Spice girls axed from Live 8

The Spice Girls have been axed from this summer's star-studded Live 8 charity concert - because the event's organisers fear the band's music undermines the show's serious political message about world poverty.

The Wannabe stars - Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton - hoped to reform the band and perform together for the first time since 1998, when Halliwell quit the group.