Spears escorted by police to hospital

Los Angeles – Britney Spears was taken from her home by ambulance early Thursday and escorted to the hospital by more than a dozen police officers in cars, on motorcycles and in helicopters.

The 26-year-old pop star was being taken to “get help,” said a Los Angeles police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter. The Los Angeles Times cited unidentified authorities who said Spears was being placed on a “mental evaluation hold.”

Spears was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where her mother, Lynne, was seen leaving its psychiatric hospital about 5:30 a.m. When asked by paparazzi and reporters if Britney was doing all right, Lynne replied, “Yeah,” before leaving in a Range Rover.

Clooney takes on role as UN messenger of peace

United Nations – In his new role as U.N. messenger of peace, George Clooney was playing himself.

The 46-year-old actor arrived Thursday at the United Nations, joking and shaking hands and repeating “Hi guys!” as he stepped past hundreds of curious U.N. employees.

Clooney toured U.N. headquarters for a ceremony and a new pin on his lapel marking his designation for the special job by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

He was just back from a two-week trip to 19 locations in Sudan’s Darfur region, the Central African Republic, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, arriving in the U.S. by way of India, a major contributor of U.N. peacekeeping troops, U.N. officials said.

As the ninth U.N. peace envoy, the Oscar winner (best supporting actor for “Syriana”) was selected for his ability to focus public attention on critical international political and social issues. He told reporters it was a tremendous honor for him.

“I am very proud to be here as a messenger of peace, and the message is: That the world is watching, and that at this point we cannot afford to fail,” he said. “There’s a lot more responsibility with this one than with an Oscar, which all you really have to do is, you know, drink after the party.”

Clooney took on the job of promoting the world body’s peacekeeping missions after waging his own campaigns for an end to the 4 1/2-year war.