Pro-wrestler pleads no contest

San Antonio – Pro wrestling star “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on Monday pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge for hitting his wife last summer.

The terms of the plea agreement include a year of probation, a $1,000 fine, domestic violence counseling and 80 hours of community service.

The conviction will be stricken from his record if the wrestler, whose given name is Steve Williams, satisfactorily completes probation.

Williams, 38, had been scheduled for trial next week.

The plea deal did not include reduced charges for the 6-foot-1, 260-pound wrestler.

Williams was charged with assault with bodily injury after an incident at the family’s San Antonio home. An officer called to the house around 4 a.m. on June 15 found Debra Williams crying, and reported that he saw a “noticeable welt” below her right eye.

Churchill voted greatest Briton

London – Winston Churchill, the resolute prime minister who led Britain to victory in World War II, has been named the greatest Briton of all time in a popular vote conducted by the British Broadcasting Corp.

Churchill edged out Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel on Sunday to win the “Great Britons” contest, which attracted more than 1 million phone and Internet votes. Princess Diana came in third.

Over the last month, the BBC has run documentaries profiling its 10 greatest Britons, whittled down from a list of 100 released in August. The winner was selected after a live televised debate.

The other finalists were Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, scientists Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, naval hero Horatio Nelson, Beatle John Lennon and Oliver Cromwell, leader of England’s 17th-century revolution.

Bobby Brown’s trial date set

Decatur, Ga. – A DeKalb County State Court judge denied a motion Monday to drop charges against singer Bobby Brown from a 1996 traffic stop.

The 33-year-old singer didn’t go to a hearing in 1997 on charges of driving under the influence, speeding, failing to maintain a lane and having no proof of insurance.

State Court Judge Wayne Purdom denied his motion and set a Jan. 21 trial date.

Brown was arrested earlier this month in Atlanta on charges of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, speeding and having no driver’s license or proof of insurance.

Jolie pledges funds to hospital

Liverpool, England – Angelina Jolie has pledged $79,000 to a children’s hospital that treated her son for minor burns earlier this year, hospital officials said Monday.

The actress’ adopted 1-year-old, Maddox, spent three days at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool while she was filming a sequel to “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” in Wales last September.

The boy suffered minor burns, hospital spokeswoman Jacqui Goulden said. It was unclear how he was injured.