The Pussycat Dolls have split up, according to band member Ashley Roberts. The singer and dancer reportedly told fans outside a hotel in London that the girl group had “broken up”. According to the Daily Mail, a tearful Roberts said: “This is the last time we’ll be in the UK as a band. We’ve broken up. We’re sorry.”

The group’s future has been in doubts for the past few months after reports that lead singer Nicole Scherzinger was planning to launch a solo career, which has caused tension between the girls.

Writing on her Twitter page, band member Melody Thornton said: “You know when you realise someone or something you have been involved in or with for a long time is completely beneath you and needs to be over! Yeah.” But despite Roberts’s tearful outburst, a spokesman for the group said: “The girls are still together. They are in Beirut for a gig.”

- music-news.com

New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS) Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is angry for being dragged into a controversy over entering a temple with her shoes on, and says that people have used her name just to get publicity.

“I have no idea why these stories have been concocted and it is obvious that this is the easiest way for some people to seek publicity! This is ridiculous; they have to stop making scapegoats of celebrities.

It’s a waste of precious time and energy and there is a huge backlog of important judicial matters that’s pending and needs to be addressed,” Shilpa wrote on her blog.

Shilpa was accused of entering the Gopinath Deb temple of Sakhigopal near Puri, Orissa, with her shoes on and the temple authorities later filed a complaint with the Satyabadi police station against the actress. She was shooting for a TV reality show. No serious case was made out against the actress.

Bollywood.com

Ferrari has asked rival teams for permission to have Michael Schumacher test this year’s car during the testing ban ahead of the European Grand Prix.

The German driver will replace Felipe Massa at the Maranello-based squad in Valencia, but Schumacher had not driven a Formula 1 car since last year.

The seven-time champion has already begun his preparations for the race, having taken to the Mugello circuit today in a two-year-old F2007 car.

But Ferrari has written to the FIA and to its rival teams asking to allow Schumacher to test for a day with this year’s F60 car in order to arrive better prepared for the Valencia race.

- autosport.com