Hollywood star Michael Madsen has been arrested after a fight with his teenage son.
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s statement said the Kill Bill actor was arrested on Friday afternoon at his home in Malibu, California, after police were called about a family disturbance.
Detectives from the Special Victims Bureau are investigating allegations that Madsen was under the influence of alcohol and fought with his son, who did not need medical attention.
Madsen, 54, is best known for the Quentin Tarantino films Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill. (PA)
Egypt’s first free elections
Egypt officially started the run-up to its first free presidential elections yesterday, with the door opening for candidates to submit their applications.
Politicians from the era of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, ex-military officers, and moderate and hardline Islamists are expected to become the frontrunners in a vote that is scheduled to start on May 23.
The opening of the window for applications yesterday follows decades of authoritarian rule, with all the country’s former presidents elevated from the ranks of the military and usually approved by referendum. (PA)
At least six dead in Pakistan
At least six people were killed yesterday in a day-long gun battle between militants and government troops in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region, officials said.
The fighting took place as Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunships, carried out a search operation around the town of Bara in the lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan.
“At least two paramilitary soldiers were martyred and four civilians were killed in the day-long gunfight,” Khyber’s deputy administration chief Syed Ahmed Jan told AFP.
He added that seven militants had been killed in the fighting. (AFP)
Pain ‘a karmic price’ for fame
Bee Gees star Robin Gibb believes his battle with cancer and the death of two of his brothers could be a form of payback for the global fame and fortune his family has enjoyed.
The singer, 69, said he could be paying a “karmic price” for the success of the hit group after being diagnosed with colon and liver cancer.
His twin brother Maurice died of exactly the same disease in 2003, while his younger sibling Andy, who was also a pop star, died in 1988 at the age of 30.
Speaking to The Sun he said: “I sometimes wonder if all the tragedies my family has suffered, like Andy and Maurice dying so young and everything that’s happened to me recently, is a kind of karmic price we are paying for all the fame and fortune we’ve had. But we’ve worked hard for everything we’ve achieved.”
The Stayin’ Alive star, who is currently in remission after collapsing with the illness in 2010, insisted he has never been at “death’s door” but said the disease had convinced him to make the most of the time he has left. (PA)
Catholics grow by 15 million
The number of professed Catholics in the world has grown by 15 million, thanks to increases in Africa and Asia, the Vatican said yesterday, unveiling the latest edition of its yearbook.
Giving figures for 2010, the Vatican said the faithful now totalled 1.196 billion, keeping pace with world population growth, but numbers had fallen off in Europe and Latin America. The greatest proportion of Catholics was still in Latin America at 28.34 per cent, down from 28.54 per cent in 2009, followed by Europe with 23.83 per cent against 24.05.
The Church gained ground in Africa, where its congregations rose from 15.15 to 15.55 per cent and in southeast Asia, up from 10.41 to 10.87 per cent. (AFP)