NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. rapper Remy Ma has been convicted in New York of assault, weapons possession, and attempted coercion stemming from a 2007 shooting in Manhattan.

The recording artist faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced April 23, NY1, an Internet news service, said.

A jury announced its verdict in state Supreme Court Thursday.

The rapper, whose real name is Remy Smith, was on trial for shooting her friend Makeda Barnes-Joseph during an argument over $3,000 that was missing from Smith's purse.

Smith's attorneys admitted Smith fired a shot at Barnes-Joseph, but insisted it was an accident, NY1 said.

Connery eyes 007 villain role

LONDON, March 28 (UPI) -- Scottish actor Sean Connery told a British newspaper he would like to play a villain in an upcoming James Bond picture.

Connery, 77, played the iconic superagent in the movies "Dr. No," "From Russia With Love," "Goldfinger," "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "Diamonds Are Forever" and "Never Say Never Again," but retired from film acting in 2006.

"I wouldn't mind coming back as a Bond villain," he told The Daily Telegraph. "But I don't think they would pay me enough money."

Connery said he thought Daniel Craig, the "Casino Royale" star who will play Bond in the next several 007 films, "is a terrific choice."

"I think they're going back to a more realistic type of Bond movie as I don't think they could have gone much further with the special effects," Connery said. "They don't pay the money for the other parts, only for the Bond character, although that wasn't the case when I was doing it."

Piers Morgan wins 'Celebrity Apprentice'

NEW YORK, March 28 (UPI) -- British former tabloid editor and "America's Got Talent" judge Piers Morgan beat country music star Trace Adkins and won TV's "Celebrity Apprentice."

"I'm going to go back to 'America's Got Talent' and when somebody says, 'What do you know?' I can say, I won 'Celebrity Apprentice,'" he told the New York Daily News Thursday following the business competition show's final episode of the season.

Morgan defeated 13 other celebrities, including finalist Adkins, and won $250,000 for his designated charity, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

Madonna still a Britney Spears fan

LOS ANGELES, March 28 (UPI) -- U.S. pop singer Madonna said in a radio interview that she is still a supporter of Britney Spears, despite Spears's well-publicized troubles.

"They need to step off," Madonna said of the media, during an interview with the "Yo on E!" satellite radio show. "For real... Let's go save her."

Madonna said her 11-year-old daughter, Lourdes, who met Spears "back in the day," is also a big fan and is rooting for Spears.

"She knows Britney, but doesn't catch all that gossip stuff. So I think she sorta gets the drift of what's going on, and I think she's kind of protective of Britney," the elder pop star said.

Madonna and Spears infamously locked lips on a televised awards show several years ago.