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B.B. King is "back to his old self." PHOTO: EPA

Monster Garage reality show host Jesse James has agreed to pay US$271,250 for violating California's air quality laws by selling motorcycles that did not meet the state's strict emissions standards, authorities said Friday.

His Long Beach motorcycle building shop, West Coast Choppers, sold more than 50 new or custom-built motorcycles between 1998 and 2005 that were not certified by the Air Resources Board, the agency said in a statement.

As part of a settlement, the shop is building motorcycles that comply with emission standards, the board said.

In a statement released Saturday, James said he offered to make all of his "non-compliant" motorcycles meet federal standards, but the state agency only was "interested in the cash settlement." "We hope that paying this money will bring to light that California has a flawed system when it comes to its clean air agencies and the policies and practices they use," James said.

James is married to actress Sandra Bullock. His Discovery Channel series about customized vehicles aired for five seasons.

Jesse James is feeling the heat. PHOTO: AP

On the other side of the pond, Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty is the clear favorite to win a UK reality television show this weekend, following a diplomatic storm over the racist bullying to which she was allegedly subjected.

Bookmakers on Friday quoted odds of 4/11 on the Indian actress emerging the winner on Sunday of Celebrity Big Brother, which triggered a row drawing in the Indian and British governments earlier this month.

Her position was further strengthened when a second contestant with whom she had clashed, former S Club 7 singer Jo O'Meara, was voted off the show alongside another contestant, to a mixture of boos and cheers from the audience.

Shetty's main perceived tormentor, Jade Goody, was evicted by an overwhelming public vote last week, days after the controversy erupted following foul-mouthed exchanges.

In a move that underlined the uphill struggle Goody faces to revive her career following the row, police probing alleged racism on the show have contacted her with a view to interviewing her, UK media reported Saturday.

O'Meara, whose eviction was supported by over 48 percent of voting viewers, steered clear of the traditional post-show press conference Friday to give her "time to digest" what had happened, a show spokeswoman said.

She did, though, tell the show's presenter that she was "not a racist person at all", stressing that her cousin had married an Indian man.

Inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, Shetty told viewers she had "never let my hair down like this" and that she hoped Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who she had aimed to represent, would be proud of her.

Famous in the UK for her startling ignorance on a non-celebrity version of the show, Goody has made tearful, apologetic television appearances since her eviction in a bid to rehabilitate her tarnished public image.

Among the comments made in last week's storm, Shetty was called a "dog" and asked whether she lives in a shack, prompting protestors in India to burn effigies of the show's producers.

B.B. King was "back to his old self" after being discharged from a hospital Saturday, a spokeswoman for his management agency said.

The 81-year-old bluesman, who had been in the hospital since Thursday, was "feeling fabulous," said Tina France, vice president of Lieberman Management of New York.

King had been treated for a low-grade fever following a bout with the flu. He was admitted to the hospital shortly before he was scheduled to perform at the Grand Opera House in Galveston.

King plans to perform tomorrow in Fort Worth, Texas, France said. The acclaimed musician, who has a history of diabetes, had a fever which required monitoring because of King's age, said France.

King, who won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, has become a spokesman in the fight against diabetes. In December, US President George W. Bush awarded King the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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