In her autobiography she tells how she was beaten up to 200 times a week, chained to her captor while they slept together in his bed, and forced to shave off her hair and work half-naked as a domestic slave. Miss Kampusch, now 22, was kidnapped at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and was confined to a cellar under his garage in Austria. Her book, entitled 3,096 Days in reference to the amount of time she was held captive, will be published on Wednesday in a deal which reportedly will earn her £1 million. “I now feel strong enough to tell the full story of my abduction,” she s ... Jump to full article >>

Cammie King Conlon, who jokingly lamented that she was famous for an experience she barely remembered, portraying Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler’s ill-fated young daughter in the film “Gone With the Wind,” has died. She was 76. Conlon, whose brief movie-acting career included voicing the fawn Faline in “Bambi,” died Wednesday of cancer at her home in Ft. Bragg, Calif., said Bruce Lewis, a friend. At 4, she was cast as Bonnie Blue Butler for her resemblance to her film-screen parents — Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable — but her memories of making the epic ... Jump to full article >>

Bob Schapiro explained how he arrived at his latest obsession two years ago. “It was a day like today: hot,” said the 92-year-old. “I was walking down the street and I passed a cigar store.” Bob doesn’t smoke — “Why take a poisonous plant and rub it on your lungs?” he said — but the store was nicely air-conditioned, a respite from the heat. Inside, Bob fell in love. “They were so handsomely made,” he said, not of the cigars — the Cohibas and Montecristos — but of the boxes the cigars came in. Some were glossily varn ... Jump to full article >>

Florence Henderson takes her acting very seriously, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to fool around now and then. Case in point: Her role as a clown groupie who wakes up in bed with Bob Goldthwait’s boozy clown in the 1992 cult favorite “Shakes the Clown.” “I met Adam Sandler and he said, ‘You probably don’t remember me, but I was in ‘Shakes the Clown.’ ” Then there was her appearance at the 1993 MTV Movie Awards, in which she put her own take on several of the nominated films that year including portraying Jack Nicholson ... Jump to full article >>

The ball is over the center field wall at the new Yankee Stadium and Alex Rodriguez comes up on first base hard and puts his hands out, in relief more than anything else, not quite a safe sign but close enough. Now Rodriguez cuts the bag at first the way you’re taught and heads for second, heads right into the noise for him at the new Stadium and into his own complicated baseball history, on this milestone day for him in a complicated baseball life. “It was a relief just to put it past me,” Rodriguez said a half-hour after the game. They asked him about what the past week or ... Jump to full article >>

Elena Kagan has produced distinguished scholarship on the First Amendment, taking clear positions favoring a broad interpretation of free speech. She opposed bans on flag burning and hate speech, and tried to come up with a framework for deciding when laws unconstitutionally suppress protected speech. In the Clinton White House, as a domestic policy adviser, she was an advocate for responsible positions on campaign finance limits, tobacco regulation and gun restrictions. Still, she arrives for her Senate hearings Monday as one of the most enigmatic nominees for the Supreme Court in recent memo ... Jump to full article >>

She’s been on a long and winding road to get back on her feet. But Kerry Katona finally looks to have rejuvenated herself, not only physically, but socially – attending Elton John’s glitzy White Tie and Tiara Ball at his home in Windsor. The 29-year-old was among guests at the A-list do, alongside Peter Andre, and she looked great in a flowing, strapless white gown with silver detailing. The reality star had her hair styled in such a way that accentuated her face, showing that she has lost a significant amount of weight since her dark days. [caption id="attachment_5616" align ... Jump to full article >>

Slash was motivated to quit smoking after his mother died of lung cancer. The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist hasn’t smoked for a year and admits seeing his beloved parent Ola Hudson lose her battle with the disease, and a bout of pneumonia he suffered himself, made him realise he needed to ditch his habit for good. Slash – real name Saul Hudson – said: “I’ve been off them for a year. The first time I quit smoking was because me and my wife just had a baby and she claimed the baby smelled like an ashtray. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot. ... Jump to full article >>

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress lined up near a fire pit on the South Lawn on Tuesday to eat Northwest-style salmon while others chomped down on Chicago-style hot dogs. It was all part of the White House’s annual congressional picnic, and this year the event featured foods from regions across the country for a “Tastes of the States” theme. President Barack Obama, standing next to first lady Michelle Obama, told lawmakers he wanted to thank them for their “incredible devotion to the country, regardless of party.” As part of the event, every member of Congress is ... Jump to full article >>

A chain-smoking Indonesian toddler has cut back to 15 cigarettes a day thanks to “therapy focused on playing”, a child welfare official said on Tuesday. Two-year-old Ardi Rizal shocked the world when a video of him smoking a cigarette appeared on the Internet last month and drew attention to Indonesia’s failure to regulate the tobacco industry. Six months after his father gave him his first cigarette, the overweight boy from Sumatra island was smoking 40 a day and threw violent tantrums if his addiction was not satisfied. Child welfare officials called in to try to wean the ... Jump to full article >>

Both men were relatively young when they were sidelined by a traumatic brain injury. Yet actor Gary Coleman succumbed last week at the age of 42, and rocker Bret Michaels, 47, is back on the scene, fresh off his “Celebrity Apprentice” win and looking like a bandanna-clad poster child for robust good health. How can a cerebral hemorrhage have such different consequences? It depends upon the type of hemorrhage, its size, what area of the brain is affected and the overall health of the victim, experts say. Both an intracranial hemorrhage (which occurs inside the brain tissue) or a sub ... Jump to full article >>