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HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL star MONIQUE COLEMAN has been appointed a United Nations (U.N.) ambassador for young people.
The actress has joined forces with U.N. officials to promote the International Year of Youth and she will dedicate her time to raising awareness of children and teenagers who make positive contributions to society.
She will also use the internet to host an online talk show featuring forums and conversations centred on topics for youngsters, such as healthcare and education.
Coleman says, "I am extremely passionate about youth and look forward to highlighting the amazing ways they are already making a difference."

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Boxer MANNY PACQUIAO is facing a $10 million (£6.7 million) lawsuit over allegations he signed a recording contract but failed to deliver any songs.
The Filipino sportsman is said to have agreed a deal with bosses at RBM Group International in 2009 to record 12 tracks.
Executives at the music company allege they handed the star a $40,000 (£26,667) payment for the first two songs, but Pacquiao has yet to produce any recordings.
RBM bosses filed suit at Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday (17Nov10) claiming the boxer broke his promise and left them $200,000 (£133,333) out of pocket. The papers also allege the company has lost out on profits of $10 million (£6.7 million), according to TMZ.com.

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RIHANNA has explained why her blossoming romance with DRAKE fizzled out, insisting she was too "fragile" to commit to another relationship following her split from CHRIS BROWN.
The Umbrella hitmaker parted ways with the R&B singer in early 2009 after he beat her in a vicious domestic dispute, which left him with an assault conviction. They briefly reconciled after the fight, but later split for good.
Rihanna was subsequently linked to upcoming rapper Drake after they were spotted enjoying a night out together, but the relationship never materialised and the hip-hop star later revealed the singer broke off their romance early on.
The Bajan beauty has now spoken out about her involvement with Drake, insisting she was "attracted" to him, but just wasn’t ready for another boyfriend.
She tells American radio station Hot 97, "We weren’t really sure what it was. We just went out - my friends, his friends. I definitely was attracted to Drake, but I think it is what it is, like it was what it was. We didn’t want to take it any further. It was at a really fragile time in my life, so I just didn’t want to get too serious with anything or anyone at that time." And Rihanna hopes her current partner, Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp, doesn’t feel uncomfortable watching her onscreen with Drake in their steamy video for her track What’s My Name? She adds, "(Kemp) never said it out loud, but I don’t know what he’s thinking. He watched it the other day and he was like, ‘I love that video. It’s a great video, babe.’ I don’t know how true that really was, but he seemed to like it."

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PRINCE WILLIAM and his bride-to-be KATE MIDDLETON have a very unlikely well-wisher - SEX PISTOLS anarchist JOHN LYDON.
The pair hit headlines around the world on Tuesday (16Nov10) when they announced their engagement. Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, revealed he proposed in Africa last month (Oct10) and carried his late mother Princess Diana’s engagement ring in his rucksack for two weeks before presenting it to his longterm girlfriend.
And Lydon - who caused controversy in his 1970s heyday with his song God Save The Queen - has sent his good wishes to the pair.
In a tribute piece in Britain’s The Sun, Lydon - formerly known as Johnny Rotten - writes, "When I heard William had popped the question to Kate, I had a nice cup of tea for them. Later on, I might even put some bucks fizz in my veins in their honour.
"This is a beautiful love story and I like that. He’s done very well for himself… People think I hate the Royal Family, but that’s not true. My animosity is towards the institution, not the people themselves.
"Willy and Katy look like they are genuinely in love and that’s all I look for. That’s what being a human being is all about. That is what is important in life."

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SIR TOM JONES is convinced PRINCE WILLIAM stands a "better chance" of enjoying a successful marriage than his parents did - because the young Royal seems more "in love" than CHARLES and DIANA.
Prince William announced his engagement to Kate Middleton on Tuesday (16Nov10), following several years of dating after meeting at the University of St Andrews in Scotland in the early 2000s.
His parents, Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, wed in 1981 after a whirlwind romance but separated in 1992.
Jones believes Prince William and Middleton are more likely to enjoy a happy union and he’s hoping the couple stage a lavish wedding ceremony.
He tells Sky News, "The bigger it is (the wedding) I think the better people will like it. It lifts people up and shows people that the Royals are strong and they are part of Great Britain.
"I think Princess Diana and the Prince Of Wales, I don’t know whether they were as much in love at the beginning as William is now… so I think they’ve got a better chance."

