� LONDON (CP) - England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson emerged unscathed Thursday from a sex scandal that has rocked the governing body of English soccer. But two others resigned, including the Football Association secretary Eriksson was involved with and the FA's director of communications who tried to broker a deal with the tabloid that broke the story. After a six-hour meeting of its 12-man board, the FA issued a statement saying the Swede "had no case to answer."
Faria Alam, the 38-year-old secretary who is having talks with a public relations consultant to sell her story to the newspapers, quit her job. The FA also accepted the resignation of director of communications Colin Gibson, a former newspaper journalist who was reported to have agreed a deal with a tabloid to give all the details of the Eriksson affair as long as Palios' name was left out. FA chief executive Mark Palios, who also had an affair with Alam, quit Sunday in the wake of newspaper revelations about the scandal. Eriksson, Palios and Alam are all unmarried although Eriksson's longtime partner has reportedly split with the England coach. Eriksson was in danger of losing his job, which reportedly pays him 3.25 million pounds ($9.8 million Cdn) a year after taxes. The lucrative deal runs until 2008.
Firing Eriksson might have cost the FA up to 14 million pounds ($33.7 million Cdn in) compensation. Although the FA initially denied that Eriksson and Alam had an affair, it had to make a U-turn announcement five days later admitting that one did take place. FA officials had to decide whether the Swede had misled them. "In the case of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the board decided on the basis of the report and on legal advice that there is no case for him to answer," the FA said in a statement.
Eriksson's agent, Athol Still, said Eriksson was now looking forward to continuing with his job having served England for three years. "I called Sven immediately after hearing the news and he was going out for dinner with (assistant coach) Tord Grip. "He just said 'good,' with a nice chuckle. He is obviously very pleased and relieved. He is looking forward to carrying on with his job." The FA said it had accepted Gibson's resignation but had nothing to say about Alam's part in the scandal. "This entire episode has been regrettable for the reputation of football in this country but the Board remain determined to restore the highest standards," the FA statement said. "Deficiencies surrounding management procedures have been exposed and the board is collectively resolved to see these corrected. An immediate review will be instituted with appropriate consultation." FA chairman Geoff Thompson and executive director David Davies were also in danger of losing their positions because of the disarray inside the association but the FA statement made no reference to their roles.
July 2, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) - This time, she's marrying for love, Britney Spears said of her recent engagement to dancer Kevin Federline. "Marrying Kevin was the last thing I was thinking about doing," Spears tells People magazine in its July 12 issue. "But then I said, 'You know what? This is my life and I don't care what people think. I'm going to get married. I'm in love with him'." Spears, 22, and Federline, 26, began dating a few months ago, after her Las Vegas wedding to childhood friend Jason Alexander in January. That marriage was annulled 55 hours later.
Of the quickie Vegas ceremony, "That thing was a total ugh," she says. "I was not in love at all." This is different, says Spears, who's wearing a five-carat diamond set atop two slender platinum, diamond-encrusted bands on her left finger. Federline popped the question on an airplane while flying with Spears from Ireland to New York after the European leg of her tour. "I'd known for a while that she's the one," he says. "I kissed a bunch of frogs and finally found my prince," says Spears. "I feel like I've found my happily ever after." Federline, who performed as a backup dancer for Justin Timberlake, Spears' former boyfriend, previously was involved with Shar Jackson, star of TV's Moesha.
They have a two-year-old daughter and are expecting another baby. In an interview set to air Wednesday, Jackson told syndicated entertainment show Access Hollywood that "after I meet her (Britney) and everything's cool, we can be one big happy family." Jackson also said that she feels no animosity toward Spears. "You should never blame the other woman, never," Jackson said. "There's life after Kevin, and I'm living it!" Spears says she plans to meet Federline's daughter and wants children of her own someday. "I'm not pregnant. (But) I definitely want to have some kids. I see myself with four or five." She adds: "We're starting with a dog. I just got a Maltese named Lacy."
