Liam Neeson returned to the stage where it all began yesterday as he was granted the freedom of Ballymena.
The Hollywood star of blockbusters such as Schindler’s List and Michael Collins started out in his Irish home town performing pantomimes with the Slemish Players. Yesterday, he returned to receive the borough’s highest honour as Mayor PJ McAvoy told the former Star Wars actor: “May the force be with you.”
Ballymena Borough Council in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, rolled out the red carpet amid pomp and ceremony as Neeson towered over most of the councillors who bestowed the honour.
He began his career in Belfast’s Lyric Theatre and then joined the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, later moving to London before going on to Hollywood. Neeson was also a keen boxer as a youth. (AP)
Fat transfer injections more popular
Fat injections have become more popular than liposuction, new figures show.
The number of women who are transferring fat from one part of the body, such as the hips or thighs, to areas that have lost plumpness through age, including the face or hands, has increased by 13 per cent in just one year. Meanwhile, the number of women who had lipo has reduced by 14 per cent, according to data from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
A total of 2,641 women had a “fat transfer” procedure last year, making it the seventh most popular cosmetic surgery conducted by British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons members. (PA)
Guy Fawkes descendant in UKIP
The UK Independence Party hailed the recruitment of a man with family connections to Guy Fawkes, with leader Nigel Farage saying it showed “the blood of rebellion still runs in his veins”.
Mr Farage said retired headteacher Philip Fawkes was the “10 times grea-grandson” of the leader of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and the party speculated that he might one day get to the Commons by legitimate means.
A spokeswoman said that in fact he was not directly descended but shared a common ancestor in the Catholic plotter’s 15 century great-great-grandfather. (AP)
Absent-minded father forgets son
A New York man left his one-year-old son in his car for eight hours after forgetting he was in the back seat.
Police in the Albany suburb of Colonie said the man forgot to drop off his son and left the child strapped in the back seat of the car when he parked outside his office.
Officials say the man didn’t realise his mistake until he returned to the car around 4pm. He called for an ambulance and the boy was checked at a hospital and released. Police say the baby did not suffer any injuries despite cold temperatures. (PA)
Fendi funds restoration of Trevi fountain
The Fendi fashion house is paying for a €2.18 million restoration of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, famed as a setting where dreamers leave their coins.
The 20-month project on one of the city’s most famous features was unveiled at a press conference featuring Fendi designers Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi, who said the project combined a love of Rome’s past with a need to preserve its future.
Rome’s fountains, Lagerfeld said, “are there to glorify water, which is the most important thing in life”. (AP)