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Actress/model PAMELA ANDERSON has urged India’s Prime Minister to ban leather in the country, branding the trade in animal hides "unspeakably cruel".
The Baywatch beauty jetted into Mumbai earlier this month (Nov10) to take part in the Indian version of Big Brother, Bigg Boss - but before she entered the reality TV house, she penned a letter to the country’s leader Manmohan Singh to call for an end to leather trading.
In the note, Anderson claims animals are "suffocating and dying on their way to slaughter" and she’s urging the Indian government to take a stance against the industry.
She writes, "The reverence and love for animals felt by people in your beautiful country is deeply moving, yet one thing fills me and all compassionate people with horror: India’s leather trade. It still profits from the skins of animals who have been transported to and killed in slaughterhouses, including illegal ones, in unspeakably cruel ways. In 10 years, it seems nothing has changed.
"Illegal slaughterhouses operate with impunity throughout the country. The government has also failed to set up any effective scheme whatsoever to address this crisis. India’s laws prohibit animals from being crammed onto vehicles in such high numbers that their bones break, ban handlers from smearing chilli seeds into cows’ eyes and breaking their tails, and prevent animals from standing in their own blood and being hacked to pieces in front of each other while still conscious, yet all this continues to go on, involving countless animals every day…
"I am calling on every kind person in India… to join me in rejecting all leather products in order to help put an end to the suffering. I am asking every individual never to buy leather shoes, bags, jackets, belts or anything else made of animal skin."

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GEORGE CLOONEY was honoured for his charity work at a glitzy gala in New York City on Wednesday night (17Nov10).
The Hollywood actor attended the Ripple of Hope Awards at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan, where he was celebrated for his philanthropic efforts.
Clooney took to the stage to pick up a trophy at the ceremony, which is held by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights, as his proud father, Nick, and girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis watched from the audience.
Clooney has long campaigned for peace in the Sudan - he filmed a documentary there in 2008 to chronicle the atrocities in the troubled Darfur region after the country was embroiled in civil war and recently met with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the issue.

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Record label boss ANTONIO ‘L.A.’ REID has hailed British hip-hop act N-DUBZ as the "new era of the BLACK EYED PEAS", according to rapper DAPPY.
The trio is preparing to break America with its new album Best Behaviour after signing a deal with Reid’s U.S. label Def Jam.
And the music executive is reportedly so impressed with N-Dubz stars Tulisa, Dappy and Fazer, he’s adamant they will be bigger than the I Gotta Feeling hitmakers.
Dappy tells Britain’s The Sun, "L.A. Reid sat me and Tulisa down. We sold him what we do by performing for him and he said it was like watching a ping-pong game. He was like, ‘I get it, I get it. You guys don’t need to change s**t - you’ve got it.’ "He said we are the new era of the Black Eyed Peas. In two years he said we’re going to be bigger than them. Fingers crossed, if we can keep out of trouble, if we are humble and grateful, then we can do it."

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Former LED ZEPPELIN star ROBERT PLANT has joined the line-up for a cancer charity’s fundraising concert after losing close friends to the disease.
The rock legend, as well as The Who, Jeff Beck and Debbie Harry, will take to the stage in London for A Concert For Killing Cancer, to raise funds for trials in photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment.
Plant’s manager Bill Curbishley explains the reason behind the star’s participation: "Robert and I had lived through the final months and days of close friends battling with cancer, but also fighting to overcome the effects of their treatments. Only later we discovered that PDT could perhaps have saved their lives - and certainly given them some dignity in their final weeks." The gig will take place at the Hammersmith Apollo on 13 January (11).

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Punk legend PATTI SMITH was on the verge of tears as she accepted a major literary honour for her memoir at the U.S. National Book Awards in New York City on Wednesday (17Nov10).
The veteran singer won the coveted nonfiction prize for Just Kids, a book about her youth in New York which chronicles her relationship with late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
Smith became emotional as she took to the stage to collect the trophy and she used her speech to urge publishers not to "abandon" traditional books in favour of electronic readers.
She said, "There is nothing more beautiful than the book, the paper, the font, the cloth. Please, no matter how we advance technologically, please never abandon the book." Smith also recalled her days working as a clerk in a New York bookstore, admitting she long dreamed of writing and winning a literary award.
She added, "I’ve loved books all my life. (I dreamed of) having a book of my own (and) I used to wonder what it would feel like to win a National Book Award. Thank you for letting me find out." Judges described Smith’s book as "an evocative work of cultural history" and an "unsentimental elegy for a time that seems both very recent and very long ago." Other winners at the ceremony included Jaimy Gordon, who won the fiction award for Lord of Misrule, and Tom Wolfe, who was presented with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

