Fighting back tears, singer George Michael appeared outside his London home Friday to acknowledge that he had nearly died during his monthlong battle with pneumonia.

He said it had been "touch and go" while he was in the intensive care unit of a Vienna hospital battling an extremely dangerous form of pneumonia but that his representatives had "played it down" to avoid alarming his fans.

Richard Gere is getting a George Eastman Award in upstate New York for his contributions to movies and humanitarian causes.

The star of such films as "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Pretty Woman" will be honored Feb. 16 during a ceremony at Rochester's George Eastman House, the restored home of the founder of photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co., according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.

Etta James' longtime manager says the terminally ill blues singer has been hospitalized after experiencing difficulty breathing.

Lupe De Leon says James' family is with her at a Southern California hospital where she was taken earlier this week.

President Raul Castro on Friday put on ice highly-anticipated plans to ease travel restrictions on Cubans, telling lawmakers the nation would not be pressured into moving too fast and citing continued aggression from the United States as the reason for his cautious approach.

Cuba has been awash in speculation the much-hated regulations, which prevent most Cubans from leaving the island, might be lifted during Friday's session of the National Assembly. But Castro said the time still wasn't right, despite a year of free-market reforms that has seen the Communist government legalize a real estate market and greatly increase private business ownership.

Police say 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of ice cream have spilled from a semitrailer in the state of Indiana, closing two lanes of an interstate highway at the start of the holiday weekend.

The Journal Gazette and WPTA-TV report the spill happened about 4 p.m. local time Friday and was expected to take as long as six hours to clean up completely. One southbound lane remained open.

A rare violin worth $172,000 that was mistakenly left onboard a Boston-to-Philadelphia bus by a groggy music student from Taiwan has been found and returned to its grateful owner.

Megabus USA director Bryony Chamberlain said Friday that a cleaning crew recovered the instrument, which had been left in an overhead bin earlier this week. The New England Conservatory student got on a Megabus in Boston with the 176-year-old violin but got off without it late Tuesday, police said.

Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly on the verge of taking over at big-spending French club Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG is widely expected to part ways with Antoine Kombouare despite leading the French league going into the winter break, with French and Italian newspapers reporting Friday that Ancelotti is close to being hired as his replacement.

Barcelona says midfielder Andres Iniesta will be sidelined for at least two weeks after injuring his right thigh in a Copa del Rey match on Thursday.

Iniesta tangled with Hospitalet goalkeeper Carlos Craviotto in the 28th minute, and was substituted two minutes later as coach Pep Guardiola held his head fearing the worst.

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure has been named African Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

The Manchester City player won ahead of Mali and Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, with Ghana forward Andre Ayew — who plays for French club Marseille — third.

Big-spending Malaga was drawn against defending champion Real Madrid for the Copa del Rey's round of 16, while Osasuna gets the unenviable task of facing 25-time champion Barcelona.

Barcelona routed third-tier side Hospitalet 10-0 over two legs to advance, while Madrid easily overcame another minnow in Ponferradina.