'Survivor' host, girlfriend in Maine

"Survivor" host Jeff Probst and his girlfriend, former contestant Julie Berry, served Christmas dinner at a soup kitchen in Portland, Maine, and were spotted the following day shopping at a Target store. Probst said volunteering to serve meals at the Wayside Soup Kitchen brought some perspective to the "frantic" holiday season. "It's a chance to remember how fortunate you are," he said. He made the comments as he and Berry shopped at Target in South Portland, where they mingled with customers and posed for pictures. "We keep running into friends of hers every other aisle," Probst said. The couple spent the holiday with Berry's family in Gorham. Probst, 45, is taking a break after filming the upcoming season of CBS Corp.'s "Survivor." Crew members get a few months off after shooting two seasons back-to-back, he said. Berry was a contestant on "Survivor: Vanuatu -- Islands of Fire," which aired in 2004. The couple didn't start dating until after the show was over, Probst has said.

Hollywood couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt handed out presents on Christmas Day to Colombian war refugees in Costa Rica, the United Nations refugee agency said. Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Pitt were without their three children as they visited refugees who fled armed conflict in Colombia.

A spokesman for Keith Urban denied media reports yesterday that the Australia -reared country singer had completed treatment for alcohol abuse. In response to a query from the AP, his New York-based publicist, Paul Freundlich, said in an e-mail: "Keith is on a leave in Australia to be with his family during the holidays. This is a natural occurrence at this point in his treatment. He will continue with his rehab upon his return." No other details were immediately available. Urban, 39, checked himself into a treatment center in the United States in October, with his wife, Nicole Kidman, by his side. Urban flew into Sydney on Tuesday. Kidman, also 39, and Urban held hands as they left the United International Pictures office yesterday.

Director Spike Lee has signed on to shoot a movie about James Brown, the late "Godfather of Soul," Daily Variety reported yesterday. The authorized project is being developed for Paramount Pictures by Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning producer of "A Beautiful Mind," the publication said, adding that production would likely begin in 2008.

A month after his musical comeback hit a sour note, pop star Michael Jackson has sued his former accountants for breach of duty, claiming they withdrew huge sums of money from his bank accounts but neglected to pay his bills. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says the accounting firm Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman & Sloan withdrew $2.5 million a year from Jackson's accounts but failed to properly pay the bills for which the money was earmarked.

Office space

'It gets so claustrophobic, especially in that conference room. You pick up a script, and you see, Oh, geez, we've got the next five pages involving 11 people sitting in this conference room. We're going to be here from 7:15 in the morning until probably 5:45 at night, and it's under fluorescent lights. Brutal.' Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight on "The Office"

FROM WIRE REPORTS