U2 film to open Toronto festival

27 July 2011 Last updated at 11:51 GMT The U2 film is the first documentary to open the Canadian movie gala A documentary about rock band U2 will open this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

The festival also features the world premieres of films by Luc Besson, Terence Davies, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Winterbottom.

Davis Guggenheim's From The Sky Down, which charts the release of U2's Achtung Baby in 1991, is the first documentary to open the festival.

The gala, opening on 8 September, is a key event ahead of the Oscars.

Last year Toronto's top audience prize went to The King's Speech which went on to win the Academy Award for best picture.

Among the world premieres are Luc Besson's The Lady, which tells the story of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband Michael Aris. The film stars Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis.

Clooney drama

Thewlis also appears alongside Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave in Roland Emmerich's Anonymous, which premieres in Toronto.

Set in Elizabethan England, the film speculates that William Shakespeare may not have been the true author of his plays.

Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea will also be unveiled, starring Rachel Weisz as a wife who walks out on her High Court judge husband (Simon Russell Beale) to be with her lover, a young ex-RAF pilot played by Tom Hiddleston.

Festival-goers will also get a first look at The Descendants, starring George Clooney and Lasse Hallstrom's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Ewan McGregor, and Michael Winterbottom's Trishna.

Based on Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Trishna is set in contemporary India and tells the tragic love story between the son of a wealthy businessman and the daughter of a rickshaw driver.

The film stars Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed.

Francis Ford Coppola - the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now - will premiere Twixt, a murder mystery with Val Kilmer.

Of his opening U2 documentary, Guggenheim said: "In the terrain of rock bands - implosion or explosion is seemingly inevitable.

"U2 has defied the gravitational pull towards destruction, this band has endured and thrived. The movie From The Sky Down asks the question why."

Guggenheim won an Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary on climate change featuring former US vice-president Al Gore.

A second rock documentary, Pearl Jam Twenty by director Cameron Crowe, will also have its world premiere at the 10-day festival, which was founded in 1976.

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Closure of music hall is averted

27 July 2011 Last updated at 17:24 GMT The venue became one of the World Monuments Fund's 100 locations of cultural importance in 2007 An entertainment venue in east London which failed in its applications for Heritage Lottery funding has raised enough money to continue operating.

Wilton's Music Hall, which is close to Tower Bridge in the East End, had been seeking ?4m for restoration work.

About ?500,000 has been donated in two months, which will pay for initial assessments of the dilapidated site.

The building was part of the first generation of public house music halls which opened in London in the 1850s.

By the start of the 20th Century these had all closed and this particular site remained neglected until 10 years ago.

Wall 'collapsed'

In 2007 it was listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of 100 locations of cultural importance which were under threat.

Since then, however, two bids for lottery funding for the Grade II listed building have come to nothing and it was feared the venue would have to close if it could not undergo badly-needed repairs.

Frances Mayhew, its artistic director, said it was "amazing" that so much money had now been raised through donations.

"The building was getting in a worse and worse state, and about three weeks ago, when it was raining very heavily, one of my walls disappeared.

"It just collapsed because it had been getting wetter and wetter.

"Now I'm finishing the surveys as to where and how the damage has been recurring over many years and we'll start the repair work in mid-September."

It was hoped trusts and foundations would provide further donations, she said, and the ?4m total may be revised down to between ?2m and ?2.5m as work progresses.

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New deal for F1 rights announced

Ecclestone on new Formula 1 TV deal

The BBC and Sky Sports will broadcast Formula 1 in the UK between 2012 and 2018 under a new rights deal.

The BBC has been the exclusive broadcaster of F1 in the UK since 2009 but its contract with Formula One Management was due to expire after the 2013 season.

Sky Sports will show every race, qualifying session and practice live.

BBC Sport will broadcast half the races live, as well as the qualifying and practice sessions from those races.

Both companies will broadcast in high definition.

Deal keeps F1 with BBC for longer, says director of sport Barbara Slater

Races screened by the BBC will be live on the BBC Sport website for UK users.

The BBC will have highlights on TV, online and mobile for any race it is not showing live, and all races will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 live.

Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, said: "We are absolutely delighted that F1 will remain on the BBC.

"The sport has never been more popular with TV audiences at a 10-year high and the BBC has always stated its commitment to the big national sporting moments.

"With this new deal not only have we delivered significant savings but we have also ensured that through our live and extended highlights coverage all the action continues to be available to licence-fee payers."

Races shown live on BBC TV will include the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the Monaco GP and the concluding race of the season.

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "This is fantastic news for F1 fans and Sky Sports will be the only place to follow every race live and in HD.

"We will give F1 the full Sky Sports treatment with a commitment to each race never seen before on UK television."

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone told BBC Sport: "It's super for F1. It will mean a lot more coverage for the sport.

"There'll be highlights as well as live coverage on two different networks now, so we get the best of both worlds."

Christian Horner, the team principal of world champions Red Bull, said it would have been a "disaster" if F1 was no longer on the BBC.

"The BBC sets the standard for F1 coverage across the world," Horner said.

"This is an agreement that safeguards the sport on the BBC, albeit reduced from what we are used to. And Sky opens up new avenues. So rather than losing the sport from the BBC, I think this was the most sensible way to move forward."

Reaction to new F1 rights deal

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Carracci ceiling to be restored

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:13 GMT The Carracci frescoes took 11 years to complete Annibale Carracci's frescoed ceiling in Rome's Palazzo Farnese - home of the French Embassy - is to be restored, it has been announced.

Thought to be one of the most influential Renaissance commissions in Italy, the project is expected to cost 1m Euros (?870,000).

It is being funded by the World Monuments Fund, the French Embassy in Italy and the Fondation de l'Orangerie pour la Philan­thropie Individuelle.

Work is set to begin later this year.

In 1597 Carracci was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the palace using the theme, the love of the Gods.

Cardinal Edoardo Farnese chose the subject of love to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma to the grand-niece of Pope Clement VIII, Margherita Aldobrandini.

The work, which includes a series of mythological scenes and the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, took 11 years to complete.

Carracci's brothers helped him complete the work, along with artists Giovanni Lanfranco and Domenichino.

Work to stabilise the fresco cycle was first undertaken in the late 17th century by artist Carlo Maratta.

Further work was carried out in 1923, 1936 and 1994.

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Money spinner

28 July 2011 Last updated at 11:54 GMT By Lucy Wallis BBC News New Dragon Hilary Devey 'doesn't breathe fire'

Hilary Devey, the multi-millionaire CEO of a freight haulage firm, is determined to make her mark as the new Dragon in the Den.

"I would not say I'm ruthless at all - and never have been - but I'm quite capable of telling people what I think," says Devey.

As the new Dragon, you could be forgiven for thinking that the 53-year-old might feel apprehensive. But she maintains she is not one to be intimidated by co-stars Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis:

"I wasn't nervous at all. I know I can compete with them on a commercial level any day of the week.

"It was just kind of the 'new girl at school' scenario - dropped into the middle of it, with people who had worked together as a team and knew each other's idiosyncrasies," she adds.

"To put a less strong character in there than myself would not have worked. I had to fight my corner."

Fair and firm

Devey replaces entrepreneur James Caan on the show and said she hopes the public react well to her.

"I hope that I come over as what I really am - which, I think, is fair and firm," she said.

"I have got genuine compassion for people and I genuinely like to help, but I'm also very much a commercial animal."

Devey says she is more likely to invest in the person, as well as the product.

She says she wants to find entrepreneurs who share the same work ethos, passion, drive, enthusiasm, tenacity and focus as her.

But she does not suffer fools gladly.

"I would not make a very good poker player, as when I'm angry I just shout."

Devey has had to overcome many challenges on her path to success.

Three years after her birth, in Bolton in 1960, her father's heating business went bankrupt, prompting a dramatic change in the family's living conditions.

"One minute we'd got a nice comfy sofa and a television, and the next minute we'd got orange boxes with jaffa signs on the side of them," she says.

Her father was unable to own any assets and so took on the tenancy of a pub in her mother's name, which gave the family a home and an income. Devey worked from the age of seven in the business.

Self-sufficient

Growing up she had aspirations to be a vet or a writer, but claims her father did not believe in educating girls.

"Unfortunately I had a very northern, misogynistic father who said: 'I'm not paying for your education - because you're a girl and some man is going to come along and marry you, and he'll keep you,'" she recalls.

"I'm still waiting for that man to come along."

At the age of 20, with no formal training, she went to work as a sales clerk in the offices of a distribution company and from there began her journey, working her way up in the logistics industry.

In 1996, she launched her own business, Pall-Ex - a pallet distribution company which she has turned into a multi-million pound empire.

Working out of a disused aircraft hangar, it was a struggle in the early years.

