Ratzenberger a late addition for ‘Dancing With the Stars’

New York – A mailman is replacing a hitman on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff Claven on “Cheers,” will step in for Vincent Pastore, who quit after one week of training.

Ratzenberger, 59, previously had turned down an offer to join the cast for the 10-week dance competition because of a scheduling conflict, ABC said Friday.

The 60-year-old Pastore, who played a tough-guy mobster on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” said earlier this week he didn’t realize how physically demanding the show would be for him.

The new cast also includes Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno, boxer Laila Ali, former ‘N Sync member Joey Fatone, country singer-actor Billy Ray Cyrus and Paul McCartney’s estranged wife, Heather Mills.

“Dancing With the Stars” returns March 19.

Jury to join Lady Di inquest

London – Mohamed al Fayed won a court battle Friday to have a jury take part in the British inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana and his son, Dodi Fayed.

Three senior judges at London’s High Court overturned a decision by the deputy royal coroner that she would sit alone – without a jury – in determining what caused the deaths of the pair in an August 1997 car crash in Paris.

Attorneys for Mohamed al Fayed challenged Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss’s decision to sit alone, arguing that this would give the appearance of impropriety. Al Fayed’s legal team had pressed the judge to call a jury, saying it was the only way the public would be satisfied that proper care was taken over the issues surrounding the crash.

Anna Nicole gets a lavish farewell at funeral, burial

Nassau, Bahamas – Her coffin covered in a pink rhinestone-studded blanket, Anna Nicole Smith was buried Friday as she lived: extravagantly dressed in a designer gown and surrounded by a small cadre of competing admirers.

The reality TV star was mourned at a lavish memorial service, but while her body was laid to rest, the fight over the former Playboy Playmate’s baby daughter – and a potential multimillion-dollar inheritance – remains very much alive. Her companion, Howard K. Stern, her mother, Virgie Arthur, and her former boyfriend Larry Birkhead are battling for custody of 5-month-old Dannielynn.

There were fewer than 100 guests at the service, even though an organizer said about 300 – including an “Entertainment Tonight” camera crew – had been invited. Rock guitarist Slash, formerly of Guns N’ Roses, was among the guests, and country singer Joe Nichols performed two songs, guests said.

Arthur, Birkhead and Stern took turns eulogizing the 39-year-old Smith, who died last month in a Florida hotel.

Jolie plans to adopt Vietnamese child

Hanoi, Vietnam – Angelina Jolie has filed papers to adopt a Vietnamese child, the country’s top adoption official said Friday.

A U.S. adoption agency representing the 31-year-old actress filed the papers this week at Vietnam’s International Adoption Agency, said Vu Duc Long, the agency’s director.

Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, have three children: 5-year-old son Maddox, adopted from Cambodia; 2-year-old daughter Zahara, adopted from Ethiopia; and another daughter, Shiloh, who was born to the couple in May.

Jolie and Pitt, 43, made a surprise visit to Vietnam at Thanksgiving, when they visited the Tam Binh orphanage, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.

Their pictures were splashed across the front page of Vietnamese newspapers, showing the couple cruising through Ho Chi Minh City.

Payment from radio station frees Bobby Brown from jail

Canton, Mass. – Bobby Brown’s release after three nights in the county jail was the result of a radio station paying the $19,150 the R&B singer owed in late child-support payments and court fees, the station said Thursday.

Hot 99.5 FM, which broadcasts in the Washington, D.C., area, intervened following on-air discussions and two days of negotiation with Brown’s attorney, said the host of the station’s “The Kane Show.”

“In exchange for the money, he agreed to be an employee of our radio station for one week,” where he will discuss what he did wrong and how he could turn his life around, said Kane, who goes by one name.

Brown will be on the air with Kane for the morning show beginning Monday.