• U.S. pop singer Pink has offered to pay a fine given to the Norwegian female beach handball team for wearing shorts instead of the required bikini bottoms. Pink said she was "very proud" of the team for protesting against the rule that prevented them from wearing shorts like their male counterparts. In a tweet posted on Sunday, Pink said: "The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies." She added that "I'll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up." At the European Beach Handball Championships in Bulgaria last week, Norway's female team was fined $1,770 for what the European federation called improper clothing and "a breach of clothing regulations." The rules stipulate that women must wear bikini bottoms while men wear shorts. The Norwegian Handball Federation didn't contest the decision and fine. The European Handball Federation acknowledged the commotion that the incident had triggered in media outlets and social media, and said Monday that it would donate the amount paid by the Norwegian Handball Federation "to a major international sports foundation which supports equality for women and girls in sports." The Norwegian women posted a photograph of themselves on Instagram wearing shorts and told their followers: "Thank you so much for all the support. We really appreciate all the love we have received."
• Irish singer Ronan Keating on Monday accepted "substantial damages" from a British tabloid newspaper publisher over phone hacking. The former member of boy band Boyzone is the latest in a long list of celebrities whose cellphone voicemail messages were intercepted by News of the World reporters more than a decade ago. Keating's lawyer, Ellen Gallagher, told a High Court hearing that the singer had identified a number of "suspicious" articles published between 1996 and 2011 which he said contained his private information. Keating's suspicions about who might be leaking personal information to the newspaper "generated distrust which impacted on his relationships and caused him considerable distress and upset," Gallagher said. Ben Silverstone, lawyer for News of the World publisher News Group Newspapers, said the company offered "its sincere apologies to the claimant for the distress caused to him by the invasion of his privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World." The amount of the damages was not disclosed. Owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old News of the World in 2011 after the revelation that its employees had eavesdropped on celebrities, politicians and crime victims. News Group Newspapers and rival publisher Trinity Mirror have both paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits from hacking victims.