Pop star Britney Spears has been ordered by a judge to surrender custody of her two children to ex-husband Kevin Federline, effective Wednesday at noon. In a ruling issued Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon stated that Federline was to take official custody of the couple's sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, "until further order of the court." The court order was shrouded in mystery, as the decision was made behind closed doors and the proceedings were ordered to be sealed. According to reports, the custody decision resulted from an unspecified oral motion made by Federline's attorneys. Currently, Spears and Federline have joint custody of their sons.

Canadian actress Lois Maxwell has died. She was 80. The Golden Globe-winning star - famed for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies - died at the Fremantle Hospital in Western Australia, on Saturday evening. Maxwell starred alongside Sir Sean Connery in Bond's first Dr. No, in 1962. She played the role until 1985, when she appeared in A View To A Kill with Sir Roger Moore. She last appeared on the big screen in the 2001 thriller The Fourth Angel alongside Forest Whitaker and Jeremy Irons.

Actor Kiefer Sutherland has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence after being arrested on Tuesday. The Emmy-winning 24 star also stands accused of violating the terms of his probation relating to a previous DUI conviction in December 2004. Sutherland faces up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted, and an additional six months jail time if found guilty of violating his probation. The 40-year-old was pulled over by police in the early hours of Tuesday morning after making an illegal u-turn. A breath test found him to have twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system, according to reports. Sutherland's arraignment hearing is set for October 16.

The man who tried to extort $1 million from Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes over stolen wedding photographs tried to commit suicide at least two weeks before he actually killed himself. David Hans Schmidt was found dead at his home in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday. He was due to be sentenced on October 11 after pleading guilty in August to transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort. Daily News journalist George Rush has now revealed that Schmidt called him two weeks ago and admitted he'd tried to kill himself. Schmidt told Rush: "I did something really stupid. I put a belt around my neck in the shower. Fortunately, it didn't work." Rush adds, "He was phoning me every other day. I said, 'You've got to get yourself on some medication.' He said he was on some, but it just didn't work for very long."

Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola lost 15 years of computer data during a recent burglary at his Argentinean home. Five thieves broke into The Godfather director's Buenos Aires house and made off with a laptop containing the script for his new movie Tetro, due to start shooting in February, writings and family photographs. Coppola wasn't home at the time of the break-in, but the burglars threatened a person who was in the property. Although Coppola has saved copies of the Tetro script elsewhere, on Friday he issued a plea for the return of a small computer back-up device. He said, "They stole our computers; they got all our data, many years of work. If I could get the back-up back, it would save me years all the photographs of my family, all my writing." A spokesperson for the Hollywood director says he has offered a reward for the back-up's safe return. Tetro is set to star Matt Damon and is about an artistic Italian immigrant family living in Buenos Aires.

Actress Michelle Rodriguez faces being sent to jail after Los Angeles officials on Friday announced she's violated her probation for driving under the influence. The former Lost star has allegedly failed to prove she's enrolled to complete her community service. According to the Los Angeles City Attorney's office, Rodriguez handed in a false document to show she carried out one day of community work on September 25. Spokesman Frank Mateljan says, "She hasn't shown proof of enrolment to complete 30 days of community service. She could face jail time, but it's up to the judge." Superior Court Judge Daviann L. Mitchell on Friday ordered Rodriguez to complete two days of cleaning-up roads, before agreeing to her lawyer's request to postpone the hearing until October 12. But Judge Mitchell told the actress: "I'm not impressed with your completion schedule. I don't care if you have to camp there, complete it without exception." Rodriguez has been serving an extended period of probation as a result of being found guilty of driving under the influence in Hawaii in December 2005 and twice in Hollywood in 2003.

Socialite Paris Hilton was visibly upset during an appearance on David Letterman's TV show on Friday night, when the host refused to stop asking her questions about her recent jail stint. Hilton, who spent 23 days behind bars in June for violating her probation on a 2006 drink-driving charge, became increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed by Letterman's questions on Late Show With David Letterman. After six minutes of jail-related questions, the 26-year-old - who was on the show to promote her fragrance Can Can - said, "There's other stuff to talk about Dave. I didn't come here to talk about this. That was a long time ago." She added, "I'm sad that I came here."

Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg is threatening to axe scenes starring actor Tyler Nelson in the upcoming Indiana Jones movie after he leaked the plot line to an Oklahoma newspaper. Upcoming star Nelson, 24, was so excited about landing a role alongside Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, he revealed the plot and every major scene to local paper, the Edmond Sun. And now Spielberg is considering cutting all scenes featuring Nelson from the film following his betrayal. A spokesman for Spielberg says, "Who knows if he's ever going to work in town again?" The new Indiana Jones movie has been shrouded in secrecy since filming began earlier this year. The title of the sequel was only made public by actor Shia LaBeouf at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas on September 9.

Actress Pamela Anderson and poker player Rick Salomon successfully applied for a marriage license in Las Vegas on Saturday, according to reports. The Baywatch beauty and Salomon have never officially announced they are an item. But in a recent interview with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson revealed she had fallen in love with a poker player who offered to pay off her $250,000 gambling debt for a night of sex. Anderson refused to name names, but candidly told DeGeneres that she eventually succumbed to the rich fan's offer, explaining, "It worked out, I liked it... I paid off a poker debt with sexual favors and fell in love. It's so romantic." Mother-of-two Anderson has been married twice before, to Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and Kid Rock, while Salomon is best known for "starring" alongside Paris Hilton in her infamous sex tape.

Two time Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor is not planning to marry her companion Jason Winters, according to a close pal of the star. Media reports in the U.S. have been speculating as to when Taylor, age 75, will be announcing plans to wed 47-year-old Winters - in what would be her ninth marriage. But Martin Delaney, a friend of the couple and the founder of a San Francisco Aids charity, has dismissed the reports as "silly stuff." He says, "I don't know how a marriage between them could take place. That's not the kind of relationship they've got. I find it all pretty amusing. Elizabeth is friends with Jason and his long-term friend, Erik Sterling... I know Elizabeth is very close to Jason, but the idea of them marrying is silly stuff." Taylor was last married to construction worker Larry Fortensky in 1991, but the relationship ended in divorce in 1996.

Lindsay Lohan will be spending five days of "quality time" with her father Michael next week - in a secret location away from her Utah rehabilitation clinic, according to reports. The Just My Luck actress, 21, checked into the Cirque Lodge in Utah in early August to seek counseling following two drunk driving charges earlier this year. Her mother Dina Lohan recently insisted the star's third stint in rehab will not be coming to an end any time soon, despite reports to the contrary, and now ex-convict Michael says he will be whisking Lindsay away as part of the rehab center's out-patient therapy program. He tells the New York Daily News, "I'm looking forward to spending the next week with her. We've been in constant phone contact. She's in a great, great place now. I've never heard her so honest, contrite and focused. Lindsay is weeding out all the bad. She's taking a step back and reevaluating her life. What she tells - her honesty and openness - has brought me to tears. It's beyond words how proud I am of her." And Michael - who has become an ordained minister since being released from jail in March - hopes his visit will encourage Lindsay to kick her drug and alcohol addictions completely, because of his own experiences with illegal substances. A source says, "They believe Michael's the best person for Lindsay to be with now. Not only is he her dad - someone with her best interests at heart - but he's also someone who successfully turned his own life around after battling substance abuse."

U2 rocker Bono is confident the Spider-Man musical he is currently working on will dazzle audiences, because it will be "something the likes of which no-one has seen or heard". The singer is creating the Spider-Man production with his band mate The Edge and director Julie Taymor, whose new film Across The Universe he has a cameo in. The U2 stars and Taymor are currently hunting for a New York theatre big enough to house their project, and Bono is already warning audiences to expect the unexpected. He says, "If we pull off what we're trying, it will be something the likes of which no-one has seen or heard. It should be a hallucinogenic experience for theatergoers. You have the visual energy she (Taymor) brings. The myth of the arachnid and the elasticity of these characters - you can turn theatre upside down." And Bono and The Edge plan to bring a wide range of music to the production. Bono adds, "We've got some punk rock in there and some beautiful opera."