Madonna finds her guy

Pop superstar Madonna has confirmed she and British director Guy Ritchie are "in a serious relationship" in America's People magazine.

"It's excellent. I have an enormous amount of respect for him as a person. He's very bright," says the 41-year-old singer.

As for marriage, the ex-wife of Sean Penn, says: "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If we get to it."

Madonna's latest film, The Next Best Thing, in which she stars opposite her pal Rupert Everett, opens this weekend in the US.

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Stars launch flood appeal

Actor Bob Hoskins is leading a celebrity charity appeal to raise money for the victims of flood-hit Mozambique.

TV presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan are also backing the appeal along with 14 aid organisations who form the Disaster Emergency Committee.

The floods have killed 350 people so far and more than 100,000 people are said to be still awaiting rescue.

The appeal's web address is http://www.candric.com/appeal/UK and the hotline is: 0870 6060 900.

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Santana sales surge after Grammys

Mexican rock veteran Carlos Santana has enjoyed a huge hike in record sales in the US since picking up eight Grammy awards last week.

Santana's latest record Supernatural - named album of the year - took the number one spot with its highest sales since being released seven months ago.

Christina Aguilera, a surprise winner of Best Newcomer at the Grammys, saw her album jump from number five to number three in the US chart.

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Country awards 'snub' for Brooks

Country superstar Garth Brooks has failed to be nominated for May's Academy of Country Music Awards.

The singer appears to have been shunned after he spent most of 1999 promoting his new pop music album under the alias of Chris Gaines.

Last year Brooks won four gongs including top artist of the 1990s.

This year's nominees for the 3 May event include McGraw, Faith Hill, The Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain.

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Loss of Linda almost finished Paul

Sir Paul McCartney has said he was so overcome by grief following the death of his wife Linda that he thought he would only outlive her by a few months.

Describing the loss of Linda in 1998, he told The Independent newspaper: "I thought I might be dead by the end of the year, it would just be so unbearable.

"I half prepared for that to happen. But I thought, no, that's a slippery path. So I tried to counteract that by just going from day-to-day."

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No more 'wah wah' for Peanuts adults

Two productions which were worked on by the late Frank Schulz to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Peanuts cartoon strip are set to reveal a few surprises.

A video called It's The Pied Piper, Charlie Brown features adults speaking properly. Most Peanuts cartoons feature them only saying "wah wah wah".

And a US TV programme Here's To You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years, features 10 minutes of new animation and the characters interacting with real people.

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TV chefs dish up fair trade support

A number of TV chefs are supporting a Fairtrade Fortnight aimed at promoting the interests of Third World farmers.

Ainsley Harriot, Anthony Worrall Thompson, Alan Coxon and Lotte Duncan are involved in the campaign to ensure famers get properly paid for their work.

The Fairtrade label can be found on some chocolate, tea and bananas.

Anthony Worrall Thompson said: "All it takes to make a difference is to buy one Fairtrade product a month - it's that easy."