Movie star George Clooney joined US Senators Barack Obama and Sam Brownback in Washington DC yesterday in an effort to urge President George W. Bush to take action and end the atrocities in Western Africa. Fresh from an awareness trip to the Sudan, Clooney is keen to turn US politicians' heads towards the civil war hell he recently captured on film. The Ocean's Twelve star, who is in Washington for Sunday's Save Darfur Coalition Rally To Stop Genocide, looked every bit like a politician as he dressed in suit and tie to address the National Press Club. The Oscar winner spoke about his visit to the war-torn African region with his father, former newsman Nick Clooney. He also showed reporters harrowing video footage from his trip, including interviews with refugees.

Former talk show queen Rosie O'Donnell is to return to the small screen as the new co-host of magazine show The View, according to internet reports. The beloved comedienne, who quit her eponymous hit daytime show in 2002 to concentrate on raising her kids with partner Kelli, is set to be announced as the replacement for Meredith Vieira on the program. TV executives will announce the news of O'Donnell's new TV role later today, according to the reports. Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton and US newscaster Connie Chung were also reportedly up for the job to replace Vieira, who is leaving the show to co-anchor US breakfast news show Today.

Sharon Stone has secured a settlement with a British tabloid, winning substantial undisclosed damages and a formal apology over an article claiming she left her son in a car while she enjoyed a late night restaurant date. The actress filed the suit against the Daily Mail, after they claimed to have snapped the boy asleep in the back seat of her car, while she snuggled up to a "mystery male companion" in plush eating house The Ivy. A month later the paper published a second article under the headline: "Sharon's dinner date and this time her baby goes too." Stone's lawyer Rupert Grey claimed the paper falsely insinuated the Basic Instinct star was a bad mother on both occasions, and that her son had been traumatized by the hounding photographers. He added, "The article conveyed the clear allegation that Sharon Stone had neglected her son in a shameful and selfish way." Stone has promised to donate the court payout to charity.

Jessica Simpson is devastated by a recent tell-all interview her estranged husband Nick Lachey gave to Rolling Stone magazine, according to media reports in the US. In the interview Lachey revealed he still loved Simpson and was "blindsided" and "sucker-punched" by her decision to file for divorce. A source close to the blonde singer tells publication People, "She was devastated, heartbroken. She didn't think he would do that." Friends gathered at Simpson's house the day the article hit newsstands to help console her and she even received a call from Lachey himself. A friend of Lachey's tells the magazine, "He wanted her to hear it from him. He felt bad that she was upset, but Nick didn't apologize, because the things he said (in the article) only demonstrate that he loves her." Simpson's camp believes he is trying to use the publicity to promote his upcoming album, What's Left Of Me, which is set for release May 19. The Simpson source adds, "What really upset her was the timing. Nick waited until two weeks before his album debut to tell a reporter that he loved Jessica. That's not cool. He keeps saying, 'I'm sorry I couldn't make her happy,' but he is not choosing to say why." Simpson has turned down offers to tell her side of the story and cancelled a Vanity Fair cover story after it became clear she would have to talk about the split for the story. The source adds, "She will not take the low road."

Music executives at Sony have hit back at Russell Crowe, insisting they never led him to believe they would offer him a record deal. The Oscar-winning actor launched a scathing attack on the record company this week, claiming they put him through a six-month "process" before passing on his band. Crowe was furious that he and his band The Ordinary Fear Of God, didn't even manage to get a meeting with the record label bosses. A Sony spokesperson insists there were meetings and that a rejection was purely a good business decision on behalf of the company. A Sony representative says, "There have been meetings with Russell Crowe, but in regards to the quality of our large roster, we didn't take up the opportunity." Crowe has been touring with his band in his native New Zealand and Australia in recent months, playing gigs ranging from clubs to the recent MTV Australian Video Music Awards. The actor told a Sydney radio station that he thought the band's performance at the MTV awards would seal the record deal with Sony. According to the Gladiator star, music executives told him, "All you've got to do is play that song at the MTV Awards tonight, and rock that, and you're home and hosed." Crowe claims a Sony representative became interested in the band last November, but the potential deal fell through just after the MTV Awards. Despite being told at a meeting he was all but assured of a contract he says, "Less than 24 hours after the meeting and a six-month process, '(They said) absolutely not, we would (never) think of releasing you, we have too many artists and we want to service those.'"

