Matthew Perry seeks comeback after Friends

Former Friends star Matthew Perry, making another bid for a television comeback, says his characters have gotten more likeable with every attempt to find success. The 42-year-old actor, who has largely failed to follow up his fame as the hapless Chandler Bing in the comedy that ended in 2004, returns to television in September as a sports-talk radio host who joins a grief counseling group after the death of his wife.

America's Got Talent judge Sharon Osbourne tweeted on Tuesday that she will be leaving the popular television talent show at the end of this coming season, a decision that took NBC executives by surprise. Osbourne, wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, sent a Twitter on her verified feed addressed to fellow judge Howard Stern saying, "My darling @HowardStern, money is not the reason I'm not returning to @nbcagt," but did not divulge any further details.

US mom charged in grade-hacking case

A Pennsylvania mom faces six felony charges for allegedly hacking into her children's school computer to change their grades and read school officials' e-mails.

Catherine Venusto, 45, worked for the Northwestern Lehigh School District from 2008 through April 2011 and has at least two children in the district, according to the district attorney's office.

She has been accused of changing her daughter's failing grade from an F to an M for "medical" in June 2010, and then changing her son's 98 to an even more impressive 99 in February 2012, nearly a year after she quit her job as an administrative office secretary to work at another school district.

Actor visits Colorado shooting victims

Christian Bale, the actor behind the Batman mask in The Dark Knight Rises, visited victims of last week's movie theater shooting as they recovered at an Aurora, Colorado, hospital on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the facility said. Emily Crowley, spokeswoman for the Medical Center of Aurora, confirmed that the movie star was at the hospital Tuesday afternoon but did not give any details.

Batman comic book postponed after shooting

The latest issue of a Batman comic series due to hit stores last week was postponed in light of the shooting rampage at a Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, DC Entertainment said on Tuesday. "Out of respect for the victims and families in Aurora, Colorado, DC Entertainment has made the decision to postpone the release of BATMAN INC 3 for one month because the comic contains content that may be perceived as insensitive in light of recent events," DC Entertainment said in a statement.

Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel into space and an advocate for science education, died on Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her organization, Sally Ride Science. She was 61. Ride broke new ground for American women in 1983 when at the age of 32, she and four male crewmates blasted off aboard space shuttle Challenger.

Uni ready for next ET

The UK's Edinburgh University is planning to enroll thousands of students this month on a course to learn how to search for aliens.

The university has joined some of America's top institutions in launching a series of free online courses - including an Introduction to Astrobiology and the Search for Extra-terrestrial Life.

The course will discuss such questions as: What are the possibilities for intelligent life elsewhere? How would society deal with contact with aliens, and who would represent Earth?

Reuters

(China Daily 07/29/2012 page4)