Judge clears Amy Winehouse

Prosecutors claimed it was a deliberate assault. But Winehouse said she had merely pushed Flash because she felt intimidated and claimed she was too short to have punched the dancer in the face.The judge said after hearing the evidence that he could not be sure the blow had been deliberate. "The charge is dismissed and the defendant discharged," he said.-- associated press Global troupes head to CalabasasA new international theater festival is set to debut in Calabasas next month, featuring performers from Ireland, the United Kingdom and Israel.The four-day California International Theatre Festival will run Aug. 20 to 23 at various locations throughout Calabasas. The festival is being organized by actress Linda Purl, who last year directed the Rubicon International Theatre Festival in Ventura. When financial cutbacks caused the Ventura festival to be canceled for 2009, Purl approached the city of Calabasas, which agreed to partially fund the new festival. "We want the festival to speak to the global reality that we're living in," said Purl, adding that Calabasas is an ideal place for the festival because of its many theatrical venues, including the city's civic center, which features a large amphitheater. Additional sponsorship is coming from individuals, corporations and foundations.The festival will open with "Moby Dick -- Ishmael's Tale" by Conor Lovett and Judy Hegarty Lovett of Ireland's Gare St. Lazare Players. The drama is a liberal adaptation of the Herman Melville novel and will play Aug. 20 at the Carlson Family Theatre at Viewpoint School.The festival's main event will be "A Tale of a Lonely Man," a chamber drama from Israel's Ofer Amram Company that plays Aug. 22 and 23 at the Viewpoint School. The production, which features music and puppetry, tells the story of an amnesiac who invents a female companion for himself in the form of a life-size doll.Rounding out the festival lineup are London cabaret artist Giselle Wolf and an evening of musical entertainment.-- David Ng Phish sets eight Indio datesWest Coast Phish fans may have been left out of the band's initial run of spring reunion dates, but the act is making a grand overture to its Pacific Time Zone fan base this fall. After much rumor and speculation, the band confirmed late Thursday that it would stage a three-day event in Indio beginning Oct. 30. The jam band will take over the same Empire Polo Grounds that host the Coachella and Stagecoach fests for what Phish is calling "Festival 8."The band will perform a total of eight sets throughout the Halloween weekend. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday via MusicToday.-- Todd Martens Obama photog sues AP, FaireyFormer Associated Press freelance photographer Mannie Garcia, whose 2006 image of Barack Obama inspired Shepard Fairey's famous "Hope" election poster, sued the news company and the artist for copyright violations.In papers filed Thursday in New York federal court, Garcia said the AP fraudulently won a copyright for the photograph, while Fairey illegally used the image on his red, white and blue poster and is profiting from sales of related goods. The new claims were made in Fairey's pending lawsuit against the AP.-- bloomberg news Jay-Z subs for Beastie BoysJay-Z will make his U.S. festival debut when he replaces the Beastie Boys at the All Points West Music and Arts Festival in New Jersey. The Grammy winner stepped in after the Beastie Boys were forced to cancel their opening-night appearance July 31. The trio scrapped its current schedule because member Adam Yauch must undergo surgery and treatment for a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland.-- associated press Bayreuth Festival avoids strikeUnion leaders say they have signed an agreement with organizers of the Bayreuth Festival, avoiding a strike one day before the world-famous Wagner celebration was to begin. Union spokesman Hans Kraft says workers "are relieved" because they achieved what they wanted. The festival's organizers were not immediately available for comment Friday. Kraft says the new labor contract for about 170 stage technicians will cost the festival an additional $854,000 a season, with some workers receiving a pay raise of up to 30%. The technicians will now get salaries commensurate with those at state theaters in Germany. The festival opens today with Christoph Marthaler's staging of "Tristan and Isolde" and runs through Aug. 28.-- associated press


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