Blair's book deal

People

The memoirs of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be published in Britain and the United States by Random House, the world's biggest book publisher said Thursday. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed and a publication date has not been set.

Not about a girl

Whatever you think of Sean "Diddy" Combs, remember, the dude never fights over girls! Never! Speaking at a news conference to announce a $100 million deal with Ciroc Vodka (he is taking over brand management for the product), Diddy said reports that he assaulted a man at a New York club on Oct. 13 were "totally overblown." Diddy was emphatic, adding: "I don't fight over girls!" Steven Acevedo, 31, claims Diddy punched him in the face. Reports at the time indicated he was an old Diddy buddy who got into a fracas with his bud over a woman.

Wish fulfilled

Ingmar Bergman's last wish will be fulfilled when the remains of his fifth and final wife are transferred to his grave on the Baltic Sea island of Faro. Bergman — who directed cinema classics such as "The Seventh Seal" and the Oscar-winning "Fanny and Alexander" — died July 30 in his home on Faro. The 89-year-old filmmaker was buried at the Faro Church cemetery. Ingrid Bergman — not to be confused with the Swedish actress with the same name — died in 1995. Her cremated remains were buried in Roslags-Bro, on the Swedish mainland.

Critters

Saved by a squawk

A noisy parrot that likes to imitate sounds helped save a man and his son from a house fire by mocking a smoke alarm, the bird's owner says. Shannon Conwell, 33, said he and his 9-year-old son fell asleep on the couch in their Indiana home while watching a movie. They awoke about 3 a.m. last Friday to find their home on fire after hearing the family's Amazon parrot, Peanut, imitating a fire alarm. "He was really screaming his head off," Conwell said. The smoke alarm had activated, but it was the bird's call that caught Conwell's attention. "I grabbed my son and my bird and got out of the house," he said.

At your service

We've got you covered

A surge in naked sleepwalking among guests has led one of Britain's largest budget hotel groups to retrain staff to handle late-night nudity. Travelodge, which runs more than 300 business hotels in Britain, says sleepwalking rose sevenfold in the past year, and 95 percent of the somnambulants are scantily clad men. "We have seen an increased number of cases over the years so it is important that our staff know how to help sleepwalking when it arises," Leigh McCarron, the chain's sleep director, said in a statement. One tip in the company's newly released "sleepwalkers guide" tells staff to keep towels handy at the front desk in case a customer's dignity needs preserving.

Never mind that ticket

A police officer made a traffic stop Thursday and ended up delivering the baby for the new parents who were speeding to the hospital. Spring Hill, Kan., Officer Andrew Peterson pulled over the couple, police said. The father, David Grate, got out of the car and told Peterson that his wife was giving birth. The officer then helped the new mother with the birth and wrapped the newborn in his jacket until paramedics arrived to take the family to a nearby hospital.

Passages

Eve Curie Labouisse, a journalist who wrote a best-selling biography of her mother, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, died Monday in her Manhattan apartment at age 102.

Ursula Vaughan Williams, who wrote librettos for her composer husband, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and produced his biography, died Tuesday in London at age 96.

Today in History

1881: The "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" took place in Tombstone, Ariz., as Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and "Doc" Holliday confronted Ike Clanton's gang. Three members of Clanton's group were killed; Earp's brothers and Holliday were wounded.

1825: The Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River.

1984:"Baby Fae," a newborn with a severe heart defect, was given the heart of a baboon in an experimental transplant in Loma Linda, Calif. (Baby Fae lived 21 days with the animal heart.)

2001:President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act, giving authorities unprecedented ability to search, seize, detain or eavesdrop in their pursuit of possible terrorists.

Today's Birthdays

Actress Shelley Morrison, 71. Actress Jaclyn Smith, 62. TV host Pat Sajak, 61. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., 60. Musician Bootsy Collins, 56. Actor James Pickens Jr. ("Grey's Anatomy"), 55. Actress Rita Wilson, 51. Actor Dylan McDermott, 46. Actor Cary Elwes, 45. Singer Natalie Merchant, 44. Country singer Keith Urban, 40. Actor Tom Cavanagh, 39. Actor Jon Heder, 30. Olympic silver-medal figure skater Sasha Cohen, 23.

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