancient Roman masses would gather for spectacles.

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Germany: Sprouts clearly caused E. coli outbreak - Yahoo! News

BERLIN – German vegetable sprouts caused the E. coli outbreak that has killed 31 people and sickened nearly 3,100, investigators announced Friday after tracking links to the bacteria from patients in hospital beds to restaurants and then farm fields.

Reinhard Burger, president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control center, said the pattern of the outbreak had produced enough evidence to draw that conclusion even though no tests on sprouts from an organic farm in Lower Saxony had come back positive for the E. coli strain behind the outbreak.

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CMT edits out Shania's awards show fall in replays - Yahoo! News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Shania Twain's stumble during the CMT Music Awards show is being edited out of replays to save her from more embarrassment.

Twain slipped and fell on her way to the stage Wednesday night during a live telecast. The channel left the spill out of a replay following the show and during another replay Thursday.

John Hamlin, the show's executive producer, says the last thing the channel wants to do is embarrass anyone, particularly someone as gracious as Twain.

While CMT edited out the fall, footage of it aired on cable news channels and was available on the Internet.

Twain said via her Twitter account that she was not hurt, except for a sore thumb.

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Hirai mourns Japan quake at Hong Kong performance - Yahoo! News

HONG KONG – Ken Hirai somberly expressed solidarity with fellow Japanese suffering from the March earthquake and tsunami as he promoted his new album in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Dressed in a tweed-patterned three-piece suit and sporting a spiky blonde hairdo, the 39-year-old pop star performed two songs from his new record and his hit "Gently Close Your Eyes" at a suburban Hong Kong mall late Thursday. Fans besieged the ground floor area where Hirai performed and others peeked down from higher floors.

After the brief set, Hirai quickly turned to Japan's recent natural disaster. He had been wrapping up his new release, "Japanese Singer," when the twin disasters struck.

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British royal visit to boost California tourism - Yahoo! News

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Britain's Prince William and his new bride Catherine are due in California next month, for a trip the cash-strapped US state hopes will give a royal boost to its tourist industry.

While travel chiefs hope to showcase the Golden State's attractions for visitors, speculation is intense over exactly where the newlyweds will go and who they will see during the July 8-10 trip.

Meeting Hollywood stars, enjoying the beach at Malibu, dinner with Elton John or the Beckhams -- who may have some fresh baby tips for them -- nothing can be ruled out for the three-day trip, due after a seven-city tour of Canada.

"No matter where they venture in California, the royal visit will create a global postcard for the Golden State this summer," said Caroline Beteta, head of the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

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