LONDON (AP) – Soccer star David Beckham and his wife Victoria are considering taking legal action over a newspaper story about their marriage, a spokesman for the couple said Sunday.

The Beckhams failed late Saturday for a court order to bar the News of the World from publishing allegations by the couple’s former nanny, Abbie Gibson.

Their lawyers had argued that Gibson’s contract included a promise not to speak about the couple’s private lives. But the News of the World said a judge ruled in its favor on grounds that the story was in the public interest.

After the newspaper appeared Sunday morning, the Beckhams were “consulting our lawyers with a view to taking legal action,” their spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Gibson told the News of the World she witnessed a series of rows between David Beckham and his wife. Gibson, who worked for the couple from August 2003 until she quit earlier this month, also claimed Victoria told her that her husband wanted to split up.

The marriage of Britain’s No. 1 celebrity couple first hit the headlines a year ago when a former personal aide, Rebecca Loos, claimed she and Beckham had had a 10-day affair. He dismissed the claim as “ludicrous” and “absurd.”

Victoria Beckham, a former member of the Spice Girls band, and her husband, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, have three young sons.

Britney baby ‘was a goal’

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The ex-girlfriend of Britney Spears’ husband says she isn’t surprised to hear that the pop singer is pregnant.

“Hey, it was bound to happen,” actress Shar Jackson told MTV News last week in her first interview since Spears and Kevin Federline announced the pregnancy April 12. “It was a goal, and it was conquered, moving on.”

Jackson, who appeared in the sitcom “Moesha” and 2000 film “Love & Basketball,” has two young children with Federline and said “he loves his kids to death.”

Jackson said she is willing to let her kids have a relationship with Spears’ child. “I mean, they’re family, so if the other side of the family permits, then yeah,” she said.

Jackson, who is starting a cosmetics line with a lip gloss called “He Cheated,” has accused Federline of being unfaithful, but said she doesn’t bear him any ill will.

“It’s cool,” she said. “Obviously, God didn’t think that’s who should be in my life at this particular moment in time and that’s all right.”

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LAS VEGAS (AP) – City officials are complaining that tickets given away for a concert featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer are being sold on the Internet.

“You get a couple of bums who take advantage of the situation, and what starts off as a very nice gesture … turns into a sleazy methodology of trying to make a buck from it,” Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said.

The July 2 show is a celebration marking the city’s 100th anniversary.

About 35,000 free tickets were quickly snapped up when they became available online last week. Minutes later, traders began offering tickets on eBay at prices that ranged from $25 to $70 per ticket.

“It’s so unfair because the centennial committee wanted to present this very special event available to everybody free of charge,” Goodman said.

Officials said an additional 5,000 tickets will be made available through Ticketmaster on May 16, while 10,000 were being distributed to hotels.

Clark County and the city of Las Vegas forbid ticket scalping. Goodman said resellers may be prosecuted.

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On the Net:

Las Vegas Centennial: http://www.lasvegas2005.org

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HA LONG CITY, Vietnam (AP) – Action film star Jackie Chan visited this communist country for the first time as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in a nation where health experts warn infection rates are on the verge of exploding.

Chan, 51, visited a communal health center as well as a support group session for family members caring for loved ones with HIV/AIDS in northern Quang Ninh province, which has some of Vietnam’s highest infection rates.

As Chan strolled down the street in the small town last week wearing a blue UNICEF shirt with a red AIDS pin, children on bikes chased after him, calling out his name in Vietnamese and greeting him with “Chao Bac,” or “Hello Uncle.”

“Wear a helmet. You have to keep safe,” he told them.

He stressed the importance of eliminating discrimination and social stigma attached to AIDS.

“Twenty years ago, I’m the one who was scared about HIV … but from the education I learned that’s wrong,” he said. “Otherwise, (victims) cannot go to work, they cannot go to school and they would be hiding in their houses.”

The Hong Kong native and martial arts expert, known for his Hollywood hits “Rush Hour,” “Rumble in the Bronx” and “Shanghai Noon,” arrived from Cambodia where he raised awareness about land mines.

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GUTHRIE, Ky. (AP) – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Penn Warren now graces a U.S. postage stamp.

Hundreds of people gathered in Warren’s hometown in southwest Kentucky last week to witness the unveiling of the stamp, the 21st in the U.S. Postal Service’s Literary Arts series.

“I can think of no better way to return the favor than by dedicating this stamp to a letter-writing man,” said Ann C. Wright, district manger for the Kentuckiana District of the Postal Service.

Best known for his 1946 novel “All the King’s Men,” Warren wrote 16 volumes of poetry, 10 novels, a collection of short stories and college textbooks on poetry and fiction.

Warren’s children, Roseanna Warren and Gabriel Warren, helped unveil the new stamp.

AP-ES-04-24-05 1316EDT

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