Boyzone have allayed fears of a break-up by telling fans at their Dublin concert the band will stay together.

A grim-faced Ronan Keating made anxious fans wait until the end of the concert before saying: "Myself and the lads have something to say."

After a pause and gasps from the crowd he thanked fans for the past six years.

"We are not going anywhere," said Keating, adding: "We have all got some stuff to do on our own for a while but, believe me, Boyzone is stronger than it's ever been before."

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Musical honour for Dylan and Stern

Rock legend Bob Dylan and Violinist Isaac Stern are to share the 1999 Polar Music Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music have announced

As well as honouring the pair for their musical abilities, the panel praised 58-year-old Dylan for fighting "all forms of prejudice".

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf will present the £150,000 ($120,000) prize on 15 May in Stockholm.

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Zeta Jones 'drops out of Stone movie'

Catherine Zeta Jones has dropped out of Oliver Stone's film Beyond Borders, according to the industry newspaper Hollywood Reporter.

No reason was given for her departure, although there are rumours that arrangements for her wedding to Michael Douglas did not leave time for the film.

Sources close to the project say Julia Roberts is set to take her place in the movie about UN humanitarian missions, which also stars Kevin Costner.

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Hurt to take Beckett play to London

Film star John Hurt is to return to the London stage in the Samuel Beckett play Krapp's Last Tape.

Hurt first portrayed the role of the old man who relives his past through a tape recorder at a festival last year.

And now the 59-year-old Elephant Man star will take the play to the New Ambassadors theatre for seven weeks.

"I'm really rather moved by people being so pleased that I'm doing theatre again," he said.

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Disney boss goes independent

Disney Studios boss Joe Roth has resigned to form his own independent film company, Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner announced.

Roth became chairman of Walt Disney Studios in 1996, after a two-year stint as chair of Walt Disney Motion Pictures.

Michael Eisner praised Roth's "creative vision, his instinctive understanding of the audience and his relationships with talent," in a statement and confirmed that Studio president Peter Schneider will take his place.

Roth's departure is decribed by the Los Angeles Times as a "serious blow" for Disney.

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Indie film award contenders announced

High school satire Election and crime thriller The Limey are among the films nominated for prizes at the 15th Independent Spirit Awards.

The annual awards are designed to recognise low budget arthouse films.

Election and The Limey are up for five awards each while The Straight Story and Boys Don't Cry are up for four.

Low budget hit The Blair Witch Project is nominated in just one category - best first feature under $500,000.

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Trapeze preparation for 'smooth' Danes

Romeo and Juliet star Claire Danes is reported to have installed a trapeze in her New York apartment, in preparation for a new film set in a 1930s circus.

Danes is taking a term off studying at Yale University to star in Flora's Plum - a tragic love story directed by Jodie Foster about a starry-eyed circus performer who falls for a homeless waif.

Foster says of Danes: "She has a different quality than I have on the screen - much smoother and softer, which is perfect for this movie."

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Manager walks out on Smashing Pumpkins

US rock band Smashing Pumpkins have been dumped by recently-appointed manager Sharon Osbourne, wife of heavy metal singer Ozzy.

In a blunt statement she laid the blame for her departure firmly at the door of the group's singer Billy Corgan.

"Unfortunately I must resign today due to medical reasons - Billy Corgan was making me sick," she said.

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Parker shrugs off 'Ashes' controversy

British director Alan Parker has shrugged off controversy surrounding his new film Angela's Ashes.

Parker was responding to claims it was a misrepresentation of Irish life and showed Catholic leaders in a bad light.

The film, based on Frank McCourt's best-selling memoir, charts the struggle against poverty of a family in Limerick in the 1930s and 40s.

Parker described the row as "a real storm in a teacup".

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Woman denies burgling Beatle's home

A woman allegedly found inside George Harrison's Hawaiian home eating pizza and doing her washing has denied burglary and theft charges.

Cristin Keleher, 27, was arrested on 23 December after it was claimed she entered the former Beatle's home through an open sliding glass door.

Harrison was not in Hawaii at the time, but police were alerted by his sister-in-law.

A week later the star was stabbed in the chest by an intruder at his mansion in Oxfordshire.

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Russell Crowe 'was blackmail target'

Oscar-tipped actor Russell Crowe was targeted by blackmailers who possessed security camera footage of him in a fight, an Australian court has heard.

Two men have been charged with conspiring to extort money from the New Zealand born star, 35, whose role in The Insider has brought Oscar hopes.

One of the men was also charged with conspiring to pervert the court of justice by withholding the video from police investigating the fight, in Coff's Harbour, near Sydney, last year.

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'Jumbotron' logo dilemma for US channel

American network CBS has defended a decision to cover a rival broadcaster's logo during its millennium night coverage in New York's Time Square.

CBS News executives considered it unacceptable to position their anchors in front of a building which featured a giant TV screen - a jumbotron - displaying NBC's logo.

Countering claims of deceptive news coverage, CBS admitted that its decision to digitally impose its own trademark 'eye' logo over that of NBC raised "new issues" but said it was "appropriate" for this case.