First came the book, then the hit HBO series, then the movie.

In this handout image provided by Warner Bros., actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth film on location for ‘Sex And The City 2′ on the Streets of Manhattan on September 1, 2009 in New York City.

(Warner Bros. via Getty Images)
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Now, the cast and crew of “Sex and the City” are gearing up for a sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. Though the movie isn’t due in theaters until spring 2010, paparazzi and fans are swarming Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Chris Noth on the film’s New York City set to get a clue of what drama might go down with Carrie Bradshaw and company.

The Duggar family, stars of the TLC reality show “18 Kids and Counting,” make raising a large family look like, well, child’s play.

Indeed, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar of Springdale, Ark., recently announced that they are not done yet — and are, indeed, expecting their 19th child.

Adults who have grown up in Duggar-size families, however, say it’s a mixed blessing. Finding space to be alone is a challenge. Finding someone to play with is not.

There’s also an environmental effect — think carbon dioxide — as well as health concerns for the mother. Women who’ve borne more than five children risk hemorrhage and even the loss of their uterus because repeated pregnancies sometimes thin the walls of the uterus, said Dr. Joanna Cain, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Providence, R.I. Then there’s always the possibility of one child getting lost in the passel of children.

“Number nine. Number nine. Number nine.”

“The Beatles: Rock Band,” to be released Wednesday, lets players strum along with classics.

The repetitive refrain from one of The Beatles’ most mind-bending journeys into psychedelia — “Revolution 9,” the audio pastiche from “The White Album” — is now serving as the backbeat of a big day for the biggest band in rock ‘n’ roll history.

On Wednesday — 9/9/09 — remastered versions of the Beatles catalogue will be released, giving listeners what the remaining members of “The Fab Four” say is the closest reproduction ever of how their music sounded in the studio.

The same day, the video game “is set to be released by Harmonix. Modeled after the already popular “Rock Band” game, and closely supervised by The Beatles and their estates, the game lets players sing and strum along on a huge list of Beatles classics over scenes ranging from Liverpool’s Cavern Club to their final performance on a London rooftop.

And on top of that, there’s rampant speculation that a planned “music-themed” announcement by Apple Inc., also scheduled on 9/9/09, could involve the supergroup.

The Beatles are one of a handful of groups whose music has never been approved for sale by Apple’s iTunes, and the timing of the announcement has fueled speculation that could finally change — or even that specialized Beatles iPods, like the ones sold in 2004 loaded with U2’s music, could be in the works.

It’s a remarkable amount of buzz for a band whose roots stretch back nearly five decades. And it’s a clear sign, observers say, that through time and a multitude of cultural shifts, the group’s hold on the public’s imagination has endured.

“People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original,” said Robert Greenfield, a former associate editor at Rolling Stone magazine who has written about the band. “In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were.”

Research shows that more than 40 years after their last public performance, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s music remains as interesting to young people now as it ever was.

A Pew Research survey released last month showed that 81 percent of respondents between ages 16-29 said they liked The Beatles. Eleven percent said they dislike the band and only 4 percent said they have never heard of them.

By comparison, current rockers Coldplay received 39 percent positive responses, with 45 percent saying they’d never heard of them. Forty-two percent said they like hip-hop star Kanye West.

“To put this in perspective: Try imagining young adults back in the 1960s putting the big jazz bands of the roaring ’20s at the top of their list of favorites,” the survey reads. “Not very likely.”

Walter Everett, professor and chairman of music theory at the University of Michigan, said his students know The Beatles catalogue as well today as they would have 30 years ago.

He said the cultural phenomenon that was The Beatles — the frenzy-inducing early concerts, the furor when John Lennon said the group was “more popular than Jesus,” the pre-Internet obsession over “Paul is dead” rumors — made them something more than just another rock group.

“They were just idolized,” said Everett, who has written several books on the band. “It was a musical revolution, but [also] the hair, the clothing, their attitude about the establishment, their support of everybody, young and old alike, to try to understand each other at a very difficult time.

“Some of that message endures.”

But at the heart of the phenomenon, experts agree, is the music. From the charming, school-boy bop of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to the blistering assault of “Helter Skelter,” the songs, they say, were just that good.

“The point is how great the music is,” Greenfield said. “It isn’t about the fact that The Beatles were willing to practice and get better at what they did — it was the fact that that band contained at least two-and-a-half geniuses [Lennon, McCartney and, at times, Harrison].”

Wednesday’s announcements — and, in Apple’s case, possible announcement — show that the minders of The Beatles legacy are keeping up with how today’s music consumers behave, said Bruce Birch, director of the University of Georgia’s music business program.

“A lot of bands and artists have been slow to embrace the fact that technology is driving the industry,” Birch said. “Their music is not going away and this is a step for them for their music to come into the 21st century.”

EMI, which will be releasing the remastered recordings, has been famously protective of The Beatles brand and music. Digital reproductions like MP3s have lower sound quality than albums or compact discs — one of the reasons they’ve been slow to embrace iTunes.

But if an announcement on that front is coming, Birch said, it would signal an acknowledgement that such quality-control concerns may be obsolete for the majority of the music-buying public.

“It’s just a different audience out there,” he said. “They’re used to listening on ear buds. The sound quality, in some cases, maybe isn’t’ as important to them.”

Everett said that, even with all of the news expected Wednesday, the Beatles music will no doubt remain popular for decades to come — meaning more new wrinkles are almost certain.

“There’s still more that can be done,” he said. “Who knows where technology may be in another 10 years? We may have holographic images.”

