BlackBerry 10 After insisting that BlackBerry (BBRY) shares would rebound throughout 2011 and 2012 as the stock plummeted, Macquarie Capital Markets cut its price target earlier this month to $11 with a Neutral rating. This marked the first time the firm has advised investors that BlackBerry shares will likely continue to fall; Macquarie remained optimistic the whole way down over the past two years, as illustrated in the chart below. While the firm does see some positive notes for BlackBerry in the coming months, it said in a recent research note that BlackBerry shares will be trading on sentiment rather than long-term fundamentals following next month s launches, after which the stock will likely continue to slide.

[More from BGR: Crytek CEO: PlayStation 4, next-gen Xbox can t compete with PCs]

[More from BGR: Report outlines 5 biggest problems facing Apple ]

In advance of next month s BB10 launch in two of BBRY s largest markets, we are collaborating with our telecom colleagues Riaz Hyder in Indonesia and Best Waiyanont in Thailand to examine the company s opportunities and risks in emerging Asia, Macquarie analysts wrote in a recent note to investors. We estimate that BBRY has ~15.2m subs in Indonesia and Thailand (19% of global total) and has shipped around one-third of global BB7 hardware sales in recent qtrs.

The note continued, Our analysis shows that although the service fee structure of BB10 will be dilutive to overall service ARPU, much of the existing service revenue will be maintained for a year or more, as initial BB10 price points may be cost-prohibitive for many Indonesian and Thai consumers. We estimate that perhaps 15-20% of the BBRY installed base could purchase $400-600 ASP devices.

Macquarie sees the following impact for BlackBerry:

Low-end BB7 devices remain popular due to lower ASPs of $200-300 vs. iPhone ASPs at $700-900 and Android ASPs at $300-800. Implicitly, we do not expect significant sales of BB10 at an estimated $500-600 ASP in emerging markets. The key reason for the strength of BB outside of BBM is 1) first mover advantage, 2) lower pricing point (US$200 for cheapest handset Gemini); and 3) quite complimentary with Facebook and Twitter usage which were the main drivers for mobile internet adoption. According to Best Waiyanont, BBs have a considerably cheaper monthly cost than the data packages required for an iPhone or Android device. In Thailand, a BB package would cost only ~$10/month, with unlimited use of social media including Facebook, Twitter, BB messenger, and Email vs. a required data package costing $20 to support an iPhone or Android device. In the near-term, we think this will stay the BB sub base as the value proposition for BB devices is much more attractive to emerging market consumers than higher-end devices. BlackBerry is likely to trade more on buzz than fundamentals in the short term, but Macquarie believes that will end following the next round of BlackBerry 10 device launches. We continue to advise investors to ignore the launch noise and value the company on long-term cash flows, which we believe will ultimately drive the shares lower, the firm said.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

SEOUL (Reuters) - Retired U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Tuesday to film a television documentary with representatives of the Harlem Globetrotters celebrity team, North Korean state television reported.

Rodman, now 51 years old, won five NBA championships in his prime, achieving a mix of fame and notoriety for his on- and off-court antics.

Thirty-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has launched two long-range rockets and carried out a nuclear weapons test during just over a year in power, is reported to be an avid NBA fan and had pictures taken with players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his school days in Switzerland.

Rodman, who sports trademark tattoos and piercings, played for the Bulls. The trip to Pyongyang was organized by a New York-based television production company, VICE.

"I think most of guys are first time here so hopefully everything is OK and hopefully kids have a good time for the game," Rodman, sporting a baseball cap and sunglasses, told North Korea's KCNA.

VICE, which has previously worked in North Korea, said the week-long trip would include running a basketball camp for North Korean children and engaging in community-based games.

The company hinted that Kim may attend one of its events, but that could not be independently verified.

Its North Korean footage with Rodman will be distributed on HBO in April.

U.S. citizens do not require clearance from home to visit North Korea, and Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson visited in January.

The U.S. State Department described that trip as ill-advised but was noncommittal on Rodman's.

"We don't vet U.S. citizens' private travel to North Korea," said State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell. "In terms of this private travel to do basketball with kids, we just don't take a position on this."

The United States is leading a drive in the United Nations to have stricter sanctions imposed on North Korea following its nuclear test two weeks ago.

Kim, the third member of his family to rule North Korea, an isolated and impoverished state that has about 200,000 political prisoners in labor camps and where a third of children are malnourished, appears to have a penchant for American culture apart from basketball.

On coming to office, he staged a spectacular featuring a host of Disney characters. He has also been pictured at theme parks, in sharp contrast with his father's austere appearances.

While there is no U.S.-government connection to Rodman's trip, there have been a variety of attempts at sports diplomacy with North Korea, ranging from wrestling to judo and basketball.

None appears to have fared any better than the regular kind of diplomacy in preventing North Korea from pushing towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

As Rodman and his colleagues arrived, North Korean state news agency KCNA issued yet another challenge to the United States, saying it had no choice but to respond to what it called U.S. "provocations" over sanctions with "military muscle".

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Editing by Ken Wills and David Brunnstrom)

CLEVELAND (AP) The story of The Rolling Stones is so huge it takes 2 floors of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to tell.

The Cleveland-based museum will open "Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Satisfaction," an exclusive exhibit celebrating the archetypal rock band, on May 24.

The exhibit will be open until March 2014 and will include personal and collected items that have never before been seen by the public along with film, text and interactive components and periodic lectures on the band's 50-year career. The entire exhibit will take up more than two floors of the museum.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and The Stones recently held a series of concerts to celebrate their 50th year together and there have been rumors of more activity.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance.

The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip.

The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing "Skylark" and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. Fisher also appears to use paper to clean up after a small dog that shares the stage with her, and then stuffing the paper into a couch behind her.

"There was a medical incident related to Carrie Fisher's bipolar disorder," Fisher's spokeswoman Carol Marshall said in a statement. "She went to the hospital briefly to adjust her medication and is feeling much better now."

The actress has previously discussed her struggle with bipolar disorder. And in her 2009 memoir "Wishful Drinking," she also described her alcoholism and drug abuse.

Fisher is the daughter of Hollywood stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and, aside from starring in the first three "Star Wars" films, wrote the bestselling novel "Postcards from the Edge" about an actress recovering from drug addiction. She wrote the screenplay for a 1990 movie adaptation.

She in recent years had a recurring role on the animated comedy "Family Guy" and has guest starred in a number of other television shows.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Todd Eastham)

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) As her music played in the background, country music star Mindy McCready was remembered Tuesday by friends and family as a fun and talented singer who also "wanted to be healed" from her past.

About 200 friends and family gathered in the 37-year-old singer's Florida hometown of Fort Myers. A large screen behind the altar of Crossroads Baptist Church was filled with her images and her portrait stood nearby.

"Our Mindy was so tired. She felt helpless," said McCready's mother, Gayle Inge. "She was in her darkest moment and she was hurt by so many allegations. She was too emotional to understand."

McCready, whose real name was Malinda Gayle McCready, committed suicide Feb. 17 at her home in Arkansas, days after leaving a court-ordered substance abuse treatment program. The mother of two died from a single gunshot to the head about a month after her longtime boyfriend David Wilson's death, also thought to be suicide, in the same place.

Inge acknowledged that her daughter had faced many battles but now: "Her spirit found healing on the other side."

McCready's personal problems started in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons. She was briefly hospitalized in 2010 after police responded to an overdose call to a home her mother owned in North Fort Myers, Fla., and she later appeared on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," where she declared herself clean from drugs.

McCready's family declined to address any custody issue at the funeral.

"She wanted them to know that nothing, not even death, could separate her from them," Gayle Inge said of McCready's two sons, Zander Ryan and Zayne Christopher. "She's healed. She's no longer sick," she added, referring to what she told McCready's sons.

A separate funeral organized by her friends and the music community is tentatively scheduled for March 6 in Nashville, Tenn.

McCready's stepfather, brothers and cousin also shared their fondest and often funny memories of McCready.

"You all know I grew up coming from a broken home," said brother Timothy McCready, wiping away tears. "It makes your brothers and sisters really important to you. We used to joke about how she raised us...we raised each other, all of us. And she probably got us all in a lot more trouble than she got us out of," he later joked about his sister.

"I just know that Mindy is on vacacioun where she is," said younger brother Skylar Phelan, referring to how McCready often used the Latin word for "vacation" to get out of chores.

McCready grew up in Fort Myers, where she took private vocal lessons and later sang in karaoke bars.

Family friend Julie Ende-Killion remembers the day when McCready won her first award for "Ten Thousand Angels."

"And I remember her coming out of the trailer," she recalled. "I think she was in Kenny Chesney's trailer because she didn't even have her own dressing room at that time. Nashville is a pretty cool place. She made her mark on it."

McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 and hit the top of the country charts before her personal problems sidetracked her career.

In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," which her stepfather sang during the funeral.

"She's our special angel," said Michael Inge. "She sang a song years ago about 'Ten Thousand Angels' watching over her and now she is in the presence of all those 10 thousand angels," Michael Inge said.

KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) Nepalese mountaineer Chhurim entered the record book by scaling Mount Everest twice in the same climbing season. In fact, she did so a week apart.

Guinness World Records said she is the first woman to climb the world's highest mountain twice in the same season the brief window of good weather each year that allows climbers to reach the summit.

Nepal's Tourism Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati handed over the Guinness World Records certificate issued to 29-year-old Chhurim on Monday.

She scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit on May 12, 2012, descended to the base camp for a couple of days' rest and then scaled the peak again a week later on May 19.

Chhurim, who uses only one name like most Sherpas, said she is not ready to quit.

"Everest is the first of the highest mountains that I have climbed, but I will continue mountaineering and hope to scale more peaks," she said.

Chhurim said there are not many women mountaineers and only a few of them have records.

"The male mountaineers have set many records but women have fallen behind. It can be difficult for women because they are considered not as strong as men and face many problems like finding toilets," she said.

The Nepal Mountaineering Association said Everest has been climbed by nearly 4,000 people since New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal did so in 1953. Women are a small number of them.

The extremely harsh weather conditions that batter the highest Himalayan peaks limit the climbing season to just a few weeks every year. Spring is the most popular season on Everest when hundreds of mountaineers attempt every year. The climbers generally reach the mountain in March or April, acclimatize to the higher elevation and low oxygen and train for climbing the snowy trail to the peak. The weather usually improves for a few days in May when they line up to the summit.

The debut of the PlayStation 4 in New York City Wednesday (Feb. 20) was as remarkable for what it showed as for what it didn't show: Sony unveiled a raft of beautiful, incredibly realistic new games, but not the console itself. The device, perhaps in a straight-from-the-lab rough appearance, was somewhere offstage, driving the giant projectors that broadcast previews of upcoming games around the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Out-of-site-yet-everywhere seems to be the overall metaphor of the PlayStation 4 (PS4), as Sony described it. The PS4 (which Sony plans to sell by year's end) is not so much a machine as a network with games delivered from the cloud, games that can follow you as you move from the PS4 to a mobile device, and the ability to post video clips of your adventures or even broadcast entire games online.

"We're making it so your friends can look over your shoulder virtually and interact with you as you play," said David Perry, co-founder of Gaikai, a company that Sony bought to build its cloud-gaming network.

But not only friends will be watching. Sony will. "The PlayStation network will get to know you by understanding your personal preferences and the preferences of your community and turn this knowledge into useful information that will enhance your gameplay," Perry said.

Every important technology has good and bad uses. Some of the upcoming games that Sony showcased for the PS4 explore, perhaps unwittingly, the darker side of omnipresent, omniscient networks similar to what Sony is building.

Suckerpunch's new game "inFAMOUS: Second Son" explores the surveillance state. "Right now, there are 4.2 million security cameras distributed all around Great Britain. That's one camera for every 14 citizens," said game director Nate Fox, in a dramatic introduction to the game. "It is hard to put your finger on what that sense of security is worth, but it is easy to say what it costs our freedom."

Like Great Britain, the PS4 will also have a vast network of cameras not one for every 14 citizens, but one for every console owner. At the presentation, Marc Cerny, head of the PlayStation hardware platform, showed a photo of a depth-sensing stereo camera for the PS4, designed to track the new Dualshock controller as it moves.

The danger in "Second Son" is that some individuals have developed super-human powers (a la "Heroes") that make them living weapons. They carry no traditional weapons and show no physical signs of danger rendering all the modern surveillance tech impotent.

But what if new security technology could go beyond the physical? What if it could read people's intentions and predict their next moves?

What if it were like the PS4?

Sony believes that PlayStation owners simply give off so much data as they interact intensively with the console, other devices and the network that it can know what its users intend to do.

"People haven't' changed, but now everybody's broadcasting. And once you've seen it, all of it, how do you look away?"

That's not a quote from a Sony or game-company executive. It's from the lead character in the upcoming Ubisoft game "Watch Dogs." It follows a vigilante character with access to all that information. As he walks through Chicago, message windows pop up, showing details about the people he passes. Marcus Rhodes, a 43-year-old Iraq War veteran, is unemployed. Sandy Higgins, a grade-school teacher, recently won a child-custody battle and has a 30 percent chance of being a crime victim. [See also: Is Your Cellphone Under Surveillance?]

In the clip, the vigilante uses the knowledge to find a woman in danger and to track her attacker in a chase through the city. But as the police then pursue him, the game shows how much data the protagonist himself is giving off.

It's rather unlikely that the PlayStation 4 was designed to be a mass surveillance device, a Trojan Horse of a game console designed to slip spooks into the living room. Far likelier, Sony just wants the games to be more involving and better targeted for the customers, so they will buy and play more games.

"If we know enough about you to predict the next game you'll purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before you even click the button," Marc Cerny said.

But still, the PS4 will collect a lot of information. That itself, in the right imagination, could be fodder for a good dystopian video game.

This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook. Follow Sean Captain @seancaptain

10 Ways the Government Watches You The 10 Most Stunning Video Games 10 Hottest Games for 2013 Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Forget glamour girls Jessica Chastain versus Jennifer Lawrence. By the end of a long Oscars telecast, the only person who could have stolen the fashion conversation was first lady Michelle Obama and she did.

She presented the best picture award almost at the stroke of midnight Sunday via video stream in a silver Naeem Khan gown. It was the sort of Cinderella style moment that red-carpet watchers hunger for.

Until then, the most heated chatter about the Academy Awards likely was the boldface battle between Giorgio Armani and Dior Haute Couture.

Armani could claim some big wins: the designer dressed Chastain, Naomi Watts and Quvenzhane Wallis. Dior dressed Lawrence and Charlize Theron both are spokesmodels who hit it right in white.

Chastain, in a glistening copper-tone strapless gown with mermaid hem, looked like an old-world glamorous movie star, especially with her oversized vintage Harry Winston diamond earrings and bright red lipstick.

"I chose it because to me it was a throwback to old Hollywood," she said. "It's a very 'Happy birthday, Mr. President' dress."

Watts wore a gunmetal beaded gown with a geometric cutout on the bodice, also by Armani.

Quvenzhane (kwuh-VEHN'-juh-nay), with a silver headband in her hair and carrying a bedazzled puppy purse, wore an Armani Junior navy-blue dress with black, navy and silver jewels scattered on the skirt and a big bow on the back. She had another Armani dress, a pink one, ready for the afterparty. "I liked it because it was sparkly and puffy."

Lawrence was the belle of the ball in a white-and-pale pink strapless gown with fitted bustier and poufy hemline, sophisticated pulled-back hair, diamond-ball earrings and a delicate long necklace that hung down in back. The long train gave her trouble as she went to accept her award for best actress. She stumbled as she approached the stage to accept her Oscar.

Theron was sleek in an angular strapless dress with a fashion-right peplum and a buzz-cut hairdo.

Christos Garkinos, longtime red-carpet watcher and owner of Decades vintage store in Los Angeles, said, "You could have turned the TV off right when Charlize Theron came on. She was perfect."

The more interesting chatter, however, could be about the Jane Fondas and Sally Fields of the world. Fonda wore bright taxicab yellow Versace and Sally Field was in bright red.

"Women of a certain age almost gave the feeling that the older you get, the bolder you get," Garkinos said.

Hal Rubenstein, editor at large of InStyle magazine, was pretty impressed by 86-year-old Emmanuelle Riva in Lanvin. "Jane Fonda looks amazing because she's Jane Fonda, but Emmanuelle Riva was so elegant."

Another look that had people talking was Anne Hathaway's pale pink Prada dress. Rubenstein called the dress and Tiffany & Co. necklace "an Audrey Hepburn moment."

Garkinos wasn't as kind. Thanks to some awkwardly placed darts in the bust, he said it was more like Gwyneth Paltrow's big Academy Awards moment, when she wore a lovely Ralph Lauren pink dress but the fit wasn't quite right.

Hathaway, before the show, said her dress with a seemingly sweet vibe but with a strategically open back and sexy sides, was a last-minute choice. "It fit my mood and place where I'm at right now."

It almost seemed there were two routes to the red carpet, said Rubenstein: incredibly beaded and eye-catching, worn by Nicole Kidman in L'Wren Scott, Halle Berry in Versace, and Stacy Keibler in Naeem Khan; or a simple color with a great silhouette. He puts Lawrence, Reese Witherspoon in a strapless royal-blue Louis Vuitton gown with a black strip at the bustline and Jennifer Aniston in a Valentino red strapless gown in that camp.

