Sarah Palin's husband jumped to her defense Thursday after an upcoming book claimed the Republican politician snorted cocaine off an oil drum and had a premarital fling with an African-American basketball star. "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" by Joe McGinniss -- who moved in next to Palin's home in Alaska last year as part of his research -- comes out Tuesday, as the Tea Party darling ponders whether to formally seek the Republican presidential nomination. "This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife," husband Todd Palin said. "His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears," he added in a statement carried by several US news media and political blogs. "Even the New York Times called this book 'dated, petty,' and that it 'chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip.'" Citing unnamed "publishing sources," the National Enquirer said McGinniss claims in the book that Palin had "a steamy interracial hookup" with Glen Rice less than a year before she and Todd Palin eloped in 1988. Sarah Palin was then a local television sports reporter just out of college, and Rice -- a now-retired National Basketball Association all-star -- was in Alaska with his Michigan college team for a tournament, it said. "Todd was very much in the picture at the time and the couple married just nine months later," the supermarket tabloid said, adding that McGinniss quotes Rice as confirming the one-night stand. McGinniss also writes that both Palins "dabbled" with cocaine, and that before she became Alaska's governor in 2006, Sarah Palin was seen snorting cocaine "off an overturned 55-gallon oil drum while snowmobiling with pals," the weekly added. McGinniss is author of several best-sellers, including "The Making of a President" in 1969. There was no comment Thursday from either him or his New York publisher Crown, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. In the New York Times on Wednesday, reviewer Janet Maislan said "most of 'The Rogue' is dated, petty and easily available to anyone with Internet access." She added that "Mr. McGinniss used his time in Alaska to chase caustic, unsubstantiated gossip about the Palins, often from unnamed sources like 'one resident' and 'a friend.'"

 

Jessie Wallace's former fiance Vince Morse has publicly apologised to the actress for "humiliating" her. The EastEnders star, 39, called off their wedding just hours before she was due to tie the knot last month after the 50-year-old catering boss admitted sending an explicit picture of the star to his ex-girlfriend. He insisted on ITV1's This Morning that he had no intention of being unfaithful when he sent the text. In a message direct to Jessie, Vince said: "It's going to sound really ridiculous and I know I've humiliated you, I know that, but it doesn't stop me loving you, it doesn't stop me wanting to be with you. "I know it's probably going to be impossible because it's so public, but I just want you to know from the bottom of my heart I am sorry." Vince said that Jessie would be "furious" that he was speaking publicly about what happened but he wanted to "say to the nation that I'm really sorry". He said he was "drunk" when he sent the topless picture to his ex-girlfriend Karen Short, after he had a row with the actress. Jessie, the BBC1 soap's Kat Moon, had been engaged twice before she met Vince.

- by their priest.

Gary and Marie Mead had organised a ceremony with 74 of their friends after legally marrying in Las Vegas last August.

The pair had gone to great lengths to create their big day - from learning their vows inSpanish to exporting a cake from England - only to be left locked outside the pretty Las Alcazares church in Murcia, with no priest.

Gary, 51, who runs a scaffolding business, told the Daily Mail: 'The priest we had booked the whole thing with just never showed up.

'Our friends had a blessing by him in the same church just over a year ago and said how great it had been so we thought we'd do the same.

'When we got to the church and realised it was shut I grew more and more concerned but in the end we had to laugh.

'We knew the Spanish had a more laid-back attitude but didn't think it was this extreme.'

The couple had wanted a celebration near their villa in Mil Palmeras - but they didn't let a small thing like no priest put them off enjoying their reception.

After waiting 'for ages in a bar near the church', the couple realised he was coming, and along with their wedding party headed to the beach, before making their way to their reception at a nearby bar.

They have not contacted the priest for an explanation so far.

Marie said: 'All I'm really missing from the day are pictures inside the church.

'We have just chalked it up to experience - we would not go through it again, it is surprising how much work went into it.

'I'm happy though - we had a lovely celebration with families and friends and have some great pictures to remember the day, it was definitely memorable.'

 

SIMON Cowell’s fiancee Mezhgan Hussainy has moved out of his Beverly Hills mansion amid rumours their relationship is cooling. The make-up artist is now living in Cowell’s hillside retreat – where his ex Terri Seymour stayed after splitting from the X Factor judge in 2008. Cowell’s pals jokily nicknamed the £3.5million house in the Hollywood Hills “the girlfriend graveyard”. A worker at the house said: “Yes, Mezhgan is living here. She is here now.” She refused to confirm if the pair had broken up but one insider said: “It looks like history is repeating itself. “When Simon split with Terri, she moved to the hillside house for about 18 months before moving to a pad which Simon is supposed to have paid for. “Some people have joked that the other house is his girlfriend graveyard – it’s almost as though the girls get sent there when the relationship has died.” Neighbours said they have not seen the music mogul – who used to date 1980s singer Sinitta – recently, and believe the Afghan-born beauty is living alone. And Simon’s mum, Julie, says she has not heard from Mezhgan for “weeks”, although the pair used to speak regularly. Rumours that the couple have split after an 18-month engagement went into overdrive this week after Simon told a US radio station he was “not sure” whether they were an item. Simon, 51, said last year he would like children with Mezhgan saying he was “smitten” and was looking forward to having “little Simons around”. But in a recent interview with American GQ magazine, he appeared to change heart, saying: “Truthfully, with the schedule, the crazy hours, I don’t think it would work.” And the 51-year-old has been lavishing praise on his American X Factor co-star Paula Abdul. He said: “There is something about her. I find her fascinating.” Reports in the US claim the pair spend hours on the phone.

