Defensive about driving

Los Angeles – Blame it on love and the paparazzi.

That’s Britney Spears’ explanation for why she was driving with her infant son on her lap rather than in his car seat.

Several photos published Tuesday showed Spears driving her SUV with her son, Sean Preston, perched on her lap rather than strapped into a car seat in the back seat. Spears said she did it because of a “horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi.”

The photos show Spears holding the wheel of the car with one hand, and her 4-month-old baby in the other. A person is shown sitting in the passenger seat next to Spears.

“I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger,” Spears said in a statement released late Monday. “I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm’s way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us. I love my child and would do anything to protect him.”

The agency that snapped the photos, X17, said the pictures were taken “in a very peaceful context, in which photographers exhibited no aggressive behavior.”

French love Uma

Paris – France honored Uma Thurman on Tuesday, proclaiming the “classic and disconcerting beauty” a knight in the Order of Arts and Letters.

“We welcome Uma Thurman, a model-actress, admired throughout the world and especially in our country, France,” said Cannes Film Festival Director Gilles Jacob. He presented the award to Thurman on behalf of the country’s Culture Ministry.

Jacob evoked Thurman’s “atypical and bohemian” childhood as the daughter of a renowned Tibet scholar, who was named for a Hindu goddess.

“The public discovered your grace and sensuality,” Jacob said, outlining Thurman’s acting career that began on a New York stage when she was 16.

Her screen credits include roles in “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Pulp Fiction” and the “Kill Bill” films.

Armenian Neverland?

Yerevan, Armenia – Jermaine Jackson has revealed plans to build an entertainment complex in Armenia and said he hoped that his brother, Michael Jackson, will join in a reunion concert marking its opening.

Jermaine Jackson, a singer and bass guitar player who has pursued a solo career, is on a 12-day visit to this impoverished landlocked Caucasus Mountain nation. The 51-year-old said the complex could include a hotel, a restaurant and a television company.

The Jackson 5 – which was comprised of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael – was formed by their father Joe in the 1960s in Gary, Ind. Michael Jackson, the youngest in the band, helped propel the group to its peak of popularity in 1972 during a tour in Britain.