MORNING REPORT - News from July 21, 2000

POP/ROCK

U2 Spotted: U2 is putting the finishing touches on its next album and is inviting fans to take a peek at the process. The Irish rock group is launching its first official Internet site, https://www.u2.com, and in coming weeks will use it to transmit images captured by cameras set up in different areas of its studio. The Web site also states that samples of new songs may be posted in the months to come. The follow-up album to 1997’s “Pop” is due in stores on Halloween. While the collection is still untitled, BBC radio reports that the first single will be called “Beautiful Day.” The British news service also recently quoted singer Bono saying the new music has been shaped by his work with Jubilee 2000, a global campaign seeking debt relief for troubled nations. “There’s a fire in the belly of this music,” the singer said. “There’s a certain joy I’ve picked up from working with the Jubilee people, and there’s a righteous anger, if you want to call it that, that makes for great rock ‘n’ roll.”

Photographer Sues Singer: International recording star Alejandro Fernandez is being accused of physically attacking a photographer and the photographer’s pregnant wife after having his picture taken in front of the Sony Music building in Miami Beach. Photographer Angel More and wife Celia Oliveira filed suit Monday against Fernandez and his label, Sony Discos, seeking at least $75,000 in damages. The suit claims Fernandez and two Sony executives attacked More after he shot the photo of Fernandez, and then attacked Oliveira as she tried to videotape the alleged assault. An attorney for Fernandez said he believes the court will find no merit to the claims. Fernandez, who is managed in the U.S. and Mexico City by Hauser Entertainment of Pico Rivera, had the top Latin album of 1998; his new album is No. 7 on the Billboard Latin chart.

THE ARTS

Austrian Museum Can Keep Looted Art: A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the U.S. government cannot force an Austrian museum to forfeit a painting by Egon Schiele that was stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish family during the Second World War. U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey dismissed the government’s closely watched lawsuit seeking the surrender of the painting, “Portrait of Wally,” which had been on loan to New York’s Museum of Modern Art by Austria’s Leopold Museum-Privatsiftung. In a victory for U.S. museums seeking to borrow art from foreign galleries, Mukasey said the Leopold could not be considered the holder of stolen property because the painting had been recovered by U.S. forces before the museum bought it. He said that a federal doctrine holds that “one cannot be convicted of receiving stolen goods if, before the stolen goods reached the receiver, the goods had been recovered by their owner or his agent, including the police.”

TELEVISION

Couric Suffers Another Blow: Virginia State Sen. Emily Couric, the older sister of NBC’s “Today” show host, announced Thursday she has pancreatic cancer and will not run for lieutenant governor next year. Couric, 53, who has been considered a rising star in the Virginia Democratic Party, said she was told of the diagnosis Wednesday. Her sister, Katie Couric, has been campaigning to raise awareness about colon cancer following the 1998 death of her husband, TV legal analyst Jay Monahan, from the disease at age 42. The “Today” show host mounted a monthlong public-awareness campaign in March and even underwent a colonoscopy on the air to educate viewers about cancer tests. On Thursday’s “Today” show, she interviewed guests about the disease.

Boo Humbug: In the latest reality-based television concept, the Fox Family Channel will air a Halloween-themed program, “The Scariest Places on Earth,” set to premiere in October. The network is currently searching for “a daring family to confront their worst fears and spend five nights at the most haunted castle on the planet.” Each family member who remains in the castle for the week will be rewarded with a tropical island vacation--presumably not the “Survivor” island. Interested participants of a five-member family, which can include extended relatives and ex-spouses, can call (877) 777-5441. Each contestant must be 18 years old and able to “perform physical challenges and ghost-hunting tasks over long hours without sleep.”

QUICK TAKES

Despite a posting that appeared briefly on a CBS Web site that revealed prematurely which contestant was kicked off “Survivor,” the series drew just over 26 million viewers on Wednesday, a series high. . . . “Fully Committed,” Becky Mode’s solo show about a reservations clerk at a four-star restaurant, will open at the Coronet Theatre Sept. 15 with the actor who did the role off-Broadway, Mark Setlock. . . . French film star Gerard Depardieu left the hospital Monday after undergoing heart bypass surgery earlier this month, his agent said Wednesday. “He is in very good form but he will now rest for three weeks at home under medical supervision,” Claude Davy said. . . . Pax TV said it will not produce new episodes of “Twenty One”--a quiz show that premiered on NBC in January--deciding the program is too expensive. . . . The Hollywood Bowl has added an additional performance to its summer season: Rickie Lee Jones, Meshell Ndegeocello and Janis Ian will perform Sept. 20. . . . Argentine rock singer Fito Paez has canceled his concert tour, including a House of Blues show on Saturday, because he is ill, according to a spokeswoman for the West Hollywood club. Tickets will be honored for the replacement act, First Love, or may be refunded.