Entertaining the troops has long been seen as a vital and necessary way of boosting the morale of armed forces stationed overseas.

New research from King's College London suggests that it may even play a role in protecting service personnel against mental health problems.

Gerard Depardieu is to star as Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a film about the sex scandal that caused the former IMF chief to resign.

US director Abel Ferrara told France's Le Monde newspaper he would be making the film, with Isabelle Adjani playing Mr Strauss-Kahn's wife, Anne Sinclair.

He left the International Monetary Fund in May last year after being charged with raping a New York hotel maid.

The case was dropped but ended his ambitions for the French presidency.

Uggie, the canine star of Oscar-nominated hit The Artist, is to retire, his trainer has said.

Omar von Muller told Life and Style magazine he was hanging up his collar because the 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier was "getting tired".

"He may do a couple of little things here and there because he enjoys them, but I don't want to put him through long hours anymore," he said.

It is thought Uggie will make his final appearance at the Oscars.

"I hope he gets to go," said von Muller. "They should give him an envelope to bring to Billy Crystal."

Ham sandwiches, hot-pressed and gooey with cheese. Neat piles of black beans and rice. Grilled chicken.

This is the simple, filling fare served at Cuban restaurants around the world. And like the iconic, rusty Studebakers that line the streets of Havana, Cuban food hasn't changed much since the 1950s.

... But that, according to some chefs, is starting to change. 

A housemate on Brazilian Big Brother was allegedly raped live on television in front of millions of viewers.

nimals have been stealing scenes since movies began - but can Hollywood's top dogs really act or is it all down to clever training?

The Artist is being tipped to sweep the board at this year's Oscars - but there will be no Academy Award for one of the silent film's biggest stars.

In fact, he will be lucky to get a pat on the head and a consoling bone to chew on.

Uggie is a nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier - and the Academy is famously sniffy when it comes to handing out prizes to animals.

Lassie, Cheetah and Rin Tin Tin may have been among the biggest stars of their day - but not one of them ever gripped the famous gold statuette in their jaws.

Satellite broadcasters in China have cut entertainment TV by two-thirds following a government campaign, state news agency Xinhua has reported.

An order by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to curb ''excessive entertainment'' came into effect on 1 January.

The number of entertainment shows aired during prime time each week has dropped to 38 from 126, said the watchdog body.

The news came as the president warned of the influence of Western culture.

Elton John has revealed he wants Justin Timberlake to play him in a forthcoming film about his life.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has announced the end of her marriage to therapist Barry Herridge.

Writing on her blog, O'Connor blamed the end of her fourth marriage after only 16 days on disapproval from Mr Herridge's family and friends.

Angelina Jolie has aroused praise and criticism in Bosnia with her first film as a director, a story of love and war set during the bloody Balkans conflict.

Budding pop stars may fare better if they swap a piano keyboard for a PC, according to university researchers.

University of Bristol scientists claim to have developed software that can spot whether a song has hit potential.

The program looks at 23 separate characteristics including loudness, danceability and harmonic simplicity.

New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley draws criticism for labelling married star the 'bi-est guy in town' – then claims he doesn't mean it literally

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose story is told in a new film, went from devoted Oxford housewife to champion of Burmese democracy - but not without great personal sacrifice.

David Attenborough has performed a version of What A Wonderful World to soundtrack the BBC's nature coverage. Why did it take so long for this song to become a standard, and does it have a political message?

The British-built boat that co-starred with Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in 1951 film The African Queen is to be restored and will sail again.

Owner Jim Hendricks, referring to the boat's whistle, told the Key West Citizen it would mean "giving the Queen her voice back".

Mr Hendricks' late father bought the Queen in 1982 for $65,000 (£41,300).

The boat is in a state of disrepair after sitting in a dry dock next to the Key Largo Holiday Inn for 10 years.

CONTROVERSIAL British-Dutch horror film Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) has been banned.

Despite being passed by Australian censors with an R rating in May, on Monday the Classification Review Board met to review the film - after an application from New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith - and made a unanimous decision of RC (Refused Classification). This means the film cannot be sold, hired or advertised in Australia.

