HONORED: The U.K.'s gotta have Spike Lee. BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts -- which produces the U.K.'s Oscars equivalent -- is honoring the famed director for his outstanding contribution to cinema, BBC News reports. The award, to be presented by Britain's Lord Attenborough Thursday, puts Lee, 45, into the company of film greats Audrey Hepburn and Dame Maggie Smith. The ceremony will incorporate a 90-minute one-on-one interview with Lee, director of such acclaimed films as "She's Gotta Have It," and "Do The Right Thing" and "Malcolm X."

BUSTED: R&B hitmaker D'Angelo was arrested Monday by Virginia police after he allegedly assaulted and verbally abused a woman at a gas station, Rolling Stone reports. Police used pepper spray to subdue the singer, 28, and charged him with resisting arrest, as well as four misdemeanor counts: aggressive driving, assault, curse and abuse, and disorderly conduct. Chesterfield County police spokesman Andy Scruggs tells the magazine that the woman got out at a gas station to chastise the D'Angelo (born Michael Archer) for driving aggressively in his black BMW SUV. The singer, who lives in the area, then allegedly got out of the vehicle, spit on the woman and swore at her. D'Angelo was released on his recognizance pending a Jan. 15 appearance in Chesterfield General Court, the Associated Press reports.

ATTACKED: Funky singer Blu Cantrell, whose sophomore album "Bittersweet" debuts in mid-December, has hit the big city, spurred in part by an attack earlier this month in her Atlanta home. Cantrell, who just moved into new digs on New York's East 50th Street, tells the New York Post that she was assaulted as she tried to enter her old apartment. "I was opening the door and he grabbed me from behind and tried to push me into my apartment," she said. The hard-charging singer -- whose hit single "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" peaked at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 -- struck back, slamming the door on her attacker's hand, but hasn't been back to the apartment since.

ENGAGED: Traveling tenor Placido Domingo may shoulder a new role as peacemaker in an upcoming concert in Dubai. The singer, 62, is slated to sing an "unprecedented" duet in Arabic with Egyptian singer Ali al-Hajjar, BBC News reports. Dubai is organizing a series of concerts and sports events to convince international visitors that it is a safe and appealing tourist spot, despite escalating tensions elsewhere in the Middle East. Domingo's most famous singing partners have been Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras; the trio's "Three Tenors" act has been a classical juggernaut for the better part of a decade.