CEO testifies about emails on Jackson condition

LOS ANGELES (AP) The head of the company promoting Michael Jackson's ill-fated comeback concerts says he didn't bring in a mental health professional for the singer despite two high-level workers on the tour suggesting it was necessary.

AEG Live LLC CEO Randy Phillips told jurors Thursday about a series of emails he received six days before Jackson's death that described the singer's health as "deteriorating" and describing him as incapable of rehearsals.

Phillips and AEG Live are being sued by Jackson's mother, claiming they negligently hired the doctor convicted of giving Jackson an overdose of an anesthetic.

AEG denies it hired the physician or pushed Jackson to rehearse.

An email displayed in court showed Phillips wrote to Jackson's business manager that the singer may have already breached his contract five days before his death.

Michelle Obama clashes with heckler at fundraiser

Michelle Obama (Alex Wong/Getty Images)First lady Michelle Obama threatened to leave a fundraiser Tuesday night unless a heckler stopped interrupting her speech.

ABC News reports that Mrs. Obama was speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at a private home in Washington when a woman in the audience started shouting in support of an executive order on gay and lesbian rights.

According to pool reports, Obama responded, "One of the things I don t do well is this," a remark which drew loud applause. She then left the lectern and approached the heckler, telling the woman she could "listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving. You all decide. You have one choice."

The crowd begged for Obama to stay and one woman shouted at the heckler, "You need to go." The protester was then reportedly escorted out of the event.

She was later identified as Ellen Sturtz, 56, an activist for the pro-LGBT rights group GetEQUAL.

Sturtz later told the Huffington Post in an interview that she hadn t gone to the event intending to interrupt the first lady, but during the course of her speech she decided to speak up.

"I want to talk about the children," she said. "I want to talk about the LGBT young people who are ... being told, directly and indirectly, that they're second-class citizens. I'm tired of it."

Sturtz said she was disappointed in the first lady's response.

"Basically, I was asked by the first lady to be quiet, and I can't be quiet any longer. ... I was surprised by how negative the crowd seemed to be. It was actually a little unsettling and disturbing," said Sturtz.

"She obviously thought she was going to make an example of me or something. I wasn't scared at all."

Need a Self-Esteem Boost? Look at Your Facebook Profile

Even if you're not living your best life you can make it look like you are on Facebook, and just glimpsing this idealized version of yourself can provide a rush of self-esteem, a new study shows.

But there may be a downside to those positive feelings.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, measured Facebook users' self-esteem after they looked at their own profiles. The researchers used an implicit association test, in which participants had to associate positive or negative adjectives with self-centered words like "me," "my," "I" and "myself."

"If you have high self-esteem, then you can very quickly associate words related to yourself with positive evaluations but have a difficult time associating words related to yourself with negative evaluations," study researcher Catalina Toma explained in a statement. "But if you have low self-esteem, the opposite is true." [6 Personal Secrets Your Facebook Profile Isn't Keeping]

Toma and colleagues found that the participants experienced a significant boost in self-esteem even after looking at their own Facebook profile for just five minutes.

However, the burst of self-worth seemed to sink the participants' motivation to perform well on a follow-up math task.

Compared with a control group who didn't spend several minutes navel gazing, those who had just looked at their Facebook profiles before the test answered fewer questions in the allotted time, though their error rate was unchanged.

"Performing well in a task can boost feelings of self-worth," Toma said in a statement. "However, if you already feel good about yourself because you looked at your Facebook profile, there is no psychological need to increase your self-worth by doing well in a laboratory task."

Toma cautioned this single study doesn't mean, for example, that Facebook use is dragging down grades for college students. She added that further research is needed to examine the psychological effects of other Facebook activities, like viewing other users' profiles or reading their newsfeeds.

Previous research has actually shown that looking at the Facebook profiles of others could have some ego-deflating effects, even if your own profile acts like a magical mirror.

In a study presented last year at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, people with lots of Facebook friends experienced a drop in self-esteem after viewing their friends' status updates. But for people with just a few Facebook friends, viewing status updates wasn't a problem.

The new research is detailed in the June issue of the journal Media Psychology.

Follow Megan Gannon on Twitterand Google+.Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

7 Things That Will Make You Happy 10 Technologies That Will Transform Your Life Understanding the 10 Most Destructive Human Behaviors Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Biden on mental illness: There s nothing to be ashamed of

Actor Bradley Cooper arrives for the Mental Health Conference on Monday. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Vice President Joe Biden closed out a mental health conference at the White House Monday afternoon with a message of support to those affected by mental illness.

