Los Angeles, May 12 (AP/UNB) —Twenty-two-year-old Prince Jackson — whose real name is Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. — went through commencement ceremonies Saturday at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Prince Jackson graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

The day was celebrated in social media posts from the graduate and relatives in his famous family.

T.J. Jackson, the cousin who served as Prince's guardian after his father died, tweeted, "it's been a long road but you did it. Keep learning, keep growing and keep giving back!"

Prince Jackson was 12 when his father died nearly 10 years ago.

Michael Jackson has two other children, 21-year-old Paris and 17-year-old Prince Michael Jackson, known by the nickname Blanket.

Los Angeles, May 11 (AP/UNB) -After listening to Britney Spears and both of her parents speak in an unusual court appearance, a judge has ordered an expert evaluation of the 37-year-old singer's situation.

The courtroom was cleared of members of the public and media Friday before Spears and her parents were brought in through a side door to discuss her conservatorship, which has put control of nearly all of her affairs in the hands of her father.

After the hearing, Judge Brenda Penny ordered a so-called 730 expert evaluation, a competence examination that is usually used for parents in divorce cases.

It's not clear whether the examination relates to Spears' relationship to her two sons or her parents' oversight of her.

Penny says in her order that both Spears and her parents agreed to the evaluation.

Britney Spears appeared in court at her own request to speak to a judge who oversees the conservatorship that has controlled her affairs for 11 years.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny cleared the courtroom Friday of all members of the public and media before Spears appeared, so only those involved in the case know what she said.

When the doors re-opened, the courtroom was empty, and Penny has issued no ruling or statement on Spears' case.

Spears was brought in and out of the courthouse via backdoors and side entrances, and only a few determined fans and passers-by caught glimpses of her.

The 37-year-old singer doesn't normally attend hearings on her conservatorship, which gives her father, Jamie Spears, and various lawyers power over much of her life.

los Angeles, May 10 (AP/UNB) — A man charged with bludgeoning and strangling to death a Hollywood television director more than three decades ago was arrested Thursday in North Carolina after police said DNA and a confession linked him to the crime.

Edwin Hiatt was arrested in Burke County for the 1985 death of Barry Crane in Los Angeles. He has been charged with murder in California and will be returned there, Los Angeles police announced.

A housekeeper found Crane, 57, dead in his garage in his Studio City townhouse on July 5, 1985. He was naked and had been wrapped in bedsheets. He had been beaten with a large ceramic statue and strangled with a telephone cord, the News Herald of Morgantown, North Carolina reported, citing court documents.

Crane directed dozens of episodes of such hit 1970s and '80s TV shows as "The Incredible Hulk, "Hawaii 5-O" and "The Six Million Dollar Man." He also produced the show "The Magician" and was associate producer for "Mannix" and "Mission: Impossible."

He also was a world-class bridge player.

There was no word on a motive for the killing.

Crane's death went unsolved until police said they matched a fingerprint from Crane's stolen car to Hiatt last year. FBI investigators then obtained discarded cigarette butts and a coffee cup from the parking lot of the auto repair shop in Burke County where Hiatt worked.

DNA from some items matched that from cigarette butts found in Crane's stolen car, which was discovered shortly after his death on a mountain road, investigators said.

On March 8, homicide detectives went to North Carolina to interview Hiatt.

"During the interview, Hiatt admitted to killing Barry Crane," an LAPD statement said.

It wasn't known whether Hiatt had a lawyer.

Video from WSOC-TV showed Hiatt, 52, of Connelly Springs, being arrested. Hiatt, with long white hair and beard, held his handcuffed hands in front of him as he was taken to a car.

Hiatt told the station that he didn't remember Crane's name until it was told to him and had no memory of what occurred so long ago except for "bits and pieces that were brought back to me just by suggestion."

Asked if he could have killed Crane, he replied: "Anything's possible back then ... I was big into drugs."

"I just don't want to remember the past," he said, adding later: "It's a different life today."

Co-workers told the News Herald that Hiatt was a generous and peaceful man.

"He wouldn't hurt a flea," Dee Hall said.

"This is something that supposedly happened 30 years ago, the man's changed," Hall said. "Christ has come in and he's become a new creature. If God's forgiven you, you're forgiven. That's it."

Dhaka, May 9 (UNB) – Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s ‘Shonibar Bikel’ (Saturday Afternoon) is scheduled to be screened at the Sydney Film Festival 2019 at the Dendy Opera Cinema Hall.

The director and his wife, actress Nusrat Imroze Tisha, will leave Dhaka on June 9. They are scheduled to attend a question-answer session regarding this film.

Based on the Holy Artisan tragedy, this Bangladesh-Germany joint production has generated rave reviews even before its release.

The cast of the film includes Zahid Hasan, Tisha, Mamunur Rashid, Iresh Zaker, Intekhab Dinar, Nader Chowdhury and Gousul Alam Shaon from Bangladesh, while Indian actor Parambrata Chatterjee and Palestinian actor Eyad Hourani has also played major roles in this movie.

“Berlin Film Festival’s honorary ‘Silver Bear’ winning cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev’s extraordinarily impressive single shot in the audacious movie ‘Shonibar Bikel’ takes us into the frightening timeline, that replicated the merciless incident [that] happened at a restaurant in Dhaka,” the Sydney Film Fest committee wrote in their programme note.

“That is, however, not the main motive of director Farooki - rather his intention is to portray the humanity among people above social conflicts such as religion, race, cast and above terrorism.” 

‘Shonibar Bikel’ recently participated in the 41st Moscow International Film Festival where it won two independent jury awards.

The film will be screened at Dendy Opera Quays Cinema 1 in East Circular Quay, Sydney on June 10 at 2pm and June 13 at 8pm (local time).

Dhaka, May 9 (UNB) – The birth anniversary of ‘Biswakabi’ Rabindranath Tagore was celebrated on Wednesday across the country.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy inaugurated the nationwide celebration of the poet’s 158th birth anniversary with the tagline ‘Manobik Bishwa Binirmane Rabindranath’. Education Minister Dipu Moni inaugurated the celebration in the afternoon.

Cultural Affairs Minister KM Khalid chaired the programme while Bangla Academy President Dr Anisuzzaman, educationist and literary researcher Dr Sanjida Khatun, cultural ministry’s acting Secretary Dr Md Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal and Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Haque shared their thoughts on the poet, his influences on Bangladesh and his literary creations.

Dipu Moni said Tagore was a lifelong friend of Bangladesh, even before the nation was born.

“He and our father of nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dreamt the same dream about the nation which we refer to as ‘Sonar Bangla’, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working towards achieving that,” she said.

Anisuzzaman said that Rabindranath was universal as a Bengali poet, and was one of the best humanitarians the world has ever seen.

It was announced that his 158th birth anniversary will be celebrated all over the country including places such as Shilaidaha, Shahzadpur, Patishar, Dakhsindihi and Pithabhog which are connected to the poet in many different ways.

Later, a cultural programme was organised by Shilpakala Academy with performances by prominent artists.

Renowned singer Rezwana Chowdhury Bonna, Lily Islam, Sajid Akbar, Mahadeb Ghosh performed Tagore songs and prominent dancer Shibli Azad-Shamim Ara Nipa along with their team presented dance performances.