hWilliam joins the army

hWilliam joins the army
LONDON -- Prince William began his training Sunday at the country's elite Sandhurst academy, joining the army and carrying on a family tradition of military service.
William, 23, the eldest son of Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, becomes one of the 270 recruits taking the 44-week course. Charles traveled to the academy to accompany William on his first day.
The future king was required to bring his own ironing board as well as heavy black military boots.
Like other recruits, Officer Cadet Wales will be expected to rise at dawn, polish boots, iron shirts, put up with endless room inspections and wash his own clothes. He also will take part in drill sessions and rigorous physical training.
The Sandhurst program pushes recruits to exhaustion and will offer challenges to William, who has admitted he likes to sleep in.
William, who graduated from Scotland's St. Andrews University in June, will be the most senior royal in recent memory to attend the academy -- opting for the army rather than the navy.
Charles trained to be a pilot with the Royal Air Force as well as serving in the Navy. William follows his younger brother, Prince Harry, who enrolled at the academy in May. But the two brothers will be placed at different parts of the academy -- William with the new recruits in Old College and Harry at New College.
Love loses home
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Courtney Love lost the historic bungalow she bought in the late 1990s to a Los Angeles mortgage company after a foreclosure auction generated no bids.
WMC Mortgage filed a lawsuit last year in Thurston County Superior Court, seeking foreclosure after Love stopped paying the bills.
The debt on the house totaled $386,000, which includes court costs, sheriff's fees and interest, said sheriff's Sgt. Dan McLendon. Love could have prevented Friday's auction by paying off the debt.
Love, widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, bought the property in 1997 for Cobain's family. In the foreclosure lawsuit, she is named as a trustee of the Courtney Love family trust.
Love stopped paying the mortgage in December 2003, court documents say. The house had been occupied by Cobain's sister, Kim, who moved out before the auction.
Muslims laugh at Brooks
NEW YORK -- Albert Brooks says he wasn't looking to bring world peace, he was doing just what his new film's title said: "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."
At its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival, Brooks said he was concerned Abdullah bin Zaid al-Nahayan, the minister of information of the United Arab Emirates, would lead the audience out of the theater.
Instead, "they went crazy. I thought, I passed the test, it's OK. The sheik is laughing; he's talking to the guy next to him in Arabic and pointing at the screen. And no one walked out," Brooks told The New York Times for Sunday editions.
In the film, Brooks is assigned a high-level government mission: travel to India and Pakistan, where he's to write a report on what makes Muslim's laugh.
Brooks said he chose India and Pakistan because of the intense conflict between the two countries.
"What's more important is that you're elevating this into the green zone, where you can make fun," he said. "And now it takes its place alongside everything else you can make fun of -- politics or Jews or bad food or anything. If that happens, then that's really a healthy sign. That actually is something."
Today's birthdays
Actor Herbert Lom is 89. Author Judith Krantz is 78. Sportscaster Dick Enberg is 71. Folk singer Joan Baez is 65. Actress Susannah York is 65. Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 62. Singer Crystal Gayle is 55. Actress Joely Richardson is 41. Rock musician Carl Bell (Fuel) is 39. Rock singer Steve Harwell (Smash Mouth) is 39. Rock singer-musician Dave Matthews is 39. Singer A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 28.