CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Entertainer-songwriter Elton John is declaring his support of the Russian people, and he says they still accept him despite that country's harsh new anti-gay law.

Passed last year, the so-called “gay propaganda” law bans promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors.

John said Wednesday that he visited Russia in December concerned that the new law would affect how he was treated as “an openly gay foreigner.” He says he received a warm welcome.

But if foreign visitors are unaffected by the law, John says it has legitimized “vicious homophobia” against gay Russians.

John calls the legislation “deeply dangerous” to the gay and lesbian community, and “deeply divisive” to Russian society.

He volunteered to introduce Russian President Vladimir Putin to gay Russians to help promote understanding.

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Ellen DeGeneres's talk show is getting a new audience — viewers in China. The lighthearted, celebrity-focused show is now available in China on video site Sohu within 48 hours of its original U.S. broadcast. It is the first U.S. daily talk show to be carried in China, according to a statement Tuesday by distributor Warner Brothers and Sohu.com Inc. Sohu Video, like other Chinese online video sites, licenses many hit American TV shows. Earlier this month it unveiled the late-night U.S. comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live" as an addition to its lineup.

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Calling his late castmate Paul Walker "a terrific guy," Kurt Russell says he's not sure what will happen with his role in the latest "Fast & Furious" movie. Russell joined the seventh film in the franchise and plays a father figure to Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto. The 62-year-old actor said he had one day left of filming when Walker died in a car crash outside Los Angeles last November. "They're having to rewrite, they're having to do whatever they're having to do to deal with the situation. Listen, it's catastrophic. It's the worst thing that could happen to a movie, but it's not as bad as what happened to Paul," Russell said in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where he's promoting a documentary about his father's minor-league baseball team, "The Battered Bastards of Baseball." "So everything is in perspective. He was a terrific guy. And life is full of curveballs."

The latest film in the fast-car franchise, directed by James Wan, is now set for release in April 2015. Russell expects to return to set sometime this year.

Russell said of his character, whom he didn’t name: “Whether or not this guy dies off in the movie, we don’t know, and that may have changed now significantly, too.”

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Actress Chita Rivera is 81. Actor Gil Gerard is 71. Actor Rutger Hauer is 70. Singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is 66. Bassist-keyboardist Bill Cunningham of The Box Tops is 64. Actor Richard Dean Anderson ("MacGyver") is 64. Singer-guitarist Robin Zander of Cheap Trick is 61. Singer Anita Baker is 56. Bassist Earl Falconer of UB40 is 55. Actress Gail O'Grady ("American Dreams," "NYPD Blue") is 51. Actress Mariska Hargitay is 50. Singer Marc Nelson (Az Yet) is 43. Actress Tiffani Thiessen is 40. Bassist Nick Harmer of Death Cab for Cutie is 39.