Rescue teams worked through the night to evacuate more than 4,000 people from the Costa Concordia, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises, after it ran aground off of Italy’s western coast.

Giuseppe Orsina, a spokesman for the local civil protection agency, said: “We are verifying the different lists of passengers and staff that have been given to us from Costa and at the moment from 43 to 51 people are missing.

“These people could be still on the island of Giglio, in private houses or in hospitals.”

The coast guard said 50 to 70 people could be missing.

Authorities said earlier Saturday they believed everyone was accounted for, but that they did not have a definitive list of names.

The huge ship, which which is now lying on its side in shallow water, was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground at about dinner time.

It is with regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Private Matthew Haseldin from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (2 MERCIAN) in Afghanistan on Thursday 3 November 2011.

Private Haseldin was killed in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, while on an operation to maintain freedom of movement for the local population. His patrol came under attack from insurgents and sadly, during the attack, he sustained a fatal gunshot wound.

Private Haseldin, aged 21, from Settle, Yorkshire, joined the Army in February 2011 before successfully passing the Combat Infantryman’s Course at the Infantry Training Centre Catterick. Upon completion of training, Private Haseldin joined 2 MERCIAN in August 2011 ahead of the Battalion’s deployment to Afghanistan in September on Operation HERRICK 15.

Private Haseldin joined C Company Group just after they had deployed to the Nahr-e Saraj District in Helmand province as part of Combined Force Burma. The Battalion is responsible for securing freedom of movement along Route 611, which is a key Main Supply Route linking Gereshk city with other district centres in Helmand province and beyond, including Kandahar City.

On the morning of 3 November 2011, Private Haseldin’s patrol deployed from their operating base to clear and secure areas along Route 611, a key ground line of communication. Whilst conducting a check, the patrol came under attack from sustained small arms fire and underslung grenades during which Private Haseldin was fatally wounded.

Veteran broadcaster and charity campaigner Sir Jimmy Savile has died at his home in Leeds, aged 84.

The police were called to his home on Saturday afternoon. The police are not treating his death as suspicious.

Savile was due to celebrate his 85th birthday on Monday.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 12.10pm today to the discovery of a man’s body at a house in Roundhay, Leeds.

“The body of a man in his 80s was found at the property. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.”

The broadcaster was best known for his show Jim’ll Fix It, as well as being a long-running presenter on Top of the Pops.

Speaking to Sky, DJ Dave Lee Travis said: “It’s a shock. He was a powerful presence. He was there and in your face. There was no getting away from him. We’ll all bit a bit worse off now he’s not around.”

Former radio DJ Mike Reid, also speaking to Sky News, said: “He was an enigma. He was impenetrable. No one knew him.”

Tony Blackburn, who presented Top of the Pops at the same time as Savile, said the flamboyant DJ was a “one off”.

He said: “He was quite a character, I don’t think anyone got to know Jimmy Savile, he played Jimmy Savile the whole time.”

Blackburn added: “He was just a big, over the top, personality. He did all these marathons the whole time, he was just great fun. He was an unusual person, he was just a one off.”

Sir Jimmy will also be remembered as a tireless charity worker and a volunteer. He raised more than £30 million, including £12 million to rebuild the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville.

Other great Jimmy Savile moments have been uploaded to You Tube and can be seen here.

Sir Jimmy was knighted by the Queen in 1990 and in a statement released by Clarence House today Prince Charles paid tribute.

“The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are saddened to hear of Jimmy Savile’s death and their thoughts are with his family at this time,” it said.

The BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson, said he would be missed greatly.

“I am very sad to hear of Sir Jimmy Savile’s death,” he said. “From Top Of The Pops to Jim’ll Fix It, Jimmy’s unique style entertained generations of BBC audiences. Like millions of viewers and listeners we shall miss him greatly.”

Coronation Street actress Betty Driver has died at the age of 91.

Driver joined the ITV soap in 1969 as barmaid Betty Turpin – later Williams.

She was employed on a three-month contract but stayed for 42 years. “I thought, why not,” Driver recalled. “It’ll make a break for a while.”

She had already been in show business for more than 40 years, touring the UK as a singer by the age of 12. Driver was appointed an MBE in 1999.

Driver had originally auditioned for the role of Hilda Ogden in 1964 but was later persuaded to come out of retirement to audition for the role of Betty. She appeared in more than 2,800 episodes.

