People in the News

NEW YORK - Maria Sharapova is not only rising in the rankings, she's also getting taller.

The 18-year-old Russian, who jumped to No. 1 in women's tennis Monday, is listed in the WTA's official guide as 6-foot. Not so, she says.

Sharapova tells Time magazine she's 6 feet 2 inches tall, and she's not exactly thrilled with the extra 2 inches.

"I wouldn't say I'm in love with them because if I wear heels, I'm like 6-foot-4," she says. "It's a little too tall."

Sharapova, preparing for next week's U.S. Open, overtook Lindsay Davenport for the No. 1 spot. At the end of 2002, her ranking was No. 186.

"It's actually shocking," Sharapova says. "Before I was trying to lay off the whole thing, saying, 'I'm not worried about it, it's not important.' But you know, once you get there, it's, like, wow!"

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CLEVELAND - Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich has married a British woman, shedding the bachelor status that made HEAD:s during his long-shot presidential campaign in 2004.

Kucinich and Elizabeth Harper, who works for a monetary-policy think tank in Chicago, were married Sunday before some 250 guests outside City Hall, where he once served as mayor.

Guests included Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn. MacLaine and Kucinich are longtime friends, and Penn endorsed the Democrat for president last year.

"It was a lovely ceremony, and the congressman really wanted to do this in the heart of Cleveland," said Kucinich's spokesman, Doug Gordon.

It's the third marriage for the twice-divorced Kucinich, 58. Gordon declined to reveal other information about Harper, including her age, how she met the congressman or how long they have been a couple.

Kucinich had told New Hampshire audiences during the campaign that he was seeking a mate. Women then vied for a date with him during a contest arranged by a New Hampshire political Web site, but nothing romantic evolved from Kucinich's breakfast date with the winner.

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ATLANTA - A man has been indicted for stabbing singer Bobby Brown's nephew during a fight at a restaurant.

Marque Dixson, 27, was indicted Friday on one count of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery, the Fulton County district attorney's office said.

The incident occurred May 23 as Brown and others were celebrating his father's birthday, police said. Witnesses told police that as guests were leaving, someone bumped into someone else, causing a fight.

Two men in Brown's entourage were stabbed in the neck during the fight. Dixson is accused of stabbing one of them - Brown's nephew.

The stabbings happened at Justin's Restaurant and Bar, which is owned by rapper and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs. Brown wasn't involved in the fight.

Dixson is free on $50,000 bond.

Brown lives in nearby Alpharetta, north of Atlanta, with his wife, Whitney Houston.

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NEW YORK - Bruce Willis will star opposite Halle Berry in the psychological thriller "Perfect Stranger," directed by James Foley.

Berry plays a woman who goes undercover to investigate a friend's murder. Willis will play one of her chief suspects, Revolution Studios announced Monday.

"This is a movie about secrets, lies and Internet chatter where suspects and villains often change roles, and an actor of Bruce's caliber will certainly add layers of complexity," Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, head of Revolution Studios' East Coast office, said in a statement.

Willis' screen credits include "The Sixth Sense" and the "Die Hard" movies.