Shame of 'Third World' Gatwick: U.S. owners face probe after airport leaves thousands of passengers stranded in squalor at Christmas

   

Gatwick was facing a humiliating investigation last night after ruining Christmas for thousands of families.

The airport was thrown into meltdown by a power cut on Christmas Eve, with more than 100 flights either cancelled or hugely delayed.

Mutinous passengers told of ‘Third World’ conditions – they were left for up to 12 hours without heating, hot food or drink and had access to just one toilet.

MPs demanded to know why the country’s second-biggest airport – which is owned by an American private equity firm – had been unable to cope with flooding.

They accused bosses at Global Infrastructure Partners of failing to invest at Gatwick while making bumper profits.

The Civil Aviation Authority was last night considering a full investigation into the mayhem, which comes just two months after another power cut caused chaos at the West Sussex airport.

It said it was already in touch with Gatwick chiefs and would be seeking a detailed report over ‘what could and should have happened’. With a flurry of compensation claims likely, the airport and the airlines were engaged in trying to shift the blame.

Passengers at Gatwick were not the only victims of the 90mph Christmas storm:

• 300,000 people were left without power yesterday, with tens of thousands facing more days in the dark;

• Five people died in a series of car crashes and drownings;

• Dozens of families were evacuated from their flooded homes;

• Another storm was predicted on Friday with winds of up to 100mph.

Pre-tax profits for Gatwick, which Global Infrastructure Partners bought for £1.46billion in October 2009,  surged by 18 per cent to £127million in the first half of this year. Global is also pitching for a £13billion investment to build a second runway.

Incredible transformation of the little girl with the gigantic head: Roona, two, has successful surgery to reduce huge swelling

     

Lying on her hospital bed, Roona Begum almost looks likes any other two-year-old.

But her appearance today is a drastic transformation to how the toddler looked just a few months ago after her head swelled to twice its size.

These dramatic series of images chart her journey which has seen her undergo numerous operations on her skull. 

Doctors carried out her latest reconstructive surgery on Friday and the results are clear to see in these pictures taken of Roona at a hospital in New Delhi, India, on Christmas Day.

Roona, who lives with her impoverished parents in a village in India's remote northeast, was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.

Her condition caused her head to swell to a circumference of 94 centimetres (37 inches), putting pressure on her brain and making it impossible for her to sit upright.

Images showing Roona's plight attracted international sympathy which prompted the Fortis Memorial Research Institute in New Delhi to treat her rare condition for free.

Rahman, who works as a labourer earning around £2 a day, said: 'We are very poor. We were not in a position to arrange for all the treatment. But so many people came forward to help.'

Roona was admitted to the hospital in April and underwent several rounds of surgery in May and June when doctors drained excess fluid from her head and dramatically reduced the size of her skull to 58 centimetres. 

She spent 105 days in total at the hospital before being discharged in August.

But she returned to the same hospital earlier this month to have part of her bone removed from her skull which was then rebuilt.

Going gaga: Parents spend an average of £166 on babies' first Christmas

    

Parents spend as much as £135million on their babies’ first Christmas – the equivalent of £166 each, a study reveals. 

Younger parents are the biggest spenders, with 18-24 year-olds stating they’ll spend around £245 on gifts alone – nearly £80 above the national average. 

However it appears opinion is split on spending money on newborn babies who are unlikely to remember their first Christmas.

Over half of those questioned by the Post Office said they feel splashing out on presents isn’t the best use of cash. A third said they would prefer to receive a contribution to a savings account instead. 

Meanwhile almost a fifth of parents exchange gifts and spend the money on themselves instead.

Tomato juice may help ward off breast cancer: Glass a day helps increase amount of hormone that can stave off the disease

   

A glass of tomato juice a day could help keep breast cancer at bay.

Women who upped their tomato intake made more of a hormone thought to protect against the disease.  

The US researchers said: ‘The advantages of eating plenty of tomatoes and tomato-based products, even for a short period of time, were clearly evident in our findings.’ 

They added that women can easily consume a beneficial amount of tomatoes. 

For instance, a glass of tomato juice a day would contain the right amount of the lycopene, the plant chemical believed to be behind the effects.

Lycopene gives tomatoes their rich red colour and is already believed to help ward off prostate cancer.

Those who don’t like tomato juice could try a bowl of tomato soup, plus tomato sauce with their pasta and dollop of ketchup a day.

The researchers, from Rutgers University in New Jersey, measured hormone levels in 70 women aged 55-plus before and after upping their tomato intake for ten weeks.  

All were either overweight or had a close relative with breast cancer, putting them at higher risk of the disease themselves. 

The amount of lycopene found in a glass of tomato juice a day raised levels of the hormone adiponectin by nine per cent, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reports.

Adiponectin is involved in regulating fat levels and obesity is known to raise the odds of breast cancer. 

'Being HIV positive is no longer a death sentence': Those who take medication may live almost as long as the general population

     

Being HIV positive is no longer the death sentence it once was, as life expectancy of those receiving treatment is approaching that of the general population.

