Geri Halliwell has left the Spice phenomenon behind her

England have

Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, has left the chart-topping Spice Girls band.

The announcement follows days of increasingly feverish speculation, after Geri - the driving force behind the band - missed the BBC's National Lottery Show on Wednesday, and two concerts in Norway.

Earlier today, the group said a statement would be made at the offices of their solicitors in central London at 1400 BST.

The Spice Girls are here to stay ... Friendship never ends.

The Spice Girls minus Ginger.

About 30 journalists gathered outside the offices of Lee & Thompson and tension mounted as the deadline passed.

Almost half an hour later and after several false alarms Ms Halliwell'ssolicitor, Julian Turton, and Alan Edwards, the spokesman for the remaining four members of the band, finally emerged.

Mr Turton read out a statement which he said was written by Geri.

"Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I'm sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best... PS, I'll be back."

This was followed by the announcement on behalf of the remaining four members of the group, which said they were "upset and saddened" but will carry on and fulfil their commitments including the forthcoming American tour.

The group are due to play 40 dates in the United States, beginning in nine days' time, followed by a charity concert in Rome and four dates in Britain.

It said they were supportive of Geri in whatever she wanted to do, but added, "The Spice Girls are here to stay ... Friendship never ends".

It remains to be seen whether this is the beginning of the end of Britain's most successful band since the Beatles, or whether they can shrug off their differences and move on to greater things.

Arthur Miller had close associations with the Communist party

During the investigation 41-year-old Mr Miller, who is married to Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe, refused to reveal the names of alleged Communist writers with whom he had attended five or six meetings in New York in 1947.

He was said to be co-operative in all other aspects of the hearing but told the committee his conscience would not permit him to give the names of others and bring possible trouble to them.

'Exposure for exposure's sake'

The guilty verdict was announced in a 15-page "opinion" today by Federal Judge McLaughlin who presided over a six-day trial, which ended last week.

During the trial Mr Miller's counsel, Joseph Rauh, had claimed that the questions his client had refused to answer had no reasonable connection with a passports inquiry.

He argued that the committee had simply wanted to expose the playwright and that "exposure for exposure's sake" was illegal.

But Judge McLaughlin found that HUAC did have a valid legislative purpose in looking into the passport regulations and that Mr Miller had indeed experienced his own difficulties in obtaining a passport from the State Department.

The trial was told by the government that Mr Miller had joined the Communist party in 1943 but this was denied by the defendant who said that to the best of his belief he had never been a party member.

He did, however say that "there were two short periods - one in 1940 and one in 1947 - when I was sufficiently close to Communist Party activities so that someone might honestly have thought that I had become a member".

Mr Miller was not in court when the guilty verdict was announced. The maximum punishment for contempt of Congress is one year in jail, a fine of ?57 or both.

No date was fixed for sentencing but it is understood the case will automatically go to appeal.

After the trial Mr Miller, who will remain on bail pending the next legal step, said through a spokesman: "I have no comment to make, nor has my wife."

The case is now bound to call into question the whole system of Congressional inquiries and theirimpingementon individual rights.

solicitor:律師，法律顧問

impingement:侵犯，沖擊