Oscars: Historic Win For Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis has made Oscar history after becoming the first man to win the best actor trophy three times.

The British-born actor was honoured for his portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's historical drama.

He spent a year preparing for the role and, in his customary method, remained in character during the production.

Accepting his Oscar from Meryl Streep, Day-Lewis said: "I really don't know how any of this happened, I do know I've received more than my fair share of good fortune in my life."

Christoph Waltz won the first award of the night

He joked Streep had been the first choice to play Lincoln and he had been committed to play Margaret Thatcher - the role that won Streep an Oscar last year - before tearfully thanking his mother.

He previously won in 1989 for My Left Foot and in 2007 for There Will Be Blood.

It was a good night for British talent with Adele winning the Oscar for best original song for her Bond theme Skyfall.

The tearful singer thanked her songwriting partner Paul Epworth for "believing in me all the time, and my man, I love you baby".

She wowed the audience of A-listers in the Dolby Theatre with her first ever live performance of the 23rd Bond film's title track.

Dame Shirley Bassey wowed the audience in the theatre

Ben Affleck's Iran hostage thriller, Argo, won the Oscar for best picture, despite the star being snubbed in the best director category.

The nominees for best film were introduced by First Lady Michelle Obama from the White House, before she named Argo as the winner.

Affleck, who also starred in the film, paid tribute to the "genius" Spielberg whose film, Lincoln, lost out in the category.

Referring to his success with 1997's Good Will Hunting, he said: "I never thought I would be back here and I am because of so many of you who are here tonight."

He added: "It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life, all that matters is that you get up."

The cast of Les Mis took to the stage

It was the first time since Driving Miss Daisy in 1990 that a film won the top prize at the Oscars without its director also being nominated.

The show's host Seth MacFarlane, the man behind hit cartoon Family Guy, started proceedings by poking fun at the Academy for not nominating Affleck, saying the plan was "so top secret the film's director is unknown to the Academy".

Taiwanese director Ang Lee picked up the statuette for best director for Life of Pi, beating Spielberg who many expected would collect the award for Lincoln. Lee collected the same award for Brokeback Mountain in 2005.

In a night that was otherwise short on shocks Jennifer Lawrence claimed the best actress gong for Silver Linings Playbook.

The 22-year-old fell as she climbed the steps to the stage to claim her prize.

Some had predicted the award would go to French actress Emmanuelle Riva who starred in Amour and at 86 was the oldest woman ever to be nominated. She won a Bafta award earlier this month for the role.

Jennifer Lawrence fell on the stairs to the stage

Anne Hathaway picked up the best supporting actress statue for her role in the musical Les Miserables.

The star, who only featured as Fantine in the film for around 15 minutes, fought back tears as she said "it came true" and thanked her husband and everyone who worked on the film.

She had been widely predicted to win the award in a tough category where Sally Field, Helen Hunt, Amy Adams and Jacki Weaver were also nominated.

Christoph Waltz won the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for his role in Django Unchained.

Waltz offered thanks to his character and "to his creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world, Quentin Tarantino".

It was the second time in three years he has won the category - his first Oscar was for his role in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Waltz beat off stiff competition from Alan Arkin, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones.

Some of host Seth MacFarlane's jokes were a bit close to the bone

Tarantino went on to collect the prize for best original screenplay.

Brave, the Scottish story of a rebellious, red-headed princess, won the Oscar for best animated feature.

Amour, a French-language film about an elderly couple won best foreign language film which was accepted by its Austrian director Michael Haneke.

Skyfall also won the trophy for best sound editing, which was tied with Zero Dark Thirty. It is only the third time in Oscar history that winners have been tied.

The night of British success started with Jacqueline Durran winning for her costume design on Anna Karenina and the make-up and hairstyling award went to Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for Les Miserables.

The presentation of awards was broken up by a series of musical performances including Catherine Zeta-Jones singing All That Jazz from Chicago and Jennifer Hudson performing I'm Telling You from Dreamgirls.

A tribute to the Bond films and music made up of classic clips of 007's adventures was introduced by one-time Bond girl Halle Berry.