Continue reading the main story For impressing in an interview/pitch: Be concise, confident, do not over-complicate yourself or your product. Also, know your business model.For running your own business: Focus and tenacity: Understand the market, people, competition and the opportunities.For surviving the recession: Think laterally and globally. Up-sell wherever possible, as it costs nothing.For winning investment: A business plan prepared with a realistic projection that is accurate, concise and encompasses all aspects of your business.For making millions: Do not chase money, it runs away."I literally did everything myself. I couldn't afford typists, I couldn't afford to even photocopy documents.

"And it was quite challenging, juggling three dresses to make myself look smart and presentable every day."

Working within a male-dominated industry, she also faced some hostility, but dealt with it in a matter-of-fact way:

"I shrugged my shoulders, laughed and got on with it.

"When I was asked 'can you drive a truck?' I'd say: 'No love, I can't, but I can run your business better than you can.'"

As a single mum, Devey said her main focus was to feed son, Mevlit, and keep a roof over their heads.

But discovering that Mevlit had become addicted to heroin, at the age of 17, was one of the hardest times of her life.

"Getting [Mevlit] off heroin and going with him on that journey - and seeing your child weeks away from death - is probably the most challenging time in my life," she says.

Her world was further shaken when, in 2009, she suffered a stroke.

"To wake up the following morning and not even be able to spell the word 'the'... to have your brain scrambled so I couldn't even talk coherently… is something that nobody can comprehend unless they've actually gone through it," she says.

The stroke left her arm paralysed and she lost her peripheral vision, and she is now a keen supporter of The Stroke Association.

So - with all that life has thrown at her - what is the secret to Hilary's success and fortune?

"I have a capacity for work that can be seldom equalled," she says.

The new series of Dragons' Den begins on Sunday 31 July at 2100 BST On BBC Two and BBC HD

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Pesci sues Gotti film producers

28 July 2011 Last updated at 08:56 GMT Pesci, 68, won an Oscar in 1990 for his role in crime drama GoodFellas Actor Joe Pesci has taken legal action against the producers of a film about US mobster John Gotti, claiming they have reneged on their pledges to him.

Pesci claims production company Fiore Films used his name and likeness to promote the project but does not want to honour its original offer to him.

He is seeking the $3m (?1.8m) he claims he was promised to play the role of a childhood friend of John Gotti Sr.

Fiore Films have rejected the claims, saying Pesci "walked away" months ago.

Company CEO Marc Fiore said he had received correspondence from the actor's representatives saying Pesci was pulling out of the project until the original director, Nick Cassavetes, was replaced.

Pesci's lawyer has disputed that statement, saying Pesci had been offered a lesser role for a reduced salary of $1m (?612,275).

According to the actor's legal action, Fiore Films had "no intention" of paying Pesci $3m to play the role of Angelo Ruggiero, a trusted Gotti advisor.

Instead, it alleges, the company "secretly planned to use [Pesci's] name and likeness to promote the film".

Weight gain

According to Fiore Films' website, the film - to be called Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father - still has the GoodFellas star attached.

John Travolta, Al Pacino and Kelly Preston have also been cast in the biopic, set to begin shooting in January, with director Barry Levinson at the helm.

According to Pesci's legal action, the actor gained 30 lb (13.6 kg) to play Ruggiero, who died in prison in 2002.

Travolta is set to play John Gotti Sr in the film, which will explore his relationship with the son, John Gotti Jr, who went on to follow in his father's footsteps in the criminal underworld.

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Tate commissions Keiller artwork

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:33 GMT 2010's Robinson in Ruins is Keiller's third film to feature the eccentric Robinson Artist and film-maker Patrick Keiller, will create a new installation for the Tate Britain Commission next year, it has been announced.

Keiller, who has not revealed exactly what the artwork will be, will develop the piece for the neoclassical Duveen galleries.

He said he was "delighted" to be asked. His work will be unveiled on 27 March.

Every year Tate Britain commissions an artist to "develop a new work in response to the Tate Collection".

Artists who have previously taken on the Duveens Commission include Eva Rothschild, who filled the galleries with a huge black sculpture.

Over the past 30 years Keiller has made several documentary films, including The Dilapidated Dwelling and Robinson In Space.

"As someone most usually involved with images and the linearity of narrative, I'm delighted by the invitation to devise an exhibit for a sculpture gallery," he said.

Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis said: "Patrick Keiller's sustained interest in understanding the British landscape, and how it is represented, strikes a perfect chord with the Tate Collection.

"We are delighted that he has accepted our invitation to work with us in compiling a new installation which brings the old and the new together, and shows how similar concerns run through time."

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Nature's way

28 July 2011 Last updated at 08:18 GMT By Liam Allen Arts reporter, BBC News Biophilia will be Bjork's seventh studio album Biophilia, Bjork's fusion of nature and machines, marks the singer's latest foray into electronic music.

The ambitious project, from Iceland's most famous export, includes a forthcoming album with 10 songs - inspired by the natural world - with corresponding iPad and iPhone applications.

It also features, among other things, educational workshops and a series of live concert residencies in major world cities, which began at the Manchester International Festival at the end of last month.

Fittingly, it was in that rainy city - 20 years earlier - that a young Bjork fell in love with the dance and electronic music that has become so central to her success.

Continue reading the main story

I remember going to Manchester and 808 State taking me around and me just seeing things that I'd never seen that I'd hoped existed”

End Quote Bjork She was there to record a guest vocal for seminal Manchester band 808 State, who were at the forefront of the city's house music explosion in the late '80s and early '90s.

Their collaborations Ooops and Qmart appeared on the band's 1991 album ex:el.

"I remember going to Manchester, and 808 State taking me around, and me just seeing things that I'd never seen - that I'd hoped existed," says the singer, who enjoyed early success with indie band The Sugarcubes.

"So I would be up until early morning... sometimes from just the enthusiasm for the music."

The four-to-the floor rhythms were a big influence on her 1993 solo album Debut, a number three UK hit which spawned singles including Big Time Sensuality, loved by underground and radio DJs alike.

"You would go to a cellar at like 5 or 6 in the morning, some DJ would go on and he would just mix together two wrong songs that were not supposed to be," says the singer, recalling some of her favourite moments in the city.

"And he would have this synthesizer and play on top of it, and you just really felt that no one had done that before."

Bjork sees those times as "my roots" and "definitely one of the things that brought me up, and formed me".

While all her albums have followed Debut into the UK top 10, she's under no illusions that the Biophilia album - which will be released on 27 September - together with its myriad of multi-media spin-offs, is an easy sell.

"Unfortunately, when people are writing about the project, it comes across as being extremely complicated," she says.

"But actually, the intention is to simplify things through touch-screen."

Continue reading the main story ... fame: "I lived here and I guess I was an A-lister and at one point I had 20 paparazzi in my garden."... bridging divides: "I'm trying to find a new touching point between acoustic and electronic, and pretending I'm sort of a Kofi Anan."... partying: "I felt like the English nation was offering me an invitation to become their little A-list villager. I took a part of it for a year and it was fun, fun, fun."... her Biophilia project: "I thought first it would be a music museum for kids in Iceland. Then, for a year or so, I thought it would become a 3D movie."The abum was inspired by touchscreen devices which preceded the iPad, enabling musicians to play sounds by pressing the screen.

"Because I don't play the piano or guitar, and usually I've always written my music when I am just walking outside, I've finally found something that's appealing to me as an accompaniment," she says.

"I can just scrabble with my fingers - it's a breakthrough for me."

Algorithms from nature can be fed into software to create a musical pattern which is then manipulated through the touch-screen, she says.

"They can take the algorithm of gravity or a pendulum - which is pretty complex - and then put it onto a touch-screen, and you can play with it with one finger."

Each of the album tracks - which include Thunderbolt, Virus and Moon - have "a different programme based on that natural element.

"You've got 10 songs with 10 natural elements; their structure is that natural element."

Beautiful ballad

Yet, despite the seemingly complex nature of the songs', the two tracks released as singles so far are eminently listenable.

Bjork's biggest UK hit was It's Oh So Quiet, which reached number four in 1996

Crystalline - "underneath our feet, crystals grow like plants" - begins with naturalistic chiming bells before developing into a full-on drum and bass rock-out.

Cosmogony is a beautiful ballad, complete with full brass backing, which compels "heaven, heaven's bodies" to "whirl around me".

While one reviewer described the Manchester world premiere of the songs as "massively self-indulgent", many more were gushing in their praise of "moments of simple, transcendent beauty".

But with more concert residencies to be announced, other cities may struggle to match Bjork's Manchester experience.

"It was excellent to be there, especially for a whole month, being with all my old mates. We had the wrap-up party with Graham Massey from 808 State DJing and old friends came along - it was amazing."

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Arnold Schwarzenegger museum open

30 July 2011 Last updated at 12:22 GMT By Bethany Bell BBC News, Graz Bethany Bell takes a look around the new museum in Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home

Arnold Schwarzenegger's childhood home in Austria has opened as a museum.