"For some, there was a pull back to not do a lot, and that's where fashion is as well," Rubenstein said.

Amanda Seyfried's metallic halter dress by Alexander McQueen with a keyhole opening was three months in the making, and Berry said she trusted Donatella Versace to dress her like the Bond girl that she has been on the big screen. She ended up in a silver beaded-and-black gown with long sleeves and V-neck.

Jennifer Hudson's shiny, second-skin blue Roberto Cavalli almost looked like an animal print.

Kristen Stewart had an even paler blush gown; hers a hand-beaded strapless with tulle inserts by Reem Acra. She accentuated her gown with a 19th-century Fred Leighton necklace with 91 graduated diamonds.

Jennifer Garner chose a violet-colored Gucci with cascading ruffles in the back. Her 200-carat diamond-and-dark platinum necklace from the Neil Lane archives was a big statement.

Beaded gowns had a strong presence, worn by Sandra Bullock, in a fully embroidered Elie Saab; Renee Zellweger, in a sleek Carolina Herrera; and Adele in Jenny Packham. Catherine Zeta-Jones was statuesque in an all-gold Zuhair Muhad. Queen Latifah's white V-neck tank dress by Badgley Mischka had a lot of sparkle on the straps.

Salma Hayek's midnight-blue velvet Alexander McQueen gown had a gold embellished collar, and she carried a gold skull box clutch.

Helen Hunt wore a little bit of her conscience along with her blue column gown. It was from fast-fashion retailer H&M. She chose it because it was both accessible and because the company has launched a substantial green initiative. She did wear it, however, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of borrowed jewels.

For the men, the trend was beards, with George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones, among them.

___

Associated Press Writer Beth Harris contributed to this report.

With jokes about domestic violence, breast-baring actresses, picking up Sally Field and a presidential assassination, Seth MacFarlane certainly didn't go soft during his first turn as Oscars host.

MacFarlane has the good looks and suave manner of a typical show host, but he was a nontraditional choice for the Oscars. His creative calling card is behind-the-scenes work, as maker of the TV show "Family Guy" and movie "Ted." He tried to soften it with self-deprecation, but MacFarlane quickly proved a polarizing choice.

After MacFarlane appeared uncomfortable telling jokes in the opening monologue, he brought on William Shatner via video hook-up for an extended riff on Shatner as a time traveler appearing from the future trying to save MacFarlane from himself.

It sent MacFarlane into some high concept comedy. He was shown in a song and dance routine, backed by the Los Angeles Gay Men's Chorus, naming famous actresses and the films where they displayed their breasts. During a quick cutaway, Charlize Theron one of the actresses named did not appear amused.

In another skit, scenes from the movie "Flight" were performed by sock puppets. An overly long skit again designed to illustrate MacFarlane's "bad taste" showed him wearing a Flying Nun costume in an attempt to pick up Sally Field backstage.

MacFarlane drew groans with a reference to pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown, back together as a couple four years after a domestic violence incident involving the two.

Talking about the movie "Django Unchained," MacFarlane called it "the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who's been subject to unthinkable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie."

MacFarlane drew more groans from the audience during a discussion of the movie "Lincoln" and actors who had portrayed the 19th Century president.

"I would argue that the actor who really got inside Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth," MacFarlane said.

He seemed to anticipate and delight in the response. "150 years and it's still too soon, huh? I've got some Napoleon jokes coming up."

In his opening monologue, MacFarlane delivered a quick, knowing poke at the academy for snubbing Ben Affleck as a best director nominee for the movie "Argo." He referred to the movie's story about an undercover mission to rescue Americans trapped in Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis.

"The story is so top secret that the film's director is unknown to the academy," MacFarlane said.

He joked about "Lincoln" best actor nominee Daniel Day Lewis' habit of staying in character during filming days even when the cameras were turned off, addressing him: "If you bumped into Don Cheadle in the studio lot, would you try and free him?"

MacFarlane appeared to loosen up once his opening routine was over. He drew some laughs with a handful of solid jokes when talking about Quvenzhane Wallis, the 9-year-old best actress nominess for "Beasts of the Southern Wild. "George Clooney smiled at a joke about Wallis being a future dating partner.

The puppet teddy bear of "Ted" even got in a few Jewish jokes during a routine with Mark Wahlberg. The bear claimed to be Jewish, which he thought was a prerequisite for working in the film business.

"I was born Theodore Shapiro and I would like to donate money to Israel and continue to work in Hollywood forever," the bear said.

"You're an idiot," Wahlberg retorted.

Some of MacFarlane's jokes drew rebukes by tweeters, while his supporters countered that the Oscars should have known what they were getting when hiring him. In the weeks before he took the stage, MacFarlane frequently predicted he would be savaged by critics. His opening routine with Shatner even had the "Star Trek" actor displaying a supposed headline from the future saying MacFarlane was the worst Oscars host ever.

And it was difficult to tell how much he was joking when he introduced Sandra Bullock for an award presentation.

"Our next presenter portrayed a raging alcoholic in the movie '28 Days,' which is kind of a weird coincidence because I'm going to be playing one in about an hour and a half," he said.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Samsung Electronics is beefing up its tablet range with a competitor to Apple's iPad Mini that sports a pen for writing on the screen.

The Korean company announced on Sunday in B'arcelona that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will have an 8-inch screen, putting it very close in size to the Apple's tablet, which launched in November with a 7.9-inch screen. It's not the first time Samsung has made a tablet that's in the Mini's size range: it's very first iPad competitor had a 7-inch screen, and it still makes a tablet of that size, but without a pen.

Samsung will start selling the new tablet in the April to June period, at an as yet undetermined price. It made the announcement ahead of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry's annual trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.

The Note 8.0 fills a gap in Samsung's line-up of pen-equipped devices between the Galaxy Note II smartphone, with its 5.5-inch screen, and the Galaxy Note 10.1, a full-size tablet. Samsung has made the pen, or more properly the stylus, one of the tools it uses to chip away at Apple's dominance in both tablets and high-end smartphones. Apple doesn't make any devices that work with styluses, preferring to optimize its interfaces for fingers, mice and touchpads.

On Samsung's Note line, the pens can be used to write, highlight and draw. The screens also sense when the mouse hovers over the screen, providing an equivalent to the hovering mouse cursor on the PC. However, few third-party applications have been modified to take full advantage of the pens.

NEW YORK (AP) Diane Lane and Josh Brolin are divorcing after eight years of marriage.

A representative for the couple confirmed the split Thursday. Brolin and Lane were married in 2004 in the second marriage for both.

They don't have any children together.

Lane was previously married to Christopher Lambert. They divorced in 1994 and have a 19-year-old daughter. Brolin was previously married to Alice Adair. They also divorced in 1994 and have two children: an 18-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old son.

The separation was first reported by Us Weekly.

Lane received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the 2002 film "Unfaithful" and co-stars in the upcoming Superman film "Man of Steel."

Brolin was Oscar-nominated for his performance in 2008's "Milk" and starred in the recently released "Gangster Squad."

NEW YORK (AP) Sony unveiled its next-generation gaming system, PlayStation 4, at an event in New York, saying the console will be part of a new ecosystem focused on hardware, software and "the fastest, most powerful gaming network."

"Our long-term vision is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero," said Mark Cerny, Sony's lead system architect on the PS4.

The new console is the Japanese electronics giant's first major game machine since the PlayStation 3 went on sale in 2006.

Wednesday's unveiling is Sony Corp.'s attempt to steal the spotlight, at least until Microsoft Corp. unveils its next Xbox in June, as expected, at the E3 video game expo in Los Angeles.

Among the PS4's revisions is an updated controller that adds a touchpad, motion control and a "share" button. The controller also features a light bar, which means a new PlayStation camera can more easily track the device.

Sony has struggled lately to keep up with Microsoft and other powerful rivals such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The company is promising nifty mobile devices, sophisticated digital cameras and other gadgetry as part of its comeback effort.

The new device arrives amid declines in video game hardware, software and accessory sales. Research firm NPD Group said game sales fell 22 percent to $13.3 billion in 2012. One reason for the decline, analysts believe: It's been years since a new game machine was released. Most people who want an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or a Wii already have one. But people also have shifted their attention to games on Facebook, tablet computers and mobile phones. Sony and other game makers face the task of convincing people that they need a new video game system rather than, say, a new iPad.

Last fall, Nintendo started selling the Wii U, which comes with a tablet-like controller called the GamePad. It allows two people playing the same game to have entirely different experiences depending on whether they use the GamePad or a traditional Wii remote, which itself was revolutionary when it came out because of its motion-control features. The GamePad can also be used to play games without using a TV set, as one would on a regular tablet.

The original Wii has sold more units since its launch than both its rivals, but it has lost momentum in recent years as the novelty of its motion controller faded. Nintendo said it sold 3.1 million Wii Us by the end of 2012. It was a disappointing start for the first of a new generation of gaming systems.

In some ways, notably its ability to display high-definition games, the Wii U was just catching up to the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, the preferred consoles to play popular games such as "Call of Duty" and "Red Dead Redemption."

All three console makers are trying to position their devices as entertainment hubs that can deliver movies, music and social networking as they try to stay relevant in the age of smartphones and tablets. The Wii U has a TV-watching feature called TVii. With it, the console's touch-screen GamePad controller becomes a remote control for your TV and set-top box. But Microsoft and Sony were ahead of the game in this front, too.

When the PlayStation 3 went on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 17, 2006, the 20 gigabyte model had a $500 price tag and the 60 GB version went for $600. They are now cheaper and come with more storage $270 for 250 GB and $300 for 500 GB. Comparable models of the Wii U and the Xbox 360 both start at $300.

Sony, meanwhile, started selling a mobile gaming device, PlayStation Vita, last February. The Vita connects to the PlayStation 3, so players can play the same game regardless of whether they are using a console or a handheld system.

___

Derrik J. Lang reported from Los Angeles.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Thirsty and thin, a royal penguin has been found stranded on a New Zealand beach more than 1,000 miles from its sub-Antarctic home.

The penguin was found by hikers Sunday and is now being cared for at the Wellington Zoo. Staff say it remains in a critical condition, emaciated and suffering from kidney failure. But it has made small improvements each day.

The penguin's arrival has revived memories of another penguin, an emperor nicknamed Happy Feet, that arrived in 2011 and whose recovery at the zoo captured the hearts of many before he was released.

Royal penguins have a yellow crest, eat krill and squid and generally live on and around Macquarie Island, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Just four have been recorded landing on the North Island over the past 100 years.

Jenny Boyne, who lives near Tora Beach where the penguin was found, said she drove it to the zoo in a fish crate after staff suggested she bring it in.

"It sat down like a little quiet lamb," she said.

The bird stood up briefly a couple of times and honked but generally lay still for the two-hour journey, she said. She blasted the air conditioning and spritzed the bird with water after zoo staff instructed her to keep it cool. She said she was surprised it had no significant smell.

Lisa Argilla, the veterinary science manager at the zoo, said the penguin weighed about 2.7 kilograms (6 pounds) when it arrived. She said it has put on a small amount of weight since then but remains severely underweight. She said it was dehydrated, and staff at the animal hospital have been keeping it on an intravenous drip. She said the penguin had tried to nip her a few times but didn't have much strength. She added she'd feel more confident about its prognosis if and when it regained the strength to stand properly.

The penguin is about 1 year old, 50 centimeters (20 inches) long and its sex hasn't been determined, Argilla said.

Royal penguins can grow to about 75 cm (30 inches) and 5.5 kilograms (12 pounds). They are considered a threatened species but not endangered. They shed all their feathers during an annual molt, which the New Zealand penguin is doing now.

"These penguins tend to stay out at sea," she said. "This guy's probably been following food, and he might have caught a current. There's obviously not enough food out there either he didn't know where to look, or the warm weather might be causing a shift in the food supply."

Boyne said she'd named the penguin Tora after where it was found. Others have nicknamed it Happy Feet Jr.

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Donald Trump is apparently in a suing mood lately.

Not only has Trump filed suit against comedian Bill Maher after Maher jokingly suggested that Trump was spawned from sex between a human and an orangutan, the "Apprentice" host/media fixture is threatening to sue the organizer of a boycott asking that Macy's sever its ties with Trump.

Trump's attorney, Alan Garten, has sent a letter to Angelo Carusone, who launched an online petition urging Macy's to drop Trump, saying that Trump will sue Carusone for damages "not less than $25,000,000" if he continues his campaign.

"While you claim to be merely exercising or right to free speech, your egregious, pre-meditated and illegal conduct far exceeds anything protected by the Constitution," the letter, dated December 27, reads. "Rather than simply engage in lawful protest, you have apparently made it your mission to interfere with and intentionally disrupt Mr. Trump's longstanding and well-established business relationship with Macy's as well as his contractual dealings with other third parties through mob-like bullying and coercion."

The letter goes on to accuse Carusone of intentionally disseminating misinformation about the extent of his support, calling Carusone's public backing as "marginal at best."

Carusone launched his petition, which has so far gathered more than 683,000 signatures, last year on SignOn.org. The petition urges Macy's Chairman, CEO and President Terry J. Lundgren to stop selling Trump's fragrance and clothing lines at Macy's stores, because of what the petition calls "especially unpleasant, nasty and despicable behavior." According to the petition, that would include "sexist behavior" and the perpetuation of the "birther theory" that President Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States.

"Donald Trump does not reflect the 'magic of Macy's.'" the petition reads. "We urge you to sever ties with him. Carusone is unfazed by the legal threat.

"Donald Trump's attempt to silence me will not work. I've dealt with enough bullies and know better than to succumb to intimidation," Carusone said in a statement. "By threatening me, Trump is only reinforcing the point that we've been trying to get Macy's to recognize: that Trump's brand is consequence-free bullying and chicanery; it shouldn't be rewarded."

Carusone's attorney, Paul Levy of Public Citizen, responded to Garten's letter with his own correspondence in January.

"Your letter repeatedly asserts, without any factual basis, that Carusone has exaggerated the extent to which members of the public have endorsed his boycott effort; you also contend, again without being specific, that Carusone casts Trump in a false light," Levy's letter reads.

"Your letter repeatedly asserts, without any factual basis, that Carusone has exaggerated the extent to which members of the public have endorsed his boycott effort; you also contend, again without being specific, that Carusone casts Trump in a false light," the letter reads.

"There is a well-established First Amendment right to advocate a boycott over policy-related objections ... I have no reason to believe that there is a tort of exaggerating the public support for a political campaign," Levy continues. "If there were such a tort, I imagine that most candidates for public office, no doubt including your client, would be liable at one point or another."

Garten told TheWrap on Tuesday that there is currently no lawsuit filed on the matter.

Success won't come easy. But here are a few features we'd eagerly welcome

It's tough out there for game consoles.

At the end of January, Nintendo lowered sales forecasts for the Wii U from 5.5 million to 4 million through March. The problems are many: Today's consoles are expensive, with launch prices sandwiched somewhere between $300 and $500. Secondly, it's easier than ever to access games from the gadgets we already use everyday. Computer games? Not going anywhere. Neither are 99 cent downloads for Angry Birds or Temple Run. If we can play great games on the devices we already have, why do we need gaming consoles? It's not an easy question to answer.

SEE MORE: Is it game over for Nintendo?

That's why a lot of folks are keeping a close eye on Sony's big unveiling for what's probably going to be the PlayStation 4 (or the "Orbis"), which is slated for a Wednesday night debut in New York City. Will it inspire intrepid consumers to camp outside Best Buy like the PlayStation 3 did in 2006? (A year before the first iPhone came out, I might add.) We'll find out soon enough.

In the meantime, here are four features we'd like to see:

1. StreamingVarious reports suggest the PS4 will still have a physical drive, just like its PS3 and PS2 ancestors. Sony, however, acquired cloud-based gaming company Gaikai for a reported $380 million last year, suggesting that streaming games la Netflix is pretty much guaranteed. While processor-hogging blockbusters like Call of Duty: Black Ops Twenty Million will likely come via a disc or a huge overnight download, streaming titles could help give indie game developers a real chance to shine in front of curious gamers. The critical success of titles like Journey seems to indicate that the PlayStation Network has a real opportunity to court cool, third-party indie developers. And it might even help court a certain kind of gamer important to my next point...

2. A crystal-clear identityOne of the main complaints critics sling at the Wii U is that the console doesn't know who it's for, mainly due to its big, do-everything Touchpad. Is the Touchpad a gimmick? Is it for non-gamers who loved the Wii? Bored teenagers content to play Smash Brothers for 10 hours a day? "Everyone in the family?" If the PlayStation 4 is going to succeed, it'll need to clearly identify its target audience(s). First-person shooter fans, obviously. But then who else? Sony has had seven years to think about this.

3. Voice and motion controlsMicrosoft bet big on the Xbox 360's Kinect, and it paid off big. But what truly makes the Kinect leaps and bounds better than the PS Move or Eye isn't that it opens up a new world of dancing games (although that's part of it). By shucking the traditional controller when it isn't needed, Microsoft transformed a humble gaming system into a futuristic media center commanded by voice and gestures. No missing remotes. No getting up from the couch. No navigating menus with a D-pad. It's brilliant, and takes advantage of Newton's first law of motion: We're supremely lazy beings and hate moving. At the very, very least, the next-gen PlayStation will need to do the same.