NYT Tuesday, June 8, 2004
Jennifer Lopez reportedly has married the salsa singer Marc Anthony in a small ceremony at her home, less than six months after she ended her high-profile engagement to Ben Affleck. Both Us Weekly and People magazines reported the marriage. Lopez's spokesman Rob Shuter told The Associated Press that he had no immediate comment, and neither magazine published comments from either Shuter or a representative for Anthony. Lopez, 34, has been married twice before - the first time to the waiter and model Ojani Noa in 1997, and the second to the dancer Cris Judd in 2001. The marriage to Noa lasted a little more than a year; the one to Judd for nine months. Anthony, also 34, and the former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres were granted a divorce last week in the Dominican Republic. They were married in 2000.
Uma Thurman's bloodthirsty revenge maven from "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" took first prize for best female performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, and Johnny Depp was named best actor for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." Thurman, in her acceptance speech, praised Quentin Tarantino, who directed her in the two-part "Kill Bill" saga. This year, MTV followed the Oscars in the best-movie category, giving top honors to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
The Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier has dropped plans to direct a production of the "Ring" cycle at the Wagner festival in Bayreuth, Germany, the festival has announced. Trier, the director of "Dogville" and "Dancer in the Dark," said he realized that his vision for the production, scheduled for 2006, "would clearly exceed his powers" and fall short of the festival's high standards, festival organizers said in a statement. The festival said preparations had been going on with some success since 2001. No replacement has been named.
Nearly 40 years after he lost it, the former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman has one of his guitars back, thanks to a New Zealand musician. The Wellington music maker and business consultant Nick Sceats airfreighted the bass to Wyman two months ago after discovering that it belonged to the rock star. "It doesn't look too bad for wear and tear, considering what it has gone through and the traveling it has done over the years," Wyman wrote in a letter to Sceats, excerpts of which were printed in Wellington's Dominion Post. The rare guitar, called a Wyman bass, was one of a small number the manufacturer Vox made in the 1960s, and the only Vox guitar adorned with an endorser's name: Wyman. It's still unknown how the rocker lost the guitar in Wellington in 1966 on tour with the Rolling Stones. Sceats, who had the guitar in his possession for 15 years, said it was known among local musicians as the "legendary Wyman bass." So he finally wrote Wyman, offering to return it if it was his. A judge in Los Angeles has agreed to decide whether overtime claims should be part of a lawsuit alleging that the actor Tom Sizemore harassed and sexually battered his former personal assistant. The major claim in the lawsuit by Paulina Briones is that the co-star of "Black Hawk Down" repeatedly propositioned Briones for sex and that he once tried to force her to perform a sex act. Sizemore, 42, was convicted in August of six misdemeanor counts of harassing and physically abusing his former girlfriend, the ex-Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
The World Today - Thursday, 15 April , 2004 12:50:00
Reporter: Kirsten Aiken
TANYA NOLAN: Not since Princess Diana's kiss and tell interview in the early nineties, has the British public been as fascinated with the sexploits of someone in the public eye.
The question of whether England football captain, David Beckham, played away from home is the main topic of conversation by the office water cooler, on the tube and in the pub.
And as the first kiss and tell interview of one of his alleged affairs is about to be broadcast on British television, the ABC has learned of the existence of audio recordings which will further embarrass the Beckhams and keep the Brits' tongues wagging for some time yet.
London Reporter, Kirsten Aiken. KIRSTEN AIKEN: Rebecca Loos gushed, as she recalled for Britain's BSKYB the elation she felt after her first sexual encounter with David Beckham.
REBECCA LOOS: Very breathless, very um, you know, very happy. Smiling. You know I got home and my mother said, well where have you slept, where have you spent the night?
KIRSTEN AIKEN: The question was apparently a rhetorical one. REBECCA LOOS: She could just tell by the look on my face. She knew, I didn't have to tell her, she knew. She just said well, I hope you're being careful and I hope you know what you're doing and, you know, I'll support you, if that's what you want.
I'm your mother and if that's what makes you happy then, you know, but be very careful. You're putting your job on the line. There's a family involved. People can get hurt, children etcetera. So, yeah, I was very aware of what I was getting myself into, however, I just couldn't stop it.
JULIET HERD: He's got a lot of explaining to do to his wife, but they're not� he's not admitting the allegations so at the moment, as far as they're concerned, the allegations they are saying are ludicrous and absurd.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: Juliet Herd, the Features Editor of Hello magazine reckons the kiss and tell interview will be closely watched by lawyers for Britain's show business king and queen when it is broadcast in full tomorrow.
