celebrity entertainment

The two heavyweights team up once again.

Rick Ross and Jay Z have quite a history together, and they added to that history on Tuesday (November 11) with their new song, “Movin’ Bass.”

The Timbaland-produced track is a pounding play on words, as it references both selling music (bass) and drugs (base). Hov handles the hook duties and doesn’t kick a verse — like he has on previous collabs — but instead leaves that to Rozay, whose gruff flow carries the track.

“Grammy-nominated once, but I’m still moving bass,” Ricky raps, before Jay adds his chorus: “Record jumping out the store, still moving bass.”

What do you think? How does this compare to their past work, like “Maybach Music,” “F–kWithMeYouKnowIGotIt” and “Free Mason”?

The song will be included on Ross’ upcoming album, Hood Billionaire, due out November 24.

celebrity

I'd recognize these silhouettes anywhere. But the background? Hmmm looks vaguely familiar I guess.

Beyonce may not be that into Twitter, but she is definitely the queen of Instagram. Just take a look at this photo of one of the most photographed, touristy spots in the world—The Eiffel Tower. Was Beyonce content to post a picture of the iconic La Tour Eiffel? Nah. Instead, she turned it into one of the most legitimately beautiful, intimate portraits of her family that we’ve seen yet.

celebrity

Romeo Castelen (right) in action against Wellington Phoenix. 

FOR weeks on end he has kicked his heels - a frustrated spectator as his teammates have gone on to be champions of Asia.

But finally Romeo Castelen gets the chance of a leading role, as the Wanderers bid to pull their A-League campaign out of a rut on Saturday night in Perth.

The 31-year-old Dutchman hopes for only his third start for Western Sydney at the weekend, having signed just too late for inclusion in the Asian Champions League.

But any irritation at being sidelined has quickly become motivation at the prospect of taking part in the Club World Cup, and a possible date with Real Madrid.

“It’s been very hard, I was here at the very beginning but I knew I would not be able to play in any of the games in the ACL,” Castelen said.

“At the time you think, that’s just how it is. But then the guys are training for a specific game, doing all the preparation, so it was difficult.

“But equally they made me very happy, because of the boys I get to play in the Club World Cup. Everybody gets the chance to help the team out and I’m so happy to the boys for winning the Asian championship.

“It gives us a big stage to show ourselves and put the club in a bigger spotlight.

The fitness levels and performances still expected to come from Castelen are one of the reasons why Tony Popovic remains unconcerned about Western Sydney’s winless start to the season.

The player himself predicts an almost immediate improvement, and is likely to get the run of games he craves as one of the freshest members of the squad.

“As a footballer, the more games you get the more fit you are and the more in tune with the team,” he said. “It takes time, but in a couple of weeks I think I will be ready. “I’m not the sort of player who needs a lot of games to hit my stride, already I’m looking forward to the next game.

“I’ve not had regular games, it’s been a few weeks to get a run again [between the Sydney derby and Phoenix last weekend] til I get a run again.

“It’s been a bit different, but now there is the chance of a lot of games one after the other. Now I can really enjoy myself, get my shape back and get into form.”

At least he will have got through the two toughest away trips in quick succession, with the trip to Perth preceded by that eye-opening journey to Wellington.

“It’s a difficult thing in Australia, now I’ve had my first major trip I know what the boys are going through playing in Asia midweek and flying back,” he said.

“It’s very tough, which makes what they achieved all the bigger. But now all the players are back, and the ACL is behind us, we can focus on the A-League.

“It’s never nice to lose games, but it’s a huge boost just knowing we are the champions of Asia. We have to switch on to a new competition, basically start all over again. We have to prove ourselves on the pitch, and we will get better over time.”

celebrity

The actress starred in more than 100 episodes of Casualty as paramedic Nina Farr

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• 'Motherhood helped me fight breast cancer'
• Half with cancer 'live a decade'Watch
• One-shot cancer therapy gets NHS nod

Former Casualty actress Rebekah Gibbs has died from cancer.

The 41-year-old played paramedic Nina Farr for more than 100 episodes of the BBC medical drama between 2004 and 2006.

Her agent Belfield and Ward tweeted the news: "Darling Rebekah Gibbs, a true inspiration and dazzling light, never to be forgotten."

She left Casualty to have a family and was diagnosed with cancer after the birth of her daughter in 2008.

Gibbs was just weeks away from giving birth when she first noticed a lump in her breast.

Doctors were reassuring and said it would be benign.

