Top of the Pops: Bill Clinton named father of the year

By Francesca Trianni

NEW YORK (Reuters) - He's been commander in chief, Time magazine's 1993 man of the year, had hopes of becoming "First Laddie" of the United States and now former U.S. President Bill Clinton is in line for a new title - Father of the Year.

The non-profit National Father's Day Council plans to award him that honor at a New York fundraiser for Save the Children on Tuesday.

Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, was just 12 years old when the family moved into the White House and Bill Clinton and wife former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton worked to keep her out of the limelight.

One of the most iconic images of the family to come out of that period was when the three were photographed, walking hand in hand across the White House lawn to a waiting helicopter shortly after the news broke of Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. That scandal lead to Clinton's impeachment for perjury.

Chelsea Clinton, now 33 and a special correspondent for NBC News, said on Twitter "I completely agree!!!" when the award was first made public in January.

The National Father's Day Council cited Clinton's philanthropy work through the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, both started after he left the White House in 2001.

In addition to his charity work, Bill Clinton appeared on the campaign trail in 2008 when Hillary Clinton ran for president, joking that if she was elected his honorific title could be "First Laddie."

Clinton, 66, as well as Macy's Inc Chief Executive Terry Lundgren, will be honored for "their success in balancing accomplished careers and the demands of fatherhood," the council said in a statement.

Since the Father of the Year award was first bestowed in 1941, the citation has gone to Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, Generals Douglas MacArthur, Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf, and sports notables Shaquille O'Neal and George Foreman.

Years after leaving the White House, as he prepared for his daughter's 2010 wedding to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, Bill Clinton said he was preparing for what he called the most important job he would ever do: "walking Chelsea down the aisle."

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Andre Grenon)

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Ringo Starr puts his life on display in Grammy Museum exhibit

By John Russell

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr put snapshots of his musical and creative life on display in a new exhibit, "Ringo: Peace & Love," which opened on Tuesday at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Starr, 72, was on hand at the exhibit, which offers an in-depth look at his career as he rose to fame with The Beatles.

Highlights include Starr's Ludwig drum kit, used during The Beatles' appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and the outfit he wore during the era of the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, between 1966 and 1967.

Starr took Reuters on a tour of the exhibit, which will be open until March 2014, pointing out memorabilia from the height of "Beatlemania," beginning with the band's August 1965 performance at New York's Shea Stadium, which was attended by 55,600 people.

"After Shea, and Shea was the biggest audience, that was the first time anyone played a stadium and that we were like, 'wow,' Starr said. "People were talking about people screaming, but that is how it was. We got up, people screamed, we ended and they went home."

The Beatles, was formed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Starr in Liverpool in the 1960s.

McCartney and Starr are the only surviving members, after Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980 and Harrison died from lung cancer in 2001.

Nearly 50 years after The Beatles first arrived in the United States, Starr said he keeps busy and is working on adapting the Beatles' song "Octopus's Garden" into a children's picture book.

He is also releasing an e-book titled "Photograph" exclusively on Apple's iBookstore on Wednesday, which will lift the lid on a collection of previously unseen photographs of the Fab Four from his personal collection.

(Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Christopher Wilson)

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A Minute With: John Krasinski on life after 'The Office'

By Patricia Reaney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - John Krasinski is best known for playing the handsome, affable salesman Jim Halpert on the hit TV series "The Office," but that could change as the versatile actor tackles new projects, including writing two new scripts.

The Massachusetts native will appear on the big screen in the 3D animated film "Monsters University," which opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, providing the voice for "Frightening" Frank McCay in the prequel to the Pixar and Disney 2001 hit movie "Monsters, Inc."

He also has a guest role on the Internet video streaming service Netflix's revival of the Emmy-winning series "Arrested Development."

Krasinski, 34, spoke to Reuters about the creative process, achieving hero status and how hard it has been to leave "The Office," which ended its nine-year run last month.

Q: After playing Jim Halpert for so long was it difficult to take on the characters in "Monsters University" and "Arrested Development"?

A: It was fun to do both those roles but they were small, fun roles ... For me it was just supporting two things I love so much.

I think "Arrested Development" is one of the best shows ever on television, so I was just honored to be a part of that in any way. And it is exactly the same with 'Monsters University.' Not only am I a fan, but my nieces and nephews are bigger fans than I am, so it is the first time in my career that I reached hero status in their eyes.

Q: You've worn a lot of different hats in your career. You're an actor, writer, director, film producer. Do you prefer one job over another?

A: I really prefer acting over everything else. I think acting for me is the most fun. It is what I did from the beginning. All these other avenues have been fascinating roads to go down but, for sure, acting is the most fun.

Quickly I am falling in love with writing and producing and all of it just because it is nice to be part of the process. The business is changing rapidly, so to be a part of the development of new ideas, new shows, new movies is really exciting, and to work with a whole bunch of different talent.

