Rock star Bryan Ferry and his wife are divorcing but remain “on extremely good terms”, his publicist has said.
The 68-year-old singer and former PR woman Amanda Sheppard, 31, who married in a private ceremony on the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2011, were granted a decree nisi at London’s High Court. They now have to wait for a decree absolute to formally end the marriage in the coming weeks.
This was the second marriage for the former Roxy Music frontman. He was previously married to Lucy Helmore, with whom he has four children, for 21 years. Ferry also counts former model Jerry Hall as one of his ex-girlfriends. (PA)
Nude protest at Louvre
The Louvre has always showcased nudes – but never quite like this.
Police in Paris said they arrested six women on Saturday for baring their breasts and more outside the pyramid-shaped entrance to the museum in front of dumbstruck, applauding tourists. They were released after identity checks.
Protest organiser Safia Lebdi said the demonstration was connected to International Women’s Day.
She said the women waved flags of Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Iran to highlight the many legal and cultural restrictions imposed on women in the Muslim world. (AP)
Thousands of bees attack woman
A 71-year-old woman is believed to have suffered about 1,000 stings in California after being attacked by a swarm of killer bees that covered her entire body.
Fire Battalion Chief Mark Williams said yesterday the woman was expected to recover after Thursday’s attack in Palm Desert. He said five firefighters were also treated in hospital for stings.
Lance Davis, a bee removal specialist said up to 80,000 Africanised honey bees that were in an underground electrical vault stung a Verizon employee who opened it. He said the bees then attacked the woman, who had just got out of a car nearby. Her relatives tossed a blanket over her and rushed her indoors. (AP)
Online dentistry course launched
A free online course in dentistry has been set up by one the UK’s leading universities in a bid to encourage teenagers to think about studying for a degree in the subject.
Sheffield University, which is running the course, said that young people learn little about dentistry at school and the aim is to give pupils more information about the profession to help them decide whether to study it and to prepare for studying it at university.
The six-week programme, one of a new breed of courses known as “massive open online courses” (MOOC), is running on the FutureLearn website. (PA)
Gotham road sign is stolen
A thief who stole a road sign at the entrance to the Nottinghamshire village of Gotham may have done so because it shares a name with Batman’s home city, it is reported.
The theft of the sign, which has a white reflective background and bold black writing saying Gotham, is being investigated by police, the Nottingham Post said.
Police community support officer Anthony Davies said: “It is of little scrap metal value, so it may be more to do with a prank, particularly given the name on it. But it is not a prank because it is going to cost Nottinghamshire County Council money to replace it, so I would ask anyone who knows where the sign is to let us know.” (PA)