Tippi Hedren's career was destroyed by the British director's obsession. Yet there was an upside, she tells Geoffrey Macnab

A stunning mutiny by evangelical and conservative Republicans punctured the tyres of the supposed frontrunner Mitt Romney in last night’s trio of nomination contests and instead gave a sudden and barely expected jolt of adrenalin to the staunch social conservative in the race, Rick Santorum.

If Etta James's life had not been weighed down with personal problems, mostly bad management, ghastly lovers, obesity, incarceration and heroin addiction, she would have been acclaimed as a remarkable female soul singer alongside Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Tina Turner. Her fans know how good she is but the general public in the UK only know her for her Top 10 single, the gritty and sensuous "I Just Want To Make Love To You", recorded in 1960 but a hit through a TV ad in 1996.

This week an unknown US author, Amanda Hocking, joins an elite literary club alongside just 11 others – including Stieg Larsson, James Patterson and Nora Roberts – by racking up her millionth Kindle sale. Unknown is, of course, a relative term in this case (no one can shift that many books by remaining anonymous) but Hocking is unusual because she has sold all of her books via Amazon's electronic Kindle reader. Entirely self-published, her first physical book does not reach traditional bookshops until January.

A self-publishing fantasy writer has become an e-book phenomenon

A boy who hit an ice hockey puck into a tiny hole from the rink's centre line 27 metres away has been denied $50,000 prize money, because his identical 11-year-old twin brother bought the ticket that allowed him to take the shot.

What could be worse than the further reaches of the congressional Republican Party bringing the United States to within hours of default? Answer (for now): the prospect of the arch-conservative Republican representative from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, winning her party's nomination to run for president. Worse even than Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and running mate in 2008 of the defeated John McCain? Quite probably – because she comes across as a more competent politician. She cannot be dismissed so easily as a Tea Party movement "flake".

Minnesota rivals Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann sparred bitterly in a Republican presidential debate, trying to stand out ahead of an Iowa test vote with huge consequences.

Minnesota shut down its state government yesterday amid a budget showdown between the governor and lawmakers, leaving state parks closed at the start of the US Independence Day holiday weekend, halting road projects and forcing thousands of state worker layoffs.

The book reads like a Dan Brown novel, with a plot line that dashes from one continent to another, with secret scientists working deep in the Amazon rainforest and remote tribes guarding ancient secrets.

For 20 years, and some 635 episodes, James Arness starred as Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke, still the longest run of any star in American prime-time television drama. In the era when westerns ruled the airwaves, Gunsmoke was the most popular of them all. It débuted in 1955, and from 1957-61 was the top-rated show in the country – and, retitled Gun Law, was popular in the UK as well. As the genre declined Gunsmoke thrived, finally ending in 1975, having outlasted all its competition and setting longevity records that still stand.

Mike Huckabee has announced that he will not seek his party's US presidential nomination in 2012, adding uncertainty to the race to pick a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama.

President barack Obama launched his re-election campaign yesterday in an email to 13 million supporters, calling on them to join forces behind his leadership and the changes he has battled for in a nation riven with hyperpartisan political divisions.

Someone walking in off the street might wonder at first what this camply flapping, foggy-spectacled, middle-aged nerd is doing at the microphone. But Craig Finn crosses early Woody Allen with early Bruce Springsteen.