Oprah isn't retiring after all

Television's top talk show host, Oprah Winfrey, has had second thoughts about retiring. Winfrey extended her contract with King World Productions by two more years, taking her through the 2007-2008 television season, and agreed to make more shows over the next few years than planned, it was announced yesterday.

At her last contract extension, Winfrey, 49, had said she would quit her show after the 2005-2006 season. "It's fulfilling being able to do this kind of television," Winfrey said in a statement, "and I believe continuing to have a voice and a platform to speak to the world is still the right thing to do." After a few years of decline, ratings for The Oprah Winfrey Show have increased this year. She has also left open the possibility of continuing beyond 2008.

Jackman hosting Tony Awards

Hugh Jackman won't be making his Broadway debut until this fall, playing entertainer Peter Allen in the musical The Boy from Oz, but he will be the host of the 2003 Tony Awards show June 8. Jackman co-stars in the current hit film X-Men 2. The Tonys, honouring the best of the Broadway season, will be broadcast on CBS from Radio City Music Hall. The presenters will include Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Barbara Walters, Tyne Daly, Danny Glover, Christopher Reeve, Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave and Joey Fatone. The Boy from Oz opens Oct. 16 at the Imperial Theater, vacated Sunday by the long-running production of Les Miserables.

Rocker arrested for drugs

Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland was released on $10,000 US bail after police arrested him for investigation of drug possession. Officers pulled Weiland over early Sunday for driving without his lights on, said police in Burbank, Calif. Police said they noticed Weiland had narcotics in the car and arrested him. Authorities didn't say what kind of drug Weiland allegedly had. The 35-year-old singer was released later that day. Weiland has had several run-ins with the law in recent years. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to domestic battery following a fight with his wife at the Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas. The judge agreed to dismiss the charges as long as Weiland underwent counselling. His wife, Mary, filed for divorce last fall because of irreconcilable differences. The couple has two young children.