Kong Linghui splits with his GF

Popular Chinese TV star Ma Su said on July 23 that her 11-year relationship with well-known Chinese table tennis player and Olympic gold medalist* Kong Linghui had ended.

Ma, 31, said in tears at a press conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, that she had lived alone for a while and was now trying to adapt to single life.

Kong, 37, did not comment on Ma’s breakup announcement.

J Cole apologizes for

insensitive lyrics

An American rap artist apologized for using a disparaging* line about people with autism* in a song lyric*.

J Cole said he had removed the line, which referred to rivals as “autistic” and “retarded*,” from the song “Jodeci Freestyle.”

“I want to educate myself more on autism, and I’ll gladly own my mistake and serve as an example to today’s generation that there’s nothing cool about mean-spirited comments about someone with autism,” J Cole wrote on his blog, DreamVillain.

Natalie Portman to direct film in Jerusalem

Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman will direct her first feature film based on “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” a memoir by Israeli novelist Amos Oz, the author said on July 24.

The Israeli-American actress, who won a best actress Oscar in 2011 for her role in ballet drama “Black Swan,” will also play Oz’s mother, who committed suicide when he was 12.

JJ Cale dead at 74

Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter JJ Cale, one of the most versatile musicians of his era who played guitar and spanned music genres from rock ‘n’ roll to blues and jazz, has died after suffering a heart attack, his official website said on Saturday.

Cale, 74, won a Grammy in 2008 for “The Road to Escondido,” which he recorded with singer-songwriter Eric Clapton.

He had a wide-ranging influence, particularly his style of playing the guitar and the songs he wrote for music legends.

(SD-Agencies)