London, Dec 14 : Sir Paul McCartney has claimed that it was he - and not John Lennon - who politicised the Beatles.

While in an interview with the intellectual journal Prospect, the veteran singer made the revelation that he persuaded Lennon to oppose the war in Vietnam.

He claimed the group''s politicisation began after he met the philosopher Bertrand Russell in London in the mid-1960s, reports the Telegraph.

However, McCartney's critics see his comments as a further attempt to revise the history of the Beatles, casting himself in a better light.

Melbourne, Nov 30 : Owing to the global credit crunch, superstars including Madonna, Paul McCartney and Neil Diamond have scrapped Australian tour plans.

According to reports, Madonna was scheduled to perform at Sydney''s ANZ Stadium and Melbourne''s Docklands in late January.

In fact, Tickets for Madonna''s shows were due to go on sale two weeks ago and ‘The Material Girl’ planned to charge a top ticket price of 400 dollars.

The shows were being presented by US tour giant Live Nation and local promoter Michael Coppel.

"It got as close as anything ever gets. Madonna was coming to Australia, the dates were resolved, then economics got in the way,'''' The Daily Telegraph quoted a tour industry source as saying.

London, Nov 25 : Musician Paul McCartney has likened reality television to a car accident – as both invoke compulsive viewing.

The ‘Hey Jude’ hitmaker admitted that he himself watches it.

"I''m not very keen on it. I watch it like everybody. It''s compulsive viewing but so is a traffic accident,” The Telegraph quoted McCartney, as saying.

The ex-Beatle said shows like the X Factor don’t actually ‘encourage’ musical creativity.

"I think there is too much of it. You can''t turn on the telly without somebody being judged by four people, whether they are on ice, or on the stage or in the jungle,” he added.

Washington, Nov 21 : Sir Paul McCartney and Guns N'' Roses frontman Axl Rose are releasing their new albums on the online social network MySpace.

The first is "Electric Arguments," the new album by McCartney''s side-project group The Fireman, and the second one is "Chinese Democracy," the long-delayed album by hard rock band Guns N'' Roses, before the songs are in stores.

MySpace members will be able to listen to the new songs, but won''t be able to download them, reports FoxNews.

Geffen Records will release "Chinese Democracy" on November 23 at Best Buy stores.

London, Nov 20 : Sir Paul McCartney is set to release a new album, called ‘Electric Arguments’. This is the third album made by the former Beatle and dance producer Youth - under the alias of The Fireman.

"I just totally trust him, throw everything in the book at him," BBC quoted McCartney, as saying about Youth.

The album, which is slated to release on November 24, has already received rave reviews from Rolling Stone and Uncut.