It's unclear what her defense will be. But a former dormitory matron at Oprah Winfrey's school for poor South African girls has pleaded innocent to charges that she indecently assaulted and otherwise abused six teenagers and a fellow matron at the academy. The ex-matron looked nervous and sullen at the start of her trial, which is being held in Sebokeng, South Africa. The judge hearing the matter did grant a prosecution request for the rest of the proceedings, expected to last all week, to be closed to the public. She also will let the teenagers testify through closed-circuit TV to save them the trauma of confronting their alleged attacker in court. A prosecutor describes the girls as being "very scared and very, very emotional." If found guilty of indecent acts, the former matron faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in jail.

Black Eyed Peas are cooking -- cooking up a new album, that is. Fergie says she and the fellas are in the studio working on a new album, which will be their first project since they dropped "Monkey Business" in 2005. Fergie says the group wants to avoid copying "what's out there on the radio" now, but come up with something fresh. She thinks they want to be "artistic and pushing the envelope" on this project. She made the comments in Las Vegas, where she was promoting two new lines of shoes at a trade show. She is also working on a new movie, which will begin filming in the fall.

The head of the Congressional Black Caucus is calling it "a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past." The House of Representatives has issued an apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors. The apology covers both slavery and the Jim Crow segregation laws that persisted in many areas until the 1950's and 60's. The resolution, passed by voice vote, was the work of Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, the only white lawmaker to represent a majority black district. Cohen faces a formidable black challenger in a primary face-off next week. Congress has issued apologies before. There was one for Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and one for native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws. Five states have issued apologies for slavery, but past proposals in Congress have stalled, partly over concerns that an apology would lead to demands for reparations. The Cohen resolution doesn't mention reparations.