People
Derek Draper back to rescue Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown appears to be grasping at any old straw that comes his way. Derek Draper (pictured), the former (and disgraced) lobbyist, has been enlisted to help out with PR for the Labour Party as it struggles with falling popularity and debts of £20m. Students of New... [continued]
Stephen Hawking to leave Cambridge?
As The First Post reported recently, Stephen Hawking (pictured here defying gravity), the world renowned physicist, has been entertaining the idea of leaving
Britain, or more particularly Cambridge University, where he is Lucian Professor of Mathematics. It now appears this plan is firming up. Today’s Daily Telegraph... [continued]
Venerable physicist leaves UK 
Kate Summerscale wins literary prize for real life Victorian thriller
Kate Summerscale (pictured between Rosie Boycott, right, and Kirsty Wark), a former literary editor of the Daily Telegraph, has won the prestigious £30,000 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction for her book The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or the Murder at Road Hill, beating Patrick French’s recent... [continued]
Bjorn from Abba loses his memory
Bjorn Ulvaeus (pictured), one part of the group Abba, has revealed that he is suffering from long-term memory loss and cannot remember anything about the band’s first brush with fame, not even their breakthrough triumph at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Waterloo. Ulvaeus, 58,... [continued]
Moscow Mayor’s wife pays £50m for house
The richest women in Russia, Elena Baturina (pictured), has spent £50m on a London property – a house called Wittanhurst in Highgate, which in size is second only to Buckingham Palace and was recently used as the setting for the BBC talent show, Fame Academy. Baturina, whose husband Yuri Luzhkov... [continued]
In brief: Gilliam says calls for Oscar for Heath Ledger are “bullshit”
Terry Gilliam, the film director, has derided the hype surrounding Heath Ledger’s (pictured) appearance as the Joker in the new Batman movie, The Dark Night, which has resulted in calls for Ledger to be given a posthumous Oscar. Gilliam believes it is nothing more than a cynical publicity stunt whipped... [continued]
Spector faces new witness in murder trial
Phil Spector (pictured), the legendary music producer, is facing a second legal battle over his alleged murder of Lana Clarkson, the struggling B-movie
actress who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the mouth at his Los Angeles home in February 2003. The first trial, held last year, ended... [continued]
Spector looks for new defence team for retrial
