Prince William receives RAF wings
LONDON: Prince William moved one step closer to becoming a Royal Air Force search and rescue pilot on Friday having completed an advanced helicopter training course. The second in line to the throne graduated alongside fellow students at RAF Shawbury and was presented with a flying badge by his father. William is following in the steps of his father, Charles, who served as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot, as did his uncle, the Duke of York, who was a Sea King helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands war.
Gervais raps Twitter as ‘undignified’
LONDON: British comedian Ricky Gervais has blasted Twitter as fun for teenagers but “undignified” for grown-ups — and questioned the motives of celebrities who use the micro-blogging platform. Gervais, due to host the Golden Globes on Sunday, also raised doubts about the value of tweeting from the 67th edition of the pre-Oscars film awards in Beverley Hills. Referring to this weekend’s awards ceremony, he said he assumed Twitter was “a bit of a marketing tool for The Globes. But they are watched by 25 million people in America alone and maybe 300 million people world wide. Gervais shot to fame as co-author of the ground-breaking British TV sitcom “The Office,” which won him a Golden Globe in 2004, and has just released his first feature film as director, “The Invention of Lying.”
David Beckham helps kids with homework
LONDON: Soccer star David Beckham is using technology to help his kids with their homework. While they’re in the US and he’s in Italy, he teaches them over the Internet. The Los Angeles-based star is on loan at A.C. Milan, separating him from wife Victoria and their three sons. But the England ace is refusing to neglect his fatherly duties, and has been using the Internet to keep in touch with his family back home, reported contactmusic.com. “The other night I said to David, ‘I am really struggling with the homework here and I have so much going on at the house’ so I sat Brooklyn down in front of the computer and they Skyped for 20 minutes. Brooklyn did his reading to Daddy over the Skype,” said Victoria.
DJ AM’s estate settles plane crash lawsuit
LOS ANGELES: Court filings show DJ AM’s estate has settled a lawsuit filed over a South Carolina plane crash that killed four and left the celebrity disc jockey seriously injured. DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, died in August in New York of an accidental overdose. Attorneys later amended the lawsuit to include a wrongful death claim. He had been seeking $20 million in damages, but a jury would have had to approve that amount. Goldstein and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were the only survivors of the September 2008, which is still under investigation.
- Compiled from agencies
