TV star Nell Carter dies

Among her roles was as the matronly housekeeper on the 80s sitcom Gimme a Break, and she won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance in Ain't Misbehaving.

Carter had suffered diabetes for many years and in 1992 underwent an operation to remove an aneurysm on her brain.

Her publicist said she collapsed at her Beverly Hills home on Thursday and was found by her 13-year-old son.

Moore to present Oscar

Actress Julianne Moore has been lined up to present an Oscar at the Los Angeles Academy Awards ceremony.

The star is tipped to for an Oscar nomination for her performances in Far From Heaven and The Hours.

This will be Moore's second appearance as a presenter, and she has twice been nominated for awards.

The 75th Academy Awards will be hosted by actor Steve Martin at the Kodak Theatre on 23 March.

Day-Lewis attends charity Gangs screening

Daniel Day-Lewis has attended a Gangs Of New York premiere in Greece to raise money for a children's charity.

Day-Lewis - who stars in the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz - plays a colourful villain in the film set during the American Civil War.

The UK première of the film attracted 2,000 fans earlier this month.

Known for his performances in Last of the Mohicans and In the Name of the Father, Day-Lewis won an Oscar in 1990 for his performance in My Left Foot.

Treasures donated to the UK

More than £2m of treasures were donated to the UK in 2002 in lieu of inheritance tax.

Arts minister Baroness Blackstone said paintings by Hogarth, Millet and Edward Lear were among the gifts accepted on behalf of the nation.

The treasures, which also include antique furniture and manuscripts, will be handed to over to museums around the country.

Works included a rare group portrait by William Hogarth dating from 1736 and painted in what is now Buckingham Palace, valued at about £630,000.

Pulitzer Prize cartoonist dies

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, best known for his World War II animations, has died at the age of 81.

Maudlin died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at a nursing home in Newport Beach, California.

His star characters were Willie and Joe, soldiers who tramped across war-torn Europe, sending up pomposity.

Maudlin, himself a Army rifleman, won the first of two Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning in 1945 at the age of 23.

LAPD chief gets acting big break

Los Angeles Police Chief William J Bratton has made his acting debut in a film starring Al Pacino.

People I Know, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, sees Bratton star as a New York City politician, a part he modelled on former mayor Rudolph Guiliani.

But he says he will not be hanging up his handcuffs for the glamour of Hollywood.

He said: "I would never want to be an actor, because they spend most of their time just hanging around. It's like being a cop at court."