DIED: Novelist Leon Uris, 78, whose epic, best-selling tomes include 1958's "Exodus," tracing the rise of the state of Israel, died Saturday of natural causes at his home on New York's Shelter Island, his ex-wife, photographer Jill Uris, tells the Associated Press. His other books included "QB VII" (1970), "Trinity" (1976), "The Haj" (1984) and "Topaz" (1967), though it was the 600-page "Exodus" – and the subsequent 1960 movie starring Paul Newman – that put him on the map.
QUOTED: "Ewan McGregor has to be in tights, so I'm really looking forward to that." -- Jodie Foster, 40, to PEOPLE on the anticipatory thrill of directing the circus-themed drama "Flora Plum" later this year
SHIFTED: CNN has revised its early-evening schedule and cut Paula Zahn's new show down to a one-hour 8 p.m. ET news program, while giving the 7 p.m. slot to Anderson Cooper, says the Hollywood Reporter. Zahn, 47, returned to the air Monday in her new slot in an unusual arrangement in which the two-hour slot is still referred to as "Live From the Headlines" but Cooper, 36, hosts the first hour and Zahn the second segment. (CNN, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner.)
ARRESTED: Gert van der Graaf, the ex-boyfriend of ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog, 53, who was deported from Sweden to the Netherlands in 2000 after stalking the singer, was arrested outside her island hideaway near Stockholm, reports AP. The two dated from 1997-99. "I love her still. I will never forget," van der Graaf was quoted as saying in the newspaper Expressen.
ARRANGED: Johnny Depp, 40, is going to Disneyland, where his new movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," will hold its premiere Saturday, reports AP. The studio is setting up a large outdoor screen across the California playground's "Rivers of America" and has invited guests to watch the film from seats set up in New Orleans Square. The public will be pushed out of the park earlier in the day to accommodate Depp and other VIPs, says the news service.
