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VIDAL SASSOON: Vidal Sassoon, founder of a beauty-product and hair-salon empire, died at his home in Bel Air, Calif., after a battle with leukemia, his representatives said.

He was 84.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed his Wednesday death appeared natural, but no specific cause of death has been disclosed.

The famed British hairstylist rose to prominence in 1960s London where he made the "wedge" the must-have haircut.

The Vidal Sassoon brand is estimated to be worth about $150 million, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.

JENNIFER HUDSON: The jury began deliberation Wednesday in the Chicago trial of the man accused of killing three members of singer-actress Jennifer Hudson's family.

William Balfour, 30, is charged with the shooting deaths of the star's mother, brother and nephew in October 2008. Prosecutors argued Balfour -- the ex-husband of Hudson's sister, Julia -- killed her family because she left him and was seeing another man.

Reporters from the Chicago Tribune said via Twitter the photo with which prosecutors ended their argument depicted Julia's dead 7-year-old son, Julian King, grinning with his arms raised over his head. It was shown shortly before a break to prepare for the start of the defense's closing argument.

Prosecutors said witnesses, Balfour's statements to police and overwhelming circumstantial evidence, including cellphone records, "point to one place and one place only," the Tribune reporters said.

The lawyers noted Balfour is charged with home invasion, kidnapping, burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle, which could help qualify him for a life sentence in prison without parole, if he is convicted.

Balfour is accused of kidnapping Julian after shooting and killing the boy's mother- and brother-in-law, and then stealing his brother-in-law's sport utility vehicle, shooting the child and leaving his body in the vehicle where it was discovered two days later.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Assistant Public Defender Amy Thompson said in her closing arguments authorities didn't consider any other suspects than Balfour and lacked evidence to prove he committed the crimes.

TOM GABEL: Tom Gabel, lead singer of the U.S. punk-rock group Against Me!, told Rolling Stone magazine he is transgender and is beginning to live life as a woman.

E! News said the 31-year-old musician, who is married with a 2-year-old daughter, is the first major rock star to come out as transgender.

Gabel told Rolling Stone he has suffered from gender dysphoria for years and is considering gender-reassignment surgery. He said he will soon begin the transition by taking hormones, undergoing electrolysis and changing his name to Laura Jane Grace.

"For me, the most terrifying thing about this was how she would accept the news," he said of his wife, Heather, to whom he plans to remain married. "But she's been super-amazing and understanding."

SOFIA VERGARA: "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara has broken up with stockbroker Nick Loeb, her boyfriend of more than two years, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The couple split during the weekend following a series of arguments and the actress attended Monday's Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan by herself.

"Sofia was confiding in friends at the ball that she and Nick have split," an insider told the Post. "They have been fighting a lot recently and have been on the brink of splitting many times. It is not yet clear if they are over for good, but they are done as a couple for now."

The couple met at a Golden Globes party in 2010, the newspaper said.