4. A consistent controllerThe wireless DualShock 3 is one of the best controllers ever. In fact, I'd argue that it's second only to Super Nintendo's in terms of comfort and tactility. Leaked reports, however, suggest the new controller will have touchscreen capabilities, and will have a bit more heft under your thumb flesh, kind of like the Xbox's. With the Wii U, Nintendo made the mistake of designing a controller that tried to do too much. Let's hope Sony stays true to the spirit of the DualShock and doesn't stray too far.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Anne Hathaway was deemed best dressed by people who dress her for work.

The "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Dark Knight Rises" actress, who's nominated for the supporting actress Academy Award for her role in "Les Miserables," was honored Tuesday evening with the spotlight award at the 15th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. The spotlight award honors actors and directors for their collaborations with costume designers.

"I especially treasure the moment that happens on set when all the choices have been made, rehearsal is done, you're about to start, you look down and you believe in what you're wearing, so that way when you look up, you are gone, and it's finally the character's moment to come alive," said Hathaway while accepting her trophy.

Other celebrity attendees at the Beverly Hills Hotel ceremony hosted by "Community" star Joel McHale included Jon Hamm, Connie Britton, Shirley MacLaine, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Russell Crowe, who presented Hathaway with her prize.

The costume designers behind "Skyfall," ''Anna Karenina" and "Mirror Mirror" won the night's top prizes. Unlike the Oscars, which lump costume design into one category, the Costume Designers Guild divides film honors across three genres.

The winners were Jany Temime ("Skyfall") for contemporary film, Jacqueline Durran ("Anna Karenina") for period film and Eiko Ishioka ("Mirror Mirror") for fantasy film.

Durran and the late Ishioka will compete against Joanna Johnston ("Lincoln"), Paco Delgado ("Les Miserables") and Colleen Atwood ("Snow White and the Huntsman") for the costume design Oscar at Sunday's 85th annual Academy Awards.

In the TV categories, the winners were Caroline McCall ("Downton Abbey") for period/fantasy series, Molly Maginnis ("Smash") for contemporary series, Lou Eyrich ("American Horror Story: Asylum") for TV movie or mini-series and Judianna Makovsky in the commercial category for a Captain Morgan ad.

"Ugly Betty" and "Once Upon a Time" costume designer Eduardo Castro received the career achievement in TV honor. Makovsky, whose credits include "Big" and "The Hunger Games," was awarded the career achievement award in film.

"I completely forgot I put Tom Hanks in a pair of child's underpants," Makovsky said following a montage of her work.

Other winners included "Titanic" and "Minority Report" assistant costume designer David Le Vey for the distinguished service award and "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels for the distinguished collaborator award, which was presented by funnyman and "SNL" alum Steve Martin.

"Congratulations, Lorne. I'm so proud of you," said Martin. "It's going to be a long time before I forget this night, but believe me when I tell you, I will forget it."

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Online:

http://costumedesignersguild.com

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang

Politics Confidential

The deficit reduction mavericks are back. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles failed to get Washington to accept their original deficit reduction plan at the end of 2010; but this bipartisan duo is rolling out a revamped plan and more tough talk aimed at both Congress and the President.

"They haven't done any of the tough stuff, any of the important stuff, they haven't reformed the tax code...they haven't done anything to slow the rate of health care to the rate of growth of the economy, they haven't made Social Security sustainably solvent. There's about $2.4 trillion more of hard work we've gotta do," former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles tells Politics Confidential.

In their new plan, Simpson and Bowles call for a variety of measures that would shrink the nation's deficit, ranging from decreasing discretionary spending to reforming government programs to make them more sustainable. Simpson gets particularly passionate when talking about reforming programs utilized by the country's growing aging population, such as Medicare and Social Security, describing our current path as "madness."

"10,000 [Americans] a day are turning 65," says the former senator from Wyoming. "This is madness. And life expectancy is 78.1, and in 5 years will be 80. Who is kidding who? This will eat a hole through America."

Simpson points out that all the suggestions they've offered to reform Medicare and Social Security would be gradual and would not affect anyone over the age of 60.

To hear more about Simpson and Bowles new plan to deal with the country's fiscal problems, and to hear their thoughts about the impending sequestration on March 1, check out this week's Politics Confidential.

This Saturday Dec. 19, 2009 photo shows U.S. Post Office letter carrier Tim Bell delivering the mail during a snow Chanel. Dior. Armani. Vera Wang. U.S. Postal Service?

The cash-strapped Postal Service announced Tuesday that it has inked a licensing deal with an Ohio-based clothing company to produce a line of apparel dubbed Rain Heat & Snow. The attire aims to reach well beyond T-shirts and baseball caps to include wearable electronics like jackets with iPod controls built into the sleeve, USPS spokesman Roy Betts explained to Yahoo News.

If you like your iPod, you can plug it right into your jacket, regulate the volume and make your selections right on your sleeve, Betts said in a phone interview. There will also be shirts that help wick off sweat, he said.

What about lingerie? Betts just laughed, so a racy line of USPS lacy unmentionables (perhaps dubbed "Saturday Deliveries"?) is probably not on its way.

"For now, it s all-weather, all-season clothing for men, ranging from headgear, footwear, jackets, coats and shirts," Betts explained. But they hope to launch a line for women.

How will this help the financial bottom line at the post office, which recently announced it would halt Saturday deliveries?

"It will make a contribution, but it's bigger than that," Betts said. It s really brand reputation, brand awareness, in addition to revenues.

"We're a postal service that recognizes that our business model has to change, we ve got to be more innovative with the products that we bring to market," the spokesman said.

Will the clothing bear the post office logo? "I m anxious to see it myself," Betts said cheerfully. "There will be something recognizable that identifies the product with the Postal Service."

The post office is working with Cleveland-based Wahconah Group, Inc., a minority-owned company that designs, sources and manufactures clothing, according to a USPS press release. The company is establishing a showroom in the garment district of New York City to showcase their apparel lines to the fashion industry, according to the statement.

NEW YORK (AP) New York City police are investigating harassment complaints made by actor Alec Baldwin and a New York Post photographer after an altercation.

Photographer G.N. Miller says the former "30 Rock" star yelled racial epithets and other insults when he was trying to take pictures of the actor outside his Manhattan apartment. Baldwin maintains he hollered at the photographer, but never said anything racist. He called the allegations "outrageous."

Baldwin called police and filed a harassment complaint Monday after the incident. The photographer later filed a cross-complaint.

The police department's Hate Crimes Task force was looking into the allegations.

The Post had no comment beyond its published report.

(Reuters) - Famed jeweler Bulgari said on Sunday it would put eight pieces of the late actress Elizabeth Taylor's jewels on display at its Beverly Hills boutique, more than a year after the Hollywood star's world-class collection fetched record prices at auction.

The exhibition of pieces from that sale will include jewels Taylor obtained and wore during well-documented times in her storied life, including the filming of "Cleopatra," which launched her romance with Richard Burton, Bulgari said.

Included are Taylor's first piece of Bulgari jewelry, an emerald-and-diamond brooch which achieved a record per-carat price for any emerald at the Christie's sale. The brooch sold for $6,578,500, setting a record price for an emerald jewel and emeralds per carat at $280,000.

An emerald and diamond necklace which sold at the Christie's auction for $6.1 million, and a diamond and gold sautoir set with six ancient Roman coins acquired for $5.9 million, will also be shown along with other diamonds, sapphires and more.

The jewels, widely reported to have been bought from the Taylor estate by Bulgari at the December 2011 auction of her collection at Christie's, will go on display this week in advance of next Sunday's Academy Awards, Bulgari said.

"There couldn't have been a more appropriate celebrity to have fallen in love with Bulgari," it said in announcing the display.

Noting Taylor's "grounded" nature in contrast to her impossibly glamorous life, it said Bulgari is known for creating jewels that pair precious stones with items of no intrinsic value such as antique coins, ceramics and silk cords.

Burton, whom Taylor married and divorced twice, once famously quipped that "The only Italian word Elizabeth knows is Bulgari." The Italian luxury house was founded in 1884 in Rome by Greek Sotirios Voulgaris, known in Italy as Sotirio Bulgari.

It was acquired in 2011 for 4.3 billion euros ($6.01 billion) and other considerations by the French luxury house LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.

Taylor died in 2011 aged 79 of congestive heart failure. The Christie's auction of her gems took in a record $116 million.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Todd Eastham)

With 48-hours of spin and Republican criticism on its side, the Obama administration continued to back away from an immigration plan that leaked over the weekend. After USA Today reported on a leaked immigration bill that Obama's team was assembling as various factions on Capitol Hill worked on their own legislation, an unnamed administration official told NBC News that the White House was not "floating anything" and framed the leaked legislation as a backup plan. "The administration will be ready to move forward in the event the bipartisan process gets bogged down and is not able to produce a bill," the administration official said. "But our focus remains on supporting the congressional process."