"Let's use this moment to send a message to tens of millions of Americans, especially the young people and parents of young people all over this country," Biden said during remarks delivered in the White House's South Court Auditorium. "There's nothing, nothing to be ashamed of if you're struggling with mental issues. ... It's OK to talk about it, it's OK to ask for help, it's OK to acknowledge that it's frightening."

Monday's conference at the White House, which featured remarks from President Barack Obama, two panel discussions with mental health experts and advocates, government officials and celebrity guests, was designed to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. It kicked off the president's plan to hold a national conversation about gun violence following the deadly Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Obama's effort to pressure Congress to pass gun reform measures stalled in mid-April when the Democratic-controlled Senate failed to support an expansion of background checks on gun purchases.

The president announced Monday that the Department of Veterans Affairs will direct 151 of its health care centers to conduct mental health summits July 1 through Sept. 15. The summits, which will include partnerships with local community organizations, will focus on support for veterans and their families, and increase awareness about available mental health programs.

And Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new website, mentalhealth.gov, which she described as a "one-stop shop" for mental health support and a place where visitors can read success stories from individuals with mental illness.

Biden was introduced Monday by actor Bradley Cooper, who played a character with bipolar disorder in "Silver Linings Playbook." Cooper said he first spoke with Biden, who reached out to him in February about mental illness stigmas. "I want to help. I want to do something about it. I want to be part of the solution," Cooper said. He added that "helping people understand that they're not alone ... that treatment works" is a way to help reduce the stigma.

Obama's opening remarks Monday morning included his disbelief about the number of "very personal" medical ads shown on television while mental health remains a taboo subject.

"You see commercials on TV about a whole array of physical health issues some of them very personal," Obama said, drawing laughter. "And yet, we whisper about mental health issues and avoid asking too many questions. ... There should be no shame in discussing or seeking help for treatable illnesses that affect too many people that we love. We've got to get rid of that embarrassment. We've got to get rid of that stigma. Too many Americans who struggle with mental health illnesses are still suffering in silence rather than seeking help."

Obama said that each year "1 in 5 adults experience mental illness" and noted that he and first lady Michelle Obama know people who have battled severe depression.

"Struggling with a mental illness or caring for someone who does can be isolating," Obama said.

The conference included a panel on negative attitudes toward mental illness moderated by Sebelius and a panel on mental health outreach moderated by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, which included a representative from MTV and other messaging experts.

Actress Glenn Close participated in the first panel. Close co-founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the stigma associated with mental illness after observing how it affected her sister and son.

She said she is lucky her sister is alive. She "fell through the cracks of our family," Close said.

Moderator Sebelius noted the stigmas in society at large that remain regarding mental illness.

"Mental health needs to be an issue we can talk about openly and freely without the fear of being judged or penalized," Sebelius said, noting that those suffering from mental illness continue to be outcast by society.

Other participants included former Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, whose son committed suicide. Smith currently serves as president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, which is developing a national campaign to increase public awareness of mental health. Audience members who spoke at Monday's first panel included former Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, who has bipolar disorder, and Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

Surprises, rap's new class take over Summer Jam XX

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) New York City radio station Hot 97 celebrated its 20th annual Summer Jam concert with young rappers who are dominating the charts, a respected veteran hip-hop group and a slew of surprises.

Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Lil Kim were among the guest stars of Sunday's show at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J, where Beyonce and Jay-Z watched from backstage. Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky and French Montana performed sets that electrified the excited crowd. Wu-Tang Clan hit the stage and were solid, though the energy of the audience filled with a good number of twentysomethings dwindled throughout the set.

Here's a breakdown of the highlights from Summer XX, which also featured Chris Brown, Miguel, Wale, Fabolous and Joe Budden.

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SURPRISE: IT'S WEEZY F. BABY AND RICKY ROZAY

No offense to French Montana, but Summer Jam XX would have been disappointing if the rapper closed the five-hour concert alone. Thankfully, he brought out Rick Ross and then to the largest roar the audience gave Sunday night there came Lil Wayne. They performed the addictive hit "Pop That" as the crowd sang along and jumped up and down.

Bringing out a special guest (or guests) was the night's theme: Minaj earned cheers when she helped 2 Chainz on "I Luv Dem Strippers" and "Beez in the Trap," Fabolous brought out fellow Brooklynite Lil Kim, and R&B singer Miguel had J. Cole and Mariah Carey help him with his set.

