Buzz Briefs: Barkley, Winehouse
Charles Barkley Arrested On Suspicion Of DUI
Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving early Wednesday.
An officer with a law enforcement task force that targets drunken driving saw the former NBA star run a stop sign around 1:30 a.m., said Gilbert police Lt. Eric Shuhandler.
Barkley declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren't immediately available.
After Barkley was processed, he was cited and released. He left in a cab, Shuhandler said.
Shuhandler said there was nothing remarkable about the 45-year-old Barkley's arrest and that it is customary to release people after they've been arrested on suspicion of DUI.
"There was nothing unusual about how he was taken into custody," Shuhandler said. "He was treated exactly like we treat anybody else."
Barkley was arrested in Scottsdale's Old Town area, one of the trendiest spots in the Phoenix metro area.
A television commentator for NBA games, the former Auburn player was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame last month.
He played 16 NBA seasons for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, and played on the 1992 and 1996 Olympic teams. Barkley was an 11-time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 1993.
Selected one the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996, he was inducted into the 2006 Basketball Hall of Fame.
Winehouse Headed To Norway In '09 For Drug Appeal
British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse has been summoned to appear in a Norwegian court on Jan. 12 in her appeal against a fine in a drugs possession case, a police prosecutor said Wednesday.
Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen in October 2007 during a concert stop on charges of possessing 7 grams (1/4-ounce) of marijuana. They were held overnight and released after paying fines of 3,000 kroner ($415) each.
The 25-year-old Winehouse later appealed the fine, claiming Norwegian police made mistakes in the case. An initial trial date in March 2008 was postponed at the request of her attorney.
Police prosecutor Rudolf Christoffersen says the star and her husband had been informed of the date by British police and will probably have to appear in person in the Bergen appeals court.
"She is the one who appealed, so that makes it her appeal," Christoffersen told The Associated Press by telephone. "Often, if you don't appear at your own appeal hearing, then the court will dismiss the appeal."
Winehouse's Norwegian attorney, Ole Kvelstad, has said that payment of the fine amounted to a guilty plea, which he said could have serious consequences if she sought to enter the United States. Winehouse was denied a U.S. visa this year when she wanted to perform at the Grammy awards ceremony.
Rapper DMX Is In The Dog House Now
DMX has reached a plea deal on multiple drug possession, theft and animal cruelty charges.
The rapper (real name: Earl Simmons) pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, one felony count of theft, and one count each of felony possession of marijuana and a narcotic drug.
DMX, who appeared in handcuffs and wearing a black-and-white striped prison uniform, is expected to receive a minimum 90-day jail sentence as well as probation under terms of a plea agreement, according to the Maricopa County attorney's office. He will remain in the county jail until his sentencing and won't be given credit for time served.
A Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner has set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 30.
Additional charges will be dismissed then.
As part of the plea agreement, DMX cannot own any animals, possess firearms and must attend an animal offender treatment program. If he violates probation, he could be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
Playwright Harold Pinter's London Burial Honored His Craft
Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter has been buried in a London ceremony at a brief private funeral attended by family and friends.
About 50 people stood beneath a tree at Kensal Green Cemetery on Wednesday for the service on a cold, grey afternoon.
Pinter died on Christmas Eve after a protracted battle with cancer.
The outspoken playwright had left instructions for the service, which included a reading from one of his plays by the actor Michael Gambon, a close friend.
The gravely ill Pinter had asked Gambon to read from "No Man's Land" three months ago.
Pinter's wife, the writer Lady Antonia Fraser, was present along with playwright Tom Stoppard and other luminaries.