I’m sorry everyone, fuck all has happened during the last week. I’ll bet you a toenail shaving that you will not have heard of any of this weeks demises! Luckily we have a few news snippets to be getting along with, otherwise we might have had to cancel this weeks edition!!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Candida Royalle, 64, American pornographic actress, producer and director, ovarian cancer.
• Dickie Moore, 89, American child actor (Our Gang, Sergeant York, Oliver Twist).
• Bryn Merrick, 56, Welsh bassist (The Damned), cancer.
• John Connell, 91, American actor (Young Doctor Malone, Fail Safe, Family Business).

In Other News

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is on antibiotics following a fresh blood infection, the palace has revealed. The 87-year-old king, perceived as a near-deity by many Thais, has been in Bangkok’s Siriraj hospital since being readmitted in May but information on his condition has been scarce. In a statement released late on Monday the royal household said Bhumibol had come down with a high fever, chills and low blood pressure last Thursday. “The result of blood checks found that he had an infection in his blood. The result of a chest X-ray found that his right lung was inflamed,” the palace said. “As a result the doctors have given him some antibiotics and saline drip. They have also given him some oxygen.” Bhumibol has been in and out of hospital for much of the last two years and rarely makes public appearances. A day before his latest bout of illness the palace released footage of the wheelchair-bound monarch visiting a shop near the hospital where he is convalescing. Subjects on their knees chanted “Long live the King.”

Mad Men star Jon Hamm and his partner of nearly two decades, film-maker and actor Jennifer Westfeldt, have ended their relationship. Hamm, 44, and Westfeldt, 45, first met in 1997 and became known as one of Hollywood’s most stalwart couples. However, in March 2015, just before Mad Men’s eighth season finale, it emerged that Hamm had completed a course of rehab for alcoholism which must have played a part in the split. If he was drinking before, we’re pretty sure he’ll be quaffing bars dry right now. Let’s see if his liver is strong enough!

Some of you might have noticed that our beloved Queen has managed to hang on to her privileged life for longer than anyone else in British history, even longer than Queen Victoria, and she had an Age named after her! At exactly what time Elizabeth II would overtake her great-great grandmother’s reign of 23,226 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes, remained uncertain as her father, George VI, died in his sleep, but it is thought to be at around 1am. So, using that as a basis, and factoring in leap days in both reigns, Buckingham Palace’s formula plumped for around 5.30pm as a safe bet. But no parties for Queenie, it was “business as usual” as she officially opened the new £294m Scottish Borders Railway.

And finally, an escapologist, who hoped to out-manoeuvre Harry Houdini during a Buried Alive stunt, was left with a broken rib after he failed to break through to the surface almost nine minutes into the daring bid. Antony Britton hoped to escape unaided after being handcuffed and buried in a standard-size grave, under six feet of soil. But the daredevil had to be hauled out by crew members when he lost consciousness and now says he is ‘lucky to be alive’. An anxious audience at Slaithwaite Spa, West Yorks, watched as Mr Britton was rescued, taken to a waiting ambulance and given oxygen, before coming round. Mr Britton said his biggest disappointment was to discover he was just two feet from the surface when he had to be rescued. Antony is only the third person in 100 years to attempt the Buried Alive challenge. Legendary escapologist Harry Houdini, who was known around the world for his elaborate escape routines, failed in 1915 while magician Alan Alan had to be dug out in 1949. They should have left him in there in my opinion!

On This Day

• 1501 – Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David.
• 1609 – Henry Hudson reaches the river that would later be named after him – the Hudson River.
• 1898 – Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film.
• 1899 – Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.
• 1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.
• 1985 – Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES

Deaths

• 81 – Titus, Roman emperor (b. 39)
• 1996 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, and actor (Digital Underground and Outlawz) (b. 1971)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Roger Waters (72), Macy Gray (48), Delores O’Riordan (44), Pippa Middleton (32), Idris Elba (43), Gloria Gaynor (66), Chrissie Hynde (64), Julie Kavner (65), Evan Rachel Wood (28), Martin Freeman (44), Hugh Grant (55), Adam Sandler (49), Rachel Hunter (46), Eric Sonestreet (44), Michael Buble (40), Colin Firth (55), Guy Richie (47), Karel Lagerfeld (82), Brian De Palma (75), Virginia Madsen (54), Moby (50), Ian Holm (84) and Linda Gray (75).

Next Week peeps!

