People talk

Man sentenced in Anna Nicole stalking case

LOS ANGELES -- An ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for making criminal threats against the former Playboy Playmate and attacking her neighbor, officials said. Superior Court Judge Kathryne Stoltz rejected Mark Hatten's motion for a new trial on Friday. Hatten was convicted last November of making criminal threats against Smith, who testified she had a brief sexual relationship with him in 2000 that ended when he approached her with a knife in her home. Hatten claimed they had an on-again, off-again relationship.

Jackson changes his mind about selling car

PHOENIX -- Michael Jackson's customized 2001 Bentley sedan has been pulled off the auction block. The vehicle was scheduled for sale at the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction in Scottsdale, which concludes today. But auction officials said they were notified through the pop star's management team Thursday that Jackson wanted the sale postponed. The Bentley Arnage Red Label Turbo was featured in Jackson's video for the song "What More Can I Give."

Speaking out is a duty to Harry Belafonte

NEW YORK -- When it comes to the Iraq war and Bush administration, actor and singer Harry Belafonte says he believes it's his duty to continue protesting as he has since the early days of the civil rights movement. "Today it's almost a disease, there's some social flaw if an artist at any level dares to participate in political or social action, somehow you are out of your league, why don't you just shut up and entertain. It's somehow that we are not citizens," Belafonte said Thursday at the International Association for Jazz Education's annual conference.

-- From wire reports