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Britney Spears faces child abuse probe

Last updated on: June 30, 2010 17:38 IST
Britney Spears and her sons

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Pop star Britney Spears is under the scanner over allegations that she has abused her two young sons.

Social workers will quiz her over claims she beat one with a belt and gave both food they were allergic to -- making them violently ill.

However, the 28-year-old star has strongly denied the claims and insisted that she has never mistreated her four-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, three.

Meanwhile, the singer's former bodyguard Fernando Flores, who approached the investigators, even revealed to Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services that he feels Britney is too unstable to be left in charge of her sons.

Apparently, Flores fears her behaviour could scar for life the youngsters -- who split their time between Toxic singer Britney's Beverly Hills mansion and dad Kevin Federline's home.

'Britney doesn't mean to be a bad mum. But Flores feels she has so many issues she can't be trusted around her boys,'  the Sun quoted a source as saying.

'He claims the first really shocking incident was when she came marching into the pool house at her mansion and demanded his belt. He handed it over but then followed her into the main house and claims he witnessed the alleged incident,' the source added.

Flores also accused Britney of feeding the boys food they were allergic to, including shellfish.

The alleged incidents took place in late March or early April.

Child protection agency workers tried to quiz Britney last week but she had left LA for a few days.

Lady Gaga poses as a man in gender bender shoot

Last updated on: June 30, 2010 17:38 IST
Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga poses as a man in gender bender shoot

Popstar Lady Gaga has been hounded with hermaphrodite rumours ever since she began her career and she is now taking a dig at her detractors by posing as a man in a new photo shoot for a men's magazine.

A series of new photographs show the controversial singer dressed in a series of suits and shirts, with her normally platinum hair gelled up in a dark quiff.

Gone are the usual extravagant costumes usually favoured by the star. In their place are sombre suits and conservative white shirts, reported Daily Mail online.

The photos were taken in London by renowned photographer Nick Knight and arranged by regular Gaga stylist Nicola Formichetti. They are set to appear in a men's fashion editorial for the September issue of Vogue Hommes Japan.

Formichetti has also posted the images on her blog, but mysteriously lists the model's name as Jo Calderone. However, one of Gaga's biggest fans, blogger Perez Hilton appeared to acknowledge the images are of the star whom he jokingly refers to as "my wife".

Perez posted links to the pictures on his Twitter account, saying, "My husband, Jo Calderone! We're in love. My man is so hot! Love him."

Gaga had earlier said that she does not care about the rumours of her being a hermaphrodite. "I love the rumour that I have a penis. I'm fascinated by it. In fact, it makes me love my fans even more that this rumour is in the world because 17,000 of them come to an arena every night and they don't care if I'm a man, a woman, a hermaphrodite, gay, straight, transgendered, or transsexual," said the singer.

The latest cover of US magazine Rolling Stone shows the Poker Face hitmaker clad in nothing but a machine gun bra.

Wonder Woman's new makeover

Last updated on: June 30, 2010 17:38 IST
Lynda Carter in the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series

Wow, Wonder Woman's got an all-new wardrobe!

Since her debut in 1941, Comicdom's most famous superheroine has only been seen in her trademark US-flag inspired costume. But now that's all set to change, because today the 69-year-old superheroine donned an all-new and less revealing, more practical! costume for the publication of Issue Number 600 of DC Comics monthly Wonder Woman series.

The costume change represents part of an overhaul of the Wonder Woman character, including an alternative history for the character devised by J. Michael Straczynski (creator of Babylon 5), the new writer of the series.

In the new version of events, Wonder Woman -- instead of being raised on her native Paradise Island with her mother and sisters -- is forced to flee as a baby when her island home is destroyed.

"She's been locked into pretty much the exact same outfit since her debut in 1941," Straczynski told the New York Times. "If you're going to make a statement about bringing Wonder Woman into the 21st century, you need to be bold and you need to make it visual. I wanted to toughen her up, and give her a modern sensibility."

While Wonder Woman's traditional outfit looked like a skimpy swim-suit from a 1950s American Independence Day party, and was by no means suited to fighting crime, the new outfit is quite stylish and functional, including a chic dark blue jacket and black tights.

There have long been rumours that Warner Entertainment, DC's parent company, is planning a Wonder Woman-themed international film series, in the same spirit as the successful Batman and Spiderman films of recent years.

The new outfit should move Wonder Woman out of the 1950s and into modernity, and make her ready for a big screen debut.

Source: ANI