"Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations" (Simon & Schuster), by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner

"I'm tired of remembering," actress Ava Gardner laments during one of many sessions with the ghostwriter working on her memoir. "I'm sick of trying to explain myself all the time."

There are only a couple of models in the world who own not just the clothes they wear when they walk the runway but, by their sheer magnetic presence, command the entire show and with it the undivided attention of every spectator in the room.

One such model is Naomi Campbell.

Puppeteers from the Israeli version of Sesame Street protested Monday against Israel's closure of a Palestinian children's puppet festival, arguing that puppet theater poses no threat to Israeli security.

Ariel Doron, the voice of Elmo on the Israeli version of the popular children's television show, and Yousef Sweid, who plays an Arab Muppet on the show, created a Facebook group named Puppets4All calling on Israel to permit the festival. Two other Israeli Sesame Street puppeteers, along with a number of fellow Israeli actors, uploaded photos to the Facebook group holding puppets and signs protesting the closure.

Add Serena Williams to the list of big names eliminated early at this unpredictable Wimbledon.

The defending champion failed to close out a see-saw third set Monday, dropping the last four games against Sabine Lisicki of Germany to lose 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the fourth round and end her career-best 34-match winning streak.

Formula One found itself in the midst of a crisis Monday following a British Grand Prix in which several drivers, including race leader Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, nearly crashed after their tires exploded as they raced around the circuit.

The sight of large chunks of debris showering down on cars and, in one case, a huge strip of rubber flying across the track prompted several current and former drivers to call into question the sport's bid this season to try and make it more exciting.

Mothers and fathers aren't the only ones urging adult children to visit their parents. China's lawbooks are now issuing the same imperative.

New wording in the law requiring people to visit or keep in touch with their elderly parents or risk being sued came into force Monday, as China faces increasing difficulty in caring for its aging population.

U.N. health officials are urging Asian governments to get rid of what they say are punitive laws that hinder the battle against HIV and AIDS by discriminating against high-risk groups and deterring them from seeking treatment.

Steven Kraus, the UNAIDS director for Asia and the Pacific, said laws that punish same-sex activities and impose harsh drug sentences have prompted a rise in new transmissions in parts of Asia.

An American doctor has arrived in Vietnam carrying an unlikely piece of luggage: the bones of an arm he amputated in 1966.

Dr. Sam Axelrad flew into the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Saturday from Houston. He was traveling through central Vietnam with his sons and two grandchildren Monday to meet the amputee, Nguyen Quang Hung, a former North Vietnamese soldier.

At least 19 firefighters were killed Sunday battling a fast-moving wildfire in Arizona, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in U.S. history, as flames ravaged homes and forced the evacuation of two towns.

The firefighters died while racing to contain the Yarnell Hill wildfire about 85 miles (135 kilometers) north of Phoenix, in what Arizona governor Jan Brewer called "as dark a day as I can remember."

Bahrain's foreign minister on Sunday urged Iran's newly elected president to seek the withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria as a gesture to try to ease the civil war there.

The appeal by Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, during meetings between the European Union and Gulf Arab foreign ministers, showed the widening shadow of Syria's 27-month conflict that has spilled across borders, involving Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey in varying degrees.