JAMES BOND DIRECTOR LEWIS GILBERT DIES AGED 97
LONDON: British filmmaker Lewis Gilbert has died at the age of 97, James Bond producers said of the director famed for his work on three 007 movies. “It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of our dear friend Lewis Gilbert,” producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said on Tuesday ( Wednesday in Manila), describing the director as “a true gentleman.” They added that “he made an enormous contribution to the British film industry as well as the Bond films. . . His films are not only loved by us but are considered classics within the series.” Gilbert directed Sean Connery in the 1967 You Only Live Twice, returning to the British film series a decade later with The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) starring Roger Moore. While most well-known for his work on the spy series, Gilbert also directed a young Michael Caine in the 1966 movie Alfie which gained four Oscar nominations. Born in east London in 1920, Gilbert’s first directing credit came in 1945 with The 10 Year Plan, a documentary about postwar housing. After a lengthy career including production and writing roles, his last of 33 directing credits came in 2002 with Before You Go.
STREISAND SAYS SHE CLONED HER DOG – TWICE
LOS ANGELES: Not once, but twice: before Barbra Streisand’s dog died, she cloned it.
The US singer and actress disclosed this in an interview published Tuesday by Variety magazine. Streisand’s dog Samantha—a Coton de Tulear, a small breed with a cotton- like coat— died last year. The cloned versions are named Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett.
Streisand, 75, did not give many details of the cloning but said she collected cells from the mouth and stomach of her dying dog. Of the new dogs, and Samantha, the two-time Oscar winner said: “I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her brown eyes and seriousness.” When Streisand brought the dogs home she dressed them in violet and scarlet to tell them apart. She has a third dog, a distant relative of Samantha, that she calls Miss Fanny.
TAIWAN DEVELOPER DETAINED OVER DEADLY QUAKE BUILDING COLLAPSE
TAIPEI: The developer of a building in Taiwan that partially collapsed during an earthquake has been detained for negligent manslaughter. The lower floors of the 12-storey Yun Tsui residential building—which also housed a restaurant and hotel—pancaked when a 6.4-magnitude quake struck Hualien on February 6. A total of 17 people died across the eastern coastal town, 14 of them in the Yun Tsui building. Yun Tsui’s developer, surnamed Liu, was detained on Tuesday on suspicion of “manslaughter due to occupational negligence,” while three others— the building’s architect and the two owners of the restaurant and hotel on the lower floors— were questioned and released on bail. They have not yet formally been charged. The Hualien District Prosecutors Office alleged that Liu did not have the necessary engineering qualifications yet oversaw the building’s construction instead of contracting a professional firm. Prosecutors said in a statement that Liu employed workers and supervised himself, leading to a significant reduction in the structural strength and seismic capacity of the completed building. They said it the reason why the Yun Tsui collapsed within eight seconds of the earthquake.