FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, June 10, 2002

DON'T BLAME ME: In a written statement Monday, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' publicist denying the rap mogul was behind the breakup of Jennifer Lopez's marriage. "However, he wishes her well during this difficult time," the statement reads.

R. KELLY UPDATE: Hours after posting bail on Friday, R. Kelly reportedly performed for a kindergarten class at Chicago's Salem Baptist Church. This, despite a Florida judge ordering him to have no contact with minors. Prosecutors say they will bring up the matter to a judge at a future court hearing. Kelly is facing 21 counts of child pornography.

STILL ROLLING: British media reporting that Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger will be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II next week.

STONES ADD: The Pretenders and No Doubt each opening up selected dates for the Rolling Stones' 40th anniversary tour kicking off September 3 in Boston.

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: Paul McCartney and his fiancée, model Heather Mills, appearing outside 17th century Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland, to confirm they will get married there Tuesday.

SUM SCORES, SPIDEY SOARS: New releases couldn't boot The Sum of All Fears out of the top slot at the weekend box office. Meanwhile, Spider-Man hit $370.4 million, surpassing Jurassic Park as the fifth highest domestic grossing movie ever.

STICKY SITUATION: Sony signing original Spider-Man scribe David Koepp to a high-priced deal to write the sequel. The studio will also retain Shanghai Noon writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar--the pair originally attached to the sequel--to fine-tune Koepp's first draft once it's finished.

MAKING HIS DAY: Clint Eastwood sworn in as a California State Parks commissioner Saturday during a 100-year anniversary celebration for Big Basin Redwood State Park, California's oldest state park. The actor is pushing for better park maintenance and encouraging conservationists to buy lands.

TOP GUN: Johnny Depp signing to star in two upcoming Jerry Bruckheimer action films, The Pirates of the Caribbean and Takedown.

SMOKING GUN: Historians protesting the destruction Monday of the gun used in the murder of Tejano music star Selena. The weapon, found last month in the home of a court reporter, was run through a saw and thrown into Corpus Christi Bay at the request of her family. Ethnomusicologists had wanted it preserved for Tejano musical history.

ROCKIN' FOR ROYALTY: On June 24 the BBC releasing a CD of the Golden Jubilee rock concert, held last week at Buckingham Palace in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years on the throne. All proceeds from the album--featuring live cuts by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart, among others--will go to charity.

PRIME-TIME FOR HITLER: CBS giving the go-ahead for Hitler, a four-hour miniseries based on the early years of the man who would one day rise to Fuhrer and start World War II.

MOURNED: Producer Herman Cohen, who dreamed up the concept of the classic teenage horror flick and launched the film career of Michael Landon with I Was a Teenage Werewolf, died June 2 in Los Angeles of throat cancer. He was 74.

LEAVE NO SOLDIER BEHIND: NovaLogic drawing controversy for developing Calabasas, a game based on the botched 1993 raid in Somalia that formed the basis for the movie Black Hawk Down. The videogame maker says the game will be patriotic and intended to educate the public on the firefight.

WORD PLAY: The Game Show Network developing Scrabble, a game show based on Hasbro's popular board game.