Welcome all, yet another newsletter in your inboxes! There’s a few big names in the list this week, alas no points to award. ’tis a cruel game indeed!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Wes Craven, 76, American film director, writer and producer (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, The Hills Have Eyes), brain cancer.
• Joy Beverley, 91, British singer (Beverley Sisters), stroke.
• Dean Jones, 84, American actor (The Love Bug, Company, Beethoven), Parkinson’s disease.
• Sir Adrian Cadbury, 86, British businessman and rower, chairman of Cadbury.
• Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 75, Nepalese primordial dwarf, shortest man in recorded history, pneumonia.
• Rico Rodriguez, 80, Cuban-born British trombonist (The Specials).
• Alan Steel, 79, Italian bodybuilder and actor (Samson, The Rebel Gladiators, Hercules Against the Moon Men).

In Other News 

Sue Perkins, the comedian and co-host of The Great British Bake Off on BBC2, has revealed that she has been living with a brain tumour for the past eight years. The broadcaster said the benign growth, which is on her pituitary gland, was found during tests which she underwent as part of another BBC show, Supersizers. Perkins, 45, who is in a relationship with the Channel 4 presenter Anna Richardson, also talked about how the tumour prevented her from having children due to its impact on the secretion of reproductive hormones. “We live in a time and place where we think everything is possible,” she said. “I don’t know if I would have gone on to have children. But as soon as someone says you can’t have something, you want it more than anything,” she said. “I’m lucky that it’s benign so it’s not in itself a worrying thing. Sometimes it’s big and makes me mad, and sometimes it’s small and is in the background. Sometimes it screws up my hormones. I have various tests now to make sure the side effects aren’t too onerous.”

Motorhead cancelled a show on Wednesday after a series of abbreviated performances amid renewed health concerns for the famously hard-living frontman, Lemmy. The English rockers left the stage in Austin, Texas, after playing three songs on Tuesday. The 69-year-old Lemmy told the crowd, “I can’t do it,” according to social media postings. The band, who also cancelled or cut short two other recent shows, said they would not perform a scheduled concert on Wednesday in San Antonio. It said Lemmy was suffering from altitude sickness after a performance in the Rocky Mountains state of Colorado. The 40-year-old metal band have won a loyal fan base for their high-decibel guitar rock and Lemmy’s instantly recognisable gravelly voice. Lemmy, also known for his lambchop sideburns and facial moles, was long synonymous with the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. He has said he used to drink a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey every day and that he has slept with more than 1000 women. But Lemmy has faced a series of health concerns including diabetes in recent years, forcing Motörhead to postpone a European tour in 2013. Lemmy has said he has cut down on drinking and quit smoking.

On Saturday evening, Markus Persson – the creator of Minecraft – overshared on Twitter. In a series of rambling and unabashed tweets, the multi-billionaire revealed that selling his independent gaming company Mojang to Microsoft has left him feeling empty inside. Many will undoubtedly scoff at Persson’s sentiments; they will find it difficult to feel sympathy for a man who cashed a $2.5 billion cheque not 12 months ago. But do Persson’s tweets prove that the age-old maxim – money can never really make you happy – is right? Is instant gratification, wealth and success not all we think it’s cracked up to be? If loneliness and depression is the outcome, then I suppose not!

Two-time major winner John Daly is out of hospital after collapsing during a minor tournament in the USA. The American, 49, was checked over by doctors who diagnosed a collapsed lung. He returned to playing less than 24 hours later and, according to the Associated Press, was smoking cigarettes on the clubhouse patio, definitely one to watch for us! Speaking about Saturday’s health scare, Daly said: “I was having a great time and then suddenly – boom – I’m falling down while on the 18th tee.” He added: “The next thing I know I’m in an ambulance. It was scary.” Not that scary, he’s not changed his smoking habits!

South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been discharged from hospital after spending more than two weeks receiving treatment for a recurring infection, his foundation has said. The 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate has been in and out of hospital in recent months. He was previously treated for an infection resulting from his prostate cancer treatment. The statement said Mr Tutu has expressed his thanks to staff at the Cape Town hospital. “The love, prayers and good wishes expressed by people around the world had been just as important as the medical attention in aiding the arch’s [Tutu’s] recovery,” his daughter Rev Canon Mpho Tutu said. Let’s see how long he lasts!

