Mac Minister
Life Sentence Upheld Against Rapper Minister
Rapper Mac Minister has lost an appeal against his life sentence stemming from his conviction for a double murder in 2005.
The embattled star, real name Andre Dow, was found guilty in 2008 for killing fellow rapper Anthony 'Fat Tone' Watkins and his pal Jermaine 'Cowboy' Atkins.
Prosecutors argued the two murders were in revenge for the slaying of Minister's associate, Mac Dre, in Kansas City, Missouri in 2004.
He was convicted on two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
Minister launched an appeal to challenge the ruling, claiming at least 10 errors had been made during his trial.
However, his case was dismissed by officials at the Nevada Supreme Court this week (ends28May10). They declared two of Minister's complaints were valid, but insisted the mistakes had no bearing on the final ruling.
50 Cent's Weight Loss Inspired By De Niro, Hanks & Bale
Rapper-turned-actor 50 Cent looked to Hollywood stars Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Christian Bale for inspiration as he embarked on a drastic weight loss regime for new movie Things Fall Apart
The In Da Club hitmaker plays an American footballer who is diagnosed with cancer in the film, which he wrote based on a friend's tragic battle with the disease.
The hip-hop star, who survived on a liquid diet, lost 54 pounds (24.5 kilograms) for the role and stunned fans earlier this week (ends28May10) when he posted photos of his skeletal image online.
In an accompanying post, titled '50 Cent's Shocking Slim-Down!', 50 Cent wrote, "I lost 54 pounds for it. I was starving."
But the rapper refused to let his hunger pains steer him off course and turned to other actors who had famously lost weight for films whenever he found his spirit diminishing.
He tells the Associated Press, "I actually got on the computer. When it started getting difficult, I was looking to see what their experience was like and I got a chance to see all of the interviews they had at different time periods when they were doing promotion for the projects."
De Niro shed 35 pounds (15.9 kilograms) to play Travis Bickle in 1976 classic Taxi Driver, while Hanks lost the same amount of weight for his Oscar-winning role as a gay lawyer with AIDS in 1993 drama Philadelphia.
Bale went even further and dropped an astonishing 63 pounds (28.6 kilograms) in a matter of months to achieve his emaciated appearance in 2004's The Machinist.
M.I.A. Worried About The Violence Her Son Will See
Hitmaker M.I.A. worries for her son's generation because the world's youngsters are fixated on videogame violence and the end of the world.
The hip-hop star became a first-time mum to Ikhyd last year (09) and she can't stop fretting about the images he's going to witness as he grows up.
M.I.A. tells Complex magazine, "There's a whole generation of American kids seeing violence on their computer screens and then getting shipped off to Afghanistan.
"They feel like they know the violence when they don't. Not having a proper understanding of violence, especially what it's like on the receiving end of it, just makes you interpret it wrong and makes inflicting violence easier.
"When I put on the History Channel or Discovery Channel in America there's this insane fascination with the end of the world... Everyone's so obsessed with Armageddon, the dates they're talking about is Ikhyd's generation.
DIddy Sets Up Porter In Luxury Home
Rap Mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs is making sure his kids have a happy childhood - he's reportedly bought his on/off girlfriend Kim Porter a luxury $5.2 million (£3.46 million) home.
The star has treated Porter - mother of three of his five children - to a sprawling, six-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion in exclusive Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, according to RealEstalker.com.
Situated on a gated estate with hi-tech surveillance cameras, it boasts a gym, cinema, library, marble floors, and even a temperature-controlled wine vault.
And the on/off couple's three children - twin daughters D'Lila and Jessie, and son Christian - will have plenty of room to roam around - the property is surrounded by rolling lawns with an outdoor swimming pool.
RealEstalker reports that the rapper paid $5,250,000 (£3.5 million) for the property in June last year (09).