Love hospitalised on birthday

Turbulent rocker Courtney Love was taken to a New York hospital on her 40th birthday after she missed an arraignment on an assault charge in California, her lawyer said.

"It is not a suicide attempt, not drug-related, not drug-overdose related," her lawyer Michael Rosenstein said from Los Angeles.

"It's a gynaecological medical condition for which she is receiving treatment," he said. "This is all third-hand, I have not spoken with her since last night, when she complained of medical problems, had not seen doctor and as a result the situation was exacerbated."

Photographs showed Love on a stretcher, and published reports said witnesses saw the singer being put into an ambulance outside her apartment in Manhattan.

Police said a 40-year-old woman was taken to Bellevue Hospital but did not confirm that a miscarriage had been reported.

Earlier on Friday a warrant was issued for Love's arrest when she failed to appear in a Los Angeles court for arraignment on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an April 25 incident at the home of her former manager and ex-boyfriend.

Rosenstein told a Los Angeles court that Love was in New York City and was confused about whether she was required to be at the hearing in Los Angeles.

Court Commissioner Dennis E. Mulcahy said there was no excuse for her failure to appear. He said she forfeited her $55,000 bail and he set a new bail of $150,000.

The New York Times and the New York Post reported that police had been called to Love's apartment yesterday with a report of bottles being broken.

The former lead singer of Hole has widespread legal troubles and has had to reschedule a summer tour that was intended to support her new album, "America's Sweetheart."