FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, February 17, 2003

IT'S A MARVEL: The comic book fantasy adventure Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck as the slick suited vigilante, got off to a blinding start, debuting with an estimated $43.5 million, record box-office for a Presidents' Day weekend.

MEA CULPA: The owner of Hello! magazine, who published unauthorized wedding photos of actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, apologizing to the couple on Monday in London's High Court for offending them and causing distress. But Eduardo Sanchez Junco also said he thought their angry reaction to the pictures was "a little bit exaggerated."

DANCE HALL BEATLE: Yoko Ono teaming up with the Pet Shop Boys to record a dance version of the late Beatle John Lennon's final song, "Walking on Thin Ice," her record label said Monday. No word when the song will be released.

STAND BY HER BEN: Jennifer Lopez on hand to lend comfort to fianc? Ben Affleck as the two attended his grandmother's funeral over the weekend near Boston.

WHO'S BAD? Michael Jackson's attorneys say they will ask a judge to toss a $13 million lawsuit brought by the singer's former business manager. Myung Ho Lee is suing the singer claiming he's owed the money for business advice. Jackson's camp alleges that someone forged his name on the agreement.

SPICY REUNION? All five members of the Spice Girls getting together for a meeting on Monday for the first time since they split five years ago, prompting speculation in British newspapers that the nineties pop sensation are considering a greatest hits album and possible reunion tour.

PAYING LEGAL RESPECT: Soul Queen Aretha Franklin finally meeting Friday with prosecutors investigating the October 25 arson fire that destroyed her $1.8 million mansion in suburban Detroit. The singer answered every question asked of her and was very cooperative, according to prosecutors. Franklin has not been named a suspect in the case.

BLAKE UPDATE: The Los Angeles sheriff's department granting a request by TV journalist Barbara Walters to interview actor Robert Blake who has seen two defense lawyers quit his murder case because of his insistence to go on TV.

EXPRESSING HERSELF: Madonna setting the record straight after stirring controversy with a strong anti-war message in her music video for her latest song, "American Life." "I am not anti-Bush. I am not pro-Iraq," Madonna said in a statement. "I am pro-peace."

FAIR AND BALANCED? The government of Iraq ordering a Fox News reporter to leave the country in response to the United States' expulsion of a reporter for the Iraqi News Agency, the network confirmed Saturday.

GOLDEN BEAR: The British film In This World about two Afghan refugees snagging the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday while Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman of The Hours shared the best actress award. Sam Rockwell scored best actor for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

WOODSTOCK REDEUX: The Dead, singer James Brown, the Allman Brothers, Ben Harper, and Medeski, Martin and Wood set to headline the 2003 Bonnaroo Music Festival. The 2nd annual event featuring more than 30 acts will be held June 13 through 15 in Manchester, Tennessee and is expected to draw up to 80,000 music fans.

GIVING BACK: Oprah Winfrey donating $5 million to Morehouse College in Atlanta. The talk show host is the school's top donor to date, having previously given $1 million.

KUDOS! Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes becoming the first triple winner at Britain's prestigious Laurence Olivier awards ceremony when he won best director and best revival awards for his productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya.

TOO LATE: A Los Angeles judge on Friday tossing a lawsuit by the Allman Brothers Band because the rockers waited too long to sue Universal Music Group for the return of a decade's worth of their recordings.

PREGGERS! Good Morning America host Joan Lunden, 52, and her businessman-husband of four years expecting twins--a boy and a girl--to be delivered in June by a surrogate mother.

JUST FRIENDS: Evan Marriott telling Howard Stern yesterday that he didn't sleep with any of the women on Joe Millionaire, even while he was getting busy in the bushes with Sarah Kozer.

BUSTED: London police charging five men on Friday for plotting to kidnap Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. The group were arrested last November on suspicion of planning the kidnapping and have been jailed ever since on other charges.

GET BACK! Australian police on Friday raiding a home in western Sydney and seizing reel-to-reel tapes apparently recorded by The Beatles and believed stolen from the band's studios in London more than three decades ago. The tapes were either original recordings or professionally-made copies of the group's Abbey Road album and The White Album.