FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, January 16, 2003

GANG LEADER: Martin Scorsese to receive the Directors Guild of America's Lifetime Achievement Award on March 1, it was announced Thursday. He becomes just the 29th recipient of the guild's most prestigious honor.

PRODUCERS' PICKS: Adaptation, Chicago, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Road to Perdition up for the Producers Guild of America's top trophy. The winner will be announced March 2.

NOT SO FAB: Fabolous, 25, arrested in Manhattan Thursday after police pulled him over for an illegal turn and discovered he was driving with a suspended license. The rapper, whose real name is John Jackson, is best known for his 2001 debut album, Ghetto Fabolous.

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE: AOL Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons voted to be the media giant's new chairman once Steve Case steps down in May.

IN MOURNING: Family and friends, including pop superstar Michael Jackson, gathering on Wednesday at a Miami Beach funeral chapel to pay final respects to Bee Gees member Maurice Gibb, who died last week following abdominal surgery.

HOUSE SHOPPING: While in Florida, meanwhile, Jackson reportedly toured a 17,000-square-foot mansion on the market for $45 million, his real-estate broker said Wednesday. The popster is considering buying a home in the area.

BRING WARM CLOTHING: The 2003 Sundance Film Festival kicking off its annual 10-day shindig on Thursday. The festival, which runs through the 26th, will screen nearly 130 feature-length films, plus shorts and other programs.

HEADED TO COURT: Hollywood power couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones planning to testify in a British court case over the unauthorized use of their wedding photos. The couple are seeking "very substantial" damages from celeb magazine Hello!.

NEW JACK SWINGER WANTED: A bench warrant issued for the arrest of R&B star Bobby Brown after he failed to appear in court Monday to face six-year-old drunk driving charges in Decatur, Georgia. His lawyer says Brown will turn himself in tomorrow.

BACK TO THE HOSPITAL? USA Today reports George Clooney's expected to learn this week whether he'll need to head into the operating room for surgery on his Achilles tendon, which he tore while playing hoops with his pals on January 5.

NOT TAKING IT EASY Jackson Browne asking TBS not rebroadcast America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story until it cuts scenes the musician claims never happened and defame him. The movie shows JFK Jr. rescuing actress Daryl Hannah after Brown allegedly beat her.

SPEAKING OF ASSAULTS: Grammy-winning R&B star Lou Rawls, 69, taken into custody Wednesday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for allegedly striking his girlfriend, according to the Smoking Gun. He was charged with battery and released on $2,500 bail.

THEY WILL ROCK YOU: Queen,Van Morrison, Phil Collins and Little Richard to be inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

HEADED TO THE JOINT: The guy who stole and totaled Missy Elliott's Lamborghini headed to jail for three years and ordered to pay $170,000 in restitution.

CHART TOPPER: Sultry singer-songwriter Norah Jones claiming the top spot on the album charts with her debut release, Come Away with Me, which sold 108,000 copies last week. In second was Jennifer Lopez' This Is Me...Then, followed by Avril Lavigne's Let Go in third place.

HITTING THE ROAD: Meanwhile, the Grammy-nominated Lavigne confirming she'll launch her first major North American headlining trek this spring. The five-week "Try to Shut Me Up" tour will kick off on April 9 in Toronto and wrap up on May 17 in Philadelphia.

DIVORCING: HBO deciding not to renew Mike Binder's comedy series, The Mind of the Married Man, for a third season.

EXPANDING HER TROPHY CASE? Gwyneth Paltrow nominated on Thursday for a Laurence Olivier Award, one of Britain's top theater honors, for her acclaimed role in the play Proof. The kudos will be handed out in London next month.

BOOK HIM: Mel Brooks closing a deal with HarperCollins to write his memoirs.

PROGNOSIS IS GOOD: Syndication giant King World renewing its hit talk show Dr. Phil through the 2005-06 TV season and awarding him a better time slot in several major markets.

KUDOS! The screenwriters of About Schmidt, Adaptation, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist and The Hours selected as finalists for USC's 15th annual Scripter Award, which honors the year's best English-language film adaptation of a book or novella.

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE ROCKET MAN: The 2003 NAMM concert, honoring Elton John and benefiting music education, is set for Friday at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. Featured performers include Vanessa Carlton, Brian Wilson, Rufus Wainwright Nora Jones, and Bruce Hornsby, among others. Eric McCormack hosts.