CHICAGO — Singer R. Kelly, already charged with sexual assault in Illinois, was indicted in federal courts in New York and Chicago on Friday with transporting women and girls across state lines for sex, forcibly keeping them under his control and buying their silence

THE concert of English musician and actor, Sting (Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner), scheduled on Oct. 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, has been canceled according to the concert’s local organizers.

NEW YORK — It was the moan heard around the world.

LOS ANGELES — The much-anticipated new version of animated movie classic The Lion King landed with a whimper rather than a roar on Thursday with critics hailing it as visually impressive but tame in terms of character and storytelling.

UNLESS GAMERS have been living under a rock all this time, they would most definitely be familiar with the Senran Kagura series. The arrival of the Nintendo 3DS handheld console at the turn of the decade gave Marvelous the impetus it needed to bring Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows and Senran Kagura Burst to the attention of those on the lookout for actioners featuring no small measure of fanservice. The newly formed Japan-based publisher, out to make an impact as an offshoot of the merger of industry players Marvelous Entertainment, Livewire, and AQ Interactive, felt it had in its hands a solid franchise featuring appealing characters, deep and unpredictable gameplay, and nuanced storylines designed to transcend platforms.

FASHION and dance both serve the same purpose: to glorify the human body and display it at its zenith. Keeping in mind this goal, Ballet Philippines, for its 50^th anniversary gala on Sept. 29, will feature a 50-piece couture collection in a fashion show from renowned Filipino designer Michael Cinco alongside a new dance by Alden Lugnasin, inspired by the Swan Lake ballet. The show will be held at the Marriott Hotel Grand Ballroom.

HANDBAGS with organizational compartments aren’t known for being chic. They’re more the realm of busy soccer moms than fashion influencers. But with the ongoing popularity of athleisure and new social-media savvy lines such as Dagne Dover and Caraa, convenience and functionality are a bigger part of the pitch to professional women on the go.

THE PIECES by renowned jewelry designer Roberto Coin -- who went into design after a successful stint as an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry -- are undoubtedly pretty, but are they smart, and as a bonus, even kind? That could be argued; and you’re welcome to ask some of his clients, a very long list that includes Oprah, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama.

JAPANESE global apparel retailer UNIQLO has introduced its latest outerwear pieces meant to keep users warm and dry as weather shifts.

A $69.90 POLKA dot dress from Zara has become the fashion hit of the summer. Despite little e-mail or social media promotion from the chain, the flowy, universally flattering mid-length frock has become so ubiquitous that someone has created an Instagram account to collect sightings of it out in the fashion wilds -- including several that appear to show multiple women wearing it to the same event.

SUREFIRE crowd-pullers once again dominate the first four film entries for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), which is set to run from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7 in cinemas nationwide.

THE satirical comedy, Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, is back for a third installment. This time the cult favorite tackles the issue of historical revisionism, with comic Eugene Domingo playing herself as a director and main actress in a Josephine Bracken biopic.