JULIET HERD: They are going to be examining Miss Loos' interview with a view to issuing libel proceedings.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: But the threat of legal action hasn't persuaded Britain's ferocious red tops to abandon a good story. The onus is on the Beckhams to disprove Miss Loos and Australian model Sarah Marbeck's allegations � something the high profile couple has chosen not to do � yet.
JULIET HERD: Well I think there are sort of other women in the background that have been alluded to. Whether they can be tempted to tell their stories or not remains to be seen but I think� I mean the News of the World is promising more revelations this weekend.
KIRSTEN AIKEN: Meanwhile Rebecca Loos, the daughter of a Dutch diplomat, is ready to fight for her reputation.
REBECCA LOOS: I am 100 per cent sure of what I'm talking about. There is no doubt in my mind. I have no reason to lie. Why should I?
KIRSTEN AIKEN: The strength of Rebecca Loos' defence must be unnerving the Beckhams, who are waiting to see what the tabloids will dish out next.
It doesn't look like they'll be granted a reprieve from the intense scrutiny any time soon.
The ABC has learnt of the existence of audio recordings, which will further embarrass the couple and titillate a nation which thrives on the gossip of a good old fashioned sex scandal.
This is Kirsten Aiken in London for The World Today.
Veteran BBC broadcaster and writer Alistair Cooke has died at his home in New York.
For 58 years, Cooke presented his radio series Letter from America, the world's longest-running speech radio programme. Earlier this month, he announced his retirement on health grounds following advice from his doctors. Leading the tributes, Prime Minister Tony Blair described him as "a remarkable man" and "one of the greatest broadcasters of all time". The BBC's acting director general, Mark Byford, said Cooke was "one of the greatest broadcasters ever in the history of the BBC". A BBC spokesman said Cooke's daughter contacted his biographer, BBC reporter Nick Clarke, to confirm his death at midnight local time (0600 BST). Cooke was absent from recent shows due to illness, and this month it was announced he would not record any new Letters.
The BBC said Cooke had decided to sign off following advice from doctors. His final Letter was broadcast on 20 February. In it, he talked about being "propped up there against my usual three pillows" before considering how Iraq and domestic issues had become key elements in the run-up to the US presidential elections. "Throughout 58 years I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye," he said. Cooke joined the BBC as a film critic in 1934 and started writing his US current affairs and historical Letter in 1946. The show was listened to by people across Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East via the BBC's World Service. It was heard in the UK on BBC Radio 4.
Over almost 60 years, his 15-minute reflections touched on everything from the assassinations of the Kennedys to the terrorist attacks of 11 September. One of his most memorable accounts came when he happened to be in the Los Angeles hotel where Bobby Kennedy was shot in 1968. He told listeners: "Down on the greasy floor was a huddle of clothes, and staring out of it the face of Bobby Kennedy, like the stone face of a child, lying on a cathedral tomb." Cooke had presented 2,869 shows, missing just three weekly broadcasts during the Letter from America's run. These made up more than 717 hours of broadcasting time. This figure does not include other radio shows he hosted. Radio 4 controller Helen Boaden said millions of listeners "charted our lives through" his accounts. "He was wry, wise and always insightful," she said. "We shall miss him very much."
Honorary knighthood Cooke, born in Salford, near Manchester, in 1908, lived with his second wife Jane White in New York. In 1973, he received an honorary knighthood for his contribution to Anglo-American understanding, and a year later addressed the United States Congress on its 200th anniversary.
He also received an award from Bafta for his contribution to Anglo-American relations and a Sony Radio Award for his services to broadcasting. On TV, he presented Alistair Cooke's America, which was aired around the world. And his ground-breaking cultural television show Omnibus changed the face of US television in the 1950s.
Singer Beyonce's band came to the aid of a 91-year-old driver, chasing and holding down a suspected carjacker in Palm Beach, Florida.
Police said Reynold Caleen, a great-grandfather of nine, tried to fight off a knife-wielding suspect when he grabbed the elderly man's wallet in the car park of a shop -- knocking the suspect's knife out of his hands and kicking him several times as the pair wrestled to the ground. Lead guitarist Shaun Carrington, bass guitarist Kern Brantley and drummer Nisan Stewart, in town to rehearse for a tour with the singer, pulled in front of the suspected carjacker as he tried to drive the elderly man's car out of the car park -- and chased him on foot when he got out and ran.
