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

SHOW GOES ON, FOR NOW: Gil Gates, producer of this Sunday's 75th Oscars, sounding optimistic even as Bush plans to issue an ultimatum to Saddam on TV tonight. "The Academy Awards are scheduled to proceed Sunday the 23rd at 5:30 p.m. We, like everyone else, will be glued to the set for President Bush's speech tonight," said Gates.

BOMBS OVER BAGHDAD? NBC and ABC voluntarily yanking its television crew from Baghdad after the Bush administration signaled a military invasion of Iraq could begin within days. CNN reporters Nic Robertson and Rym Brahimi among others are staying put.

SAYING NO TO WAR! Beth Orton, Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch and Paul Weller among the popsters speaking out against a U.S. war on Iraq in a concert in London on Saturday. Elton John and Yoko Ono among those sending video messages also protesting military action.

BEST MATES: Russell Crowe planning to tie the knot Down Under with fiancée Danielle Spencer on April 7, his publicist confirmed.

AILING: Johnny Cash in stable condition after being admitted to a Nashville hospital Monday to undergo treatment for pneumonia. The music legend is expected to be released sometime next week.

CONSIGLIERE AT WORK: Television producer Brad Grey acting as a mediator between Sopranos star James Gandolfini and HBO late last week over a contract dispute, and getting the two sides to consider a deal to drop their lawsuits and resume contract negotiations.

FULL HOUSE: Bringing Down the House topped the weekend box office again. The Queen Latifah-Steve Martin odd-couple comedy brought in another $22.4 million to push its overall gross to $61.6 million.

IT'S ABOUT TIME! Two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep set to make her first appearance as a presenter during Sunday's Academy Awards presentation, producer Gil Cates confirmed. Streep has been nominated a record 13 times and is up this year for her performance in Adaptation.

NEXT MISSION: Hot off Agent Cody Banks's $15 million gross at the weekend box office, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz set to star in Cody Banks 2. Filming begins in six weeks.

THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD: Christopher Boyce, the Cold War spy whose espionage for the former Soviet Union was depicted in the movie The Falcon and the Snowman, released from prison Friday after 25 years.

MISSING: World's Wildest Police Videos creator Paul Stojanovich, 47, feared dead after falling 300 feet from an Oregon cliff into the Pacific Ocean while hiking with his fiancée. No body has been found. Stojanovich also worked as a field producer on COPS.

SUBBING IN: A new round of guest hosts slated to fill in for David Letterman on CBS' The Late Show this week, including sitcom star Bonnie Hunt, comic Tom Dreesen and Everybody Loves Raymond actor Brad Garrett. Letterman's currently at home recuperating from shingles.

GET SMART: Television and cable networks bombarding Elizabeth Smart's family with more than 100 film, book, or made-for-TV-movie offers about her nine-month kidnapping ordeal.

HATCHING A BACKLASH: Several hundred protesters in Louisiana using a 33,000 pound tractor to destroy copies of Dixie Chicks albums and other items, after the group's singer, Natalie Maines, dared to bash President Bush. She has since apologized.

HOBBIT KISS: Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin in talks to costar with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in Columbia Pictures' 50 First Kisses, about a man who falls in love with a woman who has short-term memory loss.

MOURNFUL TUNE: The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles is set to mark its 24th annual season with some of its members set to appear as themselves on HBO's Six Feet Under.

CHANGING VENUES: MTV's weekly wrestling series, WWE Heat, set to move to fellow Viacom network TNN starting on April 6 to join its slate of wrestling shows, including Raw, Confidential and Velocity.