There's a little more urgency to the latest instalment of 'The Hobbit' series, but has director Peter Jackson gone far enough?

There is a moment early in 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' when Gandalf The Grey (Ian McKellen) turns to diminutive hero Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) and counsels: “All good stories deserve embellishment.”

Up to four British soldiers have been injured, but none killed, in an explosion near a military base in Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defence said today.

Nato was taking command of the 5,000-strong international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan’s capital today, a historic move that marks the alliance’s first operation outside Europe since it was created 54 years ago.