And regardless of how it’s delivered, no one’s expecting another band to ever eclipse the four lads from Liverpool who would go on to shape popular culture the world over.

“There will probably be another artist that comes along and captures the imagination,” Birch said. “But it will never be like The Beatles.”

Friends and family of Michael Jackson have paid their last respects to the singer known as the King of Pop at a funeral ceremony outside Los Angeles.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor, actor Macaulay Culkin and music producer Quincy Jones were among the 200 invited guests.

Gladys Knight sang at the service while civil rights campaigner the Reverend Al Sharpton was one of the speakers.

The ceremony was due to begin at 0200 GMT at Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park but began more than an hour late.

The singer’s gold-plated casket was adorned with flowers

The delay was caused by the late arrival of the singer’s family, who eventually arrived in a motorcade of 31 vehicles.

Jackson’s brothers - Randy, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon - acted as pallbearers as his gold-plated coffin was removed from a hearse.

All were dressed identically in black suits, with each wearing a solitary white glove - a fashion statement made famous by their legendary sibling.

The singer’s children - Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II - sat in the front row next to his parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson.

Comedian Chris Tucker, producer Berry Gordy and Lisa Marie Presley, Jackson’s ex-wife, also attended.

The service took place after dark in the open air outside Forest Lawn’s Great Mausoleum.

It came more than two months after Jackson died of a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs at the age of 50.

Last week Jackson’s death was ruled to be a homicide by the Los Angeles coroner.

The verdict increases the chances of criminal charges being brought, although no-one has been named a suspect.

A statement from the Jackson family said the pop star’s casket was interred at 2143 local time (0443 GMT).

“The Jackson family wishes to once again thank all of Michael’s fans around the world for their generous outpouring of support during this terribly difficult time,” the statement read.

Jackson’s family and mourners attended a post-funeral reception at an Italian restaurant in nearby Pasadena.

Security was tight ahead of the ceremony, with fans and media kept away by a heavy security presence.

Police had cordoned off roads leading to the Forest Lawn site throughout the day.

A live TV feed was provided of the guests arriving, though the footage ceased once the service began.

Jackson, known for such hits as Bad, Thriller and Smooth Criminal, was originally due to be buried on 29 August on what would have been his 51st birthday.

However, the date was pushed back to allow more time for the planning of the ceremony.

Jackson joins a long list of famous stars who have also been buried in the Forest Lawn cemetery.

Screen stars Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable have all been laid to rest there.

A judge has ordered mediation in the case of a teen girl who says her family threatened to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity.

Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July. She claims her father threatened to kill her.

The 17-year-old girl, Rifqa Bary, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July and took refuge in the home of the Rev. Blake Lorenz with the Global Revolution Church in Orlando, Florida.

Bary’s parents want her back home.

At a court hearing Thursday in Orlando, the girl’s parents denied all the allegations against them.

Also at the hearing, Judge Daniel Dawson of the Orange County Juvenile Court ordered the girl and her parents to seek the mediation within 30 days. The judge had previously ruled that the girl will remain in Florida foster care until the allegations are resolved.

The parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, could not attend the hearing in person but listened through a telephone conference as their lawyer spoke for them. They denied they ever threatened to kill their daughter because she converted to Christianity.

Mohamed Bary told CNN he believes a lot of false information has been circulated about the case.

“We wouldn’t do her harm,” the father said, adding that he knew his daughter was involved with Christian organizations.

“I have no problem with her practicing any faith,” he said. But Bary conceded he would have preferred that his daughter practice the Muslim faith first.

The teen had heard of pastor Lorenz and his church through a prayer group on Facebook. The girl’s parents reported her missing to Columbus police, who found her two weeks later in Florida through cell phone records.

The teenager, in a sworn affidavit, claims her father, 47, was pressured by the mosque the family attends in Ohio to “deal with the situation.” In the court filing, Rifqa Bary stated her father said, “If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!” The teenager claims her father added, “I will kill you!”

Also at Thursday’s hearing, the judge sealed a report on the girl from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and issued a gag order for attorneys in the case.

At one point during the hearing, the girl’s court-appointed guardian, Krista Bartholomew, told the court: “This is not a holy war but a case about a broken family.”

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, a Muslim activist and several Christian activists exchanged words over the case. 

Another hearing is scheduled for September 29 if the family is not able to resolve the conflict through mediation.

US employers cut 216,000 jobs in August, pushing the unemployment rate up to 9.7%, a 26-year high, official figures show.

The unemployment rate rose after dipping to 9.4% in July but the Labor Department said the job loss figure was the smallest in a year.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the economy has shed 6.9 million jobs, the department said.

Jobs have been lost across manufacturing and service industries.

Total unemployment stands at 14.9 million.

Taking encouragement

Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 9.5% and job reductions to total 225,000.

Although there have been signs that the US economy is now recovering from the worst recession in 70 years, unemployment has remained high and could dampen any economic rebound.

However, Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight, said that the rise in the jobless rate was not too discouraging.

“The decline last month was too good to be true, really. It’s too early for the unemployment rate to be coming down, of course we’re still losing jobs,” he said.

“What I would take encouragement from is the fact is the trend in the rate of decline in jobs is still improving, that private sector jobs were down 198,000, that’s 50,000 better than the previous month and it’s almost 200,000 better than the month before that.”

Most cuts were seen in the construction industry, with 65,000 jobs lost in the month.

Health care and educational services was the only bright spot, adding 52,000 jobs.