Cilla Black has settled out of court with Granada Television over "misunderstandings" involved in a programme made about her. She sued Granada for a reported £70,000 after she found out a one-hour documentary about her formed only part of Channel 4's Brit Girls series about female singers, instead of a one-off special as she had believed.
The series also ran into trouble with 1960s star Helen Shapiro, who was called a "one-hit wonder" in publicity for the show despite having had two number ones and other hits, and the fact that she is still working.
Comedian Ben Elton (37), author of best-selling books, including Stark and Gridlock, is one of Britain's highest-paid authors. The stand-up comic and writer of television shows such as The Young Ones and Blackadder, has received an advance for his next two books worth £1.5 million. The deal, with publishers Transworld, follows his move from Simon and Schuster.
A French photographer yesterday denied Buckingham Palace claims that he tried to take unauthorised pictures of Prince Charles and his sons at Klosters.
Jean-Pierre Rey, of the Gamma agency, said palace aides had spun a "tissue of lies" over Sunday's incident, which led to a clash between Rey, another photographer and Charles' bodyguards.
Making jokes about "cute nurses", US Senator Strom Thurmond (95) has returned to work after a week in the Eisenhower Medical Centre in Georgia.
Mexican writer Octavio Paz (83) is ill but his doctors say his death is not imminent and the poet is receiving medical attention at home. He is continuing to write, though at a slower pace.