NEW YORK (AP) – Melissa Etheridge’s partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels, is pregnant with twins, the couple has announced on the singer’s Web site.

“We are thrilled to announce that Tammy is pregnant, and expecting our twins sometime around this fall,” they said in a statement. “To answer the obvious question: we used an anonymous donor from a (sperm) bank.”

Etheridge, 44, and Michaels, 31, held a commitment ceremony in 2003. The Grammy-winning singer has two children from her relationship with former partner Julie Cypher: daughter Bailey Jean and son Beckett. Cypher had the children through artificial insemination using a sperm donation from rock legend David Crosby.

In the announcement, posted Monday, Etheridge and Michaels said: “The twins will be a joyful addition to our loving home. We are a blessed family.”

Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, but is now cancer-free. She last released a greatest hits album titled, “The Road Less Traveled.”

Michaels starred on the 2005 NBC comedy “Committed” and has appeared on Showtime’s “The L Word.”

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On the Net:

http://www.melissaetheridge.com

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LOS ANGELES (AP) – A judge has dismissed the defamation portion of a lawsuit filed by Aaron Spelling against his former nurse, but allowed the TV producer to pursue a breach-of-contract accusation.

Spelling, 82, and his wife in November sued the nurse, Charlene Richards, and her attorney for $5 million for allegedly violating a confidentiality agreement and spreading rumors that Spelling sexually harassed her.

Richards, 56, later filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the producer that alleged he asked her to have sex with him and “dress like a hooker.”

Richards and her attorney sent letters to more than 600 actresses as well as their agents and managers, inquiring whether Spelling had sexually harassed them. Spelling argued that the letter titled, “Survey on sexual harassment by Aaron Spelling,” defamed him.

Superior Court Judge William Highberger ruled Monday that Richards was within her right to pursue litigation when she sent the letter. Highberger, however, dismissed the defamation portion of Spelling’s lawsuit.

Lawyers for Spelling and Richards said they planned to appeal the judge’s decision.

Richards signed a confidentiality agreement when she began working as a home nurse for Spelling in November 2004. She was fired in April 2005.

Spelling’s TV hits include “Charlie’s Angels,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Dynasty” and “Fantasy Island.”

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JERUSALEM (AP) – Pink Floyd bass player Roger Waters has moved his summer concert from Tel Aviv to the joint Jewish-Arab village of Neve Shalom, Channel 2 TV has reported.

Waters has lent his support to a pro-Palestinian movement urging removal of a barrier Israel is building along the West Bank. Israel says the barrier is necessary to keep suicide bombers out of the country, but Palestinians reject it as a land-grab.

The June concert had been set for Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. Neve Shalom is about halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel’s coastal plain.

The TV report showed Mayor Rayak Rizik walking through the chickpea field while welcoming Waters’ planned performance there. The report on Sunday said about 50,000 people were expected to attend.

Pink Floyd reunited last year for a Live 8 concert in London’s Hyde Park. It was the first time guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason, keyboard player Richard Wright and Waters had appeared onstage together since a concert at London’s Earl’s Court in 1981.

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