Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have proved they're still very much an item - following reports the Daredevil actor's alleged frolics with a stripper had caused the pair to split. The sexy Hollywood couple have been snapped kissing and cuddling during a workout near J.L's home near Winnipeg, Canada - where she's filming new movie Shall We Dance In a pink top, Lopez is photographed resting her head on her fiance's chest. Affleck responds by caressing her shoulders and kissing her. An onlooker says, "There's no doubt they're still very much together. Whatever problems they might have been having they've obviously cleared up. This was a couple in love." Their public show of affection follows a frenzy of reports indicating the pair - whose co-starring movie Gigli is struggling to make an impact at the American box office - had separated, after the National Enquirer exposed Affleck's alleged raunchy behavior with a stripper. The publication claimed the actor used his fingers and tongue to make physical contact with the exotic dancer at Brandi's Exotic Nightclub in Vancouver, Canada, last month. Affleck denies the allegations.

Actor Omar Sharif has been fined and given a one-month suspended sentence after he was convicted of striking a police officer at a French casino near Paris. The 71-year-old Egyptian actor also was fined $1,700 on Tuesday for insults and violence directed at a police officer on July 5 at the Enghien-Les-Bains casino, says a judicial official. The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, has given no further details, but Le Parisian newspaper reported Sharif was arguing with a croupier while playing roulette at the casino, where he was known as a regular. When an officer intervened and asked Sharif to leave, the actor insulted and head-butted him, the newspaper reports. Doctor Zhivago star Sharif told the Associated Press in a recent interview he had given up his gambling habit 10 years ago.

Queen of pop Madonna will launch her eagerly-anticipated children's book The English Roses in French capital Paris, it has been confirmed. The tome, which is a series of stories for kids aged six and above, will be released in 100 countries simultaneously on September 15 and is to be translated into 30 languages. French publishers Gallimard said the book was about, "feeling green with envy, blue with loneliness, pink with embarrassment, purple with rage and how to find true-blue friends." Madonna will pen five books for the series, which will be based on the teachings of mystical religion Kabbalah, and promises that each book will feature art by acclaimed illustrators. The guest list for the launch will include 40 book editors from all around the world and is bound to boast some illustrious celebrity attendees. Previously, Madonna has slammed children's fiction complaining books on offer are "vapid and vacant".

Lazy George Clooney is constantly amazed that he's considered sexy when women have to work so much harder to look good. The Ocean's Eleven star admits he takes little care over his appearance - and he's thankful for being a man, because women in Hollywood are expected to dress to a much higher standard. Gorgeous George explains, "I don't care a lot about my looks, I don't even have a personal stylist. It is unmanly and unsexy if you always worry about it. If you are a man, you should be lucky that you are allowed to age in dignity. I don't use any make-up in films and I don't wear any clothes that don't suit me. I am 42, and I want to be treated like an adult. I have no idea why everyone always finds me so great. For years, I have worn the same old tuxedo and the same black shoes to all events. When women wear the same outfit twice, they are practically lynched. But for me, everyone cheered and said it was classic." However, the Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind star has no qualms about women fussing over their appearances though. He adds, "Great women belong in great clothes. I have the advantage of being a man. I am allowed to just wear my white shirts and jeans. I can become gray, bald or wrinkled, but nobody is going to think, 'Lord, what does he look like.'"

Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss believes prostitution is a dream business for entrepreneurs, and has called for it to be legalized in America. American Fleiss, currently embroiled in a court case against actor Tom Sizemore, the former lover she claims abused her, is renowned for her undercover exploits and is proud of her ruthless business streak. She explains, "When I was in the sex trade, I ran an 85 per cent cash business. I dealt with the richest people on earth - men who run countries and this country's top businesses. Most of them preferred to pay in cash. The actor Charlie Sheen was one of my few customers who wrote checks, but looking back I now realize he was a class act. He paid his bills, girls liked him, and he was well-endowed." Explaining why she was better running the operation than turning tricks, Fleiss adds, "I'm glad I learned the business in the trenches, but my career as a hooker was short-lived. I'm not the California dream girl, and sexually, I'm lazy. The profession didn't play to my strengths, which lie in business, not bed. Prostitution should be legalized throughout the United States. The laws are currently written by and for men. I've been out of the business for 10 years, but I still hear stories of men who hit women, walk out without paying, or write checks to hookers and then stop payment. It's outrageous."

Pals of Demi Moore and her toy boy beau Ashton Kutcher predict wedding bells are not far off for the couple. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle star Moore, 40, has been dating Kutcher, 25, for only a few months, but a friend of the couple has hinted the relationship is already very serious. The source confides to British tabloid The Daily Sport, "They have talked about the M-word. It's a lot more serious than people think." Demi has already endured failed marriages to Freddy Moore and Bruce Willis, but young Ashton has yet to take a trip down the aisle.

Quirky superstar Johnny Depp is so "fascinated" by Ozzy Osbourne he's desperate to play the wild rocker in a biopic. Johnny is currently starring in blockbuster Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, in which he based his character Captain Jack Sparrow on The Rolling Stones's legendary guitarist Keith Richards. Now he wants to play a rocker for real in the new movie of Ozzy's raucous life, which is currently being developed by the former Black Sabbath frontman's wife Sharon. Depp explains, "He's a deeply fascinating human being."

Hip-hop superstar Eminem has opted against attending a hearing seeking dismissal of a $1 million lawsuit which a former schoolmate filed against him. The request by the Oscar-winning rapper, real name Marshall Mathers III, is scheduled for a hearing before Michigan's Macomb County Circuit Judge Deborah Servitto on August 18. DeAngelo Bailey of Roseville, Michigan, sued Eminem in 2001, claiming the star's song "Brain Damage," which named Bailey as an abusive bully, damaged his reputation and his own ability to launch a music career. Eminem's lawyer, Peter Peacock, has filed a motion for dismissal, saying Bailey is trying to cash in on his client's fame. Peacock also says the song is true because Bailey beat up Eminem when they attended Roseville's Dort Elementary School.

Saving Private Ryan actor Ed Burns has pledged lifelong fidelity to new wife Christy Turlington. The actor wed his supermodel bride on June 3 after two aborted wedding attempts during their turbulent relationship, but after his struggle to get Christy down the aisle, Ed is determined to keep the ring on her finger. Ed vows, "I'm pretty confident I'm a trustworthy guy. People are going to have human desires while in a relationship or a marriage but at the end of the day you think, 'If I act on this, what are the repercussions? Am I really going to go ahead and hurt this person?' We're very happy. We love our life together."

Country rockers The Dixie Chicks are likely to be the top grossing touring act in their genre this year - despite the political controversy which has surrounded them. Singer Natalie Maines caused a flurry of outrage in March after making a disparaging comment about President George W. Bush - but this has not hindered the band's popularity despite many stores refusing to stock their albums, and several radio stations taking them off their playlists. As the hitmakers draw their Top Of The World tour to a close in North America they have made nearly $60 million in gross revenues. Manager Simon Renshaw boasts, "The bottom line is, for all the so-called controversy, the Dixie Chicks' fans remained totally loyal throughout the tour." After 56 shows, the country three-piece have been averaging $980,337 for each performance, compared to just $524,211 for concerts performed in 2000.