Hugh Grant Fears 'Not Being Good Enough'

Hugh Grant has told Sky News that he has "never had the acting bug" and that he thought he had put showbusiness behind him.

The actor, who is returning to the big screen with a leading role in Florence Foster Jenkins, said: "I haven't missed it.

"There's always been equal parts dread of failure, humiliation or not being good enough.

"I've never had a plan or worry about my acting career. I've never had the bug. Bits of it, I've enjoyed. I've enjoyed all the bits you're not supposed to enjoy."

This is Grant's first leading role since Did You Hear About The Morgans? seven years ago and he says he decided to return because of the script.

"I had largely put showbusiness behind me," he told Sky News.

"Although, (I) occasionally do little oddities like the Man From U.N.C.L.E or something - and then in the midst of all my other life, including Hacked Off, Stephen Frear said he's got a script - and I said I'm not interested - but he produced this thing that was a good part, and there was Meryl Streep, so I thought I have to do this."

Grant plays St Clair Bayfield in the film - a true story based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer despite having a terrible singing voice.

Meryl Streep takes the title role - something Grant admits was both a blessing and a curse.

"There was the prospect of trying to keep up with Meryl Streep, which was really terrifying," he said.

"She's got 18 Oscar nominations. She's in that tiny class of real genius like Leonardo da Vinci or Lionel Messi. But it's a treat - even if I hadn't have been acting it would have been quite fun just to watch her for eight weeks."

Florence Foster Jenkins is released in cinemas on 6 May.

Minister Quits Over Brussels Airport Security

A Belgian minister has quit after a report emerged criticising security almost a year before the Brussels Airport twin bombings.

Transport Minister Jacqueline Galant  resigned on Friday after the EU document detailing lapses in airport security oversight was leaked.

The confidential report from April last year was made public by two Belgian opposition parties.

It said the oversight of security at the country's airports was flawed and cited serious deficiencies in the way safety checks were managed.

Prime Minister Charles Michel confirmed the resignation saying "the minister presented her resignation to the King and the King accepted it".

Galant had said she had not seen the document, but Mr Michel said "a summary of this report was discussed and sent to the minister's cabinet in June 2015".

Belgium's interior and justice ministers volunteered to step down last month, but their resignations were rejected.

US Military Academy Considers Allowing Hijab

An elite US military school is considering an unprecedented request from a new student who wants to wear a traditional Muslim head scarf.

The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, said an incoming freshman who has been accepted for this year's term has asked to be allowed to wear a head covering.

A spokeswoman for the 174-year-old public military college, Kim Keelor, said it is the first time as far as she is aware that such a request has been made.

Citadel cadets must wear uniform at nearly all times

"The college is reviewing the request at this time," said a statement from the Citadel.

"We do not currently have anyone that has a special religious accommodation for uniforms."

Ms Keelor added the school, which admitted its first woman student in 1995, has had a number of other Muslim students.

The Citadel has a strict policy on religious requests

A decision is expected within the next couple of weeks.

Citadel students are required to wear their uniforms at nearly all times.

The Citadel's policy states it will approve religious requests "unless accommodation will have an adverse impact on a competing institutional interest including, but not limited to, cohesion, morale, good order and discipline, cadet welfare, safety and/or health".

Donald Trump visits the academy in February, 2015

Nick Pinelli, a Citadel cadet, said changing the uniform rules to accommodate one person was a "slippery slope".

"This girl should be welcomed to the Corps with open arms," he wrote on Facebook, "as should any person of any religion, race, gender, or identity.

"That's equality. It's not equality to let one of those groups follow a different set of rules."

Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Hits Southern Japan

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake has hit the southern Japanese city of Kumamoto, scientists have said.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning, saying that there was "a marine threat" present and people should leave coastal areas.

The warning, which the Japanese broadcaster NHK said was for a wave one metre high, was for the Ariake Sea and Yatsushiro Seas.

The quake hit at 1.26am on Saturday, local time, barely 24 hours after a 6.2 quake hit the same area.

At least nine people have been killed and around 800 others were injured when the previous tremor hit about 9.26pm (local time) on Thursday.

