Women Affairs

Chinese police have launched a nationwide online crackdown to delete pornographic pictures of several Hong Kong celebrities and pledged to close any Websites that published the raunchy photos. The step is the latest in authorities' bid to control the spread of the photos, which show Hong Kong actor and singer Edison Chen and several female stars naked in bed and in sexual poses. The scandal has created a media frenzy and heated discussions on BBS communities both in Hong Kong and on the mainland since late January. Some Internet users shared the 800-plus pictures by e-mail or posting them on other Websites. Police in Beijing warned that anyone found sending the pictures to friends, even for free, will be detained for a maximum of 15 days. Posting the photos online violates the Security Administration Punishment Law, the Legal Evening News reported yesterday. Those who have sent more than 200 nude pictures via email, chat rooms and BBS will be investigated under criminal law, the po...

Celine Dion called it a wrap at Caesars Palace, acknowledging in her final show that pregnancy and poor early reviews almost sank her titanic five-year engagement. As adoring fans cheered, stood and clapped through last night's performance, Dion interspersed her usual numbers with emotion-filled monologues. "At one point, it was like feeling like the Titanic was about to sink again," she said. "But we believed and we went on with it. Even though the vibe was not that positive for us." While the show was still in development in 2000, Dion, 39, became pregnant and told husband-manager Rene Angelil she did not want to continue. "I had a life for the first time," the French-Canadian chanteuse said in a video before her 717th show. "I knew then that I wanted to have more success as a mother than a singer." But Angelil told her that too much money and too many people were involved. Not only would the Colosseum theatre where the show was planned cos...

Pop princess Kylie Minogue has denied reports she plans to adopt an Aboriginal child, but says she would like to have a family of her own "some day". Minogue, 39, who has successfully resumed her pop career after beating breast cancer, told Madison magazine's January edition she believed the incorrect reports of her adoption plans originated with the United Kingdom's News of the World. "There's so much noise and waffle about me and my future family," she told the magazine, which is on sale tomorrow. "But if asked if I'd like to have a family I say, yes, I would love to some day. "We'll see if and how that might happen." Minogue, who recently released her first new studio album in four years and the 10th album of her career, X, said some of the songs on it reflected her recent health battle, but mostly it was more light-hearted. "I just want to sing about the disco, which might seem flippant, but it would have been wrong to hav...

Amy Winehouse was in court on Saturday to see her husband remanded in custody on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The troubled soul singer wore a black top, grey skirt and her trademark beehive hair-do as husband Blake Fielder-Civil went before the bench at Thames Magistrates' court in London. Fielder-Civil, 25, was remanded to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on November 23. A second man, Anthony Kelly, 25, was remanded on the same charge. Two other men, aged 22 and 19, have been released on bail while a 36-year-old man arrested in Derbyshire remains in custody at a north London police station. Fielder-Civil was one of five men arrested during the past two days on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in relation to a court case due to start next week. In an earlier report, Police have raided the North London home of Amy Winehouse, according to recent media reports. TMZ.com says police used "battering rams and crowbars" to enter the proper...

Jon Pareles It's midnight on a Monday in late July, and the day is still far from over for Alicia Keys. That morning the Jamaican bassist and producer Robbie Shakespeare, from the renowned duo Sly and Robbie, had flown in from Miami for a session at the Oven, a house on Long Island that Keys and her producing partner, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, have converted into a complex of recording and mixing studios. She spent the afternoon rehearsing with her band in New Jersey, then headed back to the Oven for a late-night mixing session. "I love my spot," she says proudly as she offers a tour, wearing wraparound sunglasses and a "Born to Be Wild" T-shirt. "It looks like grandma's house." From the outside it does. But beyond its parlour the Oven is a warren of clean, well-equipped studios on three floors. Photos of Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Bob Marley and other old-school legends reside on the walls. It's where she made her new album, As I Am,...

Amy Winehouse trashed a hotel room with a plate of spaghetti bolognese before the MTV Europe Music Awards last week. The singer - who was in Munich, Germany, for the glitzy awards ceremony - reportedly lost her temper and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to her room by throwing a plate of the pasta at the wall just hours before the event. Earlier that day, rapper Snoop Dogg - who hosted the ceremony - arranged to visit Amy in her hotel room and arrived with his entourage just as she began wrecking her room. A source said: "About 90 minutes before the show, Snoop said he wanted to see Amy. When we got there, she was in a bad way. Everyone, including her management, just stood there as she threw spaghetti on the walls. "She then started kicking the walls and throwing whatever she could get her hands on - even the tables and chairs. Then she started cutting up the rug. Snoop was just standing there open-mouthed, he couldn't believe what he was seeing." Amy...

Nicole Kidman has fame, money and success in droves, but the Australian actress has revealed they did nothing to ease her loneliness before she married country singer Keith Urban. Oscar winner Kidman found it hard to meet a potential partner after her decade-long marriage to Tom Cruise ended in 2001, she said in a candid interview published in Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper. "When I was alone I became very isolated and felt very lonely and it was difficult to meet someone," Kidman was quoted as saying. "I realised you can have so many beautiful things around you and if you don't have someone in your life to share it with, it doesn't mean that much." Kidman, 40, spoke of her love for 39-year-old Urban, whom she married in June last year, less than four months before he entered rehab at the famous Betty Ford Clinic for alcohol abuse. "We were two lonely people who met at a time when we could open up to each other," Kidman said. "I'm ju...

24-Years-Old Award-Winning U.K. Singer Amy Winehouse was arrested last night at Bergen's Radisson SAS Hotel on the west coast of Norway for possessing some 7 grams (0.2 Ounces) of Marijuana. Also in her company were her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil and two other men identified as Alexander Foden, Lars Morten Lothe, who also faces similar charges. They were held for 12 hours before being fined and released. The couple were ordered to pay 500 euros (£350) between them, while the other arrested man was fined £240. Winehouse, 24, who was admitted to hospital earlier this year after a reported overdose of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol, is due to give a concert in Bergen tonight. Prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe said: "We had a tip from a good source which led to police checking up on the tip." He said the drug had been found in the room itself rather than on any of their persons. "They signed a ticket, a fine, at the police station some hours ago," he sa...

Reuters When she recalls that her last solo record was released 14 years ago, Debbie Harry has a note of incredulity in her voice. "I guess time flies, huh?' she says with a laugh. The Blondie frontwoman, who didn't initially set out to record another album, describes the process behind Necessary Evil as "an evolution." "I started working with (production team) Super Buddha whenever I had free time between other commitments," she says. "I was funding the project myself and didn't have a deal, but I really liked the team and wanted to work with them. When I had six or seven tracks done, I played it for my manager, who suggested that I keep going and record an entire album." The result is a glossy record that veers from rock to girl-group harmonies to tribal beats. Topics range from the tabloid fascination with troubled celebrities like Lil' Kim to the internal monologue of a female suicide bomber about to end her life in pursuit of para...