It looks as if Ed Sheeran will be performing in Dubai next March. The British pop star is thought to be performing at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on March 5. While an official announcement is yet to be made, the date was listed on Sheeran’s official website – but quickly deleted. Further fuelling the rumours, a British radio station, Capital FM, is running a competition to meet the singer in Dubai. The March 5 date would seem like a good fit – it’s just a couple of weeks before an already announced arena tour of Australia kicks off on March 20. – The National staff
Morrissey reveals cancer battle
The pop star Morrissey has been battling cancer. The 55-year-old former lead singer of The Smiths, who had cancelled several gigs for health reasons, told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo: "They have scraped cancerous tissue four times already, but, whatever – if I die, then I die. And if I don't, then I don't. Right now I feel good. I am aware that in recent photos of me I look somewhat unhealthy, but that's what illness can do. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll rest when I'm dead." He added: "I'm now at an age when I should no longer be making music. Many composers of classical music died at 34. And I'm still here and nobody knows what to do with me." – The National staff
Sinéad O'Connor promises to 'dish the dirt' in memoir
The Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor is writing a memoir that will be published in March 2016. O'Connor, who has been married four times, said that she would dish the "dirt" on her former partners in the book, which will be published by Penguin's Random House imprint and does not yet have a title. O'Connor, whose best known hit is Nothing Compares 2 U, is known for her blunt, confrontational style. She famously tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II during an appearance, in 1992, on the American television show Saturday Night Live. – AP
Miley’s MTV guest jailed for six months
The young homeless man who accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music Awards this year and accepted her prize on her behalf has been jailed for six months for violating the terms of his probation. Officers led away Jesse Helt in handcuffs shortly after he asked the judge Monte S Campbell for leniency. “I’d like to be viewed as a good person, not as a nuisance to society,” he said. Helt, 22, was arrested in 2010 after breaking into an apartment. He violated his probation a year later and he moved to Los Angeles. Cyrus met him during a visit to a homeless shelter for youth in the city. – AP
Police review child-abuse investigation into actor Stephen Collins
Police are reviewing a 2012 investigation into the American actor Stephen Collins after an audio tape in which he allegedly admitted to molesting young girls was posted online. In the tape, allegedly recorded during a 2012 therapy session and obtained by TMZ, the 67-year-old actor, best known for playing a wholesome pastor in the television series 7th Heaven, appears to admit to inappropriate behaviour with at least three underage girls. A spokesman for the Los Angeles police department said officers were reviewing an investigation into a criminal complaint that was filed at the time. "The case here has not been reopened, but we are reviewing the case for accuracy," a spokeswoman said. One television station has cancelled reruns of 7th Heaven and Collins is believed to have been cut from the film Ted 2. TMZ also reported that he had resigned from the national board of the Screen Actors Guild. – AFP
University acquires Flannery archives
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, has acquired the archives of the American author Flannery O'Connor from the Mary Flannery O'Connor Charitable Trust in Milledgeville, Georgia. Among other honours, O'Connor – who was born in Savannah, lived in Milledgeville and died of lupus at age 39 in 1964 – posthumously won the 1972 National Book Award in the fiction category for The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor. Officials said the collection also includes more than 600 letters between O'Connor and her mother. The former US Poet Laureate Natasha Tretheway, who directs Emory's creative writing programme, said O'Connor's work influenced her own growth as a writer. – AP
True-crime drama coming from American Horror Story creator
The FX network is teaming up again with the American Horror Story producer Ryan Murphy for a true-crime anthology mini-series. And the first story they will tell is the O J Simpson murder case. Each season of American Crime Story will focus on a different crime that captured the public’s imagination. The 1994 killing of Simpson’s former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, followed by Simpson’s arrest and trial led to a media frenzy. The NFL Hall of Famer and former television and movie star was acquitted but is now in jail for robbery. FX did not announce any casting or broadcast details for the show. – AP