Tokyo welcomes Radcliffe for world premiere of ‘Potter’

Tokyo – Japan rolled out the red carpet Thursday for the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the fifth movie from J.K. Rowling’s megahit fantasy series.

Hundreds of young Japanese fans, many wearing witch costumes and holding magic wands, screamed when Daniel Radcliffe appeared as white smoke spewed on the stage.

“Japanese fans are the best!” Radcliffe, dressed in a white suit, said in simple Japanese.

“Order of the Phoenix” was directed by David Yates, a Briton best known for the multilayered TV thrillers “State of Play” and “Sex Traffic.”

The film opens as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is undergoing a gradual takeover by the bureaucratic Ministry of Magic and its emissary, Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton).

A sense of impending doom is heightened by a series of nightmares that link Harry (Radcliffe) ever more closely to the devilish Voldemort, bringing Rowling’s saga into even darker territory.

Radcliffe and co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who play Harry’s friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, have been at the center of the Potter storm for almost half their lives.

Parker says wedding cake will be made in France

Paris – For Tony Parker, only French-made wedding cakes will do.

The NBA champion, set to marry “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria next week, is staying coy about plans for the event.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Paris, the San Antonio Spurs point guard shrugged off questions about the wedding date and venue, believed to be July 7 at a French chateau.

“I don’t care where I’m going to get married,” he said. “It’s a girls’ thing.” To other queries, he replied: “That’s a question you should ask Eva.”

He dismissed one rumor: that the wedding cake would be flown in from the United States.

“Why take a cake from the United States … if it is France that makes the best cakes?” he asked.

While Longoria picked the wedding site – believed to be the luxurious chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte – Parker said he was taking charge of the food and music. And that’s all he would say.

Barbra Streisand receives French Legion of Honor medal

Paris – Barbra Streisand performed her first-ever concert in France this week – and was rewarded with a medal of the Legion of Honor.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded the medal to Streisand in a ceremony Thursday, the first time he has bestowed the honor since taking over from Jacques Chirac last month.

“You are the America that we love,” said Sarkozy, who is seen as more U.S.-friendly than Chirac. “Women like you … do a lot to bring our two peoples together.”

Created by Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century, the Legion of Honor is France’s elite national merit society. Although foreigners cannot be officially inducted into the Legion, they are routinely made honorary recipients.

Opera singer Beverly Sills gravely ill with cancer

New York – Beverly Sills, the opera diva who won over fans worldwide with her sparkling voice and charming personality and later became a powerhouse in the New York arts world, is gravely ill with cancer, The Associated Press has learned.

Sills, 78, was chairwoman of the Metropolitan Opera until she resigned two years ago, citing health and family reasons. She remains the Met’s chairwoman emerita.

The Met would neither confirm nor deny news of her illness, but people close to the situation said Sills was at a Manhattan hospital, with her daughter at her side.

In an e-mail this week to members of its board, the Met said Sills was “gravely ill.” One person said she was suffering from lung cancer. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to announce news of her health.

Sills, a nonsmoker, underwent successful cancer surgery in 1974.

Actress Beauvais-Nilon pregnant with twin boys

Los Angeles – Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon is pregnant with twin boys.

The 40-year-old actress and her husband, talent agent Mike Nilon, expect to welcome their first children in November, her publicist, Carri McClure, said Wednesday.

The pregnancy was first reported by syndicated entertainment TV show “The Insider.”

Beauvais-Nilon’s credits include “NYPD Blue,” “The Jamie Foxx Show” and the upcoming movie “I Know Who Killed Me,” also starring Lindsay Lohan and Neal McDonough.