2 shot at rap show

2 shot at rap show
LONDON -- Two concert-hall ushers were shot during a Kanye West show, police said Wednesday.
West Midlands Police said the men were wounded at the National Exhibition Center, near Birmingham in central England, on Tuesday as several people were being ejected from the venue for trying to get in without tickets.
"Firearms were discharged and two stewards were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds," police said in a statement. "Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening."
The concert was the last stop in Britain on West's "Touch the Sky" tour. The 27-year-old rapper was scheduled to perform Thursday in Milan, Italy.
Ayckbourn has stroke
LONDON -- Alan Ayckbourn says he is recovering after suffering a stroke.
The 66-year-old British playwright is in a hospital in Scarborough, northeast England, after falling ill a week ago. Ayckbourn is artistic director of the seaside town's Stephen Joseph Theatre.
"I hope to be back on my feet, or should I say my left leg, as soon as possible, but I know it's going to take some time," Ayckbourn said in a statement Tuesday.
"In the meantime I am in excellent hands and so is the Stephen Joseph Theatre."
The prolific dramatist, one of Britain's most-performed playwrights, is the author of more than 60 plays, including "The Norman Conquests," "A Chorus of Disapproval" and "Absurd Person Singular."
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for services to theater.
Shakespeare's cigar
HAVANA -- Joseph Fiennes, who co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love," has helped launch a new Cuban cigar, tossing off a few lines from "Romeo and Juliet" in honor of the cigar's maker.
Fiennes was the featured visitor as Cuba began its annual cigar festival Monday night, presenting a cigar size called the "Short Churchill" by Cuba's state-owned Romeo and Juliet brand at Havana's Gran Teatro.
"I've really gained a newfound respect for the kind of level of attention, detail, complexity and energy that goes into making a cigar," the 35-year-old British actor told reporters.
According to legend, World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill smoked more than 200,000 Cuban cigars during trips to the island, Fiennes said.
"I cannot compete with Winston Churchill because sadly, I am only here for three enchanting days," he told the crowd.
Rocker: Sex tapeis career sabotage
WASHINGTON-- Scott Stapp thinks a recently released sex video showing him and Kid Rock with several strippers is meant to sabotage him.
"Obviously someone wants to hurt me and doesn't want me to be successful in my solo career," Stapp told AP Radio in a recent interview.
Stapp claims the tape, which was made in 1999, was stolen from him. He and Kid Rock have won a temporary court order preventing World Wide Red Light District from distributing the video or promoting any part of it.
Red Light, which sold the infamous Paris Hilton sex tape in 2004, had displayed a 40-second preview clip of the video on its Web site. The company has acknowledged that the tape came from a third party, but has denied that it was stolen.
The tape was released just days after Stapp, the former lead singer of Creed, married former Miss New York Jaclyn Nesheiwat in Miami on Feb. 10.
Stapp, 32, says the tape was made soon after he was divorced from Hillaree Burns.
He said he previously told his new wife about having a wild year and that she accepts the tape as part of his past.
"You think it's part of your rock 'n' roll memories," Stapp said. "I should have burned that tape."
The tape was not the only thing causing Stapp headaches. A day after his wedding, Stapp was arrested for investigation of being drunk at Los Angeles International Airport. He is set for arraignment on March 8.
"You don't want to say it's laughable, but it's just like, my God, there's so much stuff," he said. "Somebody does not like you and somebody wants you to fail."
Stapp, who won a Grammy in 2000 for Creed's song "With Arms Wide Open," released his first solo album, "The Great Divide," last November.
Today's birthdays
Actress Jennifer Jones is 87. Bluegrass singer-musician Doc Watson is 83. Actor John Cullum is 76. Author Tom Wolfe is 76. Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 75. Actress Barbara Luna is 67. Actor Jon Finch is 65. Author John Irving is 64. Singer Lou Reed is 64. Actress Cassie Yates is 55. Actress Laraine Newman is 54. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., is 53. Singer Jay Osmond is 51. Tennis player Kevin Curren is 48. Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 47. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 44. Actor Daniel Craig is 38. Rock musician Casey (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 30. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 29. Actress Heather McComb is 29. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard is 25. Actor Robert Iler ("The Sopranos") is 21.
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