Trump stalls TV contract while mulling campaign

AP, PALM BEACH, Fla., April 16: Donald Trump says he has put off agreeing to an extension of his "Celebrity Apprentice" reality show while he weighs a presidential bid.

The real estate mogul and potential Republican contender says he told NBC on Friday he could not commit to a three-year contract extension for the series until he decides whether he's running.

Trump spoke at an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Palm Beach. He offered familiar messages questioning President Barack Obama's birthplace.

He also said the U.S. should be entitled to Iraqi oil and praised the tea party.

Trump says he's encouraged by polls showing him with a strong following and says he'll make an announcement on his campaign plans before June.

Bollywood gangster flick heads field for top awards

AFP, MUMBAI, April 16: Bollywood gangster movie "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" leads the field in nominations for the Hindi-language film industry's glitziest awards ceremony, organisers said on Friday.

The film has been nominated in 12 categories for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, including best film and best male lead for Ajay Devgan.

Screen tough guy Salman Khan's corrupt cop romp "Dabangg" (Fearless) was close behind with 11 nominations.

Other movies in the running for a clutch of awards include the drama "Ishqiya" (Love) with nine. Romantic comedy "Band Baaja Baaraat" (The Wedding Planners) and the thriller "Rajneeti" (Politics) both have eight.

The nominations came from more than 1,500 votes from the Indian film fraternity. An online public vote opens on May 10, organisers Wizcraft International Entertainment said in a statement.

The annual IIFA awards, which have been held overseas for the last 11 years, are designed to celebrate the popular Hindi-language film industry and win new audiences abroad.

They will be held this year in Toronto on June 23-25.

Last year's event in Sri Lanka saw many top stars stay away after protests by Indian Tamils who said Bollywood's decision to come to the island nation legitimised the under-fire government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Here are the nominations in major categories:

Best film

"Band Baaja Baaraat"

"Dabangg"

"My Name is Khan"

"Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai"

"Rajneeti"

Best performance in a leading role male

Ajay Devgn, "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai"

Ranbir Kapoor, "Rajneeti"

Salman Khan, "Dabangg"

Shah Rukh Khan, "My Name is Khan"

Hrithik Roshan, "Guzaarish" (Wishes)

Best performance in a leading role female

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, "Guzaarish"

Vidya Balan, "Ishqiya"

Katrina Kaif, "Rajneeti"

Kareena Kapoor, "Golmaal 3" (Suspicious)

Anushka Sharma, "Band Baaja Baaraat"

Best direction

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, "Guzaarish"

Karan Johar, "My Name is Khan"

Abhinav Kashyap, "Dabangg"

Milan Luthria, "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai"

Vikramaditya Motwane, "Udaan" (Flight).

Maneesh Sharma, "Band Baaja Baaraat"

Kazakh film glorifies childhood of 'leader of the nation'

AFP, ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 16: A film that opened in Kazakhstan this week gives a glowing account of the childhood and youth of its strongman ruler, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who won a landslide victory this month.

Titled "The Sky of my Childhood," the film is based on books written by Nazarbayev and "reflects real events from the life of the head of our state," state film studio Kazakhfilm says on its website.

The main character, named Sultan "has dreamed of the sky since his early years, and longs to become a pilot," the synopsis says, before adding that "fate leads him to different heights."

The trailer shows scenes of a boy running through fields of flowers amid picturesque mountains, then a young man galloping on a white horse, and finally footage of the real Nazarbayev looking out of a plane window.

The president had a private viewing of the film, funded by the culture ministry, earlier this month, his press service said, without specifying what he thought of the film. It went on general release Thursday.

Nazarbayev, 70, was reelected earlier this month to a fourth term with more than 95 percent of votes. He is inscribed in the constitution as the "leader of the nation" and his name is inscribed as the co-author of the national anthem.

A former steel worker, Nazarbayev has ruled oil-rich Kazakhstan since the late 1980s when he headed the republic's Communist Party, and has secured his grip on power by cracking down on dissent and political opponents.

Rights groups have condemned his authoritarian political system, which they say has changed little from Soviet times.

Jon Bon Jovi jewelry burglar arrested

Reuters, NEW YORK, April 16: Authorities in New Jersey said on Friday they arrested a burglar on charges of stealing $500,000 in jewelry and other goods from rock star Jon Bon Jovi and three of his neighbors during a month-long break-in spree.

Middletown police said they captured 21-year-old Nicholas Tracy on Wednesday after he activated a burglar alarm at the home of one of Bon Jovi's neighbor's on Navesink River Road. Tracy was found hiding in a third-floor bathroom.

Tracy was charged with four counts of third degree burglary and three counts of second degree theft.

Tracy is accused of staging four burglaries over the past month in the upscale neighborhood, including an April 3 break-in at Bon Jovi's $22 million estate $100,000 in jewelry was stolen.

