Beastie Boys reveal album

The Beastie Boys have told fans to expect their eagerly-awaited album to be released in June.

The band sent an e-mail to members of their website to say they were putting the finishing touches to the as-yet-untitled album.

It will be the follow-up to the 1998 album Hello Nasty, which topped the charts in the US, selling an estimated 3.8m copies.

The trio broke onto the scene in 1987 with their debut album License to Ill.

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Sir Sean joins Taiwan protest

Sir Sean Connery is set to take part in a human chain in Taiwan stretching 290 miles, to protest at China's missile threat towards the island.

The Hand in Hand to Protect Taiwan event will take place on 28 February.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 amid civil war, and China has since been pressuring Taiwan to unify.

Sir Sean, a supporter of an independent Scotland, will join hands with President Chen Shui-bian, ahead of a referendum on opening peace talks.

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Zellweger joins Oscar presenters

Actresses Renee Zellweger, Julianne Moore and Charlize Theron have joined the list of stars who will present this year's Academy Awards.

Zellweger is nominated this year for best supporting actress in the US Civil War epic Cold Mountain.

Moore was nominated last year for Far from Heaven and The Hours, while Theron is up for best actress this year for her role as a serial-killer prostitute in Monster.

Also handing out prizes at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on 29 February will be actors Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said.

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Singer Turner's movie goddess role

Singer Tina Turner has been signed to play an Indian goddess in a mystic Hollywood movie directed by Ismail Merchant.

Turner, 63, a convert to Buddhism, has spent two weeks touring India "on a cultural recce" to familiarise herself with Indian culture ahead of filming for The Goddess.

She told reporters in Bombay she had been chosen for the movie - about the power of women - "because of my shakti (power) within. I'm special in that I've had a long run and I'm still here".

Turner, who is based in Zurich, grew up on a farm in Nut Bush, Tennessee, in the late 1940s. She once said she would perform until she turned 90.