You are forgiven for not knowing who this weeks deaths are, we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for ‘celebrities’. Unless you are an F1 fan or actually watched Love Island, you might remember the horny milkman from Father Ted. It goes without saying, no points this week…    

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• George Morfogen, 85, American actor (Oz, V).  
• Angus Sinclair, 73, Scottish serial killer.   
• Pat Laffan, 79, Irish actor (Father Ted, The Snapper).   
• Charlie Whiting, 66, British motorsports director, FIA Formula 1 race director (since 1997), pulmonary embolism.  
• Michael Thalassitis, 26, English-born Cypriot footballer (Boreham Wood, Ebbsfleet United) and reality show personality (Love Island).

In Other News

Katie Price has been criticised by a judge for not “bothering” to turn up at court. The 40-year-old, from West Sussex, was due to appear before magistrates in Crawley accused of  two charges of using threatening and abusive words or behaviour in Shipley last September. District judge Amanda Kelly said Ms Price’s failure to appear showed a lack of respect for the court system. The court heard Ms Price, of Dial Post, near Horsham, was out of the country. At the hearing, which was adjourned to 20 March, the judge said: “She hasn’t bothered to turn up today. “Apparently she has something more important to do.” The court heard Ms Price would have been notified of the need to attend in a postal requisition sent in February and would have known about the case. Ms Kelly said: “This shows a lack of respect for the whole court system.” She said it would be “tempting” to consider an arrest, but she would “reluctantly” adjourn the hearing. 

Police in Slovenia have accused a woman of cutting  off her hand with a circular saw – with the help of her family – to make a fraudulent insurance claim. The 21-year-old and a relative have been detained and face up to eight years in prison if convicted. The suspects recently took out injury insurance, police say. The woman allegedly stood to gain about €400,000 (£340,000; $450,000) in compensation and monthly payments of about €3,000 from the policy. Four members of the family were initially detained earlier this year, but two were later released. Police say the group deliberately cut the woman’s hand above the wrist with a circular saw 1at their home in the capital Ljubljana. Relatives took her to hospital, saying she had injured herself while sawing branches. Officials say the group left the severed hand behind rather than bring it to hospital, to ensure the disability was permanent. But the authorities recovered it in time to sew it back on.  

A fox has died in extraordinary circumstances after losing the ultimate game of chicken during a night-time raid on a henhouse. Students at Gros-Chene secondary school in Brittany were shocked to discover the dead body of the fox riddled with peck marks during their morning rounds last week. The school maintains their brood of free-range chickens ganged up on the animal, attacking it in large numbers and overcoming it. “There, in the corner, we found this dead fox,” Pascal Daniel, head of farming at the school, told news agency AFP. “There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks.” The animal was reportedly surrounded, then killed in a corner of the building home to 3,000 chickens. “It was a juvenile of five or six months, about 60cm long. He did not seem sick and in any case, he did not have scabies,” Mr Daniel said. Apparently no chickens were found to have been injured during the incident. It is thought the fox entered at dusk and then become trapped inside by light-controlled automatic doors that close when the sun goes down. 

On This Day

• 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people. 
• 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.  
• 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.

Deaths

• 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121) 
• 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1957) 
• 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Alexandra Daddario (33), Alan Tudyk (48), Jerome Flynn (56), Erik Estrada (70), Judah Friedlander (50), Jimmy Nail (65), Eva Longoria (44), David Cronenberg (76), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (86), Will.i.am (44), Lynda La Plante (76), Jamie Bell (33), Michael Caine (86), Billy Crystal (71), Quincy Jones (86), William H. Macy (69), Danny Masterson (43), Annabeth Gish (48), Jaimie Alexander (35), Titus Welliver (58), Aaron Eckhart (51), Liza Minnelli (73), Alex Kingston (56), Johnny Knoxville (48), John Barrowman (52), Jon Hamm (48), Olivia Wilde (35), Sharon Stone (61), Chuck Norris (79), and Robert Llewellyn (63).

No points this week, even though the evil flying  monkeys were very busy! Big thanks to Nickie for finding a couple of this weeks stories, saving me time and effort is what makes me very happy 🙂 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• King Kong Bundy, 61, American professional wrestler (WCCW, WWF) and actor (Married…with Children).  
• Keith Flint, 49, English singer (The Prodigy), suicide.  
• Luke Perry, 52, American actor (Beverly Hills, 90210, Riverdale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), complications from a stroke.  
• Magenta Devine, 61, British television presenter (Rough Guide, Network 7).  
• Jed Allan, 84, American actor (Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara, Lassie).  

