Bono ‘may never play guitar again’
Bono says that he now has a titanium elbow and may never play guitar again because of the injuries caused by a cycling accident in New York. The 54-year-old U2 frontman fractured his left eye socket, shoulder blade and left elbow when he crashed his bike in Central Park in November and required hours of surgery. On the band’s website, Bono said that the “recovery has been more difficult than I thought. As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again”. He added that his bandmates The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen “have reminded me that neither they nor western civilisation are depending on this”. The singer said he would “have to concentrate hard” to be ready for a U2 tour that’s due to start in May. – AP
Gomez mosque photo criticised
The singer Selena Gomez faced criticism over the weekend for showing disrespect during a visit to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque last week. The 22-year-old posted a photo on her Instagram page in which she was seen posing and showing off her ankle and lower leg inside the mosque. It provoked many critical comments and the singer later deleted the photo. A shot that showed the group of celebrities that Gomez was visiting with – including the reality TV star Kendall Jenner, the model Gigi Hadid and the singer Cody Simpson – posing and smiling inside the mosque was also criticised. The celebrities were part of a group who were visiting the UAE in the run-up to New Year. They were due to go on a desert safari on Thursday, and on Friday, Gomez posted a photo of some of the group swimming beside the Burj Al Arab. – The National staff.
Seinfeld used to teach students
The American sitcom Seinfeld was famously a "show about nothing", but a psychiatry professor reckons there was much more to it than that. Medical students at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey are learning about psychiatric disorders through Dr Anthony Tobia's "Psy-field" teaching tool, NJ.com reports. Tobia has created a database of teaching points from the show's episodes. Students are assigned to watch two episodes a week and then discuss the psychopathology observed on each. "You have a very diverse group of personality traits that are maladaptive on the individual level," Tobia said. He has written an academic paper that analyses five of Elaine's boyfriends from the show to explain delusional disorder, and he teaches a course as part of which students tweet thoughts about characters' psychiatric disorders while watching films such as Fargo. – AP
Twins joy for Avatar star
The Avatar and Star Trek actress Zoe Saldana and her Italian artist husband Marco Perego are celebrating the arrival of twin sons, Cy and Bowie. "Happy #2015! Starting our #NewYear with a full house," the star wrote on Twitter at the weekend. "Our boys are finally here! Thank U 4 all the beautiful wishes!" she added, posting a photo of two bottles and two stuffed animals. The twins were born on November 27, it later emerged, but the 36-year-old only announced the news on Friday. The couple married in 2013. – AFP
P J Harvey plans public recording
The British singer P J Harvey is to record her ninth studio album in public, turning the recording process into an art installation. The 45-year-old will spend four weeks working on the album, with the public able to watch from behind one-way mirrors. The project, entitled Recording in Progress, will take place at Somerset House in London, in what used to be a staff gymnasium at a tax-collectors' office. "I want Recording in Progress to operate as if we're an exhibition in a gallery," Harvey said. "I hope visitors will be able to experience the flow and energy of the recording process." Visitors will pay up to £15 (Dh84) to watch the sessions, between January 16 and February 14. It will be Harvey's first album since 2011's Let England Shake, which won her the Mercury Prize for the best British or Irish album for a record second time. – AFP
Kumar to judge TV cookery show
The Bollywood star Akshay Kumar is being lined up for a return to the world of reality TV, after Dare 2 Dance, as a judge on season four of MasterChef India. He previously appeared as a judge on season one. "The programming team is trying to get Akshay on board the show as 'maha-judge'. Nothing is finalised yet as talks are still ongoing," an insider said. "As maha-judge, Akshay will rule over what the three judges say." The culinary experts Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar will also be judges on the show, which is broadcast on Star Plus and is expected to debut at the end of this month. – Ians
Guitarist Slash files for divorce
The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has filed for divorce from his wife of 13 years. Court documents filed last week in Los Angeles blame irreconcilable differences for Slash and Perla Hudson’s split. The couple got married in 2001 and have two sons, 10-year-old Cash and 12-year-old London. Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, filed for divorce once before, in 2010, also citing irreconcilable differences. The documents say the couple separated on June 15. – AP
The Avengers star’s wife files for divorce
The model Sonni Pacheco has filed for divorce from The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy star Jeremy Renner after 10 months of marriage. Court documents filed in Los Angeles last month cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the separation. Pacheco also seeks return of a passport, birth certificate and social security card, as well as invalidation of a prenuptial agreement based on fraud. Pacheco and Renner have a 20-month-old daughter, Ava Berlin. The couple wed in secret on January 13, 2014, but only confirmed they were married in September. – AP
Beverly Hillbillies star Donna Douglas dead at 82
Donna Douglas, who played the tomboy Elly May Clampett on the hit 1960s US sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, has died at the age of 82. Her niece, Charlene Smith, said the actress lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Thursday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, near her hometown of Zachary. Douglas was best known for her role in the CBS comedy about a backwoods Ozark family who moved to Beverly Hills after striking it rich from oil discovered on their land. The series ran from 1962 to 1971. As Elly May, Douglas was blissfully unaware of her status as a bumpkin blonde bombshell. Chosen from more than 500 other actresses, Douglas said she felt at ease playing the role because, like her character, she grew up a poor Southern tomboy. Her childhood in Pride, Louisiana, came in handy when she was asked to milk a goat during her audition. She once said she didn't minded being typecast as her Hillbillies character. "So many kinds of people relate to Elly May," she said. "So many people love her and that means a lot to me." – AP
Protests planned as Cosby shows go ahead
The promoters of Bill Cosby’s three shows in Canada this week have said that the comedian’s representatives told them he has “every intent” to perform at them and so they are legally obligated to stage them. The Chicago-based Innovation Arts & Entertainment said they realised the decision was unpopular, but that they and the venues have no choice but to proceed and “would face crippling legal obstacles for violation”. More than 15 women have come forward since November saying they were drugged, sexually assaulted or both by Cosby, who has not been charged in connection with any of the allegations. As controversy has grown, Cosby’s scheduled Netflix concert special was cancelled and NBC scrapped a new sitcom that was in development with him. The 77-year-old is due to appear at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener, Ontario, on January 7; Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, on January 8; and Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario, on January 9. Protests are planned for the Canadian shows. “While it is disappointing for the need to worry about the theatre being a place for planned protests, we are fully prepared to protect our audience,” said IA&E. Megan Walker, the executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, who is planning a protest outside the London venue, took issue with the promoter’s statement. “There’s an implication that somehow a peaceful protest is going to become violent when the violence we’re concerned about is the violence that the women have alleged against Mr. Cosby,” Walker said. Scott Warren, the general manager of Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario, said the theatre is bound by a contract with the promoter and would risk being sued if the show was cancelled. – AP
