Eddie Murphy's wife Nicole has filed for divorce after 12 years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences". Model Nicole, who married the Nutty Professor star in 1993, is seeking joint custody of their five children. "The welfare of our children is our main concern, and their best interests are our first priority," said the actor in a statement on Friday. Murphy, who also voiced the donkey in Shrek, has a son from a previous relationship. His youngest child, Bella Zahra, was born in January 2002. A prodigy of the US comedy show Saturday Night Live, Murphy's film career took off in the early Eighties with films such as 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places. Forthcoming movies include Shrek 3 and an untitled comedy with Chris Rock....BBC

The wizards of China's thriving piracy industry have worked their magic again and produced a rush translation of the latest Harry Potter book. Though it's missing some paragraphs and gets a couple of facts wrong, an unauthorized Chinese version of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was on sale Sunday in Beijing, just two weeks after the book appeared in English and almost three months ahead of the planned October launch of the official Chinese-language edition. Impatient Chinese fans also have begun posting their own translations online. One reader was so upset about the ending he wrote his own and posted it on a university Web site. The fantasy series by J.K. Rowling is wildly popular in China, where the hero is known as "Ha-li Bo-te" and authorized translations of five earlier books have sold millions of copies. In 2002, an unknown Chinese author produced an entire fake adventure, "Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon." Chinese leaders, under pressure from the United States and the country's other trading partners, have promised repeatedly to stamp out the country's rampant piracy of goods ranging from books and movies to drugs and designer clothes. But such fakes are still widely available, and foreign companies say they are losing billions of dollars in potential sales. A Chinese-character softcover version of the newest Harry Potter installment was being sold off a tarp in an underpass in downtown Beijing for 20 yuan, or $2.50, while the official English-language hardcover books sell in Beijing for the equivalent of $21. The saleswoman would not say where she got the book but said she had been selling copies since Friday. The fake book looked identical to the first five tales put out by People's Literature Publishing House, the mainland firm that purchased the rights to publish Harry Potter in Chinese. However, several crucial pages of action are missing and there are some critical mistranslations, such as using the word "immortal" at one point when the original says "mortal." The earlier authorized translations were produced by a team of veteran children's book translators. Pirated versions of those books and the movie spin-offs are widely available in China. The People's Literature Publishing House plans to launch the official Chinese version of the new book on October 15, the Beijing Daily Messenger newspaper reported Sunday. In 2003, the publisher tried to beat pirates to market by rushing out its own translation of Rowling's previous book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," 10 days before its scheduled release. At that time, the company offered a reward for reporting piracy, but it was not clear whether it caught any copycats. A spokesman for Rowling's London agent, Christopher Little, said two weeks ago the agent had successfully taken action against Chinese pirates but declined to give details. China is regarded as the world's biggest source of illegally copied goods ranging from Hollywood movies and Microsoft Corp software to Ralph Lauren designer shirts and Callaway golf clubs. Estimates of potential lost sales to legitimate producers worldwide range from $16 billion to as much as $50 billion a year. China's own producers of music, software and other goods say they also suffer huge losses. In response to complaints from it trading partners that fines were too light to deter pirates, China has begun imposing jail time for violations. The government said in June that during an eight-month crackdown it had arrested some 2,600 people and destroyed 63 million compact disks and other counterfeit goods estimated to be worth $105 million....CNN

It's back to acting for Lisa Hartman Black after a five-year hiatus that included writing and recording music with husband Clint Black. During her time away, Hartman Black moved to Nashville, Tenn., where she and Black recorded the Grammy-nominated song "When I Say I Do." She also had the couple's first child, Lily, now 4. Hartman Black returns to television Saturday in the Hallmark Channel movie "Back to You & Me," another collaborative effort with her country singer-husband. Black doesn't appear in the movie, but he sings three songs. "It was the producer's idea," Hartman Black said. "We thought it would be fun." She plays a Los Angeles doctor who returns to her small hometown for her 20th high school reunion. The movie co-stars Rue McClanahan and Dale Midkiff. This fall, Hartman Black joins former co-stars in the "Knot's Landing" reunion movie on CBS....CNN