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Former Casualty actress Rebekah Gibbs talks about discovering a lump on her breast just before she gave birth

But just months after having baby Gigi and after pushing for further treatment because she felt something was wrong, the actress was told she had a particularly aggressive cancer.

Speaking to the BBC in 2010 when she had celebrated two years of being cancer free, she said that she didn't take anything for granted.

"I won't get cocky though and I take each day as it comes. I am always a little unsure about the future," she said.

She wrote about her experience of breast cancer in a weekly column forthe Daily Mirror, saying the exact moment she found the lump was "one that will be etched on my memory forever".

"I close my eyes, and I am right back there, in front of the TV, feeling petrified as I desperately run my finger above my baby bump and under my breast, willing the lump to disappear.

"That crushing fear has stayed with me. It's with me every day."

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Rebekah Gibbs as paramedic Nina Farr in an episode of Casualty.

The actress, who also appeared in The Bill and on stage in A Chorus Line, Grease and Starlight Express, was given the five year all clear in April 2013.

She said she was "really content" to have reached the milestone but in August she had a seizure while on holiday in Devon.

She was taken to hospital and was diagnosed with two brain tumours.

Her husband Ashley Pitman said she died in the early hours of Wednesday at The Hospice in the Weald in Kent with family by her side.

In a statement he said: "Rebekah had wonderful care and felt loved and safe right up until the end, especially with the outstanding nursing staff at the Hospice in the Weald, who were exceptional.

"I'd like to thank them and her dear, loving friends, from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support we received over the last year. Without which Rebekah and I would not have been able to cope.

"I'd also like to thank everyone for their kind wishes and messages at this difficult time. My daughter and I take a great deal of comfort from this as we come to terms with life without our Rebekah."

James Redmond, who starred with Gibbs in Casualty tweeted: "So sad to hear lovely Rebekah Gibbs has passed away. She lit up every room with her smile and positivity. R.I.P."

Coronation Street actress Hayley Tamaddon tweeted: "My dear friend passed away today. A true star, always smiling and so positive.

"So many memories. We will never forget you Becky. Keep twinkling. Wherever you are."

Worldwide

Years of rumours were finally put to bed recently when news broke that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass would be reuniting for another Bourne film, and now Damon himself has confirmed that it's all systems go for the next instalment of the action franchise.

It had seemed that any such reunion was unlikely, particularly after Jeremy Renner had been drafted in to take the series in a new direction, but now Damon has confirmed that Jason Bourne will be taking centre stage once more.

“Yes, next year,” said Damon, when asked by E! Online whether he would be shooting a new Bourne film. “It’ll be in 2016 when the movie will actually come out.”

“Paul Greengrass is going to do another one and that’s all I ever said,” continues the star. “I just needed him to say ‘yes’.”

Universal has yet to confirm an official release date for the film, but with cameras set to roll next year, and 2016 pencilled into the slate, it looks like we won’t have too long to wait to see Bourne taking names and snapping necks once more

entertainment

Sheffield United say they allowed convicted rapist Ched Evans to train with them following a request from the Professional Footballers' Association.

Evans, 25, was freed last month after serving two-and-a-half years for rape.

A Blades statement  said: "After due consideration, the board has decided to respond favourably to the PFA's request to allow Evans to train at the club."

However, they are "not prepared at this time" to decide whether to re-sign the Wales international striker.

Ched Evans's career
Club	Games	Goals
Manchester City	16	1
Norwich City (loan)	28	10
Sheffield United	113	48
Wales	13	1

The League One club's statement continued: "The club acknowledges receipt of a request from the PFA to the effect that the club consider allowing Mr Evans, who is a PFA member, to train at the club's facilities.

"According to the request, this training would be with a view to enabling Mr Evans to get back to a level of fitness, which might enable him to find employment in his chosen trade.

"This request has come to the club, because it is the last club at which Mr Evans was registered before his conviction.

"The club agrees with the recent statements of the PFA, to the effect that professional footballers should be treated as equals before the law, including in circumstances where they seek to return to work following periods of incarceration.

"There can be no place for 'mob justice'."

Sheffield United's statement was released at 18:00 GMT, eight hours after the news of Evans training with the club was broken by BBC Sport.

Play media

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Evans released a video statement on his website in which he said he wanted to play again

The Football League said that "while we fully understand the gravity of the offence", if a request was received from any of its member clubs to register Evans, they would "have no option but to accept it".

Evans, who maintains his innocence, has scored 59 goals in 167 appearances during spells with Manchester City, Norwich City and Sheffield United.

He was sentenced to five years in April 2012 for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel room in May 2011, having been found guilty by a jury at Caernarfon Crown Court. At his trial, he admitted to having sex with the woman but denied rape.

