Four funeral services attended by pop stars, civil rights leaders and tens of thousands of fans gave James Brown a send-off in keeping with his status as one of the music world's greatest showmen.
But more than two weeks after his Christmas Day death from congestive heart failure, the Godfather of Soul still refuses to leave the stage quietly.
His body remains in a sealed coffin in a chilled room at his locked South Carolina mansion while his family tussle over a burial site, and his partner prepares a legal challenge for access to the couple's possessions.
The unseemly squabble over Brown's estate, between his children and the woman they claim is no more than an estranged former girlfriend, threatens to rumble on. Tomi Rae Hynie, 36, says she has been locked out of the mansion on Beech Island which she shared with Brown, who died aged 73, and the couple's five-year-old son, James Junior.
Hynie said she has also hired a bodyguard.
"I'm afraid that someone is gonna give me a hot shot, walking down the street. I have big fears of that," she said on the US celebrity TV show The Insider.
Buddy Dallas, the singer's friend and attorney, has challenged the validity of Brown's marriage to Hynie. He said the gates to the mansion were locked to protect Brown's possessions from souvenir hunters. The house would remain sealed until after Brown's will was read and his children, as trustees, could finally agree on where their father will be buried. Hynie would have no role in that decision.
Meanwhile, Jacque Hollander, who claims the singer raped her at gunpoint in 1988 while she was his publicist, has said she will pursue a US$106 million damages claim against his estate.
Meanwhile, in Atmore, Alabama, a man shot a friend after an argument over Brown's height, police said.
Dan Gulley Jr, 70, was charged with assault in connection with the shooting of David James Brooks Jr, 62, on Monday, police said.
Gulley shot Brooks twice in the abdomen, and Brooks went to his car, got a gun and shot at Gulley but missed, officers told the Press-Register newspaper.
Information on Brooks' condition was not available. Officers did not believe alcohol was a factor.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
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CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
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