 

Brazilian-born rapper and former contestant on I'm a Celebrity has been charged with raping two women. Aggro Santos, 22, of Bickersteth Road, London, is accused of raping a woman in Chichester, West Sussex, on 7 May. He is also accused of raping another in Yeovil, Somerset, between 25 and 26 September last year. Another man, Tyrelle Ritchie, 21, of Vauxhall Road, London, has been charged with one count of rape in Chichester on the same date, Sussex Police said. Mr Santos, whose real first name is Yuri, and Mr Ritchie have been bailed to appear at Chichester Magistrates' Court on 19 September. Mr Santos's debut single, Candy, featuring former Pussycat Dolls singer Kimberly Wyatt, shot to number five in the UK charts last year. But he became more popularly known through his appearance in last year's series of ITV's reality game show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in which he reached the last six.

 

The premise of Red Or Black is based partly on roulette and entirely on luck. It bills itself as a show that offers 'ordinary people across the UK the chance to become millionaires'. All contestants are asked to do is choose between red and black. Black or red. It's that simple. A no brainer for the brain dead. There is absolutely zilch talent involved; indeed a toddler on the brink of speech could do it. A highly motivated tadpole might just manage it. A smart budgie could be in it to win it. Yet this is what passes for primetime entertainment. Naked, slavering greed served up on a platter. No palpable skills required.  We have finally mined down to the showbiz nadir, reached the lowest common denominator of Saturday night entertainment. The prospect of total strangers doing nothing very much to win large sums of money is supposed to be hugely entertaining. Isn't that depressing? The nation has been shaken down, sieved and graded so that those who can actually do something, or at least think they can, have already auditioned for The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Big Brother, Countdown or The Weakest Link. Now we are left with the desperate dregs.  Padded out: Former X Factor winner Leona Lewis, one of Cowell's acts, appeared on Red Or Black Indeed, the very first Red Or Black winner, Nathan Hageman, has been exposed as a violent criminal who served a prison sentence for an assault on a woman, believed to be an ex-girlfriend. Red or Black and black and blue? It put the show on the front pages earlier this week, but it was not good publicity — for anyone. Hageman may have fulfilled his jail sentence and his debt to society, but a wife beater, by any other name, elicits scant public sympathy.  Even down in the grim bowels of public entertainment, there is little compassion for a man who hits a woman. Hageman may have done his time, but it appears that redemption is not yet his. And he must have suspected as much, otherwise why lie on his Red Or Black entry forms? Cowell was furious, and wanted Hageman not to be given the £1 million he had rightly won. Yet ITV says there is nothing it can do. Hageman had been allowed on Red Or Black despite the fact that producers knew he had a criminal record. He had claimed that he attacked a man, whereas in reality he was jailed for assaulting Amy McLean. As he was allowed onto the show without proper checks, he was allowed to keep his winnings. Beating up a woman is unacceptable, but beating up a man is OK? What a joke. ITV bosses are now carrying out stringent checks to make sure no more controversial participants appear, and have so far booted three dubious contestants off shows this week. Yet it all makes one wonder about their standards. If, in fact, they have any in the first place. Yet what can you expect on a show like this? If you remove the need for flair or aptitude, anything and anyone goes. Hundreds of thousands have already applied to be on Red Or Black, including the barely sentient, the desperate, the not quite there. Some were filmed sobbing in the queues about how hard life was, and how much they needed the cash. Very unedifying, for all involved.  Let me say it again. All you have to do is choose between red or black. Despite this, the shows are given a frill of respectability with cheap pomp and dreary stunts.  There have been motorbike daredevils — something that stopped being interesting pre-Evel Knievel. And David Hasselhoff doing a 'reverse bungee jump' — catapulted 230ft into the air — thrilled absolutely no one.  The show was padded out exclusively with Cowell musical acts, such as Leona Lewis and Il Divo. How have ITV even allowed this blatant plugfest? Successful game shows flourish by showing real suspense and thrills. Not this overblown and immoral nonsense. It's like Deal Or No Deal for the criminal classes. It makes Dale Winton's Hole In The Wall look like Mastermind. Where on earth do we go from here?