Q: You co-wrote the film "Promised Land" with actor Matt Damon. Do you plan to do more writing in the future?

A: I am writing two scripts right now. I got hooked. As soon as I did it with him I wanted to do it more and more. It is a lot of fun to sit down and write. It is challenging, but it is so exciting - to have the power to create characters and worlds, rather than to just read scripts that are sent to you.

Q: Can you reveal what the scripts are about?

A: They are totally different movies and definitely different from "Promised Land." One of them is an action-adventure kind of movie and the other one is ... sort of an investigation of one of the government agencies.

Q: You have another project in the works, an HBO miniseries about the Chateau Marmont hotel with writer Aaron Sorkin, which you will executive produce. What attracted you to that?

A: It is an incredibly historic hotel for our town; probably the most historic hotel ... There is so much of our town and of our business that was created in that hotel. We're definitely fascinated to tell the story of the hotel.

Q: After nine years on "The Office," how hard was it to leave for the last time?

A: "Each day I am not on set and not going through that routine with that group of people is excruciating. It is moving on not only from a television show but from an era of life ...

It was the most important things in my career, and at the end of the day I may still be known as Jim Halpert more than anything else. And I am really proud of that.

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

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NASCAR driver Jason Leffler killed in New Jersey crash

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died from injuries suffered when his car slammed into the wall of a dirt raceway in New Jersey, state police said.

The crash occurred during a race at the Bridgeport Speedway in Logan township in southern New Jersey, near Philadelphia, state police spokesman Sergeant Adam Grossman said.

Leffler, 37, of Huntersville, North Carolina, was rushed to the Crozier Hospital in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead at 9:02 p.m., police said.

The raceway calls itself the "Fastest Dirt Track in the East." It consists of a spacious 5/8-mile high-banked dirt oval, where average speeds reach well over 100 miles per hour, according to the track's website.

Leffler was a two-time winner of the Nationwide Series. He had been racing for over a decade, with experience in so-called midget race cars as well as the Indianapolis 500, where he placed 17th in 2000, his website noted.

New Jersey State Police said in a Twitter posting that the accident was under investigation.

"NASCAR extends its thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to the family of Jason Leffler who passed away earlier this evening," the organization said in a Twitter posting. "For more than a decade, Jason was a fierce competitor in our sport and he will be missed."

(Additional reporting by David Bailey; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Peter Cooney)

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Rupert Murdoch's aim: A divorce with little fodder for tabloids

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch appears to be seeking a quiet divorce, based on the lawyer he has chosen and the absence of incendiary allegations, people with knowledge of the case and experience of high-profile New York divorces said.

Divorce papers filed by the media mogul on Thursday comprised a short document saying the marriage is irretrievably broken, according to a person with knowledge of the filing.

The document, which formally starts a divorce action under New York's no-fault law, contains no details of wrongdoing, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That, his choice of lawyer and a series of pre- and post-nuptial agreements all favor a strategy for ending his 14-year marriage to Wendi Deng Murdoch as quickly and quietly as possible, the experts said.

"While she might try to get more money somehow, and he might be willing to give it to her because he's got so much money, it seems to me she's bound by all those agreements," said John Vassallo, who has represented rock star Mick Jagger and movie star Harvey Keitel in divorce proceedings.

Ira Garr, representing Rupert Murdoch, was referred to the case through a lawyer at News Corp, the Murdoch media empire, the person with knowledge of the divorce filing said. He may have been hired because of a reputation for settling divorces quietly and because he is friendly with Pamela Sloan, the lawyer representing Wendi Deng, the person said.

Among his previous divorce clients were businessman Donald Trump's former wife Ivana Trump and federal judge Kimba Wood.

Sloan's firm, Aronson Mayefsky & Sloan, helped represent actress Katie Holmes in her divorce from actor Tom Cruise. She is also known for achieving high-profile divorces with a minimum of public fuss, according to other New York divorce lawyers.

"Pam is not somebody to call up the New York Post," Vassallo said in reference to the Murdoch-owned tabloid known for its gossip column and screaming headlines.

PRE-NUP, POST-NUP

While New York law almost guarantees a court will grant a divorce, the couple could still fight about finances, who gets their New York apartment and over their two children, Grace, 11, and Chloe, 9, including custody and child support.

Deng has yet to make any kind of public response to her husband's filing. Steven Rubenstein, a spokesman for Murdoch, declined to comment on whether the split could be resolved amicably.

Financial matters are likely to be governed by the agreements the couple signed. "New York is very favorable toward enforcing pre-nups," said William Zabel, an expert on such agreements.

In the Murdochs' case, they signed a pre-nuptial agreement in 1999, in which Sloan represented Wendi Murdoch, and they signed two post-nuptial agreements in 2002 and 2004, the person with knowledge of the case said.

