Olga is new Bond girl

In the secretive world of movie spy James Bond, the “Bond girl” for the new installment in the movie series had been top secret, but on Monday Bond's backers said Ukrainian bombshell Olga Kurylenko is the actress. Columbia Pictures, the film studio behind the popular movies about the British secret agent, said the 28-year-old Kurylenko has been cast in one of the most coveted roles in the movies — 007's sidekick for the still untitled Bond flick. The film, which is the 22nd in the series, is due in theaters in November and stars Daniel Craig as the dashing British spy.

No fun in funeral

A Chinese official has been sacked from his Communist Party post and demoted for putting on an over-lavish funeral for his mother, state media said on Tuesday. Xie Pingfa, former director of a highway administration in the southern province of Guangdong, was punished for violating Party rules on "self-discipline and integrity for officials and cadres," the China Daily said.

Xie organized more than 1,000 people, including eight officials and staff members of the highway administration, to attend his mother's funeral in November.