In brief: Atwood defends gay sheikh

Booker Prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood has pulled out of the inaugural Emirates Airline international festival of literature after a fellow writer, Geraldine Bedell, was blacklisted. Bedell's novel, The Gulf Between Us, has caused controversy because it features a gay sheikh with an English boyfriend............ Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire and cricket impresario who sponsored a $1m-a-man match in the West Indies, has been charged in connection with an alleged $9.2bn investment fraud.............. Gerry Rafferty, the singer best known for the 1978 hit Baker Street, has responded to reports that appeared on Monday that he was missing. A statement given to Channel 4 News said: "Contrary to reports Gerry is extremely well and has been living in at his home in Tuscany for the last six months............ Tom Hanks will turn on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, which has been designed to recreate the 'Big Bang', when it is finally repaired. The giant underground machine, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, suffered a catastrophic malfunction soon after being switched on amid a fanfare of publicity last September............ Dame Eileen Atkins has revealed her unease about the 50-year-old black comic Lenny Henry appearing in a production of Shakespeare's Othello at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. While she does not question his acting abilities, she says that his decision to consciously speak in his native Birmingham accent, and not the British Received Pronunciation, sets a bad example for young actors............ Van Morrison has announced that he will perform his landmark album, Astral Weeks, in its entirety when he plays two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall next month............ Gavin Henson, the rugby player and boyfriend of Charlotte Church, is under investigation by officials from the Welsh Rugby Union following alleged drunken behaviour after Wales's triumph over England on Saturday. Although Henson did not play due to injury, he celebrated the win in various bars in Cardiff where he is said to have been abusive to people............ ·