In January 2011 she told the BBC she would never retire. “I just love working and I will never retire – ever – they’ll have to shoot me to get rid of me,” she said. “I just love people, you see, and I love the cast.”

ITV said Driver “died peacefully in hospital” early on Saturday morning. She had been in hospital for six weeks.

“She will be sadly missed by everyone who knew her,” the spokesman said.

“I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character”,Actress Barbara Knox, Coronation character Rita Sullivan

Fellow Coronation Street barmaid Julie Goodyear – character Bet Lynch – said Driver was “the very foundation of the Rovers Return”.

“It was an honour and a privilege to work with Betty Driver for 25 years. We laughed together, we cried together and never once had a cross word. She was a totally professional actress. A true icon and legend and a very dear friend,” she said.

“She will be missed and remembered by millions.”

Barbara Knox, who plays Rita Sullivan in the soap, said: “I have lost a very dear friend and the Street has lost a very great character, a professional to her fingertips – she will be greatly missed.”

The soap’s executive producer Kieran Roberts said Driver was a “wonderful actress and remarkable woman”.

“It is humbling to think that the 42 years she spent on Coronation Street was just half of her extraordinary career but Coronation Street certainly benefited when she decided to join our show in 1969,” he said.

“For more than four decades she delighted many millions of Coronation Street fans with her fantastic performance in countless great stories both dramatic and comic.

Friend Charles Orr said: “A true legend has left us with enough love and memories to last a lifetime.”

Driver began performing at the age of eight

Elizabeth Mary Driver was born in Leicester but moved to Manchester when she was just two years old. She described an unhappy childhood with little affection given to her or her younger sister Freda.

At the age of eight she discovered that she could sing and her mother immediately began forcing her to enter talent contests.

When she was just 14 she was given the leading role in the revue, Mr Tower of London, and was spotted by George Formby who cast her in his new film Boots! Boots!

Her scenes as a cabaret singer ended up on the cutting room floor but many years later, the film was re-released on DVD with Driver’s scenes restored.

In 1940 Driver became a big band singer and toured extensively with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) appearing in shows for the troops.

After World War II she continued touring and appeared in her own BBC radio show, A Date With Betty, which was broadcast live.

She was cast in a series called Pardon the Expression, a comedy spin-off from Coronation Street, before retiring and then appearing on Coronation Street.

Driver had a seven-year marriage to singer Wally Peterson, which ended in her late 30s.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed today in a massive 15 car accident in today’s Las Vegas Indy 300.

33-year-old Wheldon was making his way through the field after starting last, part of a $5 million publicity stunt, where if he were to win the race he would have won a $2.5m bonus, the other $2.5m would have gone to a fan.

Wheldon was one of the last cars to be collected in the accident, where his car launched into the air from the bottom of the banking and tumbled into the catchment fencing above the outside barriers.

Wheldon was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, and later Indycar announced that he had succumbed to his injuries. The race was red flagged after the crash, and after the announcement was made the race was cancelled, but the drivers took to the track and made a five-lap demonstration run in tribute of Wheldon.

Indycar’s Randy Bernard made the announcement, “IndyCar is very sad to announce Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. IndyCar, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute to in his honor.”

The British driver won the Indianapolis 500 two time, in 2005 and again this year, and won the Indycar Championship in 2005. Wheldon is survived by his wife and two small children.

Michael Jackson may be gone, but he’s certainly not forgotten.

The King of Pop’s three children — Prince, 14, Paris, 13, and Blanket, 9 — paid tribute to their late father at the Michael Forever concert in Cardiff, Wales Saturday 8th October 2011.

“We’re very happy to be here on this special night to honour our father,” said Paris, who wore a replica of her father’s famous red and black leather jacket from his “Thriller” music video.

Several performers took to the glove-shaped stage, including Christina Aguilera, Leona Lewis and Cee Lo Green. The Black Eyed Peas pulled out of the lineup earlier this week citing “unavoidable circumstances.”

Despite the current manslaughter trial involving Jackson’s former doctor, Conrad Murray, the evening’s performers chose to ignore the court case and focus on the singer’s musical legacy.

“It’s not about the controversy,” Ne-Yo, who kicked off the show with a rendition of “Billie Jean,” said. “It’s not about the trial. It’s not about his death. It’s about celebrating his life. It’s about celebrating his music.”