The film is the sequel to controversial director Tom Six's 2009 ''body horror'' Human Centipede, in which a crazed surgeon kidnaps tourists and surgically stitches them together into a human chain, mouth-to-anus, essentially creating one human digestive tract.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will go on tour next year, starting with European shows from the middle of May through July.
The group announced four dates in the U.K. starting June 21, according to a posting on the 62-year-old rocker’s website, Brucespringsteen.net. U.S. dates and additional world tour stops will be announced soon, the group said.

Just days after he stepped down as Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi is preparing to release his latest CD of love songs.

As the Miss World contest turns 60, writer and academic Mary Beard takes a peek at the competition and ponders why - unlike her teenage days as a radical feminist - the whole occasion doesn't fill her with fury.

Miss World 2011 was crowned last week at Earls Court - Miss Venezuela, a 22-year-old graduate in human resources, took the title. She was closely followed by Miss Philippines who majored in marketing, and Miss Puerto Rico who wants to go on to a PhD in comparative literature.

A hundred or so feminist demonstrators turned up, outside the venue, to object to what they saw as a degrading human cattle market.

It was a fairly sedate affair, certainly a far cry from the protests against Miss World 1970 when a group of "women's libbers" (as people used to call them then), swapped their dungarees for little frocks, infiltrated the ceremony, and managed to land some bags of flour very close to the compere Bob Hope, some wilting lettuces on the assembled reporters, and squirts of blue ink on the bouncers' shirts.

In Tinseltown, it still seems to be the love that dare not speak its name.

Watchdog rules advert was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence after complaints that it sexualised children

Miss Venezuela, Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colmenares, who spent five years studying in a nunnery, has bagged the title of Miss World 2011 amid much fanfare at Earls Court Two in London.

Colmenares beat contestants from 113 countries to the coveted title after impressing the jury in the categories of beach beauty, top model, talent, sports, and beauty with a purpose - where the contestants were supposed to demonstrate contribution in a charity project.

India's Supreme Court has ordered circuses to stop employing children and instructed the government to rescue and rehabilitate working minors.

Until a recently passed amendment, circuses were largely exempt from India's Child Labour Act which bans the employment of children under 14.

But circus owners ignored the ruling and the court is now enforcing the ban.

Circus professionals criticised the law, saying training from a young age is crucial for developing skills.

The United States is funding a Pakistani remake of the popular TV children's show Sesame Street.

In a new effort to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, USAID - the development arm of the US government - is donating $20m (£12m) to the country to create a local Urdu version of the show.

The project aims to boost education in Pakistan, where many children have no access to regular schooling.

The show is to be filmed in Lahore and aired later in the year.

A man accused of murdering his wife told detectives they were working on the physical side of their relationship because she wanted more sex.

Robin Garbutt, 45, denies murdering Diana Garbutt, 40, above the Post Office in Melsonby, North Yorkshire, in March last year.

Mr Garbutt told officers he attended Relate sessions with his wife and that she wanted to have more sex.

The jury has already heard Mrs Garbutt struck up relationships with three men.

The opening of two more lap dancing clubs in Cardiff would ruin efforts to promote the city centre, say the owners of the Royal and Morgan Arcades.

Property firm Helical Bar has complained to Cardiff council that the clubs are synonymous with "sleaze".

The company has spent £30m restoring the arcades and opposes plans for a new club on St Mary Street.

Councillors are due to consider licence renewals for two clubs and applications for two new licences.

Since 2010 local authorities in England and Wales have had powers to license lap dancing clubs as sex establishments, with Cardiff charging £2,510 for each licence.

A new guide is aimed at parents who want to take their toddlers and babies to restaurants, but why is there such anxiety about little ones being in the same space as childless adults?

The Social Network and The King's Speech have dominated this year's London Film Critics' Circle awards.

The former won four prizes, including film of the year, while the latter won three, among them a best actor award for Oscar hopeful Colin Firth.

PERTH bars and clubs risk flouting Equal Opportunity laws by implementing bizarre dress rules such as a ban on "metrosexual" attire.

Engineering student Benjamin Chalk told the Sunday Times he was offended by a banner at the front of Library nightclub in Northbridge that reads "Strictly No Metrosexual Attire".

The banner is displayed every second Friday, during the Library's Dorcia Fridays event.

The Sunday Times recently saw Dorcia staff turn away confused male punters in collared shirts and dress shoes, explaining they were "too dressed-up", while women were welcomed in formal dress.

Men wearing shorts and trainers were also allowed in.

