INTERNET CASINO WINS AUCTION FOR BECKHAM BALL

Internet casino wins auction for Beckham ball
MADRID, Spain -- Going, going, gone!
The ball David Beckham booted high into the crowd during the penalty shootout against Portugal in the European Championship quarterfinals has been sold to an Internet casino for $34,382 on the Spanish Internet auction site eBay.com.
GoldenPalace.com intends to use the ball to raise money for charity, a spokesman said Thursday. One plan, set for a soccer stadium in Britain, involves offering anyone willing to pay a chance to do what Beckham failed to do -- kick the ball into the net.
Casino spokesman Drew Black said the ball also will be put on display at the Grand Prix of Belgium next month with donations going to charity. GoldenPalace.com sponsors the Minardi team on the Formula One circuit.
At one point last week, the bid was up to $12.2 million. But it was considered a hoax.
Copies of official competition balls sold for $123 in Portugal.
Woody Allen's latest film to premiere at festival
MADRID, Spain -- Woody Allen will open the 52nd San Sebastian Film Festival in September with the world premiere of his new film, "Melinda and Melinda."
The 68-year-old Allen also is to be honored with a lifetime achievement award, and the festival will show a retrospective of his work as a writer, director and actor, organizers said Friday.
"It is indeed a great honor for us, a dream come true, to premiere 'Melinda and Melinda' at our opening, and with the presence of Woody Allen himself, no doubt one of the greatest film directors ever," festival director Mikel Olaciregui said in a statement.
Allen won a best director Oscar for 1977's "Annie Hall" and a screenwriting Oscar for 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters." His movies also include "Interiors," "Broadway Danny Rose," "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Bullets Over Broadway."
"The Spanish people have always been very supportive of my films and it's a great honor for me to come to the film festival in San Sebastian," Allen said in a statement from London. "My family and I loved the city the last time we were there and we expect to have a wonderful time."
His new romantic comedy stars Radha Mitchell, Chloe Sevigny and Jonny Lee Miller. It will not be competing for the festival's top Golden Shell prize.
Dixie Chicks' lead singergives birth to a boy
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Dixie Chicks have added another baby to their brood.
Lead singer Natalie Maines has given birth to a boy, her second son with actor-husband Adrian Pasdar, the group's Web site announced Friday.
Beckett Finn Pasdar was born July 14. He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces.
"Mother and baby are doing fine," the Web site said.
The couple's first child, Slade, is 3 years old.
Pasdar has appeared in movies and in a recurring role on CBS' "Judging Amy."
Today's birthdays
Movie director Peter Yates is 75. Actress Jacqueline Brookes is 74. Political cartoonist Actor Chris Sarandon is 62. Comedian Gallagher is 58. Actor Michael Richards is 55. Actress Lynda Carter is 53. Movie director Gus Van Sant is 52. Country singer Pam Tillis is 47. Actor Kadeem Hardison is 39. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 34. Actress Elisabeth Moss ("The West Wing") is 22. Actress Anna Paquin is 22. Actress Mara Wilson is 17.
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