Five cast members from hit TV comedy Modern Family Tuesday filed a lawsuit to have their contracts declared void, which could help them renegotiate much better pay.

According to show business newspaper Variety, the actors did not show up Tuesday for the first readings of the fourth season.

Actor Sherman Hemsley, who rose to fame in the 1970s as the wise-cracking father in the hit sitcom "The Jeffersons," has died at the age of 74, police said Tuesday.

Hemsley was found dead in his El Paso, Texas home, No foul play is suspected, local police said in a statement.

British prosecutors Tuesday charged Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief Andy Coulson and former tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks with phone hacking as the scandal lapped at Downing Street's door.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced that eight people, all either current or former employees of Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World tabloid, would face charges of illegal interception of voicemails.

When comedian Joan Rivers thought her New York apartment was haunted about 15 years ago, she called on New Orleans voodoo priestess Sallie Ann Glassman to perform a "spiritual cleansing" of the brownstone.

Glassman said the pair became friends during that meeting, at which Glassman wore a flowing white gown and chased off the disturbing spirits in a night of rituals.

Actress Cybill Shepherd is hoping the third time's the charm.

The 62-year-old's publicist confirms Shepherd is planning to marry a former jeweler-turned-psychologist named Andrei (AHN'-dray) Nikolajevic (nik-oh-LY'-eh-vish).

Mariah Carey will join "American Idol" as a judge next season, Fox announced Monday, bringing her star power to the show that remains a ratings leader but has seen its viewership and pop culture status diminish.

"I am so excited to be joining 'Idol,'" said Carey, addressing the Television Critics Association via Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly's cellphone, which he put on speakerphone for the hotel ballroom meeting.

Singer Elton John said Monday the world needs more love in order to end the AIDS epidemic, which has killed some 30 million people around the world since it first emerged in the 1980s.

"We need more than money. We need more than medicine. We need love," John told the International AIDS Conference in Washington, the largest meeting of experts on HIV/AIDS in the world.

The Olympic flame has had a ride on the London Eye.

Amelia Hempleman-Adams took the torch on a trip on the giant observation wheel on the south side of the River Thames on Sunday, riding atop one of the Eye's viewing capsules as it slowing rotated.

"The Twilight Saga" is gonna need a bigger garage.

It was announced at Sunday's Teen Choice Awards that the supernatural franchise has won 41 surfboard-shaped trophies since 2008, including two awards earned this year for the penultimate film installment, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1."

A television series depicting a revered Islamic figure has caused a stir in the Arab world with thousands saying the show must be stopped because they believe such depictions are forbidden by Islam.

The historical drama, "Omar", tells the story of Omar Ibn al-Khattab, a close companion of Prophet Mohammed and influential ruler who oversaw the radical expansion of the Islamic empire in the 7th century.