Slave drama tipped to sweep Bafta film awards

By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent,

Bafta staff allocate the seats for the star guests ahead of Sunday's ceremony.

Dame Judi Dench, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio will be among the stars on the red carpet later for the Bafta film awards.

Space thriller Gravity leads the way with 11 nominations, including best film, but 12 Years a Slave is tipped to be the night's big winner.

The Baftas are the last major movie awards before the Oscars on 2 March.

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, will attend Sunday's event at London's Royal Opera House.

The awards, which will be broadcast on BBC One at 21:00 GMT, are hosted for a ninth time by actor Stephen Fry.

Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, about a free black man who is kidnapped and enslaved, has 10 nominations - including best film, best director and best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Bookies think the harrowing historical drama will scoop five of the major categories.

"The odds suggest that 12 Years A Slave will sweep the boards on Sunday night," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

American Hustle also has 10 nominations, and its stars Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence appear in all the acting categories.

The 1970s drama, about two con artists who get entangled with the FBI, is also up for best film, with David O Russell nominated for best director and original screenplay.

Other movies competing for best film include Somali piracy thriller Captain Phillips, and Philomena, based on the true story of an Irish woman trying to find the son she was forced to give up for adoption.

Captain Phillips has nine nominations while Behind the Candelabra, with Michael Douglas as Liberace, and Disney story Saving Mr Banks have five nominations each.

Philomena's Dame Judi competes in the best actress category against American Hustle's Adams, Gravity's Sandra Bullock, Emma Thompson for Saving Mr Banks and the runaway favourite Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine.

The nominations saw Dame Judi set a Bafta record, with her 15th acting nomination.

Director Steve McQueen and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor are both nominated for 12 Years a Slave
In the best actor field, Ejiofor is the bookies' favourite against Bale, Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips, Bruce Dern for Nebraska and DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street.

The outstanding British film category sees blockbuster Gravity up against the tiny-budgeted drama The Selfish Giant, Clio Barnard's contemporary English fable about two Bradford schoolboys who collect scrap metal on a horse and cart.

'Bradford to Baftas'

Speaking to the BBC recently, Barnard joked about turning up at the Baftas "in spacesuits on horseback".

The film's producer Tracy O'Riordan added: "It is like David versus Goliath. We are a tiny film - it was made for $2m, while Gravity was $100m - so it's strange but wonderful to be in the same category. We're bringing a bit of Bradford to the Baftas."

Also nominated in the outstanding British film category are Philomena, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Saving Mr Banks and Rush.

Gravity, Saving Mr Banks and Rush all qualified for the British film category because they were either filmed in the UK, utilised British effects companies or employed other British talent.

The Baftas can be an indicator of which films go on to win Academy Awards two weeks later.

Last year Argo won best film, Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor, and Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway took the best supporting acting prizes. They all went on to win Oscars.

Other nominees at the Baftas on Sunday night include Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Paul Greengrass, Sally Hawkins, Martin Scorsese and Oprah Winfrey.

Highest accolade

Presenters and guests include Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Irons, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stanley Tucci and Uma Thurman.

The ceremony will open with a duet from Tinie Tempah and Mercury Prize nominee Laura Mvula.

Prince William, the academy's president, will present Dame Helen Mirren with the British Academy fellowship, its highest accolade.

Previous winners have included Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick.

Peter Greenaway will receive the outstanding British contribution to cinema award.

The winner of the public vote for this year's Rising Star award will also be unveiled.

12 Years a Slave's Bafta-nominated actress Lupita Nyong'o is up against Kill Your Darlings actor Dane DeHaan, Sunshine on Leith's George MacKay, Blue is the Warmest Colour star Lea Seydoux, and Will Poulter from We're the Millers.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

Syria terror threat a big problem for UK - Brokenshire

The BBC's Frank Gardner says the man in the video is Abdul Waheed Majid
The terrorism threat to the UK posed by individuals who have trained and fought in Syria is "a big problem" for the security services and police, the immigration minister has said.

James Brokenshire told the BBC "a significant and growing proportion" of their resources was spent on the issue.

He said it was right to be "vigilant" about travel between the UK and Syria.

According to the Sunday Times, security services are "closely monitoring" 250 British-based jihadis linked to Syria.

The authorities are concerned that such people may be radicalised and militarised - and urged by those they come into contact with in Syria to turn their attentions away from the Syrian regime and instead attack targets in the West.

Militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda have been heading to war-torn Syria from many other countries since fighting broke out in 2011.

Last week, a video was posted online showing British man Abdul Waheed Majid, who is thought to have carried out a suicide bombing in the city of Aleppo.

The 41-year-old, from Crawley, West Sussex, was believed to have bombed a jail on 6 February.

Border control

In an interview with Radio 4's The World This Weekend, Mr Brokenshire said he believed the "security concern" linked to Syria was "likely to be with us for the foreseeable future".

"A significant proportion and a growing proportion of the security services work is linked to Syria in some way," he said.

