Bono testifies for R.E.M. guitarist

London  U2’s Bono appeared as a character witness at the “air-rage” trial of Peter Buck, telling a British court the R.E.M. guitarist is a quiet family man not known for drinking or taking drugs.

Buck is accused of going on a drunken rampage aboard a trans-Atlantic British Airways flight.

Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, said Monday that prosecutors’ description of a man who grappled with crew members did not sound like the Buck he has known for 17 years.

Bono said Buck was a “famous parent” who hated leaving his children behind to go on tour.

“I just wanted to stand up and be heard,” Bono said. “It didn’t add up to the person whose arm I had to twist to go to a boxing match because he thought it was an aggressive sport.”

Lance Bass: He’s a rocket man

Moscow  ‘N Sync’s Lance Bass has undergone a series of health tests in preparation for the flight he hopes to take aboard a Russian rocket.

Further examinations would be required, as would approval from the Russian space agency, which told Interfax news agency Monday that it has not received an official application from Bass.

The 22-year-old arrived in Moscow on Friday for an initial medical examination. He left Russia on Monday.

“I’m looking forward to completing this lifelong dream,” Bass said last month. He attended space camp near Titusville, Fla., when he was 12.

Son cries when Celine sings

Radnor, Pa. Â Celine Dion’s voice may have earned her five Grammy Awards and sales approaching 140 million albums, but it isn’t music to the ears of her 14-month-old son, Rene-Charles.

“When I sing,” Dion told TV Guide for its March 30 issue, “he cries.”

The lack of appreciation has not put a damper on motherhood  in fact, she and husband, Rene Angelil, are planning a sequel.

“We have a little baby waiting for us,” she said. “A frozen embryo. For sure we’re going to go for it.”

Directing, acting tastes differ

Boston  The actress inside Jodie Foster might disagree with her inner director.

“I just have different taste as a director than as an actor,” she told the Boston Sunday Globe.

“I’m much more of a popcorn-movie actress,” said the star of “Taxi Driver,” “The Accused,” “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Anna and the King.”

“The movies I act in are more about the questions I have about life, much more working out emotional questions I have,” the 39-year-old said.

Foster stars in “Panic Room,” which opens Friday.