Mega-rich musician Paul McCartney is urging the younger generation of pop stars like P Diddy and J Lo not to flaunt fur as a sign of success. "I understand the attraction of, when you first earn money, wanting to show off," admits the ex-Beatle. "You want the most ridiculous furs, you want chinchilla dripping off you, you want jewellery. The difference between fur and jewellery is, fur hurts someone." Sir Paul, who's worth around £800 million, made his feelings clear in an interview with the animal rights organisation PETA on its 25th anniversary. He said the likes of P Diddy and Jennifer Lopez don't need to wear fur to look good because, "You look good enough anyway, baby!"....HELLO MAGAZINE

Just weeks away from the birth of her first baby, Britney Spears had a kids' day out as she helped stepdaughter Kori celebrate her birthday in Malibu, California. The heavily pregnant pop star turned out for the fun-filled Western-themed party – complete with fancy dress and a pony – sticking close to the guest-of-honour, husband Kevin Federline's little girl. Kori, the back-up dancer's child from a previous relationship with actress Shar Jackson, got into the spirit of things by dressing up as a tiny cowgirl. Her famous stepmum, however, who is due in September, stayed cool in her trademark maternity gear, cutoff denim shorts and flip-flops. Britney's hands-on stepmothering comes just a week after Shar, mother of Kevin's two children, told a New York newspaper that he'd missed his youngest child's first birthday in July. Baby Kaleb's special day "came and went without a visit, present or phone call from Kevin or Britney", she said....HELLO MAGAZINE

Months after touring tsunami-hit southern Thailand, pop star-turned-United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Ricky Martin is once again showing his most caring side, helping launch the 25th annual Arab Children's Congress in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The chart-topping singer met with Jordan's Queen Noor as he took centre stage at the international teen summit, which brings together young people from the Arab world, Asia and Europe to discuss cultural and humanitarian issues. Ricky has taken up a high-profile role as a children's advocate in recent years, stepping to the forefront of a campaign against child trafficking. And last month, the US State Department recognised the star for "lending a powerful voice to vulnerable children who are unable to speak for themselves". The Latin hunk, who created the Ricky Martin Foundation to help charitable causes, once made the heart-felt plea: "Let's do something… It's all about talking about things that need to be done to create a better world, especially for generations to come." And he apparently puts his money where his mouth is – Habitat For Humanity recently revealed Ricky made a "significant donation" to build homes for more than 200 families who survived last December's tsunami disaster in Thailand

Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand have won this year's Mercury Music Prize for their self-titled debut album. They fended off competition from acts including The Streets, Joss Stone, Amy Winehouse and The Zutons to take the prestigious award. The £20,000 award is for the best album of the year by a British or Irish act. It is voted for by a panel of industry experts, journalists and artists, and is said to reward originality and creativity rather than sales success. Frontman Alex Kapranos told the audience at the central London ceremony that he and his bandmates were "truly gobsmacked - very chuffed and very honoured"....BBC

In a classic pairing worthy of the climax to the Live 8 concerts, soul legend James Brown took to the stage at Edinburgh's Murrayfield stadium on Wednesday night to perform a duet with Britain's Will Young. Referring to his own impoverished upbringing in America's deep south, the 72-year-old funk star said he wants G8 leaders to help stop other children being raised the same way. "I come from a poor background. There's a lot of young people, old people and uneducated people. Do we want them to go through what we went through? No." Joining him on the stage in the Scottish capital were a host of stars from both sides of the pond, including Lenny Henry, Wet, Wet, Wet, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Susan Sarandon. Also on hand was German supermodel and mother-of-two Claudia Schiffer, who sent a plea to the chancellor of her homeland. "Gerhard Schroeder, we are watching you. Since you woke up this morning, 30,000 children have already died... On behalf of all the African mothers, I beg the politicians to do something now," she said....HELLO MAGAZINE

After much speculation, it looks like pop star Avril Lavigne and her boyfriend of more than two years, Sum 41 front man Deryck Whibley, are going to tie the knot. Though the self-described "tough chick and hopeless romantic" once denied there was anything more than friendship between herself and her longtime pal, Us magazine has confirmed Deryck proposed last weekend as his 20-year-old girlfriend was wrapping up her European tour. It may come as a surprise that the punk pop princess, who has gained a party girl image over the past few months, is settling down. However, Avril recently explained that appearances may be deceiving. “I’m on a vegan diet, I do yoga every day, I work out, I’m totally spiritual," she said. "I’m completely opposite of what everyone thinks I am."...HELLO MAGAZINE

Sweden has outlawed the downloading of copyrighted movies, games and music in an attempt to curb rampant piracy. About 10% of Swedes freely swap music, games and films on their computers, one of the highest rates in the world. With no law banning file-sharing, Sweden had become a hotbed of piracy where films, music and software were readily swapped. But experts believe the law will change little and that Swedes will remain rampant downloaders. Pirate haven Prior to the law coming into force, Sweden was the only European nation that let people download copyrighted material for personal use. As a result many Swedes, thanks also to the available of cheap high-speed net access, were committed downloaders. It is estimated that about 900,000 Swedes regularly downloaded movies, games and music....BBC