And 76-year-old Dame Shirley Bassey took to the stage in a gold dress to sing Goldfinger which received a standing ovation.

But it was a medley of Les Miserables songs sung by the cast that left the audience with goosebumps.

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Nick Clegg On Rennard: I've Nothing To Hide

Nick Clegg has insisted he has "nothing to hide" over the handling of allegations about sexual harassment by his party's former chief executive.

The Deputy Prime Minister is facing accusations of a cover-up after admitting he knew five years ago about the claims against Lord Rennard.

Several women have accused the peer of inappropriately touching and propositioning female party workers, which he strenuously denies.

Mr Clegg admitted on Sunday that his office had been aware of "indirect and non-specific concerns" about his conduct back in 2008 but insisted the party had acted properly.

Lord Rennard in this year's Pancake Race

Amid further questions about exactly what he knew, the leader said on Monday: "Until last week, no very specific allegations were put to me.

"We acted on general concerns which had been expressed sometime ago but, of course, now that those general concerns have evolved into specific allegations, we can act and we will."

He added: "I have got nothing to hide, the party has nothing to hide ... I totally understand people have got lots and lots of questions but I hope I have given a full, frank, honest account.

"I happen to know some of these women very well. One of them worked for me. I spoke to her just last night. She never, ever said anything about this until now."

In his statement on Sunday, Mr Clegg said he was "angry and outraged" at the suggestion he would not have acted had the allegations been put to him.

"When indirect and non-specific concerns about Chris Rennard's conduct reached my office in 2008, we acted to deal with them," he said.

"My chief of staff at the time, Danny Alexander, put these concerns to Chris Rennard and warned him that any such behaviour was wholly unacceptable."

Mr Clegg's aides have insisted that he only learned about the specific complaints made against Lord Rennard after a Channel 4 News report last week.

But the women claim they reported Lord Rennard's alleged behaviour to senior party officials at the time, but no further action was taken.

There are now new reports that Mr Clegg's chief of staff Jonny Oates was contacted about detailed allegations back in 2010.

Danny Alexander confronted Lord Rennard

The Telegraph published on its website an exchange of emails in which it listed five allegations and gave dates and locations for the alleged inappropriate acts.

It also said the paper knew the identities of the women concerned and suggested that Jo Swinson and Mr Alexander had been involved in investigations into Lord Rennard's alleged conduct.

Mr Oates replied at the time: "It is untrue to state that Mr Clegg was made aware of the incidents you allege.

"Given this fact, it is obviously untrue to state that Mr Clegg asked Jo Swinson or anyone else to carry out an investigation into the incidents that you allege."

Lib Dem President Tim Farron - who is now overseeing a new inquiry - has acknowledged the party "screwed this up".

"We screwed this up as a party. There are individuals out there who we had a duty of care towards and we did not fulfil that duty of care," he said.

Lord Rennard was a key party strategist and adviser to a succession of Liberal Democrat leaders before standing down due to ill health in 2009.

He has said he is "deeply shocked" by the allegations, which he "strongly disputes" and regards as a "total distortion" of his character.

An independently chaired review is to be held into Lib Dem procedures and how they were applied at the time. A separate investigation into the peer will also be conducted under the party's disciplinary rules.

Former Lib Dem head of press Mark Littlewood said: "Nick Clegg is definitely going to have to outline and spell out in exact detail what he knew and when and what actions he took."

Labour's shadow minister for equalities and women, Kate Green, said: "At issue is not just a series of serious allegations from a number of women, but how the Liberal Democrat Party responded to those allegations.

"Only with a fully independent investigation can the public have confidence that the truth will prevail and lessons learned for the future."

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Britain's Top Cardinal Keith O'Brien Resigns

The most senior priest in the Roman Catholic Church in Britain has resigned over allegations of inappropriate behaviour up to 30 years ago.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien's immediate resignation comes a day after claims by three priests and a former priest emerged in a newspaper.

The 74-year-old tendered his resignation as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in November to Pope Benedict XVI, but said in a statement today: "The Holy Father has now decided that my resignation will take effect today.

"Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended."

Cardinal O'Brien missed mass at St Mary's on Sunday

The Cardinal should have been travelling to the Vatican this week to help choose the next Pope, but he said he would not be joining the conclave.

"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor," he said.

His absence from the conclave means Britain now has no-one able to vote in the forthcoming election of the next leader of the 1.2bn Roman Catholics worldwide.

The Cardinal missed traditional mass at his main cathedral, St Mary's in Edinburgh, on Sunday after The Observer newspaper published the allegations dating back to the 1980s.

The report said the three priests and the former priest in Scotland reported the cardinal to the Vatican over allegations of "inappropriate behaviour".

The Observer said the four statements containing the claims were submitted to the Papal Nuncio Antonio Mennini's office the week before Benedict's resignation was announced on February 11.

It is understood that Cardinal O'Brien contests the claims.

In his resignation statement, Cardinal O'Brien said he had previously offered to step down but it has only been accepted now.

The cleric had been expected to quit on March 17 - the date of his 75th birthday.

Cardinals older than 75 are not allowed to vote in the conclave, which is expected to take place in the next three weeks.

Cardinal O'Brien is no stranger to making the news with his views.

Last week, he called for the Catholic Church to end its celibacy rule for the priesthood.

He had told the BBC: "I realise that many priests have found it very difficult to cope with celibacy as they lived out their priesthood, and felt the need of a companion, of a woman, to whom they could get married and raise a family of their own."

He has also been an outspoken opponent of plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

Last year his stance landed him the award, Bigot of the Year, from the gay rights group Stonewall.

In 2007 he caused controversy when speaking on the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act.

He said the termination rate north of the border was equivalent to "two Dunblane massacres a day".

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Dagenham Acid Attack: Two People Arrested

Police investigating an acid attack on a woman in east London have arrested two people on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

Naomi Oni, 21, suffered injuries to much of her face when she was attacked in Lodge Avenue, Dagenham, at around 12.40am on December 30.

She was returning home from work at a shopping centre in Stratford and was on the phone to her boyfriend at the time.

"When I first saw my face, I was shocked," she told ITV's This Morning. "I was angry that someone had done that to me. I couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt me like that.

"I want them to realise the pain they've put me and my family through.

"They may have burned my face but they can't burn me as a person."

The attack happened in Lodge Avenue, Dagenham (Pic: Google Street View)

The Metropolitan Police said a 21-year-old woman, who is not Ms Oni, and a 28-year-old man were arrested on Friday and Sunday respectively. They have been bailed while investigations continue.

Officers now want to speak to a potential witness who got off the route 368 bus in Lodge Avenue around five minutes after the attack.

He is described as black, aged between 20 and 30-years-old, around 5ft 5ins tall and of medium build. He was wearing a black jacket, a black hooded top and blue jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Barking and Dagenham CID on 020 3276 1058 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Boris Calls London Assembly Members 'Jellies'

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has reacted with anger after the London Assembly rejected the chance to quiz him about his budget.

Mr Johnson had been due to be questioned by Assembly members on his £16.5bn budget for the capital in a session at City Hall.

But they voted by 16 to eight in favour of not scrutinising his decisions for 2013/14, leaving the politician incredulous.

He said: "They have no questions. They don't want to scrutinise. Are you saying they are abdicating their duty to scrutinise me?

"Are you saying they haven't the guts to put questions to me?  Great supine proto-plasmic invertebrate jellies.

"That's it? They don't want to ask any questions."

Assembly chair Jennette Arnold battled to continue the meeting as Mr Johnson muttered his protests while he gathered his belongings and walked out.

The budget, which has sparked controversy for proposing to axe 12 London fire stations and cuts to police spending, was later approved unamended.

Mr Johnson said in a statement: "It is vital that we boost economic growth and create the jobs that we need to help lift this city and country out of our current economic difficulties.

"Businesses will only want to invest here if they see us offering the best quality of life for a major world city.