It came as the former Mr Universe, who went on to be a Hollywood star and governor of California, turned 64.

On display at the museum are his childhood bed, a motorbike from one of the Terminator films, some of his first dumb-bells, and a copy of the desk he used as governor of California.

The family lived in the first floor flat with no electricity or running water

Mr Schwarzenegger left the village of Thal, near the city of Graz, in 1966, but has given the project his blessing.

A plaque by the door reads "Arnold Schwarzenegger's Birth House Museum," although one of the locals later told me he was born in a nearby hospital.

He lived with his family in the modest first floor flat from his birth in 1947 until 1966 when he left to pursue his dreams of winning the Mr Universe competition.

Pit toilet

It was a humble beginning. The flat had no electricity and no running water.

The museum shows the house's original pit toilet, and a 1950s kitchen, with a washstand and jugs for collecting water.

In one of the rooms, the star's childhood bed is on display. "This is where he first started to dream of success," the curator, Peter Urdl told me.

It was while he was living in Thal, that he first started pumping iron.

Schwarzenegger found early success as a bodybuilder

As well as trophies and photographs from his early days of bodybuilding, the museum also has some of his first dumb-bells.

And it has his original home work-out machine, a pulley with weights attached which hung in a door frame inside the flat.

The museum charts his obsessive training routine and describes how his success at bodybuilding led him eventually to Hollywood.

And it has a collection of Schwarzenegger movie memorabilia, including a Harley Davidson motorbike from one of the Terminator films and a sword from Conan the Barbarian.

Continue reading the main story

He was a little farm boy and his career was so exciting... I think the Austrian people are really proud”

End Quote Helga Forstner Museum co-ordinator Visitors to the museum can pose next to a life-size model of Arnie as the Terminator.

Controversy

The museum also has a section dedicated to his time as governor of California, including a facsimile of his desk.

Although he lives half a world away, Schwarzenegger's exploits are closely followed in Austria.

A number of his policies as governor were controversial here, including his support for the death penalty.

His name was taken off a stadium in the neighbouring town of Graz in 2005, when he rejected pleas to spare the life of a California gang leader.

The museum bills itself as the world's only Schwarzenegger museum

But while Austrians are not always comfortable with his politics, many of them are nonetheless fascinated.

"He was a little farm boy and his career was so exciting and so special and I think the Austrian people are really proud," Helga Forstner, the museum co-ordinator told me.

"He always comes to visit Thal when he is in Austria," she said. "He came here on 21 June and he was really excited about the exhibits."

Thal continued to play a role in his life, years after he left home. One photograph shows the rowing boat in which he proposed to his now estranged wife, Maria Shriver, on a nearby lake.

But the exhibition does not touch on her recent filing for divorce. Mr Schwarzenegger recently admitted fathering a child with the couple's long-time housekeeper.

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Block ordered on pirate film site

28 July 2011 Last updated at 09:15 GMT BT and the Motion Picture Association give their reaction to the order for BT to block Newzbin 2

A High Court judge has ruled that BT must block access to a website which provides links to pirated movies.

Newzbin 2 is a members-only site which aggregates a large amount of the illegally copied material found on Usenet discussion forums.

The landmark case is the first time that an ISP has been ordered to block access to such a site.

It paves the way for other sites to be blocked as part of a major crackdown on piracy.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Arnold stated: "In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newzbin 2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes."

He continued: "It knows that the users of Newzbin 2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin 2."

BT and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which brought the case, will be back in court in October to work out how the blocking will work. BT said it will not appeal the ruling.

PDF download Download Justice Arnold's ruling[445kb]

Creative victory Continue reading the main story

Finally, it seems we have a way to deal with rogue sites which will benefit the film industry including UK independent distributors and, more broadly, the entire creative sector.”

End Quote Lord Puttnam President, Film Distributers Association The MPA which represents a number of movie studios including Warner, Disney and Fox, launched the legal action as a last-ditch attempt to close down Newzbin 2.

Chris Marcich, president and managing director of MPA Europe said: "This ruling from Justice Arnold is a victory for millions of people working in the UK creative industries and demonstrates that the law of the land must apply online.

"This court action was never an attack on ISPs but we do need their co-operation to deal with the Newzbin site which continually tries to evade the law and judicial sanction. Newzbin is a notorious pirate website which makes hundreds of thousands of copyrighted products available without permission and with no regard for the law."

The MPA signalled its intention to pursue other ISPs.

BT describes the judgement as "helpful".

"It clearly shows that rights holders need to prove their claims and convince a judge to make a court order. BT has consistently said that rights holders need to take this route. We will return to court after the summer to explain what kind of order we believe is appropriate," the firm said in a statement.

Link sites such as Newzbin 2 are gaining popularity as those determined to get their hands on free content move away from traditional peer-to-peer downloading methods.

A previous court case had ruled that Newzbin 2's predecessor must stop linking to free content but a new version of the site was set up outside of the UK's jurisdiction.

Revenge attacks

Justice Arnold ruled that BT must use its blocking technology CleanFeed - which is currently used to prevent access to websites featuring child sexual abuse - to block Newzbin 2.

In an email interview before the verdict, Newzbin 2 threatened to break BT's filters.

"We would be appalled if any group were to try to sabotage this technology as it helps to protect the innocent from highly offensive and illegal content," said a spokesman for BT.

The Internet Service Providers' Association has been a fierce critic of web blocking.

It said that using blocking technology designed to protect the public from images of child abuse, was inappropriate.

"Currently CleanFeed is dealing with a small, rural road in Scotland," ISPA council member James Blessing told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

"Trying to put Newzbin and other sites into the same blocking technology would be a bit like shutting down the M1. It is not designed to do that."

Digital rights organisation the Open Rights Group said the result could set a "dangerous" precedent.

"Website blocking is pointless and dangerous. These judgements won't work to stop infringement or boost creative industries.

"And there are serious risks of legitimate content being blocked and service slowdown. If the goal is boosting creators' ability to make money from their work then we need to abandon these technologically naive measures, focus on genuine market reforms, and satisfy unmet consumer demand," said ORG campaigner Peter Bradwell.

He said more scrutiny needed to be paid to the content of such sites.

"What will qualify a site to be worthy of blocking? Who makes the decisions about what people people are allowed to see online?" he asked.

Disconnection

The crackdown on piracy has gained new urgency in recent months.

Pressure from rightsholders forced new legislation on the issue.

The UK's controversial Digital Economy Act makes provisions for tough action against those who downloading pirated music and films - initially sanctioning a letter-writing campaign asking them to desist.

BT and TalkTalk called for a judicial review of the DEA, saying the legislation was rushed through Parliament and was unenforceable but a judge ruled that it could go ahead.

Court action could be taken against individuals who ignore written warnings and 'technical measures' including disconnecting someone from the web could also follow.

The government is also considering the feasibility of more widespread site blocking, including looking at the possibility of a voluntary scheme between ISPs and rightsholders.

The Newzbin case was brought under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

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Jay Z album deal irks retailers

29 July 2011 Last updated at 09:05 GMT Watch the Throne is due for release on iTunes on 8 August Scores of independent US music stores have written an open letter to Jay-Z and Kanye West over exclusive release deals for their upcoming album.

Watch The Throne will be released first on iTunes before the Best Buy chain's exclusive deal to sell the album nearly two weeks ahead of other music retailers.

The letter says the deal will do "great damage" to more than 1,700 record stores and calls for equal access.

Jay-Z's spokesman had no comment.

Posted by the organisers of Record Store Day, the letter has been signed by shops across the US and calls the release plan a "short-sighted strategy".

"We know that you are busy, and that you put most of your energies into creating great music, but we are writing to you in the hope that you will hear us and take the time to rectify this matter," the letter states.

"As representatives of the independent record store music community, we are asking you to allow record stores and music fans equal access to your new album."

'Disastrous'

Some of the letter's signatories have also threatened to pull current and previous releases by the two artists from their shelves.

Others in the music retail industry have also criticised the move.

"A two-week window will be disastrous for music retailers," said Eric Levin, owner of Criminal Records and the head of the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.

According to Billboard, between the two exclusive iTunes and Best Buy release windows, 75% of the demand for the album is expected to be satisfied within 10 days.

Exclusive release deals are now common for top acts.

Recent examples include AC/DC's Black Ice given to Wal-Mart, while Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy and the Rolling Stones Biggest Bang DVD package, were also sold through Best Buy.

Record Store Day was created in 2007 to celebrate independently owned record stores in response to counter media coverage about the demise of record shops.

However, independent stores have suffered a decline over the last decade due to digital music sales.

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Recovered art may be Lowry works

29 July 2011 Last updated at 09:47 GMT Police are verifying if the recovered paintings are genuine works by LS Lowry Two men from Merseyside have been charged with handling stolen goods, including paintings which could be stolen LS Lowry works.