And back in February…  

• Jan-Michael Vincent, 73, American actor (Airwolf, The Mechanic, Big Wednesday), cardiac arrest.

 In Other News

Britain’s popular former world heavyweight champion Frank Bruno is recovering after being hospitalised with pneumonia. The much-loved 57-year-old was left ‘in agony’ over the weekend and took himself to hospital on the back of two meet-and-greets with fans in Bristol and Guiseley. He was seen by doctors in the early hours of Monday morning and should soon be released from hospital with heavy medication. Bruno will then take a few days to rest and recuperate. ‘Frank has contracted pneumonia,’ his agent Dave Davies confirmed on Monday. Davies continued: ‘He did two gigs over the weekend – he was in a bit of pain on Saturday but didn’t want to let the people down in Bristol, then (Sunday) morning he had an afternoon job in Guiseley and he was in agony then. ‘But ever the professional, he wanted to do the job, so went and did the job and went straight to hospital.’ Bruno has been out of the ring since defeat by Mike Tyson in 1996. Alongside his public speaking appearances, the 57-year-old is a regular at British fight nights.   

Whoopi Goldberg has revealed she came close to dying due to pneumonia, in a new video message about her health. The actor and TV host shared the update on Friday in order to explain why she has been absent from the ABC talk show The View for a month. “I am here, I am up and moving around, not as fast as I’d like to be, but I am OK. I’m not dead,” Goldberg said. She explained that she contracted pneumonia in both lungs then was “septic”, meaning “there was fluids, there was all kinds of stuff going on”. Sepsis and septic shock can surface as complications from any infection, including pneumonia, which is an infection affecting one or both lungs. “Yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth,” Goldberg added. “Good news, I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes, all of the wonderful things that people have been saying.” She quipped: “Even people who are not huge fans of mine have actually said nice things about me. We all know that’s going to change when I get back, but for right now, it’s brilliant!”    

Apparently poetry fans are beginning to take things rather seriously. Scottish actor Tam Dean Burn is recovering at home after being stabbed in a street attack. Dead Pool Towers understands the 60-year-old had finished speaking at an event at the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh when he was assaulted outside the venue. The actor, whose credits include Outlander and Fortitude, was initially treated in hospital but later released. Police said a man had been arrested in connection with the incident. The 42-year-old was arrested outside the city’s Crichton Close at about 16:00 on Saturday, a police spokesman said. The incident happened after a tribute event to the Scottish poet Tom Leonard, who died last year. About 60 people – including Mr Burn, Liz Lochhead, Joy Hendry, Kevin Williamson and George Gunn – attended the event, which began at 13:30. Mr Burn was reportedly attacked outside the venue shortly after the event concluded at 15:30.

And finally, a billionaire diamond trader has died after ‘suffering a heart attack’ during a penis enlargement operation in Paris. Ehud Arye Laniado, 65, was at an unidentified private clinic on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in the French capital on Saturday when complications during surgery proved fatal. The experienced diamond expert’s heart attack happened when a substance was injected into his penis, Belgian media reported. Mr Laniado’s company Omega Diamonds, which is based in the Belgian city of Antwerp, confirmed his passing. A statement from the firm said: ‘Farewell to a visionary businessman. It is with great sadness that we confirm that our founder Ehud Arye Laniado has passed away.’ A friend of Mr Laniado’s, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was ‘always focused on his appearance and how others perceived him’. Mr Laniado reportedly owned the most expensive penthouse in Monaco worth more than £30million, as well as a house in the plush LA suburb of Bel Air, where he was said to have loved to drink bottles of Chateau Margaux with models and celebrities. In all likelihood, he could only pleasure these models when he pulled out his American Express. 

