Jay-Z out of retirement

People

Rapper Jay-Z, who said farewell to music in '03 with "The Black Album" and the concert flick "Fade to Black," admits he's no longer in retirement — having made two new solo records in the interim. "I want to never say that again," Jay-Z told XXL magazine about his unwise use of the R-word. "I think I pulled the retirement rip cord too many times."

A tearful thank-you

Sophia Loren broke into tears at an awards ceremony in Rome's City Hall on Saturday as she recalled her climb to fame from the gritty Neapolitan suburb where she grew up. "Lady History was generous to the girl from Pozzuoli, and I thank her together with all of you," the former movie star said. Rome honored Loren with the Campidoglio (City Hall) prize, describing her as "not only an icon of cinema, but a very synonym of Italy, of that Italy made up of elegance, passion, genius, humanity and beauty."

Rapper wants release

T.I.'s lawyers asked a federal judge in Atlanta on Friday to release the rapper on $2.2 million bond and allow him to have monitored home confinement while he awaits trial on weapons charges. Defense attorney Ed Garland proposed putting a person in T.I.'s home 24 hours a day to monitor activities there.

MOVIES

Coppola is back

"Youth Without Youth," Francis Ford Coppola's first movie in a decade, made its public premiere Saturday night at the Rome Film Festival. It tells a metaphysical story about a 70-year-old Romanian professor of linguistics (played by Tim Roth) who miraculously becomes younger after being struck by lightning. The accident gives him abnormal intellectual abilities that attract the attention of the Nazis as World War II looms. The film, shot in Romania, is adapted from a novella by the Romanian philosopher-author Mircea Eliade.

CRITTERS

Recruiting with roaches

The University of California, Riverside, is using a cockroach petting zoo to attract students and parents to an upcoming recruitment fair. The zoo will include several species, including cockroaches that emit a foul, ammonialike scent and the famous, palm-sized Madagascar hissing cockroach. The Nov. 3 event targets high-school students interested in careers as science teachers or engineers.

Flea-bitten cops

It wasn't a fleeing suspect who attacked four police officers sent to investigate a burglary report at a garbage-filled vacant house in South Bend, Ind. — it was a swarm of fleas. The bug barrage was so overwhelming that the patrolmen had to be decontaminated.

Today in History

1797: The Navy frigate Constitution, also known as "Old Ironsides," was christened in Boston's harbor.

1879: Thomas Edison perfected a workable electric light.

1966: More than 140 people, mostly children, were killed when a coal-waste landslide engulfed a school and several houses in Aberfan, Wales.

1997: Reversing months of strong opposition, the administration of Bill Clinton endorsed a revised Republican bill to restructure the IRS and shift the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the government in court-contested cases.

Today's Birthdays

Actress Joyce Randolph, 82. Actress-author Carrie Fisher, 51. Actor Ken Watanabe, 48. Actor Jeremy Miller, 31. Actor Will Estes, 29. Actor Matt Dallas, 25.

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