People in the news

JOKING DUKE'S BACK

The Duke of Edinburgh showed he has lost none of his wit despite concerns about his health as he joked with homeless veterans supported by a Forces charity.

Philip, who celebrates his 95th birthday next week, looked relaxed and in good spirits as he toured New Belvedere House, flagship hostel of the Veterans Aid organisation, in the east end of London.

When he walked into the building's common room where veterans were playing on a snooker table, rumoured to have once been owned by former Beatle Ringo Starr, he quipped "when are they going to throw you out?" to one and got the reply "as soon as possible".

RONSON LEADS CHOIR

Mark Ronson made the dreams of nine seriously ill children come true as they joined him in the studio to record a special version of his hit Uptown Funk.

The music producer, worked with the six to 17-year-olds, who were having their musical wish granted by Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity.

"I've never had any experience like that of leading a choir, I was like 'Oh, what if I don't know how to talk to kids', but everyone was so good, their enthusiasm led the whole thing anyway," he said. "We really only did one or two run-throughs at the piano and then all the kids got in front of the mic and killed it, it was so great."

FACEBOOK SPACE CHAT

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has taken part in the first Facebook Live broadcast in space by speaking directly with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Using the social network's live streaming feature that enables anyone to broadcast live to Facebook users around the world, Mr Zuckerberg spoke to British astronaut Tim Peake as well as Commander Tim Kopra and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams aboard the ISS, where they discussed living and working in orbit above the Earth.

They took questions from the Facebook founder as well as other Facebook users, discussing food, zero gravity and using social media in space - with Commander Kopra explaining a large portion of the experiments done on the station are based on the astronauts themselves.

CLARKSON'S BIG REVEAL

Fans in Johannesburg will get the first glimpse of Jeremy Clarkson's new Amazon Prime motoring show The Grand Tour.

The first studio recording for the show, which also stars Richard Hammond and James May, will take place in South Africa in July, the streaming service announced.

The pre-recorded studio segments will be filmed in a large tent in front of a live audience in locations around the world.

GLENISTER: HUNT HELPED

Philip Glenister says playing tough-talking fictional detective Gene Hunt has been "more a help than a hindrance" to his career, but he is not sure it would be "wise" to resurrect the character.

The British actor said portraying the foul-mouthed chief inspector in Life On Mars was similar to James Bond actors who will "always be associated" with the role.

Glenister, 52, who starred as DCI Hunt in the BBC One drama which ran from 2006 to 2007, before playing the same character in the follow-up Ashes To Ashes from 2008 to 2010, told the Press Association: "I think everyone has it at some stage. Whether you're playing James Bond, you'll always be associated with James Bond, or whether you're Doctor Who. It's not a bad tag to have to carry around."

GOSLING 'HALF WOMAN'

Ryan Gosling says he is so in touch with his feminine side that he is actually about "49% woman".

Asked what percentage woman he was, the 35-year-old Hollywood star who is father to 18-month-old Esmeralda and newborn daughter Amada with actress Eva Mendes, said: "I'd say 49%, sometimes 47%, it depends on what day you catch me."

He told ES Magazine: "I've always liked women more. I was brought up by my mother and older sister. I found my way into dance class. My home life now is mostly women. They are better than us. They make me better."

JUNE 3 BIRTHDAYS: Suzi Quatro, rock singer, 66; George Burley, football manager, 60; Clive Mantle, actor, 59; James Purefoy, actor, 52; Wasim Akram, former cricketer, 50; Kelly Jones, singer-songwriter (Stereophonics), 42; Rafael Nadal, tennis player, 30; Michelle Keegan, actress, 29.