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Hip-hop star M.I.A. has launched her own fashion range - inspired by the artwork on her past album covers.
The Paper Planes hitmaker - real name Mathangi Arulpragasam - has teamed up with model Okley Leslie to try her hand at clothing design, according to website Catwalk Queen.
The collection features T-shirts, bodysuits and leggings inspired by the prints and designs on her LPs Kala and Arular.

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COURTNEY LOVE has stopped taking her antidepressants while recording a new album in a bid to confront her inner demons.
The rocker insists fans will get a glimpse of her true self with the release of forthcoming LP Nobody’s Daughter next year (09) - because she refused to take any medicines to moderate her personality.
She tells Britain’s Elle magazine, "I’m off antidepressants for the moment because my album producer wants me to feel the rage, wants me to be really angry, wants me to face the demons. And I am so f***ing angry! "I’m getting back on them as soon as recording the album is finished. I’m not going to punch anybody, but I have to do two hours of exercise and chanting a day to feel good."

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BACKSTREET BOYS star BRIAN LITTRELL is appealing for fans’ prayers after his young son was hospitalised this week (begs15Dec08).
The singer and his wife Leighanne rushed six-year-old Baylee to the emergency room on Monday (15Dec08) for an undisclosed ailment.
And the star is asking his fans everywhere to keep his little boy in their thoughts.
In a post on his website on Thursday (18Dec08), Littrell writes: "For those of you who do not know or have not heard, Baylee Littrell has been in the hospital for the past few days.
"He will be starting a treatment this afternoon and the Littrell family asks that all Backstreet Boys fans please remember him in prayer during this trying time. Every little prayer helps and every single prayer counts!"

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MICHAEL JACKSON has been hit with a $1 billion (£668 million) lawsuit from a woman called BILLIE JEAN - who reportedly wants custody of his son.
In a suit filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday (17Dec08), Billie Jean Jackson alleges she is the mother of the singer’s son Prince Michael Jackson II, nicknamed Blanket.
The woman demands $1 billion (£668 million) in support payment, as well as joint legal and physical custody of the six-year-old, according to legal documents obtained by U.S. news programme Extra.
Billie Jean also requests visits with the boy on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - in addition to participation in Blanket’s education.
The Thriller hitmaker refused to identify Blanket’s mother after he was born in 2002, but has previously said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate.
Jackson has faced similar lawsuits in the past. In 2006 and 2007, a woman unsuccessfully sued him for paternity payments, claiming she helped Jackson reproduce.

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HARRY POTTER actress EMMA WATSON feels sorry for superstars such as BRITNEY SPEARS and LINDSAY LOHAN, because she loves living "a normal life".
The star shot to fame aged just 11 but hasn’t let it go to her head, preferring to concentrate on her work rather than living the showbiz lifestyle.
She says, "I have a more normal life than people expect. When I take public transport, people are like, ‘That girl looks like the girl from Harry Potter, but it can’t be her on the train’. I get stopped by people, but that’s fine.
I’d never want to be so famous that I couldn’t live a normal life to a certain extent." And the thought of being too famous to go out unrecognised terrifies the teenage actress.
She adds, "I can’t imagine anything lonelier, just not being able to be part of the real world and being trapped and locked in hotel rooms and cars."

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ROBERT REDFORD and RUSSELL CROWE have joined the growing number of actors urging a Hollywood union not to plan an actors strike next year (08).
The veteran actor and the Australian Oscar-winner reportedly signed their names to a petition to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on Thursday (18Dec08), pleading with the organisation not to hold a strike vote.
The SAG is due to ballot its members next month (Jan09) to authorise industrial action in an ongoing row with leading Hollywood studios and TV networks over royalty payments.
Cardholders of the 120,000-strong SAG rejected a three-year deal offered by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) earlier this year (Jul08), and union bosses will now ballot members over a walkout which could cripple the upcoming awards season.
More than 130 stars signed an open letter - written by Danny DeVito’s wife Rhea Perlman - on Monday (17Dec08) asking officials at the SAG to call off the vote.
Hollywood superstars George Clooney, Cameron Diaz and Charlize Theron have all opposed the strike ballot - insisting the current turbulent financial climate is no time "to be putting people out of work".
Now Redford, Crowe and Hannibal actress Julianne Moore have joined the opposition to a possible walkout.
More than 30 high profile actors, including Mel Gibson and Martin Sheen, to put their names to a rival letter endorsing the strike bid.

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KATE WINSLET was nervous before shooting new movie REVOLUTIONARY ROAD - because the film was directed by her husband SAM MENDES.
The actress insists she was "impatient" to work with her filmmaker husband of five years and approached him with the project’s screenplay, based on the 1961 novel by Richard Yates.
But Winslet grew apprehensive as filming loomed closer - because she feared she would argue with her spouse on set.
She says, "Going into it, I did have several moments where I would say, ‘Oh my God, what if we have a row? What will we do?’ And Sam would say, ‘Oh don’t be silly, of course we won’t.’ And I was thinking, ‘Oh, well, I’m sure we won’t - I hope we don’t!’"

