Kennedy Center to fete 5

Honors

Pianist Leon Fleisher, actor Steve Martin, singers Diana Ross and Brian Wilson, and director Martin Scorsese will share the 30th annual honors of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in December, Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said Tuesday. President Bush and the first lady will host the honorees Dec. 2, before attending a gala performance and supper dance at the Kennedy Center. The honors will be recorded and broadcast Dec. 26.

Legion of Honor role

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" actress Michelle Yeoh, one of Asia's biggest film stars, will receive the Legion of Honor, France's highest civilian honor in an Oct. 3 ceremony in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, French Foreign Ministry officials said Tuesday.

People

Imagine her wardrobe

They doubted her abilities and her drive back in her "American Idol" days, and she showed them with an Oscar-winning turn in "Dreamgirls." Now, Jennifer Hudson has landed a role in "Sex and the City: The Movie." Variety says Hudson will co-star as the personal assistant to Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker).

By the numbers

Harry makes history

Warner Bros. said Tuesday that the studio's five Harry Potter films have become the top-grossing motion-picture franchise in history. The combined worldwide gross from the films, adapted from J.K. Rowling's best-sellers, is more than $4.47 billion.

War bad for ratings

It no longer matters whether it was a gimmick or a serious journalistic move, because Katie Couric's trip to Iraq and Syria, which had her anchor the "CBS Evening News" from a war zone, was a bust in the ratings, reports USAToday.com. Couric's show tied a record low with 5.5 million viewers last week, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Critters

Microchipped pooches

The Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte has begun implanting microchips in pit bulls in an effort to track the dogs and punish the owners of pets involved in attacks.

Nothing personal

A zoo in Kharkov, Ukraine's second-largest city, has named the country's only pair of skunks after two U.S. presidents, Bush and Clinton, a spokesman for the zoo said Friday. A spokesman said their names were chosen to reflect the species' geographic origin: North America.

Oops

No blank check

A man robbing a bank demanded the money by writing a note on one of his own checks, authorities say. He was caught. Forest Kelly Bissonnette, 27, apparently tried to cover his name on the check and handed the note to a teller Sept. 5 at the Bank of the West in Englewood, Colo., authorities said. "We could still make it out even though he blacked it out," FBI agent Rene VonderHaar said. Nearly $5,000 was taken.

Passages

Bishop Han Dingxiang, 71, who led an underground congregation of Roman Catholics and was repeatedly detained in China, died Sunday in police custody while being treated for an unspecified illness, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said.

Today in History

1938: Adolf Hitler demanded the right of self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

1977: South African black student leader Steven Biko died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.

2002 : President Bush told skeptical world leaders at the United Nations to confront the "grave and gathering danger" of Saddam Hussein's Iraq — or to stand aside as the U.S. acted.

Today's Birthdays

Actor Joe Pantoliano, 56. Actress Rachel Ward, 50. Actress Amy Yasbeck, 45. Singer Ruben Studdard, 29. Singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, 26. Actress Emmy Rossum, 21.

Seattle Times news services