Facebook user becomes famous after claiming role in Vancouver riot.

Until Thursday, the name Brock Anton probably didn't mean much to most Canadians online, other than his 534 friends on Facebook.But by the end of the day, he was one of the most frequently discussed topics on Twitter, hundreds of Facebook users were furiously posting diatribes about him, and he became a symbol of the collective anger pouring from Vancouverites in the aftermath of the Stanley Cup riots.

An image shared on the Facebook group "Vancouver Riot Pics: Post Your Photos," which amassed more than 54,000 followers, captures an alleged post by a user identified as Brock Anton.

"Maced in the face, hit with a batton, tear gassed twice, 6 broken fingers, blood everywhere," reads the post, alongside a profile photo portraying a man in front of a smashed, overturned car.

The status update goes on to detail how he supposedly punched a police officer in riot gear and participated in the rioting.

"Through the jersey on a burning cop car, flipped some cars, burnt some smart cars, burnt some cop cars, im on the news ... one word ... history :) :) :)"

Less than a minute after the posting, according to the image, a friend urged Anton to remove the post.

"Brockkkk! take this down!!! its evidence!"

Anton did not respond to a Facebook message seeking comment.

It's possible the image was created as a hoax to rile furious residents who watched their city attacked. Or it could've been a case of overstated bravado on Anton's part, bragging about incidents that never occurred. Either way, his post certainly generated a flurry of online responses.

"It's pretty ridiculous and sad that a person is so out of it that they think this is not only something they can do (but) he's proud of it too, which is pretty horrible," said Ryan Arndt, who started a Facebook group Wednesday night to collect images of rioters in the act.

"Just going around wrecking your own city is very stupid and (I thought) it'd be great to have people use this as evidence ... at trials, if the judges or police think that's appropriate."

It didn't take long before the Facebook group was deluged with requests to join, and Arndt had to recruit three others to help deal with the flood of emails and manually click on each to approve new members.

He eventually directed his group's followers to another that had grown larger, and helped a friend set up a Tumblr blog where non-Facebook users could contribute.

On Thursday, Vancouver police department said it had received 120 tips by phone as of 5 a.m., and appealed to the public to continue sending in their photos and video footage identifying rioters.

"Members of the public are sending us their videos, and we are adding those to the thousands of minutes of video that we shot ourselves. We are fully committed to tracking down these criminals and arresting them for their crimes," said police Chief Jim Chu.

"The public can really help us and help us move beyond this and show the true spirit of Vancouverites by helping catch these criminals who caused all the mayhem and destruction."

Arndt, who had ventured out into the crowds early Wednesday before retreating when things got ugly, said he is happy to see so many online users submitting photos and pledging to help clean up the city.

"It's pretty shameful for Vancouver to have this blight ... on the city, but on the other side we've got all the people who are downtown right now helping to clean up," he said.

On Thursday, separate groups on Facebook and Twitter encouraged residents to head downtown during the next several days to help clean up.

"I've seen quotes from people saying they feel like they're taking back the city and so it's given people some hope, that they can take this over and make something positive out of it."

Arndt had expected the riot would happen but was disappointed when it did break out.

"There was a Facebook event for rioting so it's not like it was a surprise, and I heard people saying on (public transit) that they were going to riot even before the game started."

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IMF Chief Tried To Claim Immunity In Sex Case.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to claim diplomatic immunity when he was arrested for sexual assault in New York.Court documents have been released which show a timeline of events from the moment police removed him from an Air France flight bound for Paris at JFK airport.

Strauss-Kahn was told that detectives wanted to speak to him about "an incident in the city at a hotel".

The 62-year-old was silent and then around 15 minutes later said: "I have diplomatic immunity" and asked to speak to someone from the French Consulate.

He also complained about how tight the handcuffs were.

The former managing director of the International Monetary Fund has pleaded not guilty to attempted rape, sex abuse, a criminal sex act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching, following accusations by a hotel chambermaid.

If convicted he could be sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He is currently on bail and living under house arrest in New York.

:: See the transcripts here

Strauss-Kahn, who resigned from his role a few days after the arrest, does not have full diplomatic immunity and IMF rules only granted him immunity limited to acts performed in his "official capacity".

At about 5.15pm on May 14 during his transfer to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which deals with sex crimes, Strauss-Kahn said: "I need to make a call and let them know I won't be at my meeting tomorrow."

"These handcuffs are tight," he added.

Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 15 and join euro zone finance ministers in Brussels the following day to discuss the bloc's debt crisis and how to handle the economic meltdown in Greece.

At 9pm at the Special Victims Unit, Strauss-Kahn asked to call his lawyer, then asked police if he needed a lawyer.

A detective said he had a right to a lawyer but added that he didn't know if Strauss-Kahn had diplomatic status.

"No, no, no, I'm not trying to use that," Strauss-Kahn said.

At 10.55pm Strauss-Kahn was asked if he wanted to speak to detectives about the alleged hotel incident, to which he replied: "My attorney has told me not to talk. I was ready to talk."

Strauss-Kahn's next court date is July 18.

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Vancouver riots' kissing duo are Australian, Canadian.

The mystery identity of the couple kissing while lying on a Vancouver street as riot police battled crowds following the Canucks' Stanley Cup loss has been revealed as Australian Scott Jones and his Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas.

Jones's family in the Land Down Under said he has been in Canada for six months, working as a bartender and trying to break into acting and standup comedy. At least one of his comedy routines has been posted on YouTube.

Following the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, images of the kissing couple were splashed around the world — notably in Australia after the family came forward as knowing the man caught in a passionate embrace with a woman on the street of the B.C. city.

On Twitter, Facebook and other social media, there was early speculation that the picture was staged. CBC.ca immediately launched a search to uncover the identity of the two.

Hannah Jones, Scott's sister from Perth, told CBC News in an email that the man in the pictures is her 29-year-old brother, and he recently started dating Thomas, who attends the University of Guelph in Ontario.

And via Skype from Perth, their father, Brett, also confirmed that the pair are his son and his new girlfriend, and that Scott ended up being a knight in shining armour of sorts.

Brett Jones said the couple had been at the NHL final game, and after the frenzy following the loss spilled into the street, the two were caught in the violence.

"They were between the riot police and the rioters, and the riot police were actually charging forward, and Alex got knocked by a [police] shield and fell to the ground," he told CBC News. "[Scott] was comforting her and gave her a kiss to say, 'It’s going to be OK,' and the photographer just took the shot at that moment."

Brett Jones said Scott is fine, and Alex suffered a bruised leg from falling to the ground.

The two are overwhelmed by all the coverage the picture has gotten, he said, noting that he has been fielding calls from media around the world.

"They are both just totally stunned by it, actually."

The dad of the now-famous bartender-standup comedian said Scott was in Vancouver on a work visa, and is leaving in a few days for the U.S., and then heading back to Australia.

But the image of Scott Jones and his girlfriend will likely forever be considered the one bright light in the Vancouver post-Stanley Cup frenzy.

"It’s just completely gone viral around the world," his dad noted.

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CBS' Tony awards show seen by 6.9 million viewers.

CBS' Tony Awards show was seen by 6.9 million viewers, roughly the same number as last year, according to preliminary Nielsen figures released Monday.

But the program, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, posted a 9 percent year-to-year gain in the ratings for the 18-to-49 demographic.

The Tony broadcast faced stiff competition, airing opposite Game 6 of the NBA Finals, in which the Dallas Mavericks clinched the championship against the Miami Heat. ABC's coverage of the game was the night's most-watched telecast.

Updated ratings figures will be available on Tuesday.

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Doomsday believer donates entire inheritance to Family Radio.

When the world didn't end on May 21, many people who had given up their earthly possessions were left with nothing.But one believer never lived to see the day. She left nearly her entire estate -- around $300,000 -- to the group behind the failed prediction, leaving some family members out in the cold.

Eileen Heuwetter was shocked to find out that her aunt left the majority of her estate to Family Radio, the group responsible for the doomsday warnings that the world would end on May 21. She and her sister were each left $25,000 from their aunt's estate. The rest is going to Family Radio.

The network of Christian radio stations based in Oakland, Ca., is almost entirely funded by donations. According to IRS filings, the group brought in $18 million in contributions in 2009 alone.

Heuwetter, the executor of the will, knew how much her aunt loved the radio station and admired its leader, Harold Camping, who is viewed as a prophet by many of his followers.

While other family members insisted it was crazy to let her aunt give all that money to a radio station, Heuwetter didn't initially contest the conditions of the will. She knew little about the Christian radio station, but knew her aunt, Doris Schmitt, found comfort in it.

Schmitt had lived a tough life, struggling with alcoholism and losing her two children to drug addictions before dying alone at 78 on May 2, 2010 in her small home in Queens, New York.