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An internet leak has forced DR. DRE to release his new single KUSH - even though he’s not happy with the song’s content.
The hip-hop legend already axed his collaboration with Jay-Z, Under Pressure, from upcoming album Detox after part of the song hit the internet early.
Dre said at the time, "There’s no leaks that came out that’s gonna be on the record." The rapper recently became the victim of a web leak again when an unfinished version of Kush appeared on websites, and he’s reluctantly agreed to release the single.
But Dre admits he’s unhappy with the release of Kush, a song about smoking marijuana, because the song isn’t finished and he doesn’t think the track is a fair reflection of the album as a whole.
He tells U.S. radio host Big Boy, "It’s a little bit unfortunate with the technology today. (Kush) got leaked and it was a version of it that I really wasn’t happy about, (but) we’re going to go ahead and push it and put it out because everybody seems to like it.
"I just thought the content, it’s about weed smoking, and I don’t want people to think that that’s what my album is about. This is actually the only song with that type of content." But Dre, real name Andre Young, is pleased he’s finally going to release the much-delayed record: "I see the finish line right now. I’m wrapping it up. I need about two or three more songs and then hopefully I’ll start the mixing process at the end of next month. And then from that point I’m about thirty-days out.
"I’m seriously excited about it. It’s feeling good now. One of the reasons it was taking so long is because I felt like I was doing it more out of obligation as opposed to really feeling it. As of last year, I’ve been really feeling where it’s going and it feels good and I think I’m ready."

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KATY PERRY has congratulated pregnant singer PINK after she announced her baby news earlier this week (beg15Nov10).
The So What hitmaker revealed she is expecting her first child with husband Carey Hart during an interview with U.S. talk show host Ellen DeGeneres on Wednesday (17Nov10).
Pink also told her friends and fans about the pregnancy in a post on Twitter.com, writing, "My wish for this pregnancy, besides a healthy happy baby, is for the paparazzi to leave us alone and let me gain my weight in peace." Her singer pal Perry responded by writing, "Congratulations & amen to your wish," while Pink replied, "Ha! Thanx (sic) fierce woman." Perry is not the only star to celebrate Pink’s baby news - former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm wrote on her Twitter page, "Congratulations! It is without a doubt the best thing ever", and DeGeneres took to the microblogging site after the interview, writing, "Pink spilled the beans on my show today. She’s pregnant! She’s gonna make one fun mama."

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RANDY JACKSON has taken aim at the executors of his late brother MICHAEL’s estate for failing to attend the star’s burial.
The Thriller icon died in June, 2009 and was laid to rest soon afterwards - but John Branca and John McClain, the executors of his estate, did not show up for the ceremony.
Randy admits he was fuming over their absence, and he’s accused them of concentrating on "getting deals done" to cash in on Jackson’s popularity following his shock death.
In a post on his Twitter.com page, he writes, "I invited McClain to the burial, Ironically, he didn’t show up. Neither of the executors (showed) up to pay their respects. Maybe they were too busy getting deals done." The executors signed a $250 million (£166.7 million) deal with Sony Music bosses earlier this year (10), to release 10 albums of the late star’s unreleased music.

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Veteran rock stars QUEEN led performances at a royal charity concert in London on Wednesday night (17Nov10), taking to the stage with KEANE frontman TOM CHAPLIN and MIDGE URE.
The band thrilled the crowd with a rendition of hit track It’s a Hard Life with Chaplin at the Prince’s Trust Rock Gala, in front of Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The event, which raises money for Charles’ Prince’s Trust charity, also saw the group perform with former Ultravox star Ure on vocals.
Chaplin described Queen as his "heroes" and admitted he was thrilled to sing with them because he has always admired the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury.
He says, "I have notions of being a weirdly flamboyant frontman, and my voice is in the same register as Freddie’s was - it’s such a buzz to be backed by the actual band themselves." Other performers at the event included Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Tom Jones and Status Quo.
Rick Parfitt’s band opened the show and he reveals the event felt like a Live Aid concert as artists came together to raise money for good causes.
He says, "To me it felt like a little Live Aid tonight with Queen and Phil and Midge here, and us opening with Rockin’ All Over the World."