On This Day

• 1629 – Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule; which is what we need right now.
• 1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
• 1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus. Tee hee…

Deaths

• 1913 – Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (b. 1820) 
• 1942 – Wilbur Scoville, American pharmacist and chemist (b. 1865)
• 1988 – Andy Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1958)
• 1998 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Dave Allen, Irish-English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
• 2016 – Keith Emerson, English keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1944)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Juliette Binoche (55), Freddie Prinze Jr. (43), Micky Dolenz (74), Cynthia Rothrock (62), Rachel Weisz (49), Bryan Cranston (63), Rob Reiner (72), Shaquille O’Neal (47), Tom Arnold (60), Alan Davies (53), Fred Williamson (81),  Jolene Blalock (44), Eva Mendes (45), Matt Lucas (45), Dean Stockwell (83), Paul Blackthorne (50), Penn Jillette (64), Patsy Kensit (51), Dominique Pinon (64), Jessica Biel (37), Julie Bowen (49), Miranda Richardson (61), Charlie Brooker (48), and Brian Cox (51).

If you got this far, fair play to you! I thought I’d share this little tweet from James Blunt which I blatantly stole off Jemm’s Fb.  

Another quiet’ish week; I blame all the unusually warm weather for keeping the old un’s alive. Not to worry, the Evil Flying Monkey’s are preening their feathers and getting ready for a reaping good time this week. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Tony Pike, 85, British-born Australian hotelier (Pikes Hotel), prostate and skin cancer.  
• Janet Asimov, 92, American science fiction writer, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst.  
• Mark Hollis, 64, English singer-songwriter (Talk Talk).  
• Edward Nixon, 88, American entrepreneur. 
• Doug Sandom, 89, English drummer (The Who). 
• André Previn, 89, German-born American composer and score adapter (Gigi, Elmer Gantry, My Fair Lady), Oscar winner (1959, 1960, 1964, 1965). 
• Yannis Behrakis, 58, Greek photojournalist, cancer.

In Other News

Luke Perry, star of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale, has been hospitalised after suffering what’s been described as a ‘massive stroke’. Paramedics arrived at Perry’s home Wednesday morning at around 9:40am Pacific Standard Time. The 52-year-old actor was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital where his condition reportedly worsened and he remains under observation, his representative told us, declining to elaborate on the actor’s condition. Prior to his stroke Perry was said to be experiencing “bad back problems”, which had to be surgically fixed, according to the actor’s neighbour. Perry’s last major health scare was in 2015, when precancerous growths were found in his body following a colonoscopy, prompting the actor to speak out about checking for colorectal cancer. Perry had been shooting episodes for the upcoming fourth season of The CW’s Riverdale. Fans and friends of Perry are sending out messages of support to the actor on social media. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman star Dean Cain tweeted that he was ‘praying’ for Perry’s “full and fast recovery”. Perry’s fellow 90’s star Kristy Swanson also wrote that she was praying for Perry, addressing him personally with: “by God’s Grace you will get through this”.  

More details of former glamour girl Katie Price’s drink driving charge have been released after a court hearing. She was found slumped in a “very” drunken state in the back of her vomit-covered pink Range Rover after police saw the vehicle collide with a grass verge, a court has heard. The 40-year-old was allegedly almost twice the legal limit when she was arrested in the early hours of 10 October in Shooter’s Hill, Greenwich, south-east London. Ms Price denied an additional charge of drink-driving when she appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court, having already entered a not-guilty plea to being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit. Police Constables Benjamin Jones and Balvinder Mann first saw her car veer off the road and hit a grass verge at 12.40am before seeing it stationary about 15 minutes later. PC Jones told the court that he approached the car to find Ms Price in the back of the vehicle with her boyfriend, Kris Boyson, in the passenger seat. “Her eyes were blurred and her speech was a bit slurred. Although she was sitting, it was in a slumped position,” PC Jones said. The car, he added, showed signs of a collision, with the bumper hanging off and pieces of shrubbery attached to its exterior. Both Ms Price and Mr Boyson said a third person had been driving and that they ran off after the trio had an argument, the court heard. The officer said Mr Boyson told Ms Price to “shut up” when she was asked who was driving.  

