Royal Zara Phillips mum over wedding plans
LONDON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- If Britain's Princess Anne's daughter is wearing an engagement ring, it was well-hidden by gloves at church services, The Telegraph reported Monday.
Zara Phillips, 23, has been widely rumored to be engaged to Mike Tindall, the vice-captain of the England rugby team. They are said to be planning to officially announce the engagement in the New Year, but is reported to be an open secret among his teammates.
Sunday, some 300 fans and photographers at Sandringham palace strained to see if she was wearing a ring on the way to church with her mother, Queen Elizabeth, Princes Philip and Charles and his two sons.
However, while she was wearing a mini-skirted coat, she also wore gloves.
Buckingham Palace would neither confirm nor deny the engagement.
Rossellini trains guide dog for the blind
NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Actress Isabella Rossellini says she has been training a guide dog for the blind, Zap2it.com reported Monday.
Rossellini, star of "Blue Velvet," "Wyatt Earp," and the upcoming drama "The Feast of the Goat," has been training the animal for 10 months.
The training involves familiarizing the dog with New York life; including restaurant visits, watching parades, and riding the subway.
"I walk the dog myself," Rossellini said. "I cannot imagine myself living without pets."
Rossellini said she believes the Labrador-poodle mix, named Terry, will make an excellent guide dog.
Rossellini will part with Terry in January to begin training another guide dog.
Lesbian minister featured in PBS film
GERMANTOWN, Pa., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A PBS documentary to air this week explores two years of the controversy leading up to the defrocking of a lesbian minister in Pennsylvania.
"The Congregation," which premiers Wednesday on most PBS stations, goes behind the scenes at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, a racially mixed urban church to focus on Rev. Beth Stroud, who disclosed in an April 2003 sermon she is a lesbian.
Filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond spent two years filming the church and its members during the period of upheaval that garnered national headlines, Zap2it.com said Monday.
The film shows how although members of the congregation were mostly supportive, Stroud was at odds with the United Methodist Book of Discipline, which forbids self-avowed practicing homosexuals from being ordained or appointed as clergy to its churches.
The two-hour film was completed before a 13-member jury of her peers earlier this month voted to revoke her ministerial credentials.
Emmerich to head Berlin film festival jury
BERLIN, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Berlin International Film Festival organizers have announced German director Roland Emmerich will be the 2005 jury president, the Hollywood Reporter revealed.
The organizers also disclosed several of the films that will compete for the 2005 Golden Bear, including Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" and Terry George's "Hotel Rwanda," the Reporter said Monday.
The first German titles announced for the 2005 competition include: "Sophie Scholl," a biopic on the founder of the White Rose resistance movement who was executed by the Nazis in 1943; director Christian Petzold's "Ghosts," about a woman who thinks a young homeless girl is her kidnapped daughter; and Hannes Stoehr's comedy "One Day in Europe."
Roland Emmerich's career started at the 1984 Berlin festival with his film "The Noah's Ark Principle." He has since gone on to direct blockbusters like "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow."
The 55th Berlin International Film Festival is scheduled for Feb. 10-20.
