Martha not on Newsweek

Martha not on Newsweek
NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart, who is about to get out of prison, seems to have undergone a makeover on the cover of the latest Newsweek. Stewart's face was placed on someone else's body for the cover story "Martha's Last Laugh," making the 63-year-old look terrific after five months behind bars. Editors at Newsweek said there was nothing wrong with the "photo illustration," which was identified as such inside the magazine. "Anybody who knows the story and is familiar with Martha's current situation would know this particular picture" was an illustration and not a photograph, said assistant managing editor Lynn Staley. Photo illustrations are a fairly common practice in magazines.
Ozzy blesses royal wedding
ALICE SPRINGS, Australia -- Ozzy Osbourne sent his congratulations to Prince Charles on his upcoming marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles was in Alice Springs on Wednesday during a five-day tour of Australia that has been overshadowed by scrutiny of his wedding to Parker Bowles, which has fazed some observers because the couple's romance began before Princess Diana died. Osbourne weighed in on the issue while in Sydney to host the first MTV Australia Video Music Awards, calling Charles a "mate" and saying he should be allowed to marry Parker Bowles in peace. "It's his business you know. His first wife got killed so what's he expected to do, be single for the rest of his life? If he likes her and she likes him or whatever, good luck on them," Osbourne, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, told reporters. Charles, the 56-year-old heir to the British throne, has a hectic agenda on his last official trip before his April 8 wedding, cramming five Australian cities into as many days.
Berry stars in TV movie
LOS ANGELES -- It's not always easy to cast an Oscar winner in a TV role, but Oprah Winfrey did just that for "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Although they're friends, Winfrey said she was "a little nervous" about asking Halle Berry to star in the film -- which airs Sunday on ABC (9 p.m.) -- because she had won an Oscar for "Monster's Ball." "I don't know what happens to you once you win an Academy Award," Winfrey told reporters recently, according to AP Radio. "I didn't know whether she was going to be, like, 'Now I have an Oscar. I'm sorry. I cannot talk to you.' No, she's too sweet to do that. But I didn't know whether or not she would be interested in doing television." Winfrey, who frequently championed books on her daytime talk show, produced the TV movie adaptation of the novel by Zora Neale Hurston. "My grandmother taught me to read, and the information that I received in books allowed me to see at a very early age that there was a life beyond my front porch," she said. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" also stars Michael Ealy, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Ruby Dee. Berry stars as Janie Crawford, whose journey takes her through three marriages with very different men.
McCartney frowns on fur
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Heather Mills McCartney, wife of Paul McCartney, and Rick Wakeman of Yes campaigned for a ban on cat and dog fur in the European Union. "It's barbaric that this is going on," McCartney said, holding back tears as she showed a fur coat made from 42 Alsatian puppies. The United States and Australia have bans on the trade, as well as EU member nations Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece and Italy. The campaigners want the ban extended to all 25 EU nations. During Tuesday's campaign stop, a video was shown of emaciated dogs and cats kept in dark, cramped rooms and cages. The video also portrayed the slaughter of a German shepherd. The campaigners claim some 2 million cats and dogs are killed each year for their fur, mostly in China, and shipped to other parts of the world under false labels or no label at all. Activists have been campaigning for five years and hope new EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou will help pass a ban. McCartney, whose husband is known for his animal rights activism, criticized the fashion industry for using furs. "How can anyone think this is beautiful?" she asked.
Apprentice takes day job
NEW YORK -- A six-figure salary from Donald Trump didn't keep Bill Rancic, winner of the first season of "The Apprentice," from landing a job -- temporarily -- at Home Depot Inc. and Wendy's International Inc. in northern Virginia. On Tuesday, Rancic helped customers in the paint department at the Home Depot store in Alexandria and worked the front counter and drive-through window at Wendy's in Merrifield. It was for a promotion for SnagAJob.com, a recruiting company for hourly jobs. "Although I'm no longer an hourly worker, I was," said Rancic, who now oversees construction of a Trump building project in Chicago. "My first job, when I was 14, was an hourly job, and that really gave me my foundation." The Chicago native has worked as an undercover security guard, mowed lawns for a parks department and scooped ice cream at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. He was an Internet entrepreneur before being hired by Trump, the host of the NBC reality show, now in its third season.
Today's birthdays
Actor James Doohan is 85. Lee Radziwill is 72. Actress Hattie Winston is 60. Singer Jennifer Warnes is 58. Actor-director Tim Kazurinsky is 55. Singer-musician Robyn Hitchcock is 52. Actress Miranda Richardson is 47. Actress Mary Page Keller is 44. Olympic track and field gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee is 43. Football player Herschel Walker is 43. Rapper-actor Tone-Loc is 39. Rock musician John Bigham is 36. Actress Julie Bowen is 35. Country singer Brett Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 34. Actor David Faustino is 31. Singer Ronan Keating (Boyzone) is 28. Rapper Lil' Flip is 24. Actress Jessica Biel is 23.