Spears poops out at New Year’s party

Las Vegas – Britney Spears finally appears to be acting like a new mom.

The pop princess, who recently made headlines for a rash of less-than-motherly hard partying, fell asleep in a Las Vegas nightclub early Monday shortly after leading the New Year’s Eve countdown, her manager said.

“By about one o’clock, she was just done, so we took her out,” Spears’ manager, Larry Rudolph, told The Associated Press on Monday. “She was not drunk. She was just tired and falling asleep.”

Rudolph denied reports circulating on gossip Web sites that Spears, 25, collapsed shortly after midnight and was carried out by bodyguards. The star was hired to host the festivities at Ceasars Palace’s PURE nightclub.

Rudolph said Spears walked out of the club and did not seek medical attention. “There is nothing out of the ordinary here,” he said.

Spears was traveling with her two sons, 3-month-old Jayden James and 1-year-old Sean Preston. She filed for divorce in November from her husband of two years, Kevin Federline.

Japan’s emperor pens poem honoring heir

Tokyo – Japanese Emperor Akihito celebrated the September birth of his grandson – the imperial family’s first male heir in four decades – in a New Year’s poem issued to the public on Monday.

Prince Hisahito’s Sept. 6, 2006, birth to Princess Kiko, the wife of the emperor’s second son Akishino, was hailed by royalists for defusing a looming succession crisis in one of the world’s oldest imperial systems, which allows only male rulers.

“Rejoicing with us / on the birth of our grandson … The voices of the people – I am happy hearing them,” read the poem written by the 73-year-old emperor.

Emperor Akihito’s sons, Akishino and Crown Prince Naruhito, had three daughters between them, but no sons until Hisahito became the first male heir born since 1965 to the imperial family.

An expert panel charged in 2005 with averting an imminent succession crisis recommended amending the law to allow women on the throne. Recent polls have shown the Japanese public backs the idea of a female monarch, despite Hisahito’s birth.

Tom Petty to keeping rocking in 2007

Los Angeles – Looks like Tom Petty won’t back down after all.

The veteran rocker says he’s not retiring, despite a Rolling Stone article in July that suggested otherwise.

Petty said 2006 was one of the most rewarding years in his career, and he expects the ride to continue in 2007.

“You never know how things are going to turn out, and I didn’t see this year coming,” Petty told the Los Angeles Times for a story published Sunday. “But maybe next year will be even better.”

Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, recently earned two Grammy nominations for their latest album, “Highway Companion.” Their 30th anniversary tour was a sellout and included a triumphant homecoming to Gainesville, Fla., where the band formed in the 1970s.

The Heartbreakers also are the subject of a documentary due out in 2007 from Oscar-nominated director Peter Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich calls Petty “an American troubadour in the truest sense of the word.”

Petty is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His many hits include “I Won’t Back Down, “Even the Losers,” “Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Free Fallin”‘ and “The Waiting.”