US singer Chris Brown has been sentenced to 180 days’ community labour and five years’ probation for assaulting pop star Rihanna.

The 20-year-old R&B star pleaded guilty in June to beating Rihanna, his former girlfriend, before the Grammy awards in Los Angeles in February.

The judge said Brown must do physical labour, not community service, and attend domestic violence counselling.

Brown must also stay at least 100 yards from Rihanna for the next five years.

The judge said violation of the terms would be taken “very, very seriously”.

Brown said nothing at the sentencing other than to acknowledge he understood the terms.

The sentencing had been delayed from 5 August as a response was still awaited from officials in Virginia as to whether Brown could serve his community labour in that state.

The judge said she was now satisfied that the labour in Virginia would be physical and would include clearing rubbish, washing cars and grounds cleaning.

Brown must also attend a 52-week violence counselling programme. The singer was also fined $2,500.

He must reappear in court on 19 November for a progress report.

Brown was arrested on 8 February after the dispute in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. {Source}

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Michael Jackson’s death is being treated as a homicide by the Los Angeles County Coroner, it has emerged tonight.

A law enforcement official in Los Angeles confirmed this evening that a ruling from the coroner’s office has deemed Jackson’s death to be a homicide.

An investigation is ongoing to determine whether anyone is to blame for Jackson’s death and to what extent, although homicide is not necessarily equivalent to murder and can include manslaughter.

In an affidavit unsealed today in Houston, it was also revealed that Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anaesthetic drug propofol in his body when he died on June 25 and had been taking a “cocktail” of sedatives.

The court documents also revealed that Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, told detectives that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks. Court records showed that Mr Murray had been giving Jackson 50mg of propofol intravenously every night.

Propofol is a powerful sedative drug usually used as an anaesthetic during surgery and also by dentists and veterinary surgeons.

Though the results of Jackson’s autopsy have not yet been unsealed, Dr Murray told police that he had feared that Jackson was developing an addiction to propofol. He said that he had been trying to wean the singer off the drug by lowering the dosage to 25mg and mixing it with other drugs.

On the night of the popstar’s death, Mr Murray said that he had tried to get Jackson to sleep without using propofol and had instead administered valium at 1.30am and then lorazepam at 2am.

When the singer was still awake at 3am, Dr Murray gave him midazolam, another sedative. Dr Murray said that Jackson was demanding propofol, which he then administered at 10.40am.

Although Dr Murray admitted prescribing propofol, the Los Angeles Times today reported that the LA authorities had found no record of Mr Murray purchasing or ordering the drug under his medical license or official tracking number.

In the affadavit, Dr Murray also explains that propofol had been administered to the singer by a number of other doctors, in Las Vegas, Germany, and in his cosmetologist’s office. Jackson reportedly admitted to Dr Murray that he had been given a “cocktail” to help him.

On the day of Jackson’s death, Dr Murray said he had left Jackson to make phone calls to his Houston office and returned to find the singer was not breathing. He perfomed CPR while Jackson’s staff called the emergency services. Jackson was pronounced dead at the UCLA Medical Centre later that day.

An investigation is ongoing to ascertain whether Dr Murray’s actions in administering propofol to Jackson amount to negligence, which could lead to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

However, although Dr Murray has been interviewed twice by police, he has not been named as an official suspect. {Source}

Simon Cowell protégée Leona Lewis has decided on a title and release date for her new album. Echo, the follow-up to Lewis’ platinum-plus 2008 debut, Spirit, is due Nov. 17.

“An echo describes a big, organic sound,” Lewis says of her choice.

Lewis is recording in various cities, including New York and Los Angeles. Though one track called Don’t Let Me Down has

leaked online, neither the lineup of songs nor the list of contributors has been finalized. “I’m working with incredible songwriters and producers, and my music has really evolved,” Lewis says.

Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote and produced Lewis’ chart-topping breakthrough hit, Bleeding Love, is one confirmed collaborator, and a number of top artists have joined her in the studio, including Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo and producer Timbaland. {Source}