FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, April 3, 2001

MORE TROUBLE: Aussie authorities investigating Survivor: The Australian Outback after last week's episode in which Colby took coral from the protected Great Barrier Reef--a transgression that could result in a $50,000 fine. The show's producers have apologized.

STORK TIME: Jodie Foster expecting her second child in November, reports gossip columnist Liz Smith. No word on the father's identity. Her son, Charles, is two and a half.

MORE CELEB NURSERY NEWS: Christian Slater and wife Ryan Haddon expect their second child in September, according to USA Today. They have a two-year-old son named Jaden.

CAUGHT IN THE WEB: The latest trailer for Angelina Jolie's would-be summer blockbuster Tomb Raider available online at www.tombraidermovie.com beginning this afternoon.

THE SILENT TREATMENT: Nicole Kidman telling the Sydney Morning Herald she's determined to keep silent about her personal life to protect her two children, despite her marriage breakup with Tom Cruise and subsequent miscarriage.

SICK BAY: Country songstress Naomi Judd broke her right ankle while taking a walk on her farm in Franklin, Tennessee. Her rep says the injury will take approximately six weeks to mend.

ON THE CASE: Jennifer Lopez dropping out of plans to portray Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and is instead negotiating to play an FBI agent in Tony Scott's crime thriller Taking Lives. Lopez would play an FBI profiler on the trail of a serial killer who assumes the identity of those he's murdered.

IN THE HOT SEAT: Regis Philbin today named the Grand Marshal of the 2002 Tournament of Roses Parade. The 113th edition of the venerable parade goes down January 1.

FUNNY GIRL: Democratic loyalist and Friend of Bill Barbra Streisand has fired off a three-page memo to top party officials accusing them of being "paralyzed, demoralized and depressed" since President Bush took office.

GUILTY AS CHARGED: Attorney John Reiner convicted Monday of trying to extort $310,000 from the real Erin Brockovich and her boss, Ed Masry. He'll be sentenced May 2 and faces up to 4 years in prison.

JOINING FORCES: AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group teaming up with RealNetworks to create MusicNet, a company that plans to offer the technology and services that allow online music companies to provide downloads and streaming music over the Internet for a subscription fee. Tests are expected to start late summer or fall.

NAPSTER JUNKIES? Alanis Morissette and Don Henley among the artists testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on Napster, copyright issues and the future of online entertainment.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND: The life story of R&B legend Ray Charles headed for the big screen in Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story. The film will follow Charles' rags-to-riches story from humble beginnings in Albany, Georgia, through his rise to music superstar while battling racism, drug use and problems in love.

RIGHT TO PARTY: Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz and partner Amery "AWOL" Smith taking their side project, BS2000, on tour starting Tuesday night in Minneapolis. The duo, backed by a drummer and another keyboardist, will play songs off Simply Mortified.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Funnyman Eddie Murphy hits the big 4-0 today.

AND NOW YOU KNOW: Madonna says tweezers are "a must for the hairy Italian in me!" This and other tidbits in the debut issue of Rosie O'Donnell's brand new Rosie magazine, available on newsstands today. The cover story is an interview with Fran Drescher on her battle with cancer.