The Globe Theatre in London is to stage an entire Shakespeare play in its original pronunciation. Actors in Troilus and Cressida will recite their lines with accents believed to have been heard on the stage during Elizabethan times. It follows on from brief experiments with original pronunciation during the company's run of Romeo and Juliet in June 2004. The six-week run of Troilus and Cressida begins on 24 August. The production is directed by Giles Block, who has pioneered the search for natural, spontaneous speech of Shakespeare's works. He told the BBC News website the accent was a mix of West Country, Irish, and northern British, as well as sounds heard in modern Australia and America. "I was very sceptical at first - aren't we always trying to make Shakespeare more accessible and more approachable? he said. "Within 20 seconds I knew it was not going to be difficult to understand." The Globe is being advised by David Crystal, a world expert in language and phonetics and an honorary professor at the University of Wales, in Bangor. 'Street savvy' Mr Block said he was "surprised and delighted" by how quickly the production's 14 actors had picked up the accent. One example of the different sound is the word "my" in the context of someone saying "my son", which sounds more like "me son" in the original pronunciation....BBC

After cementing their onscreen relationship with Ocean's Eleven and Twelve, Hollywood hunks Brad Pitt and George Clooney are apparently set to take their collaboration to a new level. The Tinseltown heart-throbs are reportedly joining forces to build a new hotel and casino in Las Vegas, in a deal with Cindy Crawford's husband, nightclub empresario Rande Gerber. According to an insider, neither screen icon is investing in the venture, although both will be due a hefty slice of the profits once everything's up and running. "Brad will design the hotel and be the face of it with George," an insider told the New York Post. "After Ocean's Eleven this makes perfect sense, and the three of them are very good friends." The hospitality project has apparently been in the pipeline for a while, with Brad first embarking upon talks with Rande two years ago. George came on board more recently. A formal announcement on the deal is due in November with work getting underway in January 2006...HELLO MAGAZINE

A painting by Italian master Canaletto has set a world record for the artist after being sold for £11m - twice its expected price - at auction in London. The painting shows the Doge of Venice's barge, the Bucintoro, with crowds on what is thought to be Ascension Day, when the Doge blessed the city. An anonymous telephone bidder bought the work, which had been owned by a Portuguese billionaire. Christie's said the price tag for such a "beautiful picture" was no surprise. The painting, which had been expected to fetch between £4-6m, was part of an auction of items owned by Portuguese businessman Antonio Champalimaud, who died last year. The whole collection had been expected to be sold for £15m. A Christie's spokeswoman said: "It is fantastic. It is way above what we expected but it is a beautiful picture I am not surprised it went for so much. High quality "Most things are going over their estimated price. I think it is down to their quality. Prior to the sale, the Old Horse Guards from St James's Park - which was bought by Andrew Lloyd Weber in 1992 for £9,200,000 - was the highest selling Canaletto....BBC

A new picture by Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered, the National Gallery in London has said. It said experts using infra-red techniques found a drawing under the surface of the Virgin of the Rocks painting which hangs at the gallery. It believes the drawing shows a woman kneeling with one arm stretched out. Experts believe the Italian Renaissance painter was planning a picture of an adoration of the child Christ but abandoned the idea. Leonardo was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks to decorate an altarpiece in a chapel in Milan in 1483. The artist appears to have painted two versions. One, which now hangs in the Louvre, was probably sold to a private client, says BBC arts correspondent Rebecca Jones. The other, which hangs in the National Gallery, was placed in the chapel in 1508. It is under this painting that experts believe they have found a drawing of a kneeling woman. She is pictured with her eyes downcast and one of her hands stretched out. Experts think Leonardo da Vinci was probably planning a picture of an adoration of the Christ child, but abandoned the idea before drawing Jesus as a baby, our correspondent says. However, why he painted over the work may never be known, she adds. Milan arrival The Virgin of the Rocks was the first painting executed by Leonardo after his arrival in Milan. Critics have argued over exactly what the painting depicts. Some claim it shows the Immaculate Conception, while others believe it recalls the moment when the infant Christ met St John the Baptist. Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa, considered to be among the world's most famous paintings. His other masterpieces include the Last Supper and Adoration of the Magi....BBC