SPEARS' KIDS BACK WITH FEDERLINE

LATEST: BRITNEY SPEARS' children are in safe hands following the pop superstar's hospitalisation on Thursday (03Jan08) - her ex-husband KEVIN FEDERLINE has taken their two boys back to his Tarzana, California, home.

The troubled singer, 26, was involved in a major stand-off with police at her Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, home on Thursday evening after she refused to hand over her sons to Federline following a scheduled visit, as per the orders of their child custody agreement.

Cops are reported to have found Spears "under the influence of an unknown substance" after the incident, which is being referred to as a "family custody dispute" by the Los Angeles police department.

She was eventually taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation, where she is currently being held on a "5150 hold" - meaning medics have reason to believe she is a danger to herself or others.

Her young son Jayden James was also admitted to hospital for a reason as yet unknown, but the one-year-old has now been discharged and has joined his two-year-old brother Sean Preston at their dad's house.

The news of the kids' safety comes as Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, prepares to attend an emergency court hearing to request Spears be temporarily stripped of her visitation rights. According to TMZ.com, the pop star will be represented by her lawyer Tara Scott from the firm Trope and Trope - just days after the attorney's office filed a motion requesting a judge's permission to quit the case due to a "communication breakdown" between the two parties.