Britney Spears and her security staff denied knowledge this week of the pellet-gun shooting of a photographer who was staking out a private baby shower for the singer in Malibu. Paparazzi photographer Brad Diaz said he was struck in the thigh by a pellet on Saturday outside the mansion where the pregnant star was visiting and enjoying a party thrown for her.
A new Rolling Stones' song titled Sweet Neo Con appears to take a swipe at so-called US neo-conservatives, many of whom are well known supporters of US President George W. Bush.
An excerpt from the song was published by Newsweek magazine this week, the magazine describes the Stones' hard-hitting lyrics as "political."
US Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are three well-known members of Bush's inner circle considered by political analysts to be leading lights of the neo-conservative movement.
"You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/You call yourself a pat-riot, well I think you're full of shit," the song says, according to Newsweek.
Stones' frontman Sir Mick Jagger told Newsweek with a laugh, "It is direct."
Jagger also took a dig at fellow band member Keith Richards, who lives in the US.
"Keith said, `It's not really metaphorical.' I think he's a bit worried because he lives in the US," Jagger reportedly joked.
The song is being released on the Stones' new album, A Bigger Bang which is due out in early September.
Pop-rock group The Magic Numbers, riding high in the charts in Britain this summer, is boycotting Top of The Pops after a presenter remarked in rehearsals how beefy its members are.
The half-male, half-female quartet from west London were looking forward to performing their hit Love Me Like You on this week's edition of the venerable BBC TV chart show, the Guardiannewspaper reported Wedesday.
But they changed their minds after Top of the Pops host Richard Bacon said the band -- who have no interest in shedding their scruffy looks or body fat -- had been put in "a fat melting pot of talent" during rehearsals.
"Due to derogatory, unfunny remarks made during the guest presenter's introduction to our performance, we had to make a stand and leave," the band said in an uncharacteristic angry statement.
"It was an important day for us and should have been special. We didn't take this lightly, but we stand by it."
A spokesman for the BBC said Bacon never intended to suggest The Magic Numbers were overweight, and only used the word "fat" as "a figure of speech re-ferring to the band's status."
The Magic Numbers won over fans with their performance at the Glastonbury festival in June, when their debut album entered the charts at number seven, and this week they feature on the cover of the New Musical Express weekly.
A cartoon which was banned from the BBC for its depiction of the pope as an immature brat is set to cause new controversy after it was confirmed it will be released on DVD in Britain.
Popetown, which features the voices of comedienne Ruby Wax as the pontiff and model Jerry Hall as a fame-hungry nun, was commissioned for digital TV channel BBC Three, but deemed too offensive for broadcast last year.
The 10-part animation, commissioned in 2002 before the death of Pope John Paul II, also features corrupt cardinals, plotlines about bestiality and an elderly pope bouncing around the Vatican on a pogo stick.
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