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Charlize Theron: Just Call Me "Ass-Nuts"

Don't be surprised if people start referring to Charlize Theron as Ass-Nuts.

The Oscar winner revealed at last night's Hollywood Film Awards that Breakthrough Actor honoree Jeremy Renner bestowed her with the nickname during the making of their 2005 drama, North Country.

Theron and Renner along with the rest of the cast went out for some drinks and…

"I can't tell you what transpired, but lemme just say I found a friend for life in Jeremy, and he has ever since then referred to me as…Ass-Nuts," Theron said. "I wish that was a joke, but it's true!"

While last night's annual fete attracted some major Hollywood players like Theron, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Julianne Moore and Diane Kruger, there were plenty of new faces you'll be seeing a lot of come awards season.

Gabourey Sidibe, who stars as a horrifically abused teen in indie favorite Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, said things weren't always depressing on set. She even did some dueting with costar Mariah Carey.

IOC’s battle with London’s Mayor

According to reports from bbc.co.uk, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is preparing to do battle with London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson. Reports say that Johnson was angered, by plans to build a £40 million temporary venue, near to the O2 Arena.

Apparently, the London Mayor wants the plans scrapped and is now trying to push other plans, which could mean more traveling for some of the competitors. The IOC president Jacques Rogge says he has the right to veto plans, if they go too far from the pledges.

But London can’t change the venue plans at all, even if they do get the approval of 2012 Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and the British Olympic Association. At the end of the day, the IOC are the ones that get the final say in the matter.read more

UK help on Pakistan security body

Britain is helping to set up a national security authority in Pakistan to combat terrorism and

promote political stability, the BBC has learned.

It will be modelled on terrorism units run by the Home Office and MI5.

Many analysts fear the battle with the Taliban in Pakistan could reach the scale of the conflict in Afghanistan.

British intelligence has estimated that almost three quarters of terrorist attacks in Britain have their origins in Pakistan.

According to the BBC's Richard Watson, senior British and Pakistani counter-terrorism sources have said British training and funding will be made available to the new authority.

Initially 200 experts will be employed in Pakistan, covering extremism and religious affairs.

There will be a new counter-terrorism strategy within six months, and research projects will be launched.

One of these will examine the alleged role in religious schools and radicalisation.

Critics of the plan suggest Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, could block progress, because it will remain in charge of terrorist investigations, although Pakistani sources insist the ISI is fully on board, our correspondent added.

The Home Office declined to comment on funding, but said it strongly supported the move.
Thanks to:news.bbc.co.uk

We can turn it round, says Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the BBC he can still "turn it round" to win an historic fourth term for Labour.

He denied that the Sun newspaper switch to backing the Tories had derailed his last conference before an election.

A YouGov poll for Sky News put Labour on 30%, compared with the Tories' 37% and Lib Dems' 21%, suggesting a boost from Mr Brown's speech on Tuesday.

Mr Brown has sought to present Labour as the "underdogs" at a conference the party has dubbed "operation fightback".

He also unveiled a string of new policies - including more free childcare for poor families paid for by ending tax breaks for the better-off and a crackdown on anti-social behaviour - in an attempt to convince voters Labour has not run out of ideas.

Afghanistan

A YouGov daily tracker poll for Sky News suggested Labour was on 30%, compared with 37% for the Tories. The Lib Dems were on 21% according to the research, which was carried out on Monday and Tuesday. read more

Maps chart UK's ageing population

West Somerset has the highest average age in the UK at 52, with almost three-in-10 people there aged over 65, a population survey has revealed.

It is expected to rise to 56 by 2018 as people continue to retire to the coast.

North Norfolk comes next at almost 51, followed by Rother, Christchurch and East Dorset on the south coast, the Office of National Statistics says.

The ONS has launched a mapping tool to chart UK age patterns, coinciding with this year's Older People's Day. read more

UK broadband 'not fit' for future

A global study of broadband puts the UK 25th out of 66 countries in terms of the quality of its broadband networks.

The research, conducted on behalf of Cisco, set out to offer a comprehensive view of the state of global broadband.

It also found that countries such as Latvia and Bulgaria were better prepared than the UK for next-generation net applications.

Korea and Japan continue to dominate the league table, largely due to their commitment to fast networks.

In Korea, for example, the government has promised universal speeds of up to 1Gbps (gigabit per second) by 2012.