Roman Reigns returned to the WWE on Monday night for the first time since revealing he had been diagnosed with leukaemia to update fans that his illness is now in remission. The emotional moment came in Atlanta, Georgia, as Reigns made an emotional return to the WWE for the first time since he took a leave of absence in October last year. After winning the Universal Championship, Reigns – real name Leati Joseph Anoaʻi – was forced to relinquish the title and decided to make his illness public, having privately battled leukaemia for 11 years. Reigns revealed he had relapsed and would need to undergo further treatment, but promised to fight the illness and return to the WWE. That moment came on Monday. Reigns was given a hero’s welcome as he returned to the ring, and with a beaming smile on his face, it quickly became apparent that there was good news on the way. “When I tell you this I am so grateful, so humble and I’m so honoured to announce this,” Reigns said. “Let’s crawl before we can walk and walk before we can run, but the good news I’m in remission ya’ll.” The announcement triggered a huge cheer from the WWE fans who have for so long booed and jeered Reigns in his persona, and the moment looked to get to the 33-year-old, whose family were also ringside.

On This Day

• 1873 – Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” books through the mail.  
• 1938 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia. 
• 1991 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
• 2005 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refuelling. 

Deaths

• 1959 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)  
• 1983 – Hergé, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1907)
• 1987 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 2003 – Horst Buchholz, German actor (b. 1933)  
• 2010 – Michael Foot, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Employment (b. 1913)  
• 2012 – Ralph McQuarrie, American conceptual designer and illustrator (b. 1929)  
• 2018 – Roger Bannister, English middle-distance athlete, first man to run a four-minute mile (b. 1929)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Bryce Dallas Howard (38), Daniel Craig (51), Rebel Wilson (39), Gates McFadden (70), Jon Bon Jovi (57), Chris Martin (42), Alexander Armstrong (49), Javier Bardem (50), Lupita Nyong’o (36), Jensen Ackles (41), Ron Howard (65), Harry Belafonte (92), Dirk Benedict (74), Justin Bieber (25), Roger Daltrey (75), Paul Hollywood (53), John Turturro (62), Rae Dawn Chong (58), Mercedes Ruehl (71), Stephanie Beacham (72), Kate Mara (36), Adam Baldwin (57), Timothy Spall (62), Richard Coyle (47), Bill Duke (76), Chase Masterson (56), Michael Bolton (66), Téa Leoni (53), Sean Astin (48), Lee Evans (55), Edward James Olmos (72), and Dennis Waterman (71).

No change to the leader board this week, however some interesting demises and again, some unusual news as nothing much has happened over the last week. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• John Stalker, 79, British police officer, Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (1984–1987).  
• Ross Lowell, 92, American photographer and inventor of gaffer tape.  
• Karl Lagerfeld, 85, German fashion designer (Chloé, Fendi, Chanel), pancreatic cancer.  
• Vinny Vella, 72, American actor (Casino, Analyze This, The Sopranos) and comedian, liver cancer.  
• Peter Tork, 77, American musician and actor (The Monkees), complications of adenoid cystic carcinoma.  
• Morgan Woodward, 93, American actor (Cool Hand Luke, Gunsmoke, Dallas), cancer.  
• Stanley Donen, 94, American film director (Singin’ in the Rain, On the Town, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers).

In Other News

The US sailor famously photographed kissing a stranger in New York’s Times Square to celebrate the end of World War Two has died aged 95. Although personally not famous enough for our needs, the picture of George Mendonsa bending over and kissing 21-year-old Greta Zimmer Friedman on VJ Day (Victory over Japan) became one of the most enduring images of the period. It was one of four photographs taken by Alfred Eisenstadt as a round-up of celebration pictures for Life magazine. Ms Friedman died in 2016 aged 92. Mr Mendonsa’s daughter, Sharon Molleur, said her father suffered a seizure and died on Sunday after a fall at a care home in Middletown, Rhode Island. Alfred Eisenstadt did not give the names of the kissing strangers and it was years before Mr Mendonsa and Ms Friedman were confirmed as the featured couple. The photographer described how he watched the sailor running along the street on 14 August 1945, grabbing any girl in sight. “Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse. If she had been dressed in a dark dress I would never have taken the picture.” Ms Friedman, who had been working as a dental assistant, said she had not been aware of the photo until the 1960s. “It wasn’t much of a kiss,” she later recalled. “It was just somebody celebrating. It wasn’t a romantic event.” Mr Mendonsa had served in the Pacific and was on home leave when the picture was taken. However, not everyone sees the photograph as something to celebrate. Although it was widely lauded as an expression of the joy felt across the US on the day Japan surrendered, in more recent times some have considered it, as Time Magazine wrote, “as little more than the documentation of a very public sexual assault”. 

