Boy George to revisit rehab

New York – Boy George, in a plea bargain deal that spared him possible jail time, agreed Wednesday to enter a drug rehabilitation program and perform community service to resolve his arrest last year on a cocaine charge.

The former pop star, whose real name is George O’Dowd, entered his guilty plea to third-degree false reporting of an incident in Manhattan Criminal Court. He only spoke to answer questions from Judge Anthony Ferrara with a simple “yes.”

Under the deal, O’Dowd will enter a drug program in England and perform five days of community service in Manhattan. He will pay a $1,000 fine and must avoid arrest on any charges over the next six months.

He must return to court June 9 with written proof of his stay in a rehabilitation program.

O’Dowd had a previous drug history, including a 1986 heroin possession arrest after two of his friends overdosed. O’Dowd entered a rehab program at that point. His drug woes reportedly led to the collapse of the Culture Club, which had the hit singles “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”

Give peace a kiss

Tel Aviv, Israel – Sharon Stone is ready to do her part for Mideast peace: The “Basic Instinct” actress said she “would kiss just about anybody” to end the Israel-Arab conflict.

She arrived in Israel on Tuesday for a five-day trip sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace, founded by Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres in 1996 to improve relations with Arabs. It’s her first visit to the Holy Land.

Stone, joined by Peres at a news conference, said she couldn’t solve the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but could use her fame to help encourage peace efforts.

“I would kiss just about anybody for peace in the Middle East,” she said Wednesday, drawing laughter from a throng of Israeli reporters. Stone playfully turned down calls to give Peres a peck on the cheek.

Noting it was International Women’s Day, Stone suggested that more women become involved in the male-dominated world of Mideast peace talks. Women consider thoughts and feelings more than men, she said.

“I think (men and women) need to be a team. We were meant to be a team,” she said.

No animal testing

New York – Paul McCartney, in a letter to the governor of Arizona, says he doesn’t want drug developer Covance Inc. to open an animal testing lab in the state where he owns a ranch.

Covance submitted plans in October to build a 400,000-square-foot facility on a 38-acre parcel for clinical animal testing in Chandler, Ariz. The company says the testing is mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for new drugs.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), however, claims that an undercover video filmed last year shows abuse of monkeys in Covance’s Vienna, Va., laboratory. That video is posted online at http://www.CovanceCruelty.com.

“Arizona has a special place in my heart,” McCartney writes in the letter to Gov. Janet Napolitano. He explains that his Arizona ranch is where his wife Linda spent her last days before she died of breast cancer in 1998.

“It is for her and all of us who want to protect animals from harm that I am writing to ask you not to let Covance, an animal testing laboratory, set up shop in Chandler,” the former Beatle writes in a letter dated March 3.

Paisley tops in nominations for country music awards

Nashville – Singer Brad Paisley earned six nominations for the 41st Academy of Country Music Awards, including top male vocalist and album of the year for “Time Well Wasted.”

Veteran performers Brooks & Dunn and Sugarland scored five nominations each, while Rascal Flatts and “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood, who announced the nominations Wednesday, had four apiece.

“It’s fun to be up for multiple things,” Paisley told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “It’s nice to look at the list this time and it not all be for one song.”

Nominees for entertainer of the year are Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban. Top male vocalist nods went to Paisley, Dierks Bentley, George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban. Top female vocalist nominees are Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Underwood, Gretchen Wilson and Lee Ann Womack.

The Academy of Country Music Awards is scheduled for May 23 in Las Vegas and is broadcast live on CBS. The hosts are Rascal Flatts and Underwood and CBS News’ The Early Show anchor Hannah Storm.