"This is a big problem that the security services and the police are actively focused on.

"It's why they are vigilant, why they are taking the steps that they are around the border and monitoring travel to and from Syria in the way that they are."

The Sunday Times says the number of individuals being monitored by MI5 and the police is much higher than previously reported, underlining "the growing danger posed by 'extremist tourists'".

Throughout January, 16 people were arrested on suspicion of terror offences after travelling between Syria and the UK - that compares with 24 in the whole of 2013.

Sir Peter Fahy, who leads the Association of Chief Police Officer's "Prevent" strategy on counter-terrorism, told the BBC last month those returning from Syria "may well be charged and investigated, but they will be put into our programmes".

He said those programmes saw police work with local agencies such as schools and youth organisations, "essentially to make sure these people haven't been affected and try and make sure they're not a threat to this country".

Last week, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said there were "a few hundred people going out there".

"They may be injured or killed, but our biggest worry is when they return they are radicalised, they may be militarised, they may have a network of people that train them to use weapons."
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

Syria talks: UK and France blame government for collapse

Homs is one of several cities to have suffered extensive damage in the conflict
The UK and France have blamed the Syrian government for the collapse of peace talks with the opposition in Geneva.

"The responsibility for it lies squarely with the Assad regime," UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

His French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, said the government had "blocked any progress".

UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi apologised to the Syrian people for the failure of the negotiations.

The final session of talks lasted a mere 27 minutes on Saturday morning. It was the sixth day of the second round.

Mr Brahimi said an agenda had been agreed for a third round, but no date was set.

The agenda, he said, comprised four points:

Violence and terrorism
A transitional governing body
National institutions
National reconciliation
But key sticking points in Geneva were a transitional governing body and terrorism, a term often used by the government to describe rebel activity.

The government's chief negotiator, Bashar al-Jaafari, addressing reporters after the talks, stressed that terrorism must be dealt with fully before any other point could be discussed.

"Once you have an agenda you should respect the agenda fully without any interpretation or misinterpretation... we said that we cannot move from... item one to item two or item three or item four without fully considering this item and concluding by a common vision of this item by the two sides, something that the other side objected to."

Opposition spokesman Louay Safi again insisted on discussion of a transitional government that does not include President Bashar al-Assad - something the government rejects.

"A third round without talking about transition would be a waste of time," Mr Safi said.

In his apology to the Syrian people, Mr Brahimi admitted that the talks "had not come out with very much".

The UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi: "It's not good for Syria that we come back for another round and fall in the same traps"
Mr Brahimi said both sides needed "to go back to their base" for consultations and to think about whether they wanted the process to continue or not.

As yet, there has been no official reaction from the United States or Russia to the talks' breakdown. They are co-sponsors of the Geneva process but back opposite sides in the conflict.

For the UK, Mr Hague said it was clear that Damascus was opposed to a transitional governing body - "an issue that is at the heart of the negotiation and an essential means of ending the conflict".

"We owe it to the people of Syria to do all we can to make progress towards a political solution. So we will continue to give our strong support to Lakhdar Brahimi and the Geneva process," Mr Hague said.

Mr Fabius said Syria had blocked any "progress on establishing a transition government and stepped up violence and acts of terror against the civilian population."

While the talks faltered, the fighting continued, with reports of further artillery fire on the rebel-held town of Yabroud near the Lebanese border.

Fighting there has already forced the evacuation of thousands of residents.

According to Syrian TV, the military killed several members of an al-Qaida-linked group near Yabroud.

In an estimate published on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that relies on a network of informants in Syria, says that 140,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Assad began in 2011.

UN figures suggest some 9.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

UK floods: Army to carry out 'rapid inspection' of defences

A further 5,000 troops are available to help flood-stricken communities, the defence secretary said
The Army is to carry out a "rapid inspection" of the nation's flood defences to assess the damage left by unprecedented flooding.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that the inspection - which would normally take two years - would be done over the next five weeks.

The announcement comes as 15,900 homes remain without power.

And scores of flood warnings and alerts are still in force across the country.

'Damage'

Forecasters have warned that larges swathes of England and Wales are in danger of further flooding despite a let-up in the long spell of stormy weather.

The storms cut off power to almost a million homes in the past week, and engineers are working around the clock to restore to electricity to the remaining homes.

Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mr Hammond said that there were a further 5,000 troops on "varying levels of notice to move" who would be able to offer their services to help flood-stricken communities.

He said that the Government had agreed with the Environment Agency that the Royal Engineers would carry out the inspection of flood defences.

"We are going to try and do in five weeks what would be a two-year programme of inspection, just to assess the level of damage," he said.

Mr Hammond went on to say that the Government had offered troops to civil authorities "a long while ago".

He said: "What we have done over the last 10 days is push them a bit more aggressively at those civil authorities."

