AP - Communist officials said Thursday a U.S. appellate court decision denying a new trial for five Cuban agents was proof of Washington's "hate and vengeance" toward Cuba, and they implied it was tied to Fidel Castro's illness and absence from power.

Fashion Wire Daily - Fashion Wire Daily - Los Angeles - When her long-running sitcom "Friends" went off the air, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for Courteney Cox. She was about to turn forty, and about to have her first child, too, with husband David Arquette. Now, two years later, Cox is back on the big screen, in the sci-fi family adventure comedy "Zoom," starring opposite Tim Allen and a passel of kids.

During his impending world tour, rapper Jay-Z will use his influence on the young people as a tool to educate them about the water crisis in poor countries. The 36-year-old singer has launched the tour in collaboration with the United Nations....

Chelsea skipper was Thursday named England's new soccer captain succeeding David Beckham who stepped down from the role in the wake of England's World Cup quarterfinal defeat on penalties by Portugal last month. Steven Gerrard was made the vice-captain by new coach Steve McClaren....

AP - Warner Music International has licensed songs from its catalog of music by Madonna, Green Day and other artists to Russian mobile carrier VimpelCom Group, the companies said Thursday.

AP - The MTV Music Video Awards are about to get a dose of Jack Black. The actor-slash-rocker will host this year's version of the anything-can-happen extravaganza, set for Aug. 31, MTV announced Thursday.

AP - Heavy metal singer Chris Barnes didn't know what people would think of "Amerika the Brutal," an anti-war song he wrote after his cousin deployed to Iraq in 2003.

President George W Bush says a foiled plot to blow up US-bound airliners shows the US is still at war with extremists.

AFP - Chelsea's John Terry has been appointed the new captain of England's football team, taking over from David Beckham, the Football Association (FA) announced.

AP - Richard Hatch, who won the $1 million prize on the debut season of "Survivor," says he's finding it difficult to adjust to life in prison.

Oscar-winning actor and Robin Williams is in rehab for alcoholism, his publicist has said. The statement released by the comedian's publicist Mara Buxbaum said Williams had been sober for 20 years, but had "found himself drinking again"....

During his impending world tour, rapper Jay-Z will use his influence on the young people as a tool to educate them about the water crisis in poor countries. The 36-year-old singer has launched the tour in collaboration with the United Nations....

AP - Forget what you think you know about Ryan Gosling, the pretty star of the weepy romance "The Notebook."

AP - "We're in the presence of the new," the menacingly eloquent Al Swearengen of "Deadwood" says during one recent outburst. He is talking about the interloper George Hearst, but he might as well be referring to just about everything around him.

AP - Dustin Diamond, who played geeky Screech Powers on the '90s teen comedy "Saved by the Bell," says he scuffled with a woman at an Omaha hotel earlier this week.

Chelsea defender John Terry is to replace David Beckham as the captain of the England football team.

AP - The winning bid for Matthew McConaughey's 1971 Corvette Stingray convertible, auctioned for hurricane relief, was $61,600, according to the eBay Web site.

AP - The MTV2 network said it had not decided whether it will ever again air a cartoon criticized as offensive for depicting women being led around on leashes.