Some divorce lawyers said that if the couple have not agreed on a proposed settlement, there is always the prospect of a public battle, if not one in the courtroom.

There is the possibility that "one wants something the other doesn't want to give," said Miami lawyer Jason Marks, who has represented celebrity clients including baseball player Alex Rodriguez.

The two girls have stakes in the family trust that holds the Murdochs' share of News Corp, but they do not have voting rights, unlike Rupert Murdoch's four grown children from his first two marriages.

The family trust owned 38.4 percent of the voting stock in News Corp as of April 30. Rupert Murdoch owns an additional 1 percent in voting shares. A source familiar with the matter said that Deng does not own News Corp stock on her own or have any voting rights.

In New York, claiming irretrievable breakdown for more than six months is an easy path to an uncontested divorce. Until the law was changed in October 2010, the state only allowed divorce by claiming fault against the other spouse, such as cruel and inhuman treatment, adultery or abandonment.

If the case proceeds without a settlement, it will be assigned at random to one of the matrimonial judges in New York state court in Manhattan. A preliminary conference will be scheduled several weeks after the judge is assigned.

If the case is not resolved before then, the Murdochs will be required to appear in court with their lawyers.

Daniel Jaffe, who represented Rupert Murdoch's second wife, Anna, when they split up after more than 30 years of marriage, said he hoped the divorce would be done "as amicably as the last divorce and settlement was done."

Jaffe said that despite the absence of a pre-nuptial agreement, the whole thing was done in less than a year.

"We finished that divorce in 10 to 11 months," said Jaffe, who is based in Beverly Hills, California. "We had no court appearances. Everything was disclosed amicably."

(Reporting By Karen Freifeld; Editing by Eddie Evans, Martin Howell and Peter Cooney)

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Smiling Prince Philip leaves UK hospital after operation

LONDON (Reuters) - A smiling Prince Philip, the 92-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, left hospital after 11 days on Monday, slightly earlier than expected, following an operation on his abdomen.

Looking sprightly and in good spirits, the prince walked unaided out of the London Clinic, shaking hands with the staff and waving to onlookers outside, before getting into his car to be driven to Windsor Castle, west of London.

Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, had been taken to hospital on June 6 for the planned operation, the fourth time he had been hospitalized in the last 18 months.

"The Duke has expressed his thanks and appreciation to the medical staff at the London clinic and to members of the public for their good wishes," a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said.

The prince, who was visited by his 87-year-old wife of more than 65 years and other senior members of the royal family during his stay, had been expected to remain at the clinic for two weeks after undergoing what the palace described as an "an exploratory operation following abdominal investigations".

The palace said the results of the operation would be analyzed, while Philip would take a period of convalescence of approximately two months. He is expected to resume engagements in the autumn.

The longest-serving consort of any British monarch and the oldest living great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, Philip has had a number of health issues in recent years.

He was hospitalized for a bladder infection during the queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations last year, and spent Christmas 2011 in hospital where he underwent an operation to clear a blocked heart artery after suffering chest pains.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)

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Barbra Streisand raps Orthodox Jews' actions against Israeli women

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. entertainer Barbra Streisand on Monday took a swipe at Orthodox Jews in Israel who compel women to sit in the back of buses and assault them for following religious rituals traditionally reserved for men.

"It's distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of a bus or... having metal chairs hurled at them when they intend to peacefully and legally pray. Or women being banned from singing in public ceremonies," she said.

The Oscar and Emmy-winning actress and singer, who is Jewish, was speaking at a ceremony at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she was awarded an honorary doctorate.

A public bus system operating in some Israeli cities forces gender segregation in deference to ultra-Orthodox rabbis who have long wielded political power in the Jewish state.

Some of these clerics are also battling against a women's prayer group seeking to liberalize worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites. The women wear prayer shawls and read aloud from the Jewish scriptures there, defying a tradition that only men should do so.

Streisand starred in a 1983 film "Yentl" which explores the yearning of Jewish women for religious equality with men.

The Brooklyn-born Streisand, 71, also offered some criticism of her own country's failure to achieve full gender equality.

"I know that solutions don't come easy, and they don't in the United States, where women are still making 80 cents for every dollar that a man makes," she said.

During her visit to Israel, Streisand will also sing at a 90th birthday celebration for President Shimon Peres and will perform at two concerts in Tel Aviv.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Gareth Jones)

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Mumford & Sons bassist on the mend after brain surgery

(Reuters) - British folk band Mumford & Sons' bassist Ted Dwane posted a message on Monday saying he was recovering after brain surgery to remove a blood clot.

Dwane posted a picture of himself with a shaved head on the band's official website with the caption, "Bear with a sore head! Thanks so much for all the well wishing, it seems to be working! I'm home."

