Hollywood star Nicole Kidman was presented with Australia's top civil honor on Friday for her work on the big screen, as well as her efforts to promote women's health. The Oscar-winning The Hours star was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia at Government House in Canberra, the country's highest honor, which is given to citizens for their 'eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or humanity at large.' Kidman was presented the honor - the equivalent to an English knighthood - in her homeland by Governor-General Michael Jeffrey, who praised her promotion of women and children's health and cancer research. She gushes, "It's a pat on the back, which as a little girl is something you dream of."

The Constant Gardener Oscar winner Rachel Weisz has turned down a role in The Mummy 3, leaving her co-star Brendan Fraser without an on-screen wife. Weisz and Fraser played love interests Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell and Rick O'Connell in Stephen Sommers' Egyptian action movies The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. While Fraser has signed on to star in a second sequel, Weisz is unable to commit due to a scheduling conflict. The Fast And The Furious director Rob Cohen is set to take over from Sommers for the third movie, which is scheduled for release next year.

Hit show Grey's Anatomy has been honored by a gay organization despite recent criticism of its lead actor for using a homophobic slur. The show was given the Outstanding Individual Episode award for "Where The Boys Are" by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) last night. Actor Isaiah Washington came under fire last year after using an anti-gay slur to talk about co-star TR Knight. Other winners included Little Miss Sunshine for Outstanding Film, while Ugly Betty won Outstanding Television Comedy Series and Brothers & Sisters took home the Outstanding Drama Series award. Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston and tennis great Martina Navratilova were also praised for their work in promoting gay rights. The 18th annual GLAAD Media Awards - consisting of 42 categories - are divided into four ceremonies, held in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and San Francisco in March, April and May.

Two diaries written by tragic model Anna Nicole Smith failed to sell at auction in Texas on Saturday. An unnamed German businessman purchased the diaries and other mementos during an eBay internet auction earlier this year for $500,000 and decided to re-sell them at the Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas in the hope of making a profit. After the books failed to attract any bids, Heritage Auction Galleries put them up for sale for a minimum bid of $25,000. Doug Norwine, the director of music and entertainment memorabilia at Heritage, says, "We have a buy-it-now situation." Smith's partner Howard K. Stern's lawyer wrote a letter to the auction house last week, claiming the diaries were stolen property and insisted they should be returned to the beauty's estate. The diaries were written between 1992 and 1994, and cover Smith's marriage to oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall II. Smith died of an accidental drug overdose in a Florida hotel room in February.

Hollywood beauty Scarlett Johansson has fueled reports she will star in the New York City production of South Pacific, after declaring her love for the musical during an interview. Last month, the New York Post reported Johansson was in talks to play US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush in a revival of the musical at the Lincoln Center, which is scheduled to open in January 2008. In an interview with the latest UK edition of Glamour magazine, Johansson admits she's a huge fan of the Rodgers And Hammerstein show, but she has a problem with the heroine's surname, which shares a similarity to President George W. Bush. She says, "I've thought about it (playing Nellie). Wouldn't it be great? Though I'd have to be named 'For Bush', which I don't think I could stomach."

Rocker/actress Courtney Love has hit back at reports her recent dramatic weight loss is the result of gastric surgery. The former Hole singer stunned fans last month when she revealed her new slimline look during a vacation in Hawaii, and insisted yoga and a macrobiotic diet helped her lose 44 pounds in four months. But recent US media reports have suggested Love had a little extra help - gastric-band surgery. In a new posting on her website MoonWashedRose.com, Love blasts the reports, stating, "I couldn't get that surgery if I begged for it," adding that media queen Oprah Winfrey inspired her to lose the weight. And Love's publicist is also firing back after the New York Post's Page Six gossip column quoted a source as saying Love was "telling people she got the gastric-band surgery." The representative says, "Not true. She says she never got surgery."

Superstar Madonna will visit her adopted son David's former home when she visit Malawi today, officials have confirmed. The Material Girl flew to the impoverished African nation yesterday for her first visit since she adopted the tot last October. A government official told the Reuters news agency, "What we know is that she is expected tomorrow (Monday) and will immediately visit two sites." Madonna will inspect an orphanage in Mphandula Village, which she is funding, as well as the Home for Hope orphanage, where she selected David from last year. Last week, Madonna's spokeswoman denied reports the singer is planning to adopt a young Malawian girl.

Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown has confirmed reports she has put ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy's name as the father on her newborn daughter's birth certificate, but denies she has already named the tot. The singer, formerly known as Scary Spice, gave birth to an as-yet-unnamed baby girl at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on April 3. Brown and Murphy ended their six month relationship in November and the Oscar nominated actor started dating TV producer Tracey Edmonds - ex-wife of R&B singer/producer Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds - immediately after. In November - a month after Brown announced her pregnancy news - the Dreamgirls actor publicly dismissed her claims of paternity on Dutch TV show Rtl Boulevard, saying, "I don't know whose child that is, until it comes out and has a blood test." Brown's publicist Nadine Bibi confirmed reports last week that the singer had listed Murphy as the father of her youngest child, but denied the tot was named Fortuna Daphne Bay. Bibi says, "Yes, he is listed as father." When asked for comment, Murphy's publicist Arnold Robinson replies, "We do not comment on Mr. Murphy's personal life."

Legendary singer Don Ho has died of heart failure. He was 76. The crooner passed away in Hawaii on Saturday after suffering heart problems for the past several years. In 2005 the "Tiny Bubbles" singer even underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his heart in Thailand. Promoter Tom Moffatt, who attended Ho's final Waikiki show on Thursday, said the performer had given no sign of ill health. He says, "Don was in great spirits. He was fine." Ho often insisted his successful career was an accident, laughing, "I had no intention of being an entertainer. I just played songs I liked from the radio, and pretty soon the place was jammed." Before singing fulltime, Ho joined the US Air Force, piloting transport planes between Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu and Tokyo. He later became a television star too, hosting the The Don Ho Show from 1976 to 1977. Ho is survived by his wife, Haumea, and 10 children, including Hoku, who sometimes performed with her father.

Barry Nelson, the first actor to play James Bond, has died in Pennsylvania. He was 89. Nelson was a big star for MGM studios in the early 1940s after he was spotted by a talent scout and signed to a series of films including Johnny Eager, Dr. Kildare's Victory and A Yank on the Burma Road. He also became a military favorite during World War II by starring in the wartime play Winged Victory. He reprised his role later in a movie version of the play, alongside Red Buttons and George Reeves. Nelson returned to his acting career after the war and starred in films like Time To Kill and Undercover Maisie, and played the first James Bond in a one-hour TV adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. He became a prolific stage star throughout the 1960s and 1970s, appearing on Broadway in hits like Seascape and The Act, which earned him a Tony nomination.