James Bond creator Ian Fleming is to be commemorated in the new year with a set of stamps from the Royal Mail.

Six stamps will be launched on January 8, featuring different editions of Fleming's most famous novels, including Casino Royale and Dr No, to mark the centenary of the birth.

Fleming himself was responsible for the design of the Casino Royale and From Russia With Love covers.

Daniel Craig has revealed that he has only been signed up to star as 007 in one more James Bond movie.

The actor, who has so far appeared as Bond in Casino Royale, may appear as the spy in the next film only, which is due to start shooting next month under director Marc Forster.

MGM chairman Harry Sloan claimed Craig was contracted to four more movies as James Bond earlier this year, but the star has rubbished the claims and insisted he may only be seen as 007 once more.

He's jumping off tall buildings again, but this time it is just rehearsals ahead of the next James Bond blockbuster due in theatres in 2008.

Actor Daniel Craig, who won over the sceptics with his dark and dangerous interpretation of the world's most famous spy in his hit Bond debut "Casino Royale", is set to reprise the role in an as yet untitled sequel.

"We are rehearsing stunts and I'm throwing myself off tall buildings ... again," Craig said in a recent interview.

Asked whether "Bond 22" would be based on an Ian Fleming novel in the same way as "Casino Royale", he replied: "It's a completely new story and it does go straight on from the end of the last one. We've picked some themes that come up in the last movie ... They are pretty fundamental ones and they're good fun to do."

Actor Daniel Craig might use it in his upcoming James Bond film; it is being touted as the only dual-caliber assault rifle in the world today - and in the coming months, it will hit the international market under the name Micro-Tavor

Developed and manufactured by Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) - a former subsidiary of the government-owned Israel Military Industries - the MTAR is the micro version of the Tavor assault rifle jointly developed by the IDF and IMI as a replacement for the M-16.

As for the chances that the MTAR will appear in the next James Bond movie, Shahar said he will "believe it when he sees it," but that a producer he spoke to at a recent Paris weapons expo seemed serious about the initiative."

"This is an interesting and sexy weapon, and there is no doubt that it will continue to attract a lot of attention around the world," he said."

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has said that the company is committed to revitalising the James Bond brand - "one of the greatest videogame franchises of all time" - while revealing the publisher has two projects based on the license in development.

The publisher secured the Bond licence in 2006 after Electronic Arts ended its deal with MGM Interactive for the rights to create titles based on the James Bond films.

"Bond is one of the great videogame franchises of all time and that really was a result of Golden Eye," commented Kotick at a BMO Capital Markets conference. "I think the key to re-energising the Bond franchise is going to be ultimately the highest possible game quality."

Actor Daniel Craig has signed a $60m (€41m) deal to star in the next four 'James Bond' films.

The blond 39-year-old is currently filming Bond 22 - his second outing as secret agent 007 following the success of 2006's 'Casino Royale' - and movie executives have reportedly signed him up for another three films, tying him to the franchise for the next 10 years.

"To date Daniel has been quite cautious over saying how many films he'd be starring in. It was presumed he'd probably do a couple more but the word is the new deal ensures he'll do at least another four across the next decade."

A painting of a young Sean Connery wearing only a skimpy pair of trunks has gone on show in a Scottish art gallery, revealing the James Bond star's talents even before he hit the big screen.

The picture of Connery, who won third place in the Mr Universe competition as a young man, was painted in 1952 by jazz musician Al Fairweather, then a student at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Connery, now 77, was at the time about to audition for a stage production of South Pacific, a role which started an acting career which saw him become a superstar through the 007 movie franchise.

Daniel Craig, the blond, ball-busted James Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale, has signed on to do four more Bond films, according to MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan. No word on whether that number includes the Bond 22 film already in production, scheduled for a November 2008 release.

Craig’s portrayal of Bond in Royale, a more rugged, muscular style than his Bond predecessors, proved a hit with audiences, especially the females, while the less-gadgetry, more-ass-kickery approach won over the testosterone junkies. The testicular assault scene was brutal enough for fetal-position, high-pitched shrieking in the theater, however. We can do without that the next time around.

Filming for the yet-untitled 22nd Bond film will take place in Austria, Italy, Panama and South Africa. All that’s known so far about the film is that it will be a continuation of the events in Casino Royale, and the script is reportedly based on four different Ian Fleming short stories: Risico, 007 In New York, The Hildebrand Rarity, and Property of a Lady.

The Kaiser Chiefs have insisted that they will never write a James Bond theme because they find the 007 films "boring."

The band worked with Bond soundtrack producer David Arnold at the BBC Electric Proms, but admitted that they hate the spy franchise.

Drummer Nick Hodgson said: "We won't be doing any Bond music. I’ve never seen a Bond film. Actually, I have seen a couple. They were boring."

James Bond is on the hunt for a lovely Latina for his next movie adventure - 007 bosses are looking for a new Bond girl in Mexico City. Casting director Carla Hool hit the Mexican capital last week for a series of low-key auditions with actresses like Montserrat Olivier and Luz Elena Gonzalez, according to PeopleEnEspanol.com.

Olivier has since revealed the casting required aspiring Bond girls to learn three scenes from the previous 007 movie, Casino Royale. The movie's working title will be Bond 22. Daniel Craig will return as the masterspy and fellow Brit Marc Forster will direct.

Actress Lois Maxwell, who starred as Miss Moneypenny in a string of James Bond movies, has died aged 80.

Maxwell starred alongside Sir Sean Connery in Bond's first movie outing, Dr No, in 1962. She played the role until 1985's A View To A Kill with Sir Roger Moore, who told the BBC she had been a "great asset" to the early Bond movies.

A spokesperson for Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia, said she died there on Saturday evening.