Liz Smith, the syndicated gossip columnist whose mixture of banter, barbs, and bon mots about the glitterati helped her climb the A-list as high as many of the celebrities she covered, has died aged 94.

Scarlett Johansson has fulfilled a “lifelong dream” by delivering the weather report on TV.

The number of American children having obesity surgery has trebled in recent years, surging at a pace that could mean more than 1,000 such operations this year, research suggests.

The number of US children having obesity surgery has trebled in recent years, surging at a pace that could mean more than 1,000 such operations this year, research published today suggested.