Beckham, Elton, Mr. Bean to attend royal wedding

AP, LONDON, April 24: David Beckham, Elton John and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson will mingle with dozens of royal guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, according to an official guest list released Saturday that includes one uncomfortable presence — the Bahraini crown prince accused of a brutal crackdown on protesters.

St. James's Palace also released the seating plan at Westminster Abbey, which showed that relatives of William's mother Princess Diana are sitting across the aisle from the royal family, joining the Middletons in an exception to the traditional division of a church into a bride's side and groom's side.

There was no explanation of the seating arrangement, but the Spencers have not had a good relationship with the royal family, especially after Diana's brother Charles Spencer attacked the royals during a speech at her 1997 funeral.

More than 46 foreign royals are seated behind the British royals. They include Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, an invitation that could prove awkward in light of his government's rough treatment of mainly Shiite pro-democracy protesters.

Some human rights campaigners have started to petition Foreign Secretary William Hague to revoke the invitation, saying the prince should not be allowed to attend the occasion. At least 30 people have died in Bahrain since mid-February, including four who died while in official custody, and many well-known activists and lawyers have been imprisoned.

Other foreign royals who are attending include those from Denmark, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Morocco. Only a handful of celebrities are invited, including the Beckhams, director Guy Ritchie, soul singer Joss Stone, and Atkinson — a close friend of William's father Prince Charles.

Although about 1,900 guests have been invited to the couple's wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey, half of them will sit in the section of the abbey where views of the altar are restricted, and they will have to rely upon video screens to follow the service.

Queen Elizabeth II and other royal family members will sit in the front row across the aisle from Middleton's parents and brother James. They will be closest to the abbey's sanctuary, where William and his bride will stand.

Foreign dignitaries, the Middletons' family friends, British government and defense officials, families of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, William's army colleagues, and people who work for William's charities will be seated around the abbey.

Palace officials said that only crowned heads of states are traditionally invited to royal weddings, and that political leaders who are not from the 54-member Commonwealth of nations, such as President Barack Obama or French President Nicolas Sarkozy, weren't sent invitations.

About 600 of the guests will then attend a champagne and canapes reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the queen.

Lindsay Lohan out of jail after rollercoaster day

Reuters, LOS ANGELES, April 24: Lindsay Lohan was briefly jailed again on Friday after a rollercoaster day in which a judge downgraded her jewelry theft charge, but sentenced the actress to four months behind bars for violating her probation.

Looking confused and distressed, Lohan -- who was locked up for two weeks last summer -- was taken immediately to jail from court after a day-long preliminary hearing on charges that she stole a $2,500 gold necklace from a store in January.

The "Mean Girls" actress was ordered to stand trial on June 3 but the jewelry charge was reduced to a misdemeanor from a more serious felony, and will cut to one year her maximum time behind bars if eventually convicted.

Los Angeles judge Stephanie Sautner, however, felt the evidence on Friday suggested Lohan intended to steal the jewelry.

She therefore ruled Lohan had violated her probation for a 2007 drunk driving and cocaine possession incident, and sentenced her to 120 days jail and 480 hours community service in a morgue and women's prison.

Lohan's lawyer filed an immediate appeal and Lohan's camp scrambled to post $75,000 bail and secure her release from custody pending an appeal hearing.

She was released late on Friday after about five hours, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department website.

Lohan, 24, has strenuously denied that she deliberately walked out of a Los Angeles store wearing a necklace without paying. Her lawyer on Friday argued that she was distracted and absent-minded when she left with the item around her neck.

Lohan's assistant returned it to police after news leaked that a search warrant was to be served on Lohan's house.

"There is a lot of hoopla surrounding Ms. Lohan, but at the end of the day, relatively speaking, this is not particularly serious as grand thefts go," Lohan's lawyer Shawn Holley said. "This is a necklace ... that was returned 10 days later."

But judge Sautner did not buy the defense argument. "I see the intent here and I see the level of brazenness with 'let me see what I can get away with'," Sautner said.

"She thumbs her nose at the court, she walks into court with FU on her fingernails," Sautner said, referring to an appearance last year by Lohan in another case.

Lohan has been in and out of rehab, jail and courtrooms multiple times since 2007. Once considered among the most promising young actresses in Hollywood, Lohan's movie career has come to a virtual halt.

Earlier this week she secured a role in an upcoming film about New York mobster John Gotti. But it was not clear how she would fit filming around possible prolonged spells locked up.