Elton John briefly testified Monday for the defense at Kevin Spacey 's sexual assault trial as the actor's lawyer attempted to discredit a man who claimed the Oscar winner aggressively grabbed his crotch while driving to the singer's summer ball.

John appeared in the London court by video link from Monaco after his husband, David Furnish, testified that Spacey did not attend the annual party at their Windsor home the year the accuser said he was attacked.

Actor and singer Jane Birkin, who made France her home and charmed the country with her English grace, natural style and social activism, has died at age 76.

The London-born star and fashion icon was known for her musical and romantic relationship with French singer Serge Gainsbourg. Their songs notably included the steamy "Je t'aime moi non plus" ("I Love You, Me Neither"). Birkin's ethereal, British-accented singing voice interlaced with his gruff baritone in the 1969 duet that helped make her famous and was forbidden in Italy after being denounced in the Vatican newspaper.

The union representing film and television actors says no deal has been reached with studios and streaming services and its leadership will vote on whether to strike later Thursday.

The Screen Actors Guild -American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said early Thursday that its decision on whether to join already striking screenwriters will be considered by leadership at a meeting later Thursday.

Kevin Spacey took a dramatic pause in his testimony Thursday and appeared to almost choke up as he recalled the "intimate" and "somewhat sexual" friendship he shared with a man now accusing the actor of violently groping him. He said he was "crushed" when he learned of the allegations.

"I never thought that (the man) I knew would ... 20 years later stab me in the back," Spacey testified in his own defense in his sexual assault trial in what could be the most consequential speaking part of his life.

Helen Mirren, who plays Israel's first female prime minister in her latest film, says she has been inspired by the widespread protests against the country's current prime minister.

Mirren, who portrays the late Golda Meir during the 1973 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states in "Golda," is visiting an Israel similarly beset by crisis as mass demonstrations take place against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to overhaul the country's judicial system.

A prominent Iranian rapper who backed nationwide anti-regime protests last year, has been sentenced to more than six years in prison over charges of "corruption on earth", local media reported Monday.

Toomaj Salehi, 32, was arrested in October after expressing support for mass demonstrations triggered by the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, Mahsa Amini. She was arrested for allegedly breaching the country's strict dress code for women.

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama said he believes Britney Spears grabbed him from behind as he was walking into a restaurant at a Las Vegas casino, and that the security detail he was with pushed the pop star away.

Wembanyama said he wasn't told that Spears was the person who grabbed him until hours later, and that he never actually saw her.

Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef are divorcing after nearly six years of marriage, the couple announced.

"For some time, we have considered transforming our relationship, and it is after careful consideration that we have decided to end our marriage with love, respect and dignity for our children," the couple wrote in an Instagram post, shared in Spanish on Martin's profile and in English on Yosef's.

In 2010, newly anointed as a Grammy winner, Taylor Swift released "Speak Now," her third studio album and her first without a single songwriting collaboration.

Her 2006 self-titled debut and 2008's "Fearless" had inspired both acclaim and criticism for her bold bridges and keen lyricism — these are masterful country-pop songs, critics argued, but surely a teen idol wasn't responsible for them. Swift proved her detractors wrong on "Speak Now," an album that arrived just before her pivot from country's youngest hope to pop's freshest voice.

The combat boots and dog tags that Alan Alda wore to portray the wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye on the beloved television series "M-A-S-H" meant so much to him that when the show ended 40 years ago, he kept them.

But he's now ready to let the pieces go, in service of another passion: his center dedicated to helping scientists and doctors communicate better. Heritage Auctions is offering up the worn boots and military identification tags on July 28 in Dallas.