Thieves take handbag from actress’s room

Thieves take handbag
from actress’s room

NEW YORK — Thieves snatched a $13,000 handbag, cell phone and ID cards from “Spider-Man” star Kirsten Dunst’s penthouse suite at a posh Manhattan hotel, court records shows. Dunst was in the city to shoot scenes for the upcoming film “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.” She had left her suite at the SoHo Grand Hotel early on Aug. 9, when the thieves slipped in. A surveillance camera showed the burglars leaving the hotel, according to the complaint filed in the case. It said they also got away with $2,500 in cash, credit cards, two digital cameras and an iPod music player. One suspect, Jarrod Beinerera, showed his client wasn’t carrying anything in his hands when he left the SoHo Grand. Kirschner said Beinerman had heard a movie was being filmed at the hotel and “went there to check out what was going on.” A SoHo Grand Hotel manager did not immediately return telephone messages left at their offices early Friday.

Queen guitarist
completes doctorate

LONDON — Guitarist and songwriter Brian May has completed his doctorate in astrophysics — three decades after he put academia on hold to form the rock group Queen. The rocker was awarded his qualification Thursday by London’s Imperial College and said submitting his thesis, “Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud,” to supervisors was as nerve-racking as any stadium gig. “I’m feeling rather joyful. I cannot tell you how much of a weight off the mind it is,” May said late Thursday. May was an astrophysics student at Imperial College when he joined Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor to form Queen in 1970, but dropped his doctorate as the glam rock band became successful. Queen became one of Britain’s biggest music groups in the 1970s, with hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You.” After Mercury’s 1991 death, May produced two solo albums, the latest of which, “Another World” appeared in 1998. But the guitarist continued to pursue his out-of-this-world interests — and last year co-authored a book titled “Bang! The Complete History of the Universe.” He told reporters Thursday that handing over his completed thesis — a 48,000 word study which seeks to prove planets and dust clouds in our solar system orbit in the same direction — and facing examiners for a review of his work was a tough challenge. “It was a bit nerve-racking walking into the room, but once we got going it was fascinating,” May said.

Today’s birthdays

Former Washington Post Executive Editor Benjamin C. Bradlee is 86. Former Democratic vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro is 72. Pop singer Bob Cowsill is 58. Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 47. Country musician Jimmy Olander (Diamond Rio) is 46. Rock singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 41. Rock musician Adrian Young (No Doubt) is 38. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 27.