First portrait of Princes Harry and William
LONDON: Young, handsome, regal, yet casual and relaxed. Sounds good. It is no surprise that Prince William and Prince Harry are very pleased with the first official oil portrait showing just the two of them. The artist has helped nature a bit, replenishing Williams’ already thinning hair, but used a realistic depiction of Harry’s nose, which was broken in a high school rugby match. The new painting of the youthful princes in full-dress military uniforms and assorted medals and sashes has been put on display at the National Portrait Gallery alongside other royal portraits, gallery spokesman Neil Evans said Thursday. The gallery commissioned the historic work, painted by London-based artist Nicky Philipps, after a series of sittings at her studio in the South Kensington neighborhood.
Actor Gary Coleman hospitalized
LOS ANGELES: “Diff’rent Strokes” actor Gary Coleman is in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering what he believes was a slight seizure. Coleman’s agent, Robert Malcolm, says the 41-year-old actor was taken by ambulance to a hospital shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday after he began feeling “fuzzy” and vomited while resting at a hotel. Malcolm says Coleman appeared to be fine minutes later, and a CAT scan at the hospital showed no problems. He says Coleman — who has had two failed kidney transplants — will receive dialysis and remain hospitalized overnight.
Japanese conductor Ozawa has cancer
TOKYO: Acclaimed Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa said on Thursday he has been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. The conductor has canceled his schedule for at least six months to undergo treatment. Ozawa, the 74-year-old musical director at the Vienna State Opera, said he was diagnosed with the illness in a medical check-up last month. He will cancel his engagements — starting with a concert at the Vienna State Opera on Jan. 15 — until at least June, but said he hoped to make a full recovery by August.
China jails Tibetan filmmaker for six years
BEIJING: A Chinese court has jailed a Tibetan filmmaker for six years after he made a documentary in which ordinary Tibetans praised the Dalai Lama and complained about how their culture had been trampled upon, campaigners said. The film, “Leaving Fear Behind,” features a series of interviews with Tibetans who talk about how they still love their exiled spiritual leader and think the Beijing Olympics did little to improve their lives. Dhondup Wangchen and his monk friend, Golog Jigme, were detained shortly after finishing the film, but managed to smuggle tapes out of the country. Dhondup Wangchen’s sentencing took place on Dec. 28 in Xining, Qinghai’s provincial capital, said a statement on a website (www.leavingfearbehind.com) promoting the film, which is also campaigning for his release. The website said the filmmaker had no access to outside legal help, and the government had barred a lawyer hired by his family from representing him. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said that while she had not heard of the case, all Chinese citizens enjoyed basic rights, including to freedom of speech. “You will only be punished if you break the law,” she told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Polanski requests sentencing in absentia
LOS ANGELES: Roman Polanski sent a letter from house arrest in Switzerland asking a Los Angeles judge to sentence him in a sex case without making him return to the US, but a ruling was postponed Wednesday. The notarized letter signed by Polanski on Dec. 26 in Gstaad was filed by his lawyer. The “Chinatown” director fled the US in 1978 on the eve of sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza accepted the letter but said he wanted to see legal briefs that state why sentencing Polanski in absentia was appropriate. “It seems to me there is a fairly big question about what his possible sentence could be,” Espinoza said, setting a Jan. 22 hearing on the issue.
Singer Shania Twain to interview Queen Rania
TORONTO: Before Shania Twain guest-judges “American Idol” auditions later this month, the country star on Friday will grab a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio mic in Toronto to interview Queen Rania of Jordan. Twain is to guest-host the CBC’s “The Current” radio show and is slated to ask the queen about her global charity for underprivileged youth, 1Goal. Twain last week carried the Olympic torch in front of thousands in her hometown of Timmins, Ontario, ahead of the Vancouver/Whistler Games, which kick off Feb. 12.
— Compiled from agencies
