People — Bill Clinton receives prize

Clinton will be the first recipient of the prize created by the Rabin and Peres foundations.

The two Israeli leaders were the driving forces behind the peace accords Israel has signed with the Palestinians. Along with Yasser Arafat, they won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts.

McCurry denied that the peace prize represented “a slap” in the face for Benjamin Netanyahu, who this week concluded a visit to the United States during which he was not invited to meet with Clinton. The spokesman said Clinton had too tight a schedule.

Turner’s gift

Media mogul Ted Turner has appointed diplomat Timothy Wirth to head a foundation that will disburse a gift of $1 billion to the United Nations, a statement said on Thursday.

UN Chief Kofi Annan met at UN headquarters with Wirth, and told journalists at the UN he was “very happy he has taken on that job”.

“He is a man of the world, has lots of experience and understands the UN and the international system,” Annan said.

Wirth will leave his post as under-secretary of state for global affairs at the end of the year to serve as president of the newly-created United Nations Foundation, according to the statement released by Turner’s office in Atlanta, Georgia. The foundation, to be launched in January will work with all UN agencies, will seek to build partnerships with the private sector and try to raise funds from business leaders and philanthropists for the United Nations.

“The selection of someone with Tim’s record of accomplishment should signal to the world how serious we are about creating an organisation capable of advancing the causes served by the United Nations — and raising money to get the job done,” Turner said in the statement.

Father again

Pop superstar Michael Jackson has told Life magazine his wife Debbie Rowe is pregnant with their second child. Entertainment industry writer, Liz Smith, has cited sources saying the couple is expecting a girl. Their first child, Prince Michael Junior, was born in February. His godparents are Elizabeth Taylor and Macaulay Culkin.

Jackson, who wed Rowe last year in Australia, told Life that his work hurts his family life. “It’s very hard,” he said. “We haven’t been able to spend time as a family. Not at all.”

He also maintained that his first wife, Lisa Marie Presley, whose photo remains near his bedside, was sorry that she did not have a child during their brief marriage. “She regrets it,” Jackson said. “She said so.”

Fergie on airPrincess Diana’s former sister-in-law, Sarah Ferguson, will appear in a television special today, titled The Adventures of the Duchess.

Ferguson, who like Diana was estranged from Britain’s royal family when she divorced Prince Andrew, will be shown deep-sea diving, helping a blind person on an escalator and herding cattle from horseback.

“I’m kind of proud (of my life),” Ferguson said Wednesday on the top-rated Oprah Winfrey talk show. Ferguson acknowledged she had moved into a wing of Andrew’s house where she lives rent-free with her two daughters from the marriage.

“We are co-parenting. The children love it, it works well,” Ferguson said, explaining that the former spouses maintain privacy because Andrew was away during the week.

But she added: “Can you imagine for the establishment how annoying it must be that I’ve moved back in? Everyone thinks we’re completely mad.”

Describing Andrew as “my best friend”, Ferguson said, “We’re not going to get remarried. There is no reconciliation but we have a great time and are very good parents.”