Evans was released from prison in October after serving half of his sentence. He has not offered any apology to his victim.

He has so far declined any request to be interviewed by the BBC, but released a video statement on his personal website, in which he said he wanted to play again.

An inquiry into his conviction is to be fast-tracked by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body which examines potential miscarriages of justice.

Almost 157,000 people have signed a petition urging Sheffield United not to take the player back after the club chose not to renew his contract following his conviction. His deal expired during his incarceration.

Campaign groups have criticised the decision to allow him to train with his former club.

Rape Crisis England & Wales spokeswoman Katie Russell said: "Sheffield United has given no indication that they feel they have any responsibility towards the huge numbers of sexual violence survivors who follow their club or attend its matches.

"It has become clear that many people still consider rape in some contexts and circumstances more 'real', more harmful than others, and believe some rape survivors are therefore more 'worthy' of empathy than others."

End Violence Against Women Coalition spokeswoman Sarah Green said: "We are appalled that top football club Sheffield United are taking the first step to allowing an unrepentant convicted rapist back into their team this week.

"Footballers are critical role models for young men and women in particular, and the player concerned is now set to return to top-flight football when he has shown no remorse for his crime."

Sources maintain that Blades manager Nigel Clough is still to decide whether he wants the striker in his squad, and insist that allowing Evans to train with them does not necessarily mean he will be offered a fresh contract.

However, Clough has said that any decision on the convicted rapist is one for United's co-owners, Prince Abdullah Bin Musa'ad Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, and Kevin McCabe

Worldwide

Nigeria's military is battling to end the five-year insurgency

Continue reading the main story

Boko Haram

• What now?
• Escape from Boko Haram
• Battle to free the girls
• 'I saw my parents killed'

Nigeria's ambassador to the US has criticised Washington for refusing to sell his government "lethal" weapons to fight militant Islamists.

Nigeria needed support to deliver the "killer punch", not "light jabs" against the Boko Haram group, Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye said.

His comments came as the militants seized the north-eastern Mahia town.

The US has previously ruled out heavily arming the Nigerian military because of its alleged poor human rights record.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has formally declared himself as the governing People's Democratic Party's candidate (PDP) presidential candidate for February's election at a colourful ceremony in the capital, Abuja.

Governing party supporters cheered on President Goodluck Jonathan as he declared his candidacy

He called for a minute's silence for the victims of the suicide bomb attack at the school on Monday

He called for a minute of silence for the 46 teenage boys who were killed in Monday's suicide bombing at a school in Potiskum town in Yobe, one of the three north-eastern states under a state of emergency because of Boko Haram's insurgency.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs”

Adebowale Ibidapo AdefuyeNigerian ambassador to the US

The attack has highlighted the depth of the crisis escalating in the north-east, the BBC's Nigeria correspondent Will Ross reports.

But the politicians of all parties appear more focused on the pursuit of power in oil-rich Nigeria and that is playing right into the hands of Boko Haram, he says.

'Rumours'

Government soldiers have been accused by rights groups of carrying out many atrocities, including torturing and executing suspects.

US laws ban the sale of lethal weapons to countries whose military are accused of gross human rights abuses.

Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have been under emergency rule since May 2013

But Mr Adefuye said the accusations were based on "half-truths", rumours and exaggerated accounts, which were being spread by political opponents ahead of the elections.

"The US government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria's request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time,'' Mr Adefuye told members of the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

"We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the US presence in Nigeria with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly,'' he added.

Villages are often targeted by Boko Haram

Soldiers say they are poorly equipped to fight the militants

Mr Adefuye said Boko Haram was Nigeria's equivalent of the Islamic State group, and threatened the nation's "territorial integrity".

"There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch," he said.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in times of adversity," he added.

Who are Boko Haram?

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is the most wanted man in Nigeria

• Founded in 2002
• Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
• Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
• Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
• Some three million people affected
• Declared terrorist group by US in 2013

What now after ceasefire fiasco?

Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau

Boko Haram has recently changed tactics, focusing on holding on to territory rather than launching hit-and-run raids.

It has now captured Mahia to add to the territory the group already controls, our reporter says.

It is a small town near Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa state, which Boko Haram last week renamed Madinatul Islam - City of Islam.

In April, Boko Haram sparked global outrage by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok town in Borno state.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has dismissed government claims to have agreed a ceasefire, under which the girls would be released.

He says the children have converted to Islam, are learning to memorise the Koran and have been married off.

The US, China, UK and Israel had promised to help Nigeria track down the girls.