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Veteran crooner WAYNE NEWTON has won permission to open his lavish Las Vegas mansion to the public following protests from neighbours who fear the move will turn the area into a tourist trap.
The singer has long wanted to open his Casa de Shenandoah estate to fans, but local residents have objected on the grounds the attraction will bring hordes of visitors to the neighbourhood and increase traffic congestion.
Newton took his request to Nevada officials and both sides of the argument were heard at a Clark County Commission meeting on Wednesday (17Nov10). The hearing went in the star’s favour and he has been given permission to go ahead with the plans.
Newton aims to launch public tours of the estate in late 2011 - visitors will be able to glimpse inside his lavish home, which is resplendent with entertainment memorabilia including a car which once belonged to Steve McQueen, one of Johnny Cash’s guitars and a watch worn by Nat King Cole, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Visitors will view Newton’s art collection and the South African penguins he keeps at the ranch, while they will also be taken to an inbuilt theatre to watch a documentary about Newton’s life and see the star perform his hits.
Newton says, "I couldn’t be more happy with the decision that the commission made. I am happy, too, that maybe some of the neighbours heard some of the truth about the project for the first time… The last thing I have ever done is infringe on my neighbours. I’ve heard people say that we are building a monument to myself. Get serious. I’m not that important." Turning the estate into a tourist attraction will give cash-strapped Newton a much-needed financial boost - the star has suffered numerous money troubles in recent years. He filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992 as his debts spiralled and in 2005 be became embroiled in a dispute with officials at America’s Internal Revenue Service, who alleged he owed $1.8 million (£1.2 million) in back taxes.

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RANDY JACKSON has blasted Sony Music chiefs over an upcoming posthumous album from his brother MICHAEL - because he’s convinced his late sibling’s voice is faked on the record.
The star admits he felt "sick" when he discovered label bosses had signed a $250 million (£166.7 million) deal with executors of the tragic singer’s estate to release 10 music albums.
Randy reveals he became "suspicious" of the project when executor John McClain banned the Thriller legend’s family from being in the studio while the tracks were completed.
And he’s adamant it isn’t his brother’s voice "on some of the tracks" featured on upcoming release Michael, which is set to hit stores next month (Dec10).
In a series of posts on his Twitter.com page, he writes, "Me and my nephew were the first to say that it wasn’t his voice on some of the tracks. The family and the executors of the estate, Branca and McClain, are not on the same page. We don’t see eye to eye.
"I became suspicious about the album, when I heard (sic) when armed guards were involved since my brother’s passing… John McClain insisted that no family members were allowed at his studio where the project was being completed.
"My first thought was, ‘What are they trying to hide?’ Teddy Riley (producer) was brought in just to mix and insisted on switching studios at which (sic) he called me to come down and hear my brother’s music. I heard the music and I immediately said it wasn’t his voice. Some of the songs are him, and some aren’t. I would bet my life on that." Randy has called on Sony chiefs to re-evaluate their deal - because he’s confident there isn’t enough of his late brother’s unreleased material to complete all 10 albums.
He adds, "Sony has 250 million reasons to convince the public that it is his voice, if you know what I mean. In fact, when I heard about the Sony deal, it made me sick. Like AEG, they were cutting deals with the estate before I could get my brother in the ground.
"Why would Sony sign a 10 album deal over a period of seven years and McClain couldn’t find enough product for one album. I’d like to hear what they played Sony, or did Sony even care? If they don’t even have enough product for one album how are they going to make 10 albums?"

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SOPHIA BUSH has joined the fight for the environment by filming a new public service announcement (PSA) to encourage teens to go green.
The One Tree Hill star has teamed up with officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and campaign website DoSomething.org to promote a new online game which shows youngsters how to help in the battle against climate change.
The internet application, called eMission, is available on Facebook.com and allows users to enter a digital world where they can build and maintain habitats for wildlife and complete missions to reduce greenhouse gases through tasks such as planting trees.
Bush says, "Teens are already on Facebook playing games, so why not play one that’s going to change your life for the better? Young people need to hear that they’re powerful and can be leaders in change. This is the idea behind eMission."

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Playboy boss HUGH HEFNER has been honoured for his literary work - he picked up two prizes at the PEN USA Awards on Wednesday night (17Nov10).
The publishing mogul took his girlfriend, Crystal, and his children, Marston and Cooper, along to the "special event" at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hills Hotel, where he was handed the Award Of Honor and the First Amendment Award at the firm’s 2010 literary competition.
Hefner took to his Twitter.com page to express his delight at the titles and posted a picture of himself onstage accepting one of the trophies.
In a series of posts during the evening, he explains, "I’m taking family to the PEN USA Literary Festival & Awards Dinner tonight… I’m receiving two awards from PEN USA tonight - the Award of Honor for my work as an editor & the First Amendment Award for fighting censors." Novelist and screenwriter James Salter picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala.

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