NEWS LITE : BABY-KILLING NANNY SAYS HER CELEBRITY IS UNSETTLING.

Louise Woodward, the nanny convicted of killing American baby Matthew Eappen last year, spoke out Monday against cameras in the courtroom, saying it added to the stress and unwanted fame she now lives with.

``I am just trying to be a normal 20-year-old . . . and people won't let me do that,'' Woodward said at Scotland's Edinburgh International Television Festival. ``People don't seem to be able to distinguish between celebrity and notoriety. They seek autographs and photographs and things. They ask me to sign baseball caps, which I find ridiculous.''

However, if on the other end of the trial, she admitted: ``I think I would have watched it, too.'' Woodward returned home June 18 after serving 279 days in jail.

Dodi's dad offers reward in Di death

Mohamed Al Fayed is offering $20 million to the first person proving that the death of his son, Dodi, and Princess Diana was a conspiracy. His offer comes after British ex-secret service agent Richard Thomlinson told a Paris judge that Henri Paul, drunk driver of the ill-fated car, was a British agent. The British Foreign Office said the story was ``pure fantasy,'' calling Thomlinson an embittered ex-employee.

Bound for Himalayas; Seattle woman seeking summits

Meet Christine Boskoff: 5 feet 3 inches, 115 pounds, small hands wrinkled at the knuckles and feet a good deal paler than the rest of her body, which has seen a lot of sun. Her hair is long and blond, and her face is TV pretty.

But make no mistake: Nothing she does is easy.

Today, Boskoff heads off to the Himalayas to climb the world's fifth-highest peak.

Boskoff, 30, of Seattle hopes to become the first woman to climb the world's 14 peaks higher than 26,400 feet (8,000 meters). It's a feat that would place her among mountain climbing's elite; only a handful of men have climbed all 14.

One woman climbed to the top of eight of the peaks but died in her attempt to climb No. 9. Two American women, including Boskoff, have climbed three.

So Boskoff, a former aerospace engineer from Georgia who now co-owns Mountain Madness in West Seattle, is headed to Nepal for Makalu, a mountain climbers regard as harder to climb than Mount Everest.

Her goal is to reach the summit of one 8,000-meter mountain each year until she has completed all 14. So far, she has climbed Broad Peak, Cho Oyu and Lhotse. Next year, Boskoff's goal is Gasherbraum II and then Everest in 2000.

``I'm just taking them one at a time,'' she explained recently. ``I just want to have a good time. When 8,000-meter peaks aren't fun anymore, then I'll just move on.''

Boskoff is well aware of the risks of climbing, particularly scaling peaks that soar above clouds and into an oxygen-shy atmosphere.

Boskoff and her husband, Keith, have taken over Mountain Madness, the outdoor company once run by Scott Fischer, a respected Seattle climber whose death on Everest in 1996, along with the deaths of seven other climbers that year, was chronicled in the book ``Into Thin Air,'' by Seattle's Jon Krakauer.

Stallone, Gere tussled over Di

Elton John said Richard Gere and Sylvester Stallone almost got into a fistfight over the attentions of Princess Diana.

In Britain's Daily Telegraph, John noted it happened at a dinner party at his London house where Di sat on the floor talking to Gere for two hours. The singer says he invited Stallone because he ``had always wanted to meet her'' and was ``a good friend of mine but he's a bit of a male chauvinist pig.''

John didn't know the two actors didn't get on but believed it had something to do with Stallone's hitting on Gere's ex, Cindy Crawford. He said Stallone was ``steaming away'' as Gere and Di schmoozed.

``Then before dinner Richard and Sylvester started squaring up to one another. . . . Someone had to come between them.'' He recalled Di ``sitting cross-legged on the floor, completely relaxed . . . laughing away.''

Singer on lookout for Mrs. Vandross

Luther Vandross, a 47-year-old bachelor, says he's ready for permanent company in his new $9 million mansion.

The popular R&B singer lives alone in the 25-room Greenwich, Conn., home he bought last year.

``When you're in love, there's nothing to cope with - like feelings of loneliness and isolation,'' he said in the Sept. 7 issue of People magazine.

Vandross said his love life these days isn't bad - ``it's just nonexistent.''

But Vandross - who has several platinum and double-platinum albums to his credit - offered four reasons why he isn't worried.

``I'm 47, drug-free, rich and fabulous,'' he said.

`Chicago star Guy weds stockbroker

Jasmine Guy marked the end of an 18-month road trip with her own wedding.

The actress, whose career began on TV's ``A Different World'' and soared with movie roles in ``Harlem Nights'' and ``School Daze'' as well as a just-completed 18-month tour as lead in the musical ``Chicago,'' married investment broker Terrence Duckette.

The couple exchanged wedding vows Aug. 22 during a private ceremony, her publicist Tracy Mosh said. Guy's final ``Chicago'' performance was Sunday in Los Angeles.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

PHOTO (1) Mountain climber Christine Boskoff, 30, has set her sights on Makalu.

Seattle Times

(2) Louise Woodward and lawyer Barry Scheck speak to reporters.

(3) Vandross

(4) Gere

(5) Stallone