Singer Jimmy Buffett is in hospital after falling off stage and being knocked unconscious at a concert in Sydney last night.

The Margaritaville singer appeared to walk off the stage at Hordern Pavilion during an encore performance of Lovely Cruise, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital but is expected to be released later today, according to a message posted on his website.

As he begins one of the biggest jobs in television as host of CNN's primetime talkshow, Piers Morgan talks about making enemies, being rude – and why people tell him their secrets

OPRAH Winfrey has been greeted by two mating koalas on day one of her Aussie experience.

After her $50m private jet touched down in Queensland, the talk show queen made a beeline for an Australian wildlife experience.

But she told Ten News reporter Angela Bishop an embarrassing situation ensued.

The US talk show queen arrived at Cairns airport this morning, marking the start of her "Ultimate Australian Adventure", a tour expected to provide a huge boost for Australian tourism.

THE Australian coffee company that signed up Al Pacino for his advertising debut says sales have hit a record high. The black-and-white ads starring Pacino and shot in cinematic style by the Hollywood director Barry Levinson ran in July and August on Australian free-to-air TV.

The 70-year-old Oscar-winning star of The Godfather and Scarface received international media coverage for his praise of the Australian coffee brand Vittoria, a fillip to the estimated $2 million to $3 million a year the parent company will spend on buying media for the ad.

The actor Dick Van Dyke has claimed he was saved by a school of porpoises after he found himself adrift at sea on a surfboard, according to reports

Sony Music has dismissed claims that vocals on a new Michael Jackson album are not those of the star.

It said at the weekend it had "complete confidence" they were genuine after TMZ.com reported that his two eldest children thought otherwise.

On Monday, new track Breaking News, from the forthcoming album, Michael, was posted on the singer's website.

His nephews, TJ and Taryll Jackson, have now complained on Twitter about the track's "fake" and "shady" vocals.

Sony said in its statement that it had "complete confidence in the results of our extensive research, as well as the accounts of those who were in the studio with Michael, that the vocals on the new album are his own".

Lady Gaga has bagged three prizes at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid, including best female and best song for her hit Bad Romance.

Fellow artists Katy Perry and Justin Bieber were also winners on a night dominated by US stars, with UK artists failing to convert their nominations.

Plan B, Alexandra Burke and Muse were among the acts who lost out.

The ceremony was hosted by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, who had 13 costume changes during the event.

One of her outfits included a costume shaped like a giant Spanish ham.

ACTRESS Emilia Fox has some rather surprising advice for women - try pole-dancing or striptease.

"I've always been the last one to get up on the dance floor or at a party. I'm just too self-conscious," said the 36-year-old pregnant actress, perhaps best knowen for her role as Dorota in 2003 movie The Pianist and as Dr Nikki Alexander in the TV series Silent Witness.

"Then I had to learn pole-dancing for my role in 2006's Cashback and I found it completely liberating. It taught me how to feel confident about my body so that dancing came naturally," she told The Mail on Sunday newspaper..

Walt Disney Co and Shanghai's city government have formally agreed to open up a long-awaited Disney theme park in China's commercial capital.

The irony of the occasion would surely not have been lost on John Lennon.

The site of the Beatle's infamous 1968 drugs bust, 34 Montagu Place in Marylebone, London, is now marked as a site of cultural importance, another important stopping-off point for any Beatles fan who wants to see all the places in Liverpool, London and elsewhere in the UK where the famous four truly became fab.

The building, whose basement flat has a rather remarkable amount of history attached, now sports a shiny blue plaque from English Heritage, proclaiming Lennon's residency there in 1968 with his partner Yoko Ono.

Its addition to the national collection of blue plaque heritage spots is also good timing, coming both in the year that Lennon would have turned 70 - his birthday was on 9 October - and just a few weeks ahead of the 30th anniversary of his murder on 8 December 1980.

A claim by the official Vatican newspaper that Homer Simpson is a Catholic has been greeted with "shock and awe" by the show's executive producer Al Jean. A flattered and amused Jean told Entertainment Weekly “I guess it makes up for me not going to church for 20 years.” That said, Jean is quick to throw not-so-holy water on the Homer-is-Catholic assertion, reported EW, pointing out that the family attends the First Church of Springfield, which is decidedly Presbylutheran. “We’ve pretty clearly shown that Homer is not Catholic,” he says. “I really don’t think he could go without eating meat on Fridays—for even an hour.”

