Following the Israeli sea-born raid, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to be opened.

BBC: Witnesses cast doubt on Israel's convoy raid account

Moscow (CNN) -- French-born actor Gerard Depardieu arrived in the Black Sea resort of Sochi Saturday, according to Russian state media, a day after he announced that he had accepted Russian citizenship.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The spaceman was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and completed much of his education in England (Harrow and Cambridge University) before moving to the US, where he did a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

BBC: 'UK spaceman' Nicholas Patrick honoured

Mr Fowles was born in 1926 in the Essex suburb of Leigh-on-Sea, the son of a cigarmaker and tobacconist.

ECONOMIST: John Fowles