Britney loses battle for visiting rights

Britney Spears has failed to regain rights to see her two sons.

A Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman said that the current order denying the pop star from visiting two-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, one, had not been changed.

The singer had been barred from visiting her children last month after refusing to give them back, leading to a police stand-off at her home.

She was taken to hospital following the incident and spent another six days in a psychiatric unit earlier this month.

At Tuesday's hearing, the singer's lawyer Anne Kiley was denied a request for an order to prevent other lawyers in the case from discussing it with the media. She argued that the coverage was "emotionally and physically" a strain on the star, and requested that times of hearings could not be disclosed to the press.

However her ex-husband Kevin Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said the two children were not being put at risk and that Spears was more concerned about the constant presence of paparazzi.

Outside the hearing, Mr Kaplan told reporters that Federline would like his ex-wife to see their children.

"Both sides want to see the day that visitation can resume. It's a question of working out the details of how that can happen," he said. "Mr Federline looks forward to his children having their mom in their life."

Federline was awarded primary custody of their sons in October.

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