NEW YORK (AP) – A judge threw out a $10 million civil assault lawsuit Monday filed against Liza Minnelli by her estranged husband, David Gest, who claimed she beat him so badly during alcoholic rages he had to be hospitalized.

State Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon granted Minnelli’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground that Gest’s doctor had failed to rebut the 60-year-old actress-singer’s medical expert, who said Gest’s headaches were caused by a strain of herpes that causes shingles and not by beatings.

Gest’s lawyer, Lorraine Nadel, said she would appeal the ruling. She said that although Minnelli’s physician diagnosed Gest’s headaches as being caused by herpes zoster, Gest’s doctor said he tested negative for the virus.

“He said it was the beatings,” Nadel said Gest’s doctor reported.

The 53-year-old Gest, who was in Memphis, Tenn., said through Nadel that he was “shocked” and “stunned” by Solomon’s ruling.

Solomon said the only issues remaining in her court are those in which Minnelli claims in a $2 million lawsuit that Gest misappropriated her earnings.

Gest has denied that he wrongfully took money from Minnelli and has said she owes him money because of what he spent trying to revive her career.

Minnelli and Gest were married March 16, 2002, in a star-studded ceremony with Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as maid of honor. They separated in July 2003 and filed for divorce later that year.

The divorce case is pending before state Supreme Court Judge Harold Beeler. Gest’s lawyers have asked Beeler to order a trial to determine the validity of a prenuptial agreement.

LONDON (AP) – Paul McCartney says he’s “doing fine,” despite the turmoil surrounding the breakup of his marriage.

McCartney, who appeared Monday at a news conference to launch his new classical album, “Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart),” did not comment directly on his split from his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney.

Asked how he had been coping in recent months, McCartney said: “I’m doing fine thank you. It’s OK.

“I’m enjoying music. It’s something I love to do. It’s something that sustains me. So I’m enjoying it, finishing this project off and also the next one.”

McCartney said he started “Ecce Cor Meum” when his first wife, Linda, was still alive. After she died of breast cancer in 1998, “it stalled me,” the 64-year-old former Beatle said.

“I took a year or so before I could get back into it. The interlude in the middle is a particularly sad melody and is what got me going again,” he said. “Her spirit is very much in this. It would have been her birthday yesterday so it’s very appropriate.”

McCartney said the lyrics of “Ecce Cor Meum” were inspired by what he believes is important in life.

“When I came around to thinking, “what do I want the words to say?’ I just wrote down a whole load of things that interest me about truth, about love, about honesty and about kindness. Stuff that I thought was important in life.”

Paul and Heather Mills McCartney announced their separation in May after four years of marriage. They have begun divorce proceedings in an increasingly acrimonious split. The couple have a 2-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

“Ecce Cor Meum,” which is being released by EMI Classics, is the pop star’s fourth classical album. His first, “The Liverpool Oratorio,” was released in 1991.

Britain’s Magdalen College Oxford commissioned McCartney to create the music more than eight years ago in celebration of a new concert hall.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Aaron Carter has broken off his engagement to his older brother’s ex-girlfriend.

The 18-year-old pop singer called off his engagement to 22-year-old actress Kari Ann Peniche just a week after he proposed onstage in Las Vegas, Us Weekly reported Sunday on its Web site.

Peniche is an ex-girlfriend of Carter’s 26-year-old brother, Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter. She’s also a former Miss Teen USA and former Playboy Playmate.

“I got caught up in the moment and proposed,” the younger Carter told the magazine. “I then realized it was a hasty thing to do and I am not ready for marriage quite yet.”

Attempts by The Associated Press to reach a representative for Carter were not immediately successful Monday.

Both brothers will appear in the reality series “House of Carters,” which debuts Oct. 2 on the E! network.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Mel Gibson criticized the war in Iraq while recently promoting his new film “Apocalypto” at a Texas film festival.

Gibson, 50, drew parallels between the collapsing Mayan civilization depicted in the movie and the United States at a screening Friday at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, the Hollywood Reporter said Monday.

“The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again,” the actor-director said after a screening of an unfinished cut of “Apocalypto,” his first directorial effort since “The Passion of the Christ.”

“What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?” he said at the festival, which is devoted to new science fiction, horror and fantasy films.

The surprise appearance was one of the first times Gibson has spoken in public since his racial slur-laced tirade while being arrested for drunk driving in June. At a screening of “Apocalypto” last week in Oklahoma, Gibson ducked the press and entered wearing a mask and wig so he wouldn’t be noticed.

On Aug. 17, Gibson pleaded no contest to a charge of drunken driving in Malibu. He volunteered to do public-service announcements on the hazards of drinking and driving, and to immediately enter rehabilitation.

During the arrest early in the morning of July 28, Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting deputy and later apologized.

“Apocalypto” is scheduled to be released Dec. 8.

MUNICH, Germany (AP) – Paris Hilton knows a fetching outfit when she sees one – even if it’s something more likely to be found on Bavarian women heading toward church on a crisp Sunday morning in the Alps.

The 25-year-old American socialite, TV reality star and aspiring songstress showed off a golden dirndl-inspired creation in this Bavarian city famous for its beer drinking and its annual Oktoberfest, which began Sept. 16.

“I’ve found four of them and bought them,” she told photographers Monday before heading to one of the massive beer tents where the libation flows freely.

For once, Hilton was following a trend instead of setting one, as many other women also attended the festival in their best dirndls, a traditional alpine outfit consisting of a snug bodice with a low neck wrapped around a lacy blouse, along with a full skirt and apron.

Hilton, who is on a promotional tour for a regional wine producer, said she was enjoying herself and loved being in southern Germany.

“I love Germany and Munich is one of the coolest cities,” she said, adding that it was her first time at Oktoberfest.

Hilton’s single, “Turn It Up,” is No. 6 on Billboard’s hot dance/club play music chart.

Caterers at Oktoberfest expect to serve 1.6 million gallons of beer, 500,000 roast chickens and 90 roast oxen to revelers from around the world.

Some 700 stewards and 300 police are on duty at the event, which ends Oct. 3.