LOCAL authorities battling Japan's worst-ever oil spill disaster got help from an unexpected quarter - a donation of high-technology oil cleanup equipment from Kevin Costner.
The star of Waterworld donated a machine that separates oil from water to lshikawa prefecture, one of the Sea of Japan coastal areas hardest hit by oil spilled by a sunken Russian tanker.
Radio and TV comedy producer Dennis Main Wilson, the man behind such classics as the Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour and Till Death Us Do Part, has died from cancer.
Main Wilson (72), whose show business career spanned 50 years, worked on Citizen Smith, The Marty Feldman Show and The Rag Trade, and programmes with Eric Sykes, John Bird, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Kenneth Williams, among others.
Tommy, the musical about "the deaf, dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball," led the field when Britain's theatreland announced nominations for its annual awards.
Pete Townshend's classic, first performed by The Who in 1969, is in line for eight Laurence Olivier awards with Paul Keating nominated as best actor in a musical.
A treasure trove of Beatles memorabilia has been unveiled before being auctioned by Bonhams. The items range from instruments to original manuscripts, including the lyric to their 1967 hit Penny Lane, written in Paul McCartney's handwriting.