Michael Palin joins WWI drama in first acting role in 15 years

British TV presenter Michael Palin is taking up his first acting role in more than 15 years, joining a drama about soldiers producing a newspaper from the battlefields of World War I. Palin, 70, has concentrated his career in the past two decades on making TV travel documentaries such as Around the World in 80 days and Pole to Pole.

Rapper Wale knocks Kanye West from atop Billboard album chart

American rapper Wale grabbed the top spot on Wednesday on the United States Billboard 200 album chart for the first time with his record The Gifted, while fellow rapper Kanye West's Yeezus, last week's No 1, fell to third place. The Gifted sold 158,000 copies in its first week, according to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Feline frenzy meets Fellini on Gaultier's Paris catwalk

Jean Paul Gaultier sent glittering panthers and clowns down the runway on Wednesday as the French designer tapped into feline glamour and Fellini-esque nostalgia for his autumn/winter 2013-2014 haute couture collection. On the last full day of shows at the prestigious Paris fashion week, he put on a highly theatrical display of outfits sewn from leather, feathers and velvet, and named them Catwoman, Pink Panther and Cruella de Ville.

Steve Carell feels connection being a 'despicable' father

Steve Carell has inhabited different roles, but it is an evil villain in animated film Despicable Me 2 where he finds a close connection as a real-life father. Carell, 50, who appears again as Gru in Despicable Me 2, and as a dysfunctional father in independent comedy The Way, Way Back, both out in theaters this week, is also exploring new challenges in his career with the hopes of more dramatic roles.

Fat Malaysian orangutan put on diet after feeding on junk food for 20 years

An obese orangutan has been put on a strict diet by Malaysian wildlife authorities after two decades of gorging on junk food handed out by tourists, The Star newspaper reported. Jackie, 22, reportedly weighs 100 kilograms, twice the normal weight of an adult female in the rich jungle habitats of Sabah state, in East Malaysia.

Remains of New York woman missing for 28 years found in wall

The remains of a New York schoolteacher who disappeared nearly 28 years ago have been discovered hidden in a false basement wall in the house where she lived with her husband, police said. JoAnn Nichols was 55 years old when her husband James reported her missing in 1985, police in Poughkeepsie, New York, said. He died in December of natural causes, they added.

English profanity earns place in standard German dictionary

The English profanity "shitstorm" is so widely used by Germans, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, that the country's most prestigious dictionary has included it in its latest edition. "Over the last few years, 'shitstorm' has entered everyday usage so that's why it now appears in the new printed edition of the dictionary," said Nicole Weiffen, head of communications at Duden, which publishes Germany's standard dictionary.

Hitler's food taster feared death with every morsel

Margot Woelk spent the last few years of World War II eating lavish meals and fearing that every mouthful could mean death. The former food taster for Adolf Hitler was served a plate of food and forced to eat it between 11 and 12 every morning for most of the last two-and-a-half years of the Nazi German leader's life.

Man killed by three caged tigers in Italy

A 72-year-old man was killed by three tigers in a closed-down zoo in northern Italy after he entered the animals' cage to feed them, according to media reports. The zoo, in the mountainous area of Pinerolo near Turin, was closed because of financial difficulties in 2009 and its owners had not managed to relocate nine tigers and one leopard kept there, the Corriere della Sera daily reported.

Glastonbury hosts heaven, hell and haircuts alongside the music

Tomato fights, anarchic gymnasts and astrophysics drew festivalgoers of all ages away from the mainstream music acts at Britain's Glastonbury festival this weekend. The 1,500 hippies who paid one pound ($1.52) to attend the first Glastonbury festival in 1970 would barely recognize the massive three-day event, where about 150,000 fans were watching 2,000 acts on 58 stages, alongside thousands of workshops and stalls.

Reuters

(China Daily 07/07/2013 page4)