Japanese singer Yui stages 1st foreign show (AP)

HONG KONG – Rising Japanese singer-songwriter Yui has ventured beyond her home market, staging her first overseas show in the southern Chinese territory Hong Kong.

The 24-year-old pop star, whose full name is Yui Yoshioka, played to a packed house at the 14,000-seat AsiaWorld-Expo Arena on Hong Kong's outlying Lantau Island late Sunday. Fans stood and clapped throughout most of the two-hour set except for a short acoustic segment when Yui told the crowd to sit down.

Yui debuted in 2004 and shot to fame after her appearance in the 2006 Japanese movie "Taiyo no Uta," which means "Song of the Sun." She also performed "Goodbye Days," the hit song from the film's soundtrack.

Her albums are "From Me to You," "Can't Buy My Love," "I Loved Yesterday" and "Holidays in the Sun."

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Student Academy Awards have foreign flavor (AP)

By MIKE CIDONI LENNOX, Associated Press Mike Cidoni Lennox, Associated Press – Sun Jun 12, 3:12 am ET

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – There was a decidedly international flavor to Saturday night's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 38th Annual Student Academy Awards, with top medalists hailing from homelands spanning the globe — from Norway to South Korea to Israel to Brazil.

"For the first time Foreign Film is not just an honorary category, as it has been for the past 31 years," said event co-presenter, "Alias" actress Jennifer Garner. "The Student Award executive committee felt with all the quality work they were seeing each year from the schools outside America, it was about time to make to make Foreign Film a regular category."

Garner noted that foreign students submitted 52 films from 32 different countries this year, and the winner of the new foreign prize was Norway's Hallvar Witzo, director of "Tuba Atlantic."

Even one of the top Hollywood-produced winners, narrative-category gold medalist "Thief," had a foreign flair. It spun around a young Saddam Hussein, was set in Iraq and in Iraqi-Arabic with subtitles.

"This is just an incredible ride, a thrill ride," "Thief" director Julian Higgins said in a pre-ceremony interview Saturday afternoon. Higgins, a graduate of the American Film Institute, added, "We do have a mantel, for once in my apartment. So, that might be the choice. But, you'll never know. I mean, I hear these are people that win the Oscars and they put it in their closet or in their office or something, I've never thought about it before. So, I guess I should start thinking."

Other gold medal winners included New York director Zach Hyer's "Correspondence" in the animation category and Chicago-based Wonjung Bae's "Vera Klement: Blunt Edge" in the documentary category.

While all winners knew they would each receive an award, their placement __ Gold, Silver or Bronze __ was not revealed until the ceremony. Gold medalists received cash grants of $5,000. Silver medalists received $3,000. And Bronze medalists received $2,000.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards.

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Student Academy Awards have foreign flavor (AP)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – There was an international flavor to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 38th Annual Student Academy Awards, with top medalists hailing from homelands from Norway to South Korea to Brazil.

Saturday night's ceremony represented the first time students from institutions outside the U.S. could win a medal, and Norway's Hallvar Witzo took the new foreign film prize with "Tuba Atlantic."

Even one of the top Hollywood-produced winners, "Thief," spun around a young Saddam Hussein, was set in Iraq and in Iraqi-Arabic with subtitles. The movie won a gold medal in the narrative category for Julian Higgins of the American Film Institute.

Other gold medal winners included New York director Zach Hyer's "Correspondence" in the animation category and Chicago-based Wonjung Bae's "Vera Klement: Blunt Edge" in the documentary category.

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Chavez undergoes surgery in Cuba: foreign minister (AFP)

CARACAS (AFP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez underwent surgery in Cuba on Friday to treat an abscess in his pelvic area and is recovering, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said.

According to Maduro, the surgery was performed early Friday in Havana and had "satisfactory results for the health" of the Venezuelan leader, who had already "begun the recovery process."

Chavez has been on an official visit to Cuba since Wednesday.

Maduro said the abscess was discovered during a medical check-up performed on Chavez "by a trustworthy medical team."

The check-up "revealed the existence of an abscess in the pelvic area, which prompted President Hugo Chavez to decide to immediately undergo a corrective surgical procedure," the statement said.

Chavez also urged the Venezuelan people to "continue consolidating the Bolivarian Revolution" during his recuperation.

Last month, the 56-year-old Venezuelan leader was sidelined by a knee injury that forced him to stay away from public events for nearly a month.

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Japanese singer Yui eyes bigger foreign fan base (AP)

HONG KONG – Popular Japanese singer-songwriter Yui is eyeing a larger foreign fan base as she goes on her first foreign publicity tour in Hong Kong.

The 24-year-old pop sensation, whose full name is Yui Yoshioka, arrived in the southern Chinese financial hub on Saturday to drum up support for her first full-fledged overseas concert in Hong Kong on June 26.

Yui, who was a street performer early in her career, sang in the Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district on Saturday and was scheduled to perform at a suburban mall later Sunday.

Yui told reporters that she was encouraged by her fan support in Hong Kong. Sony Music executives presented her with a guitar-shaped trophy at a news conference in honor of her strong sales in the city, which include two platinum albums and 750,000 song downloads.

"I have always received many messages from Hong Kong fans. I've always wanted to visit. So I was very happy to receive the invitation from the Hong Kong promoter," she said through a translator.

Yui said she is working on a line of memorabilia for sale at the June concert, the proceeds of which will go toward victims of Japan's recent earthquake and tsunami.

Yui debuted in 2004 and shot to fame after her appearance in the 2006 Japanese movie "Taiyo no Uta," which means "Song of the Sun." She also performed "Goodbye Days," the hit song from the film's soundtrack.

Her four album releases are "From Me to You," "Can't Buy My Love," "I Loved Yesterday" and "Holidays in the Sun."

___

Online:

http://www.yui-net.com

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