Heirs

Newt Gingrich, trying to claw his way back into contention before Florida holds its crucial primary in two days, railed Sunday against rival Mitt Romney's claim that Gingrich did not work as closely with President Reagan as the former House speaker asserts. “I am, in fact, the legitimate heir to the Reagan movement, not some liberal from Massachusetts,” Gingrich said on Sunday. He noted that Reagan's son Michael will be campaigning with him on Monday, “which should tell you how false the ads were earlier this week by Romney that suggested I wasn't a Reagan Republican.” He made the remarks to thousands of seniors gathered at the Villages, a massive retirement community in Central Florida that is a GOP enclave and a common stop for presidential hopefuls.

Gale-force winds were whipping whitecaps and spray across Mono Lake when Robert Hanna spotted a distant hiker. It was a crummy day to chat up a stranger in a state park, but Hanna was upbeat, as usual. He stepped hurriedly along a trail to introduce himself. "Hello there!" Hanna said, flashing a toothy smile. "Do you know that California wants to shut this place down? Would you like to sign our petition to keep it open?" "Yeah, I guess so," the man said. "Wow! That's great," Hanna said, reaching to shake his hand.

Plot outline for a Philip K. Dick story: Hollywood buys film rights to obscure short story by famous author. Makes movie. Movie makes money. Producers then claim they never needed to buy rights in the first place. Demand their money back. Emblematic Philip K. Dick story elements: Attempt to turn back time and murkiness of reality. Extra mind-bending plot twist: Author of original story is named Philip K. Dick. As Laura Dick Coelho, one of the late author's daughters, told me: "Everything in the Philip K. Dick world is complicated.

He was the reformist face of the Moammar Kadafi regime, a cosmopolitan intellectual who fraternized with London high society, rehabilitated Libyan dissidents and pledged to bring democracy to his father's long-repressed domain. But he was also an ambitious heir apparent and fierce defender of his father's rule, vowing that "rivers of blood" would flow when "Arab Spring"-inspired protesters took to Libya's streets early this year. Now Seif Islam Kadafi finds himself in the hands of those protesters-turned-rulers, and they will probably show no mercy for this contradictory figure who both embraced and rejected his father's dictatorial ways.

Young adults are caught between Old World tradition and personal fulfillment in "Dog Sweat," a multistrand feature set in Tehran and shot there surreptitiously. Whatever personal risks first-time director Hossein Keshavarz took to make the film, there's little sense of danger in the finished product, which offers snapshots of middle-class Iran but falls flat on the dramatic front. Rebellion takes various forms for the characters. Three pals seek black-market alcohol, or "dog sweat.

If "The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch" plays like a graphic novel, it's because it is based on writer Jean Van Hamme's "Largo Winch" series, enormously popular in Belgium and France. The briskly paced action adventure, directed by Jerome Salle from Julien Rappeneau's script, rips through a thicket of corporate intrigue as the story moves back and forth in time. There are plenty of twists and just as many bad guys speaking in a wide variety of accents. It's handsome, large-scale escapist fare - and has as its costar the formidable, versatile Kristin Scott Thomas.

Doyle Bramhall Bluesman collaborated with Stevie Ray Vaughan Doyle Bramhall, 62, a blues singer, drummer and songwriter best known for his collaborations with the late guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, died Saturday at his home in Alpine, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported. The cause was not given. Bramhall wrote or co-wrote numerous songs recorded by Vaughan, including "The House Is Rockin'," "Life by the Drop," "Scratch-N-Sniff" and "Tight Rope. " In Texas he was a draw on his own, a bandleader with a gritty and soulful blues voice that greatly influenced the way Vaughan sang.

James Murdoch is fighting for his professional life, as a growing scandal engulfs his family and the media conglomerate they control. On Thursday, the News Corp. heir apparent returns to Parliament for a second round of questions about his role in the British phone hacking case. The legislative body is investigating whether it was misled by News Corp. executives, perhaps by Murdoch himself, as members explored the unscrupulous tactics employed by the company's now-defunct London tabloid News of the World in pursuit of salacious scoops.

Rebels swept into the heart of the Libyan capital, meeting only sporadic resistance from forces loyal toMoammar Kadafi who were trying to protect a rapidly shrinking stronghold in the face of the insurgent onslaught, NATO airstrikes and uprisings in neighborhoods acrossTripoli. After six months of fighting, it was clear that Kadafi's loyalists were being pressed hard on multiple and shifting fronts. Rebels advanced from the south, east and west while Muslim clerics urged armed residents in the city and its outskirts to confront theLibyan army.

Comic book publisher Marvel Worldwide Inc. has won a federal court ruling in a dispute over the rights to such popular characters as the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. The heirs of comic book artist Jack Kirby had sought to assert their rights to the characters in 2009, shortly after the Walt Disney Co. announced it would acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Kirby's estate wanted control over the characters they said he created from 1958 to 1963, under a provision of copyright law that allows creators to revoke rights granted to corporations after a certain number of years.