Researchers found a 20-year-old HIV-positive adult on antiretroviral therapy (ART) may be expected to live into their early 70s - a life expectancy approaching that of the general U.S. population.

However, life expectancy is lower for people with a history of injecting drugs as well as those who are not white.

(Cell with HIV: Nearly nine million adults worldwide living with HIV receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) which keeps the virus from multiplying by killing the virus in the bloodstream. Researchers found a 20-year-old HIV-positive adult on ART may be expected to live into their early 70's)

The life expectancies of nearly 23,000 individuals on ART - which consists of the combination of at least three antiretroviral drugs to best suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease - were calculated based on mortality rates in the early to mid-2000s. 

Participants in the study, by the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, were aged 20 years or older.

Men and women had comparable life expectancies in all periods except the last 2006 to 2007 period. 

Life expectancy was lower for individuals with a history of injection drug use, those who were non-white, and those who initiated ART with low CD4 count - a count of cells that activate the immune response - compared to those who started at a higher count. 

The results of this study suggest increasing longevity for individuals living with HIV in the U.S. and Canada and contribute to the growing evidence that HIV-positive people on ART have life expectancies approaching those in general populations.

The unvarnished truth: The quest for beautiful nails could leave you with infections and allergies. Here is how to keep your fancy manicure healthy

       

Fancy manicures were once reserved for special occasions but are nowadays so popular that they’ve proved a recession-proof beauty indulgence.

High streets are awash with salons and nail varnish has developed into high-tech design, led by pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Jessie J.

New long-lasting gel manicures are now a major trend, using UV light to seal chip-resistant nails.

Yet concerns have been raised about the potential harm of these treatments, and scare stories abound about poorly trained technicians leaving nails brittle, weakened or infected.

So could your manicure do damage? How can you safeguard your talons?

Do manicurists know best?

Ignore any client/ therapist power balance – manicurists require no qualifications and untrained technicians are the main risk, according to Samantha Sweet of Sweet Squared, the exclusive UK distributors of gel brand Shellac.

The lack of regulation means poor practices exist, such as filing down the nail plate and weakening the whole nail, or scraping off old polish with a sharp tool. 

‘People should speak up if they  feel the manicurist is treating their nails harshly,’ says Sam

‘Some are badly taught and saw away unnecessarily. If you are having acrylic enhancements applied, the manicurist will need to exfoliate the nail plate for it to stick but this only takes three light ‘passes’ with a mildly abrasive file, one down the middle and one either side. If your manicurist is using an abrasive file  too strongly then ask them to stop.’

Are only my nails at risk?

Far from it – often it is the eye area that suffers allergic reactions to varnish, varnish remover or adhesives, says Dr Tamara Griffiths, consultant dermatologist for the British Skin Foundation

It's tough at the top! Man City and Liverpool put through their paces at Christmas ahead of crunch clash... just one highlight of the Premier League Boxing Day line-up

             

It may have been Christmas Eve, but that didn't stop Barclays Premier League managers working their players hard ahead of the hectic festive fixture schedule.

With three matches to be played within the space of seven days, this is, as ever, a time of year that defines championshp races and relegation dogfights.

Manchester City prepared for their top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool on Boxing Day with a training session at Carrington.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart, who appears to have regained his place in the team ahead of Costel Pantilimon, was peppered with shots from City's deadly strikeforce.

City boast arguably the most potent attack in Europe right now, with Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas, David Silva and company notching 51 goals in the league alone so far.

They rattled six past Arsenal last time they came up against a fellow title challenger and will look for more of the same against Christmas leaders Liverpool.

And coach Manuel Pellegrini insisted his style will not change, even if opponents adopt an ultra-cautious approach to try and keep his team at bay.

Sky at night: amazing photographs from London's aerial photographer. isn't great great view

           
The City never sleeps: a night view looking across the Square Mile financial district shows London's growing number of skyscrapers, including the Walkie Talkie, left, Gherkin, centre, and Heron Tower, right.

These photographs — all taken this year — are part of the collection of specialist aerial photographer Jason Hawkes, who has produced more than 40 aerial photographic books of cities and landscapes around the world (© Jason Hawkes)

Good pop, bad pop: music's best and worst in 2013 Miley, Morrissey and Miliband — David Smyth hands out the prizes for music’s best and worst in 2013

        
What became of pop in 2013? Are we in a better place now that David Bowie is back and David Guetta has shut up for a bit, or did we plummet down a moral sinkhole led by Robin Thicke and a sledgehammer-wielding Miley Cyrus? How can we know for sure where we stand? With a haphazardly compiled collection of imaginary pop awards, that’s how. Happy Christmas, see you in January.
his was the year that Fleetwood  Mac returned to the stage with the long-absent Christine McVie, and Kraftwerk brought every one of their albums to a long live stint in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. But the biggest fuss was reserved for Bowie, his top-notch new album The Next Day and his glam V&A exhibition. Now how about a 2014 world tour, Dave?
Two decade-old beats and synths were everywhere in pop, on Katy Perry’s Walking on Air, Lady Gaga’s Do What U Want, Count on Me by Chase & Status and Bastille’s Of the Night, which blended two big hits of the early Nineties to such appalling effect that an appearance on a  special music edition of Crimewatch is inevitable

Haha, Players + Mr.Bean Look

      

       

Women DO need more sleep than men: Multi-tasking means their brains take longer to recover

             

It is a subject that can divide the closest of couples - who needs more sleep, women or men?

