Jackson's children 'doing well'

,Michael Jackson's children are "doing wonderfully with their grandmother guardian", a judge has said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff was "very pleased" with a probate investigator's report on how the three children are adjusting.

The judge also increased the powers of two men administering the singer's estate, partly due to substantial debt.

The pop legend died aged 50 in June. His death was ruled to be homicide caused by a powerful anaesthetic.

His children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II (known as Blanket), 7, have been in the care of Katherine Jackson since their father's death.

Jackson's estate is paying a stipend of $60,000 (£37,600) per month to care for and protect the youngsters.

guardian in August, and he had asked for an update on their conditions.

In his 2002 will, Michael Jackson designated his mother as his choice to care for his children if he died.

The judge sealed the report on the children and said he saw no need to get future updates.

However he gave lawyer John Branca and music executive John McClain general powers over Jackson's estate.

This will allow them to consider creditors' claims and enter into business deals that are not opposed by his mother, without judge Beckloff's approval.

Until Friday, no-one could accept or reject creditors' claims against Jackson, who died with an estimated $400m (£251m) of debts.

Mr Branca and Mr McClain can also begin to represent the estate in several court cases which were pending against the singer when he died.

The judge made the ruling despite the objections of Mrs Jackson's lawyer.

There have been several claims of unpaid bills filed against Jackson's estate, including from his criminal defence lawyers who won his acquittal against child molestation charges in 2005.

Jackson's father Joe attended the court hearing on Friday but did not comment

Latin artist Mercedes Sosa dies

Argentine folk singer and activist Mercedes Sosa has died aged 74 after suffering kidney problems.


Sosa's popularity in Latin America spanned four decades, but she fell foul of the Argentine junta in the 1970s.

Her latest album has been nominated for three Latin Grammy awards, which are due to be announced in November.

Dubbed "the voice of the silent majority", Sosa was credited with championing the poor and fighting for political change.

Along with her first husband, Manuel Oscar Matus, she became a founding member of the mid-60s Nueva Cancion movement.

At a 1979 concert in the Argentine city of La Plata, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage along with all those attending the concert.

She was subsequently banned from recording, and left the country to live in Paris and Madrid. She returned to her homeland in 1982 just before the collapse of military rule.

A Unicef goodwill ambassador, Sosa produced 40 albums over her long career and collaborated with musicians including Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Shakira and Joan Baez.

For Sherri Shepherd, 'Sherri' is reality television

By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — She has gone down eight dress sizes.

But Sherri Shepherd is feeling twice as big today. Her autobiographical sitcom, Sherri, premieres on Lifetime (tonight at 7 ET/PT), the same day as her advice book, Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, hits bookstores. Next week, the Lifetime show moves to its regular slot (Tuesday 10 p.m. ET/PT).

"It's so in sync," Shepherd, 42, says of her dual debuts. "I've dreamed about this for 20 years, so it doesn't feel like work."

In fact, Shepherd spends much of her day running from her morning gig as co-host of ABC's gab-fest The Viewto her second job as the star of her new series. Fortunately for the single mom of Jeffrey, 4, the role isn't a stretch.

"This character is based on me and my stand-up. I look at it like I had lemons dumped in my lap and managed to make lemonade for everybody," Shepherd says. "There was infidelity in my marriage. The other woman got pregnant. I had to deal with it."

The pilot "is pretty much verbatim what I went through: me confronting the girl and her saying to me, 'I'm just a big fan of yours,' " says Shepherd, who thanked her for the compliment. "My thought process was, 'You don't want to lose fans, even if they're the other woman.' "

Her book also deals with her family — Shepherd and the other woman are in contact, and their sons are close — as well as her tendency to say embarrassing things on The View. She has said she doesn't vote and doesn't believe in evolution.

"The book kind of parallels the show. It came about when I said I didn't know if the Earth was round (on The View)," she says. "It was my second or third day there, and I was so nervous. I'm not used to debating. I don't like to argue. This was so out of my comfort zone, and I just zoned out. That will follow me to the day I die. When you look me up, it's all about how I didn't know if the Earth was round or flat."

So her book emphasizes that "we just have to give ourselves permission to say it's OK. ... We have to stop beating ourselves up. As women, we try to be perfect."

To keep her energy up, Shepherd gets up at 6 a.m. every day and works out with her trainer four times a week. She hates exercise, she says, but does it anyway so she "can run around and play with my boy," she says.

She has breakfast with her son, preps for The View, and after shooting it heads to her Penn Station studio to shoot Sherri. Yes, she's busy, but should Tina Fey call, Shepherd says she'll show up to play her recurring role on NBC's 30 Rock as Tracy Morgan's disgruntled wife.

"I will make time. Are you kidding? Tina takes Tracy's life and writes that. She takes every nuance of Tracy and puts it on the page," says Shepherd, who knows from experience just how nutty Morgan's existence can be.

"I used to live eight floors below him, and when his place flooded, it flooded my place and they evacuated me. Now he's moved. They put us in another apartment for two weeks. ... I haven't seen Tracy. He owes me dinner."

Elisabeth Hasselbeck backon 'The View' Oct. 19

Elisabeth Hasselbeck back

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC says Elisabeth Hasselbeck will be back on "The View" on Oct. 19.

Hasselbeck has been off the daytime talk show since Aug. 7 — two days before she gave birth to her third child, Isaiah Timothy. She's married to former NFL player Tim Hasselbeck.

Since then, her only contact with viewers was last Thursday, when she phoned The View to chat on-air with fellow hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar (BAY'-hahr) and Sherri Shepherd.

During Hasselbeck's maternity leave, numerous guests have filled in. Upcoming subs include "The Hills" star Heidi Montag, former View co-host Lisa Ling, "Ugly Betty" star Ana Ortiz, newly married TV reality star Khloe Kardashian and Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Beckinsale named sexiest woman alive

British actress Kate Beckinsale has been named Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive.

"This whole notion of being named Sexiest Woman Alive is going to earn me quite a beating. You can't have that title with four brothers. I'll get wedgies. Headlocks. Noogies (knuckles to the head)... I'm feeling that I must earn this - I need to go out and become much better at pole dancing or something," she said.

Gwen Stefani Is How Old? Rossdale, Beckinsale Help Mark Milestone


Gwen Stefani celebrated the advent of her fourth decade with friends and family at an intimate Saturday afternoon gathering at Cecconi's in West Hollywood.

The ab-flaunting singer donned her signature red lipstick as she dined inside the Italian restaurant with hubby Gavin Rossdale, sons Zuma and Kingston, BFF to the stars Kate Beckinsale and the actress's husband, director Len Wiseman.

"There wasn't much gift-giving, but they did bring in a large bouquet of red roses, and as they were leaving, they stuffed some Mylar balloons in the backseat," an eyewitness told E!

"They are such a class act. They were so gracious with all of the photographers, and Gavin was even joking around, waving and taking pictures on his iPhone as they left," says the source. "I think they chose to have the party in the afternoon because the kids were there."

In spite of the party time, one partygoer was too tired for additional festivities. Little Zuma was spotted snoozing in his car seat next to the birthday girl as the family rode away in their black Range Rover.