People

Carter8217;s commitment

Former US President Jimmy Carter kept busy working on his 14th book and working out while he was hospitalised to treat a mysterious rash.8220;They brought in a stairmaster, computer and fax machine,8221; said his wife, Rosalynn. Carter was expected to be released from Atlanta8217;s Emory University hospital and return to the couple8217;s home in nearby plains. He entered the hospital on Sunday for treatment of a skin rash that8217;s been bothering him for months. 8220;He8217;s better,8221; Mrs Carter said at Georgia Southwestern State university, where on Wednesday she accepted a 1.2 million gift to the Rosalynn Carter Institute, a mental health consortium. She said her husband is working on a book tentatively titled The Virtues of Aging.

Paul Newman to play a bottle?

Actor Paul Newman was so taken with the scenery of the Chesapeake Bay area he visited on his vacation that it may lead to a film. Newman, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn will begin shooting their new movie Message in a Bottle in April, perhaps on Tangier island off the eastern shore of Virginia and neighboring Maryland. The romantic drama from Costner8217;s production company isthe story of a widowed shipbuilder and a single mother. 8220;I play the bottle,8221; Newman joked on Wednesday in an interview with the Virginian-Pilot. While Newman wouldn8217;t confirm details about the set location, he gushed about the area he and actress wife Joanne Woodward visited last year. 8220;It was one of the most beautiful areas of the country I8217;ve seen,8221; Newman said. 8220;We recommended the area to Kevin.8221; Helicopters have been spotted taking photos over Tangier island, apparently scouting locations for the film.

It was a suicide

Australian superstar Michael Hutchence, lead singer of the rock band INXS, committed suicide in a Sydney hotel room last November, New South Wales coroner Derek Hand said on Friday. Hand said the London-based Hutchence was in a 8220;severe depressed state8221; on the morning of November 22 due to his relationship with Paula Yates and her custody dispute with former husband Bob Geldof, combined with the effects of substances he had taken. He said Hutchence had consumedvodka, beer and champagne the night before and blood analysis found cocaine, Prozac and other prescription drugs. Hutchence hanged himself with his belt from the door of his Ritz Carlton hotel room in Double Bay and the buckle broke away, leaving his naked body kneeling on the floor, Hand said. The coroner said there was no evidence to substantiate suggestions the 37-year-old singer died as a result of an auto-erotic act, and there was no other person involved in the death. There would be no inquest into the death, Hand said.

To Beart8217;s surprise

French actress Emmanuelle Beart said she was surprised by the extent of the malnutrition among Vietnam8217;s children on a fact-finding visit to the country for UNICEF. Beart arrived at the start of the week on her mission for the UN children8217;s fund in her role as Goodwill Ambassador on the French committee and on Friday travelled to the Ho Chi Minh City. She told AFP she was 8220;surprised by the extent of malnutrition8221; which affects almost one in two childrenin the country. 8220;The signs of malnutrition do not leap out at you, but they cause backwardness, an underdevelopment of the IQ, children don8217;t grow enough, the body8217;s defence systems are weakened and there is an increased risk of infection,8221; she said. 8220;I wanted to come here to get information and see for myself8230;malnutrition is a problem that people don8217;t understand very well and which is talked about less than drugs and AIDS.8221;

Luciano Pavarotti takes a break

Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti is suffering from hypertention and stress and will be resting until the end of March, he told Italian reporters on Thursday. The ailing opera supremo, who is currently in New York, made clear to the press he had cancelled all his engagements and was heading off for two weeks relaxation in Barbados with his companion Nicoletta Mantovani. His indisposition also means he will not be able to confirm until the end of March whether he will give his eagerly-awaited performance in Verdi8217;s opera Aida at Palermo8217;sMassimo theatre on April 11. Since the end of last year, Pavarotti, 62, has suffered a series of health problems exacerbated by the emergency hospitalisation of his mother and the death of a close friend. Last month he was forced to halt a charity recital at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after feeling faint.