4 paparazzi arrested after chasing Spears’ car

Los Angeles – Four paparazzi have been arrested for reckless driving while chasing Britney Spears’ car in the San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles police Lt. Mario Munoz said officers observed several cars following a white Mercedes-Benz about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Mission Hills.

The cars were following Spears’ car too closely and traveling at unsafe speed. They also made several unsafe lane changes, authorities said.

Munoz said officers stopped the Mercedes, interviewed Spears and released the 26-year-old pop star after verifying her driver’s license.

But the four photographers in the cars chasing her were booked for investigation of reckless driving.

Jack Nicholson says he’s looking for love

New York – Jack Nicholson, the legendary ladies’ man, says he’d like to fall in love again.

“I never minded being a fool for love,” the 70-year-old Oscar winner tells AARP The Magazine. “It’s nice to have a place to be foolish. Ask any old friend of mine, they’ll say, ‘Jack’s pretty smart, but in this area the man is beyond the pale. Don’t ask him anything about love. Or if you ask him, don’t listen to him.'”

Nicholson says getting older has changed the way he woos women.

“I can’t hit on a girl in public like I used to,” he says. “I never thought words like ‘undignified’ would come into my own reflections on myself, but I can’t do it anymore.”

Nicholson co-stars with Morgan Freeman in “The Bucket List,” about two terminally ill patients on a final fling. The film is the winner of “Best Buddy Movie” in AARP The Magazine’s Movies for Grownups awards, which will be presented Feb. 4 in Los Angeles.

Nicholson has received 12 Oscar nominations, winning for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Terms of Endearment” and “As Good as it Gets.”

The March/April issue of the magazine will be available the week of Jan. 24.

Mary J. Blige to return to ‘One Life to Live’

New York – Mary J. Blige is returning to “One Life to Live.”

The Grammy-winning singer taped another appearance Thursday on the ABC soap opera. She last visited the fictional town of Llanview in July 2006 to perform hits from her multiplatinum album “The Breakthrough.”

For her second cameo, she’ll be a surprise guest at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party for Starr Manning (played by Kristen Alderson), ABC said. The episodes are set to air Feb. 15 and 18.

Accompanied by her band, Blige, 37, will sing “Just Fine,” the Grammy-nominated single from her new album, “Growing Pains,” as well another track called “Hurt Again.”

“It’s absolutely amazing to be integrated into a soap opera I’ve watched since I was a little girl,” Blige said in a statement. “I am beyond thrilled to be welcomed back again.”

Prince William elated after first solo flight

London – Prince William was surprised, a bit nervous and finally elated by his first solo flight.

William, 25, the elder son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, is having flight training with the Royal Air Force. He flew alone for the first time Wednesday.

“God knows how somebody trusted me with an aircraft and my own life,” he said of his flight in a propeller-driven trainer.

“I was doing a few circuits going round and round then Roger (Bousfield), my instructor, basically turned round and said, ‘Right, I’m going to jump out now’ and I said, ‘What, where are you going?'”

“He said, ‘You’re going on your own …'”

Once airborne, the prince said, “it was fine.”

“You just remember your checks and do all the things you’ve got to do and fly the circuit,” he said.

“Then I was watching the runway getting closer and closer and thinking, please, please don’t mess this up,” William said Thursday.

Directors reach deal with Hollywood studios

Los Angeles – Hollywood directors reached a tentative contract deal Thursday with studios, a development that could turn up the pressure on striking writers to settle their 2-month-old walkout that has idled production on dozens of TV shows.

“Two words describe this agreement – groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chairman of the Directors Guild of America’s negotiations committee. “There are no rollbacks of any kind.”

Among other things, the three-year agreement establishes key provisions involving compensation for programs offered on the Internet.

That issue also has been a key sticking point between striking writers and the studios, which broke off talks Dec. 7.

The writers walkout has halted work on dozens of TV shows, disrupted movie production, turned the glitzy Golden Globes show into a news conference and threatened the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony.

The deal between directors and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, was lauded by top executives from eight major companies, including Fox, Paramount Pictures Corp., The Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., MGM and NBC Universal.