U.S. talk show star Ellen DeGeneres arrived in Australia on Friday, declaring she was happy enough to "kiss the ground" as she began a six-day visit officials are hoping will help boost tourism.

Hundreds of cheering fans greeted the American wit after she touched down in Sydney, a moment she had earlier announced in a tweeted "made it to Australia" message written upside down.

Syrian actress Ragda sparked a melee in a Cairo poetry convention after she praised Syria's President Bashar Assad, angering an Islamist in the crowd, witnesses said.

The actress, who lives in Cairo, read a poem praising the dictator and condemning the Muslim Brotherhood, the ruling movement in Egypt whose Syrian branch opposes Assad, during the convention on Wednesday.

British pop mogul Simon Cowell launched an innovative online talent contest Wednesday, inviting wannabee stars from around the world to post clips of their skills on YouTube.

"The X Factor" and "Got Talent" guru Cowell joined forces with the video sharing platform to run 26 biweekly contests, called "The You Generation", for hopefuls in 26 countries over the next 12 months.

As Jay Leno makes jokes about ratings-challenged NBC in his "Tonight" monologues, speculation is swirling the network is taking steps to replace the host with Jimmy Fallon next year and move the talk show from California to New York.

NBC confirmed Wednesday it's creating a new studio for Fallon in New York, where he hosts "Late Night." But the network did not comment on a report that the studio may become home to a transplanted, Fallon-hosted "Tonight."

Lady Gaga's manager says the pop star is "doing unbelievable" a month after she had hip surgery that caused her to cancel her U.S. tour.

Vincent Herbert said in an interview Tuesday the 26-year-old Grammy winner is "doing wonderful, doing great."

"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm is going mad over Justin Timberlake's suit and tie — the song and the singer's style.

"I'm a big fan of Justin Timberlake," Hamm said in a recent interview. "I think he's a trendsetter, as they say. But he's always been kind of a natty dresser."

"Argo" mentions New Zealand just once in passing, but the four-word reference is rankling Kiwis five months after the Oscar-winning film was released in the South Pacific nation.

Even Parliament has expressed its dismay, passing a motion stating that director Ben Affleck "saw fit to mislead the world about what actually happened."

The Statue of Liberty will reopen by July 4 once repairs to extensive damage inflicted on the New York landmark by Hurricane Sandy are completed, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday.

The statue itself, a 19th century gift from France to the United States, weathered the October 29 storm, but serious damage was wrought on ferry docks, energy infrastructure and security screening system on Liberty Island.

He has taken on Nazi tomb raiders, Soviet spies and even Darth Vader's Death Star, but Hollywood legend Harrison Ford was cracking the whip Tuesday against a more potent domestic enemy: budget cuts.

The original space cowboy brought his star power to Capitol Hill drawing attention to the effects of the so-called sequester, the across-the-board cuts that have begun to hit federal programs -- including his cherished general aviation industry -- to the tune of $85 billion this year.

Ten dresses owned by Princess Diana, including the one worn when she danced with actor John Travolta at a White House dinner, sold for £862,800 at a London auction on Tuesday.

The most iconic item -- the strapless dark blue velvet gown worn at a 1985 dinner thrown by U.S. president Ronald Reagan in honor of the Prince and Princess of Wales -- raised £240,000 (281,000 euros, $363.000).