 

Fashion designer John Galliano was Thursday found guilty of anti-Semitism and handed a suspended... Fashion designer John Galliano was Thursday found guilty of anti-Semitism and handed a suspended fine over a series of drunken outbursts against fellow customers in a Paris bar. The 50-year-old British designer, who was sacked from fashion house Dior over the scandal, was handed total suspended fines totalling 6,000 euros (8,400 dollars) over two incidents, in February this year and October 2010. Galliano -- who had faced a maximum of six months in jail and a fine of 22,500 euros on the charge of making anti-Semitic insults -- was not in court to hear the verdict. The Paris criminal court also ordered him to pay a symbolic euro in damages to each of his victims, as well as to five anti-racism groups that were plaintiffs in the case. He was also ordered to cover the legal costs of four anti-racism bodies. One of the most celebrated designers of his generation, Galliano had been at the creative helm of Christian Dior for 15 years, as well as running his own label, until the outburst brought his career crashing to a halt. At his one-day trial in July, he apologised for his conduct. Galliano insists he is not an anti-Semite but admits he can not remember the evenings in question, blaming a "triple addiction" to drink, sleeping pills and painkillers for his behaviour. The designer told the court he had since undergone two months of rehab in Arizona and Switzerland.

Ex-Neighbours stars Jason Donovan and Holly Valance have also agreed to take part in the show, according to The Sun newspaper.

It has been confirmed by show producers thatDaybreak's sport presenter Dan Lobb,Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey and impressionist Rory Bremner, will also be taking part in the hit TV show.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's ex Nancy Dell'Olio and ex- EastEnders star Anita Dobson plus astrologer Russell Grant are also set to be swapping their day jobs for salsa dancing.

Speaking about the line-up, a source told The Sun newspaper, "Lulu is lots of fun and will bring in viewers who remember her from the Sixties - but also younger fans who know her from her duet with Take That on Relight My Fire. Harry will tick the heartthrob box."

The BBC will officially confirm the Strictly Come Dancing line-up on The One Show on Tuesday.

 

The News International chairman has reportedly cancelled a trip to Asia to monitor first-hand what is said at the select committee hearing. When James Murdoch appeared with his father Rupert before the Culture, Media and Sport committee in July, he was asked if he knew about a document known as the "for Neville" email. This email has been seen as critical to the hacking inquiry. It indicates that the practice of hacking was more widespread than News International originally admitted. James Murdoch said he was unaware of the document at the time he sanctioned a payout to the Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor, whose phone was hacked by the News of The World. His denial of knowledge of the email was subsequently contradicted by Colin Myler, the NOTW's last editor, and the paper's former lawyer Tom Crone, both of whom will give their side of the story to the committee. Daniel Cloke, ex-HR director at NI, and Jon Chapman, NI's former head of corporate and legal affairs, are also due to appear. Mark Lewis, who represented Mr Taylor when he won his payout from the NOTW, said if today's evidence finds James Murdoch knew about the email it could be the end of him.

 

Allegations that MI6 was involved in the rendition of Libyan terror suspects should be examined by an independent inquiry, David Cameron has said. It comes after papers suggesting close ties between MI6, the CIA and the Gaddafi regime were found in Tripoli. An anti-Gaddafi military leader says he wants the UK and US to apologise for organising his 2004 transfer to Libya. An existing inquiry into allegations of UK security agencies' involvement in torture has said it will investigate. Abdel Hakim Belhaj, then a terror suspect but now in charge of the Libyan capital's military forces, says he was tortured after being arrested in Bangkok. He says he was taken to Libya by a CIA and MI6 operation, allegedly confirmed by documents sent to Gaddafi's regime, and sent to prison. The Foreign Office said the government had a "long-standing policy" not to comment on intelligence matters. Mr Belhaj told the BBC: "What happened to me and my family is illegal. It deserves an apology. And for what happened to me when I was captured and tortured. "For all these illegal things, starting with the information given to Libyan security, the interrogation in Bangkok." According to the Guardian, these documents were discovered in an abandoned office building in Tripoli by staff from Human Rights Watch. Mr Belhaj said that MI6 and the CIA did not witness his torture at the hands of the former Libyan regime, but did interview him afterwards. A spokesman for the prime minister said that the existing Detainee Inquiry into rendition was "well placed" to investigate the allegations reported in recent days. "It's not clear precisely what the allegations amount to," the spokesman added. "We don't have a clear picture from these documents, which is precisely why an inquiry like the [Detainee] inquiry might be well placed to consider the issue." A statement from the Detainee Inquiry, to be chaired by Sir Peter Gibson, said that as part of its role of examining the extent of the government's involvement in, or awareness of, improper treatment of detainees, it would "therefore, of course, be considering these allegations of UK involvement in rendition to Libya as part of our work. "We will be seeking more information from government and its agencies as soon as possible."