The Lowry paintings, worth an estimated ?1.7m, were taken from a Greater Manchester art dealer who was tied up by raiders at his house in 2007.

A man, 41, from Halewood, Merseyside, has been charged with handling stolen property and drug dealing.

Another man, 38, of Halewood, is also charged with handling stolen goods.

A third man, aged 33, also from Halewood, has been charged with drug dealing.

Pencil drawings

Art dealer Ivan Aird was tied up by a gang, who also threatened to kill his wife and daughter, during the robbery at their house in Cheadle Hulme in 2007. A man was subsequently convicted of the raid.

The North West Regional Crime Squad is trying to verify whether the paintings found in their raid on a house in Halewood are genuine.

Police are checking paintings believed to include Tanker Entering the Tyne, worth ?600,000, and The Viaduct, valued at ?700,000.

Other works taken in the 2007 robbery, three pencil drawings, are also thought to have been recovered.

Mr Aird, whose father was a friend of Lowry, ran an art dealership business from his house.

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BBC launches global iPlayer app

28 July 2011 Last updated at 07:34 GMT The global iPlayer will initially only be available as an app for Apple iPads The BBC is launching an international version of its on-demand video service, the iPlayer, for Apple iPad users.

Customers who pay a monthly subscription will get access to a range of current and classic programmes.

The app will have one feature not available in the UK - the ability to download content and watch offline.

The project is being run by BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, which said that money earned would help supplement licence-fee income.

Initially, global iPlayer will be available in 11 European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

It will cost 6.99 euro per month (?6.14), with the option of an annual subscription priced at 49.99 euro (?44).

According to BBC Worldwide, the international product will look and feel similar to the UK iPlayer, but function in a different way.

Rather than a seven-day catch-up service, it will offer a showcase of BBC shows, old and new. Examples given include Fawlty towers, Only Fools and Horses, Sherlock and Doctor Who.

It is possible that may provoke questions from viewers in the UK who do not have access to older shows.

The domestic iPlayer app for iPad does not offer a download facility, which would allow users to watch programmes when they have no internet connection. However download options are available on desktop and laptop computers in the UK.

The BBC said that the initial roll-out through iPad in a limited number of countries was seen as a pilot for a broader global service.

"We have an exciting vision for what this service could become and will develop it based on feedback from within the markets," said Jana Bennett, president of Worldwide networks and global iPlayer.

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Capaldi to honour spoof film greats

27 July 2011 Last updated at 11:23 GMT Peter Capaldi has said spin doctor Malcolm Tucker will return for the fourth series of The Thick Of It The Thick Of It star Peter Capaldi is to present a spoof TV documentary about the "forgotten stars" of a fictional film studio.

In Cricklewood Greats, Capaldi has created an illustrious and eccentric history for Cricklewood Film Studios.

The actors and directors are all fictional, apart from Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, who will play himself.

Gilliam's epic Professor Hypochondria's Magical Odyssey will be blamed for destroying the studios in the 1980s.

Capaldi, who is also writing and directing the one-off comedy, said: "It's weathered many a storm but the British film industry is, thankfully, still afloat.

"However, more than a few souls have been thrown overboard along the way and I'm therefore delighted that BBC Four has allowed me to explore the lives of some of these now forgotten icons of British cinema.

"Finally, the role of Cricklewood Studios and its Greats will be recognised. It's a privilege to be able to shine the spotlight on them once more."

Meanwhile, Capaldi, who plays spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It, has told comedy website Chortle that he will be involved in the political satire's fourth series when it starts filming next year.

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Mulligan 'raring to go' on Gatsby

22 July 2011 Last updated at 09:57 GMT By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News Carey Mulligan recently starred on the New York stage in Through a Glass Darkly Carey Mulligan says she has done intensive research ahead of filming The Great Gatsby in Australia next month.

The Oscar-nominated actress will play socialite Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's version of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel.

Mulligan, who has just finished in a stage play in New York, told the BBC: "It's daunting. It's the biggest thing I've been involved in - it's strange going from a little off-Broadway play to such a big thing, but I'm raring to go."

Filming begins at Fox Studios in Sydney in August. Luhrmann's last two films, Australia and Moulin Rouge, were also shot there.

According to industry paper The Hollywood Reporter, it will be the first live-action 3D movie to be shot in New South Wales. The story itself is set in New York.

Mulligan stars opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays the mysterious Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway.

The most famous film version of The Great Gatsby is Jack Clayton's 1974 movie, which starred Robert Redford as Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Buchanan and Sam Waterston as Carraway.

Mulligan said that the whole Gatsby cast had got together in New York earlier this year to workshop the characters.

"It's really research intensive. We got overloaded with books and research files. I've been reading Zelda Fitzgerald [wife of F Scott] biographies about [Chicago socialite] Ginevra King and all these characters that Daisy was drawn from."

Luhrmann has taken the step of publishing the research material on his film production company website.

In September, Mulligan will be seen alongside Ryan Gosling in Drive, a violent Los Angeles-set crime thriller directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.

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Who actress to make theatre debut

22 July 2011 Last updated at 08:40 GMT Gillan plays Shirley, a secretary who turns against her vitriolic employer Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan is to make her professional theatre debut in a West End revival of John Osborne's 1964 play Inadmissible Evidence.

Gillan, who plays the Doctor's feisty assistant Amy Pond, will appear with Douglas Hodge in the show, which opens at the Donmar Warehouse in October.

Hodge plays a self-destructive lawyer, while Gillan will play his secretary.

The 23-year-old Scot will be seen later this year playing model Jean Shrimpton in BBC Four film We'll Take Manhattan.

Dame Eileen Atkins played Gillan's role in the original production of Osborne's play at the Royal Court in London.

Jamie Lloyd will direct the Donmar's revival, which - according to the Daily Mail - will make "subtle cuts" to Osborne's text.

British actress Thandie Newton will also be treading the boards this autumn, this time in a revival of the Ariel Dorfman play Death and the Maiden.

The play - opening at the Comedy Theatre in October - will see the 38-year-old play a former political prisoner who kidnaps a man she believes raped and tortured her.

Newton appeared with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II and won a Bafta in 2006 for her work in Crash.

Juliet Stevenson appeared in the original 1991 production of the play, while Sigourney Weaver starred in Roman Polanski's 1994 film.

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Aborigine actor Ngoombujarra dies

20 July 2011 Last updated at 09:16 GMT David Ngoombujarra appeared in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles opposite Paul Hogan David Ngoombujarra, one of Australia's best-known Aborigine actors, has died aged 44.

The Australia and Rabbit Proof Fence actor was found dead in a park on Sunday in Fremantle, near Perth. Police said his death was not suspicious.

The three-time Australian Film Institute winner was also in movies including Blackfellas and Ned Kelly.

Australia co-star Hugh Jackman paid tribute to "an extraordinary man, actor and friend".

"So saddened to hear about the passing of David Ngoombujarra. His laugh, warmth and humanity will live on with all who knew him," Jackman wrote on Twitter.

Born in Meekatharra, West Australia, Ngoombujarra was one of thousands of Aboriginal children handed over to white families under Australian government assimilation policies.

He was adopted by a white family in Perth, as David Bernard Starr, before becoming one of the country's best-known indigenous actors.

He won his first AFI award in 1993 for his role in the gritty urban drama Blackfellas.

He was awarded a second in 2003 for Black and White in which he played an Aborigine convicted of killing a young white girl.

And, in 2007, he won a third for a guest role in Australian TV legal drama The Circuit.

His other films included Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and Kangaroo Jack.

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Winslet US drama leads Emmy race

14 July 2011 Last updated at 15:26 GMT Rachel Evan Wood stars as Kate Winslet's on-screen daughter in Mildred Pierce Kate Winslet's TV drama Mildred Pierce leads this year's race for the US Emmy awards, with 21 nominations.

The Oscar-winning actress is up against Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern and Jean Marsh in the best actress in a mini-series category.

Advertising drama Mad Men has 19 nominations, while prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire has 18.

British actor Idris Elba is nominated for BBC show Luther; BBC One's Sherlock is in the running for special effects.

Reprised role

Writer Steven Moffat is also nominated for the show, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

In HBO's Mildred Pierce, Winslet, 36, plays a divorced single mum who decides to open a restaurant business during 1930s Depression-era California.

The role was famously played by Joan Crawford in a 1945 film noir.

Marsh, 77, has earned a nomination for her reprised role as parlour maid Rose Buck in Upstairs, Downstairs.

She first starred in the same role more than 40 years ago and was nominated for an Emmy in 1974, 75 and 76.

Mad Men star Jon Hamm received his fourth lead acting nomination - but this year the star who has denied him the award three times has not been included in the category.

Matt LeBlanc played himself in the BBC comedy Episodes

Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad, was not eligible for this year's awards because the series took a break between seasons.

