LOS ANGELES (AP) – “Mean Girls” star Lindsay Lohan was recovering at a hospital after being admitted with a high fever and headache, her publicist said.

Lohan, 18, has been in Los Angeles filming the upcoming movie “Herbie: Fully Loaded.” She was hospitalized Thursday with a 103-degree fever, publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik said.

“She’s resting and getting better,” Zelnik said Tuesday.

The illness forced Lohan to postpone taping a cameo role on “That ‘70s Show,” the sitcom that features her boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama.

Production on “Herbie” also was halted and will resume after Lohan has recovered, Zelnik said.

Paris head over heels?

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis has been branded a cad by tabloids and callers to talk radio after he was romantically linked with Paris Hilton.

Since recent reports of Hilton, star of TV’s “The Simple Life,” telling two Australians she was “head over heels in love” with Philippoussis, there has been speculation about the Aussie tennis star and pop singer Delta Goodrem’s 10-month romance.

A Sydney Morning Herald headline “Is Scud a cad?” reflected the general sentiment in the Australian media. TV and radio focused on his string of failed romances.

Philippoussis, nicknamed Scud for his powerful serve, has refused to comment.

Gina Hoffman, a spokeswoman for Hilton, told The Associated Press in New York Monday: “They are good friends who met through mutual friends.”

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph cited sources saying Philippoussis had ended the relationship with Goodrem earlier this month, a few days before he met Hilton at a party in Los Angeles.

Goodrem refused to comment. The 19-year-old met Philippoussis after he sent her a card while she was recovering from cancer last year.

She was in London this week to launch her new single, “Out of the Blue,” a song inspired by her love for Philippoussis.

Gay TV touted in France

PARIS (AP) – The launch of France’s first gay television channel, Pink TV, has been touted as a big step for television in this largely Roman Catholic country.

French front pages heralded the launch for days, with Paris tabloid Le Parisien carrying “The Gay Tide” as a banner headline Monday over a photo of a rainbow flag.

A pair of pink stilettos graced the front page of the weekend’s Liberation newspaper, which endorsed the channel in an editorial titled, “Good One.”

The editorial, like Pink’s founders, says the channel’s arrival shows the time is ripe for such a venture in France, which is at times surprisingly conservative and still divided over homosexuality.

The channel is “a giant leap for television, a small step in high heels,” presenter Eric Gueho says in a promotional clip.

Available on cable and satellite television, the channel is largely financed by France’s three main commercial networks.

Aside from daily doses of “Wonder Woman” and Japanese “manga” cartoons, Pink plans to broadcast movies, documentaries, music programs and debates on issues such as gay parenthood and homophobia.

There will be series including “Queer as Folk,” and X-rated films four nights a week after midnight.

That Pink aims to be an eye-opener is apparent in one of its advertisements showing a famous 1984 photograph of then-French President Francois Mitterrand holding hands with ex-German leader Helmut Kohl.

“A relationship is about more than just sex,” says the advertisement. The image comes from a historic ceremony of Franco-German reconciliation to commemorate World War I at the site of the bloody battle of Verdun.

Heart sculptures a hit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Tony Bennett unveiled his heart – a 5-foot heart-shaped sculpture on which he painted an image of the Golden Gate Bridge – at Union Square before crooning his famous song to an adoring crowd.

Bennett made the appearance Monday as part of the Hearts in San Francisco project, a collection of 130 decorated heart sculptures that have been displayed on city streets and public spaces since Valentine’s Day.

After unveiling his heart, which will be on permanent display at Union Square, Bennett joined the crowd in singing his signature tune, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

The hearts, which were painted by local artists and celebrities, will be showcased at SBC Park Nov. 6-8 for the public, who will be asked to donate $10. The sculptures will then be auctioned off starting Nov. 11 at a dinner and online.

Organizers expect to raise about $1.5 million to benefit San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, according to spokeswoman Cynthia Bowman.

NEW YORK (AP) – “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” viewers gave the villainous character Nicole Wallace, played by Olivia d’Abo, a stay of execution Sunday.

During the Oct. 17 episode of the NBC drama series, audiences on the East Coast witnessed the bad gal’s escape from police Detectives Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), while West Coast viewers saw Wallace dead. Visitors to the network’s Web site could then see both endings and vote whether the character would live or die.

On Sunday’s episode, it was revealed that Wallace didn’t bite the dust. According to the Web site, there were 62,074 votes for her to live while 54,224 wanted to see the character dead.

“We are very gratified by the response,” executive producer Rene Balcer said last week. “We’ve always seen this as a gift to our fans, to thank them for their continuing dedication to the series.”

LONDON (AP) – An aspiring cellist who claims his talent has been ignored by major record companies has put up $100,550 to rent Britain’s most famous concert hall.

Kenyan-born musician Dave Loew, 55, has been unable to secure a recording deal but is hoping he can sell out London’s Royal Albert Hall and prove record industry pundits wrong. Loew has booked the 3,900-seat hall for March 23, the venue’s administrators confirmed Monday.

Loew, who was raised in Australia and has had a 30-year classical music career including stints with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic, believes record company executives have lost touch with the public.

“I’ve had an audience of 12,000 for an event in Australia … but the major record labels have not bothered to come and see what I’m doing,” Loew said. “Hopefully the Royal Albert Hall concert will show the industry what it has been missing.”

Loew, who mixes classical and contemporary genres, believes backing from his celebrity fans, who are said to include actor Edward Fox, designer Stella McCartney and BBC world affairs editor John Simpson, will help him lure a capacity crowd.

The Royal Albert Hall opened in 1871 and has played host to more than 150,000 performances including classical music and pop concerts, film premieres, boxing matches and speaking tours.

Parker presented city key

NELSONVILLE, Ohio (AP) – “Sex and the City” actress Sarah Jessica Parker has been presented a key to this small southeastern Ohio city, where she was born.

Parker received the key during a visit to the Athens County Democratic Party’s Nelsonville headquarters Thursday while stumping for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. She then headed to nearby Athens, home of Ohio University.

Wearing a large gold “vote” medallion, Parker appealed to the mostly female crowd of 300 at an Athens bar by saying Kerry’s platform of abortion rights, jobs, health care and education are hot topics with women.

“It’s no secret who I’m going to vote for,” she said, pointing to her glitter-adorned Kerry T-shirt.

Parker called the Nov. 2 presidential election the “most important of my lifetime.”

She then signed autographs on everything from fliers to designer shoes in the Blue Gator bar, owned by former Mideast hostage Terry Anderson. Anderson, who was chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press when he was held for 6 1/2 years in Lebanon by Iranian-sponsored terrorists, is running as a Democrat for state senator.

Cronkite doubts safety

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) – Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite said Americans aren’t any safer because of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

“The problem, quite clearly, is we have excited the Arab world, the Muslim world, to take up arms against us,” Cronkite said Saturday, adding that this excitement far exceeds the anger that existed among terrorist groups prior to the war.

Cronkite made the comments after receiving an award from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation during the group’s gala at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort.

He said the Nov. 2 presidential election will be one of the most important since perhaps the Civil War because it comes on the heels of a drastic change in U.S. foreign policy and a ballooning national debt.

The war on Iraq marked the first time the United States has conducted a pre-emptive invasion and occupation of another country, he noted.

Asked what it will take to achieve peace, Cronkite said, “It certainly has to include, as a major factor, diplomacy.”

The 87-year-old retired news anchor, dubbed “the most trusted man in America,” was given the foundation’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award for “courageous leadership in the cause of peace.” Past recipients include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jacques Cousteau and Jordan’s King Hussein.

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