Meryl Streep has been nominated for 18 Academy Awards and 29 Golden Globes, including one for Into the Woods this Sunday, but she hasn't always been the actress of choice.
On "The Graham Norton Show," the "Into The Woods" star recalled a time when she auditioned for the 1976 film King Kong with producer Dino De Laurentiis. His son had seen a then-unknown Meryl in a play and brought her in to audition for the role of Dawn.

Since Streep, 65, knew Italian, she understood Dino's words as he asked his son, “Why do you bring me this ugly thing?”
She then responded in Italian, saying, "I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in "King Kong."
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NIGERIA - A number of powerful emirs have turned down a fellow emir's lobby for President Goodluck Jonathan in readiness for the February polls. 

The emirs, The Nation is reporting, have decided to remain neutral and support anyone who the electorate votes in. 

The newspaper's source said: “The Emir has been telling his colleagues that Jonathan has been fair to the North and to avoid a dent in the North/South south relationship, the President should be allowed to have a second term in office.

“Some of these Emirs and royal fathers pointed to the volatility of Northern politics and opted to take the back seat to await the people’s choice. Remember how a special adviser was burnt to death in the Second Republic for querying the Emir of Kano.

&ld ... Read more »

Police say a shooting has injured five people near a club where Grammy-winner Chris Brown was performing in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Police say Brown escaped any injury in the early Sunday morning shooting. The San Jose Mercury Newssays the shooting happened near San Jose's Fiesta nightclub, where Brown was performing for a private party. Cellphone video posted online by fans appears to show Brown wincing as the shots rang out nearby, then being ushered away by others.
Police say all five people injured in the shootings are expected to survive. Police say they have detained several people. No information was im ... Read more »

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Buses belonging to President Goodluck Jonathan's campaign team were vandalizedand burned down yesterday in Jos. (Buhari has already given his response here)

President Jonathan's spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, has responded on behalf of the President through his Twitter account.

The tweets below capture the Presidency's opinion of the episode:

When Hollywood gathers for the 72nd annual Golden Globes on Sunday night, real-world events may loom over what's usually one of the industry's most carefree and rollicking evenings.
The three-hour ceremony, which NBC will televise live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, beginning at 8 p.m. EST, comes on the heels of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. It also follows Hollywood's own international incident over provocative parody: the hacking attack against Sony Pictures prompted by the North Korea farce "The Interview."
Yet Tina Fey and Amy Poehler can be counted on to exercise their right to free speech in the duo's third year in a row hosting. The night' ... Read more »