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BRITNEY SPEARS’ is continuing her reign atop the global pop charts - her song WOMANIZER is number one in Europe.
Spears sits triumphant at the top of the European Hot 100 Singles Chart this week (ends21Dec08), tackling fellow female singers Katy Perry and Amy MacDonald, whose respective tracks Hot N Cold and This Is The Life sit at three and four.
Beyonce Knowles’ song If I Were A Boy holds on to fourth place for the second week running, while dance act Guru Josh Project’s Infinity 2008 rounds out the top five.
Meanwhile, AC/DC’s album Black Ice remains the continent’s most popular LP, beating off competition from Il Divo’s The Promise.
Enya trails in third with And Winter Came, while Seal jumps to four with Soul and Pink sits at five with Funhouse.

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MADONNA’s newest single MILES AWAY - about her ex-husband GUY RITCHIE - has become the worst-performing U.K. single of her career.
The track, from her studio album Hard Candy, peaked at number 39 on the U.K.
singles chart on 30 November (08), dropped to 68 the following week, and has since disappeared altogether.
Miles Away, inspired by the singer’s relationship with Ritchie, is the first single Madonna has released that has failed to reach the Top 20 in sales charts around the world.
In the U.S. the single has peaked at 99, while in Australia, where the song has only been released digitally, Miles Away is her lowest-performing single ever.
Madonna and Ritchie’s split was announced in October (08), ending months of speculation.
The superstar filed for divorce citing Ritchie’s "unreasonable behaviour" and was granted a preliminary split on 21 November (08). The divorce is due to be rubber-stamped in the New Year (09).

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SIR PAUL McCARTNEY and JOHN LENNON were once so desperate to see their names in print they sent personal ads to a local music magazine.
The songwriting duo - along with guitarist bandmate George Harrison - turned to a small publication in Liverpool, England to help them get their writing published.
But McCartney insists it wasn’t always the trio’s finest work that was ultimately printed.
He says, "There used to be this paper in Liverpool called Mersey Beat. And in it you had a column where you could put personal ads. And so John and George and I used to put them in. Just so we could see our words in print, you know? "It’d be like: ‘Barry! Meet me behind the station at this time.’ And then it would come out and we’d be like, ‘Yeah! It got in!’ Just seeing it there was a little kick."

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Actress ANNE HATHAWAY is planning the songs she wants played at her wedding after watching her gay brother marry his longterm boyfriend.
The Devil Wears Prada star was thrilled when her older brother Michael married his partner Josh in New York because it was a truly magical event.
She says, "At one point, he and his husband were standing up there, and my mom got up to sing. She was just beaming straight love into them, and everyone felt it, and it was just this really beautiful moment." And Hathaway admits that even though she does not obsess about her dream wedding, there is one important detail she is already planning for when she eventually ties the knot - the music.
She adds, "I haven’t thought about the food; I haven’t thought about the look; I haven’t thought about my dress. I haven’t really thought about the guy.
But every once in a while, I’ll listen to a song, and I’m like, ‘I want that at my wedding.’ You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne, that’s going to be, like, the number one wedding song for the next 25 years. Trust me."

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SIR IAN McKELLEN hates watching his body of acting work - because he only notices mistakes he made in his performances.
The veteran star has appeared in numerous Shakespearean tragedies both on stage and screen, including Macbeth in 1979, Othello in 1990 and Richard III in 1995.
But McKellen insists he despises watching his past work.
He says, "It’s no pleasure. I did see Macbeth and it’s a little like looking at old snaps of yourself. I know it’s good, but when I look at myself in it, all I can hear are lines and inflections I don’t like.
"In Othello I speak too quickly. The performance is fine. The reading is fine. The execution is not.
"Richard III - terrific. But then, it was a film. More care goes into a film.
It’s different."

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Beloved U.S. TV star ED McMAHON is allowed to stay in his home after brokering a deal to ward off foreclosure on the property.
The former Tonight Show sidekick had owned the house for 30 years but faced the threat of foreclosure after his mortgage lenders filed notice of default in February (08).
The 85-year-old faced losing his home until, in August (08), he found a buyer for the $5.75million (£2.9million), six-bedroom mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
Although the identity of the buyer has not been revealed, McMahon’s publicist Howard Bragman has confirmed that the star and his wife will be allowed to continue living at the house, saying, "They ain’t leaving." And Robert Lee, chief executive officer Foreclosure Trackers Inc, the company which brokered the deal, reveals that the foreclosure proceedings will not be closed, just postponed indefinitely.
The couple will be able to make lower payments on their home, but their situation will be evaluated every three months.
He says, "My goal from day one was to make sure he stays in his home. (But) they are not getting a free ride."

