McCartney cancels Aussie stop

London Paul McCartney has canceled a concert in Australia out of respect for those killed in the Bali nightclub bombing.

McCartney, now touring the United States, had planned to play at the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on Nov. 23, but said it was “not the appropriate time for a rock show.”

The Oct. 12 blast on the Indonesian resort island killed more than 190 people, including about 90 Australians, and injured 300 others.

“In time, that show will hopefully come to be,” the former Beatle said. “But for now my sympathies and those of all of us on this tour are with you all in your grief.”

Woody his own worst critic

Rome He’s won three Oscars and is considered by many to be one of the best movie directors of our time. But Woody Allen says if he had three words to define himself, “I would say I am a failed artist.”

“I am not even an actor,” the 66-year-old Allen was quoted as saying by La Repubblica daily and other Italian newspapers over the weekend. “Dustin Hoffman is an actor; Jack Nicholson is an actor; I’m not.”

Allen has appeared in many of his own films, including “Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” and “Hollywood Ending.”

“If I weren’t famous, nobody would come to my concerts,” he told the Rome daily Il Messaggero. “I’m less than mediocre with the clarinet.”

Beauty queen takes on world

Lumberton, N.C. Rebekah Revels, the North Carolina beauty queen who resigned amid a topless photo scandal, has been selected to represent the United States in the Miss World pageant.

Revels, 24, won the Miss North Carolina title in June but resigned after the Miss America pageant received an e-mail indicating there were nude photos of her. Revels told pageant officials that the e-mail came from a former boyfriend.

After Revels resigned, she sought to reclaim her crown after the Miss North Carolina Organization had signed a contract with the first runner-up. Revels lost her court battle and was unable to compete in the Miss America pageant.

Her selection by the Miss World pageant will allow her to compete Dec. 7 in Nigeria against 119 women from around the world.

Bjork’s mom hungers for justice

Reykjavik, Iceland The mother of pop singer Bjork says she is frail but determined to continue her hunger strike against a plan to develop the Icelandic highlands.

Hildur Runa Hauksdottir stopped eating Oct. 7 to try to persuade Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Inc. to pull out of the plan to build an aluminum smelter and hydroelectric plant in the wilderness area. Environmentalists say the project will ruin the area above Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier.

Hauksdottir, 56, said Sunday that she had lost more than 14 pounds, had difficulty remembering certain words and felt very tired. “I’m not sure I could go on for another 40 days,” she said. “But it is incredible how much support I am getting, and this helps a great deal.”