London, Nov 29 : A letter written by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has been stolen from council offices.

London, Nov 29 : Renowned pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim is getting ready for his debut at New York''s Metropolitan Opera.

Barenboim, 66, will be the first conductor other than music director James Levine to lead the Met''s opera since 1974, and he will be taking charge of Richard Wagner''s Tristan und Isolde.

“Tristan is an opera about death. There is nothing more democratic in the world than death,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

“It is that death, the fear of death and the looking for death as the only possible way to solve the entanglement in which they find, this is the motor of the opera.

London, Nov 29 : Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay left people around him laughing their heads off when he cracked jokes about his alleged seven-year affair with Sarah Symonds on a TV show.

The 42yr-old’s cookery demonstration at the BBC''s Good Food Show in Birmingham was his first appearance in public since it was alleged that he had a long-term affair with Sarah, and he appeared very jovial during the show.

“What a week I have had. I want to give you a big thank you for coming - it''s been a tough week,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“If things go wrong and something slips out like ‘Oh f*** me’, I don’t mean it literally. It’s because it’s gone wrong,” he joked.

London, Nov 29 : The prank call episode might have left Russell Brand jobless, but it has made Andrew Sachs’ granddaughter famous.

Burlesque dancer Georgina Baillie has shot to fame, and insists that it is the best thing to have happened to her, in terms of work.

“This has really made a name for us. It has raised our profile like nobody’s business,” Daily Star quoted her as saying.

“We’re getting asked to come and be kinky and naughty all over the place.

“In terms of work it’s the best thing that could have happened to me.

“I have even been asked to do a book,” she added.

London, Nov 29 : Clive Owen and Naomi Watts starring political thriller ‘The International’ will kick off next year''s Berlin Film Festival.

The film, directed by Tom Tykwer, is based on the criminal business transactions that finance war and terror.

The 2009 festival, which will start on February 5 and will continue till 15th of the same month, has Britain''s Tilda Swinton chairing the international jury.

Tykwer, best known for his 1998 film ‘Run Lola Run’ and his 2006 adaptation of Patrick Suskind''s controversial bestseller ‘Perfume’, has launched the festival earlier in
2002 with his thriller ‘Heaven’, starring Cate Blanchett.

London, Nov 29 : English pop group Take That has smashed the UK record for the most pre-orders with their new album ‘The Circus’.

With just three days left for its release, the band has beaten Coldplay’s Viva La Vida’s pre-order record by 30pct, reports the Daily Star.

With the Circus tour planned next, the boy band including Gary Barlow, 37, Mark Owen, 36, Jason Orange, 38, and Howard Donald, 40 has made a record sell-out with its
600,000 tour tickets vanishing in just four-and-a-half hours.

Becoming the fastest selling tour in the UK history, the band’s 2009 stadium tour, ‘The Circus’, has managed to displace Michael Jackson’s record sales of ‘Bad tour’ tickets in 1987.