Messages of good health and positive self-esteem for girls are not hard to come by in kid lit, so what's the deal with all the attention for a not-yet-published rhyming picture book about an obese, unhappy 14-year-old named Maggie?

The title, for starters: "Maggie Goes on a Diet."

For many people, the images of commercial airliners hitting the Twin Towers, and of Manhattan engulfed in a huge dust cloud as they collapsed, looked like a Hollywood apocalypse-style movie.

But despite that -- or maybe in part because of it -- 9/11 has not generated as large a number of movies as previous epochal events such as World War II or Vietnam.

When Chaz Bono takes to the floor on American television's "Dancing with the Stars" later this month, he won't be lacking for fans -- or detractors.

The 42-year-old LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activist formerly known as Chastity Bono is the first transgender contestant on the U.S. version of the globally popular reality television series.

It's a girl for singer Melanie Brown and her husband, Stephen Belafonte.

An e-mail from a representative for the former Spice Girl says the couple "welcomed their new baby girl in Los Angeles" on Thursday night.

Actress Monica Bellucci says her decision to appear nude in her latest film "That Summer" was an act of generosity.

Bellucci said the request came at a "fragile moment as a woman," just a month and a half after giving birth. Bellucci said that when she accepts a role, she also trusts the director. She said she felt protected by director Philippe Garrel during the filming of the scene.

Veteran action star Jet Li and action director Tony Ching are expanding their repertoire into the children's fairy tale, but with an adult audience also in mind.

Their latest movie "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" made its world premier out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on Friday.

A mother is lecturing her 23-year-old daughter about her love life, flailing a kitchen knife above her head for emphasis.

Mom's point: She'd like her immigrant daughter, from the former Soviet republic of Moldova, to marry a man with similar roots, keeping the family's East European Jewish tradition.

Lebanese singer Jad Shwery will be live at Riviera Hotel on 14 September to perform his new album release "3esh ha keda" (live it this way) along with all his previous hits and some covers, in a rock-solid and modern choreographed show.

His new album 3eshha keda (live it this way) will be released on the 1st of September.

Marc Anthony is setting the record straight on his breakup from Jennifer Lopez in an upcoming exclusive interview with ABC.

Anthony tells ABC's "Nightline" that the crumbling of their marriage "wasn't something sensationalistic."

Before joining NBC's "The Voice," Adam Levine says some folks assumed he was some "singing bimbo that likes girls." So he's grateful to the show for providing a bit of clarification on his image.

"It was a nice opportunity to show my personality — that I have a brain," said the lead singer of Maroon 5. "It's also true: I am a bimbo and I like to sing and I like girls, but there's more to my personality; it's a little more dynamic than that, and I like to show that on the show. It's cool."