The Simpsons are Catholic claim made this week’s issue of the official Vatican newspaper with quite a glowing review taken from “The Catholic Civilization” - the influential Italian Jesuit magazine. The Simpsons remain among the few TV programs for children in which the Christian faith, religion and the question of God are recurring themes L’Osservatore Romano reported.

Italian is not my strong suit so the following automatic Google translation leaves a little to be desired but you will get the point.

Few people know this, and he does everything to hide it. But it’s true: Homer J. Simpson is Catholic. And if it was not a vocation — a blinding accomplice pint of “Duff” — we missed very little. So much so that today the king of donuts in Springfield does not hesitate to exclaim that “Catholicism is legendary.” But then change their minds in a cathartic “D’oh!”.

The joke — - in the episode “Father, Son and Spirit Practical,” in which Homer and Bart are converted through an encounter with the friendly father Sean — is the starting point of the interesting article on The Simpsons and religion by Father Francis Occhetta in the latest edition of “The Catholic Civilization.” The influential Italian Jesuit magazine draws a fine ethical and anthropological analysis of the cartoon at the same time seizing the opportunity - this is the most important - to give some practical advice to parents and children.

It is undisputed that the series created by Matt Groening brought into the world of cartoon language and narrative a revolution without precedent. Abandoned the reassuring distinction between good and evil is typical of production “happy ending” of Disney, Homer & Company have opened a Pandora’s box. The result was surreal comedy, satire, sarcasm on the worst taboo of ‘American way of life and distorting an icon of Western idiosyncrasies. But beware, there are other levels of interpretation.

“Every episode,”writes Occhetta, “behind the satire and the many jokes that make you smile, open issues related to the anthropological sense and quality of life”. Issues such as the inability to communicate and reconciliation, education and the education system, marriage and family. And do not miss politics.

Bone of contention, religion. What about the presence of the sound of Homer snoring during the sermons of Reverend Lovejoy? And what about the perennial humiliations inflicted on the pathetic Neddy Flanders, the evangelical orthodox? Thin unjustifiable criticism or blasphemy?

“The Simpsons,” Occhetta claims, “remain among the few TV programs for children in which the Christian faith, religion and the question of God are recurring themes”.

The family say the prayers before meals and, in its own way, believes in the afterlife ” and she is the means by which the faith is transmitted. The satire, however, “rather than involve the various Christian denominations overwhelms the evidence and the credibility of some church people”.

Let me be clear, the dangers exist, because “the laxity and lack of interest that may arise to educate even more young people to a private law relationship with God”. But a grain of salt is necessary to separate the good from the grass weeds. Parents need not fear for their children to watch the adventures of the little men in yellow. Indeed, the realism of the texts and episodes “could be the opportunity to watch a few episodes together, and to grasp the ideas to talk about family life, school, couple, social and political”.

In the stories of Simpson skeptical realism prevails, so “the younger generation of viewers are educated not to delude themselves”. The moral? None. But you know, a world devoid of easy illusions is a more humane world, and perhaps more Christian.

Father Occhetta, the author of that in-depth religious study on The Simpsons told the newsagency AFP today that the official Vatican newspaper misinterpreted his work as meaning the famous cartoon family are Catholics. "I don't think that at all," said Occhetta. "I wouldn't say they're Catholic, I would say they're people of faith". But, he added, watching The Simpsons "could help us" spiritually.

Queen guitarist Brian May is to receive an award in the House of Lords in recognition of his animal welfare work.

The 63-year-old rock legend is being honoured by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Mr May, who has homes in London and Surrey, has supported the Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue centre in Camberley.

He also launched the Save Me campaign to ensure that the present laws protecting animals from cruelty are kept in place.

Test your knowledge of the week's world news

A controversial celebrity stalking website that will publish real-time sightings of the stars is about to launch in America.

More This Life than Queer As Folk, and with less baggage than The L Word, BBC3's Lip Service follows five lesbian friends in Glasgow. 'I became a bit insane,' says its star Ruta Gedmintas

After 100 episodes and millions of DVD and toy sales, Igglepiggle and friends are set for retirement

Screen icon Humprey Bogart slept with an estimated 1,000 women, according to a new book about his life.

