US comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres married her long-time partner, actress Portia de Rossi, at their home in Los Angeles on Saturday, according to People.
DeGeneres, 50, and de Rossi, 35, exchanged handwritten vows in an intimate ceremony attending by 19 guests, a representative for the couple told the magazine.
The couple have been dating for about four years and have been open about their relationship, appearing at red carpet events in Hollywood together.
DeGeneres announced her plans to wed de Rossi, the former Ally McBeal actress, on her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in May after California’s Supreme Court overturned a state ban on same-sex marriage.
Irish folk legend Ronnie Drew, a founding member of The Dubliners, died in a Dublin hospital on Saturday, his family said. He was 73 and had been suffering from throat cancer.
The Dubliners, formed in 1962, were pioneers for Irish folk music across Europe and the US. Drew was known for his gravelly-voiced renditions of rabble-rousing folk songs like Finnegan’s Wake and Dicey Reilly.
In a statement, Drew’s family said he died peacefully while they were at his bedside and they were “very grateful for all the letters of support and wishes during the term of Ronnie’s illness.”
With his health failing, Irish music stars released a tribute song in February entitled The Ballad of Ronnie Drew. Proceeds went to the Irish Cancer Society.
Those involved included U2, Bob Geldof, Sinead O’Connor, Andrea Corr, Chris de Burgh, Ronan Keating, Shane MacGowan, The Chieftains and The Dubliners.
Dorival Caymmi, one of the founders of modern Brazilian music, passed away Saturday from multiple organ failure, surrounded by family and friends at his Rio de Janeiro home, at 94 years of age, local press reported.
“We’ve lost the greatest professors of life,” said singer Tom Ze, who like Caymmi hails from the central coastal state of Bahia, where the sun-drenched lifestyle of fishing villages and sultry women inspired Caymmi’s more than 50 lifetime music albums.
From his first and immediately popular song written at 16, O que a baiana tem?, Caymmi’s rhythmic style and deep, sultry voice were adopted by Bossa Nova singers and performed by Joao Gilberto, Tom Jobim and other greats.
An indefatigable worker, Caymmi gave his last performance and cut his last record on his 90th birthday four years ago.
Booze-fuelled Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher compared troubled singer Amy Winehouse to a “destitute horse” in a stinging rant on his fellow musicians Friday.
The surly loudmouth, known for his scathing outbursts, hit out during an interview on BBC Radio One.
The 41-year-old rocker, who was infuriated by New York rapper Jay-Z headlining the Glastonbury Festival, compared soul diva Winehouse, 24, to a “destitute horse.”
Mark Ronson, who remixed The Zutons’ track Valerie for Winehouse and the Kaiser Chiefs’ tune Oh My God for singer Lily Allen, also came under fire.
“He wants to write his own tunes instead of ruining everyone else’s,” Gallagher said.
“Mark Ronson needs to learn three chords on the guitar and write a tune.”
He branded pop band Scouting For Girls “Scouting For Idiots” and attacked the Kaiser Chiefs, saying: “The Monkees haven’t split up, they’re just going under the name of the Kaiser Chiefs.
“I did drugs for 18 years and I never got that bad as to say, ‘You know what? I think the Kaiser Chiefs are brilliant.’
“Anybody whose drummer writes the songs are not to be trusted.”
Songwriter Gallagher also compared British celebrity Jade Goody’s scent to “stale urine” and suggested Live Aid supremo Bob Geldof’s daughter Peaches should be stamped on.
Goody, a former contestant on British television’s Big Brother, is in India, reportedly to appear in a similar reality show hosted by Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, whom she was accused of racially taunting on the British version.
Gallagher joked about putting out his own aftershave, Eau de Toerag, “for the working class gentlemen.”
He said Goody’s scent “smells like stale urine, and that’s not the perfume.”
Of Geldof’s newly-married daughter, he said: “God almighty, I have respect for Sir Bob ... stamp on her though.”
Gallagher admitted he was drunk and had had only two hours’ sleep.
A BBC spokesman told the Daily Mail newspaper: “Noel Gallagher was very clearly briefed in advance and monitored during the live interview.
“We have not received any complaints.
“As ever, Noel was a lively and opinionated guest. Of course Radio One does not condone drug abuse and if we felt our guest was drunk we would not put him on air.”
No one saw it coming. Everyone — including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — expected at least some of the recall campaigns against 24 of its lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) to succeed. Underground gamblers reportedly expected between five and eight lawmakers to lose their jobs. All of this analysis made sense, but contained a fatal flaw. The record of the recall campaigns, the collapse of the KMT-led recalls, and polling data all pointed to enthusiastic high turnout in support of the recall campaigns, and that those against the recalls were unenthusiastic and far less likely to vote. That
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