Despite not being ready for future applications, the UK was well placed to cope with today's network demands, the study found. read more

Parents to get discipline warning

Measures to improve behaviour in schools and tackle bullying are due to be announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls at the Labour Party conference.

Parents in England will be given a leaflet warning they are responsible for their children's behaviour.

"Parents want their children to go to an orderly school with a strong head teacher who won't tolerate bullying or disruptive behaviour," he will say.

His speech follows Gordon Brown's pledge to reduce anti-social behaviour.

Mr Balls is set to emphasise the importance of discipline in schools - and the rights and responsibilities of pupils, parents and teachers.

Powers
read more

New laws to ban child sunbed use

Children would be banned from using sunbeds in Wales under new laws to be proposed by the assembly government.

Unstaffed sunbed salons will also be banned under regulations planned by Wales' Health Minister Edwina Hart.

It follows the case of a 10-year-old girl from Port Talbot who suffered burns after spending 16 minutes on an sunbed at an unsupervised salon.

But the sunbed industry has resisted calls for further regulations to control salons.

Ms Hart is expected to tell the assembly health committee the issue of unstaffed sunbed salons in Wales is a public health problem.

She said all ways to introduce new legislation were being considered including a request to Westminster to draft laws controlling the salons. read more

Final shifts at aluminium plant

An aluminium smelting plant which opened almost 40 years ago is closing later with the loss of 390 jobs.

Anglesey Aluminium, on the outskirts of Holyhead, has been the largest employer in north Wales.

Joint owners Rio Tinto Group and Kaiser Aluminium decided to close after failing to secure a discounted energy deal, but they rejected £48m in aid.

A Unite union representative has said work prospects for those losing their jobs were "very bleak".

The company announced in August that it would cease smelting work, where the raw materials are heated up to create aluminium, at the plant. read more

Scottish Sun not backing Tories

The editor of the Scottish Sun has said he is "yet to be convinced" that the Tories are the best

party for Scotland.

In England and Wales, the popular tabloid newspaper has signalled a shift in support from Labour, which it has backed since 1997, to the Tories.

Scottish Sun editor David Dinsmore said he shared their disappointment with the performance of the UK government.

But he said Tory leader David Cameron needed to show more evidence of his commitment to Scotland.

Mr Dinsmore said: "The big question is, 'what is David Cameron going to do for Scotland?'.
read more

Tram bill could escalate to £750m

The final cost of Edinburgh's tram project could reach £750m - £250m more than originally planned, according to a senior MSP.

SNP MSP Shirley Anne Somerville also said sources close to the project said trams may not start running until 2013, two years later than expected.

She called on project manager Tie to release latest cost figures.

Edinburgh City Council leader, Jenny Dawe said Ms Somerville was "purely scaremongering".

The project's cost was originally estimated at £498m.read more

Legal bid for £15k owed to woman

A South African woman who lives in Carrickfergus is taking immigration officials to court for a second time.

Lark Mbebe, 33, won a judicial review which allowed her to stay in Northern Ireland despite officials arguing she was living here illegally.

Ms Mbebe wants to be paid £15,000 in compensation which was awarded by a judge almost a year ago.

She said her action was more about being able to freely leave and return to Northern Ireland without hassle.

"It really wasn't about money - it was about being able to do what I want to do," she said.

"I want to travel out of the country and return.

"The cheque really isn't going to make any difference if every time I leave I still get hassled."
read more

Assembly MLAs' expenses revealed

For the first time, the assembly has broken down its members' expenses claims into broad categories such as travel or office costs.

Previously, only the amount claimed by members was revealed but this year much more detail has been provided.

In the last financial year the highest claimant was the SDLP's Pat Ramsey.

His claim included rent, rates, phone and utility bills, £95 for office paintings and more than £4,000 for assistance from the party press office. read more

Searches resume after bomb scare

Police are to resume searches of a north Antrim community centre after a bomb scare forced the cancellation of a District Policing Partnership meeting.

A telephoned bomb warning was received at 1815 BST on Tuesday, 45 minutes before the meeting was due to begin in the village of Mosside.

Nearby homes were evacuated and a controlled explosion was carried out. Residents were later allowed to return.

Moyle DPP chairman Oliver McMullan of Sinn Fein said he was disappointed.

"I have been looking forward to giving the people of Mosside the opportunity to engage with the DPP at a public meeting for the first time," he said.

"This would have allowed the community to feed their concerns and opinions into the Area Policing Plan, as other local communities have done before.

