Vandals scrawled graffiti on John Lennon's sidewalk star on Hollywood's storied Walk of Fame over the weekend, prompting an urgent clean-up days before fans gather for the Beatles icon's birthday.

The unidentified graffiti artist or artists scribbled a smiley face and various messages on the star, which is next to those of his Fab Four band mates outside the Capitol Records building in downtown Hollywood.

Bridget Jones returns after a 14-year break on Thursday, in a new book which sees the famed British singleton widowed with two children but still grappling with modern life and unsuitable men.

Author Helen Fielding has already dropped the bombshell news about the death of Mark Darcy, the devastatingly handsome love interest who helped the two previous books sell 15 million copies across 40 countries.

Seven years after being named Esquire magazine's sexiest woman alive, Scarlett Johansson has earned the title for a second time.

Johansson, who also won in 2006, is the first woman to get the honor twice. Last year's winner was Mila Kunis.

Miley Cyrus cautioned viewers she wouldn't be twerking on "Saturday Night Live."

But she commanded the stage on this week's edition of the NBC sketch comedy show, serving as both host and musical guest.

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry has given birth to a son, her spokeswoman said Sunday. It is her second child and her first with French actor Olivier Martinez.

"Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez welcomed their son yesterday," the spokeswoman, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, told Agence France Presse in an email, without providing any further details.

Sean Penn is ecstatic that his relief organization will sponsor runners from Haiti to participate in the New York City Marathon next month.

"We've got five Haitian runners, 10 runners total, running for the team representing Haiti and our organization J/P HRO coming to the New York City Marathon — the marathon. So we're really looking forward to it," Penn said.

British actor Jude Law joined hundreds of people gathered in London Saturday as part of worldwide Greenpeace protests over Russia's jailing of activists opposed to Arctic oil drilling.

"Sherlock Holmes" star Law, joined by Damon Albarn, the frontman of British band Blur, and guitarist Paul Simonon of The Clash, voiced support for his friend Frank Hewetson, one of 30 Greenpeace activists threatened with up to 15 years in prison.

Miley Cyrus is grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons again. A public row with pop veteran Sinead O'Connor is raising questions over whether she may be the latest onetime child star heading for a fall.

The former "Hannah Montana" actress turned pop princess burst into the wider public's mind with her sexually suggestive twerking performance at the MTV video music award show in August.

Grammy-winning American soul singer Lauryn Hill was released from a U.S. prison Friday after being jailed in July for failing to file her tax returns on time, her lawyer said.

The 38-year-old is a former member of The Fugees, famous for hits such as "Killing Me Softly" and whose 1996 album The Score became one of the best-selling hip hop albums of all time.

U.S. pop icon Madonna was raped at knifepoint when she was a young struggling artist in New York, she revealed in an article published Friday.

The 55-year-old also recalled being held up at gunpoint and having her seedy apartment burgled three times, saying she was "scared shitless" at times before she started making it as a singer and dancer.