NEWS LITE : NO SHAKESPEARE FOR `BOOGIE' STAR.

Mark Wahlberg knows his limits.

Following his acclaimed performance in ``Boogie Nights,'' the actor who transformed himself from rapper Marky Mark into a bankable Hollywood talent recently tried comedy in ``The Big Hit.'' He's ready to tackle new kinds of roles too, with one exception.

``I want to stay away from Shakespeare,'' Wahlberg says in the Sunday New York Daily News.

Known for dropping his pants on stage as a rapper and as Calvin Klein underwear model, Wahlberg revealed much more skin in ``Boogie Nights,'' the story of a 1980s porn star. He's far from ashamed.

``I have it, so I use it,'' Wahlberg said of his physique. ``I think my body helped my career only because there's a lot inside, there's a lot upstairs.''

Mandela gets stung in battle with bees

Hostile honeybees attacked Nelson Mandela in the bathroom, repeatedly stinging the South African president.

Mandela, 79, said the bees were buzzing outside his vacation home Saturday in Qunu, South Africa, in the former Transkei tribal homeland, and then some flew inside and attacked, the Sunday Independent reported.

Mandela said he was stung ``four or five times'' on the abdomen and ``also in parts that I can't mention,'' the newspaper reported.

Ice Cube puts rap ahead of film work

Rapper-actor-director Ice Cube wants to get back to what got him there.

``What I love is rap music,'' he says in the May issue of The Source magazine. ``It's what I've been doing since I was 14 years old.''

The former member of N.W.A has never stopped rapping, despite a turn to acting that includes appearances in such films as ``Boyz N the Hood,'' ``Higher Learning'' and ``Anaconda.'' He recently made his directorial debut with ``The Players Club.''

``Hip hop gives me the freedom that movies will never give me,'' he said. ``With movies you've got so many suits putting their two cents in.''

Hootie due in L.A. to cut third album

Hootie & the Blowfish hope the third time is the charm.

The band's debut album ``Cracked Rear View'' sold a whopping 15 million albums, while the follow-up ``Fairweather Johnson'' was far less impressive with 2 million sales. Soon, they'll be heading back to the studio to make No. 3.

The band featuring front man Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld has already taken some of its new material on the road, playing shows in the Northeast.

Hootie has been working on the new material since January, mostly holed up in an abandoned nightclub called Rockafellas. After a local benefit show this week, Hootie heads for Los Angeles to begin recording the album tentatively slated for September.

CBS News marks half-century on air

On May 3, 1948, ``The CBS Evening News With Douglas Edwards'' became the first nightly network newscast. It had virtually no graphics, film, correspondents or much of anything, really, except Edwards sitting at a desk reading stories. To illustrate, he would occasionally hold up a photo.

Nearly five decades later, CBS News celebrates its 50th anniversary with a five-part series airing tonight through Friday on ``The CBS Evening News With Dan Rather.'' Hard to believe, but in 50 years Rather is only the third anchor to sit in the chair (four if you count Connie Chung). Much of the early footage is very predictable (civil rights, Vietnam), but toward the end, Rather gets extremely honest.

``There has been an astonishing blurring of the line between entertainment and news,'' he says. ``The line has become so blurred there are days when I think it is nonexistent. . . . Do I know what to do about it? No.''

Say what you will about Rather, he has t`he courage to tell the truth, even on a tribute to his own institution.

Berkeley professor is `Jeopardy' master

University of California, Berkeley, professor of rhetoric and Celtic studies Dan Melia, 54, has picked up his silver Corvette, the final installment of winnings in the ``Jeopardy'' game show's Tournament of Champions. Melia's cash prizes added up to $175,000.

Congratulations from co-workers have been muted. ``Many colleagues can't admit to owning TVs. There have been a lot of interesting comments on how they happened to see me,'' Melia said.

Melia's favorite question: ``The category was `Things Beginning with the Letter I,' '' he said. The clue was ``Derived from the Latin word for swaddling clothes, this is the term used to describe books published before 1501.''

The answer is ``incunabula,'' an ``everyday word for me,'' said the professor.

Gangster backs `Casino' to show his lighter side

Macao's most feared organized crime boss has financed a film that he hopes will show he is not the ``heartless'' gangster people think.

Wan Kuok-koi, alias Broken Tooth Koi, who heads Macao's most feared crime gang 14K, told Time he was not a monster, saying the film ``Casino,'' loosely based on his rise to power, will show he is ``very easy going and funny.''

Casino, expected to be released next month, casts new light on the gang wars that have wracked the Portuguese enclave of Macao, and on the life of a modern Chinese gangster.

News Lite is compiled from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

PHOTO (1) Flying nun

Sister Lorraine Aucoin of the Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson, N.H., runs through a field to lift her kite aloft Sunday.

Craig Ambrosio/Associated Press

(2) EDWARDS

(3) CRONKITE

(4) RATHER

(5) WAHLBERG