Directors will begin talks with studios

Los Angeles – The union representing Hollywood directors will begin contract talks today with studios in a move that could affect the ongoing strike by writers.

The announcement was made in a brief joint statement by the Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

No further details were released. Both sides said they would have no further comment.

A quick deal by directors could undercut the bargaining power of writers by serving as an industry template for new media and other issues.

Federline’s attorney requests police report

Los Angeles – An attorney for Kevin Federline wants the Police Department to release its investigative report on an incident at ex-wife Britney Spears’ home a week ago that led to the pop star losing custody of her two sons.

According to a court order released Friday by Los Angeles County Superior Court, there was a hearing Thursday in the couple’s child custody dispute. Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, asked for the police report and also requested the names of the law enforcement officers who responded.

A hearing on the requests will be held Monday.

Alba, Dawson among celebs celebrating V-Day

Los Angeles – Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson were among the celebrities who celebrated the 10th anniversary of V-Day, a global effort to end violence against women and girls.

Alba, who made her stage debut performing Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” offered a poem at a private luncheon Thursday sponsored by Glamour magazine. But first the 26-year-old actress warned that she was “popping out” of her dress.

“If you guys don’t know, I’m pregnant,” Alba said as her fiance, producer Cash Warren, beamed. “You’re all women. I think you understand your breasts are engorged and your stomach is getting bigger by the second.”

Ensler founded V-Day, which now reaches 119 countries and has raised $50 million to increase awareness about violence against women.

“It literally started from one woman’s voice … and it’s exponentially grown,” Dawson, 28, said. “It’s about embracing being a female and reclaiming that.”

Toni Collette gives birth to daughter Sage

Sydney, Australia – Toni Collette has given birth to her first child, a baby girl, Australian media reported Friday.

The Sydney-born actress and her husband, musician Dave Galafassi, welcomed Sage Florence Galafassi into the world Wednesday, a spokeswoman told the Australian Associated Press.

“Both mother and baby are very well and very happy,” the spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Starr headlines opening of Capital of Culture

Liverpool, England – With a little help from his friends, ex-Beatle Ringo Starr returned home Friday to kickstart Liverpool’s year in the spotlight as a European Capital of Culture.

Starr joined Eurythmics frontman Dave Stewart in headlining a huge outdoor concert, featuring around 600 local musicians, acrobats and children performing from rooftops and on construction cranes – a symbol of the industrial city’s regeneration.

From a platform above the neoclassical St. George’s Hall, Starr belted out his latest single “Liverpool 8” to the 40,000-strong crowd.

“Destiny was calling, I just couldn’t stick around,” he sang. “Liverpool I left you, but I never let you down.”

The Fab Four’s drummer will star again today in “Liverpool, The Musical,” a showcase of the city’s rich musical heritage that also features the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Farm and up-and-coming rockers The Wombats.

Yayo’s lawyer: Drop teen-slapping charges

New York – A lawyer for G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo, who is accused of slapping a 14-year-old boy on a Manhattan street, wants the charges dropped after prosecutors revealed Thursday that another man has confessed.

Yayo, 29, whose real name is Marvin Bernard, has pleaded not guilty to charges of misdemeanor assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. The boy is the son of Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond, who co-founded Czar Entertainment and manages Yayo’s rival rapper The Game.

A Yayo acquaintance, Lowell Fletcher, told police during an unrelated jailhouse interview that he had slapped the youth in March and Yayo pulled him away, said the rapper’s attorney, Scott Leemon.

Naomi Campbell talks hostages with president

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Naomi Campbell called on Argentina’s first elected female president Friday, and the pair discussed the release of two women held hostage for years by Colombian guerrillas, the state news agency said.

President Cristina Fernandez had forcefully lobbied alongside Venezuela for a hostage release, and dispatched husband and former president Nestor Kirchner on a humanitarian bid to the Colombian jungle.

That mission failed to bring back the two hostages by New Year’s Day, but they were liberated Thursday after being held for six years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Campbell recently conducted a celebrity interview with the key hostage mediator and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The supermodel’s interview as a contributing editor for the British edition of GQ appears in February’s edition.