"This was not a woman who had anything. She literally had Family Radio on day and night -- she went to bed with it and woke up to it," said Heuwetter. "That was all she had."

It wasn't until recently that Heuwetter learned who was really getting her aunt's bequest. She said she first realized this was the same group when she saw buses driving around New York City the weekend before the supposed end of the world, spreading the doomsday message. "I'm looking at these brand new buses drive around with Family Radio's name on them, saying 'Doomsday is May 21', and I said, 'Oh my god, this is who my aunt gave all of her money to," Heuwetter said. "I didn't know he was so crazy, and at this point I was incensed that this man was going to get everything my aunt had left."

While Heuwetter says she didn't necessarily need the extra cash, other family members were struggling and could have used a little help, she said.

Even worse, Heuwetter said, was that Camping's prediction never came to fruition. Heuwetter's family members were just as angry when they learned about Family Radio's failed prophecy, so they brought the case to several lawyers, who sympathized with the family, but agreed they had no case. Family Radio did not respond to requests for comment.

The estate is within weeks of closing, and Heuwetter knows it's a lost cause.

"It's just so frustrating because I know there's nothing I can do about it -- this man is going to get hundreds of thousands of dollars from my aunt," she said. "And she wasn't a rich woman."

Though Camping later clarified that his prediction actually extends until October, many followers were disappointed when the rapture didn't happen on May 21. Heuwetter said there is no way her aunt would have given the money to Family Radio, had she lived to see Camping's doomsday-gone-wrong.

"She would have been devastated," Heuwetter said. "Listening to him say things would be better in paradise made her feel better -- she totally believed she would leave this world on May 21, and she needed to believe that."

If she were here to watch the world continue after May 21, she would have likely given her money to other family members, said Heuwetter.

"It was a good amount of money that would have helped a lot of people live better today -- but now it's not helping anyone."

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Greg Grunberg appears in pal JJ Abrams' 'Super 8'.

Greg Grunberg is revealing that he has a small role in "Super 8," the latest film from his longtime friend J.J. Abrams.Grunberg previously said only that he'd beg for a part in the film. But he told The Associated Press on Wednesday that people will have to "really, really search to find me" as he portrays a sitcom actor in "Super 8."

Grunberg and Abrams have been friends since kindergarten. Grunberg starred in Abrams' home movies growing up and has appeared in most of his professional films and TV shows, including "Felicity," "Alias," "Lost" and "Star Trek."

Grunberg says of Abrams: "He calls me his lucky charm."

Grunberg stars in the comedy "Love Bites," which premieres on NBC Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern.

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Actor's daughter found guilty of manslaughter.

The estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been found guilty in Florida of aggravated manslaughter of a child.The Orange County State Attorney's Office says the verdict against 32-year-old Amanda Brumfield was returned Friday. She faced murder charges in the 2008 death of her best friend's 1-year-old daughter, Olivia Madison Garcia.

She was found not guilty on first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges.

Brumfield claimed the girl hit her head after falling while trying to climb out of a playpen. Prosecutors said it was "impossible" that a fall from that height would cause a three-and-a-half inch fracture on the girl's skull.

The trial took place in the same courthouse where Casey Anthony is on trial for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

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Berlusconi faces defeat in crucial Milan election.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faced a stinging defeat in his northern stronghold of Milan after local elections Monday that threatened to unbalance his fractious center-right coalition government.Already enmeshed in three corruption trials and a scandal over underage prostitution, the 74 year-old premier was set to lose control of Italy's financial capital, the base of his vast business and media empire.

With most votes already counted, leftist Giuliano Pisapia was set to capture Milan city hall with some 55 percent of the vote against around 46 percent for outgoing center-right mayor Letizia Moratti.

The center-left easily held on to power in Turin and Bologna in the first round of voting and the latest blow unleashed divisions in the ruling alliance, with Berlusconi's allies in the hard right Northern League alarmed at the prospect of losing Milan.

"This is a very heavy defeat and the big loser is the premier," said Leonardo Boriani, editor of the Northern League party newspaper La Padania, which has sniped repeatedly at Berlusconi's PDL party in recent weeks.

The local elections were seen as a referendum on the billionaire prime minister. With the southern port of Naples also set to fall to the opposition Italy of Values party, the result raised the prospect of national elections before the scheduled date of 2013.

"This is the first defeat for Berlusconi's center-right coalition since they came back to power, and it sends a clear signal of voters' disillusionment," said Maurizio Pessato of pollsters SWG.