Other developments include:

Network Rail said that 150 trees had fallen on tracks this weekend in the most recent storms
Track at Dawlish, Devon, has suffered yet more damage with the erosion of the sea wall by a further 10 metres - passengers in the area are advised not to travel
The Met Office had a yellow severe weather warning - meaning "be aware" - for ice for most of the UK until 10:00 GMT
First Great Western says it is running a "near normal service" in the London Paddington and Oxford areas
60,000 sand bags have been distributed in Surrey, say police
South Eastern trains said that although all routes were open, services were "still subject to delay and cancellation"
Signalling problems caused by flooding near Preston Park are causing delays of up to 15 minutes between Haywards Heath and Brighton
A landslip at Oxted, Surrey, is still causing disruption, and the line is not expected to re-open until Tuesday 18 February
BBC weather presenter Susan Powell said after sunshine and light winds on Sunday, next week would be unsettled with further spells of rain but not as stormy as recently.

Speaking after a Cobra emergency committee meeting on Saturday evening, Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: "Thankfully, it does appear that we will see less rain and wind over the next few days.

"However, after so much rain over recent weeks groundwater levels remain very high and in many places will continue to rise."

The Environment Agency has 16 severe flood warnings - meaning "danger to life" - in south-east and south-west England.

'Remain vigilant'

The agency said the Thames Barrier had been closed for a record 16th consecutive time to help lower river levels.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

Oldham alley teen's post-mortem tests 'inconclusive'

Post-mortem tests on the body of a teenager found in an alleyway in Oldham proved inconclusive, say police.

The 15-year-old's death is unexplained, Greater Manchester Police confirmed. He was named locally as Leon Cudworth.

His body was found, off Ripponden Road, Moorside, at about 08:00 GMT on Saturday, by a passer-by.

Ch Supt Chris Sykes said there was nothing to suggest wrong-doing, but police have not ruled out "third party involvement".

"A post mortem to find the cause of death was inconclusive, therefore further toxicology tests are required and his death remains unexplained at this time," he said.

"We would urge anyone with information to get in touch as your information, however small and insignificant it may seem, could help us to piece together the movements of this young man on Friday night into Saturday morning."

He added that officers had been patrolling the area where the body was found, and urged witnesses or anyone with information about the death to contact police or Crimestoppers.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

Egypt's Morsi stands trial on spying and teror charges

Mr Morsi was ousted by the military last July and is facing three other legal cases
Deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has begun a new trial, on charges of espionage and conspiring to commit acts of terror.

He and 35 others are accused of working with Lebanese and Palestinian groups to carry out attacks in Egypt.

The charges are one of four prosecutions that the Islamist former leader now faces.

Mr Morsi was ousted by the military last July following mass street protests against his rule.

Since then there has been a severe crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as on other activists seen as hostile to the military-backed government.

The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation and authorities have punished any public show of support for it.

Other senior Brotherhood figures are also facing a raft of charges, including supreme guide Mohammed Badie and his deputy and former presidential candidate Khairat al-Shater.

At least 1,000 people have died in clashes between security forces and pro-Morsi protesters since he was deposed, with thousands more arrested.

Morsi defiant

Mr Morsi was brought to Cairo's police academy on Sunday morning by helicopter from the Burj al-Arab prison where he is being held.

In this latest trial, Mr Morsi is accused of collaborating with the Palestinian movement Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guards. If convicted he could receive the death penalty.

Proceedings in two other trials have already begun:

The first opened in November on charges of inciting the killing of protesters near the presidential palace when he was in office in 2012.
In January another trial opened concerning his escape from prison in a jailbreak in 2011, during which police officers were killed.
The fourth trial will be on charges of insulting the judiciary.
Mr Morsi's supporters say he and other senior Brotherhood leaders are the victims of politically motivated prosecutions.

In his previous court appearances Mr Morsi has struck a defiant tone, refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the court and insisting that he is still the rightful president.

During that court appearance, from inside a glassed-in defendants' cage, he shouted: "I am the president of the republic. How can I be kept in a dump for weeks?"
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More

Actress Ellen Page tells Las Vegas audience she is lesbian

Ellen Page: "I am here today because I am gay"
Actress Ellen Page, who starred as a pregnant teenager in Juno in 2006, has declared she is lesbian.

"I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission," she told an audience in Las Vegas on Friday.

The 26-year-old actress said she felt "a personal obligation and a social responsibility" to come out.

She is the latest in a series of high-profile figures in the US to declare their sexuality, including American footballer, Michael Sam.

Page, who was born in Canada, was addressing a conference on teenage homosexuality hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, which lobbies for the rights of those in same-sex relationships.

"I am here today because I am gay," she said, prompting a standing ovation.

Her voice trembling, she said: "I suffered for years because I was scared to be out.

"My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here with all of you on the other side of that pain."

Page, who was nominated for an Oscar for Juno, also criticised the "pervasive stereotypes about masculinity and femininity that define how we are all supposed to act, dress and speak".

The actress, who enjoyed central roles in X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006 and the science fiction movie Inception in 2010, is also due to appear later this year in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
Follow us on Twitter: @benlatestnews

Read More