FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, November 10, 2004

LOVE HURTS: Courtney Love pleading innocent Wednesday to a charge of felony assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an April incident when Love allegedly bludgeoned another woman with a variety of objects, including a liquor bottle and a flashlight. Love is due back in court Dec. 15 to receive a trial date and remains free on $150,000 bail.

FULL THROTTLE: Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake reportedly clashed with paparazzi outside of a Hollywood nightclub Saturday, where Diaz allegedly snatched a photographer's camera while Timberlake stood in front of another photographer so he couldn't snap the scene.

BOMBS AWAY: MTV.com and VH1.com announcing an exclusive premiere of U2's new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, beginning Nov. 16, one week before the album's official release date. Fans can log onto the sites to stream the album free and can sign up to pre-order the album and have it delivered on the day of release.

MARTHA WATCH: Imprisoned Martha Stewart asking her company to reimburse her for the $3.7 million she spent defending herself against a charge that she propped up the company's stock price and therefore her own wealth by declaring her innocence in her personal stock scandal. The charge was eventually tossed out.

GROUP EFFORT: Now That's What I Call Music! Volume 17 debuting at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The collaborative album, featuring songs by Franz Ferdinand, Jessica Simpsonand Gretchen Wilson, among others, sold more than 400,000 units in its first week of release.

STALKER SPICE: A Dutch man sentenced to nine months in prison Wednesday for harassing former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, aka Sporty Spice. The man reportedly sent the singer numerous packages, letters and audio- and videotapes in 2001.

LADIES MAN ONCE AGAIN: SNL alum Tim Meadows's wife, Michelle Meadows, filing for divorce Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The couple were married for seven years and have two sons. Michelle Meadows requested that the boys live with her, but that legal custody be shared, according to court papers.

HEADED FOR HIATUS: Renée Zellweger announcing she plans to take a break from acting and the spotlight once her latest film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason opens on Friday. Zellweger will still be seen in next year's Walk the Line and Cinderella Man.

RING BLING: New Line Cinema announcing that Lord of the Rings merchandise sales topping $1 billion. The studio plans to release a special edition four-disc box set of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Dec. 14.

BIKINI SCENE: DreamWorks set to make a big-screen version of Baywatch, the long-lived television drama about red-swimsuit-wearing lifeguards, per Daily Variety. The studio is expected to shoot for a summer 2006 release.

ON THE MEND: Patty Duke released from an Idaho hospital Tuesday, six days after undergoing single bypass heart surgery. A message on the actor's Website said she is "looking forward to recuperating at home for a few weeks."

HAS IT COME TO THIS? Some ABC affiliates announcing they won't partake in the networK's planned airing of Saving Private Ryan on Veterans Day, saying the film's language could draw sanctions from the FCC.

GOOG LOVE GONE BAD: A former girlfriend of Bill Maher is suing the comedian for $9 million, claiming he failed to come through on promises of a Beverly Hills home and a marriage after she quit her job.

PHONE FLICK: Fox set to produce special one-minute episodes of 24, exclusively for Verizon cell phone users. Titled 24: Conspiracy, the mini-episodes will be downloaded to subscribers each week over a 24-episode series.

SWEEPS SURPRISE: ABC chalking up three of the six most popular programs for sweeps week, with Desperate Housewives drawing 24.6 million viewers, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition drawing 20.2 million viewers and Lost pulling in 18.7 million. CBS held the other top three slots with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation drawing 30.6 million viewers, Without A Trace drawing 21.8 million and Survivor: Vanuatu drawing 20.2 million.

NOT GUILTY: 50 Cent pleading innocent Monday to assault charges stemming from an incident at a May concert in Massachusetts when the rapper allegedly injured three women by jumping into the crowd after someone squirted water at him.

HANG WITH HUGH: A tour of the Playboy Mansion, a signed first edition of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and tickets to a Jimmy Buffet concert are among the prizes being auctioned off to benefit the literary magazine The Paris Review.

LIZA WITH A LAWSUIT: Liza Minnelli filing a breach of contract suit against her former assistant who last month sued the singer for allegedly beating him during drunken rages.

SPEAK UP: Lindsay Lohan set to release her debut album, Speak, on Dec. 7, per Billboard. Lohan's first single, "Rumors," climbed from number 37 to number 31 on Billboard's Top 40 Mainstream chart. The teen queen is due to perform the single Dec. 6 on ABC's Good Morning America.

THANKS JUDGE: A California judge tentatively cleared the way Wednesday for grand jury transcripts in the Phil Spector murder case to be unsealed. However, the judge agreed to put his ruling on hold for 10 days to give team Spector a chance to appeal.

MORE COURT: Prospective jurors for Robert Blake's murder trial set to fill out questionnaires determining whether they can serve on the trial.

HOT ROD: Jury deliberations took place Wednesday in a trial meant to resolve whether Rod Stewart should repay several concert promoters a $780,000 deposit that he allegedly failed to return after he canceled a tour of Mexico and South America.