Rachelle Lefevre stunned to lose role in ‘Twilight’ sequel

"Twilight" fans weren’t the only ones surprised by the news that Bryce Dallas Howard was replacing Rachelle Lefevre on the third film "Eclipse." “I was stunned,” says Lefevre in a statement. “I was fully committed to the ‘Twilight’ saga.” Lefevre, who played villain Victoria in the first Summit Entertainment-produced film and its upcoming sequel “New Moon,” said she turned down “several other film opportunities” and accepted only roles with short shooting schedules to make time for “Eclipse.” “I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me,” she says

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What drove LeAnn Rimes and husband apart?

When the news broke that LeAnn Rimes and Dean Sheremet had separated — just four months after the singer was reportedly caught in an affair with actor Eddie Cibrian — it saddened many friends who had admired their marriage and what they did for each other over the past seven years. In Nashville, those who knew the couple recall how the pair never seemed to spend a moment apart. Says one friend, “[LeAnn and Dean] were pretty much inseparable here.” The pair were often spotted together at the gym, dining on the town with friends, dancing at nightclubs and even shopping for Rimes’s wardrobe

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Iran reportedly frees 140 jailed election protesters

The Iranian government has released 140 people arrested in the aftermath of the Islamic republic’s disputed presidential election, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday. Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the detainees posted bail and were freed from northern Tehran’s Evin Prison during an inspection of the prison by a task force made up of commission members, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reported.

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‘Bachelorette’ Jillian Harris makes her pick

Canadian beauty Jillian Harris finally found what she was looking for a lover and a best friend when she giddily accepted a proposal from Chicago computer software consultant Ed Swiderski on the season finale of "The Bachelorette" Monday night. After Harris had assured him that he was indeed the one (“There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m madly in love with you,” she enthused), 30-year-old Swiderski got down on one knee and placed a $60,000 Neil Lane platinum and diamond ring on Harris’ finger.

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Cambridge sergeant: Obama slighted police community

The police officer who arrested a black Harvard professor says President Obama offended police when he accused Cambridge authorities of acting stupidly. “I was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn’t have all of the facts by his own admission, then weighed in on the events of that night and made a comment that really offended not just officers in the Cambridge Police Department but officers around the country,” Sgt

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Report: Moussavi’s brother-in-law detained

The wife of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi spoke publicly about her brother’s detention for the first time Thursday, accusing the Islamic government of fueling false allegations about him, according to media report. Zahra Rahnavard told the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency that her brother, Shahpour Kazemi, 62, was arrested a month ago

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Tom Brokaw on Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite was the most famous journalist of his time, the personification of success in his beloved profession, with all that brought with it: a journalism school named for him, a Presidential Medal of Freedom and the adulation of his peers and audience. Yet I always had the feeling that if late in life someone had tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Walter, we’re a little shorthanded this week

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Obama forges ahead with health care push

President Obama took his push to overhaul health care to a national audience Wednesday night, but he gave little assurance that Congress would agree to a plan before its August recess. With a voice of urgency, Obama said that if nothing is done, health care costs will double in the next decade and more Americans will lose their coverage.

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