On This Day

• 1492 – Christopher Columbus sails from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, his final port of call before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.
• 1522 – The Victoria, the only surviving ship of Ferdinand Magellan‘s expedition, returns to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the world.
• 1620 – The Pilgrims sail from Plymouth, England, on the Mayflower to settle in North America.
• 1803 – British scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
• 1870 – Louisa Ann Swain of Laramie, Wyoming becomes the first woman in the United States to cast a vote legally after 1807.
• 1992 – Hunters discover the emaciated body of Christopher McCandless at his camp 20 miles (32 km) west of the town of Healy, Alaska.
• 1997 – The Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people lined the streets and 2.5 billion watched around the world on television.

Deaths

• 1998 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1935)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Cameron Diaz (43), Richard Gere (66), Raquel Welch (75), Van Morrison (70), Salma Hayek (49), Michael Keaton (64), Keanu Reeves (51), Beyonce Knowles (34), Charlie Sheen (50), Lily Tomlin (76), Barry Gibb (69), Rose McGowan (42), Jimmy Connors (63), Gloria Estefan (58), Warren Buffett (85), Lennox Lewis (50), and Al Jardine (73).

Next Week peeps!

Welcome all, to a rather lacklustre edition of the newsletter. Not much happened last week, so I’ve padded things out somewhat with interesting stories about pain and death. It might be time for me to send out the flying monkeys again!!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Marcy Borders, 42, American 9/11 survivor, subject of “Dust Lady” photograph, stomach cancer.
• Justin Wilson, 37, British IndyCar Series driver, head injuries from race collision.
• Colin Fry, 53, British medium and television presenter, lung cancer.
• Alison Parker, 24, American news reporter (WDBJ), shot.
• Adam Ward, 27, American news cameraman (WDBJ) and photojournalist, shot.
• Nelly de Vries-Lammerts, 110, Dutch supercentenarian.
• Kyle Jean-Baptiste, 21, American actor (Les Miserables), fall.
• Oliver Sacks, 82, British neurologist and author (The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat), liver cancer.

In Other News

Carol Vorderman, the television presenter, has revealed she is “covered in burns” after falling off a treadmill while running naked. The former Countdown number-cruncher disclosed she tripped while using the machine and ended up trapped up against a wall. Vorderman, 54, was intending to comfort a Twitter friend over a mishap, but she managed to trump the tale with her own story “It’s hilarious. Pain? I fell off a treadmill running naked (don’t ask). Now covered in burns and doctor’s dressings!” – Thus revealing her naked exercise mishap to her more than 330,000 followers! Vorderman later told the media she was exercising in the nude because she was “hot”. However, she said she would think twice before doing so again and was “not sure it will be an Olympic sport soon”.

Two-time major winner John Daly has been taken to hospital after collapsing during a minor tournament in the USA. The American, 49, has  been checked for rib and finger injuries, but a friend said his vital signs – temperature, blood pressure and heart and breathing rates – are good. Leigh Brannan of Deerfield Golf Club in Jackson, Mississippi said Daly was having breathing problems on a hot day. “He was struggling pretty badly right before he collapsed,” Brannan said. “We’re all hoping it’s nothing serious and that he was just a little dehydrated. He was even saying he still wants to play.”

Justin Gatlin could not get close to Usain Bolt in the 200m final in Beijing – but it appears he might have had better luck if he had been on a Segway and armed with a camera. Bolt completed another double at the World Athletics Championships and when he was celebrating with the crowd an overzealous cameraman got too close for comfort, lost control of his Segway and swept the Jamaican off his feet. The 10-times world champion did not appear badly injured by the incident, managed to see the funny side and was soon posing for pictures with his adoring crowd again. “It didn’t actually hit me in my Achilles, it hit me in my calf area,” Bolt said. “It’s all right, I will get over it. Never a doubt [for the relays], never a doubt. I am just going to get it massaged, ice it up a bit and I should be fine.” Bolt added: “The rumour I’m trying to start right now is that Justin Gatlin paid him off.”

An elephant in northern Thailand killed its handler before running off into the jungle with three terrified Chinese tourists still on its back! The Police said that on Wednesday morning a Chinese family of three – a father, mother and a young child – were taking a ride on the male elephant when it turned suddenly on its new keeper. The elephant had not taken well to his new mahout and turned on him suddenly, goring him to death. The media broadcast footage of the three frightened tourists being led back to camp, still on the elephant’s back, once it had been calmed down by other mahouts and their own elephants.

And in a continuation of goring, a man has died after being struck by a bull, the 10th such death in Spain this year, making it one  of the deadliest for the sport of bull running. The unidentified man in his late 40s was struck by a bull several times during a run in the north-eastern town of Borriol on Saturday and died in hospital, a local police spokesman said. This year’s toll matches the record of 10 deaths in bull runs, set in 2009. Last weekend alone four men died after being gored by half-tonne fighting bulls in four different towns. One of the victims, a 55-year-old man, was caught on video being repeatedly gored by a bull as he lay on the ground in front of a protective barrier that separated onlookers from bull run participants. And they say Cheese Rolling is dangerous!

