Cult American satirist Jon Stewart ended 16 years as host of "The Daily Show" with a standing ovation and was played out by rock legend Bruce Springsteen, bringing to close a unique era in U.S. broadcasting.

As the hash tag #JonVoyage trended on Twitter, an emotional Stewart made his last appearance on the Comedy Central show, thanking colleagues, fans and family and delivering a final monologue.

Chris Brown's promoter has denied defrauding an influential Philippine religious sect in a case that almost derailed his world tour, lawyers for the American hip-hop star's business partner said Friday.

Brown was left cooling his heels at a hotel room in Manila for three days last month as the immigration bureau stopped him leaving the country over a concert row with the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ).

It wouldn't happen to James Bond, but former 007 actor Pierce Brosnan has been caught with a knife by U.S. agents while preparing to board a flight in Vermont.

The Hollywood star was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers at Burlington International Airport after a prohibited knife was found in his carry-on.

Gwyneth Paltrow lent a touch of Hollywood glamor Wednesday to a campaign against legislation that would prevent the labelling of genetically modified food in the United States.

The Oscar-winning actress and mother of two appeared on Capitol Hill alongside Democratic senators opposed to the so-called Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.

Mariah Carey joined the honored names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, a tribute to the versatile singer's 25 years of stardom.

Dressed in true diva fashion in a long, tight dress with black sequined necklines on both front and back, Carey sported sunglasses as she watched the unveiling of her name as number 2,556 on the celebrated walkway.

In a city crammed with neon-lit tech stores, smartphone vendors and high-end camera shops, a digital backlash is mounting as young Hong Kongers seek out an old-fashioned analogue experience.

Hong Kong is a buzzing market for cutting edge technological offerings, with queues around the block for the latest iPhone or tablet.

Bjork has canceled the last three concerts of her European tour because of an unspecified "scheduling conflict", organizers said Wednesday.

The Icelandic singer was pulling out of shows she was meant to have performed at two French music festivals and one in Iceland.

Deaf and mute, Geeta has been stuck in Pakistan for 13 years, unable to return to her native India because she cannot remember or explain exactly where she is from.

But after repeated false dawns, Geeta has new reason to hope.

Pop star Taylor Swift has leapt to the aid of a Sydney theater company suffering an "artistic emergency" by giving the cast of 70-somethings permission to dance to her chart-topper "Shake it Off".

Sydney's Belvoir Theater took to Twitter with the hashtag "greygrey4taytay" to appeal to the American singer for permission to use the song in a play due to open Wednesday night.

Stage and screen icon Julie Andrews will direct a 60th anniversary production of "My Fair Lady" at the Sydney Opera House, a show she first starred in on Broadway in 1956, it was announced Wednesday.

The British actress rose to prominence as Eliza Doolittle in the original production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's retelling of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, kick-starting a long theater, movie and television career.