The effects of the economic crisis are still being felt in many parts of the United States and the closure of a museum dedicated to a Las Vegas showman reveals further evidence of the fading of the American dream.

German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and his wife, Stephanie, are seen as the poster couple for a modern, enlightened form of conservatism. But Stephanie's recent comments attacking Lady Gaga for corrupting children are testing the limits of conservative cool.

I have failed miserably on the Oprah Winfrey test. In preparation for her visit to Australia the great performer put up a little know your Australia test on her website and I stupidly agreed to test my knowledge.

Rather shamefacedly I confess to getting only four out of 10 answers correct. Have a go yourself but no Googling please.

Woody Allen has dismissed claims that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was difficult to work with on the set of his latest film, instead describing the French First Lady as "very professional".

Aarti Sequiera is this season's winner of The Next Food Network Star, a cooking show competition on the Food Network. The Bombay native won over the judges with her warm camera presence and unique blend of Indian and Western cuisine. Guest host Rachel Martin talks with Sequeira, whose new show, Aarti Party, premieres Sunday.

Elvis Presley fans from around the world have flocked to Graceland for the annual late night procession past the king of rock 'n' roll's grave.

A deleted scene from Return of the Jedi in which Luke assembles his new light saber excited fans of the series as George Lucas announced all six films would be released on Blu-Ray.

U2 frontman Bono has taken to the stage for the first time since sustaining a spinal injury in May.

The band resumed their world tour in Turin, Italy, where the singer thanked fans for "all the love and letters you've sent me in recent months".

He added: "That's in the past now and I'm very much fit for the future."

Bono had emergency surgery to save him from possible paralysis, forcing them to postpone the US leg of the tour and a Glastonbury Festival headline slot.

Canadian Rockers Arcade Fire have reached the top of the UK's album charts for the first time with their first offering in three years.

The band's third album The Suburbs retained its midweek placing, beating Eminem's Recovery into second place.

The band, who are set to headline the Reading and Leeds festivals later this month, reached the second spot in 2007 with their album Neon Bible.

Meanwhile, Ne-Yo has topped the singles chart with his track Beautiful Monster.

n the early days of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the team had no idea how big the show would become, so Terry Jones wanted to capture the moment on film.

He tells Kirsty Wark he was keen to find out just what the camera could do, an early indication of his eventual role directing the Monty Python films.

This and many other home movies will be featured in the Great British Home Movie Roadshow which begins on Friday 6 August at 2100 BST on BBC Two.

Sylvester Stallone faces a £1.36 million lawsuit from a Brazilian production company that worked on his latest film.

Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd, gave the right to Blurred Vision, a duo living in Canada, to remake the classic under the title Another Brick in the Wall (Hey Ayatollah, Leave Those Kids Alone).

Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd, gave the right to Blurred Vision, a duo living in Canada, to remake the classic.

Playwright's five-part BBC2 version of the first world war story Parade's End will be his first projects for corporation since 1970s

Rock band the Kings of Leon have been forced to end a concert early after pigeons defecated on them from the rafters of a US venue.

The rockers abandoned the gig in St Louis after three songs when bass player Jared Followill was hit in the mouth and face by pigeon droppings.

Dame Judi Dench is to make her BBC Proms debut at a concert devoted to Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim.

The Oscar-winning actress will sing Send In The Clowns from A Little Night Music at the concert to celebrate Sondheim's 80th birthday year.

Dame Judi said singing at the Proms was "hugely exciting" but "daunting".

Sondheim will be present at Saturday's concert, which will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 1930 BST and later on BBC Two at 2000 BST.

Christina Hendricks, the "voluptuous" star of Mad Men, has been hailed as an "absolutely fabulous" physical role model for girls by Lynne Featherstone, the Equalities Minister.

An order of Benedictine nuns cut off from the outside world has signed a major record deal with the company behind Lady GaGa.

The Department of Culture and Tourism advised the Indonesian Noodles and Meatballs Merchant Association (Apmiso) to trace the history of 'bakso' (meatball, usually served with broth) before claiming it as a unique Indonesian cuisine.

"We've ask for its history (of bakso) to be traced first before claiming it as a traditional Indonesian cuisine," said the director general for tourism destination development of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Firmansyah Rahim, Jakarta, Monday.