And finally, celebrity psychic Derek Acorah has been trolled on Twitter following the death of his close friend Colin Fry. The grieving TV star was bombarded with comments after Psychic Private Eyes star Colin lost his battle with lung cancer, aged only 53. One user wrote, ”Hey Derek, he has sent a message for you, it’ll cost you 30 pound to hear it.” Another “You and Colin deal in the business of fooling the vulnerable for private gain. I couldn’t care less he’s dead.” The comments were widely condemned as fans rallied around the star. Believe what you will about psychics and mediums, but it’s rather telling that Acorah is sad at the loss if his fellow medium, surely he of all people should be able to carry on talking to his dead friend.

On This Day

• 708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time.
• 1831 – Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction.
• 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patents the world’s first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen.
• 1898 – The Goodyear tire company is founded.
• 1922 – The first radio advertisement is broadcast on WEAF-AM in New York City.
• 1930 – The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland.
• 1949 – Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.
• 2005 – Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing an estimated 1,836 people and causing over $108 billion in damage.

Deaths

• 1930 – William Archibald Spooner, English priest and author (b. 1844)
• 1968 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (b. 1881)
• 1982 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish-English actress and singer (b. 1915)
• 1987 – Lee Marvin, American actor and singer (b. 1924)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Sean Connery (85), LeAnne Rimes (33), Jason Priestley (46), Shania Twain (50), Aaron Paul (36), Billy Ray Cyrus (54), Barbara Eden (84), Steve Guttenberg (57), Elvis Costello (61), Paul Rubens (63), Shelley Long (66), Chris Pine (35), John McCain (79), Claudia Schiffer (45), Rachel Bildon (34), Rebecca DeMornay (56), Carla Gugino (44), Florence Welch (29), Jack Black (46), Gene Simmons (66), Stephen Fry (58), Rupert Grint (27), Tim Burton (57), Alexander Skarsgard (39), Barbara Bach (68) and Elliott Gould (77).

Next Week peeps!

Good afternoon everyone, a lovely day for sitting down and reading the current Dead Pool Newsletter. Not many deaths this week, however loads of deadly news to catch up on. Let’s do this!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Emma Didlake, 110, American supercentenarian, oldest veteran in the United States.
• Kitty McGeever, 48, British actress (Emmerdale).
• Goldie Steinberg, 114, American supercentenarian, oldest verified Jewish person.
• Yvonne Craig, 78, American actress (Batman, Star Trek, Olivia), breast cancer.
• Anna Kashfi, 80, British actress (The Mountain, Cowboy, Adventures in Paradise).
• Arthur Morris, 93, Australian Test cricketer.

In Other News

Former US President Jimmy Carter has revealed he is to be treated for cancerous tumours on the brain, in his first public comments on his illness. Mr Carter said he would start his radiation treatment on Thursday. Mr Carter, 90, was recently treated for liver cancer, after which it was discovered the disease had spread. He said he would “cut back fairly dramatically” on public works. “It is in the hands of God and I am prepared for anything that comes,” he said. Mr Carter told a press conference on Thursday he had at first thought the cancer was confined to his liver and that an operation this month had completely removed it. But an MRI scan the same afternoon showed four spots of melanoma on the brain. “I just thought I had a few weeks left, but I was surprisingly at ease. I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I have got thousands of friends and I have had an exciting and adventurous and gratifying existence.” Mr Carter said it was likely doctors would find cancer elsewhere in his body as his treatment continued. But he said: “I feel very good. I have had no pain or debility.”

Broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire has announced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The award-winning radio and TV journalist, 46, announced on Twitter on Wednesday evening that she would undergo a mastectomy as part of her treatment in the coming weeks and that she hoped to continue broadcasting her Victoria Derbyshire TV programme “as much as possible” while she recovered. Derbyshire said friends, family and colleagues were offering support and the NHS staff looking after her “were being brilliant”.