"These results make early elections more likely, possibly next year, and I don't see any chance of meaningful economic reforms being implemented by a lame duck government."

SLUGGISH ECONOMY

With the government preparing to bring forward plans to slash the budget deficit by 40 billion euros ($57 billion) after ratings agency Standard and Poor's cut its outlook for Italy's A+ rating to "negative" from "stable," the stakes are high.

Italy has one of the most sluggish economies in Europe, more than a quarter of its young people are unemployed and government policy is constrained by the need to contain a debt mountain equivalent to some 120 percent of gross domestic product.

In a move seen widely as a signal that he believed defeat in Milan was likely, Berlusconi chose to travel to Romania on Monday but senior ministers have ruled out any change of course before national elections due in 2013.

After a bitter campaign marked by accusations of smear tactics and dirty tricks, economic stagnation trumped other issues and voters punished the ruling party as they had in other countries including Germany and Spain.

Italy is the only euro zone economy in which, taking account of inflation, citizens are poorer on average than they were 10 years ago.

Berlusconi's government last month cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.1 percent from 1.3 percent and cut next year's outlook to 1.3 percent from 2.0 percent.

S&P's lowered its credit outlook on Italy this month due to its weak growth and failure to adopt reforms, although worries of an immediate impact on the markets eased after the Treasury sold long-term bonds near the top of its target range Monday.

After being punished for initially calling the vote a referendum on his popularity and policies, Berlusconi blanketed the airwaves with trademark tirades against his longtime enemies: the left and "communist" magistrates.

His last minute television blitz, to which opposition parties were not given the chance to reply, prompted complaints that he was abusing his domination of the media, and magistrates in Rome opened a formal investigation.

Economy Undersecretary Daniela Melchiorre, a former judge, resigned in protest after Berlusconi delivered a rant against Italian magistrates to a surprised U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, last week.

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American Idol's Scotty McCreery says he not Dating Lauren Alaina.

Lauren Alaina may have showered Scotty McCreery with kisses when he was crowned the winner of American Idol on Wednesday, but the former competitors insist there's nothing romantic going on between them."We're just really good friends. We really care about each other," Alaina, 16, tells Us Weekly."Everyone wants us to like each other, but we just don't."

Still, Alaina hasn't entirely ruled out the possibility of one day dating McCreery, 17. "You never know what's going to happen 10 years down the road, but I doubt it," she says. "I think we'll always be really good friends."

After all, McCreery tells Us, he has plenty of offers back in North Carolina. "They're going wild for me!" he says. "It's pretty fun hearing what's going on back home."

The country singer adds that he isn't ready for a relationship right now anyway.

"I'm still single. I don't want a girl who likes me because I'm the American Idol," he tells Us. "I just want them to like me because I'm Scotty. That's a hard thing to find, but it'll work out sometime."

"I'm still young," he adds, "and I've got a lot of years ahead of me."

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Preacher says world will actually end in October.

A California preacher who foretold of the world's end only to see the appointed day pass with no extraordinarily cataclysmic event has revised his apocalyptic prophecy, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21.Harold Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before catastrophe struck the planet, apologized Monday evening for not having the dates "worked out as accurately as I could have."

He spoke to the media at the Oakland headquarters of his Family Radio International, which spent millions of dollars_ some of it from donations made by followers — on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.

It was not the first time Camping was forced to explain when his prediction didn't come to pass. The 89-year-old retired civil engineer also prophesied the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said later that didn't happen then because of a mathematical error.

Through chatting with a friend over what he acknowledged was a very difficult weekend, it dawned on him that instead of the biblical Rapture in which the faithful would be swept up to the heavens, May 21 had instead been a "spiritual" Judgment Day, which places the entire world under Christ's judgment, he said.

The globe will be completely destroyed in five months, he said, when the apocalypse comes. But because God's judgment and salvation were completed on Saturday, there's no point in continuing to warn people about it, so his network will now just play Christian music and programs until the final end on Oct. 21.

"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "The fact is there is only one kind of people who will ascend into heaven ... if God has saved them they're going to be caught up."

Josh Ocasion, who works the teleprompter during Camping's live broadcasts in the group's threadbare studio sandwiched between an auto shop and a palm reader's business, said he enjoyed the production work but never fully believed the May 21 prophecy would come true.

"I thought he would show some more human decency in admitting he made a mistake," he said Monday. "We didn't really see that."