The statement was addressed for Apmiso, in regards to its plan to claim bakso as an Indonesian cuisine and to go international with the idea.

The election of Oscar winners is one election where opinion polls are not normally a help. The New York Times did a poll one year of Academy members asking how they voted and it turned out to be very accurate. I remember because I was an internet bookmaker at the time betting on the results and the American early morning risers that Sunday got an advantage over those of us who were slower off the mark. But, to the best of my knowledge, the paper has not gone to the same trouble again so this is an election where we are left to our own devices to predict a result.

The best guide I can offer is what the prediction markets are saying and that is no bad thing. When it comes to politics they tend to do better than the opinion polls anyhow.

So here they are then. The Newsvine election indicators for the Oscars

First it was smokers, now it is children. A Berlin café has excited debate by establishing a no-child section. For a nation with a low birth rate that is trying to encourage its citizens to have more babies, such an anti-child policy is cause for concern.

A RAUNCHY Australian commercial featuring Pamela Anderson has been banned from television following viewer complaints.

Pop diva Whitney Houston has struggled through the opening night of her first Australian tour since 1988, raising questions about the remainder of the concert series.

The 46-year-old actress and singer got through two songs at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Monday night before appearing breathless and exhausted, taking a break and then carrying a towel with her for the next few songs.

She has had the biggest hit of the decade with Hips Don't Lie and sold 50 million albums. When pop's sexiest siren Shakira turned up in Oxford to talk about education, mayhem ensued.

Her 2006 hit Hips Don't Lie has been the biggest-selling single in the world this decade. With a popularity that encompasses the huge Spanish-speaking market as well as the English-speaking world, Shakira has sold more than 50 million albums since she first emerged as a teenage prodigy in 1991.
She is also among the most philanthropically and politically active of pop stars, with a focus on access to education for all. Since the age of 18, she has headed the Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet) Foundation, which has built five schools across Colombia, educating and feeding more than 4,000 children a year. She is a Unicef goodwill ambassador and has chaired the Global Campaign for Education.

FOLK legend Liam Clancy died yesterday after a long battle with a respiratory illness.

The singer and musician, famously described by Bob Dylan as "the best ballad singer I'd ever heard in my life", was the last surviving member of the famous Clancy Brothers.

Mr Clancy (74) died at about midday, surrounded by his wife Kim and daughters Siobhan and Fiona, at the Bons Secours Hospital, Co Cork. He had been suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, the same disease his brother Bobby died of in 2002.

LADY Gaga has revealed her battle with depression which hit her hard while she was in Australia as footage of her stage malfunction surfaces.

The singer talked with OK! UK and discussed her issues with depression when she's on the road.

Perhaps it's really no more than a storm in a wine glass but prominent wine book publisher Mitchell Beazley is getting some off flavours in reviews of the latest edition of "The Juice 2010" written by Matt Skinner, an influential wine writer who oversees wine operations for Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant group around the world. The cause of the criticism is the admission that Mr Skinner has put in tasting notes for wines he had not tasted, because they were not even bottled, when he finished writing. Apparently the publisher put the author under bit of pressure to take this unusual course because, as Hilary Lumsden, Mitchell Beazley commissioning editor, told Decanter.com: "For our first edition, in 2006, the feedback we got was that by the time people went out and bought the book, the wines were already off the shelves, so the book was effectively out of date."
And as for Mr Skinner, in a statement to London's Daily Telegraph, he defended not tasting some of the vintages, arguing that he had tasted previous vintages of the same wine. "It is imperative that I taste all the wines that I recommend," he said. "However there are some releases that are consistent from year to year, and as popular, good value and accessible wines I want to include them because I know that my readers will appreciate them. "In order to do so I include non-specific tasting notes based on the current and previous year's vintage, focusing more on basic flavours and compatibility with food."
The Telegraph gave an example of one of these "non-specific tasting notes" - that for the Vasse Felix Sémillon Sauvignon Blanc from Margaret River, priced at £11.99. It reads: "The palate is fresh as a daisy and punctuated by the kind of lip-smacking acidity that makes this wine almost impossible to put down." Not a bad wrap for an untasted wine.

