ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

POP/ROCK

Forgive Third World Debt: U2 singer Bono leads a delegation in Cologne today to present President Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Prime Minister Gerhard Schroder with petitions signed by more than 12 million people calling for the debt owed by Third World countries to be forgiven. Later today, the hall where the heads of state of the world’s richest nations, the so-called G-8, are holding meetings will be surrounded by a human chain of more than 50,000, including musician Perry Farrell, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Bono and Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof. It’s all part of the debt-relief effort called Jubilee 2000. “Our hope is that the ideas of Jubilee 2000 will give some meaning to the meaninglessness of all this millennium nonsense,” Bono told The Times, noting that Jubilee has been endorsed by Pope John Paul II and Muhammad Ali, among others.

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Fan Found Dead: Swedish police said Friday that a 19-year-old girl was found dead at a concert of Courtney Love’s band Hole at a rock festival. “It’s not clear yet how she died,” said Stefan Rydh, a policeman in the southern Swedish town of Hultsfred, where the festival is taking place. “She was probably crushed by the crowd.” The body of the girl, whose identity was not revealed, was found to the side of the crowd not far from the stage after Thursday night’s concert, police said. Several thousand young people were believed to be at the concert, while an estimated 25,000-30,000 youth are at the festival.

ART

‘Everyone Wins’: New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the heirs of Russian artist Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) announced Friday that they have reached agreement on the works that have been at the museum since his death. Descendants will receive an undisclosed cash payment and one painting, “Suprematist Composition,” while 15 works by the pioneering abstract artist--six paintings and nine works on paper--remain at MoMA. “It is rare that one can find an equitable solution to such a complicated problem,” said Glenn D. Lowry, the museum’s director, “and I am delighted that we have found one where everyone wins.”

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Paint Appel a Winner: Painter Kevin Appel, 32, has been chosen from a field of 20 candidates to receive the Museum of Contemporary Art’s third annual Emerging Artist Award. The prize, sponsored by Citibank Private Bank, includes a cash award for an undisclosed amount, part of which is used to acquire a work for MOCA’s collection, and a solo show at the museum slated for September. In his seductive but vaguely ominous pictures, Appel uses planes of transparent color to merge hard-edge abstraction with sleek depictions of fictional Case Study-style domestic interiors.

TELEVISION

In the Driver’s Seat: Ken Burns, the award-winning public television documentary filmmaker, whose productions include “The Civil War” and “Baseball,” will be getting a decade of financial security for upcoming projects from General Motors Corp. GM, Burns’ sole corporate underwriter, has told Burns it will underwrite 35% of production costs he takes on in the next 10 years, and will pay for the extensive educational projects that accompany the films. Burns said the dollar value can’t be specified yet because he doesn’t know what projects might be involved. “Having a long-term commitment allows you to do some real long-term planning,” Burns said. Among his projects is the blockbuster 20-hour “Jazz,” for the fall of 2000.

MOVIES

‘Cool Again’: Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are planning a movie biography of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. “He’s cool again,” Grazer said. “His lifestyle and how he handles his life is very upfront and not excessive in a way that is hurting anyone. He’s not a gangster who’s hurting anyone.” Hefner said in Friday’s Daily Variety that he sold the rights to his story because “the time seems right.”

THEATER

Destiny Calls Again: Robert Goulet is returning as the eponymous “Man of La Mancha” at three Southern California locations this summer. Tickets go on sale Sunday for performances at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, July 27-Aug. 1; the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, Aug. 3-8; and at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Aug. 17-22. Cervantes’ story of the ultimate idealist is directed in this production by Gary Davis.

QUICK TAKES

Producer-director Stanley Kramer, whose works include “The Defiant Ones,” “Judgment at Nuremberg” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” receives RP International’s Vision Award for lifetime achievement as a director tonight in Beverly Hills . . . Lisa Lu, who starred in “The Last Emperor” and “The Joy Luck Club,” will be honored with the Chinese-American Arts Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award tonight at New York’s Lincoln Center . . . A celebrity photo auction that includes photos by Herb Ritts, George Hurrell and Margaret Bourke-White takes place today from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center . . . Hamilton High School gets a Grammy Signature Schools Gold Award tonight from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences for its high level of commitment to musical education . . . The fourth annual Imagen Entertainment Industry Job Fair, promoting diversity in the industry, is being held today from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Universal City Hilton & Towers . . . KPCC-FM (89.3) has concluded its eight-day membership drive ahead of its $200,000 goal--raising $203,000.