Bob Marley's family has discovered a batch of unheard recordings by the reggae singer which could be released as an album next year.

Marley's son Ziggy said the 1970s tracks could be re-mastered in a similar way to the 1990s Beatles' tracks Free As A Bird and Real Love.

Ziggy Marley told Billboard.com he would like to sing vocals over some of the eight-track recordings and invite musicians such as Carlos Santana to contribute.

He added: "The way he was playing the guitar on one song that I heard, it was like jazz. It wasn't what you would expect from him at all."

Murderous role for Hurley

Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley is set to play a film star-turned serial killer in her latest project.

The Method will feature 37-year-old Hurley as a movie star who lands her dream role playing real-life American murderess Belle Gunness, who killed 14 men in 1908.

But things take a sinister turn when she begins to take on the characteristics of Gunness off-screen.

The low-budget production, from Bafta-nominated British director Duncan Roy, starts shooting in Romania in July

US stars show support for Ali

Arnold Schwarznegger, Angelina Jolie, Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake have backed a campaign to bring Iraqi war victim Ali Ismail Abbas to Los Angeles for medical treatment.

The 12-year-old has become the symbol of civilian suffering during the conflict since he lost his arms and suffered severe burns in a US bombing raid on Baghdad in March.

The celebrities gave their support to the Global Medical Relief Fund, a non-profit organisation that helps child victims of war.

Celebrity promoter Cheryl Shuman said: "My hope is that with the help of these stars we can raise enough money to cover his medical treatment and then take care of this child for the rest of his life."

Rapper cleared of copyright charges

US rapper Juvenile has been cleared of stealing his most successful song from a rival musician at a federal court in New Orleans.

The singer was sued by Jerome "DJ Jubilee" Temple, who claimed he had written Juvenile's 1998 hit, Back That A-- Up.

A federal jury found Juvenile (real name Terius Gray) not guilty and agreed the song was his creation and not a copy of a Jubilee song with a similar title.

Jubilee is considered a pioneer of New Orleans rap but is not a major star outside his local area. Juvenile became a big rap name in 1999 after the release of Back That A-- Up.

Ukraine gets tough on music 'piracy'

The Ukraine is to pass stronger copyright laws to persuade the US to end sanctions imposed for the country's failure to crack down on pirated music production.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivskyi announced the move after a US trade representative report listed the Ukraine as the only "priority foreign country" in the world, indicating the country was one of the worst offenders of intellectual property rights.

The US issued $75m (�47m) in trade sanctions on Ukrainian textiles, steel and other metal exports connected to illegal CD production in 2002.

The head of the Ukrainian State Department on Intellectual Property, Mykola Paladiy, dismissed the US charges, saying Ukrainian companies no longer need to produce unlawful CDs to make a profit.

Roaring role for Robbie

Pop singer Robbie Williams is to play the voice of a lion in a movie for the BBC.

The singer - who has a lion tattooed on his upper right arm - will join Kate Winslet, Sean Bean and Helen Mirren for the film Pride, in which a drama will be built around real-life footage of lions.

Williams is in demand for his voice-overs and last year recorded his role as Dougal in a movie version of The Magic Roundabout.

He also appeared in animated hit Hooves Of Fire, although he was dropped from a revamped US version because he was not a big enough name.

Arbuckle's widow dies

The widow of infamous comic actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle has died in Los Angeles at the age of 97.

Actress Addie McPhail wed the rotund silent screen star in 1932 when she was 25 and he was 45, but he died a year later.

Arbuckle was tried three times for the murder of actress Virginia Rappe, who suffered a ruptured bladder and died from an infection days after attending a party in Arbuckle's hotel room.

He was acquitted on each occasion but he never found work in front of the camera again so turned to directing short films.