Terence Stamp was involved in a near-death experience on the set of his new film, according to an interview with the actor in the Daily Mail. The 77-year-old actor was involved in a near-fatal accident involving a horse during the shoot of Bitter Harvest. “My horse had a habit, when I brought it to a stop, of lifting its front legs up,” he said. “On my last day, I brought it to a stop but slid off the back … I looked up and saw that this horse, which weighed half a ton, had lost its balance and was going to fall directly on me.” Stamp went on to say that the horse fell on his chest and pelvis, leading to multiple injuries. “If it had landed any further up, it would have killed me,” he said. “It broke my pelvis in six places, two ribs and ripped a tendon in my arm. “I always imagined that my last thoughts would be somehow profound, but what went through my mind was, “Distinguished actor killed by horse’s arse.’” He joked that if he had been American, he might have considered legal action but he “couldn’t be bothered”.

South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu is to spend the next two weeks in hospital, according to a family statement. The Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation said he was on a new course of antibiotics to treat an inflammation. The 83-year-old Nobel peace laureate “is in good spirits and not in any pain,” the family said. This is his third stay in hospital in recent weeks. He was previously treated for an infection resulting from his prostate cancer treatment. Details of his current condition have not been released. The archbishop deeply appreciate the prayers and good wishes of so many, said his daughter, Reverend Mpho Tutu. “While my father was very grateful to the media for its concern, he had humbly requested journalists not to anticipate daily updates on his condition so that he could rest peacefully while receiving treatment,” his daughter added.

Diego Maradona has revealed he has been  clean from drugs for almost 12 years in a video released on his Facebook page, adding he has “chosen to live life for my daughters, grandchildren and those still to come”. Maradona has blamed his past drug use on failing to realise his true potential as a player who failed a doping test at the 1994 World Cup. Signing off the video from inside his swimming pool, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Maradona goes on to reveal his clean living. “I think there is nothing more to prove. I think my environment is my people. I’m about to be 12 years clean from drugs because it does not let me wake up every morning the way I do today. I have chosen to live life for my daughters, grandchildren and those still to come. And be careful, I still haven’t closed the factory.”

And finally, every year for more than 50 years, Japan’s new centenarians have been honoured with a silver sake cup and a congratulatory letter from the prime minister. But as the country prepares to mark Respect for the Aged Day next month, the latest crop of citizens who turned 100 in the past 12 months face disappointment, as the soaring number of centenarians puts a new strain on the government’s coffers. The saucer-like sakazuki, a gift from the government since 1963, could be replaced by a cheaper version or be scrapped altogether this year after the health and welfare ministry complained it could not afford to keep up with the number of new recipients. In 1963 Japan had just 153 centenarians, and as recently as 1998 the number stood at just 10,000. At the last count Japan’s 100-plus age group numbered almost 59,000, and that figure is expected to rise when the government
releases new population data before Seniors’ Day on 15th September. Last year the ministry spent 260 million yen (£1.3m) on giving the cups – each worth about 8,000 yen – to almost 30,000 people, including 25,000  women. Local media pointed out that some people die before the
gifts can be distributed, forcing them to be scrapped. Demographers predict that Japan’s centenarian population
will continue to grow as the general population ages – the result of regular medical examinations, universal healthcare and, among Japanese over a certain age, a fastidious attachment to the traditional low-fat diet of fish, tofu, vegetables and rice.

On This Day

• 1305 – Sir William Wallace is executed for high treason at Smithfield in London.
• 1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
• 1973 – A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.
• 1991 – Tim Berners-Lee opens the WWW, World Wide Web to new users.
• 2007 – The skeletal remains of Russia’s last royal family members Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anastasia are discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Deaths

• 1305 – William Wallace, Scottish commander (b. 1272)
• 1926 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian-American actor (b. 1895)
• 1960 – Oscar Hammerstein II, American producer, and composer (b. 1895)
• 2005 – Brock Peters, American actor and producer (b. 1927)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Robert DeNiro (72), Amy Admas (41), Sean Penn (55), Madonna (57), Steve Carell (53), Kristen Wiig (42), Robert Redford (79), Valerie Harper (76), Bill Clinton (69), Ty Burrell (48), Hayden Panettiere (26), Usain Bolt (29), Robert Plant (67), Kim Cattrall (59), Kenny Rogers (77), Andrew Garfield (32), Donnie Wahlberg (46), Edward Norton (46), Matthew Perry (46), Kevin Dillon (50), Christian Slater (46), Madeline Stowe (57), Denis Leary (58), Belinda Carlisle (57), James Cameron (61), Carrie-Anne Moss (48), Tori Amos (52), GZA (49), Julie Newmar (82), Ulrika Jonsson (48) and Jim Carter (67).

Next Week peeps!

