SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - Calling her "a Lindsay Lohan wannabe," a judge fined "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi $500 on Wednesday and ordered her to perform community service after she pleaded guilty to disturbing others on a beach in July.

Her lawyer said Polizzi was under the influence of ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The judge in Anna Nicole Smith's drug conspiracy trial told jurors Wednesday to disregard part of a former nanny's testimony because he did not consider it reliable.

Quethelie Alexie gave one account of an incident between the celebrity model and her lawyer-boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, during a ...

NEW YORK (AP) - "Saturday Night Live" veteran Molly Shannon will make her Broadway debut when she steps into the revival of "Promises, Promises" next month.

The show's producers said Wednesday Shannon will take over as Marge MacDougall for a limited 11-week run from Oct. 12 through Dec. 26.

Shannon replaces Katie ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Emmys aren't the only big TV-honors game anymore.

The Paley Center for Media announced plans Wednesday for an awards telecast that will debut in spring 2012 in New York. It was developed with the help of TV, advertising and new-media executives.

The center said the new awards ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Military bases across the U.S. have banned the sale of a new video game that lets a player pretend to be a Taliban fighter and "shoot" U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Gamers are scoffing at the decision, saying that advanced technology has made it commonplace in the gaming world ...

PLANTATION, FLA. (AP) - Years after Somy Ali left her glamorous life as a Bollywood actress, she heard a knock on her door from a Bangladeshi neighbor, asking for help.

The woman said she'd been sexually and physically abused for a decade by her husband, his father and his brother. Ali ...

OOPS: Microsoft Corp. had to apologize to a small West Virginia town and a 26-year-old gamer after suspending him from its Xbox Live service for listing his location as Fort Gay _ a name the company considered offensive.

NO KIDDING: The town's name is real. But when Josh Moore tried to ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Free wireless Internet access has been added to the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Officials said Wednesday the city has installed 220 free Wi-Fi hotspots that are accessible by any compatible computer or device.

The D.C. government installed the hotspots along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the ...

NASHVILLE, TENN. (AP) - Country singer James Otto is hospitalized in Nashville.

He was admitted to an area hospital Tuesday for an abdominal illness and is canceling his weekend shows in Clarksville, Tenn., and Berea, Ohio.

Otto says in a statement that he has "been feeling badly on and off for a ...

NEW YORK (AP) - Actor Kelsey Grammer is an investor and public face supporting a new network that launched Wednesday with entertainment designed to appeal to political conservatives.

RightNetwork, whose first series, "Running," follows the fortunes of a couple of Tea Party-backed candidates for public office, is also trying a new ...

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) - Calling her "a Lindsay Lohan wannabe," a judge has fined "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi $500 and ordered her to perform community service after she pleaded guilty to disturbing others on a New Jersey beach in July.

Her lawyer said Wednesday that Polizzi was under ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Amy Winehouse is making music again.

Quincy Jones says the five-time Grammy winner's first new track in years will appear on his forthcoming album, "Q: Soul Bossa Nostra."

Winehouse has been known more for her personal problems than her music in recent years, and hasn't issued any new ...

VENICE, ITALY (AP) - Willem Dafoe says "A Woman," one of his latest projects, is the kind of "pure personal cinema" that he wants to keep on doing.

Dafoe plays a novelist devastated by his wife's death yet caught up in a new romance in the film by Italian director Giada ...

VENICE, ITALY (AP) - Hong Kong's action film master Tsui Hark returns to the big screen with "Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame", a new cloak-and-dagger martial arts blockbuster set in the Tang dynasty.

Hark blends fantasy with martial arts and special effects in a drama infused with love ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Kelsey Grammer is an investor and public face supporting a new network that launched Wednesday with entertainment designed to appeal to political conservatives.

RightNetwork, whose first series, "Running," follows the fortunes of some Tea Party-backed candidates for public office, is also trying a new model to ...

VENICE, ITALY (AP) - Ben Affleck brought Boston to Venice on Wednesday, presenting a reality-driven heist film "The Town" that is destined to draw comparisons to his other films also set in his Massachusetts hometown.

Affleck also stars in the film, which is having its world premiere out of competition at ...

NEW YORK (AP) - Carrie Underwood thought she'd walk away from her first movie experience vowing to stick to her day job.

But after a recent screening of the upcoming movie "Soul Surfer," Underwood found she wasn't as bad as she thought she'd be.

"I really liked how everything turned out, including ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latin Grammy nominations spread the love between established artists and newcomers, nominating songwriters Juan Luis Guerra and Alejandro Sanz in four categories each.

The nominations, announced Wednesday at Hollywood's Avalon nightclub, also recognized new talents Jorge Drexler, an Uruguayan songwriter, and Mario Domm, lead singer of ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In the end, it was a wonder the three massive chandeliers gracing the White House East Room remained intact, given the high-voltage expenditure of human energy taking place beneath them.

Tuesday's inaugural performance of the new White House Dance Series transformed the stately room into a stage for ...

NEW YORK (AP) - British tabloid veteran Piers Morgan, hired by CNN to start as Larry King's replacement as a prime-time interviewer in January, promised that he "came here to win."

CNN nailed down the final piece of its prime-time makeover on Wednesday, after months where it was clear the "America's ...