"That means building more houses, making London safer and continuing with crucial infrastructure projects like the upgrade of the Tube and Crossrail - delivering value for money, whilst making London safer and ensuring that we have emergency services that we can continue to be proud of is one of my key priorities."

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Tamara Ecclestone Blackmail: Ex Found Guilty

A former fiance of model and socialite Tamara Ecclestone has been found guilty of blackmailing her for £200,000.

Derek Rose, of Camden, north London, was in a relationship with the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone when she was just 17.

The 33-year-old went out with Ms Ecclestone, now 28, in 2002 before he changed his name by deed poll from Jonathan Ketterman.

Southwark Crown Court heard Rose and 20-year-old media studies student Jakir Uddin - whom the jury have yet to deliver a verdict on - plotted together to blackmail Ms Ecclestone.

Rose held his head in his hands when the jury announced the guilty verdict.

The jury are still deliberating their verdict on Jakir Uddin

They were accused of drafting an email together which they sent to her manager Dana Malmstrom, threatening to reveal her "intimate secrets".

The letter claimed Rose had received "a life-changing offer of £200,000" for details of their relationship - although no newspaper had made an offer.

Uddin sent the email acting as Rose's official representative on November 16, 2011, in a move the prosecution said the defendants hoped would prompt Ms Ecclestone to buy their silence.

The prosecution told the trial the tone of the letter was "you don't really want that in the press whether it's true or not".

Part of the email was written in bold but not read out in court. It referred to an "incident".

Rose and Uddin, of Birmingham, both denied blackmail.

Judge Goymer told the 11-strong jury it must reach a majority verdict of 10 to one on Uddin.

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Italy Elections: Centre-Left Ahead In Exit Polls

The centre-left bloc led by Pier Luigi Bersani is leading a national vote in Italy, early exit polls have shown.

The polls on Italian TV show the conservatives led by Silvio Berlusconi trailing by about five percentage point in the lower house, while a comedian at the helm of a protest movement has had a strong showing.

However, the Senate is more complicated, and the result could turn on a handful of regions, including some in which Mr Berlusconi has traditionally been strong.

The two days of polling, held at a time of economic crisis, are testing the Italians' resolve to stay the course of painful economic reform.

According to polls on Sky Italia, Mr Bersani's coalition has taken 35.5% of the vote for the lower house of parliament, ahead of the centre-right coalition under former premier Mr Berlusconi with 29%.

The poll by Tecne has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%.

Silvio Berlusconi is trailing in the polls

A political movement founded by comic-turned-political agitator Beppe Grillo is projected to take 19% of the vote, while outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's centrist coalition has 9.5%.

The austerity measures brought in by Mr Monti, an unelected economist, have caused widespread public resentment.

The vote is being closely watched in the eurozone, with the Italian government's future commitment to austerity measures particularly under scrutiny.

Beppe Grillo's protest movement is the new force in Italian politics

The first results based on partial vote counts are due in the next few hours.

Italy's electoral laws guarantee a strong majority in the lower house to the party or coalition that wins the biggest share of the national vote.

The Senate is elected on a region-by-region basis, and big regions including Lombardy in the rich industrial north and the southern island of Sicily will likely be crucial.

Adding to the uncertainty, the surge in protest votes supporting Mr Grillo's Five-Star Movement could undermine the stability of any future government.

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Irish Vet Killer Jailed For At Least 37 Years

By Mike McCarthy, North Of England Correspondent

A man who murdered a vet in North Wales before cutting up and disposing of her body had a long-standing fantasy to imprison, rape and kill a woman, a court has heard.

Production manager Clive Sharp, 47, was jailed for a minimum of 37 years at Mold Crown Court after admitting murder.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Griffith Williams told Sharp: "This is a horrific, cold hearted murder, carried out to gratify your perverted sexual desires."

The court had been told that Sharp had bought a Halloween mask, bleach, a hacksaw, bin bags and heavy duty tape before going to the home of Catherine Gowing, 37, in Flintshire.

Emma Gowing talks to the media after the sentencing

Sharp initially denied murdering Miss Gowing, originally from Ireland, but his DNA was found on her mattress and parts of her body subsequently found in police searches.