Follower Jeff Hopkins said he spent a good deal of his own retirement savings on gas money to power his car so people would see its ominous lighted sign showcasing Camping's May 21 warning. As the appointed day drew nearer, Hopkins started making the 100-mile round trip from Long Island to New York City twice a day, spending at least $15 on gas each trip.

"I've been mocked and scoffed and cursed at and I've been through a lot with this lighted sign on top of my car," said Hopkins, 52, a former television producer who lives in Great River, NY. "I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face."

Camping's hands shook slightly as he pinned his microphone to his lapel, and as he clutched a worn Bible he spoke in a quivery monotone about some listeners' earthly concerns after giving away possessions in expectation of the Rapture.

Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their belongings, and those who had fewer would cope, Camping said.

"We're not in the business of financial advice," he said. "We're in the business of telling people there's someone who you can maybe talk to, maybe pray to, and that's God."

But he also said that he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.

"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"

Apocalyptic thinking has always been part of American religious life and popular culture. Teachings about the end of the world vary dramatically — even within faith traditions — about how they will occur.

Still, the overwhelming majority of Christians reject the idea that the exact date or time of Jesus' return can be predicted.

Tim LaHaye, co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" novels about the end times, recently called Camping's prediction "not only bizarre but 100 percent wrong!" He cited the Bible verse Matthew 24:36, "but about that day or hour no one knows" except God.

Camping offered no clues about Family Radio's finances Monday, saying he could not estimate how much had been spent advertising his prediction nor how much money the nonprofit had taken in as a result. In 2009, the nonprofit reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.

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Obamas meet royal newlyweds as state visit begins.

US President Barack Obama Tuesday basked in the lavish royal pageantry of a state visit to Britain, given an extra dash of glamour by a brief encounter with Prince William and his new bride Catherine.The president and his wife Michelle were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth II and a 41-gun salute in the gardens of Buckingham Palace at the start of a two-day visit that will mix pomp with serious diplomacy.

Obama's time in London will include talks with Prime Minister David Cameron aimed in part at spurring a push for democracy in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Before the official welcome, the president and his wife had a brief meeting with William and Catherine, now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, less than a month after watching their fairytale wedding on television.

In a picture released afterwards, Catherine, wearing a pale coffee-coloured dress with capped sleeves and looking tanned after her honeymoon in the Seychelles, chatted with the First Lady while the prince talked with Obama.

Later, the queen will fete Obama with all the trappings of a state dinner and the Obamas will stay in the palace's sumptuous Belgian suite, last used by William and the former Kate Middleton on the night of their April 29 wedding.

But the 24-hour demands that follow a US president everywhere shadowed the London pomp, as Obama took time out to say he was "heartbroken" at the toll of vicious tornados which ripped across the US midwest, killing 116 people.

The serious political business of the visit happens on Wednesday, and Obama and Cameron limbered up for their talks with a vow to support those risking their lives for reform in the Arab world.

"We will not stand by as their aspirations get crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire. We are reluctant to use force, but when our interests and values come together, we know we have a responsibility to act," they wrote.

"We will stand with those who want to bring light into dark, support those who seek freedom in place of repression, aid those laying the building blocks of democracy," they said in an article in the Times newspaper.

The declaration of intent comes less than a week after Obama spelled out his long-awaited response to the tumult which has ousted autocrats and reshaped nations in the Middle East and North Africa.

In a riff on the so-called "special relationship" between the United States and Britain, Obama and Cameron also heralded a new "essential relationship" between the countries.

The NATO mission in Libya, backed by US logistics but led by Britain and France, is also likely to be a key issue when Cameron and Obama meet for an informal chat on Tuesday, ahead of formal talks the next day.

Diplomatic and military maneuvering is heating up over Libya ahead of the G8 summit in France, Obama's next stop on a four-nation European tour which began with a journey to his ancestral roots in Ireland and also takes in Poland.

Mindful that no US leader can afford to hobnob with royals abroad while a disaster unfolds at home, Obama said he was "heartbroken" by the death toll wrought by the killer storm in Missouri that is dominating US news coverage.

He said he would visit the disaster zone on Sunday, hours after returning from Europe.

But for Tuesday, the main focus was on the royals and the meeting with William and Catherine at the lavish 1844 room of Buckingham Palace.

The Obamas were not invited to the wedding because William is not heir to the throne -- he is second in line after his father, Prince William -- and the meeting was the first chance for them to congratulate the royal couple.

