NEW YORK - Angelina Jolie, the tattooed actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador, is the new face of luxury apparel label St. John.
Jolie also will be the voice behind the company's new charity created in support of children's issues and causes, it was announced Thursday.
"Angelina Jolie embodies so many qualities of what St. John represents. She is strong, independent and dynamic. She's a mother, actress and a philanthropist," Richard Cohen, chief executive officer of St. John, said in a statement.
St. John's new advertising campaign with the 30-year-old actress, set to launch in spring 2006 publications, will be shot by photographer Mario Testino.
The ad campaign's creative direction will "take inspiration from the company's native California and will evoke a mood synonymous with effortless, Hollywood glamour," the company said.
In a statement, Jolie said: "I am a working mother who has set goals to accomplish a lot in this world. I want my wardrobe to be beautiful, sexy and comfortable - all at the same time. St. John is all of those things."
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen starred in St. John's fall advertising campaign.
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NEW YORK (AP) - Several leaders attending a U.N. summit joined international celebrities to support programs to preserve the environment as a means to help end poverty.
Camera flashes lit up the night Wednesday as the VIPs headed into a restaurant in Central Park for a program by the Poverty-Environment Partnership, a network of organizations promoting U.N. goals to promote development and save the world's natural habitat.
"Undermining and not understanding the environment is the problem," said Angelique Kidjo, who was born in the African country of Benin.
The singer explained that destruction of the environment creates natural disasters, leaving the poor stranded.
As guests dined, Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds announced that her country will invest $150 million in environmental protection for the poor.
The solution is not new for Scandinavian countries "who were conducting research in the early 1960s" on how poverty is affected by the environment, said Freivalds.
Media mogul Ted Turner, whose visit with leaders in North Korea last month included discussions over environmental issues, attended as a guest. "I'm only here to support the cause," Turner said.
Former Vice President Al Gore sat at a table near Turner. The president of Gambia, officials from Finland and Norway, and actresses Rosario Dawson, Sophia Bush and Kerry Washington were also in the audience.
Wyclef Jean, a former member of the Fugees, was at the event endorsing a campaign to plant trees in areas of Haiti destroyed by Hurricane Jeanne.
Jean has also founded Yele Haiti, a nonprofit aid group that provides food and scholarships to his native country.
"Sometimes you don't have to wait for government to change before you make the change yourself," said Jean, who performed after dinner.
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MEXICO CITY (AP) - Avril Lavigne loves her Spanish-speaking audiences, but she plans to stick to making music in English.
"I'll probably stick to English. I understand it a lot better," the 20-year-old singer, who was born in Canada, said before a recent performance at the Mexican capital's Palacio de los Deportes. "It's the main language, a lot of people understand it."
Lavigne was in Mexico to promote her "Under My Skin" album, the follow-up to "Let Go."
"I didn't ever expect to sell as many records as I did with my first record, but, because I've had success, I think I'll always be around with my music," she said. "Because I've had success, now I have the opportunity to make music for the rest of my life."
Lavigne said of her Mexican fans: "I think they're awesome. I played in Monterrey and it was one of the best crowds I've ever had."
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