Pop diva Lady Gaga, tenor Placido Domingo and rock veteransChuck Berry and Patti Smith will join a star-studded lineup to ring in the New Year Saturday in New York.

As with every December 31, the main celebration will be held at Times Square in the heart of Manhattan, where more than a million people are expected to gather to watch the New Year's crystal ball drop at the stroke of midnight.

Metallica lead singer James Hetfield hurled stones at reporters who were photographing him in an ice-cream parlor at a chic Uruguayan resort, the El Pais daily reported Thursday.

The singer for the hugely popular American heavy metal band was cruising with his son on a scooter Sunday in Jose Ignacio when photographers spotted him and followed him to the shop, the paper said.

Brother Jean-Jacques spends most of his time in quiet contemplation and solitude, but once a week the white-robed Carthusian monk leaves his cloistered confines on an important mission.

His task is to test a highly potent and somewhat mysterious green liqueur that is enjoying renewed popularity in New York's hippest bars and elsewhere in the United States.

After watching an emotional video of Malaysian Timothy Tiah propose to his girlfriend, "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest hailed it as a heartwarming coda to 2011. Singer Christina Perri confessed that it made her cry.

Celebrity endorsements have helped the creatively crafted clip rack up nearly 4 million views online within a week, turning Tiah and his now-fiancee, Audrey Ooi, into unexpected role models for numerous young romantics worldwide.

Police have arrested the Sri Lankan caretaker of a property belonging to Hollywood actress Gillian Anderson following allegations of fraud, police said Thursday.

The caretaker, a Sri Lankan national, was remanded in custody Wednesday following a complaint he misappropriated up to 17.8 million rupees ($154,000) from the X-Files star's property at Pasyala, a village outside Colombo.

A young South African fashion designer is planning to launch a clothing label named after the ruling ANC's suspended youth leader Julius Malema.

"It is about celebrating my hero," Obakeng Ramadobu told Wednesday's edition of the newspaper The Sowetan from China, where he is attempting to secure a deal for the manufacture of his "Juju label" clothing range.

International stars Isabelle Huppert and Benicio del Toro will be guests at the Kuestendorf film and music festival hosted by Serbian director Emir Kusturica in January, local media said Wednesday.

The French screen legend and the Hollywood actor will be in Drvengard, the wooden village Kusturica built as a set for one of his movies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) south-west of Belgrade, where the fifth edition of the quirky festival will be held from January 17 to 23.

Music fans may remember 2011 mainly as the year Amy Winehouse died, but the last 12 months have seen several other divas dominate the international music press for happier reasons.

Veteran British songwriter PJ Harvey, soul singer Adele and American newcomer Lana del Rey all produced songs or albums that won wide critical praise.

Van Halen will tour in 2012.

The rock band has posted a video on its website announcing that the first tickets will go on sale Jan. 10.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has admitted that her fourth marriage has ended after just 16 days, with the star blaming pressure put on her husband by those close to him.

O'Connor, 45, met therapist Barry Herridge, 38, earlier this year when he responded to an online appeal posted by the singer, and they married in a Las Vegas chapel on December 8.