NEWSMAKERS
NEWSMAKERS
Macnee, star of 1960s TV series ‘The Avengers,’ dies
LOS ANGELES
Patrick Macnee, the British-born actor best known as dapper secret agent John Steed in the long-running 1960s TV series “The Avengers,” has died. He was 93.
Macnee died Thursday of natural causes with his family at his bedside in Rancho Mirage, his son Rupert said in a statement.
The clever spy drama, which began in 1961 in Britain, debuted in the United States in 1966. It ran for eight seasons and continued in syndication for decades afterward.
Macnee’s character appeared in all but two episodes, accompanied by a string of beautiful women who were his sidekicks. The most popular was likely Diana Rigg, who played sexy junior agent Emma Peel from 1965 to 1968. Honor Blackman played Catherine Gale from 1962 to 1964, and Linda Thorson was Tara King from 1968 to 1969.
Gawker wins lawsuit against the FBI in Hogan sex-tape case
TAMPA, Fla.
A federal judge has ordered the FBI to turn over evidence related to professional wrestler Hulk Hogan’s sex tape.
Gawker sued the FBI after it refused a Freedom of Information Act request for the evidence, which could find its way into Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against the gossip site.
Hogan sued Gawker after it published parts of the sex tape in 2012.
According to documents, Hogan’s lawyer contacted the FBI. The U.S. attorney’s office decided not to prosecute anyone, but the FBI accumulated lots of evidence related to the tape.
In 2013, Gawker filed a FOIA request with the FBI for the evidence and planned to use it in its defense against Hogan.
The judge in Tampa on Wednesday ordered the bureau to release that evidence.
Univision dropping Miss USA pageant over Trump remarks
NEW YORK
A Univision network is dropping the Miss USA pageant and the company says it will cut all business ties with Donald Trump in a spiraling controversy over comments the Republican presidential candidate made recently about Mexican immi-grants.
Univision said Thursday it would pull the plug on its Spanish-language coverage of the pageant July 12 by its UniMas network. It also has severed its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which produces the Miss USA pageant, due to what it called “insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants” by Trump, a part owner of Miss Universe.
During his presidential campaign kickoff speech last week, Trump portrayed immigrants from Mexico as “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” He also called for building a wall along the southern border of the U.S. The remarks drew condemnation from the Mexican government as “biased and absurd.”
District attorney gets police file on Bobbi Kristina Brown
ATLANTA
Police have turned over their investigative file on the circumstances surrounding Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, to the district attorney, who will determine whether any charges will be filed, authorities said Thursday.
Brown, 22, was found face-down and unresponsive in a bathtub at her home in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell on Jan. 31. After months in the hospital, she’s receiving hospice care. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said that gives his office heightened interest in the case.
Associated Press