Pandora

AFTER THE ructions that have hit the New Labour Government over the past few months, Pandora is pleased to report some calm after the storm. A source tells Pandora that, last week, Peter Mandelson and John Prescott literally shook each other by the hand and agreed to bury the hatchet for the sake of the party. It all seems a bit like shutting the door after the spin has bolted, but at least it may stop any more crabs being christened Peter.

GWYNETH PALTROW (pictured) will be in London tonight for the UK premiere of Shakespeare in Love, but recent comments from the actress suggest that she might not to be too keen to dally at the after-show party. According to American sources, Paltrow's recent split with actor Ben Affleck was caused by her dislike for his party-animal approach to life. However, though discerning in her social behaviour, Paltrow does have some good words to say about her former lover, describing him as "very smart and very funny". The testimony to just how charming Affleck can be was apparent last week in New York when, as the New York Post reports, Affleck was spotted cavorting with a lingerie model called Layla. Shakespeare in lust?

HAS THE Government line on proportional representation for local government changed? Official documents say: "The Government does not propose to change the local government voting system", and furthermore that, "it does not view changes to the voting system as a panacea for the current weaknesses in local government." So what did Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, mean when he told the BBC's On the Record programme last Sunday that: "I don't frankly think that the system of First Past the Post that we've got in multi- vacancy constituent wards, at a local level for a local election, isn't necessarily the best one." Behind the tortured statement was there a will for change? "The statement was a personal one," Straw's political advisor told Pandora.

A NEW biopic of Bob Marley is being prepared, emphasising the more salacious aspects of the reggae star's life. Director Ron Shelton (whose credits include White Can't Jump and Bull Durham) has apparently received the assent of Marley's widow, Rita, for film which focuses on Bob's "right to scatter his seed", and on his temper towards his mother and his backing singers. The project is presently stranded while Warner Brothers and Shelton wrangle over money. When asked if it was Marley's penchant for huge amounts of hash that was behind Shelton's request for $15m (pounds 9.3m)extra, the director replied: "I hadn't thought of that - but maybe we could have a budget for herbs."

A SATIRICAL website listing alternative Chinese titles for well-known films has been causing some consternation. The site, available on TopFive.com, jokes that the Cantonese translation of the epic pig film Babe is "The Happy Dumpling-to-be who Talks and Solves Agricultural Problems" - amazingly several US news outlets, including ABC, were fooled. But now a reader of the on-line Salon magazine has put together some real Chinese translations. These include: Gone with the Wind (The Confused World of a Beautiful Woman), Frankenstein (The Silent Strange Man), and Psycho (Sight, Fear Touch, Heart, which idiomatically means "see it and become scared"). Does Casablanca translate into "Comes On Every Christmas"?

THERE MAY be a golden opportunity for the Conservative Party to form a glorious coalition. In a by-election last week, for Sheffield City Council's Park Ward, the Conservative candidate polled only 24 votes, 4 votes ahead of a gentleman called Pete the Poet. The question must be asked: will the local party now do a deal with Pete to double their vote? According to one source, Pete the Poet, (otherwise known as Peter Hartley) has mysteriously disappeared and wasn't even at last week's count. Sadly Pete was not not around to answer Pandora's calls. Perhaps local Conservatives have already referred him to Central Office.