"We will not be deterred by the actions of those who have no support or mandate and will rearrange the meeting at the earliest opportunity."

Up to 14 homes were evacuated at one stage, and some residents took shelter in a church hall.

District Policing Partnership meetings have been often disrupted in the past. Last week, dissident republicans forced their way into a meeting in a Londonderry hotel, blowing whistles and throwing stink bombs.

The partnerships were set up in 2002 under reforms resulting from the Patten Report.

The partnerships fall under the auspices of the Policing Board, which holds the PSNI as a whole to account.

They are made up of councillors and members of the local community, who work alongside police District Command Units in trying to meet policing needs.
Thanks to:news.bbc.co.uk

Electric fence in vandalised road

A man has erected an electric fence around his home after a series of vandal attacks in his street.

Ralph Harvey, from Saltash, said he had installed the fence after his home was burgled twice and car tyres were slashed six times in nine months.

Residents said an unlit alley was giving vandals cover to cause damage.

Police said residents' quality of life had been affected. They said they were working with residents and Cornwall Council to deal with the situation.

Residents in the street said they had suffered antisocial behaviour, including rocks being thrown at their homes, but said they were too scared to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Ralph Harvey said he had also had bricks and concrete thrown at his windows and was having to turn his house into a prison. read more

Police warn girls on hiding guns

The Metropolitan Police are launching a campaign warning young women not to hide guns for

their boyfriends, brothers or male friends.

The campaign is aimed at the growing number of teenage girls in London who, the Met says, are being persuaded to store weapons for male gang members.

Police will be targeting girls aged between 15 and 19.

People caught hiding a gun for someone else can expect to receive a five-year prison sentence.

Despite this, police say, an increasing number of women are concealing firearms for partners and male friends involved in gangs.

The number of women charged with firearms offences in London has increased six-fold in the past year - 12 women have been charged since January, with over half of them teenagers.

Gun possession makes up the vast majority of these crimes, prompting the Met to launch the campaign aimed specifically at black teenage girls.

Officers will visit nail salons and hairdressers with the message that women carrying or storing firearms will face the same sentences as men.

Police in Manchester and Birmingham say they are also dealing with these sorts of cases, but not in enough numbers to warrant a specific campaign.
Thank to:news.bbc.co.uk

Cancer jab 'unlikely' death cause

A girl who died shortly after being given a cervical cancer vaccine had a "serious underlying medical condition", an NHS Trust has said.

NHS Coventry said the vaccination was "most unlikely to have caused the death" of Natalie Morton, 14.

She was given the Cervarix jab at Coventry's Blue Coat School on Monday and fell ill a few hours later.

Earlier the government said a national cervical cancer immunisation programme should continue.

Dr Caron Grainger, joint director of public health for NHS Coventry and Coventry City Council, said the results of a preliminary post-mortem examination had "revealed a serious underlying medical condition which was likely to have caused death".

"We are awaiting further test results which will take some time," she said. "However indications are that it was most unlikely that the HPV vaccination was the cause of death."

The injection - part of a national immunisation programme - protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease linked to most cervical cancers. read more

Brown loses Sun newspaper backing

Gordon Brown's hopes of reviving Labour's fortunes suffered a setback after the Sun newspaper backed the Conservatives to win the next election.

The paper on Wednesday says "after 12 long years in power, Labour has lost its way and now it has lost us too".

Home Secretary Alan Johnson responded by saying it was "electors that decide elections not newspapers".

The Sun's declaration came hours after Mr Brown's party conference speech insisted Labour was "not done yet". read more

Expenses mole angry over Army kit

The expenses scandal began because the mole who caused the leak was angry about inadequate equipment for the armed forces, the Daily Telegraph said.

The newspaper says staff who worked in secrecy on MPs' receipts were guarded by servicemen on leave between tours.

They became angry after seeing MPs' lavish claims when soldiers had poor equipment, prompting a civil servant to leak the story, the paper says.

But Gordon Brown said he did not understand the motivation for the leak.

The unidentified mole is quoted as saying the soldiers' accounts of their poor equipment prompted him to leak the information.

According to the Telegraph, he claims that many of the service personnel were moonlighting so they could buy better kit.

Tipping point

The paper quotes the mole as saying: "It's not easy to watch footage on the television news of a coffin draped in a Union Jack and then come in to work the next day and see on your computer screen what MPs are taking for themselves."

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said their "top priority is to provide the best equipment for our people in Afghanistan". read more