Michael Fassbender had to master cracking a whip for '12 Years A Slave'.

A Californian judge took away Chris Brown's right to freedom in light of his arrest in October for an alleged assault in Washington, D.C., but rather than sentencing him to jail, has said he can continue with his current 90 day court-ordered rehab treatment for anger management.

Israel has published the names of 26 Palestinian prisoners, most of them jailed for deadly attacks, who are to be released this week as part of a US-brokered deal that led to a resumption of Middle East negotiations.

A violent weather system that claimed 12 lives in Oklahoma and Arkansas amid tornadoes and flash floods gave way to clearing skies as the storms trekked toward the US east coast today.

One person is dead after a shooting at Marine Base Quantico in the US, and the authorities are in a stand-off with the suspect, who has barricaded himself in the barracks.

Maine has approved same-sex marriage, giving the gay rights movement a breakthrough victory.

Superstorm Sandy laid waste to the campaign strategies of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney with just a week remaining in their intensely close race for the White House.

Susan Sarandon claims the US government has tapped her phone.

President Barack Obama, with the help of a slowly improving US economy, is gaining ground in many of the 14 states where the presidential contest with Mitt Romney hangs in the balance.

Madonna has announced her 2012 World Tour. It includes a July 24 date in Dublin's Aviva Stadium.

A court hearing for three suspects in the Russia spy case was postponed today amid speculation the US and Russia are arranging a prisoner swap.

An enormous patch of waste plastic debris covering thousands of square miles has formed in the Atlantic, researchers said today.

BERNARD HOPKINS collapsed to his knees in his dressing room, drained from a brutal fight and exhausted by the end of his 17-year wait for revenge against Roy Jones Jr.

A blizzard battered the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States today, quickly dumping large amounts of snow that piled up on roads and toppled trees on to buildings and cars.

Brad Pitt was granted a private meeting with US President Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss the issue of Hurricane Katrina-hit New Orleans, Louisiana.

They danced in the streets, wept, lifted their voices in prayer and brought traffic to a standstill.

Actress Lindsay Lohan has hit out at the press for pursuing her even when she's out clubbing - because it makes her feel like a caged animal.

Two medical helicopters collided yesterday afternoon about a half-mile from a northern Arizona hospital, killing at least six people and critically injuring a nurse, a federal official said.

Ben Affleck showed he's all heart when he helped comfort a sobbing motorist who rear ended his pal's sports utility vehicle.

Ozzy Osbourne was forced to postpone a concert in Portland, Maine on Thursday night because he was suffering from the flu.

Climate-change critics complain they have been kept out of the international debate by mainstream scientists who dismiss them as oil industry lobbyists or lunatics.

Pop superstar Michael Jackson has 90 days to pay back a $23m (€16m) loan plus interest or he faces losing property including his Neverland Ranch in California, according to legal papers.

Beyonce Knowles is calling on her Los Angeles-area fans to generously donate to her food drive project - the first 1,000 fans to drop off a minimum of $5 (€4) or three cans of food will receive a signed photo of the pop superstar.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunited for a rare performance on stage at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night as part of a tribute to singer/songwriter Simon.

Singer Sheryl Crow reportedly had a falling out with US political heavyweight Karl Rove after trying to touch the Deputy Chief Of Staff's arm midway through a green policy debate.

Six days of national mourning for former US President Gerald Ford has begun with military honours and a simple family prayer service at his parish church.

A woman on a trans-Atlantic flight diverted to Boston for security concerns yesterday, passed several notes to crew members and urinated on the cabin floor.

Fighter jets escorted a London-to-Washington, D.C., flight to Boston’s Logan airport today after the pilot declared an emergency because an apparently claustrophobic passenger caused a disturbance, a federal official said.

An overseas flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Washington, D.C. was diverted to Boston today after the pilot declared an emergency because of a passenger disturbance, the airline said.

Two brothers serving in Iraq’s police forces were killed today when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle as they returned home in southeastern Baghdad, police said.

Churches in the United States are weaving music from the Irish rock band U2 with their more formal traditional liturgy.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II wants a program for the Middle East modelled after the Marshall Plan, which is credited with saving post-war Europe from economic and political disarray.

Nasa plans to announce “significant findings” about the history of water on Mars discovered by its Opportunity rover.

A JUDGE yesterday ordered a change of venue for the trial of sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, moving the case from Fairfax County to Chesapeake, 200 miles to the south.

Kiefer Sutherland looks startlingly like his actor father Donald Sutherland, with that same square face and piercing eyes.

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy was shot and critically wounded as his aunt dropped him off at school yesterday, bringing fresh terror to the Washington area where a sniper killed six people last week.

Mike Tyson is lining up a June bout with David Izon in Sydney, Australia.