After the formal welcome and lunch, the queen will show the Obamas US-related items in the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives.

The queen struck up a visibly close friendship with Michelle Obama when the Obamas visited Britain for the first time in 2009, with both women putting their arms around each other in a highly unusual gesture.

"There is a genuine, genuine -- and I really mean this -- a genuine warmth between the two families," a palace spokesman said.

The Obamas were also due to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey -- where Catherine placed her wedding bouquet in a tradition begun by the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

On Wednesday, the president is granted the rare honour of addressing both houses of the British parliament.

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Katie Couric Signs Off CBS Evening News.

Katie Couric, the first woman appointed to anchor a network evening news show solo, signed off the CBS Evening News Thursday after a five-year stint."It's been an extraordinary privilege to sit in this chair," Couric said during her final broadcast, which featured segments on President Obama's foreign policy speech, Lance Armstrong and the progress of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Recapping her five years as anchor in a five-minute highlight reel of her interviews with George W. Bush, Alex Rodriguez, Betty White and others, Couric thanked viewers "for coming along with me on this incredible journey.

"That's the CBS Evening News for tonight. I'm Katie Couric. Good night," the anchor, 54, said.
As Scott Pelley takes over Couric's seat starting June 6, she has yet to reveal her future plans.

"I'm really proud of the talented team on the CBS Evening News and the award-winning work we've been able to do," Couric told Us Weekly. "In making the decision to move on, I know Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future."
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Couric -- who told Us she seeks to engage in "multi-dimensional storytelling" for her next gig -- is closing in on a deal for a daytime talk show with ABC.

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Queen to visit Cashel, Cork to end Irish trip.

Queen Elizabeth II is visiting the medieval Rock of Cashel, an old English Market in Cork and a high-tech research facility Friday before returning to England at the conclusion of her four-day tour.The ambitious trip has been hailed by many as consolidating a new era of cooperation between England and Ireland, two neighbors that have often been adversaries. The queen, who wore bright green as she touched down at the Rock of Cashel on Friday, has been praised in Irish newspapers and television commentary for her sensitive approach to the difficult history between the two neighbors.

She and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, were twice applauded by onlookers as they made their way across the medieval site, which sits on a limestone outcropping in southwest Ireland.

She was driven to St. Patrick's Cathedral, an ancient, ruined church in a green Bentley, and was shown around while children from the Cashel Community School choir sang the Gaelic blessing, "May The Road Rise To Meet You."

Cashel Community school music teacher John Murray said "everybody in Cashel and the school are honored to have the queen here."

Still, the queen's trip has been marred by a massive security presence to protect her from dissident attacks and by the discovery Tuesday of a bomb hidden on a bus. It was found and neutralized before it exploded.

In Cork the queen was due to visit the English Market, which has had stalls selling meat, seafood, local cheese and other goods since the late 18th Century.

From there she plans to visit the Tyndall National Institute, a high-tech institution created in 2004. It is a research hub where the queen and Philip will be briefed on current projects.

They will also meet with local representatives, including the Benhaffaf twins, who were conjoined at birth and were separated by an Irish surgeon, Dr. Edward Kiely, at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The queen plans to spend the weekend in England before receive President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at Buckingham Palace next week.

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Pitt's drama for Malick has Cannes crowd divided

Terrence Malick lived up to both his public and professional reputation Monday at the Cannes Film Festival, remaining out of sight while premiering a film that left crowds buzzing over its thematic scope, emotional depth and visual grandeur.

The notoriously press-shy Malick was nowhere to be seen after "The Tree of Life," the writer-director's long-awaited epic drama of creation and one family's place in it, screened for critics and reporters ahead of its official festival premiere.

The film starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain drew a scattering of harsh, prolonged boos, answered by enthusiastic applause from others at the press screening.

Debuting in U.S. theaters May 27, "The Tree of Life" is only Malick's fifth film in a nearly 40-year career, and his first at Cannes since 1979's "Days of Heaven," which earned him the festival's directing prize.

Malick has stayed behind the scenes for his subsequent films, 1998's "The Thin Red Line" and 2005's "The New World," and he skipped the Cannes press conference that followed Monday's screening, leaving Pitt, Chastain and his producers to face reporters.

"Mr. Malick is very shy, and I would say that I believe his work speaks for itself," producer Sarah Green said.

Pitt compared Malick's attitude toward publicizing a film to building a house.