RELATED: What the President's Path to Citizenship Looks Like

That's the right thing to say, since the leaders of said "congressional process" or at least the Republicans among them absolutely planned the Obama plan over the weekend. Rep. Paul Ryan accused the Obama administration of pursuing a "partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution," while Sen. John McCain insisted that lawmakers were "making progress on a bipartisan basis." Sen. Marco Rubio went a stage further and said the plan was "half baked and seriously flawed," even "dead on arrival."

RELATED: Obama to Pitch Immigration Reform as a Money Saver

Before the White House had the chance to explain itself, The New York Times described the leaked information as "early drafts" of an immigration bill. Obama's chief-of-staff Denis McDonough explained on Meet the Press, "We are doing exactly what we said we would do, which is we'll be prepared in the event that the bipartisan talks going on the Hill which by the way we're very aggressively supporting if those do not work out, then we'll have an option that we'll be ready to put out there." That option describes a new visa establishing "Lawful Prospective Immigrant" status that would let immigrants live and work in the United States and apply for legal permanent residency eight years later.

RELATED: Rubio Fights the President's 'Half-Baked' Immigration Plan

How the draft of the bill got out remains a mystery. Former Obama chief-of-staff David Axelrod did say that it was a "mistake to disseminate [the draft] so widely in the administration that it got leaked." So maybe the Obama administration wanted it to be leaked? There's no way to know. And let us remind you that this is not an episode of House of Cards.

NEW YORK (AP) Letters from John Lennon's killer detailing his obsession with the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" to the police officer who arrested him went on sale Monday through a Los Angeles auction house.

The four missives from Mark David Chapman to Stephen Spiro are for sale through Moments In Time, which specializes in historical documents and rare autographs, at a fixed price of $75,000, auction house owner Gary Zimet said. Zimet is selling the letters on behalf of Spiro, who arrested Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, shortly after he shot Lennon outside The Dakota, the ex-Beatle's Manhattan apartment building.

The letters are typed and signed by Chapman. They were written over several months in 1983, after he had pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

In the first letter, from Jan. 15, 1983, Chapman says his reason for writing, besides wanting to be Spiro's friend, is to ask for help in locating his copy of "The Catcher in The Rye," which he was reading at the time of his arrest.

"Have you read 'The Catcher in the Rye' yet?" Chapman asks. "I would like you to read it and tell me what you think of it. As you remember, in the copy that was taken from me I had written 'This is my statement.'"

Spiro said he received the first letter at the Manhattan precinct where he worked and wrote Chapman back because he was hoping to get evidence on a possible hit list of other victims and people acting with Chapman.

"I was trying to get information from him to admit why he did it and what his motives were," said Spiro, who had the other letters sent to a post office box.

In one letter, Chapman said he'd let Spiro decide whether Lennon was a "phony" or not, a reference to troubled "Catcher in the Rye" narrator Holden Caulfield, who refers to people as "phonies" in the book, written by J.D. Salinger. Spiro said he re-read the novel on Chapman's request.

"I wanted to try to relate to him in the letters," he said.

The letters stopped abruptly, and Spiro said he believes someone told Chapman not to write to the police department anymore. An injury ended Spiro's job as a New York police officer in 1983, but he said he kept the letters in a file for more than 30 years. He decided to sell them in part to pay off hefty medical bills from cancer and other illnesses and because he thought they should be in the public domain.

"I wanted to publicize them to the world because they're part of history," he said.

Spiro, 66, had no contact with Chapman after the last letter.

Chapman, 57, was denied parole in August for the seventh time. During the hearing, he again expressed remorse for Lennon's killing and spoke of his Christian faith.

Lennon's widow, singer and artist Yoko Ono, still lives in the Dakota apartment she shared with Lennon, who was 40 when he died. She was celebrating her 80th birthday with a concert in Berlin and couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

NEW YORK (AP) Some final words from the late Mexican-American singer and TV star Jenni Rivera will be out this summer.

Atria Books announced Monday it's publishing a memoir by the multimillion-selling artist, who died in a plane crash in December at age 43. "Unbreakable," coming out simultaneously in English and Spanish, is scheduled for July and has been authorized by Rivera's family.

Rosie Rivera, the late singer's sister, said the family had decided to share Rivera's book with her fans so they could "enjoy her as we have."

"I miss my sister every moment, but on days that I want to feel her close, I open her book written in her own words, and feel her right next to me," Rosie Rivera said in a statement issued by Atria.

Atria vice president and senior editor Johanna Castillo said she had talked to Rivera about the impact she hoped her book's message would have on readers.

"This book is her legacy to all of her fans," Castillo said.

Rivera had worked on "Unbreakable" for several years and completed it before her death, Atria spokesman Paul Olsewski said. She had been in talks with Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, since 2011.

According to Atria, "Unbreakable" will provide "an intimate look into the heart and soul of this self-made woman, who ascended to the top of the charts against all odds, becoming a legend in a completely male dominated music category," grupero, a type of Mexican folk music.

A candid memoir would be in character for Rivera, a mother and grandmother of two known as the Diva de la Banda, or Diva of the Band, for her frank talk about her life. At the time of her death, she had been recently divorced from her third husband, former Major League Baseball player Esteban Loaiza.

Rivera, who was born in Los Angeles, launched her career by selling cassette tapes at flea markets. She went on to sell more than 15 million copies of her 12 major-label albums.

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Briers, best known for the 1970s TV sit-com "The Good Life" but also for his Shakespearean roles, has died at the age of 79, prompting a flood of tributes for "a national treasure".

The actor, who spent a lifetime on the stage, had recently spoken publicly of battling a serious lung condition for years, saying that "the ciggies got me" after a lifetime smoking habit.

He said his health was failing after being diagnosed with emphysema five years ago even though he gave up smoking 10 years ago.

"I was diagnosed five years ago and didn't think it would go quite as badly as it has," he told a newspaper interview last month. "I used to love smoking. It's totally my fault."

His agent said he died on Sunday at his London home.

Briers's career ranged from television, to theatre, to film and radio with the actor, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making his West End debut in the late 1950s.

In "The Good Life", he played alongside actress Felicity Kendal as a married couple who decide to drop out of the rat race and try out a life of self-sufficiency.

His film credits included "A Chorus Of Disapproval" in 1989 and "Watership Down" in 1978 in which he was the voice of Fiver. He also narrated the children's cartoon series "Roobarb and Custard".

But he won wide acclaim for his Shakespearean work after joining Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company. He appeared in a list of Branagh's films including "Henry V", "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Hamlet".

Briers, who was married with two daughters, was awarded an OBE in 1989 for services to the arts.

Branagh paid tribute to Briers, telling reporters: "He was a national treasure, a great actor and a wonderful man. He was greatly loved and he will be deeply missed."

Actor Stephen Fry on Twitter described him as "the most adorable and funny man imaginable".

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)

LOS ANGELES (AP) The CIA thrillers "Argo" and "Zero Dark Thirty" have won top screenplay honors from the Writers Guild of America.

The guild's adapted screenplay award Sunday went to Chris Terrio for "Argo," director Ben Affleck's tale of the CIA's daring masquerade of six U.S. diplomats as a Hollywood film crew to rescue them from Iran during the hostage crisis there.

Mark Boal won the prize for original screenplay for "Zero Dark Thirty," director Kathryn Bigelow's chronicle of the CIA's manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Director Malik Bendjelloul won the documentary award for "Searching for Sugar Man," his portrait of acclaimed but largely forgotten 1970s musician Rodriguez.

The guild was the last of Hollywood's major trade unions to weigh in on the year's top films before next Sunday's Academy Awards.

"Argo" has emerged as the best-picture favorite for the Oscars after sweeping top prizes at earlier film honors, including the Golden Globes and awards from the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.

Among the guild's TV winners:

Drama series: "Breaking Bad," written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz and Moira Walley-Beckett.

Comedy series: "Louie," written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman and Louis C.K.

New series: "Girls," written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman and Dan Sterling.

(NBC)

While discussing the contentious confirmation hearings for defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, things got a bit heated on Sunday's "Meet The Press" when Sen. John McCain referred to the lack of information from the White House surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi as a "massive cover-up."

"There are so many answers we don't know," McCain told host David Gregory. "We've had two movies about getting bin Laden and we don't even know who the people were who were evacuated from the consulate the day after the [Benghazi] attack. So there are many, many questions. So we've had a massive cover-up on the part of the administration."

Gregory then pressed McCain on what the Arizona senator meant by "a massive cover-up."

