GLAM ROCKER PAYS FAMILIES TO DROP SEX-ABUSE CASE

Glam rocker pays familiesto drop sex-abuse case
HANOI, Vietnam -- Former rock star Gary Glitter paid $4,000 to the families of Vietnamese girls he is accused of sexually abusing in exchange for their cooperation, his lawyer said.
Glitter, who won fame as a flamboyant glam rocker in the 1970s, gave $2,000 each to the families of two girls, ages 11 and 12, after they agreed to write letters to the court asking that the case be dropped, lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said Wednesday.
"If we pay the money for the two families, when this case goes to court, maybe Mr. Gary will receive a lighter penalty," Kinh said.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, has been held in prison since Nov. 19 on suspicion of engaging in obscene acts with a child, an offense punishable with up to 12 years in prison. He was seized while trying to board a flight to Bangkok, Thailand, from Ho Chi Minh City.
Police completed their investigation this week and handed over their conclusions to Glitter, 61, and Kinh on Wednesday, said Lt. Col. Nguyen Duc Trinh in a telephone interview. Prosecutors will get the documents within three days.
The families, who were paid two weeks ago, had asked for $10,000 and $5,000 respectively, Kinh said.
"After receiving the money, they informed the investigation bureau that they don't want to go to court and they want to drop the case," he said.
Prosecutors said the money paid would have no bearing on whether the case goes to trial. However, Nguyen Van Xung, deputy provincial chief prosecutor, said the court would consider the $4,000 paid as a form of compensation during the sentencing phase.
"It will not affect the investigation and the trial process, but the court may consider it as one factor to lessen the sentence," Xung said.
Glitter was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography and served half of a four-month jail term.
Klein wants his life to beseparate from Holmes'
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Chris Klein says he won't be sending ex-fianc & eacute;e Katie Holmes a gift or a congratulatory card after her baby is born.
"No, I don't think so," the 26-year-old actor told AP Radio in a recent interview.
"Her and my relationship is a time in the past. And it's a time that I'll always look back with in fondness, but her and I have moved on, and she has a separate life and I have a separate life. And it's better that we keep it that way."
Holmes, who starred in the TV series "Dawson's Creek," and Klein became engaged in December 2003 after five years of dating. They called off their engagement in March.
"Mission: Impossible" star Tom Cruise, 43, and Holmes, 27, went public with their relationship in April and became engaged in June. Holmes' pregnancy was reported in October.
Klein, who starred in "Election" and two "American Pie" films, has said Cruise had nothing to do with their breakup.
Holmes hasn't revealed her due date.
Cause for Oprah's landingwas a worn-out windshield
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Officials now say that it was wear and tear, and not a collision with a bird, that damaged the windshield of Oprah Winfrey's private jet and forced it to return to the city airport.
"There was no bird involved, but the pilot did tell my captain that he felt it was a fatigue thing with the glass," Battalion Chief John Ahlman, a Santa Barbara City Fire Department spokesman, said Tuesday.
Ahlman had earlier attributed the damage to a bird.
Winfrey, host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and her boyfriend, Stedman Graham, weren't hurt in Monday's incident, which occurred just after the jet had taken off from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
The 51-year-old talk-show host bought a mansion on 42 acres of land in the hills of Montecito five years ago.
Miller 'opens a floodgate' with talk of love life
NEW YORK -- Sienna Miller says the biggest lesson she's learned this year is "hold your cards close to your vest."
"I've got a huge mouth, especially when it comes to my business," the 24-year-old actress tells Life magazine in its Dec. 30 issue. "But I've realized that if you start talking about things, you open up a floodgate."
Miller's engagement to her "Alfie" co-star Jude Law appeared to fall apart after Law publicly apologized in July for having an affair with his children's nanny. Reports in recent weeks had suggested the couple were back together.
"I find it odd that people ask me things like, 'Why did you take [Jude Law] back?' I don't regret anything," she tells the magazine, when asked to look back on 2005.
Miller stars in "Casanova," which opened in U.S. theaters Christmas Day.
When asked who is a modern-day Casanova, she replied: "I don't know. ... People think I should be an expert on love, and I haven't got a clue."
Miller and Law became engaged last December. Law divorced fashion designer-actress Sadie Frost in October 2003 after a six-year marriage and three children.
Today's birthdays
Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 68. Actor Jon Voight is 67. Rock musician Ray Thomas is 64. Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is 59. Actor Ted Danson is 58. Actor Jon Polito is 55. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 54. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 46. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 46. Rock singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 44. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 39. Actor Jason Gould is 39. Movie director Andy Wachowski is 38. Actress Jennifer Ehle is 36. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 35. Actor Kevin Weisman is 35. Actor Jude Law is 33. Rapper Pimp C is 32. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 31. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 30. Actor Diego Luna is 26. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 22.
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