The Grammy-winning London band was forced to cancel the final three U.S. dates of its "Summer Stampede" tour last week after doctors discovered a clot on the surface of Dwane's brain, which required immediate surgery.

Hawaiian folk musician Jack Johnson filled Mumford & Sons' headline slot on Saturday at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

The four-member band, which formed in 2007, also includes Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall and Ben Lovett. They won Album of the Year for "Babel" at the Grammy Awards in February.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Bill Trott)

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TV chef Nigella Lawson's husband cautioned by police for assault

By Belinda Goldsmith

LONDON (Reuters) - Art collector Charles Saatchi has been cautioned by police for assaulting his wife, the celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, after being photographed grabbing her by the throat in an incident that has fueled a debate in Britain about domestic violence.

Photographs of Saatchi, 70, a former advertising tycoon, grasping a tearful Lawson around the neck while the couple were having dinner outside a London restaurant about a week ago were published in a tabloid newspaper on Sunday.

On Monday he downplayed the images, saying it was just a "playful tiff" and he was holding her neck to make his point, sparking fury from women's rights group. He said the couple made up although Lawson had moved out while "the dust settled".

A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday that they were aware of the photographs that appeared in the Sunday People on June 16 and had carried out an investigation.

"Yesterday afternoon, Monday June 17, a 70-year-old man voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted a caution for assault," the spokesman said. "That would normally be the end of the matter."

Under English law, a caution can be given to an adult who admits a minor offence and this is not a criminal conviction but can be used as evidence of bad character in court for another crime. The suspect can be arrested or charged if they do not agree to be cautioned.

Lawson, 53, dubbed the domestic goddess after the title of one of her cook books and known for her flirtatious kitchen manner, has made no public comment on the incident that happened outside a seafood restaurant in upmarket Mayfair on June 9.

Her publicist said she would not be commenting on Tuesday.

"TREATED TOO LENIENTLY"

Lawson, daughter of former Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Nigel Lawson, married Saatchi in 2003 after her first husband, journalist John Diamond, died of throat cancer. She has two teenage children, Cosima and Bruno, from her first marriage.

Saatchi's comments on Monday downplaying the incident unleashed a storm of comments on Twitter and in the print media, describing his defence of his behavior as "bizarre" while others criticized the lack of action taken against him.

Saatchi told London's Evening Standard, for which he writes a column, that he recognized the impact of the pictures but said they conveyed the wrong impression.

"There was no grip. It was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place," said Saatchi, who ran the world's largest advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi with his brother in the 1980s.

"Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt."

Saatchi, who opened the Saatchi Gallery in London in 1985, said he had made up with Lawson, his third wife, by the time they had reached home but acknowledged she had moved out, saying that was due to the paparazzi outside their house.

Polly Neate of the charity Women's Aid said perpetrators of domestic violence would often try to excuse or minimize their behavior and the caution given to Saatchi showed that these cases were often not dealt with severely enough.

"Often, women living with abuse at home do not speak out because they are worried they won't be believed or feel ashamed that their partner has been violent towards them," Neate said in a statement.

"We must take every case of domestic violence seriously, and ensure that the abusers receive appropriate sentences."

(Additional reporting by Michael Holden, Editing by Gareth Jones)

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Melissa Etheridge Calls Angelina Jolie's Mastectomy 'the Most Fearful Choice You Can Make'

By Tony Maglio

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Melissa Etheridge believes Angelina Jolie jumped the gun with her double mastectomy.

The singer, a breast cancer survivor, told The Washington Blade that she has the same BRCA gene mutation as Jolie. When asked about Jolie's choice to undergo a preventative double mastectomy, Etheridge called Jolie's decision "the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer."

"I wouldn't call it the brave choice," the singer said.

Invoking her own experience with cancer, Etheridge suggested stress reduction and proper nutrition as better preventative steps.

"My belief is that cancer comes from inside you and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body," she told the Blade. "It's the stress that will turn that gene on or not."

Jolie announced her elective surgery in a May 14 Op-Ed for The New York Times titled, "My Medical Choice." In the piece, she revealed that her doctors told her she would otherwise be at an 87 percent risk of getting breast cancer.

Here's the entire Blade/Etheridge exchange:

BLADE: As a breast cancer survivor yourself, what did you think of Angelina Jolie's announcement?

ETHERIDGE: I have to say I feel a little differently. I have that gene mutation too and it's not something I would believe in for myself. I wouldn't call it the brave choice. I actually think it's the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer. My belief is that cancer comes from inside you and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body. It's the stress that will turn that gene on or not. Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything but it never comes to cancer so I would say to anybody faced with that, that choice is way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do and to really consider the advancements we've made in things like nutrition and stress levels. I've been cancer free for nine years now and looking back, I completely understand why I got cancer. There was so much acidity in everything. I really encourage people to go a lot longer and further before coming to that conclusion.

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