A$AP Rocky, 24, said he's a big fan of '90s hip-hop, namedropping acts like Wu-Tang Clan, N.W.A., UGK and Three 6 Mafia as favorites. But he wasn't all talk: Quickly after he spoke about his rap heroes, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony joined him onstage.

____

HIP-HOP'S NEW CLASS TAKES OVER

Hot 97 was celebrating 20 years of Summer Jam, but rappers in their twenties dominated the annual concert. Hip-hop's new class, including Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, French Montana and 2 Chainz (he's 35, but appeals to a younger audience), kept the crowd of thousands on their feet, performing back-to-back jams that have controlled urban radio in the last year.

Lamar, who is the critical darling of the bunch, was the best of the youngsters: He was cool onstage as he rapped songs from his near-platinum major label debut, "good kid, m.A.A.d city," including "Poetic Justice" and "(Expletive), Don't Kill My Vibe." He left out "Swimming Pools (Drank)," though that song would have been appropriate since the audience was drenched after it rained several times at the MetLife Stadium.

2 Chainz entered the stage rapping his verse from Kanye West's "Mercy," and he followed that with a number of radio hits, including "I'm Different," ''Birthday Song" and "No Lie." A$AP Rocky was wild onstage, and rap's new class showed the brotherly love when he was joined by Lamar and 2 Chainz for "(Expletive) Problems."

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THAT WAS A LITTLE AWKWARD

Nicki Minaj is obviously confident not many people wear multicolored wigs like she does. But on Sunday, things were just a little awkward for the rapper, and for a couple reasons.

Last year Minaj backed out of headlining Summer Jam after Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg dissed the rapper and her dance-pop hit, "Starships." Minaj debuted in 2009 deeply rooted in rap, but later she began to sing on her songs and found success with electronic-based tunes and collaborations with David Guetta. But the 30-year-old returned to the Summer Jam stage for mere minutes with 2 Chainz in a curly blond wig and blue jeans. She exchanged words they seemed cordial with Rosenberg onstage after performing.

Minaj also performed on a stage where her enemies were also present: Her fellow and former "American Idol" judge, Mariah Carey, was in the building, as was Lil Kim, who feuded with Minaj when the rapper came on the music scene.

Who's got backstage video?

____

TOO YOUNG TO APPRECIATE?

Wu-Tang Clan, who also celebrated 20 years in music Sunday, showed no signs of slowing down with a set that felt both fresh and nostalgic. Too bad the crowd didn't think so.

The young audience grew excited during small parts of the rap group's set, and Ghostface Killah, Method Man, RZA, Raekwon and the other members seemed to notice.

"All we ask is that the energy we give to you, give it back to us," Method Man told the crowd.

"I think New York forgot about us a little, man," RZA said later.

Despite some of the crowd's disinterest in the veteran group, they blazed the stage, performing jams like "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta (Expletive) Wit," ''Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" and "C.R.E.A.M."

Kids, do your rap research.

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HIP-HOP'S COUSIN: THE R&B TREATS

Summer Jam is a rapper's show, but R&B held its own, thanks to Miguel and Chris Brown.

Miguel was silky, performing hits like "Sure Thing," ''How Many Drinks" and "Adorn" all as the crowd sang along. He earned more points when he brought out diva Mariah Carey to sing her new single, "Beautiful," where he is featured.

Brown, who has rapped on some of his songs, was bold when he hit the stage: He started with the European-flavored "Beautiful People," where he was backed with futuristic dancers and auto-tune. The crowd didn't fist pump, but they were pumped.

Brown was quick on his feet when performing "Fine China" and slowed things down for "Don't Judge Me." And while he first wore a Yankees jersey, he took it off to sing wait for it his R&B hit "Strip."

___

Online:

http://www.hot97.com/summerjam/

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu at http://www.twitter.com/MusicMesfin

Woman finally goes to prom after being held captive for a decade

According to local station WTAE, the 31-year-old Pittsburgh woman, kidnapped in 1996 at the age of 14 and found in 2006, finally got that chance, attending the local Second Chance Prom thrown by radio station Star 100.7 for people 21 and over on Saturday night.

When Kach s fianc , Karl McCrum, heard about the dance, he called the station and won tickets for the two of them to attend.

