DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) – The National Enquirer has apologized to Britney Spears in its British edition for reporting that she was ready to divorce Kevin Federline.

The articles were published June 5 and June 12 under the headlines, “Britney marriage is over!” and “Britney and Kevin: And now their divorce!” Both stories were vaguely sourced to unidentified friends of the couple.

The retraction and apology said National Enquirer officials “now accept that their marriage is not over and they are not getting divorced. These allegations are untrue and we now accept Britney’s position that the statements are without foundation. We apologize for any distress caused.”

A London lawyer representing American Media Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla.-based publisher of the National Enquirer, signed a settlement agreement with Paul Tweed, the Belfast lawyer representing Spears in Britain and Ireland. The settlement requires a published apology, but no cash damages.

Spears pursued a libel action on this side of the Atlantic, rather than in the United States, because British and Irish laws are much more plaintiff-friendly.

The 24-year-old pop princess and Federline, 28, an aspiring rapper, were married in September 2004. They have a 10-month-old son, Preston, and she is pregnant with their second child, due this fall.

“The couple are very satisfied with the Enquirer’s prompt and good-faith response,” Tweed said in a phone interview from Cape Cod, Mass., where he is on vacation. He confirmed the settlement meant the National Enquirer would not be sued, nor be required to publish the apology in the United States.

London lawyer Niri Shan, who represented American Media, declined to comment.

The office of National Enquirer chief executive David Pecker referred The Associated Press to a New York public-relations firm that wasn’t immediately aware of the lawsuit or settlement.

Whereas U.S. libel law requires a celebrity to prove that an article was both false and published maliciously, British and Irish libel law places the burden of proof on the publisher of such material.

The apology and retraction was published Tuesday in the British edition in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and was being published Wednesday in its Republic of Ireland version.

LONDON (AP) – A British Court of Appeal judge has ordered a trial to settle a dispute between distributors of “The Jerry Springer Show” and a company claiming the program became too strong for local tastes.

In effect, the Court of Appeal ordered a Commercial Court judge to watch samples of the show.

Flextech Television, which provides 10 channels of programming for British cable operator NTL Inc., contends it was entitled to cancel its “Springer” deal with Universal Studios International because it became impossible to air some episodes without violating British broadcasting rules.

Flextech entered into a contract in 1998 that committed it to “Springer” as long as the show was running in the United States. By 2001, Flextech contends, the “vast majority” of episodes contained content that was unsuitable for daytime viewing and did not comply with the Independent Television Commission code.

Universal contends the content changed little over the years.

In his ruling Tuesday, Lord Justice David Neuberger referred the case to the Queen’s Bench Commercial Division of the High Court for trial.

Neuberger said it was up to a trial judge to decide whether content had changed enough to amount to a breach of contract.

“It must be necessary for the judge who determines such issues to see at least some of the episodes,” he wrote.

Neuberger encouraged both sides to agree on “a sensible basis” upon which the trial judge can reach a conclusion “without having to view anything like the totality of all the episodes.”

Lawyers say the total runs some 400 hours.

NEW YORK (AP) – A 19-year-old former employee of Christie Brinkley’s husband, Peter Cook, says he hired her and seduced her with lavish gifts, then attempted to woo her back with repeated notes and phone calls after she broke off the affair.

Diana Bianchi told the New York Post for Tuesday editions that Cook, 47, made advances on her shortly after she took a job at his architecture firm, adding that at the time she was “a little naive.”

The interview appeared less than a week after Brinkley, the 52-year-old supermodel, announced through publicist Elliot Mintz that she and Cook, her fourth husband, had separated. They married in 1996 and have a daughter.

Bianchi said she first met Cook when she was a 17-year-old toy store clerk, but he made his intentions clear when she was a year older and his employee, typing in a computer document as she stood by his desk, “How would you feel if I told you I was attracted to you?”

“And I was like, ‘Uh, I dunno,”‘ Bianchi said. “I didn’t really answer him. I was kind of thinking, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?’ I really didn’t know what to do at that point.”

Bianchi’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, told the Post the pair had a sexual relationship that spanned about one year. Speaking to The Associated Press, the lawyer described the couple’s relationship as consensual, but claimed Cook’s role as employer and his gifts of a car, money and jewelry could possibly constitute sexual harassment.

A message left for Cook at his Long Island architecture firm Monday was not immediately returned.

Mintz said he had no comment on Bianchi’s claims, which emerged in press reports Monday.

Tacopina said Bianchi, an aspiring singer, quit her job at Cook’s firm within a few months after she started in May 2005 because, Tacopina said, she felt uncomfortable.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) – Sting and Kanye West were the main attractions at this week’s Stockholm Jazz Festival, one of the city’s biggest annual music events.

The festival, which features 41 concerts, runs Tuesday through Saturday. West will perform Thursday, with Sting set to perform Friday as part of his Broken Music Tour.

Some 25,000 people are expected to attend the outdoor concerts on the small island of Skeppsholmen in downtown Stockholm. Other featured acts include Miriam Makeba, Kenny Garrett, the Neville Brothers and Maceo Parker.

Organizers said a smaller jazz festival will be held in Stockholm next month to raise money for the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, an emergency fund that helps musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans.

HONG KONG (AP) – Director Chen Shizheng says his upcoming movie, “Dark Matter,” starring Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn, will explore U.S.-China relations on a personal level.

The film is the story of a Chinese physics student in the U.S. Streep plays the student’s wealthy patron and Quinn plays a professor, according to a story published Sunday in the South China Morning Post.

“Friends of mine who come to the U.S. are either pro-American or anti-American, but they can’t find the right balance,” the Chinese director, who is based in the U.S., was quoted as saying.

“The film, I hope, has lots of interesting takes on what America is to the Chinese and what China is to America, but on a much more personal level.”

“Dark Matter” is expected to be released next year.

Chen is also planning a musical collaboration with the virtual band Gorillaz based on the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West” and an opera version of Amy Tan’s novel “The Bonesetter’s Daughter.”

Chen said of his collaboration with Gorillaz: “We hit it off well. We understand what it’s about and we understand its fundamental dimensions.

“The problem with Chinese art is that it’s always the official version,” Chen said. “But I’ve found that the less official it is, the better it gets. What I wanted was a young, rock, 21st-century vision. … I think it’s really relevant to our times.”

Chen staged “The Peony Pavilion,” a classic Chinese opera, in New York in 1999.