"I don't know why it's accepted that people who make things in our business are then expected to sell them, and I don't think that computes with him," said Pitt, also a producer on the film. "He wants to focus on the making of it, not the real estate, selling the real estate. It is an odd thing for an artist to start something and then be salesman."

Cannes organizers had hoped to debut the film a year ago, but it was not ready.

Malick's producers said the form of the film did not change dramatically in the last year. The director just needed more time.

"If you believe that movies are alive and talking back to you, there's a point at which it's very obvious they're not finished," said producer Dede Gardner.

"The Tree of Life" stars Pitt as a loving but sometimes brutally stern father, with Chastain the wife who stands as a figure of grace for their three confused, intimidated sons. Penn plays the eldest son as a grown man, reflecting on the people and moments that shaped him.

Malick is known for making films that defy classification, with a free-flowing narrative style forming the backbone for far-flung explorations of the meaning of existence.

"The Tree of Life" had a dense script, but Malick left each day of shooting loose and open so he could explore whatever chance might send his way, his collaborators said.

"He never wanted to, what we call, hammer-and-tong a scene as it's written," Pitt said. "He was more interested in capturing what was happening on the day. He's like a guy standing there with a butterfly net and waiting for that moment of truth to go by."

Chastain recalled one such instance of spontaneity that made it into the film, "where a butterfly lands on my hand. It's not in the script. We didn't put anything on my hand to make it land there. It's because he creates a set where he allows for those moments to happen."

The richly personal drama is told in a vast reach of impressionistic exchanges and images: from breathtaking views of the universe's creation to primordial scenes in the age of the dinosaurs to tender and terrifying family moments.

The dreamlike images are accompanied by poetic voiceovers as characters ponder the universe, wonder if God exists and offer small pleas or questions to him.

"Lord, why? Where were you?" Chastain's character laments after tragedy strikes. "Who are we to you? Answer me."

The film points up how little what we do on Earth really matters in an eternal universe, yet simultaneously stresses that our finite lives matter all the more against that unknowable infinity.

Some at Cannes found it all deeply moving. Others said Malick went over the top as some cosmic sequences play on for 15 minutes or more without a human face to be seen.

The range of reactions might suit Malick just fine.

"One of the reasons Terry maybe shies away from forums like this is that he wants the work to stand on its own. He doesn't want to say what it's about or whether it's autobiographical or not," said producer Bill Pohlad. "He just wants the audience to bring their own thing to it ... as opposed to him interpreting it or verbalizing it."

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Wills and Kate to visit California in July.

Wills and Kate are heading west, off to California in July.Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, will be in the state for three days starting July 8 after their official tour of Canada, the prince's office announced Thursday.

The palace did not provide details of their itinerary.

The trip will be William's first official trip to the United States and Kate's first-ever visit to the country.

The royal couple — now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — married last week at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony seen around the world. After a long weekend in private, they have returned to the remote island of Anglesey in Wales, where William is based as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot, putting off a honeymoon for now.

They start their weeklong tour of Canada on June 30, visiting Ottawa, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, including a trip to the Arctic.

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Black Eyed Peas to give free NYC concert in June

Get ready to party with the Black Eyed Peas — for free.
The six-time Grammy-winning group will hold a free concert in New York City's Central Park on June 9.
The show — dubbed "Concert 4 NYC" — will benefit the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity targeting poverty in NYC.
Although the show is free, concertgoers must have tickets to enter. More than 50,000 tickets are available through an online giveaway. VIP tickets will also be sold online.
Robin Hood's partnership with the multiplatinum foursome includes funding to launch three Peapod Academies. The school is an arts center for teenagers started by the Black Eyed Peas.

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Kate Hudson Is Engaged to Matt Bellamy.

Kate Hudson is engaged to Matthew Bellamy, her beau of nearly a year and father to her unborn child. Hudson, 32, made the surprise announcement on Wednesday's Today Show.

Interviewing Hudson (who's promoting her flick Something Borrowed), Matt Lauer noticed a giant square cut engagement ring on her finger.
Confirming her engagement for the first time, Hudson said, "I haven't really announced it, I was waiting for someone to notice."

Although mum on details, the Oscar-nominated star said the "very romantic" proposal went down about a week ago in NYC

It will be the second marriage for Hudson, who divorced the Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson in 2006 after nearly six years. The amicable exes share son Ryder, 7.

Us Weekly was first to break news of Hudson's second pregnancy back in January.