Rapper Snoop Dogg was released from a London police station yesterday evening after he escaped charges over a brawl in the city's Heathrow Airport. The hip-hop star and five members of his 30-strong entourage were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of affray and violent disorder when a fight broke out in Terminal 1's British Airways business lounge. According to reports, the star's entourage reacted angrily when they were turned away from the First Class lounge, where they were hoping to wait before boarding a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. During the incident, seven police officers were injured. After spending nearly 24 hours in police custody, Snoop - real name Calvin Broadus - was released on bail from Heathrow police station, but was forced to cancel his Thursday performance at the Freedom Day celebrations in South Africa. The rapper's attorney Peter Binning says, "Snoop has been released on bail. He will return at a later date." Meanwhile, British Airways have banned the rapper and his associates from flying on the airline. A BA spokeswoman explains, "Given the nature of the disturbance they have been banned from traveling with BA for the foreseeable future."

Charlie Sheen's legal problems have just doubled - a woman claiming to be the actor's ex-girlfriend has sued the actor for using their romance as a storyline on his hit show Two And A Half Men. Ursula Auburn claims Sheen's "wacky neighbor, Rose" on the show, played by actress Melanie Lynskey, is based on her, and she insists "encounters" she had with the star a decade ago match those between the two characters on the show. In court papers, obtained by entertainment news website Tmz.com, Auburn claims she had "encounters" with Sheen between 1992 and 1998. In the odd suit Auburn's lawyer states, "Auburn would show up at events Sheen was to attend, and generally was captivated by Sheen." And in a self-disparaging passage, Auburn writes, "...Rose is depicted on the show as (a) crazy female with no life except for stalking Harper (Sheen's character) every day of her life." Auburn claims she has suffered "humiliation, emotional distress, embarrassment, chagrin, mortification, and immeasurable grief" and is seeking $1 million in damages. This new suit comes less than a week after Sheen's estranged wife Denise Richards won a temporary restraining order from the actor after claiming he had become a danger to her and his kids in a harsh 17-page document.

Actor Don Johnson has paid out $14.5 million to rescue his Colorado ranch from being confiscated. The former Miami Vice star had until midday on Tuesday to make the payment or fourteen acres of his Woody Creek estate would have been auctioned on Wednesday on the steps of Pitkin County Courthouse. A further three acres and the guesthouse would have been auctioned on 10 May . According to deputy public trustee Carol Foote the payment was made at 4pm on Monday. Johnson was also forced to pay $544,584 in interest and $7,175 in attorney fees because of the delinquent debt, reports the Aspen Daily News.

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi's movie fee has multiplied ten times over the past three years - thanks to roles in blockbusters Memoirs Of A Geisha and Hero. Filmmaker Hou Yong, who directed the star in Jasmin Flower three years ago for which she was paid $500,000, is amazed by the actress' sudden rise to the Hollywood A-list. Yong says, "When Zhang Ziyi made this movie her salary was $500,000. Now, her salary is $5 million. It's a tenfold jump. It's really amazing."

Fashion designer Calvin Klein is divorcing his wife Kelly, ten years after they separated. The split was sealed in secret by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Harold Beeler two weeks ago, reports PageSix.com. Although the couple have been living apart for sometime they both went to great lengths to keep the news secret after Kelly first filed for divorce on March 17. According to PageSix the pair convinced another judge to allow the case to be filed as Anonymous vs. Anonymous.