Former England midfielder Glenn Hoddle says he realises how “lucky” he is after surviving a cardiac arrest. Hoddle collapsed at the BT Sport studios in October on his 61st birthday and had a quadruple heart bypass before returning home to recuperate. “When doctors said it was a quadruple I realised I was a lucky man,” he said. “Not just because of the synchronisation of the timing on the day, but there was something going on for some time.” Hoddle, who was speaking to former footballer Robbie Savage on his BT Sport show, said the day of the incident was “a bit of a blur”. Sound engineer Simon Daniels used CPR treatment to keep the ex-Spurs player alive before paramedics arrived. “I just thank God that I was in the studios at that time with Simon there and a defibrillator,” Hoddle added. “I could’ve gone and taken a phone call and been on my own and I wouldn’t be sitting here today. “What a time to do it, on your birthday as well – some present I gave myself.” Hoddle banged the back of his head on the floor when he collapsed and said it was “still quite tender” when he tapped it more than three months on.  

On death row in Malawi, Byson Kaula was nearly executed three times – but on each occasion the hangman stopped work before hanging all the prisoners on his list. So he survived… until the country stopped executing people altogether. Byson Kaula says jealous neighbours were responsible for him being found guilty of murder. It was 1992 and murder in those days carried a mandatory death sentence. Neighbours attacked one of his employees, Byson says, leaving him badly injured. The man couldn’t walk without assistance, and while helping him get to the toilet – navigating steps that were slippery after heavy rain – Byson fell and dropped him. The man died later in hospital, and Byson – then in his 40s – was charged with murder. This was towards the end of the totalitarian government of Hastings Banda, which had controlled the country since 1964. Byson vividly remembers the horror of waiting for his turn at what he calls “the killing machine”. “When I was told: ‘You can go now to the condemned section waiting for your time to be hanged’ – oh, I felt as if I was already dead.” At that time, there was just one executioner – a South African who travelled between several countries in the region, carrying out hangings. When he arrived in Malawi, once every couple of months, the prisoners on death row knew that time, for some of them, had run out. One day Byson remembers being told that his name was on the list of 21 people to be hanged within hours. A guard told him that executions would begin at 13:00 and that he should “just start praying”. They continued until 15:00, when the executioner stopped work. But he had not reached the end of the list. Three people, including Byson, would have to wait until he returned. The same thing happened twice more, Byson says. The list was drawn up, but the hangman didn’t finish it – and each time, by chance, Byson was among those left alive at the end of the day. On the third occasion, all the prisoners on the list were executed except him, he says. In a way he was lucky, but the experience took its toll on him and he attempted suicide twice – only to survive this too. 

On This Day

• 1854 – A Penny Red with perforations was the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.  
• 1920 – Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.  
• 1981 – The 6.7 M_s Gulf of Corinth earthquake affected Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people were killed, 400 were injured, and damage totalled $812 million.  
• 1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa and offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.  

Deaths

• 1993 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)  
• 2006 – Octavia E. Butler, American author and educator (b. 1947)   
• 2014 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Emily Blunt (36), Dakota Fanning (25), Kelly Macdonald (43), Aziz Ansari (36), Thomas Jane (50), Drew Barrymore (44), Jeri Ryan (51), Kyle MacLachlan (60), Julie Walters (69), James Hong (90), Nigel Planer (66), Ellen Page (32), Sophie Turner (23), Kelsey Grammer (64), William Baldwin (56), Tyne Daly (73), Anthony Daniels (73), Sidney Poitier (92), Brenda Blethyn (73), Rihanna (31), Cindy Crawford (53), Anthony Head (65), Trevor Noah (35), Millie Bobby Brown (15), Benicio Del Toro (52), Jeff Daniels (64), Ray Winstone  (62), Leslie Ash (59), Seal (56), John Travolta (65), Molly Ringwald (51), Matt Dillon (55), Cybill Shepherd (69), Dr. Dre (54), Yoko Ono (86), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (38), Rene Russo (65), Bonnie Wright (28), Dominic Purcell (49), Ed Sheeran (28), Paris Hilton (38), Rory Kinnear (43), Patricia Routledge (90), Michael Jordan (56), Brenda Fricker (74), and Barry Humphries (85).

