SHIPPING line Cunard is selling its Caronia vessel to over-50s holiday company Saga. The last passenger ship to be built on the Tyne, the 24,000-ton vessel has been in service since 1973. The 668-passenger ship will complete its 2004 season with Cunard before starting cruises with Saga the following year. Caronia entered service as the Vistafjord and was bought by Cunard in 1983. It was renamed Caronia in 1999 becoming the third Cunard ship to bear the name.

BOB'S BLAST: Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof warned yesterday that the European Union must act fast if it is to avert another catastrophic famine in Ethiopia. At the start of a five-day trip to the African country, aimed at highlighting the plight of millions of people facing starvation, he attacked the EU's lack of action as "pathetic and appalling".

BOTTOM LINE: A car advert featuring wiggling bottoms has been banned from daytime and early evening TV because young children have been copying it. The ad for the Renault Megane showed various people gyrating in time to a tune which repeated the line "shakin' that ass".

TOP OF FLOPS: Eurovision losers Jemini are on course for another flop - their single looks unlikely even to scrape the Top 20. But record shops around the country have reported dismal sales of the single Cry Baby.

JOB PAYOUT: A woman who was paid £8,000 a year less than another manager at a manufacturing firm has won £19,000 compensation in an out of court settlement. Avril Johnson, 44, complained that she missed out on Reading-based Barco's annual bonus, had fewer share options and was the only member of the management team not to be given a mobile phone.

JACKO 'BUST': Michael Jackson's lavish lifestyle has left him on the brink of bankruptcy, his former financial advisors claim in a lawsuit. The King of Pop, who was once worth £350m, is a "ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment", according to papers filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

EVEREST EVENT: Sir Edmund Hillary and a Sherpa from his 1953 Everest expedition - Gyalzen Sherpa, 85 - led a colourful procession through the Nepalese capital yesterday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their conquest of the world's tallest mountain.

HEAT DEATHS: A heat wave in southern India has killed at least 430 people over the last two weeks. Officials have warned that the death toll could rise further.

SLAMMER SLAMMED: The overcrowding crisis and poor industrial relations led to an "unacceptable regime" at the largest jail in western Europe, the Chief Inspector of Prisons said yesterday. HMP Liverpool was described as seriously under-performing by Anne Owers, who found parts of the jail had cockroach infestations, broken windows and were generally unclean.

MURDER PROBE: Detectives are investigating the murder of a woman found strangled at her home. Kathryn Dukes, 43, was discovered on Monday by police and paramedics in the front room of the house in Yardley, Birmingham, which she shared with her parents, Stanley and Barbara, and brother, Christopher.

LANDMINE LOBBY: Heather Mills-McCartney believes she may have persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin to reconsider his policy on landmines. The former North-East model turned anti-landmines campaigner used husband Sir Paul McCartney's trip to Moscow to lobby President Putin on behalf of her charity.

SKILLS DRIVE: Actress Tamzin Outhwaite got her hands dirty yesterday to promote a nationwide learning scheme. She traded her slinky dresses for a mechanic's overalls as the London face of the Bite Size initiative run by the Learning and Skills Council.