BRENDA Fricker first heard she’d been shortlisted for an Oscar in 1989 for her role as Mrs Brown in My Left Foot when a friend phoned over a crackling line from the United States.

Former President George Bush Snr was in good spirits as he gave a speech last night, a day after being overcome by the sweltering desert heat and staying overnight at a Southern California hospital.

Members of Russia’s oldest symphony orchestra struck the wrong chord when they began drinking heavily on board a transatlantic flight and became so rowdy they were ordered off.

Members of a Russian orchestra were ordered off a US plane after complaints they were drunk and disorderly.