BBC News - Shirley MacLaine to join Downton Abbey, Jan 30, 2012

"Oscar-winning US actress Shirley MacLaine is to join the cast of Downton Abbey for its third series as the mother of Lady Grantham.
MacLaine - whose character is named Martha Levinson - will begin filming with the rest of the cast next month.
"It is so exciting to have an actress of Shirley MacLaine's stature joining our brilliant Downton Abbey cast," said Laura Mackie, ITV's director of drama."
ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

BBC News - EU summit: UK and Czechs refuse to join fiscal compact, Jan 30, 2012

"Twenty-five of the EU's 27 member states have agreed to join a fiscal treaty enforce budget discipline.
The Czech Republic and the UK refused to sign up. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would act if the treaty threatened UK interests.
He still has "legal concerns" about the use of EU institutions in enforcing the fiscal treaty, he said."
ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

SMH - The world's best? Clarke's sheer weight of runs poses argument, Jan 30, 2012

"IS MICHAEL CLARKE the best batsman in the world right now?Had the Australian captain been asked that question as he mustered the energy to raise his bat towards the members in Adelaide as he walked to the dressing room with 210 against his name, he would doubtless have answered in his deferential way that he did not regard himself even as the best batsman on the field."
ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

LA TIMES - Ian Abercrombie obituary: Actor on 'Seinfeld' dies at 77, Jan 30, 2012

"Ian Abercrombie, 77, the British character actor who played Elaine's demanding boss, Mr. Pitt, on "Seinfeld," died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his friend Cathy Lind Hayes. He suffered complications of kidney failure and recently had been diagnosed with lymphoma." ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

LA TIMES - Gigi Gordon obituary: Crusading criminal defense lawyer dies at 54, Jan 30, 2012

"Gigi Gordon, a crusading criminal defense lawyer who battled corrupt police and overzealous prosecutors to free dozens of prisoners who had been wrongfully convicted, committed suicide after struggling with multiple sclerosis and depression. She was 54."
ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Kim Schmitz Best Mw3 Player in the World, Jan 30, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS