It's Sir Count Dracula for actor Christopher Lee

By Matt Falloon
LONDON (Reuters) - Dracula actor Christopher Lee and British golfer Nick Faldo will receive knighthoods in the Queen's Birthday Honours List -- and a 93-year-old station master gets a nod too.
The 87-year-old Lee, famed for his role as the blood-sucking Count in the Hammer horror movie classics, has found popularity with more modern audiences by starring in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" trilogies.
Former world No. 1 golfer Faldo has captained the European Ryder Cup team and won six majors during an illustrious career.
The Queen's twice-yearly list recognizes achievements in all walks of British life, from the rich and famous to community workers.
There are 984 nominations in all, more than 70 percent of whom are "local heroes."
They include 93-year-old Iris Horn, the volunteer railway station master in the dainty village of Stogumber in Somerset, who is honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Also recognized is the work of six lifeboat workers, three "lollipop ladies" who help schoolchildren cross the road and a funeral director.
There are MBEs for World Cup-winning England women's cricket captain Charlotte Edwards, badminton player Gail Emms and former England cricketer Graeme Hick, regarded by many as one of the most naturally gifted batsman of his generation.
The man who spotted the recession coming, ex-Bank of England arch-dove policymaker David Blanchflower, will be made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Blanchflower, who stepped down from the Monetary Policy Committee last month, spent much of the last year trying to persuade his fellow policymakers to slash interest rates to avoid a deep economic slump and mass unemployment.
"I am very pleased and honored," Blanchflower told Reuters.
Classical pianist Mitsuko Uchida will be made a Dame, TV chef Delia Smith gets a promotion to CBE from Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion will be knighted.
Michael Burgess, the coroner who conducted inquests into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, will receive an OBE.
(Additional reporting by Sumeet Desai; Editing by Steve Addison)

Source: Reuters

Paulina Rubio moves to "City" on new album

By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Resplendent in a pink sequined micro-mini and fingerless gold gloves, Paulina Rubio shimmied her way through her first performance of her new single, "Causa y Efecto," at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in April. Setting off a stadium-style wave by the dancers and drummers onstage with a flick of her wrist, Rubio presented herself as a woman in command, ready to launch yet another hit album.
Whether she's participating in a Spanish-language version of the pro-Obama "Yes We Can" video; Twittering about the importance of smiling, yoga and chocolate ice cream; or taping green-conscious public service announcements (about not wearing clothes, to save energy from washing them), Rubio is relentlessly fabulous, with an upbeat sound to match.
The Latin pop world has precious few working divas with larger-than-life personalities, a track record of hits and mainstream name recognition. So Universal Latino is pulling out all the marketing stops behind "Gran City Pop," Rubio's ninth album, which will be released June 23 in the United States, Spain and Latin America. (It will be released at a later date in such countries as Portugal, Italy and Germany.)
Rubio executive-produced the album and collaborated with other top writers including Estefano, Lester Mendez and Coti. That diversity of styles is typical for her albums; "Gran City Pop" was inspired by Mexico City, Miami and Madrid, the cities where the album was written and recorded.
Rubio says that through the years she's earned her say in the creative process. "I try to be a chameleon and reinvent myself," she says. When fans "start dedicating the songs to people, I know that the connection was really well received."
Rubio's last three albums topped Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart, and her last one went gold or platinum in every Spanish-speaking country where it was released. In Spain, a key market for Rubio, her last album, "Ananda," went double platinum (160,000 copies), according to Universal.
In what may be the ultimate vote of confidence from the retail sector, Rubio joined Miley Cyrus and "American Idol" winner Kris Allen in performing at Wal-Mart's annual shareholders' meeting this year.
At Wal-Mart, the new album will be sold in the beauty department, next to Rubio's perfume, Oro. The perfume, which also sells at CVS, is slated for distribution at major retailers in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, and Central and South America. Rubio has begun making in-store appearances promoting the perfume, including a stop at the JCPenney in Puerto Rico's Plaza de las Americas Mall. She'll do more in-stores in the United States and internationally during the holiday shopping season, when the fragrance will be more widely available.
Oracle Beauty Brands vice president of marketing and sales Paul Miller says it's the first time the company has partnered with a Latin artist on a fragrance.

Source: Reuters

Second autopsy of Carradine suggests no suicide

Carradine did not kill himself
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By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A forensic pathologist who oversaw a second autopsy on "Kung Fu" star David Carradine's body at the direction of his family suggested on Friday that the death was not a suicide but declined to say why.
Dr. Michael Baden told Reuters that the actor's family wants to withhold details until a full investigation is completed.
"There are certain findings of the autopsy that would indicate that it's not a suicide, but I don't want to go beyond what's been said until we can review all the information coming in from Thailand and come to a final opinion as to the cause and manner of death," said Baden, host of cable channel HBO's "Autopsy" series.
Carradine, 72, was found hanging in the closet of his hotel suite in Bangkok on June 4. His body was flown to Los Angeles last weekend.
The media pointed to suicide or accidental autoerotic asphyxiation as possible causes of death. But Thai authorities have said it will be weeks before they reach a final conclusion based on toxicology and lab reports.
Dr. Jonathan Arden, a forensic pathologist who testifies in court, said Baden's comments raise "the question of how he can state it's not a suicide if he needs the tests and the results of the investigation to reach a conclusion."
Authorities in the United States classify death by autoerotic asphyxiation as accidental and not the result of suicide.
Carradine was most famous for his role in the 1970s television series "Kung Fu." He enjoyed a comeback earlier this decade as the titular star of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies.
(Editing by Dean Goodman and Xavier Briand)

Source: Reuters

With digital transition, more focus on smaller TVs

By John Poirier
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Friday deadline for a nationwide transition from analog to crisper digital television transmission has U.S. retailers hoping for a boost in sales of smaller TVs as consumers upgrade secondary sets in spare rooms.
The digital transition has already unleashed a surge in sales of converter boxes to consumers who want to keep their existing TV sets, and an uptick in cable and satellite TV service sales for Americans who want to upgrade.
Now, retailers are hoping that consumers will turn their attention to replacing analog TVs in bedrooms and spare rooms that are not connected to cable or satellite service.
"Those are good candidates for over-the-air digital televisions," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at the NPD Group, a market research firm based in Port Washington, New York.
The U.S. government spent about $2 billion and 13 years to reach the Friday deadline for the final 1,000 broadcasters to switch to digital transmission, freeing up analog signals for local police and firefighters. About 760 broadcasters already made the change before Friday.
To help American consumers get ready, the government distributed some 59 million coupons -- each worth $40 -- to help defray the cost of buying converter boxes. Only about half have been used so far, meaning there will continue to be some sales over the next 90 days until the coupons expire, according to analysts.
The exercise has been a cash cow for converter box makers and retailers like RadioShack Corp.
"Radio Shack has clearly benefited from very significant sales of converter boxes over the last several quarters," said Barclays Capital's Michael Lasser. The surge in DTV box sales -- which generated about $200 million last year -- is temporary and has already been priced into the stocks, Lasser said.
Now, he says, the trick is how well Radio Shack can capitalize on increased store traffic by placing DTV boxes next to other peripherals designed to catch the buyer's eye.
"This is just another step in the evolution of Radio Shack to define its niche in the rapidly changing marketplace for consumer electronics," Lasser said.
Cable and satellite companies saw a boost in first quarter earnings from the digital transition.
Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly profits, and raised the possibility of more subscriber additions in the current quarter. But both also said customer growth will likely slow in the second quarter compared with the first quarter, with the U.S. economy not yet out of the woods.
COSTLY FOR INDUSTRY
The digital TV transition was initially set for February but was delayed by Congress when it became clear that nearly 6 million households were not yet ready.
Currently, about 2.5 percent of American TV-watching households, or 2.8 million, still rely on antennas to receive television shows this week, according to government officials who cited a study by the Nielsen Company. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. porn industry had 16 unpublicized HIV cases

By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - There have been 16 unpublicized cases of HIV among porn actors since a 2004 outbreak made headlines, Los Angeles health officials said on Friday, a disclosure that was likely to raise new concerns about AIDS in the adult film industry.
The revelation came in response to a request for information by the Los Angeles Times, which reported that an unidentified actress had tested positive last week.
The adult film industry had said it was the first case since the 2004 outbreak, the Times reported.
In fact 22 performers have tested positive, including last week's case and five in 2004, according to the numbers released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Since the 2004 outbreak, in which a male star infected three actresses and another performer also tested positive, the $12-billion-a-year U.S. adult film industry has required regular testing by porn actors.
Most of that testing is conducted by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, which issues work certificates to the performers who test negative.
The unnamed actress first tested positive for HIV on June 4 and worked the following day before taking second and third tests, according to the Times.
The second test was also positive and results of the third were pending, according to AIM Healthcare.
"AIM Healthcare has never been cooperative with us and our investigations," Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, told the paper, adding that the clinic had refused to name the actress or her employer.
In a statement on its website, AIM Healthcare said it was still awaiting "final confirmation" that the actress was positive for HIV.
The porn industry, which is largely centered in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles, includes about 200 production companies that employ about 1,200 actors, the Times said.
Since 2004, 1,357 porn performers have tested positive for gonorrhea and 15 for syphilis, according to county health data cited by the Times.
(Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: Reuters