Hilary Mantel won Britain's Costa Book Award on Tuesday for her novel "Bring Up The Bodies", which has now done the double having claimed the Booker Prize.

The judges described the book, the second part of a planned trilogy about king Henry VIII's adviser Thomas Cromwell, as "head and shoulders" above the other contenders.

Hollywood star Liam Neeson went back to the stage where he first trod the boards as he was awarded the freedom of his home town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland on Monday.

The star of "Schindler's List" and "Michael Collins" started his acting career performing in pantomimes at the town's Braid Theatre.

Cissy Houston has a few words, and a few more, for Bobby Brown.

In "Remembering Whitney," the mother of the late Whitney Houston writes that from the start she had doubted whether Brown was right for her daughter. And she thinks that Whitney might not have ended up so "deep" into drugs had they not stayed together.

A horror-movie twist on the classic "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale shot straight to the top slot at the North American weekend box office, industry figures showed Monday.

"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," in which the once lost brother and sister have grown up to become grim-faced bounty hunters, debuted in first place with $19.7 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The casino industry is booming across Asia, offering anyone looking for high-stakes action a wide choice of venues, from high-tech South Korea to the Himalayan nation of Nepal and communist Vietnam.

Anyone, that is, except South Koreans, Nepalese or Vietnamese.

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown is under investigation for an alleged assault in a West Hollywood parking lot, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said early Monday, and fellow singer Frank Ocean tweeted that he had been attacked.

Deputies responding to a report of six men fighting Sunday night found the scene clear, but witnesses told them there had been a brief fight over a parking space.

He's acted, danced and sang his way through movies, television and the stage, making Dick Van Dyke an entertainment triple-threat long before Hollywood used such hyphenates.

The 87-year-old actor, best known for the 1960s hit comedy "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and Disney's big-screen musical "Mary Poppins," can now add lifetime achievement honoree. He added that honor to his resume at Sunday night's 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Iran hostage crisis drama "Argo" won the best film drama prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards Sunday, in yet another boost for its prospects at next month's all-important Oscars.

Steven Spielberg's top-tipped presidential drama "Lincoln" also scored successes with best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, and supporting actor Tommy Lee Jones.

Thanks to Psy's "Gangnam Style" smash hit, the South Korean music industry's long-held dream to make it big in Europe and the USA with its K-pop boy bands has taken a giant leap forward.

But Psy's international success looks unlikely to have a big knock-on effect in other Asian countries, experts said at the MIDEM music industry gathering in Cannes.

A Lebanese-made supercar, the LykanHypersport, will be unveiled at the Qatar motor show this year and will become the most expensive motor in the world to be sold at £2.2 million, reports said.

The car becomes the world's most expensive above the Bugatti Veyron, which costs a mere £1.5 million.