New Jersey cops say arrest burglar who hit Bon Jovi's home

Reuters, NEW YORK, April 16: Authorities in New Jersey said on Friday they arrested a burglar who allegedly stole $500,000 in jewelry and other goods from Jon Bon Jovi and three of his neighbors during a month-long break-in spree in the rocker's upscale neighborhood outside New York City.

Middletown police said they captured 21-year-old Nicholas Tracy on Wednesday after he activated a burglar alarm at the home of one of Bon Jovi's neighbor's on Navesink River Road. Tracy was found hiding in a third-floor bathroom.

Tracy was charged with four counts of third degree burglary and three counts of second degree theft. He's being held in Monmouth County Jail on $100,000 bail.

Tracy allegedly staged four burglaries over the past month in the neighborhood, including an April 3 break-in at Bon Jovi's $22 million estate where he stole $100,000 in jewelry.

Samuel L. Jackson to make Broadway debut

Reuters, NEW YORK, April 16: Samuel L. Jackson will make his Broadway debut as Dr. Martin Luther King in the Broadway production of Katori Hall's "The Mountaintop."

"The Mountaintop" - which re-imagines events the night before the 1968 assassination of the civil rights leader - is being directed by Tony Award Nominee Kenny Leon ("A Raisin in the Sun").

Performances begin September 22 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater (242 West 45th Street), with an official opening taking place October 13.

Tickets will go on sale at a later date.

Paris Hilton ready to show real self in new TV show

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 16: You've seen her on the red carpet, famously walking out of jail, and working on a farm in "The Simple Life".

But now Paris Hilton says she is showing a side of herself on television that fans have never seen before -- the down to earth, funny, relatable girl who nevertheless has a multimillion business based on being famous for being famous.

"On 'The Simple Life', I was playing a character. Now people will get to see my real world, my friends, my house, my business," Hilton said on Friday.

"I would never have done a show like this five, ten years ago. I wasn't really comfortable with myself. I have been through so much. I have nothing to hide. It's like, what else can happen? I was ready to show myself," she told TV journalists.

"The World According to Paris" debuts on the U.S. cable channel Oxygen in June, and follows Hilton, her mother Kathy Hilton, and friends including Brooke Mueller, the third ex-wife of actor Charlie Sheen.

Hilton, 30, the great-granddaughter of Hilton hotels founder Conrad Hilton, has rarely been out of the headlines in the last 10 years.

She got her hands dirty with friend Nicole Richie in "The Simple Life" from 2003-2007, and searched for a best friend in a 2008 reality TV series. In 2007, she famously spent three weeks in a Los Angeles jail for violating her probation on a reckless driving conviction, and last year she was convicted of cocaine possession in Las Vegas.

In between, she launched international lines of fashion, hair, fragrance and shoes that she either helps design or endorses.

Executive producer Arthur Smith said the new TV show was "an all access look at Paris."

"There has been so much written about Paris over the years. This was a great opportunity to get to know the real Paris," he said.

Smith said his view of Hilton had completely changed from his preconceptions before starting work on the series.

"She really is so down to earth. She goes through things that every woman goes through -- so many relatable things. She is also really funny and likes to have a good time," Smith said.

George Michael covers Wonder as royal wedding gift

AP, LONDON, April 16: George Michael is giving the gift of song to Prince William and Kate Middleton — and anyone else who wants to download it.

The musician is making his cover of Stevie Wonder's "You and I" available to download for free and hopes fans will make a donation to the Royal Wedding Charity Fund. Michael debuted the song Friday on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight."

Michael said he spent about two days in the studio crafting the cover and that Wonder provided clearance to distribute the track for free.

"The idea came to me last week, about a week ago, that I should express my happiness at the marriage publicly," Michael told Morgan.

Michael was a friend of William's mother, the late Princess Diana, but he said he wasn't expecting to attend the April 29 wedding. He tweeted that the couple should be "surrounded by people they love, not dodgy ex-con pop stars." The former Wham! singer spent a month in jail last year for crashing his Range Rover while under the influence of drugs.

Playboy Mansion illness traced to hot tub bacteria

AP, LOS ANGELES, April 16: Los Angeles County health officials say the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease was found in a hot tub at the Playboy Mansion where scores of people became ill after attending a fundraiser in February.

The Los Angeles Times says health officials presented their findings Friday at an annual conference at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The legionella bacteria also causes a milder illness called Pontiac fever. Symptoms include fever and headache.

Many people who attended a fundraiser party at the Playboy Mansion came down with a respiratory illness after the DomainFest conference in February.

Officials contacted 439 people and found that 123 had fevers and at least one other symptom with 69 falling ill on the same day. Epidemiologists used social media to contact the conference attendees.