English rose Kate Winslet is in talks to star in the fourth Harry Potter movie - as a French wizard. The Titanic star, 29, has been asked to play Fleur Delacour in the film adaptation of JK Rowling's Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, by director Mike Newell. Filming is set to begin next month and Winslet's director husband Sam Mendes has been encouraging his stunning wife to accept, for the sake of their son Joe and her daughter Mia. Mendes says, "Some weeks ago Kate had a meeting with the director and some producers of the Harry Potter movies. She was asked to have an important role as a young French wizard or something like that in the fourth film. She is still thinking about it. I told her to do it just for the kids. Mia and Joe will thank her in the future." Winslet wouldn't be the first actress to star in the boy wizard films for her offspring - Emma Thompson signed to play Professor Sybill Trelawney in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban to impress her four-year-old daughter Gaia.

Soul legend Aretha Franklin is being treated in hospital in America, suffering from a mystery illness. The singer, who lives in Detroit, Michigan has been in hospital since Saturday - but her publicist has refused to reveal where she is or what she is suffering from, only that she is in stable condition. Franklin, who celebrates her 62nd Birthday on Thursday, picked up a Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award last month, for "Wonderful," from her 2002 album So Damn Happy.

Veteran screen stars Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine are in talks to star alongside Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the big screen version of '60s classic TV comedy Bewitched. MacLaine is in negotiations to take on the role of Endora, the meddling mother of Kidman's loveable witch character Samantha, while Caine is hoping to play Samantha's father. If their negotiations are successful, Caine and MacLaine will appear onscreen together for the first time since they both starred in the 1966 film Gambit.

Movie maker Ismail Merchant has defended casting Tina Turner as a Hindu goddess in his new movie, following fervent protests from religious groups in Britain. Protesters threatened to picket theatres showing The Goddess, after Turner won the role of Shakti, the Hindu symbol of power and energy - insisting a "sex icon" should not play the part. But Merchant says the protests are based on misconceptions about the film. He explains in a statement, "Tina Turner is one of the great artists of our time and has been a practicing Buddhist for the last 20 years. An artist of such international stature should be welcomed. Contrary to the accusations of objectors, nobody is going to sing and dance on the back of a tiger and the goddess is not going to be half-naked or a sex symbol. Nobody has the right to dictate how one should worship the goddess or discriminate against an artist who seeks to portray her."

Actor David Arquette is furious paparazzi photographers won't leave his pregnant wife Courteney Cox alone. The 33-year-old actor is shocked at the lengths photographers will go to in order to snap the Friends star - and finds it hard restraining himself from attacking the nosy snappers. He complains, "The spotlight with the baby has been worse than anything in the world. They've been so relentless, like blocking her in the car and the craziest things. It takes everything to just not throw a brick through the car window."

Pierce Brosnan has laughed off reports Britney Spears will be the next Bond girl - dismissing the suggestions as "rumor". The pop star - who made her big screen debut in 2002's Crossroads - had reportedly lobbied the makers of the spy film series to let her play the female lead in the next 007 movie, but Brosnan would prefer British star Keira Knightley. He says of the Britney reports, "It's a rumor! I know nothing of it. I don't involve myself in the rumors of Bond and I try and stay occupied with other films when I'm not doing it, but Britney, no. Bless her cotton socks and good luck to her. Keira Knightley maybe!"

Courtney Love is convinced she'll be cleared of hitting a fan in the head with a microphone stand at a gig last week - because she's got hundreds of witnesses on her side. The former Hole frontwoman was arrested at a New York nightclub following a complaint made to police by a fan. But Love isn't concerned about the case. She told American radio presenter Howard Stern, "I didn't throw the microphone stand. There were 200 kids there and they were all saying the same thing. I didn't throw it. I didn't even have a microphone stand. The whole thing didn't happen but I still got arrested. What the police are saying is a lie. It will be dropped but they will still throw it at me. We just went to a party with people like Boy George and other cool kids and play a small show. I trusted everybody there but I got screwed. Nobody sticks up for me so I will have to stick up for myself."

Troubled R&B pioneer Bobby Brown was released from jail a month early on Monday - to attend an emergency hearing in a Massachusetts family court. On February 27 the My Prerogative singer, 35, was sentenced to 60 days in an Atlanta, Georgia prison, after he violated his probation terms from a past drink-driving charge. One violation relates to a misdemeanor battery charge in which police claim Brown allegedly hit his wife Whitney Houston in December, leaving her cheek bruised and lip cut. Houston is currently in rehabilitation for reported drug abuse after being admitted 10 days ago. Brown is to attend the emergency hearing on Wednesday after DeKalb County, Georgia Sheriff Thomas Brown was presented with an order requiring the presence of the singer. He has been summoned to the family court in relation to an unspecified paternity suit. Besides his daughter Bobbi Kristina with Houston, Brown has three other children from two previous relationships. Brown is scheduled to appear at Fulton County Court in Georgia on May 5 over battery charges.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is poised to avoid a court appearance in a legal case brought by a woman accusing him of sexual harassment. Stuntwoman Rhonda Miller is suing the Terminator star for the way his political campaign team launched a smear attack on her after she claimed Schwarzenegger groped her. Miller made her claims on the eve of Schwarzenegger's election as California Governor, prompting a fierce counter attack by the Hollywood star's team of advisors. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Hess has announced instead of appearing under oath in Miller's libel case, Schwarzenegger will have to answer written questions by her lawyers. However, he adds The Running Man star may have to go into the witness box at a later date. Hess has told her attorneys, "If you've got something perhaps a bit more compelling as to why you want to depose him... I think that ought to be considered." Miller claims Schwarzenegger lifted her shirt and groped her breasts when they were on the film sets of Terminator 2: Judgement Day and True Lies.

Michael Jackson, his kids and members of the Nation of Islam have jetted off on vacation to Hawaii. The pop superstar and his massive entourage are holidaying in a private villa on Hawaii's 'garden isle' Kauai. The eccentric star was spotted arriving on the island at the weekend dressed like a beekeeper. According to locals, Jackson hasn't left the villa so far - preferring instead to stay out of the sun with his baby son and his nanny.