Big-budget movies need all the help they can get recovering their production and promotional costs at the box office, so advertisements stating that the 3 1/2-hour epic "Shizumanu Taiyo" ("The Sun That Doesn't Set") is a "big hit" should be taken with a grain of salt. First of all, every movie released in Japan is described as a "big hit" in advertisements after it opens, but in the case of this ¥2 billion blockbuster , which stars Ken Watanabe as a man trying to reform an airline, the claims are doubly suspicious because major media outlets haven't been providing the kind of free promotional publicity they provide for other blockbusters.

BRITNEY Spears' concerts look set to be derailed as fans flock to offload tickets to her shows.

Hundreds of tickets to her shows at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena and Sydney's Acer Arena were listed on eBay this week.

The sell-off by fans follows a lip-synch controversy that has dogged the star since she arrived in Australia just a week ago,

Among Tokyo's specialist restaurants, Tempura Uoshin in Nishi-Azabu may not rank in the highest echelons — after just two years in business that might be considered presumptuous. But it certainly has the gravitas and polish you'd expect from the offshoot of Totoya Uoshin, a ryoriya in Akasaka boasting more than 110 years of history, and a Michelin star to go with it.

Forget the office pools. The Oscar award game has gone online, where traders are betting "Slumdog Millionaire" will walk away with the golden statuette next month.

TWO of America's biggest newspapers have slammed Hugh Jackman's selection as Oscar host, saying the Australia star has style and sex appeal, but not enough substance for the top job at the Hollywood's most prestigious awards ceremony.

Critics have questioned Jackman's ability to carry the show, citing his "less than memorable" movie career and a fanbase that is markedly smaller than recent Academy Awards hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Chris Rock.

Andrew Bolt gets angry at what he calls the actor's extraordinary rant this week on The View, a popular women's TV chat show in the US hosted by Barbara Walters and Whoopie Goldberg.

AJAY Rochester, host of the TV reality show The Biggest Loser, has pleaded guilty to welfare fraud charges.

Political correctness is a hydra-headed beast and a hardworking one. It even accounts for a famous change in the words accompanying the opening of the envelopes. Instead of the old "And the winner is" – too invidious, too supremacist – the formula became "And the Oscar goes to". Whether this has softened the blow for losers is debatable.

There are different styles of speeches for different styles of victor. There is the 'Raised in a trailer park' speech (Hilary Swank). The 'I had a dream' speech (Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx). The 'Thank you for making me special' speech (Sally Field). The 'I haven't prepared a speech' speech (Sean Penn). The 'I'm bursting into tears' speech (Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow). The 'It's all a miraculous conspiracy by God, fate, karma, the universe and the life force' speech (Forest Whitaker).

Australian actors Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe have been tipped to star in a movie about missing English toddler Madeleine McCann.

At least two movie studios are believed to be planning dramatisations of the saga surrounding the four-year-old's disappearance from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal in May.

Tommy Makem might have been a life long teetotaller but when he sang of wine and beer and spirits, as his obituary in this week's Economist magazine put it, "no man had more feeling." What better epitaph than these words he sang with his folk singing partners the Clancy Brothers?

When I am in my grave and dead

And all my sorrows are past and fled

Transport me then into a fish

And let me swim in a jug of this.

Being chosen as the subject for The Economist's weekly obituary is a tribute in itself. From all the world's deaths in a week but one is chosen for what is always one of the most beautifully written pieces of journalism; certainly better words than I am capable of. Tommy Makem, who found a new audience in his last years through the wonderful Scorsese biography of Bob Dylan now on DVD and recently seen on SBS television in Australia, deserved all of the magazine's words of tribute but let me quote but a few of them:

'Tommy Makem picked up those legends too and, in 1955, took them to America, together with his bagpipes and a suitcase patched up with tape.

'He meant to work in a cotton mill and do a bit of acting, but one St Patrick's night he was paid $30 for singing two songs in a club: "and I thought, by God, this is the land all right. Gold growing in the streets." 'By 1958 he had teamed up with his friend Liam Clancy and Liam's brothers Paddy and Tom, who had come from Tipperary to America before him, and the gold continued to accrue. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, all kitted out in Aran sweaters knitted by Mrs Clancy, triumphantly rode the wave of a folk revival that was turning Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie into stars.'

As a wine lover, the words of his song "CRUISCIN LAN" have always appealed to me as a third or fourth bottle brings on a little melancholia

Let the farmer praise his grounds, let the hunter praise his hounds,

Let the shepherd praise his sweetly scented lawn;

But I, more blest than they, spend each happy night and day

With my darlin' little cruiscin lan, lan, lan

Oh, my darlin little cruiscin lan.

