When Fortunato Foti dreams up his designs for Sydney's dazzling New Year's Eve fireworks display, he's drawing on more than 200 years of pyrotechnics expertise.

The Foti family moved from Italy to Australia in the 1950s, but have been in the same business since 1793.

Debbie Reynolds, the "Singin' in the Rain" actress who tap-danced her way into American hearts as a star of Hollywood's Golden Age, died Wednesday, grief-stricken over daughter Carrie Fisher's death a day earlier.

The 84-year-old suffered a stroke at son Todd Fisher's Beverly Hills home after telling him "I miss her so much, I want to be with Carrie," he was quoted as telling celebrity news website TMZ.

Scarlett Johansson has been named the top grossing movie star of 2016 by Forbes magazine after appearing in films that amassed $1.2 billion in global ticket sales.

The Tony Award-winning American actress starred in the Marvel blockbuster "Captain America: Civil War" the year's biggest box office hit, which made $1.15 billion worldwide. 

Hollywood star Carrie Fisher -- best known for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the wildly popular "Star Wars" films -- died Tuesday, days after suffering a heart attack on a transatlantic flight.

The 60-year-old actress had been in intensive care in a Los Angeles hospital after collapsing on the jetliner from London on Friday.

George Michael's family said Tuesday they were "touched" by emotional tributes to the late British pop icon, as flowers, candles, balloons and cards piled up outside his homes.

British pop star George Michael, who rose to fame with the band Wham! and sold more than 100 million albums in his career, has died aged 53, his publicist said on Sunday.

Hollywood star Carrie Fisher was fighting for her life on Friday after suffering a massive heart attack near the end of a transatlantic flight.

The number of scripted original U.S. television series airing new seasons in 2016 hit a record 455, reflecting an explosion of original shows by online subscription services, research showed on Wednesday.

That's an increase of a total of 34 series on American television from last year, the FX cable network said in a study.

Grammy award-winning singer James Taylor said Wednesday he has cancelled a February 2017 concert in the Philippines in protest at the alleged extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal drug war.

"I don't think of my music as being particularly political but sometimes one is called upon to make a political stand," the US star said in social media posts on Twitter as well as on his Facebook page.

Rap legend Tupac Shakur and grunge rockers Pearl Jam earned spots Tuesday in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as perpetual nominee Nile Rodgers finally won recognition -- in a side category.

Tupac, who was slain in 1996, and Pearl Jam were both chosen to enter the shrine to rock culture in their first year of eligibility.