FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, February 19, 2002

SOMETHING IN THE WATER? Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek confirming his engagement to actress Heather McComb, whom he's been dating for two years. No wedding date has been announced. Meanwhile, Creek coster Kerr Smith has also announced he's engaged.

NOT A GIRL, NOT YET A MAN-EATING TEMPTRESS: Britney Spears' publicist denying a New York Post report that she plans to guest-star on HBO's Sex and the City, where she would play a "man-eating temptress." No word yet from HBO on the story.

SHAKEN AND STIRRED: James Bond star Pierce Brosnan suffering a knee injury while shooting an action sequence for the latest 007 installment. Eon Productions says Brosnan will be out of action for two weeks, but the film is still set to premiere in November.

DEAR JOHN: Denzel Washington's anti-HMO hostage drama John Q opening in first place over the holiday weekend with $23.6 million. Britney Spears' debut flick Crossroads came in second.

DENZEL ADD: Oscar winner Julia Roberts telling Newsweek magazine she'd like to see Denzel Washington walk away with a best actor Academy Award next month. "I cannot absorb living in a world where I have an Oscar for best actress and Denzel doesn't have one for best actor," she said.

I FEEL VINDICATED! A Superior Court jury finding that Godfather of Soul James Brown did not sexually harass former employee Lisa Agbalaya. But the jury did decide that his company wrongfully terminated her.

BOB AND DRE, TOGETHER AT LAST: Bob Dylan, OutKast, Missy Elliott and the ladies of "Lady Marmalade" among the latest performers announced for the Grammy Awards, airing on CBS February 27.

I'LL BE BACK...IN L.A.: Producers of Arnold Schwarzenegger's T3: Rise of the Machines announcing that the film will shoot entirely in Los Angeles, after director Jonathan Mostow complained about having to split time in Vancouver.

MRS. GIBSON: Joan Collins tying the knot for a fifth time Sunday, this time to 36-year-old theater manager Percy Gibson. Singer Shirley Bassey and actor Roger Moore were among the 175 guests at the London ceremony.

SOOO, TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT: A schizophrenic woman who stole mail from the home of Spice Girl Victoria Beckham ordered Monday to be detained in a psychiatric hospital. Chinyelu Mary Obue pleaded guilty in November to stealing the mail last July.

WAKE HIM UP BEORE YOU GO-GO: Pop star George Michael's London mansion burgled by thieves Sunday who made off in his sports car. According to police sources, more than $144,000 worth of stuff was taken.

PLANET LAWSUIT: Sylvester Stallone's ex-business manager Kenneth Starr countersuing the actor after Stallone sued him claiming he urged the Rocky star to hold onto his Planet Hollywood stock as the company went bankrupt.

DOUBLE TIME: Japanese animated film Spirited Away and British director Paul Greengrass's Bloody Sunday both awarded Golden Bears for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.

VENTING: Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert sending an email to 27,000 members charging that the election committee was politically motivated in its decision to rerun the election.

REMASTERED: Rap mogul Master P forced to sell off an unfinished $10 million recording studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in order to settle unpaid construction bills.

HELPING HANDS: The American Red Cross announcing its first-ever National Celebrity Cabinet--a 12-person board featuring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Roma Downey, Brian McKnight, Mandy Moore and Jane Seymour, among others. By joining, the celebs commit to serving the Red Cross for a one-year term.

YOU'RE MONEY, BABY! London's Sunday Times reporting that Paul McCartney is in talks to play one night in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel for $4 million.

NICE SHOT! The American Society of Cinematographers giving its best feature film photography award on Sunday to Roger Deakins for his atmospheric black-and-white work on The Man Who Wasn't There.

COMING OUT PARTY? ABC confirming that veteran news anchor Diane Sawyer has landed an interview with Rosie O'Donnell in which the popular talk show host is expected to talk about her homosexuality. The interview will air in March, just before O'Donnell's new book, Find Me, hits stores.

RUDY, RUDY, RUDY: USA Network planning a two-hour movie about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, based on the book by Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett, Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani. Producers hope to debut the movie late this year or early 2003.

THE FINAL FRONTIER? Former Star Trek: Voyager star Kate Mulgrew playing Katharine Hepburn in a one-person biographical play for the Hartford Stage Company. "Tea at Five" will continue through March 17.