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Ten things you need to know today

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.00 am. you can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points.

JOHNSON’S WIFE ‘HAD AFFAIR WITH BODYGUARD’Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson’s decision to quit frontline politics, announced yesterday, allegedly came after he discovered his wife Laura had had an affair with his police protection officer when he was Labour Home Secretary. Detective constable Paul Rice, who now protects his successor Theresa may, has been referred to Scotland Yard’s standards watchdog.

CHILCOT TO GRILL BLAIR ON DISCREPANCIESTony Blair will today go back before the Iraq war inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot. The former PM faces questioning about discrepancies between the evidence he gave in January 2010 and comments made by key witnesses who have subsequently been re-questioned by the panel – in particular the former Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith. Crispin Black: they used to behead men like Tony Blair

LARRY PAGE RECLAIMS RUNNING OF GOOGLEGoogle co-founder Larry Page is reclaiming the job of chief executive he relinquished to Eric Schmidt, 18 years his senior. he will take over in April. Schmidt has been running the company for a decade, ever since Page and co-founder Sergey Brin agreed they needed someone with more experience to run the internet search giant. “Larry is ready to lead,” says Schmidt, who will stay on as executive chairman. The First Post: Larry Page takes back Google CEO job

JO YEATES MURDER: VINCENT TABAK HELDThe man arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering the Bristol landscape architect Joanna Yeates is Vincent Tabak, who occupied the flat next door to Yeates in Canynge Road, Clifton. Tabak, from Eindhoven in Holland, works in Bath as an office workspace architect. Police have 24 hours to question Tabak in custody before charging him, but may well apply for an extension. The First Post: Police arrest Jo Yeates neighbour

CRUEL? I WAS DOING MY JOB, SAYS GERVAIS”If they didn’t want me, they shouldn’t have hired me,” Ricky Gervais told Piers Morgan on CNN last night, following his controversial presentation of the Golden Globes on Sunday. Gervais said his jibes were not cruel – he was just doing his job. asked whether any topic was off-limits when making fun of Hollywood stars, he responded: “Do you care about what they may be going through in their private lives?” The First Post: I’m not sorry, says Gervais
In pictures: Golden Globes

DUNDEE ATM ‘SPITS OUT’ CASHPolice had to be called to deal with the growing crowd when an ATM in Dundee started paying out double the amounts requested. One customer told the BBC: “The machine was spitting out money. There were 50 or 60 people queuing outside the shop and people were running around with smiles on their faces.” The ATM is operated by Bank Machine Ltd, who declined to comment.

HU’S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMENT NOT HEARD IN CHINA President Hu’s acknowledgement that “a lot still needs to be done in China, in terms of human rights”, made in Washington, was excised from reports in the Chinese state-run press. Otherwise, the Hu visit was deemed a success for both sides. “The most important thing they did was, for the time being, put a floor under the relationship after a very bad year,” said Michael Green, a former National Security Council official. “No one expected a transformational summit, but if you graded it pass-fail, I say they passed.” Full report at the Washington Post In pictures: Guess Hu’s coming to dinner

DUBAI ISLANDS ‘SINKING BACK INTO THE SEA’It’s the ultimate case of subsidence: the man-made archipelago of islands off the coast of Dubai – named The World, because each island is shaped like a real country – is sinking into the sea, according to evidence given at a property tribunal. The development includes luxury hotels and villas either sold or given to celebrities – including English footballers David Beckham and Michael Owen. Full report at the Daily Telegraph.

LIB DEMS VOW TO KEEP THEIR INDEPENDENCEThe Lib Dems’ party executive has agreed to fight the next general election as a totally independent party, with no predisposition to team up again with the Conservatives. The executive also reasserted its centre-left roots in liberalism and social democracy. The decision makes a future coalition between the Lib Dems and Labour a greater likelihood.

127 alleged mobsters arrested in new YorkThe FBI arrested 127 alleged mobsters in morning raids across new York City, Brooklyn and new Jersey yesterday. Police said those detained range from bookmakers to alleged leaders and include members of all five new York Mafia families: the Gambino, Bonnano Colombo, Luchese and Genovese. The arrests are for charges relating to extortion, murder and drugs. 

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    Bigelow wins best director Oscar for “Hurt Locker”

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman ever to win a best director Oscar on Sunday for her hard-nosed work on “The hurt Locker,” the Iraq war film about a team of U.S. soldiers who defuse bombs.

    In a true Hollywood twist, Bigelow edged out her ex-husband, “Avatar” filmmaker James Cameron, and both were widely considered the front-runners for the honor.

    Singer and filmmaker Barbra Streisand, who once saw her 1991 movie “The Prince of Tides” nominated for a best picture Academy Award, announced that Bigelow had won with the words, “Well, the time has come.”

    After accepting the Oscar, Bigelow called it “the moment of a lifetime.”

    “I’d just like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world, and may they come home safe,” Bigelow said.

    Bigelow was only the fourth woman ever nominated for a best director Oscar in the Academy Awards’ 82-year history.

    The previous woman nominees were Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion and Lina Wertmuller. Directing has long been the domain of men in Hollywood, with women enjoying fewer opportunities.

    Women directed only 7 percent of the 250 top-grossing films in the U.S. and Canada in 2009, a figure hardly changed in more than two decades, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film at San Diego State University.

    Bigelow won her nomination after earning a reputation for taking risks with bold film projects.

    With “The hurt Locker,” her gamble involved making a movie about the Iraq war when other projects about the conflict fared badly with audiences and critics.

    In making low-budget “The hurt Locker,” Bigelow shot in Jordan to gain a realistic setting that looked like Iraq. she often filmed near the Iraqi border.

    The independent film focuses on a team of three U.S. soldiers who defuse roadside bombs.

    While the job comes with plenty of risks, team leader William James makes it even more dangerous by de-activating bombs by hand and chasing after insurgents.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has praised the film.

    Hollywood watchers say “The hurt Locker” has won over movie industry players who run the Oscars because it focuses on the heroics of U.S. soldiers, and avoids politics.

    The film’s success with audiences has been more limited, and it has made about $21 million in global ticket sales.

    Aside from Bigelow and Cameron, the other directors nominated for an Oscar were Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds,” Lee Daniels for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push” by Sapphire” and Jason Reitman for “Up in the Air.”

    During their opening comedy routine, hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin joked about the Oscar race between the two formerly married directors, Bigelow and Cameron.

    “She was so pleased to be nominated with him she sent him a beautiful gift basket — with a timer,” Baldwin said.

    Bigelow was trained as a painter and entered filmmaking from the art world. she married Cameron in 1989 and the two divorced in 1991.

    Her previous films include the 1991 cult favorite “Point Break” about bank robbing surfers.

    She and Cameron remained on friendly terms after their divorce, and he produced and co-wrote Bigelow’s 1995 science fiction movie “Strange Days,” which bombed at the box office.

    For “The hurt Locker,” Bigelow this year won a Directors Guild of America trophy and a slew of critics’ choice awards.

    (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Sandra Maler and Mary Milliken)

    Bigelow wins best director Oscar for “Hurt Locker”


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