In his final series as bungling boss Michael Scott in The Office, Steve Carell has earned a best comedy actor nomination.

Former Friends star Matt LeBlanc also received a lead comedy actor nod for playing a screen version of himself in the BBC Two show Episodes, which also starred Tamsin Greig.

Hollywood film actress Gwyneth Paltrow picked up her first Emmy nomination in the guest actress in a comedy series category.

The Shakespeare In Love star appeared played a substitute teacher in several episodes of the US teen show Glee.

Modern Family, last year's top comedy series, was the most-nominated sitcom with 17 bids.

Other leading nominees include Saturday Night Live with 16, and 13 nominations apiece for Game of Thrones and 30 Rock.

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'Homophobia' row opera goes ahead

16 July 2011 Last updated at 16:25 GMT Headteacher Emma Hobbs said she was delighted the production was going ahead An opera which was at the centre of a row over a gay character has gone ahead in Bridlington after a school which had pulled out finally agreed to take part.

Bay Primary said its pupils could perform in the production of Beached, by Billy Elliot creator Lee Hall, after he agreed to remove the word "queer".

The show went ahead at the resort's Spa theatre on Saturday.

Bay Primary headteacher Emma Hobbs said she was sure the performance would make the audience forget the controversy.

Beached, which was commissioned by Opera North, involved the school choir and other musicians from groups around Bridlington.

The school had complained about the lines: "Of course I'm queer/That's why I left here/So if you infer/That I prefer/A lad to a lass/And I'm working class/I'd have to concur."

Hall told BBC News: "I agreed to change "queer" to "gay" as to me they are synonymous. I would have done this months ago if asked."

The opera was staged at the Spa theatre in Bridlington

The contested lines have now been changed to: "Of course I'm gay/That's why I went away/So if you infer/That I prefer/A lad to a lass/And him working class/I'd have to concur."

In a joint statement, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Bay Primary said the school would take part now that the libretto was "an age appropriate text".

The council, the school and Opera North all denied being motivated by homophobia.

Just before Saturday's matinee performance, headteacher Ms Hobbs said: "The kids are very excited. They've been rehearsing really hard this week and rehearsals have gone fantastically.

"It's really important that the work all our children and all of the other choirs have put into this really comes to fruition."

Referring to the controversy the production attracted, she added: "I can certainly say that the performance speaks for itself.

"When the audience see them in action I think that will overshadow anything really."

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Four battle to be The Apprentice

17 July 2011 Last updated at 03:49 GMT Margaret Mountford returns to grill the finalists Four finalists are set to battle it out to be crowned winner of the seventh season of BBC One's The Apprentice.

Jim Eastwood, Susan Ma, Helen Milligan and Tom Pellereau are all competing to hear the words "You're hired" by judge Lord Sugar.

The winner will receive a ?250,000 investment from the Amstrad boss to start or expand their own business.

The final will also see the return of advisor Margaret Mountford who grills the finalists on their business plans.

Lord Sugar's right-hand woman was replaced by football boss Karen Brady after Mountford left the show in 2009 to pursue academic studies.

Of the contestants, skincare entrepreneur Ma has faced Lord Sugar three times in the boardroom as has inventor Pellereau.

Milligan, an executive assistant to a CEO, has been called back to the boardroom just the once, while Eastwood, a sales and marketing manager from Northern Ireland, has made two boardroom appearances.

Business heavyweights Claude Littner, Mike Soutar and Matthew Riley will also grill the finalists before the final showdown with Lord Sugar.

The Apprentice final is on BBC One at 2100 BST and for the following seven days on the iPlayer.

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Midler drops out of Spector film

15 July 2011 Last updated at 14:06 GMT Bette Midler said she was 'heartbroken' to be leaving the project Bette Midler has dropped out of a TV film about jailed music producer Phil Spector, after suffering a herniated disc six days into production.

The actress and singer had been cast as Linda Kenney Baden, Spector's defense lawyer in his first trial for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

HBO said Midler had filmed for three days before bowing out on the advice of her doctor.

Her role in the film, which stars Al Pacino as Spector, will be recast.

"I am heartbroken to be forced to leave this terrific project," Midler said in a statement. "Working with David Mamet and Al Pacino was a dream of mine.

"But the pain I am in has made my participation impossible. My heartfelt thanks to everyone for their kind understanding."

Arrested Development actor Jeffrey Tambor also stars in the film as Bruce Cutler, another of Spector's defence lawyers.

The currently untitled project is scheduled to air in the US next year. Plans to screen it in the UK are as yet unconfirmed.

Al Pacino (l) will play Spector (r) in the currently untitled HBO film

The production courted trouble this week after friends of Clarkson threatened to protest about the film.

They feared Spector's guilty verdict could be cast into doubt after Mamet, its writer and director, told the media: "I definitely think there is reasonable doubt [in Spector's case]."

Spector's first trial in 2007 was declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

In a 2009 retrial, the music mogul was sentenced to 19 years in jail after being found guilty of second-degree murder.

Famous for creating the 'Wall of Sound' production technique, Spector is well-known for his trademark wigs and the string of hits he produced for Tina Turner and others.

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Returned Klimt to go under hammer

15 July 2011 Last updated at 11:23 GMT The work - Litzlberg am Attersee in German - depicts a lake in Austria A Gustav Klimt painting, looted by the Nazis during World War II, is to go up for auction following its recent return to its original owner's great-nephew.

The 1915 artwork, entitled Litzlberg on the Attersee, is expected to fetch more than $25m (?15.5m) when it is sold at Sotheby's in New York on 2 November.

Last week the painting was returned to 83-year-old Georges Jorisch by the Museum of Modern Arts in Salzburg.

A portion of the proceeds from its sale will be donated to the museum.

According to Sotheby's expert Simon Shaw, it is a work of "stunning quality, rarity and important provenance".

The work, which depicts a lake in western Austria, originally formed part of a collection owned by the Austrian iron magnate Viktor Zuckerkandl.

When he and his wife Paula died in 1927 without children, the painting joined the collection of Amalie Redlich, Zuckerkandl's sister.

Restitution law

Redlich was deported in 1941 and was never heard of again. Her collection was seized by the Gestapo and sold off.

The painting, which has been part of museum collections in Salzburg since 1944, was returned to Mr Jorisch, Amalie Redlich's grandson, earlier this month.

Under a 1998 restitution law, Austria has returned thousands of paintings confiscated by the Nazis to the descendants of their former owners.

Born in Vienna in 1862, Gustav Klimt was one of Austria's most celebrated painters and a leading light of the Art Nouveau movement.

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Call to save 'at risk' theatres

14 July 2011 Last updated at 12:14 GMT The Brighton Astoria building faces demolition for redevelopment The Theatres Trust has called on local communities to fight to save theatre buildings which are at risk.

Some 58 UK buildings are on the trust's 2011 "at risk" register, with the Brighton Astoria and London's Cochrane Theatre among those facing demolition.

It said it hoped legislation, including the new Localism Bill, would empower groups and individuals to "take on the guardianship of theatres at risk".

Theatres in Wallsend, Alsager, Ayr and Glasgow were all recently demolished.

The at risk register also features theatres threatened by neglect, local development, funding cuts and closure.

The trust said this year's register highlighted the impact of austerity measures over the past year.

It praised "the tireless efforts of community and campaign groups who are the guardian angels of many UK theatres".

But it said there was still "a desperate need for funding and public backing".

'Imminent threat'

The disused Brighton Astoria, which closed as a bingo hall in 1997, and the Cochrane Theatre, in London, are both due to be demolished and see their land redeveloped.

The trust said the creation of community-based organisations had helped some of the 18 theatre buildings which had been removed from last year's at risk register.

Those taken off the register include the Hackney Empire, in London, the Victoria Theatre, in Salford, and Theatr Eli, in Llanelli.

But 21 buildings were added to the register including the Paul Robeson Theatre, in Hounslow, and the Bournemouth Pier Theatre which both face "the imminent threat of change of use".

Last year's register featured 55 buildings in total.

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Bucks Fizz acts await name ruling

15 July 2011 Last updated at 15:45 GMT Baker, Nolan and Aston (l to r) were in London while Gubby gave evidence in Wales Two acts vying for the right to use the name Bucks Fizz must wait for up to six weeks to discover which has triumphed.

One, The Original Bucks Fizz, has three of the line-up that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 with Making Your Mind Up. The other has just one.

But it is he who now owns the trademark of the Bucks Fizz name.

After hearing evidence from both sides, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) said it would give a final decision in five to six weeks.

The hearing was triggered after Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston sought to trademark their band name, The Original Bucks Fizz.

Former bandmate Bobby G - real name Robert Gubby - objected to their plans, having registered Bucks Fizz as a trademark in 2001.

This led to a counter objection, by the other party - his former bandmates, against Gubby's use of Bucks Fizz.

