Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a former driver whom she claims threatened to spill her secrets if she did not pay him $2.8 million, court records showed Tuesday.

Lopez, 42, maintains that Hakob Manoukian, who was in charge of her security and transportation, engaged in extortion, attempted extortion and conspiracy.

Elton John has reignited his public spat with Madonna, calling her a "fairground stripper" whose career is over.

The British star added that she had been "so horrible" to pop diva Lady Gaga, the godmother to his son Zachary.

An Alawite film director was assassinated near his home on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria's General Cinema Institute said on Tuesday.

"Treacherous hands assassinated" Bassam Mohieddin on Sunday, the institute said in a statement, adding the killing took place in Jdaidet Artuz, scene of recent clashes between troops and rebels.

The legendary name of folk music Bob Dylan composed a song for his upcoming album ''Tempest'' about the Titanic movie and referred to famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the lyrics.

Dylan said that the song about Titanic was 13 minutes long during an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

Guitar-maker Gibson has agreed to pay $350,000 to avoid U.S. prosecution over allegations it illegally imported endangered wood from India and Madagascar, U.S. officials announced Monday.

"Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit over-harvesting and conserve valuable wood species," Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno said in a statement.

U.S. actress Natalie Portman has married French dancer Benjamin Millepied, her partner of two years and the father of her 14-month-old son, People magazine reported Monday.

The traditional Jewish wedding was held Saturday evening in the Big Sur coastal resort, some 390 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Los Angeles, according to the magazine.

Madonna voiced hope Monday that three feminist Russian rockers on trial for performing a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin will be released soon.

"Obviously I believe in freedom of speech and I'm against censorship, so I hope that the judge is lenient with them and that they are freed soon," the pop star told The Associated Press during a concert tour of Russia.

The Euro Disney theme park near Paris said Tuesday that its sales rose to 358 million euros ($444 million) in the quarter ending in June thanks to a rise in visitors and their spending.

In the first nine months of its financial year that ends in September, the company's sales rose by 2.3 percent to 908.8 million euros.

As the Turkish Girls Volleyball Team was playing an important game against USA in the London Olympics, Turkish player Neslihan Darnel, aged 29, received an interesting tweet.

Mostly known by his stage name “Flea,” Michael Peter Balzary of the World-renowned band Red Hot Chili Peppers declared his love to the young volleyball player over twitter.

An eccentric South Korean K-pop singer has become a global online hit after a video of his latest song was viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube.

Park Jae-Sang, 34, better known by his stage name "Psy", is riding high in the charts inside and outside Korea with "Gangnam Style", the title track of his sixth album.