NBA players cleared to join other teams

The international federation overseeing basketball ruled Friday NBA players can play for other teams during the NBA lockout.

The NBA locked out its players effective July 1 as the team owners and players' union worked on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Several NBA players were reportedly in negotiations with overseas professional basketball teams in case the 2011-12 NBA season doesn't start as scheduled Nov. 1. Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets signed a contract with Turkish Basketball League member Besiktas.

FIBA, the international basketball federation, said players are free to play for their national team or other teams during the lockout.

"As the world governing body for basketball, we strongly hope that the labor dispute will be resolved as soon as possible and that the NBA season is able to begin as scheduled," said FIBA Secretary-General Patrick Baumann. "In view of our role to promote basketball worldwide, we support any player wishing to play the game, wherever and whenever."

The federation said it wouldn't object to a player joining a non-NBA but FIBA-affiliated team as long as the player was free to return to his NBA team when the lockout ends.

Tigers obtain Fister, Pauley from Mariners

The Detroit Tigers have acquired pitchers Doug Fister and David Pauley from the Seattle Mariners, the teams announced Saturday.

In return, the Tigers sent pitcher Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, third baseman Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later to the Mariners.

Detroit, which entered Saturday's games with a 2 1/2-game lead over Cleveland and three games over Chicago in the American League Central, bolstered both their starting and relief corps with the deal.

Fister, 27, compiled a 3.33 ERA over 21 starts for Seattle this season but only had a 3-12 record, thanks to lack of run support. The right-hander ranks last in the American League in run support average (1.97 runs).

Pauley, 28, racked up a 5-4 record with a 2.15 ERA in 39 relief appearances for Seattle this year.

The left-hander Furbush is 1-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 17 games, including two starts, for Detroit this season, while Wells, 26, appeared in 64 games with the Tigers this year before being optioned to Triple-A Toledo July 20.

D-backs obtain Marquis from Nationals

The Arizona Diamondbacks strengthened their starting rotation Saturday, acquiring right-hander Jason Marquis from the Washington Nationals.

Minor league infielder Zachary Walters went to Washington in the deal.

Marquis, 32, has compiled an 8-5 mark with a 3.95 ERA over 20 starts this season. He has played for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies and Nationals over his 12-year career.

Marquis is 104-97 with a 4.52 ERA for his career.

Walters, 21, was batting .302 with nine homers and 56 RBI in 97 games for Class A South Bend this season.

The Diamondbacks entered Saturday's action four games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

Rosie ready for early-night talk show

Despite the growing pains at the new Oprah Winfrey Network, Rosie O'Donnell is sold and says she wants no part of the major U.S. television networks.

O'Donnell was in Los Angeles this week to promote her new talk show on Winfrey's fledgling OWN network and said it was Conan O'Brien's departure from NBC that convinced her to stay away from the established nets.

"So my desire to attach to a major corporation that had just taken 15 years of service and treated it as if it was nothing was a huge factor in me not signing," O'Donnell said.

"The Rosie Show" will occupy the 7 p.m. time slot on OWN, which O'Donnell said was not as unusual a move as it might appear. "It's a great time," she said. "You can sit down with your family before your viewing night begins."

The Los Angeles Times said Saturday "The Rosie Show" has some high stakes for both O'Donnell and Winfrey. OWN has been battling for a niche in the crowded cable market, and O'Donnell has been looking for some career traction since she left her high-profile gig on "The View" in 2006.

"Television is a lot different than it was when I did my old show," O'Donnell said.

Princess Anne's daughter weds rugby star

Zara Phillips, daughter of Princess Anne, married Mike Tindall, captain of England's rugby team, in a private ceremony Saturday in the Scottish capital.

The afternoon ceremony was held at Canongate Kirk, followed by a reception at nearby Holyroodhouse, Queen Elizabeth's official residence in Edinburgh, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The wedding was a modest affair compared with the recent ceremony in Westminster Abbey for Prince William and the former Kate Middleton. While Phillips, who plans to keep her maiden name, is the queen's oldest granddaughter and 13th in line to the throne, she has no royal title.

But hundreds of people waited to catch a glimpse of the couple, the royal family and Tindall's fellow rugby stars, with about 30 camping out overnight. Prince William and his wife, the duchess of Cambridge, got the biggest cheer as they arrived.

Phillips, wearing a floor-length short-sleeved ivory dress and a short veil, was escorted into the church by her father, Mark Phillips, Anne's first husband.

The ceremony was the first royal wedding to be held in Scotland since Anne married Timothy Laurence, now a vice admiral in the Royal Navy, in 1992 at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral. The couple were married in Scotland because the Church of England refuses to marry divorced people.

Debbie Gibson ready to relive the '80s

Debbie Gibson says the idea of her upcoming tour with fellow 1980s teen queen Tiffany came from a surprising show of support at a recent appearance in New York.

Gibson, 40, said she was surprised at the buzz from folks who were still fans of their heyday more than 20 years ago.

"We did a little promo appearance at the Canal Room in New York City and people just went nuts seeing us together, so we were like, 'Hmmm,'" Gibson told Parade magazine.

Gibson said she and Tiffany had previously kicked around the idea of a nostalgia tour. The idea has now taken concrete form in the "Journey Through the '80s" national tour, which will include duets and solo performances.

"I'm doing all my hits and also a big medley of my favorite 80s songs that influenced me," Gibson said. "I'm also doing a medley of my theater songs.

"When Tiffany and I were putting the show together, we were talking about how our influences are so different," Gibson said. "Hers are rock and country; mine are singer-songwriters and real pop people and theater."

Paltrow lists infusion on beauty secrets

Gwyneth Paltrow says exercise and a $185 sonic infusion gadget have helped her stay in movie-star shape as she pushes 40.

Paltrow said in her latest fan newsletter the Clarisonic Opal Sonic Infusion is a "wonder gadget" that has become standard in her beauty regime.

"It focuses on fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes by infusing the skin with anti-aging serum," she wrote.

US magazine said this week the 38-year-old Paltrow's arsenal also includes foundations, sun screens and various scrubs for "beach ready skin."

All that work appears to have paid off. Paltrow has Coldplay front man Chris Martin as her main squeeze these days. But her good looks apparently haven't gotten her past the band's artistic boundaries. People magazine said Paltrow jokingly tweeted this week about who she would have to sleep with "to get an advance copy of the new Coldplay album. I mean, really."