'Public perception'

The name Bucks Fizz was applied for in 1997 and registered to Robert Gubby in 2001, following a legal dispute.

Evidence was given on Friday at offices in London and Wales, which were connected by videolink.

Dean Dunham - acting for Baker, Nolan and Aston - told the hearing that Gubby's use of the name Bucks Fizz had led to confusion and disappointment among fans.

"The public perception of the words Bucks Fizz is simply the band that consisted of my three clients as well," said Mr Dunham.

Speaking after the hearing in London, Baker said the situation was "really sad" but insisted Gubby had "no right to stop us from working".

"We've got an album that should have been released by now and we can't because of the dispute over the name, so it's affecting our livelihood." said Baker.

From an office in Wales, Gubby - who recruited three new members for his Bucks Fizz act - said he felt entitled to claim his band was "original" because it had a "direct connection" to when Eurovision-winning version was first founded.

Bands often had line-up changes throughout the years, he added, comparing the situation to acts such as The Drifters and The Supremes.

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Jennifer Lopez announces divorce

16 July 2011 Last updated at 00:21 GMT Lopez and Anthony had just announced plan for a television show with the American Idol creator Pop star and actress Jennifer Lopez and singer Marc Anthony are divorcing after seven years of marriage, the couple have announced.

"This was a very difficult decision," the pair said in a statement. "We have come to an amicable conclusion."

The couple, who have three-year-old twin children, said "we appreciate the respect of our privacy".

Lopez, 41, and Anthony, 42, toured together and starred together in the 2006 film El Cantante.

The film was a biopic of Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe.

The divorce will be Lopez's third and Anthony's second.

In January Lopez became a judge on American Idol. She and Anthony in April announced plans for a television show called Q'Viva! The Chosen with American Idol creator Simon Fuller.

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Rocker's son jailed for violence

15 July 2011 Last updated at 13:35 GMT Charlie Gilmour says to BBC camera crew: 'We've been trashing stuff'

Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, has been jailed for 16 months for a rampage at a student fees protest in central London.

Gilmour, 21, was accused of throwing a bin at a convoy of cars containing Prince Charles, sitting on a protection officer's car and smashing a window.

The Cambridge University student, of Billingshurst, West Sussex, was bailed in May so he could finish his exams.

Kingston Crown Court heard he had taken LSD and valium before the incident.

Gilmour was among thousands of people who protested in Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square on 9 December 2010.

'Thoroughly intoxicated'

He was photographed hanging from a union flag on the Cenotaph during the march, an incident for which he later apologised.

He was also seen leaping on to the bonnet of a Jaguar car that formed part of a royal convoy containing the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and hurling a rubbish bin at the vehicle.

The royal couple's car was not hit by the bin

The car carried royal protection officers accompanying the couple as they were chauffeured up Regent Street in a Rolls-Royce to a Royal Variety Performance.

Gilmour's barrister David Spens QC argued he was "ashamed of himself" for his behaviour, which was sparked by his "intoxication by drink and drugs", and had no recollection of throwing the bin.

He was described as "out of his mind" by the time he arrived in Parliament Square that day as he had been drinking and taking drugs since the previous night.

This was the culmination of a continual binge that had started around August, "born out of unhappiness rather than hedonism".

Mr Spens told the court this had been precipitated by an "emotionally painful" meeting that summer with his biological father writer Heathcote Williams.

'Public outrage'

Gilmour also kicked at the window of Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street and ended up in possession of the leg of a mannequin.

Charlie Gilmour claimed he had not realised the significance of the Cenotaph memorial

He was filmed shouting: "They broke the moral law, we're going to break all the laws."

Passing sentence, Judge Nicholas Price QC accepted that Gilmour's behaviour at the Cenotaph did not form part of the violent disorder, but accused him of disrespect to the war dead.

"Such outrageous and deeply offensive behaviour gives a clear indication of how out of control you were that day," he told Gilmour.

"It caused public outrage and understandably so."

His conduct at the war memorial had prompted a deluge of "vituperative and in many cases obscene emails", he said.

These were "not just to you but, it is with deep regret, to your whole family, who were of course totally blameless", he added.

Gilmour entered a non-specific guilty plea during a hearing in May.

He claimed he had not realised the significance of the memorial - an excuse the judge rejected.

"For a young man of your intelligence and education and background to profess to not know what the Cenotaph represents defies belief," he said.

"You have shown disrespect to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to those who fell defending this country."

But Gilmour was given some credit for apologising for his actions.

"You expressed yourself in a fitting way when you said how deeply ashamed you are for what is, as you acknowledge, the terrible insult to those who gave their lives," the judge said.

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Prostitutes seek marriage on TV

14 July 2011 Last updated at 14:51 GMT Precious Kawainga said she became a prostitute to feed her children A Zambian TV channel has launched a reality show to help former prostitutes find husbands.

The 18 sex workers stand to win a cash prize of about $9,000 (?5,500) and have their wedding paid for.

Muvi TV, which is hosting the Ready for Marriage show, said it wanted to give them a second chance in life.

"We want to make a difference to women's lives. These are people, after all," its spokesperson Coreena Paulina said.

The BBC's Mutuna Chanda in the capital, Lusaka, says there has been little controversy around the show.

No other women have been included in the contest.

A local preacher, Reverend Jeff Musonda, gave his qualified support to the sex workers' participation.

"If those people have transformed and stopped their acts, I find no problem. But if it's just for wooing viewership, I would have reservations," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

'Consolation prize'

Muvi TV said it had recruited the women from the streets in different parts of the country.

Some contestants said they sold their bodies because they were single mothers who could not afford to look after their children.

"I needed to sustain my living and that of my [two] children," Precious Kawainga, 28, said.

"I found prostitution because of rejection. The father to my children turned his back on me," said another.

Muvi TV said all contestants who were voted out by viewers would receive consolation prizes of between $1,000 and $1,500.

They would also be offered full-time jobs so that they did not return to prostitution, it said.

The reaction of viewers in the capital, Lusaka, has been mixed.

"Once a prostitute, always a prostitute. It is very difficult for them to just change overnight," one viewer, Humphrey Banda, said.

However, another, Prisca Chisenga, expressed a contrary view.

"It is not fair to judge them by their past," she said.

When reality television was first introduced in Zambia more than five years ago, there was outrage from clergymen who said it would corrupt moral values.

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Council's artwork fetches £74,000

14 July 2011 Last updated at 09:23 GMT The painting may have been inspired the novel The Woman in White A painting by the Victorian artist John Everett Millais has been sold by Bolton Council for ?74,400.

The painting, titled The Somnambulist, had been given an estimated value of ?80,000-100,000.

It is one of a number of artworks being auctioned by the council to pay for a new museum storage warehouse.

Bolton Council has said its decision to sell around 35 works of art is a last resort because there is no money in the main council budget.

The current storage facility is in a poor state of repair and the authority's budget is being cut by ?60m over the next two years.

The council's other works to go under the hammer include a painting called Seagulls and Sapphire Seas by Robert Gemmell Hutchison, worth up to ?180,000, plus an etching and a lithograph by Pablo Picasso.

Matthew Constantine from Bolton Council's museum service said: "If it weren't for the extraordinary circumstances that the council finds itself in, then it [selling art] is something we wouldn't be doing.

"But we live in an age of difficult decisions and the art world is not an exception to that."

Galleries are only allowed to sell paintings in exceptional circumstances and the money must go towards improving the remaining collection under Museums Association rules.

The council bought The Somnambulist for ?400 in 1969. Bonhams auction house said it was "an unusual and entrancing work by arguably the most important Victorian artist of his generation".

The picture was exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1871 and as part of Manchester's Royal Jubilee exhibition in 1887.

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Top Glee stars set for swan song

Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy said all three actors were ready to leave Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith won't be in the fourth season of Glee, the show's co-creator has said.

Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter that the trio, who play Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, and Kurt Hummel would "graduate" at the end of season three.

He said the show wouldn't be realistic if the characters stayed on at the school after that.

Murphy also said "more characters are leaving than are staying".

"You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticise you for not being realistic," he added.

"Or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year."

He confirmed that Michele and Colfer had discussed the decision with him.

"They thought that was a good idea.

"They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top," he said.

He added that Monteith "knows [Finn] was a sophomore when the show started".

Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt in the series, said about his departure.

"We pretty much found out about (it) yesterday along with everyone else. But no, I think we all knew that it was coming.

"I don't think any of us wanted to leave so soon. But it is what it is. I mean, kids grow up".

Glee's third season starts in America in September, with a UK premiere date yet to be confirmed.

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Murdoch apology in press adverts

16 July 2011 Last updated at 09:11 GMT Rupert Murdoch's apology promises further steps "to make amends for the damage caused". National newspapers are running a full-page advert with a signed apology from Rupert Murdoch over "serious wrongdoing" by the News of the World.

