Conservative commentator Tony Blankley dies at 63

Tony Blankley, a conservative author and commentator who served as press secretary to Newt Gingrich during the 1990s, when Republicans took control of Congress, has died. He was 63.

Blankley, who had been suffering from stomach cancer, died Saturday night at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, his wife, Lynda Davis, said Sunday.

In his long career as a political operative and pundit, his most visible role was as a spokesman for and adviser to Gingrich from 1990 to 1997. Gingrich became House Speaker when Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives following the 1994 midterm elections.

Earlier, Blankley spent six years in the Reagan administration in a variety of positions, including speechwriter and senior policy analyst.

From 2002 to 2007, he served as editorial page editor of The Washington Times. In recent years, he also wrote a syndicated newspaper column and provided political commentary for CNN, NBC and NPR. He was also a regular panelist on "The McLaughlin Group."

He was the author of two books and a visiting senior fellow in national security communications at the Heritage Foundation.

Keri Russell Welcomes Baby Girl

 

Keri Russell welcomed a daughter! She and husband Shane Deary just expanded their family with little girl Willa Lou, who makes their 4-year-old son River a big brother.

According to People, she revealed back in 2007 that she was in labor for more than a day and a half when giving birth to River.

"It was a long time," Russell said at the time. "But it all worked out OK."

Defence Minister Peter MacKay marries Nazanin Afshin

Canada’s defence minister tied the knot Wednesday way south of the border, according to his website.

Peter MacKay married Nazanin Afshin-Jam in a private ceremony reported to have taken place in Mexico.

Afshin-Jam is Iranian-born and a former Miss Canada World who has since become a high-profile human rights activist. The trilingual pilot was once named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.

Mariah Carey's husband Nick Cannon Hospitalized With Kidney Failure

 

Mariah Carey's husband Nick Cannon has been taken to hospital suffering from kidney failure.

Mr Cannon, 31, is spending the first week of the new year in hospital in the Colorado ski resort of Aspen, where he and his wife usually spend Christmas.

Miss Carey, 41, tweeted that Mr Cannon is suffering from "mild kidney failure."

"Please pray for Nick as he's fighting to recover from a mild kidney failure," Carey tweeted Wednesday morning, along with a photo of her and Cannon in a hospital bed.

Star Wars sword-fight master Bob Anderson dies at 89

Legendary sword master Bob Anderson, who donned the Darth Vader suit for some of the light saber battles in the original Star Wars trilogy, died Sunday in Sussex, West England, according to The New York Times. He was 89.

The British Academy of Fencing said that Anderson died early on New Year's Day at an English hospital.

Anderson donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The villainous character was played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones, and Anderson's role was not initially publicised.

But Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, said in a 1983 interview that "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting."

Robert James Gilbert Anderson was born in Hampshire, southern England, in 1922. He served in the Royal Marines during World War II and represented Britain in fencing at the 1952 Olympics and the 1950 and 1953 world championships.

His first film work was staging fights and coaching Errol Flynn on swashbuckler The Master of Ballantrae in 1952.

He went on to become one of the industry's most sought after sword masters, working on movies including the James Bond adventures From Russia With Love and Die Another Day, The Princess Bride, The Legend of Zorro and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Fencing academy president Philip Bruce said that Anderson was "truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer".

Anderson is survived by his wife Pearl and three children.

Michael Jordan Gets Engaged to model Yvette Prieto

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has proposed to his longtime girlfriend Yvette Prieto.

Jordan and the Cuban-born model began dating three years ago.

The former star athlete has been married once before - he split from Juanita, the mother of his three kids, after 17 years of marriage in 2006.

Jordan, 48, considered the greatest U.S. basketball player of all time, proposed to Cuban-American model Prieto, 32, over the Christmas holidays, the spokeswoman told TV station WCNC in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jordan spent almost 19 years with the National Basketball Association (NBA), retiring twice from the Chicago Bulls before finally quitting the game and the Washington Wizards in 2003.

This will be Jordan's second marriage. The 48-year-old former athlete previously tied the knot with Juanita Vanoy in September 1989. After 17 years of marriage, the two divorced in 2006. From the union, Jordan has three children; 23-year-old Jeffrey Michael, 21-year-old Marcus James and 19-year-old Jasmine.

Mary Tyler Moore Hollywood legend turns 75

Celebrating her 75th birthday on December 29, Mary Tyler Moore looks as slim and radiant as when she starred as Mary Richards in the MTM show. And yet, she's battled diabetes, personal tragedy, and challenges ranging from alcoholism to surgery.

After all, she'd already captured America's hearts in another beloved show when she played Laura Petrie, New Rochelle's "hostess with the mostess" on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." There's something magical about this scene, in which she dances in her famed capri pants. What, your parents' parties didn't involve conga drums and elaborately choreographed dances in the living room? Ours either, but this show made us wish they did.

Mary Tyler Moore also is known for her extraordinary charity work. As the International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, she has used her star power to raise awareness about the issue and share with millions of people how they can help.