Jurors at Michael Jackson's child-sex trial were expected to get their instructions yesterday before listening to closing arguments and then starting their deliberations.
The eight women and four men of the jury who will decide the pop star's fate could start deliberating as early as tomorrow.
The King of Pop could face up to 20 years behind bars if he is convicted on all 10 charges that he fondled a 13-year-old cancer survivor, served him alcohol and conspired to hold the boy and his family captive.
Jackson has pleaded innocent to all the charges, but has not testified in his own defense at the trial in the California town of Santa Maria, near his Neverland estate where he allegedly committed the crimes in 2003.
The pop idol's spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, has said Jackson is confident he will be vindicated. On Tuesday, she vehemently dismissed a report in Vanity Fair magazine that claimed Jackson was "scared silly" over the prospect of going to jail.
Charity rocker Bob Geldof has announced plans for five star-studded concerts aimed at pressuring world leaders into eradicating African poverty. Twenty years after the Live Aid sensation, the man dubbed "Saint Bob" for organizing the 1985 concert to save the starving in Ethiopia wants to influence the G8 group of industrialized nations, which meets in Scotland in July.
One of Hollywood's hottest couples may be having difficulty persuading the public their romance is genuine, but actress Katie Holmes says her love for screen star Tom Cruise is real.
"I couldn't be happier. I'm so happy," Holmes said on her way into the world premiere of her latest movie, Batman Begins.
"He's the most amazing man in the whole world," she said in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Christian Slater was arrested on Tuesday and charged with sexual abuse and forcible touching after a woman accused him of groping her buttocks, authorities said. Slater, 35, was accused of groping the woman, a stranger, at a small store after he was seen arguing with his girlfriend, prosecutors said.
Viacom Inc's MTV Networks said it plans to launch a Caribbean music-and-culture cable network by October across the region, and in North America by 2006. The new advertising-supported network, called Tempo, will feature originally produced shows as well as acquired movies, specials and series to be distributed by Innovation Cable TV and other distributors by October.
A British children's home immortalized in the Beatles hit Strawberry Fields Forever closed on Tuesday after 69 years of looking after Liverpool's disadvantaged youngsters. The Salvation Army said all the children had left the Strawberry Field home and childcare provision at the Beaconsfield Road site ended today.
A hip-hop fan said he was beaten by rapper Snoop Dogg and other artists during a concert near Seattle over the weekend. Richard Monroe, 24, said he was invited onstage during a concert by Snoop Dogg, The Game and Oowee on Saturday at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, a Seattle suburb.
"They just beat me, stomping me, and beat me with a microphone," Monroe said. "They took my diamond earrings off my ear, my jewelry off my fingers, they took my wallet and my cell phone."
Paris Hilton decided to marry into the maritime business by agreeing to tie the knot with her boyfriend of nine months, Greek shipping scion Paris Latsis.
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