Jackson Estate Opposes Allowance for Joe Jackson

The estate of late singer Michael Jackson has opposed a bid from his father Joe Jackson to receive a monthly allowance, stating that it would take money away from Michael Jackson's three children. Joe Jackson is seeking to get more than $15,000 each month from his son's estate. The papers that were filed fail to show that Micheal supported him while he was alive and that Michael omitted his father as a beneficiary in his will and trust. Joe filed for the monthly stipend in November claiming that he had very little income and relied on his son to help him with his living costs. He wants $1,200 per month for rent for his Las Vegas home, $2,500 to eat out, $1,000 for entertainment expenses, gifts, and vacations, $2,000 for air travel, and $3,000 for hotel expenses.

Any money that would be paid to Joe would reduce the estate's assets that are for Micheal's mother and his children. The beneficiaries of the estate are Michael's children, his mother, and various unnamed charities. Micheal's mother, Katherine Jackson, and his children are receiving more than $86,000 per month and administrators want to increase the monthly stipends.

Rapper Snoop Dogg Granted Visa for Australia

The rapper Snoop Dogg has been granted a visa to enter Australia after finishing a full character assessment. He has a concert tour scheduled for the near future in Australia. The immigration department had originally had concerns about his criminal record but considered the fact that he had traveled there three times before without any problems. In the assessment they weighed his previous convictions against his more recent charity work and they considered if he would be any risk to the Australian community. Snoop Dogg is also suppose to do charity work with at-risk youth during his visit.

Judge Allows Wesley Snipes to Travel

Judge William Terrell has allowed the actor Wesley Snipes to leave the United States to work on two movies. His lawyers are still working on trying to appeal his income tax convictions. The judge approved for him to be able to travel to London and Bangkok.

Snipes plans to be in London, England for three days this month to do post-production editing of the movie “Gallowwalker.” He will also be in Bangkok, Thailand for eight weeks to film the movie “Chasing the Dragon.”

In February, Snipes was convicted of three counts of willfully failing to file income taxes. He has appealed the convictions and a three year prison sentence to the 11^th Circuit Court in Atlanta.

Rapper Snoop Dogg Allowed Back Into UK

A court overruled the decision not to allow Snoop Dogg a visa to go to the United Kingdom. Since the ban is overturned, he can now travel back to the UK. He was banned from the country after he and five members of his entourage were arrested after an incident at Heathrow airport in 2006. Immigration officials said that his presence in the UK might cause violent crime and last year he was refused a visa for a tour that he was scheduled to do.

The First Underwater Car

Rinspeed, a Swiss company, has built the world’s first functional underwater car. The car is electric-powered and can travel up to 77mph on land, 3mph on the surface of water, and 1.8 mph at 30 feet underwater.

Woman Stopped While Trying to Bring Skeleton on Plane

A 62 year old woman was stopped at a Munich airport after baggage control handlers found the skeleton of her brother in a plastic bag with her luggage. She and her 63 year old friend were taken away by police after a scan of the plastic bag showed a human skull and other bones. The women were trying to travel from Brazil to Italy.

After questioning, it was told that they woman was trying to fulfill the last wish of her brother to be buried in Italy, who had died 11 year earlier in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The woman gave the appropriate papers from Brazilian authorities for the transport and was allowed to take the skeleton to Italy.

Germs Taken to Space Come Back Stronger and Deadlier

The germ Salmonella was put on a space shuttle and sent into space because scientists wanted to see how space travel has an affect on germs. Researchers found that 167 genes had changed in the salmonella that went into space. They say that the germs change genetically because they sensed that they were in new environment. When they fed mice the germs from space they were three times more likely to get sick and die than the mice that were fed germs that didn’t go into space.