British broadcaster Jonathan Ross has been signed up to take over from Barry Norman as the host of the BBC's flagship film review programme.
Ross (38), who has been a long-time champion of cult movies and hosted a number of his own TV series about films, takes over Film '99 in the spring. He said yesterday that it was the job he had dreamed about since childhood, and added: "It doesn't get any better."
Norman moved from the BBC to Sky earlier this year, frustrated at the constant change of time slot, ending a 26-year relationship with the BBC.
Singer George Michael completed 80 hours of community service as part of a US court order imposed on him for lewd conduct in a park lavatory, his lawyer told a judge in Los Angeles yesterday.
Michael (35) was arrested on April 7th by an undercover police officer at a park across from the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. He was given two years' probation.
The first black woman senator in the US, Carol Moseley- Braun, defeated for re-election last month, has been offered the ambassadorship to New Zealand.
Moseley-Braun's re-election bid was undone by criticism of her 1996 visit to the late Nigerian dictator, Gen Sani Abacha, and unproved allegations that she used campaign funds to pay for designer clothes, stereo equipment, jewellery, cars and travel.
Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox are to reunite their band, the Eurythmics, for a one-off performance at the Brit Awards ceremony next year.
Although the stars never announced an official split, they have not issued a new studio album since 1989's We Too Are One. Now they are to maintain the awards tradition of getting a legendary band to close the show when they appear on February 16th to play a succession of their hits.