People talk 1/22/02

Glover defends his views on death penalty

MODESTO, Calif. -- Danny Glover says the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have endorsed the actor's anti-death penalty message.

The civil rights leader is a man "who died committed to defending the principles of nonviolence," Glover told a congregation at Christ Unity Baptist Church on Saturday.

Glover, who starred in "The Color Purple" and the "Lethal Weapon" series, also clarified remarks made during a November speech at Princeton University in which he was quoted as saying that Osama bin Laden should not be executed, even if he is found guilty of being involved in terrorist acts.

During a question-and-answer session, someone asked Glover, 54, if he would favor the execution of bin Laden. The actor said he repeated his opposition to the death penalty, without referring to the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Nowhere is Osama bin Laden's name mentioned," said Glover, who brought copies of his Princeton remarks and made them available to the audience.

Gov. Ventura promotes tourism to Germany

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota's budget problems won't stop Gov. Jesse Ventura from taking a four-day trip in March to a travel show in Berlin.

Ventura will promote Minnesota to German tour operators, travel agents and others at an event billed as the world's largest travel exhibition.

"Given the impact on the travel industry following the events of Sept. 11, it's more important than ever to get out the 'Explore Minnesota' message to our European market," Ventura said in a statement.

The trip, originally part of a weeklong trade mission to Europe, was scaled back in response to a projected $2 billion dent in the state budget.

Jennifer Connelly gives credit to 4-year-old son

NEW YORK -- Actress Jennifer Connelly has been getting the best reviews of her career for her work as a long-suffering wife in Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind."

But Howard isn't the only important director in her life.

Connelly says her 4-year-old son, Kai, has a "theatrical, exuberant personality," but she sees him more as a director than the actor type.

"We've already done plays together. Very short plays. He dictates them to me. Sometimes he casts me, sometimes he doesn't," Connelly said in an interview with Newsday published Sunday. "And when I'm in the play, he'll sometimes say to me, 'No Mom, you didn't say that right.'"

Connelly, 31, began modeling at age 10 and appeared in her first film, Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" when she was a teen-ager.

Harrison hit does repeat as British chart-topper

LONDON -- George Harrison's single "My Sweet Lord" has returned to the top of the British pop charts 31 years after its first release.

The song, reissued after Harrison's Nov. 29 death from cancer at age 58, is raising funds for charities around the world. Harrison first released the song in January 1971.

Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhani agreed to the re-release of the single by EMI after strong public demand, providing the cash went to a fund administered by the Material World Charitable Foundation, which Harrison established in 1973.

Pitcher Schilling throws lot with children's charity

LAS VEGAS -- Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling joined other baseball players for a different sort of pitch: to promote the Teammates for Kids Foundation.

The right-hander, whose team won last season's World Series, was one of five baseball players at The Venetian hotel-casino on Saturday to help distribute $325,000 in goods to needy Las Vegas children.

Schilling donated $100 per strikeout last season, which added up to $29,300 for the foundation, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The other foundation supporters were ballplayers Rod Beck, Mike Myers, Mike Magnante and Shea Hillenbrand.

Ex-mayor of New York steps back into limelight

NEW YORK -- Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani is out of office, but he won't be leaving the public stage soon. Giuliani's first book is due out this summer, and he's scheduled to appear in a Super Bowl television ad.

Giuliani's book, titled "Leadership" and focusing on management principles, will be published June 5.

During the Super Bowl, Monster.com will pay for a 30-second commercial in which Giuliani is expected to thank Americans for helping New York after the terrorist attacks.

Instead of paying Giuliani a fee, Monster.com is donating $350,000 to the Twin Towers Fund.

--From wire reports