We have a winner!!! With the sad passing of Gordon Banks, Martin and Julia both score 69 points! Not a vast change in the leader board, but two more people up and running! Some interesting names in the list this time around, however a somewhat dry news week. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• John Haynes, 80, British publisher (Haynes Publishing Group).  
• Carmen Argenziano, 75, American actor (Stargate SG-1, Booker, Angels & Demons).  
• Betty Ballantine, 99, British-born American book publisher (Ballantine Books, Bantam Books).  
• Gordon Banks, 81, English footballer (Leicester City, Stoke City, national team), world champion (1966).  
• Bruno Ganz, 77, Swiss actor (Downfall, Wings of Desire, Nosferatu the Vampyre), colorectal cancer.  
• Serge Merlin, 86, French actor (Amélie, The City of Lost Children).

In Other News

Holly Willoughby called in sick to This Morning for two days due to illness! She left fans concerned after she called in sick on Wednesday after complaining about feeling unwell earlier in the week. Her co-presenter Phillip Schofield revealed the news during the opening of the show! He said: ‘Hello, Holly is still poorly, unfortunately, thankfully we have got Rochelle with us again today.’ Rochelle, 29, who is frequently used as a stand-in on the long-running show, took to her Instagram to share a picture of the ITV studios hours before going live. Phillip explained the unexpected change on Wednesday’s show, admitting that his co-host was stricken with the flu after complaining about feeling unwell while presenting the show throughout the week. ‘Holly is poorly today, if you’ve been watching through the week you’d know she’s been on a sort of downward spiral,’ he told viewers as the show got underway. ‘It started on Dancing On Ice and she wasn’t really brilliant on Sunday and it’s kind of got worse and worse and worse.’ He added: ‘Finally, she’s fallen over. She’s staying home today. Get well soon. She’s not going to be watching but get well soon.’

Leeds winger Jack Clarke is “responsive” in hospital after being taken ill during his side’s 1-1 Championship draw at Middlesbrough. The 18-year-old, who had been substituted at half-time, complained of feeling unwell in the dugout and was then carried away on a stretcher while being given oxygen. Leeds said in a statement: “Jack Clarke began to feel unwell during the second half of our Sky Bet Championship fixture with Middlesbrough and received medical attention. After the lengthy delay, manager Marcelo Bielsa revealed after the game that the player had shown signs of improvement. Bielsa said: “What we know is that he didn’t feel well. We don’t know the reasons yet, but when he was taken to the dressing room he was feeling better.  

And finally, a group of scientists has called for a ban on the development of weapons controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). It says that autonomous weapons may malfunction in unpredictable ways and kill ‘innocent’ people, but it’s ok if the people are ‘bad’ and maybe have some oil that we want.. Ethics experts also argue that it is a moral step too far for AI systems to kill without any human intervention. “We are not talking about walking, talking terminator robots that are about to take over the world; what we are concerned about is much more imminent: conventional weapons systems with autonomy, they are beginning to creep in. Drones are the obvious example, but there are also military aircraft that take off, fly and land on their own; robotic sentries that can identify movement. These are precursors to autonomous weapons.” The new motto should be: Keep Killing Human!

On This Day

• 1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30 others, all Protestants. Welcome to the new Brexit Britain.  
• 2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.  
• 2011 – Arab Spring: Libyan protests against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime begin.  
• 2015 – Eighteen people are killed and 78 injured in a stampede at a Mardi Gras parade in Haiti.

Deaths

• 1909 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (b. 1829)  
• 1982 – Thelonious Monk, American pianist and composer (b. 1917)  
• 2013 – Richard Briers, English actor (b. 1934)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Christopher Eccleston (55), LeVar Burton (62), Amanda Holden (48), John McEnroe (60), Alex Borstein (48), Jane Seymour (68), Matt Groening (65), Danai Gurira (41), Simon Pegg (49), Andrew Robinson (77), Zach Galligan (55), Teller (71), Mena Suvari (40), Neal McDonough (53), Stockard Channing (75), Kim Novak (86), Robbie Williams (45), Peter Gabriel (69), Josh Brolin (51), Christina Ricci (39), Michael Ironside (69), Arsenio Hall (63), Annette Crosbie (85), Jennifer Aniston (50), Natalie Dormer (37), Damian Lewis (48), Thomas Turgoose (27), Sheryl Crow (57), Elizabeth Banks (45), Chloë Grace Moretz (22), Keeley Hawes (43), Laura Dern (52), and Philip Glenister (56).