U.S. pop diva Madonna, who is worth $650 million, has launched a new fund-raising drive to support the training of a Malawian pediatric surgeon, her charity announced Sunday, two years after she abandoned a girls academy project in a cloud of alleged mismanagement.

Through her U.S. registered charity Raising Malawi, the 'Queen of Pop' has emailed hordes of her well-wishers and fans, addressing them as Dear Friend, and asking: "Will you consider donating $5 or more to support people like Dr. Erick Borgstein, for many years the only pediatric surgeon in Malawi, who are helping orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi?"

Fire officials in California say at least 21 people were treated for burns after attendees of an event for motivational speaker Tony Robbins tried to walk on hot coals.

The San Jose Mercury News reports (http://bit.ly/OJ9ha3 ) that at least three people went to a hospital and most suffered second- or third-degree burns.

A judge refused to dismiss charges Friday against a group accused of burglarizing celebrities' homes based on an officer's paid work on a film about the case, but called the investigator's actions "stupid" and a gift for defense attorneys.

An attorney for Roy Lopez Jr., who is charged with burglarizing Paris Hilton's home, argued the $12,500 paid to the lead investigator for work on Sofia Coppola's upcoming film on the case was outrageous conduct that justified a dismissal.

The first novel in the erotic trilogy series "Fifty Shades" has proved a smash hit in Germany, selling half a million copies in 11 days, publishers said Friday, despite mixed critical reviews.

The German-language version of the steamy best-seller by British author E.L. James has been flying off the shelves, with 500,000 copies of "Geheimes Verlangen", translated as "Secret Desires", sold since it appeared on July 9.

A collection of photographs of Marilyn Monroe obtained by the Polish state as part of a foreign debt settlement will go on display in Warsaw next month before they are auctioned off later this year.

Poland's State Treasury received the shots of Monroe taken by her friend Milton Green in a collection of nearly 4,000 photographs it received as part of the 1995 financial agreement.

Katie Holmes has decided what her first major acting project will be since announcing her divorce from Tom Cruise: Broadway.

The actress will star in Theresa Rebeck's "Dead Accounts," a five-character comedy that will be directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien, producers said Thursday.

Bangladesh's most popular fiction writer Humayun Ahmed has died in the United States after a near year-long battle against colon cancer, his family said Friday. He was 64.

Ahmed, also the country's leading film director and TV drama-maker, "was pronounced dead by doctors at Bellevue Hospital in New York" on Thursday, his brother Ahsan Habib told Agence France Presse.

"Mad Men" dominated nominations for the primetime Emmy awards on Thursday, a triumph for the 1960s-themed series that almost failed to return for its fifth season this year.

The show is up against "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," the British-made "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones" and "Homeland" for best drama series, but unlike any of its rivals, it figures in all nine drama-related categories.

Spanish film star Javier Bardem joined a mass street protest Thursday against economic crisis measures that he said are ruining Spain's cultural sector and the country generally.

The Hollywood star, bearded and wearing dark sunglasses and a simple blue t-shirt, joined hundreds of fellow artists in a demonstration outside the culture ministry, part of a wider workers' protest in the streets of Madrid.

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry was taken to hospital after suffering a minor head injury while shooting a fight scene in her latest film, her spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Berry hit her head on concrete after a "nasty" fall Tuesday and then began to vomit -- a sign of concussion -- triggering alarm from aides who advised her to go to hospital, the celebrity news website TMZ reported.