Afternoon Poolers! Firstly, I have to apologise, I didn’t notice that Liz had George Cole on her list from last week, so I have to belatedly add 60 points to her tally and grovel for her forgiveness. Hopefully, I haven’t missed anyone else, so let’s get on with it.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Jack Gold, 85, British film director (The Naked Civil Servant, Aces High, The Medusa Touch).
• David Nobbs, 80, British novelist and comedy writer (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, The Two Ronnies, Fairly Secret Army).
• Susan Sheridan, 68, British voice actress (The Black Cauldron, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Noddy’s Toyland Adventures).
• Stephen Lewis, 88, British comedy actor (On the Buses, Last of the Summer Wine, Don’t Drink the Water). 
• Jazz Summers, 71, English music manager (Scissor Sisters, The Verve, Snow Patrol), lung cancer.

In Other News

Former US President Jimmy Carter says recent liver surgery revealed he has cancer and it has spread to other parts of his body. The 90-year-old statesman underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver earlier this month. He said he would reveal more “when facts are known, possibly next week”. President Barack Obama wished Mr Carter “a full and fast recovery” in a statement released on Wednesday. Carter was America’s 39th president. He was in office from 1977 to 1981, before being defeated for re-election by Ronald Reagan.

Elton John’s lawyer has said that he is pursuing three  French media outlets for publishing what he called “unfounded rumours” about the British pop singer’s health and that of his husband. “Sir Elton John and David Furnish … have instructed my office to pursue through the justice system the violation of the right to respect for their private life due to the publishing of unfounded rumours about their health,” Vincent Toledano said in a statement on Friday. John and his husband “will no longer tolerate the violation of their privacy and the exploitation of their renown and their image for commercial ends in France,” the lawyer added. What does the French media know that we don’t??

Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej is recovering from treated for hydrocephalus, an excessive build-up of fluid on the brain, say authorities. The 87-year-old, who has been in hospital since 31st May, also had a lung inflammation which has since subsided. Last October he had his gallbladder removed. He was in Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital for seven months, and was discharged in May this year, only to return to the hospital a few weeks later for medical tests.

A prominent Spanish matador was in serious but stable condition in hospital after being gored in the groin by a bull. Francisco “Paquirri” Rivera Ordóñez suffered the injury while fighting the bull in the town of Huesca and was in intensive care. The bull’s horn sank some 25cm (10in) into Paquirri’s groin but did not threaten any vital organs, doctors said. Television footage showed the bull hoisting Paquirri into the air for a few seconds on one of his horns. His father, of the same name, was gored to death in Andalucia in 1984. His grandfather was Antonio Ordóñez, considered one of the greatest bullfighters of all time. Obviously this ‘talent’ is not hereditary.

And finally, the Jack Russell terrier, who narrowly avoided a life in the dog pound to be raised for show business, was put down after a battle with prostate cancer. Uggie the dog, the canine star of Oscar-winning film The Artist, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 13. Starting out, as so many stars before him, in commercials, Uggie’s breakout role came as “The Dog” – loyal companion to George Valentin in Michel Hazanavicius’s ode to silent cinema, The Artist. The film won five Academy awards, including best picture in 2012, and Uggie himself was honoured with a Palm Dog award at Cannes film festival. He was also the first dog to leave his paw prints outside Grauman’s Chinese theatre in Hollywood.

On This Day

• 1819 – Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, England.
• 1896 – Skookum Jim Mason, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie discover gold in a tributary of the Klondike River in Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
• 1906 – An estimated 8.2 M_W earthquake hits Valparaíso, Chile, killing 3,886 people.
• 1927 – The Dole Air Race begins from Oakland, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii, during which six out of the eight participating planes crash or disappear.

Deaths

• 1888 – John Pemberton, American chemist, invented Coca-Cola (b. 1831)
• 1899 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (b. 1811)
• 1948 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (b. 1895)
• 1956 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882)
• 1977 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (b. 1935)
• 2003 – Idi Amin, Ugandan field marshal, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1928)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jennifer Lawrence (25), Ben Affleck (43), Hulk Hogan (62), Chris Hemsworth (32), Antonio Banderas (55), Mila Kunis (32), Steve Martin (70), Anna Kendrick (30), Halle Berry (49), Debra Messing (47), David Crosby (74), Natasha Henstridge (41), Magic Johnson (56), Gillian Anderson (47), George Hamilton (76), Rosanna Arquette (56), Princess Anne (65), Eric Bana (47), Audrey Tautou (39), Mark Knopfler (66), Pete Sampras (44) and Fidel Castro (89).

Next Week peeps!