Actor Corin Redgrave has died at the age of 70, his family said yesterday. Mr Redgrave is the son of Sir Michael and brother of actress Vanessa and Lynn and Uncle of the late Natasha Richardson.
Mr Redgrave was also known for his political activism and was part of a 2004 bid to impeach Tony Blair over the invasion of Iraq. (PA)
Vampire conference
A British university is to hold a conference on Vampires in an effort to counterbalance the "Americanisation" of the fictional genre.
Delegates to the University of Hertfordshire's "Open Graves, Open Minds: Vampires and the Undead in Modern Culture" conference to be held on April 16-17 will have their food served to them out of coffins as part of a mission to encourage students of all ages to study literature.
English lecturer Sam George, who has just launched a Master of Arts degree in vampire fiction at Hertfordshire, said the most famous vampire narrative of all, Dracula, was written by Irishman Bram Stoker and set in London and Whitby in Yorkshire, but that now with the "Twilight" saga and "True Blood," modern vampires have become Americanised.
"It's amazing how many British actors have played Dracula on screen," Mr George said in a statement on the university's website. "I aim to put the British vampire back on the map." (Reuters)
Lottery winner jailed over child porn
A child sex offender who won a £50,000 National Lottery jackpot was jailed yesterday after detectives told how he was at the centre of a paedophile ring which distributed indecent images of children.
Carl Gardner, 30, from Norwich, was given a prison sentence of three years and four months by Judge Simon Barham after admitting possessing and making indecent images of children, plus possessing "extreme" adult porno-graphy.
The judge also made an order banning Mr Gardner from working with children, having children at his home and from possessing a computer or mobile phone.
Police said Mr Gardner - who had previous convictions for possessing child pornography - won his lottery prize three years ago and investigators suspect that he used some of the cash to buy mobile phones and computer equipment. (PA)
Paedophiles caught red-handed
A French documentary sparked a media ethics controversy yesterday after journalists handed over the names of 22 suspected paedophiles to police in Canada and France.
The film is to be broadcast on state-run France 2 television today as part of a series called The Infiltrators, which has often resorted to using hidden cameras to expose wrong-doers.
Reporters from the Capa agency used the internet to get in touch with people in France and Canada who allegedly professed an interest in child pornography or having sex with children.
The reporters, whose investigation took almost a year, either pretended to be children surfing the web or prospective buyers of child porn. (AFP)
Man who urinated near war memorial sentenced
A man was ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work yesterday after admitting splashing the steps of a war memorial when he urinated behind it in the UK.
Ian Marshall, 49, was told he had acted in a "moment of madness" after stopping to urinate behind the Leeds memorial following a night out drinking with colleagues. Leeds Magistrates' Court was told Mr Marshall did not deliberately desecrate the Otley Road memorial in November last year and his urine did not make contact with any of the plaques or wreathes. (PA)
Boy to climb Everest
Californian Jordan Romero will attempt the ascent to 29,035 feet with his father an experienced climber who has helped train his son for top-level mountaineering.
When Jordan was only nine, a school mural of the world's highest seven summits inspired him to want to climb them all.
"I told my dad about it and he didn't say no. He just explained the difficulties and what I'd have to do. We started training right away," said Jordan, who flew to Nepal last night.
At age 10, he became the youngest American to summit Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. He has since checked off four of the tallest peaks, including Alaska's Mount McKinley, which many climbers consider to be a more technical climb than Everest. (PA)
Student thanks 'life-saving' teacher
A student praised her teacher yesterday for possibly saving her life after the biology lecturer spotted she was suffering from potentially fatal blood clots.
Billie-Jo Twigg had been suffering from pains and swelling in her leg and assumed it was a sprained muscle. But when the 19-year-old mentioned it to Caroline Morgan, her teacher at Portsmouth College, she was advised to see a doctor as soon as possible.
Doctors then found the teenager was suffering from three blood clots which, if left untreated, could have killed her if they had shifted to her brain or heart. (PA)