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Roxette singer will undergo brain surgery

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson will undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor next week, forcing the Swedish duo to cancel its European tour, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Doctors found the small tumor after Fredriksson fainted and hit her head against a sink two weeks ago at her Stockholm home.

The 44-year-old singer has recovered from the concussion she suffered, but doctors at Karolinska Hospital in the Swedish capital have decided to take her in for brain surgery within 10 days, Roxette spokeswoman Li Eriksson said.

The duo, which also includes Per Gessle, is known for hits including "It Must Have Been Love" from the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack, and "The Look."

Lynne Cheney is writing second children's book

NEW YORK -- Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, is writing a second children's book.

"A Is for Abigail Adams," scheduled for publication next fall, is a follow-up to her best-selling "America: A Patriotic Primer."

Her new book will highlight the achievements of women in American history.

"One of the noteworthy scholarly achievements of the last quarter-century has been the recovery of women's history," Cheney said in a statement issued this week by her publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Cheney's net proceeds will be donated to charity.

Menendez brother wants a new trial

LOS ANGELES -- Erik Menendez, serving a life sentence for the murder of his wealthy parents, wants a new trial that would allow him to include claims he was abused.

Menendez, 31, has filed a motion in federal court to have his conviction overturned, he told Barbara Walters in an interview airing Friday on the ABC news magazine "20/20."

"I didn't receive a fair trial," Menendez said in the telephone interview from a Sacramento prison. "All I wanted was for the jury to hear all of the evidence."

In 1996, Menendez and 34-year-old older brother, Lyle were convicted of first-degree murder in the 1989 shooting deaths of Kitty and Jose Menendez at their Beverly Hills home.

The brothers' first trial ended with a hung jury. In the second trial, the judge threw out much of the defense case alleging that the father, an entertainment industry executive, sexually abused Erik.

Erik Menendez told Walters he remains remorseful about the murders.

"I'll punish myself for the rest of my life. I hate myself," he said. "I wish to God I could throw myself down on my knees and beg that we could go back in time, that I could change what I did. I killed them, and I love them."

His wife, Tammi, whom he married three years ago in a prison ceremony, said she's selling her house to raise money for Menendez's court challenges. The Menendez family fortune, estimated at $14 million, was gone by the time the first trial took place, Erik Menendez said.

Minnie Driver to get her own NBC series

BURBANK, Calif. -- NBC is giving Minnie Driver the keys to her own series.

The Oscar-nominated co-star of "Good Will Hunting" will develop and star in a comedy or drama for the 2003-04 season.

"Her crossover appeal, marquee value and winning personality make her a natural to star in her own NBC series," Jeff Zucker, the network's president of entertainment, said in a statement Thursday.

Driver appeared in several television shows in her native England before U.S. audiences got to know her through films.

The 31-year-old has co-starred in movies including "Circle of Friends" with Chris O'Donnell, "Grosse Pointe Blank" with John Cusack and "Return to Me" with David Duchovny.

--From wire reports