Hi there, Peter here on what is a beautiful sunny day in Hull as I am writing this. Tomorrow I will be chatting to Dame Tanni Grey Thompson on my radio show between 12 noon and 2pm. I hope you will be able to join me.
A Big Week for American Politics Beyonce, U2 and Bruce Springsteen are among the musicians who have signed up to perform at an inaugural celebration for US President-elect Barack Obama. Stevie Wonder, Usher, Mary J Blige and Sheryl Crow are also scheduled to perform at the event on 18 January at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Historical passages will also be read by singer Queen Latifah and actors Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington. Mr Obama, who will be sworn in on 20 January, is expected to attend. The executive producer of the show, George Stevens Jr, said he was taken by surprise by the eagerness of stars to perform once he was given the go-ahead by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "On that first day, we asked Springsteen, Bono and Garth Brooks within a period of 45 minutes and got three `yeses'," Stevens told the Associated Press. He said he had tried to reach out to a diversity of artists for the concert which would focus on national unification. The artists have been asked to perform ! songs suited to the occasion, rather than their own hits, including A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. Singers Sting and Elvis Costello are heading another all-star line-up at a charity concert marking Mr Obama's inauguration on 20 January at Washington's Harman Center of the Arts. Castaway Tourism officials in Australia are describing it as "the best job in the world". They want someone to work on a tropical island off the Queensland coast. No formal qualifications are needed but candidates must be willing to swim, snorkel, dive and sail. In return, the successful applicant will receive a salary of £70,000 for six months and get to live rent-free in a three-bedroom villa, complete with pool. Anthony Hayes, Chief Executive, Tourism Queensland, said: "It doesn't sound too bad does it? We are looking for someone to tell the stories of the Great Barrier Reef and we have come up with what we think is the dream job." The post is being advertised as "caretaker" on Hamilton Island in Australia's Whitsunday Islands. The new recruit will work for just 12 hours a month. Duties include feeding some of the hundreds of species of fish and collecting the island's mail. They will also need to prepare a blog, a photo diary and video updates to attract tourists to the ! area. The job is being advertised around the world. Candidates have until 22 February to submit an online video application. In May, 10 shortlisted candidates and one wildcard, voted for by visitors to the Tourism Queensland website, will be invited to the islands for a four-day final interview process. The successful candidate will start the new job on 1 July. Mr Hayes says he is expecting thousands of applications: "I'm having to beat my staff off with a stick at the moment because most of them want to apply too." Thats all for today. I will see you tonight at 6.30pm on BBC Look North, as usual. Paul and I will be in Market Square in Freshney Place, Grimsby, on Saturday between 12noon and 1.30pm so please do come and say hello if you can.. Take care. Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. Your email address will be held by the BBC and kept confidential, and will only be used in relation to this newsletter. You will be given the option to unsubscribe from this newsletter each time you receive it. Please visit the BBC's Privacy & Cookies Policy (www.bbc.co.uk/privacy) for more information.