Three of those who died lost their lives in Kumamoto.

The United States Geological Service (USGS) reported that two aftershocks of magnitude 5.8 and 5.7 struck just a few miles away from the latest quake less than half an hour later.

Before the latest quake there had been a series of aftershocks in the area.

Farage Hits Out At Obama Ahead Of UK Visit

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has called Barack Obama the "most anti-British" US president in history.

The Leave campaigner took aim at Mr Obama ahead of the American president's visit to Britain next week, during which he is expected to express his support for the UK staying in the EU.

Addressing this prospect, Mr Farage said: "Mercifully, this American president, who is the most anti-British American president there has ever been, won't be in office for much longer, and I hope will be replaced by somebody rather more sensible when it comes to trading relationships with this country."

Mr Farage was speaking after handing the pro-EU leaflet produced by the Government back to Downing Street in protest at more than £9m of taxpayers' money being spent on the pamphlet.

The UKIP leader, who has backed Republican front runner Donald Trump for the presidency, is the latest Leave campaigner to hit out at Mr Obama.

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg warned the president's expected plea for the UK to keep ties with Brussels will backfire, as he accused Mr Obama of appointing IRA sympathisers to his top team.

Mr Rees-Mogg claimed senior figures in Mr Obama’s administration were "hostile to the UK", as he questioned whether the president could be considered a friend to Britain.

The Tory suggested the Brexit side had nothing to fear from an intervention by the US president.

"I don't mind him coming over to say what he wants because I think it helps Brexit," he told House magazine.

"I can't think the British people will want to be told what to do by a rather unsuccessful American president who has had one of the least successful foreign policies in modern history."

lso criticised Mr Obama for picking Joe Biden as his vice president and John Kerry as Secretary of State, as he claimed both men had hostile attitudes towards Britain.

The North East Somerset MP said: "He has appointed as two of his closest subordinates people who have a history of hostility to the United Kingdom.

"In the 1980s Joseph Biden and John Kerry voted against extraditing our immediately after the Brighton bomb. They held it up in a Senate committee.

"They are not friends of the United Kingdom, and I don't think we should forget how disgracefully they behaved then.

"It's as if the UK refused to extradite terrorists to the US after 9/11."

Czech Republic's Leaders Agree On New Name

The Czech Republic has finally picked a short form English name for the country - Czechia.

The name will make it easier for companies, sportsmen and others to label products and clothing.

The debate has raged since the republic split with partner Slovakia in 1993, spelling the end of Czechoslovakia.

But on Thursday, the president, prime minister, heads of parliament, foreign and defence ministers agreed on Czechia.

Once it is approved officially at a cabinet meeting the foreign ministry can lodge it will the UN.

Up until now, many people wanting to promote the country have written "Czech" across sports jerseys or product, but critics of that point out the word is an adjective so cannot be used as a one-word proper noun.

The new name needed to be inclusive because, while the largest part of the country is known as Bohemia - or Cechy in Czech - any new name needed to take in the historic regions of Moravia and Silesia.

Supporters of Czechia say the name, which was suggested soon after the 1993 split, can be traced back to the 19th century.

However, some opponents say the name sounds ugly and others suggest it sounds too similar to the Chechen Republic, or Chechnya, leading to possible confusion.

Avatar Director Cameron Promises Four Sequels

Avatar director and writer James Cameron has promised fans four sequels, instead of the previously-planned three.

Fox plans to release the first of the sequels at the end of 2018, with the others in 2020, 2022 and 2023, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Cameron made the announcement when he appeared as a surprise guest at Fox's CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday.

The filmmaker said he had found the idea of three sequels to be limiting.

"We began to bump up against the limitations for our art form," he said, explaining that he needed more instalments to tell the whole story.

"I've been working the last couple of years with a team of four top screenwriters," he said, "to design the world of Avatar going forward: the characters, the creatures, the environment, the new cultures.

"So far, the art I'm seeing is, in pure imagination, really far beyond the first film," he added. "It's going to be a true epic saga."

He will also be hoping that the films' box office takings can be equally as epic - the original in 2009 earned $2.8bn (£1.98bn) worldwide.