Other performers included Jennifer Hudson, LaToya Jackson, Gladys Knight, Pixie Lott, 3T, Alexandra Burke, Alien Ant Farm, Craig David, Diversity, JLS and Smokey Robinson. Beyonce Knowles, 30, also performed via satellite video. More than 50,000 people attended the tribute concert, which was hosted by Fearne Cotton and Jamie Foxx.

Jackson died in June 2009 as he was preparing for a series of comeback concerts in London. Murray is accused of giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol in the hours leading up to his death.

Our condolences to the family of a severely disabled woman who has died after she fell from a harbour wall while strappedinto her electric whelchair.

Dorset Police said the woman, aged 20 and from Solihull in the West Midlands, was on the historic Cobb in Lyme Regis, Dorset, at around 12.45pm on Friday with her family waiting to take a charter boat cruise.

But she fell from the harbour wall and sank to the bottom of the three-metre-deep harbour in the wheelchair. Her family, the boat skipper and RNLI personnel from the nearby lifeboat station dived in and managed to free her, taking her unconscious to the surface.

She was flown by air ambulance to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester but later died, Dorset Police said.

They have launched an investigation into the death on the 19th-century harbour wall, which was popularised by the 1981 film The French Lieutenant’s Woman starring Meryl Streep.

A police spokesman said: “They were on holiday in Lyme Regis and were waiting to go on a charter boat trip when tragically the wheelchair fell into deep water.

“Rescue efforts were made by the family, the boat skipper and later by emergency services, including coastguards, lifeboat and police. After considerable difficulty she was able to be freed”.

This rare and untimely death reminds us that every care must be taken when using wheelchairs, whether manual or electric.

The TV star, from West Lavington, Wiltshire, died of pneumonia following a recent stroke, his daughter Ellie Baker said.

Speaking of her father, she told the BBC: “He absolutely loved Wexford and he loved being Wexford… and he loved the whole thing. It was a joy to him.”

Over a career spanning six decades, the versatile actor starred in countless TV shows including Minder, Bergerac, I, Claudius and more recently New Tricks and Spooks.

He also featured in around 30 films including The Dam Busters, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Ship That Died of Shame and The 39 Steps, and formed his own theatre company.

But it is his role as Wexford in ITV’s adaptation of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, which ran for 13 years, for which he became best known.

Baker, who was married three times and leaves five daughters, was also a talented writer, penning a cookery book as well as award-winning pieces for radio and television.

His third wife Louie Ramsay died earlier this year. She played his wife Dora in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

Baker was awarded an MBE in 2007 for his fundraising activities for his local youth club in West Lavington.

A Folkestone based soldier has been honoured at the Pride of Britain awards.

Also receiving the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, 32-year-old Sergeant Dip Pun from the 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, was awarded for his bravery after fending off an attack from up to 15 Taliban insurgents, single handed.

After using all of his ammunition and exhausting his grenades and explosives, he then desperately resorted to using the tripod of his machine gun to attack the Taliban.

He featured in a special report by former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole, who presented the British Armed Forces with a special award in Afghanistan.

ICONIC Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has passed away at the age of 56 after a long battle with cancer.

Jobs stepped down as CEO of the technology giant in August, saying he could no longer handle the job.

The tech giant released a statement announcing his death.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today,” the company said in a statement.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

“His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

He had taken three medical leaves of absence in the last seven years. The first came in 2004 when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a usually fatal form, but he managed to recover with treatment.

He also underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and earlier this year, he was granted another leave for an undisclosed illness.

Apple, the company Jobs co-founded with Steve Wozniak in 1976, also posted a tribute message on its website and called on fans to share their “thoughts, memories, and condolences” by emailing them at rememberingsteve@apple.com.

His death comes the day after Apple unveiled the new iPhone 4S at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Apple unveiled the new smartphone without Jobs, with the company’s new chief executive, Tim Cook, taking the reins for the announcement.

Cook paid tribute to Jobs in an email to staff, announcing his predecessor’s death.

“No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him,” Cook wrote.

“We will honour his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook) wrote on Facebook: “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”

His comments were “liked” by more than 200,000 people within hours.

Web users in China have reportedly posted almost 35 million online tributes.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Steve Jobs transformed the way we work and play; a creative genius who will be sorely missed.”