The advert states: "We are sorry for the serious wrongdoing that occurred."

Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the paper, and senior News Corporation executive Les Hinton both resigned on Friday over the phone-hacking scandal.

The printed apology expresses regret for not acting faster "to sort things out".

"I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.

"In the coming days, as we take further concrete steps to resolve these issues and make amends for the damage they have caused, you will hear more from us", says the statement, signed "sincerely, Rupert Murdoch".

In other developments:

Downing Street revealed that former News of the World editor Andy Coulson stayed at Mr Cameron's official residence Chequers in March, after he resigned from his job as Director of Communications in Downing Street. Mr Coulson was arrested last week as part of the police inquiry into phone-hacking.A list of Mr Cameron's guests at his country retreat showed that he was visited there twice by Mrs Brooks, in June and August last year, as well as once in November by News International chairman James Murdoch and his wife Kathryn.Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott says Rupert Murdoch is "desperately" trying to save his company, and "ditching everybody else in the process". He said his apology changed nothing and only came about because he is going to be asked questions about his record by MPs next week.The actor Jude Law is suing The Sun newspaper for alleged phone hacking. He's launched legal proceedings over four articles published in 2005 and 2006. A spokesperson for News International called the news "a deeply cynical and deliberately mischievous attempt to draw The Sun into the phone-hacking issue." The apology letter appeared in several Murdoch papers and other titles

Mrs Brooks is expected to appear alongside Rupert and James Murdoch in front of the Commons media select committee on Tuesday to answer MPs questions on the hacking scandal.

She was editor of News of the World between 2000 and 2003, during which time the phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler was tampered with.

In a statement resigning as chief executive of News International, she said she felt a "deep responsibility for the people we have hurt".

She said she wanted to "reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place".

Her statement went on: "I have believed that the right and responsible action has been to lead us through the heat of the crisis. However my desire to remain on the bridge has made me a focal point of the debate.

"This is now detracting attention from all our honest endeavours to fix the problems of the past."

Mrs Brooks, 43, who had been with News International for 22 years, bowed to the international pressure piling up on the company.

Prime Minister David Cameron said through a spokesman that her resignation was "the right decision".

She has been replaced by Tom Mockridge, who was in charge of News Corporation's Italian broadcasting arm.

Les Hinton, chief executive of the media group's Dow Jones, was head of News International from 1995 to 2007 and has worked with Rupert Murdoch for more than five decades.

Mr Hinton, the most senior executive to leave the conglomerate, said in a statement that he was "ignorant of what apparently happened" but felt it was proper to resign.

Also on Friday, Rupert Murdoch apologised to Milly Dowler's family at a meeting in London.

The family's solicitor Mark Lewis said the newspaper boss looked very shaken up and upset during the talks, which were arranged at short notice.

He said the Dowlers were surprised his son James Murdoch did not attend and called on the News International chairman to "take some responsibility" in the affair.

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£9m bid to save gospel launched

14 July 2011 Last updated at 15:36 GMT Curator Claire Breay explains the relevance of the St Cuthbert Gospel

The British Library has announced a ?9m bid to save the 7th Century St Cuthbert Gospel - the earliest surviving European book - for the nation.

It follows a ?4.5m National Heritage Memorial Fund grant towards that total.

The book, a copy of the Gospel of St John, was produced in northern England and buried with St Cuthbert before being rediscovered in 1104.

The manuscript, complete with original red leather binding, has been on loan to the library since 1979.

The Art Fund and the Garfield Weston philanthropic foundation have also pledged about ?250,000 each towards the ?9m total, with other organisations also making donations.

A further ?2.75m is needed to acquire the gospel.

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This wonderful book links us directly to Saxon Christianity of the north of England and to the north's best-loved saint, Cuthbert himself”

End Quote The Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove The book, formerly known as the Stonyhurst Gospel, was buried with the early English Christian leader on Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, in about 698.

It was found in St Cuthbert's coffin at Durham Cathedral in 1104 after it had been moved to escape Viking raids.

The library's chief executive, Dame Lynne Brindley, said the gospel was "an almost miraculous survival from the Anglo-Saxon period, a beautifully-preserved window into a rich, sophisticated culture that flourished some four centuries before the Norman Conquest".

Christie's auction house approached the library - on behalf of the gospel's owners, the Society of Jesus (British Province) - to give it first option on buying the book.

If the British Library is successful in its campaign, the gospel will be displayed half of the time in the national library and the other half at the Unesco world heritage site in Durham.

The Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, Dean of Durham, said: "This wonderful book links us directly to Saxon Christianity of the north of England and to the north's best-loved saint, Cuthbert himself."

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Singer wins Mojo unsigned prize

14 July 2011 Last updated at 15:17 GMT Elinor Alicia's winning song was Kill the Fire (Here they Come) A 20-year-old singer from Moray has won a major competition to find the best unsigned singer-songwriter.

Elinor Alicia, of Rothes, was picked as the Mojo New Voice for 2011.

She was chosen after performing a live set in front of an invited audience and a judging panel made up of key figures in the music industry.

Elinor has recently been playing small gigs in the Liverpool area with her band Deafen the Creatures. Her song was Kill the Fire (Here they Come).

She said: "I had lost my faith in the music industry as I felt it had become cheap and simple.

"Entering the Glenfiddich Mojo New Voice competition however has helped me regain my love for music."

She wins coverage in Mojo magazine, a selection of music software, and career advice from industry insiders.

Mojo's editor in chief Phil Alexander said the response from young, unsigned artists was "phenomenal".

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Proms begin with Brahms and Liszt

15 July 2011 Last updated at 08:29 GMT Grosvenor won the piano section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2004 competition This year's BBC Proms season kicks off at the Royal Albert Hall later with a concert featuring an overture by Brahms and a piano concerto by Liszt.

It will continue with a performance of Janacek's Glagolitic Mass, with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, who - at 19 - will be the youngest soloist to perform at an opening Prom.

Proms highlights this year include a comedy concert hosted by Tim Minchin, an audience request night and a mass choral performance this Sunday with more than a thousand performers.

The 2011 Proms run until 10 September.

Friday's Liszt concerto forms part of a series of performances marking the 200th anniversary of the Hungarian composer's birth.

Chinese pianist Lang Lang will perform another of his concertos on the Last Night of the Proms, with more of his work to feature in a late night prom on 24 August.

Sunday's performance of Havergal Brian's The Gothic - described by organisers as "the largest and longest symphony ever written" - will feature two orchestras and 10 choirs.

Music from the movies will also be showcased in an evening of film score excerpts on 12 August.

Other highlights include a solo Bach recital by Nigel Kennedy, a "concerto for turntables" written by Sergei Prokofiev's grandson Gabriel, and the return of Venezuelan youth ensemble the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra.

Performances throughout the season will be broadcast on Radio 3, BBC Two and BBC Four.

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Daybreak editor to leave ITV show

14 July 2011 Last updated at 08:25 GMT Ian Rumsey joined Daybreak after editing ITV's General Election programme Daybreak's editor, who helped launch the flagship ITV morning show less than a year ago, is to leave the programme.

Ian Rumsey said he was hoping for a "new challenge" after being at the helm of the show since September 2010, when it replaced GMTV.

The programme, fronted by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley, has struggled to make its mark with viewers.

It currently draws around 800,000 viewers, around half the audience of its BBC One rival, Breakfast.

Mr Rumsey will continue with the show until the end of the year.

"This was a tough decision. I'm very happy to stay until the end of 2011 but I really do feel like a new and different challenge in the new year," he said.

"Daybreak has a remarkable and resilient team of people working on it. I've been proud to have been their editor and wish them great success in the years ahead."

The 40-year-old joined Daybreak after editing ITV's General Election programme.

He has previously edited each of the major network news programmes for ITV.

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Ted Danson to join CSI in autumn

14 July 2011 Last updated at 09:01 GMT Ted Danson replaces departing star Laurence Fishburne Cheers star Ted Danson is to join hit US forensic drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, it has been announced.

The 63-year-old will star as the new team supervisor when the 12th series begins this autumn, broadcaster CBS said.

He replaces Laurence Fishburne who played former pathologist Dr Raymond Langston on the show for two years, but decided not to renew his contract.

US fans will see Danson's first appearance on the show on 21 September.

His character comes to the team as it is still dealing with the professional and personal fall-out from last season's pursuit of serial killer Nate Haskell.

"We're very excited Ted Danson came along," said executive producer Carol Mendelsohn.

"You can create a new character on the page, but until the perfect actor comes along and breathes life into it, it's just words."

Danson will still continue to appear on HBO comedy Bored to Death, opposite Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis.

The veteran actor is best known for starring as Sam Malone on the 1980s sitcom Cheers, and other comedy roles.

However his career was revived thanks to his critically-acclaimed run on the legal thriller, Damages, for which he received three consecutive Emmy nominations.

