In brief: Brown denies Stone Roses rumours

Reports that the Stone Roses, the legendary Manchester band, are to reform have met with a swift denial by the lead singer Ian Brown (pictured). Responding to a Daily Mirror story that the group was planning a 21-night comeback tour of Britain and America, a spokesman for Brown said: "We know nothing about a reunion. Ian is working on his new studio album which is due out later this year." The Roses split up in 1994 amid rumours of ego battles and in-fighting..................... Gaynor Arnold, a 63-year-old social worker, has made the shortlist for the £30,000 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her book, Girl In A Blue Dress, a fictional account of the life of Charles Dickens's wife, is up against A Mercy, the ninth novel of the Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, among others ........... Victor Pinchuk, the Ukranian steel billionaire, is staging the world’s largest show of Damien Hirst’s works in Kiev next month. It will feature more than 100 works, including A Thousand Years - a dead cow’s head covered by maggots and flies...............A star item in the much publicised auction of the late designer Gianni Versace's possessions - a painting by the German neo-classical artist Johann Zoffany - has been withdrawn amid fears it was stolen. The portrait of Major George Maule is one of 550 pieces of furniture and works of art from Versace's Lake Como Villa being sold by Sothebys............