"For production issues, Jennifer Lopez, one of the artists of the official song We Are One, will not be able to perform at the Fifa World Cup opening ceremony," said a statement. The 25-minute ceremony in Sao Paulo will feature 600 artists, including acrobatic gymnasts, trampolinists, martial arts-style performers and stilt walkers.
Fringe Matters - The Edinburgh Festival Fringe line-up has been announced with organisers saying this year's festival will be a "truly unboring experience". The range of entertainment on offer is the biggest ever, with 49,497 performances of 3,193 shows. Several new venues will feature in the August extravaganza, to accommodate the larger festival.
There's plenty of politics in this year's programme - inevitable given the referendum which will follow fast on the heels of this year's Fringe . Comedy and theatre shows make up 62% of the acts announced and organisers said the former Dance and Physical Theatre category had been expanded to become Dance, Circus and Physical Theatre. This was in recognition of the growth and popularity of circus shows over the past couple of years.
As well as ticketed shows there will be 825 free acts during the festival's run with 47 different countries represented. To accommodate the larger line-up 299 venues will be used across the city, compared to the 273 used in 2013. Amongst the new venues is the reopening of La Belle Angèle on Cowgate which hosts the Fringe for the first time since it was devastated by fire in 2002. The Famous Spiegeltent will be located in St Andrew's Square, alongside Stand in the Square, and a brand new open air stage.
In The Courts - The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7m (£1.1m) over the unauthorised use of their music in fizzy drink adverts. "We're happy," said rapper Adam Horovitz, known as Ad-Rock, outside the Manhattan courtroom. California-based Monster Energy Co. admitted using Beastie Boys tracks in a promotional video that was online for five weeks, but argued over the amount of money for which it was liable. The jury awarded $120,000 (£71,000) for each of 10 violations of copyright.
In The Sale Room - Handwritten letters, notes, poems and sketches by John Lennon have exceeded pre-sale estimates at an auction at Sotheby's in New York. The Fat Budgie, a nonsensical poem, was sold for $143,000 (£85,000), having been valued at up to $35,000 (£21,000). A handwritten manuscript called I Sat Belonely went for $137,000 (£82,000), four times its estimate. The pieces, part of an 89 lot sale, come from Lennon's books In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works.
Tour de Force - Yorkshire band Embrace will headline the opening ceremony for the Tour de France Grand Depart in Leeds on 3 July. Organisers said Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh will join York singer and songwriter Alistair Griffin on stage at the event. The Tour's Grand Depart takes place in Yorkshire on 5 and 6 July before the race moves to Cambridge and London. The event is being produced by Martin Green who was Head of Ceremonies at the London 2012 Olympics.
(Jim Evans)
