Sales prices for Heat-Lakers tickets on StubHub.com have ranged from $106 to $2,974, making the Christmas Day matchup the season’s priciest.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Gay rights advocates scored a hard-fought victory at the U.N. Tuesday when member states restored a reference to sexual orientation, dropped last month from a resolution opposing the unjustified killing of minority groups. The removal of the reference, at the urging of African and Arab countries, alarmed human rights advocates who said gay people are among minority groups that need special protection from extrajudicial and other unjustified slayings. The battle underscores the divide between U.N. members with their diverse religious and cultural sensibilities on gay rights issues and sparked something of a culture war at the international body. Belgium, Finland and other Western nations spoke in favor of including sexual orientation. A coalition of African countries said it was “greatly alarmed” that the direct reference to sexual orientation was included, and called it an attempt “to create new rights, new standards or new groups.” Boris Dittrich, director of the gay rights program at Human Rights Watch, said he was “relieved” by the vote. “The resolution does justice to gays, lesbians and transgender people in countries where they are targeted for assaults and killings,” Dittrich said. “Hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity must be countered just like hate crimes on the basis of race or religion.” Mark Bromley, of the Washington-based Council for Global Equality, called the vote “an important victory.” Rights groups worked ahead of the vote to lobby countries that had abstained earlier in hopes of getting them to approve a U.S.-sponsored amendment to restore the words “sexual orientation.” Colombia and South Africa were among the countries they persuaded to approve the amendment. “The council applauds the principled leadership of the United States and other like-minded countries in restoring the language and staking out a clear claim for gay men and lesbians at the United nations,” said Bromley, whose council aims to advance gay rights in American foreign policy. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but rather reflect the views of the majority of the world’s nations. The assembly on Tuesday voted 93 in favor of the United States’ proposal to restore the previous language, with 55 countries against and 27 abstaining. The assembly then approved the amended resolution 122 in favor, with 0 votes against, and 59 abstentions. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton applauded the vote, saying that the U.S. reintroduced the language to send an unequivocal message that “No one should be killed for who they are.” “Sadly, many people around the world continue to be targeted and killed because of their sexual orientation,” she said. “These heinous crimes must be condemned and investigated wherever they occur.” The call came after the UN General Assembly today endorsed a resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, the third since 2007.

Last week, the Department of Transportation reported that U.S. airlines collected $2.56 billion in baggage fees during the first nine months of the year, a 29 percent increase over the year before. The biggest hauls went to Delta, $733 million; United, $431 million; and US Airways, $388 million. Perhaps that explains why US Airways President Scott Kirby recently told analysts that he expects fees for checked bags and other ancillary services to represent 100 percent of the airline’s profitability this year.(MSNBC)

Lady Gaga is all about keeping her fans happy, even if that means letting her female fans grope her in public. The “Bad Romance” chanteuse didn’t bat an eyelash when a female fan grabbed her semi-exposed breast during an appearance in Paris earlier this week. Don’t worry about Gaga’s safety, the pop superstar brushed off the groping and leaned in for a hug and a kiss with the happy fan.(Celebuzz)

50 Cent‘s ridiculous 52-room Connecticut mansion was broken into this morning — according to law enforcement, TWO men were arrested … one of whom cops found drinking wine inside a closet.Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, they received a call around 6AM from security guards at the mansion — once owned by Mike Tyson — about a suspicious car in the driveway. Cops showed up and discovered two men in the residence … but the second was a little harder to find — because Alexander Hernandez (red shirt) was hiding away in a closet, pounding a bottle of wine he allegedly pilfered from 50′s place. According to cops, the two suspects entered through an unlocked door — and were in possession of marijuana when police arrived to the home. Both men were arrested and held on $50,000 bond. (TMZ)

She’s back … ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ is such a huge hit for TLC that the network is busy trying to get the former governor to sign up for season two.”3.066 million people turned in last week to see her episode with Kate Gosselin,” a TLC insider tells me. “That is more people than are watching Bravo’s ‘Housewives’ series or most other cable shows. For sure the network is doing everything it possibly can to convince Sarah to do another season, but at the end of the day it looks like it will all come down to money.”Sarah, who is reportedly making more than $250,000 per episode for the eight-week series, is no fool — when the show debuted to over 4.96 million viewers, insiders tell me she started talking about a new deal right away. “Sarah knows to strike when the iron is hot and started talking about season two right after the show debuted to huge numbers,” a friend of Palin tells me. “She knows that celebrities get millions of dollar for each episode of their shows and thinks she’s worth it too. Jennifer Aniston took home millions from ‘Friends’ and in Sarah’s eyes, she’s no different.” Now before we get carried away, Sarah must remember ‘Friends’ delivered way more than 4.96 million a week. Still, she does have a point. One TV expert told me if Palin plays her cards right, it would not be impossible for her to get $1 million an episode for a second season. (PopEater)

The woman who romped with Ashton Kutcher on the couch at his Hollywood mansion was in secret negotiations to star in a porn video. Despite waging a legal battle to bar a porn producer from releasing her sex tape, Brittney Jones, 21, shopped herself to Vivid Entertainment in October! The talks began in mid-October and were between Brittney, her talent manager, publicist and Vivid,“She was offered an iron clad commitment of at least $50,000 as an advance on future profits and an additional 30 percent cut of gross sales.(RadarOnline)

Paris Hilton and other passengers on a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Maui were taken off the plane at LAX, after a passenger on the plane found a 4-inch serrated knife in a seat pocket.The passenger brought the discovery to the attention of a flight attendant, who then called security … Paris tells TMZ. We’re told all of the passengers were ordered to deplane. Security is now doing a sweep of the plane, looking for other weapons. Paris was on the plane with boyfriend Cy Waits in first class, of course. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ .. the blade is a “box-cutting knife” which belongs to the airline crew.  We’re also told police were not called because airline officials knew who the knife belonged to.(TMZ)