Urban leaves rehab, reunites with Kidman

Urban leaves rehab,reunites with Kidman
SYDNEY, Australia -- Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have reunited in the actress' hometown of Sydney after the Australian-reared country singer completed treatment for alcohol abuse, press reports said Wednesday.
Urban, 39, checked himself into a rehabilitation treatment center in the United States in October, with Kidman by his side. He flew into Sydney on Tuesday, Australian Associated Press reported.
Cameras caught Kidman, also 39, and Urban holding hands as they left the United International Pictures office Wednesday. The couple said nothing to the press as they walked to a car and were driven away.
Kidman, who won a best actress Oscar for 2002's "The Hours," has been in Sydney since before Christmas and is working on a movie in Australia, AAP and Nine Network television reported.
Urban hasn't visited Australia since he married Kidman in a lavish Sydney wedding in June. The couple then moved to Nashville, Tenn., where Urban records.
His latest album, "Love, Pain, & amp; the Whole Crazy Thing," was released last month.
Sandler cheers childrenwith PlayStation gift
CONCORD, N.H. -- Adam Sandler, a New Hampshire native, helped brighten Christmas for a sister and brother who are struggling with cancer.
The 40-year-old actor, whose movie credits include "The Longest Yard," "50 First Dates" and "Mr. Deeds," sent a Sony Corp. PlayStation 3 loaded with games to 15-year-old Stephanie and 18-year-old Kevin Hudon of Manchester. Sandler also sent signed DVDs, jerseys and an autographed "Longest Yard" poster.
Stephanie has bone cancer that recently spread to her lungs. She is scheduled for surgery Jan. 8. Kevin was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in November and is undergoing chemotherapy.
Christine Monahan, a teacher at Manchester Memorial High School, said the package from Sandler arrived last week. Monahan has been helping raise money for the family.
'Survivor' host Probsthelps at soup kitchen
PORTLAND, Maine -- "Survivor" host Jeff Probst and his girlfriend, former contestant Julie Berry, served Christmas dinner at a soup kitchen and were spotted the following day shopping at a Target store.
Probst said the experience of volunteering to serve meals at the Wayside Soup Kitchen was a chance to bring some perspective to the "frantic" holiday season. "It's a chance to remember how fortunate you are," he said Tuesday.
He made the comments as he and Berry shopped at Target in South Portland, where they mingled with customers and posed for pictures.
"We keep running into friends of hers every other aisle," Probst said. The couple spent the holiday with Berry's family in Gorham.
Probst, 45, is taking a break after filming the upcoming season of CBS Corp.'s "Survivor." Crew members get a few months off after shooting two seasons back-to-back, he said.
The finale of "Survivor: Cook Islands" aired earlier this month. The next season, filmed in Fiji, begins in February.
Berry was a contestant on "Survivor: Vanuatu -- Islands of Fire," which aired in 2004. The couple didn't start dating until after the show was over, Probst has said.
Moretti gets festival honor
ROME -- Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti has been named artistic director of the Turin Film Festival, an event that focuses on young directors and independent movies from around the world.
"[The festival's] work in researching new cinema and finding less conventional authors is of great importance," Moretti said Wednesday in a statement. "I accepted ... to become artistic director in the hope of contributing to strengthen it."
The Turin event held its 24th edition in November, but could face increasing competition from the storied Venice Film Festival as well as a new event launched this year in Rome.
Moretti won top honors at the Cannes film festival in 2001 with his film "The Son's Room" -- the story of a psychoanalyst whose happy family life is shattered when his teenage son dies in a freak diving accident.
Today's birthdays
Bandleader Johnny Otis is 85. Comic-book creator Stan Lee is 84. Former United Auto Workers union president Owen Bieber is 77. Rock singer-musician Charles Neville is 68. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 60. Rock singer-musician Alex Chilton (The Box Tops; Big Star) is 56. Actor Denzel Washington is 52. Country singer Joe Diffie is 48. Country musician Mike McGuire (Shenandoah) is 48. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 46. Actor Malcolm Gets is 42. Actor Mauricio Mendoza is 37. Comedian Seth Meyers is 33. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 28. Actress Sienna Miller is 25.