Her marriage news comes as something of a surprise. Although she and Bellamy, 32, have been inseparable since her pregnancy announcement, she said in January, "I don't feel it necessary to get married...I already have one child, and have had one divorce, so it is not necessarily the golden ticket. I just want to be happy."

Bellamy gushed of his love while accepting a Grammy in February, thanking "my beautiful pregnant girlfriend" at the podium in L.A.

The duo reportedly met years ago in Australia, but didn't become romantic until late spring 2010 -- finally stepping out together in June.

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US fans descend on London for wedding madness.

For hardcore fans of the British monarchy, sitting glued to the television with popcorn just doesn't cut it for an occasion like a royal wedding.Instead, hundreds of American anglophiles — armed with homemade fascinators, Union Jacks on sticks, and boundless enthusiasm — have flown to London to be in the thick of it, even if the throngs may make it hard to actually see the royal couple.

"Who knows when the next wedding of a future monarch will take place?" said Catie Anchin, a 29-year-old fan who arrived with her husband from Washington D.C. on Tuesday. "This is my chance to see history happen in the flesh."

What is the draw for people without prized invitations to Westminster Abbey? They say they want to soak up the atmosphere, hoard souvenirs, and, most important, catch a glimpse of the couple's public smooch on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

That last mission won't be an easy one.

As the tourists scoped out the best spot to stand, they worriedly asked how exactly they could beat the roughly 1 million other well-wishers expected to line The Mall on Friday.

"Holy Toledo, what am I going to do on the day?" said Debbie Achs, a property manager from Mesa, Arizona, as she took in the barricades and the scale of the press stands being set up around the palace and along the wedding procession route. "If I see the balcony kiss that will be the icing on the cake. I don't think I'll be camping out at 5 a.m., so I'll have to get creative in other ways."

Achs, 54, rushed to book her flight days after William and Middleton announced their wedding date in late November. The wedding provides the perfect excuse to visit Britain, her spiritual home, to which she has been returning every year since 2001 to indulge her appetite for castles and royal history.

Other American tourists have similar stories about their love affair with the royals: Hailing from such a young nation, they're fascinated by the centuries-old protocol, the pomp, and the fairytale stories of princes and princesses. Some of the women also confess they have a soft spot for William because they watched him grow up on television.

Some cite additional personal connections: Achs, for example, feels an affinity with the late Princess Diana because they were born in the same year and both gave birth to two sons. Anchin ascribes her lifelong obsession to her birthday, which falls on the same day as that of the late Queen Mother Elizabeth.

Janice Ashby, who arrived Wednesday with a girl friend, has a strategy of sorts to beat the crowds.

"I'm 5 feet 10 inches tall and I'm going to wear stilettos, so hopefully I will tower over all the short spectators and get a glimpse of the royal bride," said Ashby, 56, from Geneva, Nebraska.

She's made her own fascinator for the occasion, too — a pink and black piece complete with a big butterfly.

"We never get the opportunity to wear such fun and frivolity," she said. "I will wear my fascinator with pride, and cheer and yell for the royal couple as loudly as if I were at a football match."

Others say they would be content bringing home memories of the day.

"Even if we can't actually see them, we'll hear the horses' hooves on the ground and the creak of the carriages," said Sheree Troy, a 54-year-old collector of royal memorabilia from Lincolnton, North Carolina. Troy has more than 200 royal-related books and a display case heaving with monarchy items at home.

Anchin has been incorporating more royal history into her life choices since then — including convincing her husband, Scott, to get married last year on the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's marriage to Prince Philip.

To make the most of her trip, Anchin is also planning to celebrate the night before at Mahiki, the posh nightclub where William and Middleton have been known to party.

Her husband didn't mind.

"Who needs sleep on the royal wedding week?" he said. "I'm ready for it."

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Rebecca Black works to overcome 'Friday' infamy.

It's Friday. Instead of spending the last day of her spring break vacation on the beach or at a theme park like so many other teenagers, Rebecca Black is recording tunes at the suburban studio of Charlton Pettus, a music producer who has worked with such singers as Hilary Duff and Clay Aiken. Rebecca realizes that this is very unusual.

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'American Idol' singers take on 21st century songs

"American Idol" finalist Casey Abrams ended his song with a smooch.The eccentric 20-year-old film camp counselor of Idyllwild, Calif., planted a peck on "Idol" judge Jennifer Lopez after delivering a rockin' rendition of Maroon 5's "Harder to Breathe"

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