McCartney performs first concert in Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Paul McCartney has performed his first concert in Israel, decades after his band, the Beatles, was banned for fear it would corrupt the country's youth.
Haaretz reported the British rock 'n' roll icon sang "The Long and Winding Road," "Yesterday," "Sgt. Pepper," "The End" and "Live and Let Die" during Thursday night's concert, which lasted more than 2 1/2 hours.
The Jerusalem Post said about 40,000 fans turned out for the historic performance at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv where McCartney also sang classics like "Eleanor Rigby," "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude."
The Post said the 66-year-old performer showed "boundless energy" as he sang, as well as played bass, acoustic and electric guitar and piano throughout the night.
He also dedicated his song "My Love," to his late wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer 10 years ago, paid tribute to late Beatle George Harrison with a rendition of "Something" and honored slain Beatle John Lennon with a performance of "A Day in the Life," which the Post said "evolved into an audience sing-along" of "Give Peace A Chance."
Haaretz said tickets ranged in price from about $146 for lawn seats to $1,455 for VIP seats.
Emilio, wife discharged from hospital
SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Singer Emilio Navaira and his wife were released from San Antonio's University Hospital after being treated for injuries sustained in a car crash this week.
Navaira's wife, Maria, was driving a Volvo when a pickup truck slammed into the car at an intersection late Wednesday afternoon, causing the vehicle's airbags to deploy. The couple had been returning home after a therapy session, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The 46-year-old Tejano singer underwent two operations on his brain and surgery on his right lung after he crashed his tour bus and was thrown through its windshield in Houston in March and is still recuperating.
Police said he had a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit at the time of the March accident and didn't have the license required to legally drive the vehicle. He had two other drunken driving arrests on his record at the time of the March crash. He hasn't been charged in connection with the March incident, the Express-News said.
"They are watching him very closely," Navaira's manager and spokesman Joe Casias told the newspaper before the couple was released from the hospital Thursday. "They didn't have any broken bones."
Casias said that although the singer can speak and recognize family and friends, a comeback is "a long way away."
"From Easter to now, he's come a long way," he said. "He's ahead of where doctors thought he would be."
Pregnant Anderson falls at film premiere
LONDON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Pregnant actress Gillian Anderson jokingly threw a punch at her director at a London film premiere and ended up on the floor, People.com said.
The incident took place Wednesday night at the debut of "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," in which Anderson stars alongside Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox and Simon Pegg.
While introducing the movie, director Robert Weide quipped that it would be great publicity if Anderson went into labor during the premiere. The actress, who is pregnant with her third child, responded by pretending to slug the director, losing her balance and hitting the floor in the process, People.com said.
Weide quickly reassured the audience Anderson was not injured in the fall and joked, "Is there a lawyer in the house?"
Anderson is best known for her roles in the "X-Files" TV show and films.
Stars turn out for Radcliffe's B'way debut
NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Glenn Close, Kathleen Turner and Dominic Cooper were among the stars who turned out for British actor Daniel Radcliffe's Broadway debut in "Equus" Thursday.
Radcliffe, 19, is best known for playing wizard Harry Potter in the blockbuster film franchise.
In Peter Shaffer's "Equus," he portrays a troubled young man who blinds six horses. Richard Griffiths plays the psychiatrist who treats him.
The BBC said Close, Turner and Cooper were in the audience when the play opened Thursday night at New York's Broadhurst Theatre.
"He's not a kid anymore," Griffiths told the British broadcaster. "He's a young man and he deserves whatever breaks that brings."
In the show, Radcliffe appears nude at one point, something that caused considerable buzz when the film star headlined the London production of the play last year.
"If it's in the play, if it's in the story, if it's necessary, then it's right," Turner told the BBC about doing nude scenes on stage. "The fact that he's willing to learn and risk is all to his credit."
The New York Times's drama critic Ben Brantley praised both Radcliffe and Griffiths in his review, noting they performed with "sensitivity and intelligence."
"Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Radcliffe are delivering utterly credible and often affecting performances," Brantley said.
