Rock producer Phil Spector will go on trial in January for killing a B-movie actress, nearly four years after the fatal shooting took place, a judge said on Friday.
Spector, who has pleaded not guilty and is free on US$1 million bail, was not present at the hearing before Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler.
Best known for his work with the Beatles and his signature Wall of Sound recording technique, the 66-year-old music impresario is accused of shooting to death Lana Clarkson, 40, in the foyer of his Los Angeles-area mock castle three years ago.
An autopsy report concluded that Clarkson, the star of such movies as Barbarian Queen and Amazon Women on the Moon, died after a revolver was placed into her mouth and fired.
Spector's lawyers are expected to argue that Clarkson committed suicide, echoing claims the producer made to police shortly after they arrived on the scene.
On the brighter side, Nicole Kidman's celebrity wedding to country crooner Keith Urban got underway yesterday, with the Hollywood star arriving at the clifftop church in Sydney dressed in a flowing white gown and veil and clutching a posy of white roses.
A crowd of cheering people swarmed into the street leading to the church compound when Kidman's Rolls Royce limousine came past, causing it to slow down to avoid hitting someone. Police moved in to clear a path for the car.
Helicopters buzzed overhead and hundreds of people -- including a throng of media cameras -- lined the streets outside the compound in the beachside suburb of Manly as guests arrived in luxury sedans and minibuses.
Some climbed trees and the stone wall outside the compound trying to catch a glimpse of activity inside. Police, black-suited private security guards and a high wire fence kept out onlookers.
Kidman, accompanied by father Antony, arrived in a cream limousine after driving from her harborside mansion in another part of the city -- followed all the way by media helicopters.
She held a long-stemmed posy and wore drop pearl earrings and a willowy veil -- in keeping with the traditional theme that had been expected for the Catholic service. Her hair was down.
Good news on the home front will no doubt cushion the pain of a recent legal decision for British pop star Seal.
The singer announced last week that he and his German supermodel wife Heidi Klum, 33, were expecting their second child together. They married in Mexico in May 2005.
He also found out that he will have to pay his former manager a commission of at least US$920,000 on earnings from his first two albums, following a ruling in London's High Court.
Justice Charles Gray ruled last week that the Grammy award winner was contractually obliged to pay the commission -- more than 10 years after they stopped working together.
The judge backed a claim by John Wadlow, who was Seal's manager until 1995, for further payments under
management agreements made in 1990 and 1995.
Seal, whose hits include Kiss From a Rose and Crazy, was ordered to make an interim payment of US$920,000 by July 21. Wadlow had sought up to US$1.8 million. A future court hearing will decide the full amount to be paid to him.
Earlier this month, Seal, 43, told the court he had seen Wadlow as a surrogate father but later felt that his former manager had "ripped him off."
Seal, whose real name is Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel, maintained that Wadlow was not entitled to the commission, saying that the agreements between them were the result of undue influence and constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade.
He said his new manager had made him realize the effect of the agreements he had signed with Wadlow.
Seal said that in the five years after he parted company with Wadlow in 1995 he paid him US$4 million, which he said was "in my book a substantial amount of money." -- Agencies
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
RSS