Clooney in driver's seat

People

George Clooney has bought the movie rights to tell the story of Osama bin Laden's driver. Clooney's movie production company bought the book rights from journalist Jonathan Mahler, who in "The Challenge" tells the story of Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni resident who was convicted last week by a U.S. military tribunal at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility of aiding the terrorist leader and sentenced to 5 ½ years prison, much less time than what was sought by the prosecution. The book sympathetically portrays Hamdan and his Navy lawyer, Charles Swift, as little guys up against the powerful forces of the U.S. government.

Speaking of stereotypes

Bill and Camille Cosby's youngest daughter, Evin Cosby, 32, who launched a Manhattan boutique with the help of her parents last week, says she can relate to Barack Obama for having to face accusations that he's elitist. "My own people used to say to me, 'You speak like a white woman.' What does that even mean, anyway? Everyone has their way of speaking and living their life," Evin said. "No one should be judging and assuming that because I'm black, I have to speak in that hip-hop way. That's something I prefer not to do."

Sold!

That's $26 per grape

A new variety of premium grapes debuted in Japan on Monday, with a single bunch fetching as much as $910. A Japanese hotel manager paid that amount for a 1 ½-pound bunch of the Ruby Roman grapes to serve guests at an upscale hotel, officials said.

Passages

George Furth, 75, an actor and Tony Award-winning playwright who wrote the book for the landmark 1970 Broadway musical "Company," died Monday in Santa Monica.

Today in History

1944: During World War II, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., eldest son of Joseph and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed with his co-pilot when their explosives-laden Navy plane blew up over England.

1981: IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150.

1985: The world's worst single-aircraft disaster occurred as a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 on a domestic flight crashed into a mountain, killing 520 people.

Today's Birthdays

Actor George Hamilton, 69. Actress Jennifer Warren, 67. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot, 45. Actor Peter Krause, 43. Tennis player Pete Sampras, 37. Actor Michael Ian Black, 37. Actress Rebecca Gayheart, 36. Actor Casey Affleck, 33. Actress Maggie Lawson, 28.

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