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Access all areas

15 July 2011 Last updated at 12:25 GMT By Genevieve Hassan Entertainment reporter, BBC News Actor Hugh Grant has been campaigning in support of a public inquiry The phone hacking scandal, currently centred on the News of the World, has reignited the debate on privacy and press regulation.

But how much privacy can, and should, celebrities - who make their living in the public eye - expect?

For years, the tabloid press has made its reputation on "exclusives" involving celebrities' private lives.

Stars frequently take out injunctions against newspapers preventing them from revealing possible indiscretions.

The recent phone hacking scandal has drawn claims that up to 3,000 celebrities, politicians and sports stars had their communications monitored.

Some stars have been vocal on the issue, especially Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan, who both claim to have had their mobiles tampered with.

Actress Sienna Miller won ?100,000 in damages from the News of the World in May, after the paper admitted hacking her phone.

Yet the relationship between celebrities and the media is such that, arguably, one cannot exist without the other.

'Delicate balance'

Jeremy King, editor of industry paper Media Week, says that although celebrities are in the public eye, it does not necessarily make them "fair game".

"It's a delicate balance between celebrities from the Y-list up to the D-list, who are quite happy to reveal their inner secrets, and the A- and B-list, who go about their business and guard their private lives.

Sienna Miller was awarded ?100,000 after the News of the World obtained private information about her

"People are happily hacking to get exclusives from A-listers because they're slightly unusual.

"But if you court the media in the first place and don't like it when they say something nasty, then unfortunately once you push the toothpaste out of the tube it's hard to get it back in."

According to media commentator Mark Borkowski, celebrities need to realise that to a certain extent they are public property.

Despite this, he continues, it can still be possible for them to have a private life.

"If you want privacy, you can obtain it by keeping a delicate balance between the needs of promoting what you have to professionally - and how you conduct your life," he explains.

"You need to have a long-term commitment to the amount of fame you have generated.

"You can't switch it on and off, so you have to have a strategy of dealing with it."

Protection

The role of the PR machine is a key player in the issue.

On the one hand, a publicist may tip off the media as to their clients' whereabouts or promote their latest project.

On the other, a PR could be working hard to limit the damage after an unfavourable story.

Celebrity PR consultant Max Clifford says the biggest part of his business is protecting the image of his clients, not promotion.

"If I have a star on my books that has always desperately kept themselves private, then they deserve greater protection," he says.

"[But] if you use the media, you can't complain too much when the media uses you."

Clifford believes there can be times when it is justified to make private lives public knowledge, provided the information is legally obtained.

"There's loads of people that would be the victims of kiss-and-tells that I've stopped because it wouldn't have been justified."

But he adds: "If a politician is lecturing about family values while they're having affairs, then they deserve to be shown up."

"Rich people can afford a PR person or lawyer who can stop it. But if it does slip through and you get caught out playing away, you only have yourself to blame."

Borkowski dismisses the suggestion that if a celebrity has a PR company behind them they are probably trying to hide something.

"If people hire an accountant, are they trying to fiddle their tax?" he asks rhetorically.

"Good PR people are doing their job, which is to manage the media," he says.

Public demand

The public play a huge part in the privacy debate, thanks to the rise in gossip columns and magazines whose readership depends on an appetite for celebrity scandals.

"The incessant need of the public to know what every celebrity is doing is phenomenal," King says.

"Ironically, this same public are equally outraged when it comes to normal civilians having their private lives publicly played out."

Max Clifford won an apology and settlements from News of the World after it hacked his phone

The phone hacking scandal was relatively low on the news agenda when it appeared that celebrities were the only ones targeted.

When it became clear it also involved members of the public, however, public outrage escalated.

"Their attitude is, 'Max Clifford and Sienna Miller use the media and do very well from it, so I won't lose too much sleep over it,'" says Clifford.

So will the scandal change the relationship between celebrities and the media? "It has changed the nature of tabloid journalism forever," Borkowski declares.

Yet King doesn't agree. "Certain celebrities are so desperate for publicity, they'll take the lows as long as they get more highs - and more coverage.

"But higher profile stars will probably think twice about doing exclusive interviews and be more acutely aware of what they do."

Clifford hopes a new press regulator, if instigated, would help tackle the "excesses" of the media.

"You've got to have a free press in this country, and when they get it wrong they must be punished and shown up," he says.

"Hopefully we'll have a half-way house and avoid a privacy law, which to me is totally wrong in any democracy.

"The press must be free, but they must be responsible."

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Smith drops in on Doctor Who show

16 July 2011 Last updated at 08:30 GMT Matt Smith popped up to thank the young adventurers for saving the Doctor and the world Doctor Who actor Matt Smith has made a surprise appearance in a highly acclaimed "immersive" theatre production based on the TV show.

Smith appeared in character in front of 25 fans aged 9-12 at a performance of The Crash of the Elysium at the Manchester International Festival.

The show puts the audience at the heart of a Doctor Who adventure and are told it is up to them to save the world.

Smith is normally seen on screens but appeared in person on Friday.

The Crash of the Elysium, created by theatre company Punchdrunk, has earned a series of five-star reviews in national newspapers.

The audience members are told to wear chemical decontamination suits as they are led through a series of rooms by actors dressed as soldiers, looking for clues and being chased by the Doctor's enemies.

Smith said the show was "a marriage made in creative space heaven".

"I've always watched Punchdrunk shows and marvelled at their inventiveness and individuality," he said.

"Put that together with Doctor Who and there is a wonderful template to tell unique stories in unique ways. The Doctor would definitely approve."

The Crash of the Elysium is one of the highlights of the Manchester International Festival, which ends on Sunday and also involves new works by Victoria Wood, Damon Albarn and Marina Abramovic.

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Child prodigy

15 July 2011 Last updated at 01:11 GMT By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News The Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky tournament gripped the world in 1972 A documentary on the life of chess genius Bobby Fischer opens in cinemas this week. Its director Liz Garbus explains the challenges of telling the story of a child prodigy who turned controversial recluse.

"If chess knowledge was a swimming pool, I was in the shallow end," says Liz Garbus, director of documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World.

"As we explore in the film, the deep end knows no bottom."

Garbus's documentary is a portrait of the American chess player which focuses on his famous 1972 tournament in Iceland against the Russian Boris Spassky.

The matches were as much about the Cold War as they were about chess. Fischer v Spassky dominated headlines around the world.

"It was moment when metaphor wrapped upon metaphor," says Garbus.

"It was as black and white as a chess board. Here was this lone American against this team from the Soviet Union who honed and nurtured their chess players.

"Even their names - Bobby and Boris - were quintessentially American and Russian."

Garbus was Oscar-nominated for her documentary The Farm: Angola, USA

In her documentary, Garbus explores the wider issues of whether Fischer was ever equipped to deal with the pressures of fame.

The film also highlights the thin line between genius and madness.

"We have seen over time that starting incredibly young or being in a relentless spotlight is an enormous burden for an individual," says Garbus.

"Rather than chess making Bobby insane, chess is what kept Bobby sane. That drive to be world champion kept him organised, so when he achieved it that order was lost."

During the documentary Fischer is described as "the Mozart of chess".

In 1958, at the age of 15, he became the youngest chess Grand Master in history.

Raised by his mother in Brooklyn, he had taught himself to play chess aged six. As archive footage shows, he appeared regularly on TV throughout the 1960s.

Radio rants

But his increasingly erratic behaviour at the Spassky tournament in 1972 was an indicator of how his life would spiral out of control.

His later years were marked by anti-Semitic rants, despite the fact that both his parents were Jewish.

As part of her research Garbus and her team trawled through recordings of Fischer's calls to radio shows from the 1990s onwards.

Bobby Fischer became a chess Grand Master aged 15

"It's one thing if you listen to someone ranting about 9/11 or the Jews for five minutes. It's another if you listen to them for 200 hours," she says.

"You realise this is not a thoughtful ideological position, this is like a train that's going with no brakes on."

Garbus became fascinated with the Bobby Fischer story when she read his obituary on a flight to Utah for the Sundance film festival.

Fischer died in Iceland in 2008 at the age of 64.

He had been granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005 as a way to avoid being deported to the US.

He was wanted for breaking international sanctions by playing a rematch with Spassky in the former Yugoslavia in 1992.

"I became obsessed and starting reading up on him - and I was at Sundance so I was all jazzed up creatively," Garbus says.

She spent a year trawling for material in "a scavenger hunt around the globe".

One of her best finds was photographer Harry Benson and a trove of previously unseen shots of Fischer taken for Life magazine, including a toned young Fischer working out in the gym.

"Looking at footage of Bobby as a young man you see how charismatic and good-looking he was," says Garbus.

"He really seemed to inhabit that rock star role for a time."

Bobby Fischer Against the World is released in the UK on 15 July

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