Yahoo

Despite his success, Lewis also was a controversial figure. A number of people suffering with muscular dystrophy claimed Lewis presented victims as childlike and worthy of pity, rather than as equal members of society. Lewis lost some fans when he criticized women doing comedy -- "I think of (a female comedian) as a producing machine that brings babies in the world," he once said -- and when he lashed out at MDA critics. "You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!" he said in 2001 on the "CBS Morning Show." He later apologized. When Lewis was one of America's leading box office attractions, critics mocked him for the broadness of his comedy -- and

The original score for The Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby is expected to fetch £20,000 at auction. It was handwritten by producer George Martin and signed by Paul McCartney, who wrote the lyrics. Rigby's name is inscribed on a headstone in a Liverpool graveyard, where McCartney first met John Lennon at a church fete. Deeds for the grave and a miniature Bible, dated 1899 and with her name written inside, will also be sold. They were discovered by a relative when the estate of two of Rigby's half-sisters was left to the family. Paul Fairweather, from Omega Auctions, said it was an "incredible coincidence" for both lots to come up for sale at the same time. "I expect there to be fierce bidding from

NHS trusts are calling for equal treatment on business rates after research revealed private hospitals get discounts worth £52m over five years. A study suggests more than one in four private hospitals are charities, giving them an 80% rebate in business rates. But NHS trusts all have to pay in full, and will face a £300m increase in rates over the next five years. University Hospitals Birmingham Trust, the worst hit, is appealing against a rate rise of more than £2m this year. A spokesman for the trust, which operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said: "The trust believes there is an anomaly in how NHS trusts are treated for business rates when compared to other organisations such as universities,

Mr Benn, the cult children’s character dressed in a bowler hat, turns 50 this year. Some of David McKee’s art work behind the series, thought lost, is being shown at an exhibition at the Illustration Cupboard in London. Mr McKee told the Today programme how he came up with the idea and why he thinks the series struck a chord with British viewers.

Craftspeople have been working with amputees who use artificial lower limbs to create more personalised prosthesis. Jeroen Blom, a researcher at Glasgow School of Art's Highlands and Islands Creative Campus, brought the team of three artisans together. They are Karen Collins, from Rafford, and Scott Gleed, of Relugas, both in Moray, and Roger Milton, from Auldearn in the Highlands. They are working with three people who use prosthetic limbs. Among the materials being used to make what are known as greaves is wood, while the skills involved include weaving. Mr Blom said: "Through this project three lower limb amputees have been able to have a full involvement in the creation of something very

Taylor Swift shared a cryptic video snippet Monday across her social media platforms of a snake. Is Swift out for blood? Or is she just making fun of the popular "Taylor Swift is a snake" meme some haters have embraced? To add to the mystery, Swift's music video collaborator Joseph Kahn retweeted the video snippet with a smiley face.

(CNN)In "Game of Thrones" -- the television show in which I play fictional knight Jaime Lannister -- one of the many stunning visual images on regular display is an overwhelmingly massive wall of ice. I know all too well that, were "Game of Thrones" a nonfiction world, that wall of ice would be seriously imperiled by climate change. I know this because my second home is in the similarly ice-rich territory of Greenland. My wife is from Uummannaq in the northwest of Greenland, and my two daughters are half Greenlandic. In the considerable time I have spent there, I have seen firsthand the devastating effects of rising temperatures on the delicate ecosystem of the world's largest island. What happens