ALAN RICKMAN, HARRY POTTER AND DIE HARD ACTOR, DIES AGED 69

Actor Alan Rickman, known for films including Harry Potter, Die Hard, Truly Madly Deeply and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, has died at the age of 69.
The star was suffering from cancer, his family said.
He became one of Britain's best-loved acting stars thanks to roles including Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films and Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
He also won a Bafta Award for playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

A family statement said: "The actor and director Alan Rickman has died from cancer at the age of 69. He was surrounded by family and friends."Harry Potter actor James Phelps, who played Fred Weasley, said on Twitter he was "shocked and sad" to hear the news. He wrote: "One of the nicest actors I've ever met. Thoughts and prayers with his family at this time."
His twin brother Oliver Phelps, who played George Weasley, added: "Terribly sad news about the passing of Alan Rickman. A funny and engaging person who put a shy young actor at ease when I was on HP."
TV star and Bafta ceremony host Stephen Fry wrote: "What desperately sad news about Alan Rickman. A man of such talent, wicked charm and stunning screen and stage presence. He'll be sorely missed."
Actor David Morrissey also paid tribute. He said: "So sad to hear the news of Alan Rickman. A wonderful actor and lovely man. Tragic news."The London-born star began his career in theatre, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company, before winning roles in TV dramas like Smiley's People and The Barchester Chronicles in the 1980s.
He became best known for playing screen villains - including the role of Judge Turpin opposite Johnny Depp in 2007's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as well as the likes of Hans Gruber and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
But he showed his gentler side in films like 1990's Truly Madly Deeply, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and Love Actually in 2003.
He earned Bafta nominations for his roles in Truly Madly Deeply, in which he played Juliet Stevenson's ghost lover, and for playing Colonel Brandon alongside Kate Winslet in Sense and Sensibility.
He got another Bafta nomination for portraying the calculating Eamon de Valera in 1996's Michael Collins.
The following year, he won a Golden Globe for best actor in a miniseries or television film for the title role in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.

GRAMMYS: TAYLOR SWIFT WINS ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Taylor Swift's 1989 has won the coveted album of the year award at this year's Grammys in Los Angeles.
The singer - who is the first woman to win the award twice - also won best pop vocal album and best music video for her track Bad Blood.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar won the most prizes on the night with five awards.
British singer Ed Sheeran also won his first two Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance for his number one hit Thinking Out Loud.

EAGLES GUITARIST GLENN FREY, 67, DIES

Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey has died at the age of 67, the band has announced.
He died in New York City on Monday from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia.
"Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us," his family and fellow band members said.
The Eagles were one of the most successful bands of the 1970s, with multiple hit singles, including Hotel California in 1976.

Frey co-founded the Eagles in 1971 with Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.He co-wrote Hotel California with Henley, and composed a number of the band's biggest songs on his own, including Heartache Tonight and Lyin' Eyes.
The Eagles notched up more than 150 million album sales worldwide, with Hotel California and their greatest hits among the best selling in history.

CALAIS 'JUNGLE': COURT TO RULE ON MIGRANTS FACING EVICTION

Thousands of migrants in the "Jungle" camp in the French port city of Calais face eviction unless a last-ditch judicial bid goes in their favour.
They have until 20:00 (19:00 GMT) to move their makeshift homes in the southern half of the camp - or face bulldozers coming to clear them.
A court in Lille will rule on a challenge by charities to the eviction.
Charities say the migrants are being evicted in mid-winter with no adequate alternative accommodation provided.

French and British officials want to reduce the number of migrants in Calais and deter others from heading there in the hope of reaching the UK.
Conditions in the camp are squalid and its sprawling presence has become a controversial issue in both France and the UK.
The judge ruling in the Lille case was due to visit the camp on Tuesday morning.The southern side of the camp, says the BBC's Thomas Fessy, constitutes the cultural and commercial heart of the camp, with makeshift communal facilities such as a centre for teenagers.
French local officials and migrant lobby groups have different estimates of the number of people who would be affected if it is cleared.
The officials say the figure is between 800 and 1,000, while Help Refugees carried out its own "census" which it says revealed 3,455 residents in that zone.
The activist group says hundreds of unaccompanied children will also be affected.
"Our concerns remain with welfare of the unaccompanied minors," Help Refugees says.
"We have had no assurances from the French authorities that they will conduct assessments to determine best interests of these children and ensure proper safeguarding is in place before removing them from the camp and the communities they know and trust."
But Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the eviction would be done "progressively, by persuasion and with respect for people's dignity".Evicted residents face a choice, either to move into refitted shipping containers set up in the camp, or move to a migrant accommodation centre elsewhere in France.
Some migrants have baulked at moving into the shipping containers, saying they are unfit for purpose. Help Refugees says there are only 300 spaces left in the containers.
Leaving Calais is also a difficult decision for migrants set on reaching the UK, where many have relatives.

'TEN MILLION WITHOUT WATER' IN DELHI

More than 10 million people in India's capital are without water despite the army regaining control of its key water source after protests, officials say.
Keshav Chandra, head of Delhi's water board, told the BBC it would take "three to four days" before normal supplies resumed to affected areas.
Jat community protesters demanding more government jobs seized the Munak canal, the city's main water source on Friday.
Sixteen people have been killed and hundreds hurt in three days of riots.

CANADIAN SERIAL KILLER BOOK PULLED FROM AMAZON

A memoir apparently written by a Canadian serial killer has been withdrawn within hours of appearing for sale online.
Former multi-millionaire pig farmer Robert Pickton was convicted in 2007 of murdering six women. Charges relating to 20 other deaths were suspended.
Another inmate helped him smuggle the book out of prison, CTV reported.
The publisher requested its removal from retailer Amazon and apologised to victims' families, reports said.

Officials in British Columbia had earlier vowed to prevent Pickton, who says he is innocent, from profiting from sales of the memoir, entitled Pickton: In His Own Words.
"It is not right that a person who caused so much harm and hurt so many people could profit from his behaviour," said the province's Minister for Public Safety, Mike Morris, in a statement.
British Columbian officials also asked Amazon to stop selling the memoir, which was published by Colorado-based Outskirts Press, a firm that specialises in helping authors self-publish books.
Amazon users had also called for it to be removed and gave it the lowest possible rating. The company has not yet commented on the book's appearance on its site.

AUSTRALIA TOWN CONSUMED BY 'HAIRY PANIC'

A fast-growing tumbleweed called "hairy panic" is clogging up homes in a small Australian town.
Extremely dry conditions mean the weeds pile up each day outside a row of homes at Wangaratta, in Victoria's northeast.
Frustrated residents are forced to clear out the weeds for several hours every day, with piles of hairy panic at times reaching roof height.
A nearby farmer is being blamed for failing to tend to his paddock.
"It's physically draining and mentally more draining," resident Pam Twitchett told