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BAZ LUHRMANN has hit out at critics who rubbished his epic AUSTRALIA insisting his films always attract negative reviews because they don’t fit Hollywood’s movie mould.
The moviemaker spent four years and $130 million (£87.6 million) on the homage to his homeland - which stars Aussie stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as lovers during World War II.
But the film was panned by some critics - with several even calling Luhrmann "the black hole of cinema".
And the film hasn’t fared too well following its U.S. release - taking only $39 million (£26 million) since its Thanksgiving weekend opening on 28 November (08).
But Luhrmann isn’t fazed by the bad press, because he has had great feedback from film fans.
He tells the Hollywood Reporter, "A lot of reviewers like Australia. And we’re making people cry; I know because they write to us.
"But there are those that don’t get it. A lot of the film scientists don’t get it. And it’s not just that they don’t get it, but they hate it and they hate me, and they think I’m the black hole of cinema. They say, ‘He shouldn’t have made it, and he should die’.
"This is not (simply) a romantic comedy for 40-year-old women or action movies for 17-year-old boys, and that’s not OK with some people. It’s not OK for people to come eat at the same table of cinema. But you look at movies like Gone With the Wind and Old Hollywood classics, and they don’t fit in any box."

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An assistant working for DAVID COPPERFIELD has been hospitalised after one of the magician’s tricks went awry.
The star was performing his show at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday (17Dec08) when a stunt involving an industrial fan went wrong and left a technician with serious injuries to his face and arms.
Copperfield was due to walk through the blades of the giant machine at the show’s spectacular finale, but before he stepped into the device, one of the assistants who was working on the trick was pulled into the mechanism.
Copperfield immediately ended the show, apologising to the audience and telling the crowd they were dealing with "an emergency".
The assistant, named only as Brandon, was rescued by fire crews and rushed to hospital, where he was treated for multiple lacerations, severe bleeding and multiple breaks in one arm.
A representative for Copperfield tells Us Weekly.com, "(The assistant) was accidentally pulled into the vortex of the moving fan blades, causing injury to his arm and face. The surgery was several hours wherein the doctors could insert pins and bolts. There was a puncture on his face requiring eight or nine stitches." The spokesperson confirms that Copperfield waited at the hospital during the operation and presented Brandon with a gift - a children’s magic set - when he woke up.
Copperfield has confirmed the rest of the week’s shows will continue as usual and paid tribute to Brandon’s bravery.
He says, "Many people assume that the death-defying illusions I do on stage are not dangerous. This unfortunate accident shows that couldn’t be further from the truth, and we’re just thankful that Brandon’s injuries weren’t worse."

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Transexual Turkish singer BULENT ERSOY has been acquitted of charges of criticising mandatory military service in her native country.
The star, who is one of Turkey’s best-loved singers, was accused of saying on TV that if she ever had children, she would not want them to join the army to battle Kurdish separatists who are fighting for self-rule in the country .
Ersoy was put on trial in February (08) under laws which criminalise remarks deemed insulting to the state or its institutions.
If convicted, the 56-year-old faced a possible prison sentence of up to 30 months.
But at a hearing on Thursday (18Dec08), Ersoy was acquitted on the grounds of freedom of speech. (LR/WNWCTE&WNWA/MJ) WENN - THIRD - HOLLYWOOD, SHOWBIZ & PEOPLE NEWS - 19 DECEMBER 2008

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SLIPKNOT frontman COREY TAYLOR launched into a foul-mouthed rant about COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN and the band’s latest LP during a TV interview.
The British rockers’ Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends received critical acclaim when it was released earlier this year (08).
But Taylor is not a fan of the record, or singer Martin - and made his thoughts known in a profanity-packed U.K. TV interview.
He tells Zane Lowe’s MTV show, "That is one of the most self-celebratory pieces of **** I’ve ever f**king heard in my entire f**king life.
"Go suck a f**king ****. Are you watching Martin? Suck it. Go eat a bag of ****.
"I f**king hate that album. It’s music to wipe your ass to."

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Rocker CISCO ADLER has been arrested following a fight in a North Dakota bar.
The Whitestarr frontman, who has dated stars including Mischa Barton and Paris Hilton, was playing a gig at the Hub in Fargo, North Dakota on Wednesday (17Dec08) night when the trouble started.
Police were called to the venue after a fight broke out between 15 people, reportedly over the band’s bar tab. As Adler was being escorted out of the club he allegedly punched a male employee in the face.
The star was arrested on simple assault charges. He was released an hour later after posting $500 (£342) bail, according to E! Online.

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