Current People News Round Up: France bids, Oscar winner Ben Affleck, Britain's Queen Elizabeth

Following is a summary of current people news briefs.

France bids adieu to Aznavour pays tribute to Armenian roots

France bid farewell to Charles Aznavour on Friday in a tribute that reflected the late singer's status as a national icon at home as well as the country of his roots, Armenia. Pallbearers carried Aznavour's coffin into the courtyard at Les Invalides military museum in Paris, where Napoleon is buried, to the sound of haunting music played from a duduk, an oboe-like wind instrument native to Armenia.

Ben Affleck, out of rehab, calls addiction a lifelong struggle

Oscar winner Ben Affleck said on Thursday he had completed a 40-day residential alcohol rehab program but said that battling addiction "is a lifelong and difficult struggle." Affleck, 46, who also went to rehab in 2017 and 2001, said in a posting on his Instagram account that he remained in outpatient care, and thanked his family, friends and fans for their support.

'M*A*S*H' star Alan Alda to get lifetime achievement award

Alan Alda, the "M*A*S*H" TV star with a long career on stage and screen, will receive the annual lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild, the actor union said on Thursday. Alda, 82, who announced in July that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, will receive the honour at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards dinner in Los Angeles on Jan. 27.

Queen Elizabeth to vacate her Buckingham Palace rooms for refit: aide

Britain's Queen Elizabeth will vacate her private rooms at Buckingham Palace in 2025 as part of a 10-year refit of the building to prevent a catastrophic disaster such as a fire or a flood, a senior royal official said on Friday. The palace is undergoing a 369 million pound ($481 million) reservicing program to replace ageing and dangerous electrical wiring and boilers. It started in April last year and is due to be completed in 2027.

'Jersey Shore' star Sorrentino sentenced to eight months for tax evasion

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, star of the reality television show "The Jersey Shore," was sentenced to eight months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to tax evasion. Prosecutors said Sorrentino, 37, and his brother, Marc Sorrentino, 39, who was sentenced to two years, had hidden millions of dollars Mike made from the MTV series "Jersey Shore."