"I'm asking you, do you care whether four Americans died?" McCain said. "And shouldn't people be held accountable for the fact that four Americans died?"

"Well, what you said was the cover-up--a cover-up of what?" Gregory asked.

"Of the information concerning the deaths of four brave Americans," McCain replied. "The information has not been forthcoming. You obviously believe that it has. I know that it hasn't. And I'll be glad to send you a list of the questions that have not been answered, including 'What did the president do and who did he talk to the night of the attack on Benghazi?'"

McCain continued: "Why did the president for two weeks, for two weeks during the heat of the campaign continue to say he didn't know whether it was a terrorist attack or not? Is it because it interfered with the line 'Al Qaeda has [been] decimated'? And 'everything's fine in that in that part of the world'? Maybe. We don't know. But we need the answers. Then we'll reach conclusions. But we have not received the answers. And that's a fact."

Earlier, the former Republican presidential nominee said he expects Hagel to be confirmed as defense secretary even though he doesn't plan to vote for him.

"I don't believe he is qualified," McCain said. "But I don't believe that we should hold up his nomination any further."

HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) Mindy McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday. She was 37.

Waren Olmstead, the coroner in Cleburne County, Ark., said McCready died Sunday in Heber Springs but couldn't immediately provide further details.

He didn't have further information on who was taking care of her two sons.

She arrived in Nashville in 1994 with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a recording contract with BNA Records.

In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1 and its dig at male chauvinism endeared her to females. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," also in 1996, and her album by that title sold 2 million copies.

However, personal problems plagued her beginning in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons.

McCready took her older son Zander from her mother and the boy's legal guardian, Gayle Inge, in late 2011. She fled to Arkansas without permission over what she called child abuse fears. Authorities eventually found McCready hiding in a residence without permission and took the boy into custody.

She and her boyfriend David Wilson had a son, Zayne, in April of 2012. The older son has a different father.

In May 2010, she was hospitalized briefly after police responded to an overdose call at a home in North Fort Myers, Fla., owned by her mother. This followed a stint on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," where she delcared herself clean from drugs.

In 2004, she was charged with obtaining the painkiller OxyContin fraudulently at a pharmacy. She pleaded guilty and was placed on three years' probation.

She violated the probation with a drunken driving arrest in May 2005. Then she attempted suicide in July 2005, overdosed in September 2005 and slit her wrists again in December 2008.

Also that year, McCready was charged in Arizona with hindering prosecution and unlawful use of transportation. Those charges stemmed from an alleged attempt in June 2005 to purchase two high performance boats, but she claimed she was trying to stop a con man.

Growing up in Fort Myers, she took seven years of private vocal lessons and later sang in karaoke bars.

After getting her recording contract, she did concert appearances with top country stars including George Strait, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson.

Her other singles included "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now," ''A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's Gotta Do)" and "You'll Never Know."

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) Grammy-winning fingerpicking guitarist Pat Donohue thinks a South Dakota college town of about 10,000 is an unlikely place for a wide-ranging collection of musical instruments that includes saxophones built by inventor Adolphe Sax, a rare Stradivarius violin with its original neck and a Spanish guitar on which Bob Dylan composed some of his earliest songs.

But that's part of the charm of the 40-year-old National Music Museum, a treasure tucked away in an old Carnegie library building on the University of South Dakota campus.

Donahue, a regular performer on Garrison Keillor's radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," got to play a 1947 D'Angelico New Yorker guitar and a 1902 black and wood-grained guitar built by Orville Gibson for millions of listeners during a 2006 live broadcast from campus.

"The only unfortunate thing that I can think about it is that not enough people are going to see it because of where it is," Donohue said. "But then again, that's one of the things that make it unique."

The National Music Museum has boasted a world-class collection of musical instruments since it was established, and officials now want to build a facility to match that. The museum is looking to raise $15 million over the next few years to triple its gallery space, improve the entrance and revamp the vast archives where music scholars can peruse the thousands of instruments and documents not on public display.

"We'll have a proper lobby and visitor reception area, which we really don't have now," said Ted Muenster, who's leading the fundraising effort for the USD Foundation. "It will be a pretty impressive complex when we're finished with it."

The expansion plans recently earned a federal seal of approval with the awarding of a $500,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Endowment chairman Jim Leach visited the museum in 2010 and found its collection of more than 15,000 items "astonishing."

"This is a national treasure," Leach said. "It could just as easily be called the International Music Museum as the National Music Museum. It is one of, if not the, centerpiece of musical instrument collections in the world."

Cleveland Johnson took over as the museum's director in November after the retirement of Andre Larson, who'd been at the helm since it was established in 1973. The holdings grew out of a private collection owned by Larson's father, Arne B. Larson, who continually added items while serving as a public school music director.

The 800 or so instruments on public display are the "superstars" of the broader collection of pianos, harpsichords, guitars, horns and drums.

A keyboard aficionado could marvel at a Neapolitan virginal and harpsichord from the 1530s or the earliest French grand piano known to survive, an ornate green and gold instrument built by Louis Bas in Villeneuve l s Avignon in 1781.

A fan of stringed instruments would gasp at "The King," the world's oldest known surviving violoncello, which was crafted in 1545 and played by King Charles IX of France in 1562.

"What gets you through the door is a particular interest of yours," Johnson said. "What keeps you here twice as long as you planned are all the unexpected discoveries that you make."

Johnson hopes the expansion and a ramped-up marketing effort will bring more tourists to Vermillion, but he also wants to boost the museum's loans and traveling exhibits to get more exposure. The museum's red, silver and blue tenor saxophone donated in 1994 by President Bill Clinton was recently displayed at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

"We could double our attendance, but we're still talking about a few tens of thousands a year," he said. "It's not so much getting people through our doors as getting our collection in front of the eyes of people."

The museum scored its greatest public exposure during the "A Prairie Home Companion" broadcast. Museum officials even permitted the playing of "The King" violoncello on air, though such special occasions might happen "maybe once every generation," Johnson said.

It's a decision made on a case-by-case basis, balancing the rarity of the instrument, its condition and the potential audience reach, he said.

Leach said the National Endowment for the Humanities grant is designed to bring in $3 in private donations for every $1 from the government. It also gives the museum a little street cred in cultural circles, since all applications for funding are peer-reviewed.

"We only fund one out of six, and they're all assessed by and graded by experts in fields," Leach said. "This got a wondrous review by a panel on the world's leading experts in not only museum studies but music studies."

Expansion plans call for adding about 65,000 square feet of gallery space to the existing 23,000 square feet. The limited space has not only prevented instruments from getting their proper display, but also has hampered curators' efforts to find creative and hands-on ways to program and teach visitors and school groups, Johnson said.

"The new building is still years away," he said. "I'd imagine it will be fully used the minute they cut the ribbon."

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Online: http://www.usd.edu/smm

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Follow Dirk Lammers on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ddlammers.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, in his penultimate Sunday address to a crowded St. Peter's Square before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign.

The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will abdicate on February 28, thanked them in several languages.

Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope".

It was not clear why the pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation in his Sunday address.

A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Church is crisis and polarized.

"I can imagine taking a step towards a black pope, an African pope or a Latin American pope," Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss Vatican official who will enter the conclave to choose the next pope, told Reuters in an interview.

After his address, the pope retired into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a scheduled, week-long spiritual retreat and will not make any more public appearances until next Sunday.

Speaking in Italian in part of his address about Lent, the period when Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions.

"In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the I', or God? The individual interest, or the real good, that which is really good?" he said.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH

The pope has said his physical and spiritual forces are no longer strong enough to sustain him in the job of leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics at a time of crisis for the Church in a fast-changing world.

Benedict's papacy was rocked by crises over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.

His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.

Since his shock announcement last Monday, the pope has said several times that he made the difficult decision to become the first pope in more than six centuries to resign for the good of the Church. Aides said he was at peace with himself.

"In a funny way he is even more peaceful now with this decision, unlike the rest of us, he is not somebody who gets choked up really easily," said Greg Burke, a senior media advisor to the Vatican.

"I think that has a lot to do with his spiritual life and who he is and the fact he is such a prayerful man," Burke told Reuters Television.

People in the crowd said the pope was a shadow of the man he was when elected on April 19, 2005.

"Like always, recently, he seemed tired, moved, perplexed, uncertain and insecure," said Stefan Malabar, an Italian in St. Peter's Square.

"It's something that really has an effect on you because the pope should be a strong and authoritative figure but instead he seems very weak, and that really struck me," he said.

The Vatican has said the conclave to choose his successor could start earlier than originally expected, giving the Roman Catholic Church a new leader by mid-March.

Some 117 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to enter the secretive conclave which, according to Church rules, has to start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, which it will on February 28.

But since the Church is now dealing with an announced resignation and not a sudden death, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Vatican would be "interpreting" the law to see if it could start earlier.