Kach sounded as excited as a high-school senior when describing her preparations for the party. I got the shoes, jewelry with it, and then I just got the last finishing touches for the hair stuff," Kach told WTAE. "And then," she said with a big grin, gesturing off-camera toward her fianc , "he brought me my corsage today."

"I would like her to experience everything that she missed. Just because it's a little later in life doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy it," said McCrum.

Kach told WTAE that she was "excited to do something I never got to do and be with other people and dance and eat and have a nice time. It's going to be fun."

She added, "I want to ... show people that even after something tragic in your life, you can move on and try and live a normal life."

Thomas Hose, a janitor at Kach s school, had held Kach for 10 years in his basement. Currently in prison, he was convicted on a list of charges and faces more than 100 years in prison," according to the station.

10 ways 'All in the Family' tested Edith

LOS ANGELES (AP) Edith Bunker had to deal with her trying husband, Archie, and more. Here are challenges that faced the "All in the Family" character played by Jean Stapleton, who made the most of these series highlights. The actress died Friday at age 90.

A breast cancer scare that she tried to hide from the family.

An intruder's attempted sexual assault, which she thwarted with a hot cake to his face.

Fiery clashes between her liberal cousin Maude (Bea Arthur) and conservative Archie (Carroll O'Connor).

The mood swings of menopause, which prompted her to turn the tables on Archie and tell him to "stifle!"

Fretting that she was a kleptomaniac after absent-mindedly taking a wig from a store.

A confrontation with Archie over his broken promise to give up gambling.

Enduring a test of faith after a female-impersonator friend is murdered.

The discovery that Archie was pursuing an extramarital affair.

Losing her job after helping a woman fulfill her right-to-die wish.

A stroke that led to Edith's off-camera death after Stapleton decided to move on.

Jean Stapleton, TV's Edith Bunker, dies at 90

NEW YORK (AP) Jean Stapleton, the stage-trained character actress who played Archie Bunker's far better half, the sweetly naive Edith, in TV's groundbreaking 1970s comedy "All in the Family," has died. She was 90.

Stapleton died Friday of natural causes at her New York City home surrounded by friends and family, her children said Saturday.

Little known to the public before "All In the Family," she co-starred with Carroll O'Connor in the top-rated CBS sitcom about an unrepentant bigot, the wife he churlishly but fondly called "Dingbat," their daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) and liberal son-in-law Mike, aka Meathead (Rob Reiner).

Stapleton received eight Emmy nominations and won three times during her eight-year tenure with "All in the Family." Produced by Norman Lear, the series broke through the timidity of U.S. TV with social and political jabs and ranked as the No. 1-rated program for an unprecedented five years in a row. Lear would go on to create a run of socially conscious sitcoms.

Stapleton also earned Emmy nominations for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 film "Eleanor, First Lady of the World" and for a guest appearance in 1995 on "Grace Under Fire."

Her big-screen films included a pair directed by Nora Ephron: the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romance "You've Got Mail" and 1996's "Michael" starring John Travolta. She also turned down the chance to star in another popular sitcom, "Murder, She Wrote," which became a showcase for Angela Lansbury.

The theater was Stapleton's first love and she compiled a rich resume, starting in 1941 as a New England stock player and moving to Broadway in the 1950s and '60s. In 1964, she originated the role of Mrs. Strakosh in "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand. Others musicals and plays included "Bells Are Ringing," ''Rhinoceros" and Damn Yankees," in which her performance and the nasal tone she used in "All in the Family" attracted Lear's attention and led to his auditioning her for the role of Archie's wife.

"I wasn't a leading lady type," she once told The Associated Press. "I knew where I belonged. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies." Edith, of the dithery manner, cheerfully high-pitched voice and family loyalty, charmed viewers but was viewed by Stapleton as "submissive" and, she hoped, removed from reality. In a 1972 New York Times interview, she said she didn't think Edith was a typical American housewife "at least I hope she's not."

"What Edith represents is the housewife who is still in bondage to the male figure, very submissive and restricted to the home. She is very naive, and she kind of thinks through a mist, and she lacks the education to expand her world. I would hope that most housewives are not like that," said Stapleton, whose character regularly obeyed her husband's demand to "stifle yourself."

But Edith was honest and compassionate, and "in most situations she says the truth and pricks Archie's inflated ego," she added.

She confounded Archie with her malapropos "You know what they say, misery is the best company" and open-hearted acceptance of others, including her beleaguered son-in-law and African-Americans and other minorities that Archie disdained.