.

Chorus:

Gra-ma-chree ma-cruiscin, slainte geal mavoorneen

Gra-machree ma cruiscin lan lan lan,

Oh! gramachree ma cruiscan lan

Immortal and divine, great Bacchus, god of wine

Create me by adoption your own son.

In hopes that you'll comply, That my glass shall ne'er run dry

Nor my darlin' little cruiscan lan lan lan

My darlin' little cruiscan lan

And when cruel Death appears, in a few but happy years,

To tell me that my glass has run,

I'll say, "Begone, you knave! For great Bacchus gave me leave

To take another cruiscan lan lan lan

To take another cruiscan lan lan lan

But melancholy was hard to maintain when Tommy and the Clancys sang even about death as in "Isn't it grand to be bloody well dead."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJskIx7Xxw

Let's not have a sniffle

Let's have a bloody good cry

And always remember

The longer you live

The sooner you bloody well die

We should all drink to that!

Now the celebrity wine business really is getting serious! Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly buying a vineyard.

The property that is said to have caught their eye is Chateau Val-Joanis, a winery in the south of France located in the Luberon, east of Avignon and north of Aix-en-Provence on the site of an ancient Roman villa. There is a functioning, if rather ugly, winery but also a very pretty garden.

"So, lemme try a glass of that wine."
Sheff pours the wine. Nicholson walks away. Stops. Takes a sip of it. Stands for a moment and turns back to Sheff.
"Listen kid," he begins. "I don't wanna tell you how to do your job or anything, but this is the pussyest glass of wine I ever had."

The Wall Street Journal called it the Dow Jones Paparazzi Wines Index and gave the award for the Best Wine by a Living Actress to the Italian Bracco Pinot Grigio delle Venezie 2004 with the Bracco being Lorraine Bracco who played Tony Soprano's psychiatrist in the just ended US series.

The wine is one of eight in the Bracco Wines range with her dream being to "have a fabulous rose" in her portfolio. Ms Bracco told the WSJ she has loved wine since she moved to France as a teenager and lived there for 10 years. With all of the offers for her to endorse this product or that, she jumped at the chance when her business manager and an associate of his brought to her the idea of launching a line of wines.

"I loved the fact that I would own the business and I loved the fact that it was something that I loved to do," she told us. "I love to eat and drink." So with her importer, she visits wineries in Italy and tastes and chooses the wines that will bear her name, she says.

Jazz superstar Diana Krall clearly has a taste for Australia. Among the list of wines she deems suitable for her dressing room while on tour are some D'Arenberg shirazes – The Laughing Magpie, The Footbolt and The Galvo Garage – along with selections from Rosemount, Majella, Henry's Drive and Parson's Flat.

Ms Krall, now becoming a bigger star than her husband Elvis Costello, expects a bottle of red and six glasses to be ready every night she performs. The Smoking Gun, a website that specializes in finding and publishing celebrity documents, has just posted the Krall wine list and other instructions to her promoters.

Tom Cruise is an actor and a member of the Scientology sect. In his capacity as an actor, he has already requested permission to film in Berlin several times before. And he has repeatedly been turned down. It's all become such a routine that it's almost farcical.

Three years ago, Wolfgang Thierse, the then-president of Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, denied Cruise permission to film the dome of the historic Reichstag building, where the star wanted to shoot a scene for his action thriller "Mission: Impossible III." In the end, Cruise and his film crew left Berlin for Prague.

Now he wants to shoot another film in the German capital: "Valkyrie," in which he is to play the role of Hitler's would-be assassin Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. Part of the film, which is named after the code name Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators gave their 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler, is to be shot in historic locations such as the Bendlerblock, where the plot was hatched, and where Stauffenberg and others were executed following its failure. The building now houses some government departments, as well as the German Resistance Memorial Center.

But once again the answer to Cruise's request is a big "No." And the main reason is that when decision-makers in Berlin look at Cruise all they see is a Scientology member.

The critics were struggling to contain their excitement last night, ahead of the first British screening of the 21st Bond film, Casino Royale. And when they came out of the showing, they were thrilled.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents leading film studios, has teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America in Los Angeles to teach respect for copyright.