Showbiz world rallies with telethon

The stars will donate their time for Friday's charity show

Jim Carrey, Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise will appear on a telethon to raise money for those affected by the US attacks in a rare collaboration by all four major American TV networks.

Line-up for America: A Tribute to Heroes

Jim Carrey

Tom Cruise

George Clooney

Cameron Diaz

Robert De Niro

Clint Eastwood

Calista Flockhart

Kelsey Grammer

Julia Roberts

Tom Hanks

Will Smith

Robin Williams

Dixie Chicks

Faith Hill

Billy Joel

Tom Petty

Paul Simon

Bruce Springsteen

Stevie Wonder

Neil Young

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox will screen America: A Tribute to Heroes on Friday night, and the show will also be offered to smaller networks and cable channels.

Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young will perform for the event, while Frasier star Kelsey Grammer will also appear after Frasier's creator died in one of the hijacked planes.

Viewers will be encouraged to donate money to charities helping survivors and victims' families during the show.

Pop singer Britney Spears has announced her own plans to help those whose loved ones were killed.

Up to $2m (£1.36m) from her forthcoming tour will be put towards charities helping family members of fire fighters and police officers who died in the World Trade Center bombing.

Britney: 34-date tour starts in October

She will donate $1 (68p) from every ticket on her 34-date North American tour, will auction some front row seats and will sell charity merchandise.

The proceeds from the re-release of Whitney Houston's rendition of Star-Spangled Banner will also go towards the funds.

The version was first released in 1991 during the Gulf War, and became a unifying song for the country.

Recorded at the at the Super Bowl XXV American football game, it was said to have moved many to tears at the time.

Houston: Originally recorded "moving" song in 1991

Houston's version is already being played on American radio stations, and all proceeds from the sale of the single will go to New York police and fire fighters' charities.

"I think that it's something that helps pull us together and brings us together as a nation," according to Arista president Antonio 'LA' Reid.

The showbiz world recently announced a star-studded fund-raising album, headed by Michael Jackson and also featuring Britney Spears, Destiny's Child and members of the Backstreet Boys.

It is hoped that the project will raise $50m (£34m).

Dan Rather broke down on Letterman's show

American TV schedules are slowly getting back to normal, with programmes including David Letterman's Late Show returning to screens for the first time since the hijacked planes were crashed last week.

An emotional Letterman was seen talking to legendary news anchorman Dan Rather, who broke down in tears during the show.

But the attacks have forced schedulers to rethink some of their shows.

A pilot episode for new CIA series The Agency has been shelved because of references to Osama Bin Laden and a plot to bomb a London building.

The start of New York-based police and fire drama The Third Watch has been put back to mid-October due to production problems caused by the attacks.

US Big Brother producers have told one contestant that her cousin is missing after the World Trade Center collapse.

Monica Bailey, 40, is free to leave the house, but has chosen to stay, the Sun newspaper says.