Rihanna Helps Girl Dying of Leukemia

Shannon Tavarez inspired thousands to donate bone marrow

(NEWSER) - A young girl with a giant voice who won an open audition for a role in the Broadway production of The Lion King has died of leukemia at the age of 11. Shannon Tavarez spent seven months performing in the show before she was diagnosed in April. Thousands of people, including rapper 50 Cent, volunteered to donate bone marrow to help in her battle for health, but no match for the 6th-grader was ever found, ABC News reports. Her mixed Hispanic and African-American background made it harder to find a match. More»

Kardashian and West are still apparently publicizing each other

(NEWSER) - The Kim Kardashian-Kanye West publicity stunt —er, relationship—lives on: A jealous Kim has now banned all other women from hanging around her man. "Kim is incredibly protective of Kanye and doesn’t want any women near him unless she is there—even his friends," a source tells the Sun . Rihanna, who has joined Kanye and Jay-Z on stage, "wasn’t even allowed to go into his dressing room without Kim being there." But perhaps Kim needn't worry: The New York Daily News reports that Kanye blew off a planned performance at Cannes last week to have dinner with Kim, and adds that Rihanna is dating New York Knick JR Smith anyway. More»

She has just 68 lines, and 'Vulture' compiled all of them

(NEWSER) - Rihanna made her acting debut in Battleship , if you can call a role that involves just 68 lines (many of them less than five words, and one of them actually just a "heavy sigh") "acting." On Vulture , Sarah Lawson lists every single word uttered by Rihanna in the movie. Here are a few that made us laugh:

• "Chicken!"
• "Kentucky Fried Chicken!"

Prochymal may ease complication from bone marrow transplants

(NEWSER) - Canada has approved the world's first stem cell treatment for a systemic disease, Reuters reports. This week, the nation's health regulators allowed doctors to use the drug Prochymal for children with graft-versus host disease (GvHD), a sometimes deadly side-effect from bone marrow transplants. GvHd kills up to 80% of afflicted children and has no approved treatment thus far. More»

Taylor Kitsch stars in board game-turned-movie

(NEWSER) - It's got a cast full of hotshots and heartthrobs, from Taylor Kitsch to Rihanna to Liam Neeson, but Battleship is about as intellectually stimulating as its board game namesake. But despite the overwhelming critical vitriol, a few reviewers enjoyed it:

• "This is the kind of summer movie that softens your brain tissue without even providing the endocrine burst of pleasure that would make it all worthwhile," writes Dana Stevens at Slate . "It even—please fine me for saying this—makes Michael Bay’s Transformers movies look rollicking by comparison."