The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ****

Bilbo and the company of dwarves continue their journey to its epic conclusion.

Hobbit stars past and present were reunited on the green carpet for the world premiere of the final film, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies.

THE Old Vic’s version of The Crucible, due to be sccreened soon in Irish cinemas, grabs you by the throat. Arthur Miller’s timeless classic was inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy’s hunt for communists in 1950s America but is set amidst the hysteria of the 1692 Salem witch trials in New England.

'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug' leads the Jameson Empire Film Award nominations.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ***

Ryan Gosling has been tipped to play Batman in the 'Man of Steel' sequel.

Tom Hiddleston has been named as 'The Sexiest Actor in Movies Right Now', beating 'Twilight' star Robert Pattinson into second place.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ***

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.”

The Duke of Cambridge attended the UK premiere of the new Hobbit film on his own tonight, saying his pregnant wife Kate “would have loved to have been here if she could”.

Billy Connolly is going from Big Yin to tiny dwarf to complete the cast of Peter Jackson’s movie version of 'The Hobbit'.

Cate Blanchett has signed on for ‘The Hobbit’.

James Nesbitt has won a part in ‘The Hobbit’.

Amid disputes over where 'The Hobbit' movies will be shot, Peter Jackson and the executives behind the films announced the cast for the anticipated two-picture tale.

The US State Department's former number two said the practice of waterboarding terror suspects was torture and he hoped he would have had the courage to resign had he known the CIA was using the interrogation technique.

Former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says he was foolish to have revealed the identity of a CIA employee.

The man who was once US vice president Dick Cheney’s closest adviser is facing up to 25 years behind bars after being convicted of lying and obstructing a media leak investigation that shook the top levels of the Bush administration.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush said yesterday he was “taken aback” by a purported US threat to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age if it did not cooperate in the fight against terrorism after the September 11 attacks.

President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan says the United States threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the September 11 attacks if he did not help America’s war on terror.

THIEVES have stolen the only master tapes for the BBC’s new £8 million series on Robin Hood and are demanding a £1 million ransom for their safe return.

US Under-secretary of State John Bolton’s chances of winning Senate approval to be UN ambassador appeared to brighten as Republican fence-sitters drifted in his direction.

The purported leader of Taliban-linked militants holding three United Nations hostages, including Armagh woman Annetta Flanigan, said his group was split over whether they should “get rid” of the captives.

Taliban-linked kidnappers of three UN election workers, including an Irish woman, claimed today that a deal could be close for their release.

A Senate report detailing serious flaws in US intelligence-gathering highlights the urgent need for a permanent CIA director given the current terrorist threat, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said.

TERRORISTS yesterday targeted Saudi police headquarters in the capital Riyadh with a suicide bomb attack that killed at least four people.

A US general today called on Sunni militants in Fallujah to join in a ceasefire to allow further negotiations between Iraqi leaders and representatives of the besieged city.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell was released from Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington today, three days after his cancerous prostate gland was removed.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell underwent surgery for prostate cancer in Washington today.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell was undergoing surgery for prostate cancer in Washington today.

Saudi Arabia received assurances of help in the war on terror today after a suicide car bombing killed at least 17 people and injured dozens in the capital Riyadh.

SAUDIS blamed al-Qaida militants last night for the suicide car bombing of a Riyadh housing complex, declaring it proof of the terror network’s willingness to shed Muslim blood in its zeal to bring down the US-linked Saudi monarchy.

The Bush administration is preparing to ask the United Nations to transform the US-led force in Iraq to a multinational force and to play a leading role in forming an Iraqi government.

THE commander of US forces in Iraq yesterday blamed continuing violence on insufficient intelligence and lack of co-operation from the Iraqi people.

The French foreign minister today called for the deployment of a UN-run international force in Iraq, arguing that merely increasing troops under US and British control would not be enough.

India has rejected Pakistan’s offer for mutual destruction of nuclear arsenals, but the Indian prime minister has said his country is seeking ”friendship” with its South Asian neighbour.

India will not reciprocate on Pakistan’s offer to dismantle its nuclear weapons, but hoped never to have to use them against its long-time rival, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee told parliament in New Delhi today.

Washington has urged the United Nations to follow its example and lift economic sanctions against Baghdad.

THE Pakistani Government says it would get rid of its nuclear arsenal if India were prepared to the same.

A secret peace plan for Iraq has come as a surprise to the United States.

The US Army recently doubled the size of its war stocks in Kuwait to accommodate a little-noticed expansion of armoured forces at a base near the Iraqi border, officials said.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL Kofi Annan urged the United States to resist attacking Iraq, joining calls from leaders in Germany, China, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain yesterday for restraint in considering military action to topple Saddam Hussein.

Eight shepherds in Indian Kashmir were today gunned down in their homes by suspected Islamic militants, police said.

President George Bush and key Arab ally, Jordan’s King Abdullah, have disagreed over a possible US attack to topple Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the pace of American peacemaking in the Middle East.