A shop worker tackled the suspect and the bandmates held him down until police arrived. "Gotta protect society as much as we can, you know?" Stewart told WSVN-TV. Caleen's wife, Faye, confessed the couple never heard of Beyonce. "We're more of the John Wayne generation," she said. The suspect was charged with armed carjacking and battery of a person over 65, a felony in Florida.
Beyonce's 22-city tour with Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott begins on March 12.
The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King has won 11 prizes out of a possible 11 at the Academy Awards. The final part of the Tolkien trilogy achieved a clean sweep, including best picture and director for Peter Jackson.
It became the first fantasy film to win best picture - and equalled the record trophy tally at the Hollywood ceremony.
Sean Penn won best actor for his role in Mystic River, with Charlize Theron named best actress for her part as a serial killer in Monster. Renee Zellweger and Tim Robbins won acting prizes for supporting roles for Cold Mountain and Monster.
The Return of the King's haul of 11 statuettes equalled the totals won by Ben Hur in 1960 and Titanic in 1998. But those two films did not win every award they were nominated for. Renee Zellweger had been nominated for three years in a row The Return of the King also scooped best score, song, film editing, make-up and costume design.
Its tally was completed by prizes for best adapted screenplay, art direction, visual effects and sound mixing. Accepting the best picture award, Jackson described the achievement as "unbelievable". "I'm so honoured that the Academy and its members have seen past the trolls and the wizards and the hobbits and are recognising fantasy this year," he said. He earlier praised his "wonderful cast" and described it as an "incredibly overwhelming night".
The awards signalled Hollywood's desire to reward Jackson and his team for making three ground-breaking and hugely popular movies. The two previous Lord of the Rings films had limited Oscars success - picking up six prizes in minor categories out of 19 nominations between them. Tim Robbins did not deliver a political speech, as some expected But the trilogy has had tremendous box office success. The Return of the King has become the second most popular movie of all time, taking more than $1bn (�534m) at global box offices.
Few had dared to predict a clean sweep - but there were no other big surprises on the night. Mystic River and Master and Commander won two awards each while Lost in Translation and Cold Mountain won one Oscar each. All four victorious actors had been hot favourites in their categories. Nevertheless, Theron and Zellweger gave highly emotional acceptance speeches. Theron, who won for her role as a serial killer in Monster, said it had been "such an incredible year".
Her voice faltered as she thanked her mother. "You have sacrificed so much for me to be able to live here and make my dreams come true," the South African star said. And Zellweger, who starred in Cold Mountain, said she was "overwhelmed" and thanked her "immigrant mom and dad" for "never saying 'don't try'". If there's one thing actors know - other than that there aren't any WMDs - it's that there is no such thing as 'best' in acting Sean Penn Penn and Robbins both won for their roles in Clint Eastwood's thriller Mystic River - providing the film's only awards of the night. Penn touched on politics in his speech, saying: "If there's one thing actors know - other than that there aren't any WMDs - it's that there is no such thing as 'best' in acting."
But Robbins did not get political, telling the audience: "This is really a lovely honour. I'd like to thank my fellow nominees, who were all spectacular." Master and Commander won for best sound editing and best cinematography. Sofia Coppola picked up the award for best original screenplay for her film Lost In Translation, while Finding Nemo won best animated feature, as widely expected. The Fog of War was named best documentary feature - and producer Errol Morris gave the night's most overtly political speech.
Charlize Theron received her award - and a kiss - from Adrien Brody He said: "40 years ago this country went down a rabbit hole in Vietnam and millions died - I fear we're going down a rabbit hole once again." And French-Canadian comedy drama The Barbarian Invasions was named best foreign language film. Security was tight for the ceremony - but glitz and humour returned after last year's ceremony was overshadowed by war. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Billy Crystal, who has comp�red the ceremony seven times before.
"For the very first time, we're being simulcast in Aramaic," he joked, referring to the ancient language used in Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. There were also tributes to Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn - who both died during the last 12 months.