As the series progressed, Stapleton had the chance to offer a deeper take on Edith as the character faced milestones including a breast cancer scare and menopause. She was proud of the show's political edge, citing an episode about a draft dodger who clashes with Archie as a personal favorite.

But Stapleton worried about typecasting, rejecting any roles, commercials or sketches on variety shows that called for a character similar to Edith. Despite pleas from Lear not to let Edith die, Stapleton left the show, re-titled "Archie's Place," in 1980, leaving Archie to carry on as a widower.

"My decision is to go out into the world and do something else. I'm not constituted as an actress to remain in the same role.... My identity as an actress is in jeopardy if I invested my entire career in Edith Bunker," she told the AP in 1979.

She had no trouble shaking off Edith "when you finish a role, you're done with it. There's no deep, spooky connection with the parts you play," she told the AP in 2002 but after O'Connor's 2001 death she got condolence letters from people who thought they were really married. When people spotted her in public and called her "Edith," she would politely remind them that her name was Jean.

Stapleton proved her own toughness when her husband of 26 years, William Putch, suffered a fatal heart attack in 1983 at age 60 while the couple was touring with a play directed by Putch.

Stapleton went on stage in Syracuse, N.Y., that night and continued on with the tour. "That's what he would have wanted," she told People magazine in 1984. "I realized it was a refuge to have that play, rather than to sit and wallow. And it was his show."

Stapleton was born in New York City to Joseph Murray and his wife, Marie Stapleton Murray, a singer. She attended Hunter College, leaving for a secretarial stint before embarking on acting studies with the American Theatre Wing and others.

Stapleton had a long working relationship with playwright Horton Foote, starting with one of his first full-length plays in 1944, "People in the Show," and continuing with six other works through the 2000s.

"I was very impressed with her. She has a wonderful sense of character. Her sense of coming to life on stage I never get tired of watching," Foote told the AP in 2002. He died in 2009.

Her early TV career included guest appearances on series including "Lux Video Theatre," ''Dr. Kildare" and "The Defenders."

She and Putch had two children, John and Pamela, who followed their parents into the entertainment industry.

Her post-"All in the Family" career included a one-woman stage show, "Eleanor," in which she portrayed the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stapleton spent summers working at the Totem Pole Playhouse near Harrisburg, Pa., operated by her husband, William. She made guest appearances on "Murphy Brown" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and even provided the title character's voice for a children's video game, "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup."

For years, she rarely watched "All In the Family," but had softened by 2000, when she told the Archive of American Television that enough time had passed.

"I can watch totally objectively," she said. "I love it. And I laugh. I think, 'Oh,' and I think, 'Gee, that's good.'"

___

AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

Seen and heard in Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENTS FOR ACTRESS AS DAD WATCHES LOVE SCENES:

Talk about awkward.

Not only did Adele Exarchopoulos' father watch the graphic sex scenes between her and another woman in Cannes Palme d'Or-winning "Blue Is The Warmest Color (The Life of Adele)," she was with him when he took in the film at its premiere.

"During the love scenes I was ill at ease with my father being there, but at the same time I wanted him to be there. And I knew that he would probably have a very good reaction because it's all a question of intelligence and he's intelligent and therefore would understand," said Exarchopoulos.

She added:

"During the sex scene I was looking at him, like, 'Oh my god, how does he feel' because I don't want to make him uncomfortable, you know?" the 19-year-old said in an interview. "I think I was trying to take a certain distance from what was happening during the love scenes."

In the film, Exarchopoulos stars as 15-year-old Adele. She's heterosexual, but after meeting co-star Lea Seydoux's Emma, falls in love and begins to struggle with her sexuality. On Sunday, Steven Spielberg's jury awarded the festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, to "Life of Adele" director Abdellatif Kechiche, but also to the film's two stars.

Exarchopoulos said she and Seydoux shared nervous giggles before filming the intimate scenes, but that's it.

"It really developed, there was no choreography at all. We tried to put ourselves in the situation, and it helped in a way that I was new to the situation because my character is new to the situation as well," she said. "So it was all right that I was destabilized. Lea was leading me and I was kind of following in the flow. But I must say it was a strong thing to play."

This is one of two films Seydoux is promoting at this year's festival. The other, "Grand Central," from director Rebecca Zlotowski, is showing in the Un Certain Regard category.

