FIRST OFF . . .

And over in Los Angeles Superior Court, Engelbert Humperdinck filed a $50-million-plus libel suit Tuesday against the National Enquirer, claiming the tabloid falsely and maliciously reported in this week’s issue that he had the deadly AIDS virus. The suit states the entertainer doesn’t have and never had either the virus or the disease, and has never tested positive for AIDS. According to the Enquirer story, Kathy Jetter--a former girlfriend of Humperdinck’s and the mother of his child--stated that Humperdinck was battling the virus in an affidavit that Jetter filed in an effort to force Humperdinck to increase his child support payments. Jetter lost the action in New York Family Court, and, according to Humperdinck’s attorney, the court dismissed the affidavit. “The article is libelous on its face, exposing the plaintiff to hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy,” the suit said, adding that there was malice because the tabloid “made the statements with knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.”