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Best-selling Irish author Maeve Binchy has died aged 72 after a short illness.
Binchy, born in Dalkey, Co Dublin, has sold more than 40 million books. Her works were often set in Ireland and have been translated into 37 languages.
They include The Lilac Bus as well as Tara Road and Circle of Friends, which were both adapted for screen.
Binchy trained as a teacher before moving into journalism and writing, publishing her first novel - Light a Penny Candle - in 1982.
She had written the novel in her spare time from her day job as a journalist at The Irish Times.
BBC Dublin correspondent Ruth McDonald said Binchy's warm, witty, perceptive stories, were read and enjoyed around the world.
Our correspondent said the author was renowned for her generosity and support of others, writing in a guide for aspiring writers: "The most important thing to realise is that everyone is capable of telling a story.
"It doesn't matter where we were born or how we grew up".
In a 2001 interview with the BBC after she had won the WHSmith Book Award for fiction, Binchy described the five rejections she received for her first novel as "a slap in the face".
She said she was glad she persevered and sent the book to a sixth publisher.
"It's like if you don't go to a dance you can never be rejected but you'll never get to dance either," she said.
The author said that her secret was to write the way she spoke.
"I don't say I was proceeding down a thoroughfare, I say I walked down the road.
"I don't say I passed a hallowed institute of learning I say I passed a school.
"You don't wear all your jewellery at once - you're much more believable if you talk in your own voice," she said.
Lifetime achievement award
In 2000, Binchy was ranked third in the World Book Day poll of favourite authors - ahead of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.
Binchy received a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Book Awards in 2010, the same year her last novel, Minding Frankie, was published.
She published a personal message on her website thanking fans who had praised the work:
"My health isn't so good these days and I can't travel around to meet people the way I used to. But I'm always delighted to hear from readers, even if it takes me a while to reply," she said.
Binchy is survived by her husband, writer Gordon Snell.
Irish politicians paid tribute to the author on Twitter after news of her death.
Meath East TD Regina Doherty tweeted: "Godspeed Maeve Binchy RIP lovely warm gentle lady brought much joy through all her work."
Fine Gael's Jerry Buttimer wrote that he was "so sad" to hear of her death.
RIP Maeve :(
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RIP, I loved her books, they were like meeting an old friend again when you started to read one.
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Tamzin Outhwaite has given birth to a baby girl, it has been announced.
The actress and husband Tom Ellis welcomed their second daughter Marnie Mae Ellis earlier this week.
Ellis tweeted: "What a couple of days...Gold medals from everywhere and...oh we had a beautiful baby girl called Marnie Mae Ellis 6lb 5oz of gorgeousness!"
The couple, who revealed that they were expecting their second child back in March, already have a 3-year-old daughter called Florence.
Outhwaite had previously confessed that she wanted more children, saying: "I don't want to leave it too late, especially as we would like to have more than one child.
"I am not worried in the least about my career taking a back seat. I want to change my priorities.
"My career and ambitions have been fulfilled, and I would be quite happy not to work again and look after the children. I don't really have that burning ambition anymore."
Outhwaite recently admitted that she never expected EastEnders to change her life as much as it did when she joined as Mel Owen in 1998.
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Tamzin Outhwaite has given birth to a baby girl, it has been announced.
The actress and husband Tom Ellis welcomed their second daughter Marnie Mae Ellis earlier this week.
Ellis tweeted: "What a couple of days...Gold medals from everywhere and...oh we had a beautiful baby girl called Marnie Mae Ellis 6lb 5oz of gorgeousness!"
The couple, who revealed that they were expecting their second child back in March, already have a 3-year-old daughter called Florence.
Outhwaite had previously confessed that she wanted more children, saying: "I don't want to leave it too late, especially as we would like to have more than one child.
"I am not worried in the least about my career taking a back seat. I want to change my priorities.
"My career and ambitions have been fulfilled, and I would be quite happy not to work again and look after the children. I don't really have that burning ambition anymore."
Outhwaite recently admitted that she never expected EastEnders to change her life as much as it did when she joined as Mel Owen in 1998.
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Stevie Wonder has reportedly filed for divorce from his wife Kai Millard Morris.
The legendary musician has cited irreconcilable differences in the divorce documents, reports TMZ.
Wonder is said to have been separated from Morris since October 2009.
He filed the divorce papers today using his legal name Stevland Morris, and signed using two fingerprints.
The singer has also requested joint custody of their two children, boys aged 10 and 7.
He has also agreed to pay Morris both spousal and child support following their divorce.
Some of his assets will be split between the two, but the exact figures are yet to be disclosed.
Stevie Wonder married fashion designer Kai Millard Morris in 2001. He was previously married to Motown singer Syreeta Wright for two years from 1970.
The songwriter was the victim of an extortion plot by his cousin and his girlfriend earlier this year.
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Stevie Wonder has reportedly filed for divorce from his wife Kai Millard Morris.
The legendary musician has cited irreconcilable differences in the divorce documents, reports TMZ.
Wonder is said to have been separated from Morris since October 2009.
He filed the divorce papers today using his legal name Stevland Morris, and signed using two fingerprints.
The singer has also requested joint custody of their two children, boys aged 10 and 7.
He has also agreed to pay Morris both spousal and child support following their divorce.
Some of his assets will be split between the two, but the exact figures are yet to be disclosed.
Stevie Wonder married fashion designer Kai Millard Morris in 2001. He was previously married to Motown singer Syreeta Wright for two years from 1970.
The songwriter was the victim of an extortion plot by his cousin and his girlfriend earlier this year.
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Actor Ben Richards has split from his wife.
The Footballers' Wives and The Bill star has broken up with wife Helen just months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Ben's doctors discovered a six-centimetre tumour in January. He then told fans that he was preparing to undergo radiotherapy treatment.
Helen took to Twitter last month to hint that there was something wrong in the relationship.
She said: "Well that's that then! Thank you! Only 15 years down the drain!"
Helen, who married Ben in 2003, then posted another message on Twitter which read: "Wish I could remember 2012 as the year of the Olympics, instead of the year my marriage broke down! Sad times."
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Actor Ben Richards has split from his wife.
The Footballers' Wives and The Bill star has broken up with wife Helen just months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Ben's doctors discovered a six-centimetre tumour in January. He then told fans that he was preparing to undergo radiotherapy treatment.
Helen took to Twitter last month to hint that there was something wrong in the relationship.
She said: "Well that's that then! Thank you! Only 15 years down the drain!"
Helen, who married Ben in 2003, then posted another message on Twitter which read: "Wish I could remember 2012 as the year of the Olympics, instead of the year my marriage broke down! Sad times."
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Jean-Claude Van Damme has seemed to confirm a
long-rumoured affair with Kylie Minogue, saying he would have been "abnormal" to
pass up the opportunity.
The action star is currently promoting The
Expendables 2, in which he plays the lead villain opposite the likes of
Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Dolph Lundgren.
The 51-year-old told The Guardian that he and Minogue had an affair
in Thailand during the filming of 1994's Street Fighter, after originally
hinting that there had been a fling several years ago.
The Bloodsport star admitted when pressed: "Yes. OK. Yes, yes, yes. It happened. I was in Thailand,
we had an affair. Sweet kiss, beautiful lovemaking.
"It would be abnormal
not to have had an affair, she's so beautiful and she was there in front of me
every day with a beautiful smile, simpatico, so charming, she wasn't acting like
a big star. I knew Thailand very well, so I showed her my Thailand. She's a great lady."