CONSULTATIONS BEGUN

Cardinals around the world have already begun informal consultations by phone and email to construct a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church in a period of continuing crisis.

The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected and then formally installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.

New details emerged at the weekend about Benedict's health.

Peter Seewald, a German journalist who wrote a book with the pope in 2010 in which Benedict first floated the possibility of resigning, visited him again about 10 weeks ago.

"His hearing had deteriorated. He couldn't see with his left eye. His body had become so thin that the tailors had difficulty in keeping up with newly fitted clothes ... I'd never seen him so exhausted-looking, so worn down," Seewald said.

The pope will say one more Sunday noon prayer on February 24 and hold a final general audience on February 27.

The next day he will take a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, where he will stay for around two months before moving to a convent inside the Vatican where he will live out his remaining years.

(Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, known as the "Blade Runner", was planning a future with the girlfriend he is accused of shooting dead this week, his uncle said on Saturday.

Pistorius, 26, one of the world's most recognizable athletes, was charged on Friday with murdering swimsuit model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of the previous day.

He broke down during a 40-minute bail hearing at a Pretoria court but was not asked to enter a plea.

"They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," Anthony Pistorius said in a statement released by his nephew's agent.

"We are in a state of total shock - firstly about the tragic death of Reeva who we had all got to know well and care for deeply over the last few months," he said. "All of us saw at first hand how close she had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were."

The suggestion that Pistorius' family was close to Steenkamp runs counter to comments from Pistorius' father, Henke, who told the New York Times he had never met his son's partner.

"I don't discuss my son's relationships. I have, in fact, not met the lady," he was quoted as saying.

Prosecutors alleged the shooting was premeditated, a charge that could put Pistorius behind bars for life if convicted.

Police have said there are no other suspects and the pair were the only people in the house at the time. Initial reports suggested he may have mistaken her for an intruder.

Anthony Pistorius reiterated the family's belief that the track star - a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics when he ran at last year's Olympics - had not shot Steenkamp deliberately.

"After consulting with legal representatives we deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder," Anthony said.

"We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the state's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all."

NUMB

Pistorius is being held in a Pretoria police station before the resumption of his bail hearing on Tuesday. He is "numb" with shock and grief, the statement said.

Several South African media reports have said Steenkamp was shot through the bathroom door and was hit four times - in the head, hip, arm and hand.

Police said on Thursday witnesses had heard disturbances at the home before the shots, adding that there had been previous incidents of a "domestic nature" at the home.

The shooting has shocked South Africa, where Pistorius was revered as a hero whose achievements transcended the racial divides that linger in Nelson Mandela's "Rainbow Nation" 19 years after the end of apartheid.

The disbelief was felt across the globe among the millions who saw in Pistorius the ultimate tale of triumph over adversity - a man who rose to the highest pinnacles of athletics despite having no lower legs.

He was born without either fibula but reached the semi-final of the 400-metres in the London 2012 Olympics, running on high-technology carbon fiber prosthetic 'blades'. He also won two Paralympic gold medals and one silver medal.

Although the public image was of a charming and easy-going young man, a Twitter posting by Pistorius in November paints the picture of a would-be action man obsessed with security.

"Nothing like getting home to hear the washing machine on and thinking it's an intruder to go into full combat recon mode into the pantry! waa," read the Tweet on the morning of November 27

Police recovered a 9mm pistol from his home after the shooting. The Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper said Pistorius had a license for one firearm and applications pending for a further seven, including a semi-automatic rifle.

Police declined to comment on the Beeld report.

"We're releasing nothing," spokeswoman Katelgo Mogale said. "Details of the incident will come out in court."

South African state broadcaster SABC will on Saturday evening air the first episode of a tropical island reality show featuring Steenkamp that was filmed last year in the Caribbean.

SABC said her family had given their blessing to the show's airing, which will be preceded by a short tribute.

(Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Jason Webb)

EASTON, Md. (AP) Rapper 2 Chainz has been arrested on drug charges in Maryland where he was performing at a college homecoming event.

Maryland State Police spokesman Sgt. Marc Black said troopers stopped a van Thursday night about 9:15 p.m. for speeding near Easton, Md., and smelled a strong odor of burnt marijuana in the van. A backpack in the van had a marijuana grinder and trace amounts of marijuana, police said.

The rapper, whose real name is Tauheed Epps, claimed possession of the backpack and was arrested, police said. Epps was cited for having drug paraphernalia and marijuana and was released. The citation carries up to a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.

Agents representing Epps did not respond to requests for comment.

Last year, 2 Chainz released his solo debut, "Based on a T.R.U. Story," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts and has achieved gold status. He also has several Top 10 hits on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts as both a lead and featured artist.

After the arrest, 2 Chainz' website tweeted a photograph that appears to show him posing with two police officers. Black said the Maryland State Police could not confirm the authenticity of the photograph but is investigating.

"Locked me up and then Wanted pictures smh," read one tweet, using the abbreviation for shaking my head.

Epps was scheduled to perform Thursday evening at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. His website later tweeted a photo from the stage and wrote the "show must go on."

His manager declined to comment or confirm the tweets were from 2 Chainz himself.

CHELYABINSK, Russia (AP) A small army of workers set to work Saturday to replace the estimated 200,000 square meters (50 acres) of windows shattered by the shock wave from a meteor that exploded over Russia's Chelyabinsk region.

The astonishing Friday morning event blew out windows in more than 4,000 buildings in the region, mostly in the capital city of the same name and injured some 1,200 people, largely with cuts from the flying glass.

Fifteen of the injured remained hospitalized on Saturday, one of them in a coma, the regional health ministry said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Regional governor Mikhail Yurevich on Saturday said damage from the high-altitude explosion estimated to have the force of 20 atomic bombs is estimated at 1 billion rubles ($33 million). He promised to have all the broken windows replaced within a week.

But that is a long wait in a frigid region. The midday temperature in Chelyabinsk was minus-12 C (10 F), and for many the immediate task was to put up plastic sheeting and boards on shattered residential windows.

More than 24,000 people, including volunteers, have mobilized in the region to cover windows, gather warm clothes and food and make other relief efforts, the regional governor's office said. Crews from glass companies in adjacent regions were being flown in.

In the town of Chebarkul, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Chelyabinsk city, divers explored the bottom of an ice-crusted lake looking for meteor fragments believed to have fallen there, leaving a six-meter-wide (20-foot-wide) hole. Emergency Ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius told Russian news agencies the search hadn't found anything.

Police kept a small crowd of curious onlookers from venturing out onto the icy lake, where a tent was set up for the divers.

Many of them were still trying to process the memories of the strange day they'd lived through.

Valery Fomichov said he had been out for a run when the meteor streaked across the sky shortly after sunrise.

"I glanced up and saw a glowing dot in the west. And it got bigger and bigger, like a soccer ball, until it became blindingly white and I turned away," he said.

In a local church, clergyman Sexton Sergei sought to derive a larger lesson.

"Perhaps God was giving a kind of sign, so that people don't simply think about their own trifles on earth, but rather look to the heavens once in a while."

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Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

LONDON (Reuters) - An Italian magazine said on Tuesday it will publish pictures of a pregnant Duchess of Cambridge wearing a bikini on holiday in the Caribbean, angering the British royal family and reigniting a debate over privacy and freedom of the press.

Photographs of the former Kate Middleton, walking with her husband Prince William on a beach on the island of Mustique are expected to be published in the Italian gossip magazine Chi on Wednesday.

The same publication ran pictures last September of the princess sunbathing topless on holiday in France, raising questions about media intrusion into the lives of one of the world's most famous couples.

Chi's owner The Mondadori group published a picture of the magazine's front page on its website. It appeared to show the 31-year-old princess wading into the sea in a blue bikini in one picture and another where she was strolling arm in arm with William, 30, second in line to the British throne.

The headline read: "Kate & William in Mustique: The belly grows".

A St James's Palace spokesman said the decision was "a clear breach of the couple's right to privacy".

"We are disappointed that photographs of the Duke and Duchess on a private holiday look likely to be published overseas," he said.

The magazine's publication of the topless pictures last year against the couple's wishes was condemned by British Prime Minister David Cameron. It stirred memories of the world media's relentless pursuit of William's mother, Princess Diana who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 as she was being chased by paparazzi.

While magazines and websites in Europe have printed long-lens shots of the couple, Britain's tabloid newspapers have so far held back.

The newspapers are fighting stricter regulation recommended by a judge-led inquiry into their tactics that uncovered illegal payments to public officials and phone-hacking to get stories.

The couple are expecting their first baby in July. The duchess was admitted to hospital in December suffering from an acute form of morning sickness.

(Additional reporting by Paola Arosio in Milan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)