The actress, who cut her hair and dyed it blue for "Adele," said she liked the challenge of her role.

"I really enjoyed playing this part, this tomboy even if it was very difficult sometimes. I like to play parts that are complex, and I like ambiguity and I like contradictions as well, she's like, I like to really give something very subtle," she said.

Reetu Rupal, http://www.twitter.com/r2today

LI YU CHUN IS BREAKING THE MOLD

Li Yu Chun doesn't exactly mesh with the image of most starlets who walk on the red carpets at the Cannes Film Festival.

Instead of flowing gowns, the Chinese singer has worn dramatic capes that accompany striking pantsuits. And while many female celebrities sport cascading locks, Chun has her hair cut short, pixie style.

"A lot of people are asking me, 'Why aren't you wearing a long dress like a princess?'" said Chun, who came to the festival as a representative of the cosmetics brand L'Oreal. "I have another personality and that is why I have to show my own personality with the suits that fit me. That is why I love to work with L'Oreal because they have given me self-confidence."

Chun, who is known for her boyish, androgynous looks, said she was surprised to be chosen as a L'Oreal ambassador since she represents a different look than some of their other representatives at the festival, like Freida Pinto, Julianne Moore, Aishwarya Rai and Eva Longoria.

"Usually they choose girls with long hair and big waves in her hair and that is not exactly my image," she laughed. "That is why I was surprised but happily surprised."

Chun shot to fame when she won "Chinese Best Voices," that country's version of "American Idol. She said she was excited to be in Cannes for the festivities, but was also getting some work done as well.

"I am also participating in their meetings to discuss about how to represent and how to organize promoting events," the 29-year-old said. "They are organizing a lot of activities for me too and this is why I find it very very exciting."

Sian Watson, http://www.twitter.com/sianwatson

'JIMMY P' ROLES WERE MADE FOR DEL TORO AND AMALRIC LITERALLY

For director Arnaud Desplechin, it was either Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric for "Jimmy P" or no movie.

"I thought if I can't have them, I won't do the film," he said in an interview this week.

Luckily for him, both Del Toro and malric said yes to the project.

In "Jimmy P (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)," Amalric plays real-life French analyst Georges Devereux, who moved to the United States in the 1930s. He spent time living with Mojave Indians and helped develop the field of ethno-psychiatry, which studies the ways mental illness is understood in different cultural contexts.

Del Toro is his patient Jimmy Picard, who returned from World War II in France with a head injury and debilitating psychological symptoms his doctors were unable to diagnose.

Desplechin said it's the first time he's written a film with actors already in mind.

"I was so nervous when I started it because it was quite difficult to produce because the film is half French, half American, so it was quite tricky," he said. "So before writing it I was thinking who could play in that? I wrote it really for Benicio and Mathieu, they were the two guys."

Reetu Rupal, http://www.twitter.com/r2today

Amazon buys Liquavista from Samsung, launches digital currency

By Alistair Barr

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it had acquired Liquavista NV from Samsung Electronics Co to help the world's largest Internet retailer develop new displays for mobile devices.

Amazon also launched its own digital currency, Amazon Coins, on Monday, allowing people to buy apps and games in its app store and on its Kindle Fire tablet computers.

The purchase price for Liquavista was not disclosed. Bloomberg News reported earlier this year that Samsung was seeking less than $100 million for the business. Samsung bought the Netherlands-based company in early 2011 for an undisclosed sum. A Samsung spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Amazon is the leading e-reader company and has a range of Kindle Fire tablets that compete with Apple Inc's dominant iPad and similar gadgets from Google Inc and Samsung.

Amazon is also testing and developing other gadgets, such as smart phones and an Internet-based set-top TV box, according to recent reports in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Liquavista focuses on a technology called electrowetting, which it says makes displays clearer in all lighting conditions and can show video without using much power.

The technology can be used in mobile gadgets such as e-readers, smart phones, GPS devices, portable media players and cameras. Over the long term, electrowetting can be used in larger display products such as laptops and TVs, Liquavista said on its website.

CURRENCY PLAY

The new Amazon currency - one Amazon Coin is worth 1 cent - can be used to buy apps and games and for in-app purchases, for instance when someone is playing a game and wants to upgrade to a new level quickly.

Amazon put 500 Amazon Coins, worth $5, into the accounts of all Kindle Fire owners on Monday.

(Reporting by Alistair Barr; editing by John Wallace)