The court heard that the evidence suggested that the victim had been tied up and raped before being murdered.

A length of fabric was found tied to the leg of her bed. It matched material found at the factory where Sharp worked.

Miss Gowing's sister Emma said outside court: "In life she measured herself against the following quote by Albert Pine - 'What we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others and the world remains and is immortal'.

"She was a beautiful light, she shone very brightly, she enriched the lives of all she encountered, all God's creatures.

"Her light is gone from our mortal world. She now shines elsewhere."

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Pierce told reporters: "He (Sharp) now faces life imprisonment and I doubt a tear will be shed if he is never released from prison."

The judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams described the crime as "carefully pre-meditated and planned."

He told Sharp: "You are in my view a very serious danger to women."

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Michael Ayoade Jailed For CCTV Punch Attacks

A man who punched a teenage girl and a female student, leaving them unconscious on the ground, has been jailed for four years.

Michael Ayoade, 35, of Greengate Street, Plaistow, east London, was caught on CCTV staging the random attacks in Plaistow, east London.

In the second attack on November 13 last year, he jogged up behind a 16-year-old girl in Plaistow High Street and punched her in the head. The teenager fell to the ground, breaking three of her teeth.

A year earlier, Ayoade punched a university student in the side of the head at Plaistow tube station. His victim, Daniella Montieth, was taken to hospital with a broken tooth.

Passing sentence at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Roger Chapple said Ayoade had launched "vicious, unprovoked attacks on young, lone females".

He said: "These images are indeed worth many thousands of words. The footage captures graphically the shocking violence of these attacks.

"In both cases there was but one blow. In the case of (the 16-year-old) it can plainly be seen from the CCTV footage that the force behind the blow was massive.

"The ferocity of the blow that you struck to her after running up behind her with full force was truly shocking.

"In both cases the force of the blow was such as to render the victims unconscious albeit mercifully not for long."

Ayode, who is originally from Nigeria, followed the teenager for 800m before attacking her.

Prosecutor Joel Smith told the court Ayoade said she had "looked at him in a rude way" and that he could not go through the rest of the day having taken "an insult from a little person like that".

Ayode, who was arrested shortly after the second attack, admitted two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and one of possessing cannabis after a bag of the drug was found at his home.

Defending, Gillian Frost said Ayoade, who had smoked three or four cannabis joints and drunk a cup of vodka before attacking the teenager, had not wanted to cause more serious harm to either woman.

He was jailed for four years for the attack on the teenager and 19 months for punching the student, although the two sentences will run concurrently.

There was no separate penalty for the cannabis charge.

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Legal Action For 'Venables Twitter Photo'

The Attorney General has announced contempt proceedings will be made against individuals who posted photographs purporting to show Jon Venables or Robert Thompson.

A statement from Dominic Grieve MP said court papers would be served against a number of individuals shortly.

Under the terms of an injunction, publication of any image or information purporting to identify anyone as Venables or Thompson is prohibited.

The terms of the order mean that if a picture claims to be one of Jamie Bulger's killers, even if it is not actually them, it would breach the order.

The statement said: "There are many different images circulating online claiming to be of Venables or Thompson; potentially innocent individuals may be wrongly identified as being one of the two men and placed in danger.

James Bulger was led from a shopping centre and murdered

"Breaches of the order may be a contempt of court punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.

"It is also a criminal offence to encourage others to commit acts of violence or to publish online malicious communications."

Venables was 10 when he and classmate Thompson abducted and murdered two-year-old James in Liverpool in February 1993.

Images recently appeared on the social network site Twitter claiming to show an adult Venables, who was released from jail on licence with a new identity in 2001.

Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, of the High Court Family Division, made an unprecedented court order banning publication of any information which could lead to the revelation of their new identities.

Venables, now 30, had his parole revoked in 2010 and was jailed for two years after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children.

James's mother Denise Fergus, has always opposed the injunction, fearing it could lead to innocent men being accused of being James's killers.

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