Passport interviews defended

Face-to-face interviews with passport applicants will help fight fraud, officials insisted yesterday. Anyone requesting a passport for the first time could be interrogated on personal details under new rules from April. But the head of the Identity and Passport Office, James Hall, said: “I think people will recognise that it’s appropriate once in their lifetime to go through a little bit more inconvenience in order that we can ensure the integrity of the passport document.” Not all first-time applicants will have to take part.

Depp, pirate of the Solent?

Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp is thought to be house-hunting on the south coast. The Pirates of the Caribbean star is living in France with Vanessa Paradis, the actress, and their two children. But the word in Lymington, Hampshire, suggests that the Alist celebrity is lining up a move to the sailing town.

Clint’s day made

President Jacques Chirac made Clint Eastwood a knight in the order of the Légion d’Honneur yesterday, calling his latest films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, lessons in humanity. “On this side of the Atlantic . . . you embody the best of Hollywood,” Chirac told the 76-year-old American during a ceremony at the Elysée Palace.

Climate fears for Pacific currents

Scientists have detected changes in the currents of the Pacific Ocean and warn that they could be a consequence of climate change. One result is the virtual disappearance of once common species ranging from phytoplankton to salmon.

Correction: Julia Svetlichnaja Our report on the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko (“Kremlin wants to quiz exiles”, December 10) referred to reports that Julia Svetlichnaja, a researcher at the centre for the Study of Democracy at Westminster University, may have been part of a Kremlin-orchestrated campaign to discredit Mr Litvinenko and said it was believed that she had previously worked for a state-owned Russian company. We are happy to make it clear that Ms Svetlichnaja has never worked for a state-owned Russian company and we accept that she was not part of any Kremlin-inspired campaign to discredit Mr Litvinenko. We apologise for any distress our report caused her. oIn the article “University: who needs it?” (News Review, January 28) Anthony Kluk told us that he went to Leeds University with two As and two Bs at A-level. The university’s records show that he arrived with three Cs and was admitted onto a one-year foundation course to prepare him for a degree course. oIn the Travel section (February 4), a photograph of the Austrian resort of Lech was wrongly identified in a caption as the neighbouring resort of Zörs.

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