Names and faces

Saying she's back in top form, Miley Cyrus resumed her Bangerz tour in London after a series of canceled shows. The 21-year-old pop star delayed her U.S. dates until August after treatment for a sinus infection went awry and last week postponed two European shows. Cyrus says she suffered a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics. But she told reporters she was "the poster child for good health" before performing Tuesday at London's O2 Arena. "I've been laying down for three weeks. I'm gonna go off -- I'm like a star waiting to explode," she said. The former child star, who has had mixed reviews for her risque adult image, gave an energetic performance complete with crotch-grabbing, erotically tinged choreography and a ride on a giant hot dog. Songs ranged from Cyrus' hits "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball" to covers of Bob Dylan's "When You Go" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

A former mortician whose killing of a rich widow shook an East Texas town and later inspired a movie is a free man after a judge agreed to reduce his life sentence and release him on bond. Bernie Tiede's freedom Tuesday was part of an agreement with the same district attorney who prosecuted him for the death of his 81-year-old longtime companion, Marjorie Nugent, who disappeared in 1996 and was found dead in a freezer in Carthage nine months later. Tiede's bail was set at $10,000 and after posting bond, he was released to live in Austin with filmmaker Richard Linklater, who co-wrote and directed the 2011 dark comedy Bernie that was inspired by the case and starred Jack Black in the title role and Shirley MacLaine as Nugent. Linklater volunteered to take in Tiede, who will be under strict bond conditions. The now-55-year-old Tiede, who was well-liked in the close-knit community of Carthage, was convicted in 1999 in the death of Nugent, who had a reputation among townspeople as a crotchety cheapskate. Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson agreed with Tiede's appeals attorney, Jodi Cole, who said he deserved a lighter sentence because he was sexually assaulted as a child and also had an abusive relationship with Nugent. Psychiatrist Edward Gripon, who examined Tiede in January, testified Tuesday that Tiede and Nugent had a complex and abusive relationship. He said that combined with Tiede's abuse when he was younger pushed him to kill Nugent in a "brief dissociative episode."

A Section on 05/08/2014

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