Now, U.S. researchers say they have the answer: Women's brains need more time to recover because they do more multi-tasking during the day.

The Duke University scientists, in North Carolina, found women who are sleep deprived often suffer from depression and become angry.

In contrast, these issues do not affect men who have not had much sleep, according to Science World Report.

Previous studies have also linked a lack of sleep to increased risk of heart disease, mental health problems, strokes and inflammation within the body.

Dr Michael Breus, a sleep expert, believes some sleep deprived women develop such severe inflammation in their bodies that they actually wake up suffering physical pain

‘During deep sleep, the cortex - the part of the brain responsible for thought, memory, language and so on - disengages from the senses and goes into recovery mode.

‘The more of your brain you use during the day, the more of it that needs to recover and, consequently, the more sleep you need.’

He added that women need more sleep as they use more of their brains than men do because they multi-task more.

He explained that a man with a demanding job that requires a lot of lateral thinking may also require extra sleep.

Why you should eat nuts in pregnancy: Now doctors say it lowers risk of baby developing allergy

             

Children could have a lower risk of developing a peanut allergy if their mothers eat more nuts in pregnancy, researchers claim.

Their study adds to growing evidence that eating nuts while expecting a baby  has no damaging effect on the unborn child.

Those with peanut allergies can develop breathing problems if they eat or come into contact with nuts. The most severely affected are at risk of life-threatening anaphylactic shock.

Mothers-to-be were previously advised to avoid peanuts, especially if there was a history of allergies such as eczema or asthma in the family, for fear of the baby developing a sensitivity to nuts. One in seven who are sensitive go on to develop allergies.

But now doctors see little harm in peanuts and other nuts, unless the mother herself already has an allergy. In the latest study, researchers looked at data held on 8,205 children

The findings showed children whose mothers ate peanuts or other nuts five times a week or more had the lowest risk of developing an allergy. 

However, this benefit was not found among children of those who had a nut allergy, according to the study published in medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Study leader Dr Lindsay Frazier, of the Dana-Farber Children’s Cancer Center in Boston, said: ‘Our study supports the hypothesis that early allergen exposure increases the likelihood of tolerance and thereby lowers the risk of childhood food allergy.’ 

Dr Ruchi Gupta, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said the study showed that women should not restrict their diets during pregnancy.

‘Certainly, women who are allergic to nuts should continue avoiding nuts,’ she said. ‘Pregnant women should not eliminate nuts from their diet as peanuts are a good source of protein and also provide folic acid, which could potentially prevent both neural tube defects and nut sensitisation.’ 

The number of British children allergic to peanuts has doubled in the past 20 years for reasons which remain unclear.

A new meaning to Sexy Santa! Rihanna dons St Nick coat over skimpy lingerie as she attends party

             

Rihanna posted photos insinuating she had attended a sexy slumber party.

But her saucy Santa-inspired ensemble wasn't limited to the festive red sheets.

The 25-year-old wore her scantily-clad ensemble to her friend Leandra's Christmas-themed Lingerie Party at Priva Barbados Lounge and Night Club on Monday, adding on a shaggy St Nick coat upon leaving

But the coat didn't stay on for too long, as Rihanna opted to leave little to imagination in a series of pictures posted to Instagram earlier that day. 

The Stay singer was wearing the same skimpy red nightie that featured sheer lace on the bust and a satin collar during the house party. 

She paired the barely-there number with thigh-high tights and black booties whilst wearing her dark hair in cork-screw curls and complementing her negligee with red lipstick.

 The singer is currently on vacation with her family in her homecountry of Barbados.

She needs all the rest she can get as she gears up to front French fashion line Balmain. 

The singer, who has a hand in designing her own range of outfits for River Island, will be the face of label’s Spring 2014 range, which launches in January

Work in America or UK as Full Placement Jobs

               

The best part about our Full Placement programme is that your job and accommodation are arranged for you by our friendly BUNAC team, so you can concentrate on having the summer of a lifetime! 

We work with hundreds of employers throughout the States who have been hiring BUNACers each summer for over 50 years. We have selected our favourites, who need friendly and enthusiastic students like you! 

What kind of work can I do? 

We work with employers all over the States, based in popular US vacation spots, giving you a great chance to mix with the locals and have an authentic American experience for the summer! Whether you’re working in a theme park in Maryland, in a resort in Martha’s Vineyard or in a souvenir store in North Carolina, be more than just a tourist. Earn some $$$s, do some travelling and gain great life experience.

As the employers are based in popular US vacation spots, they will need their staff to work in positions such as: 

Wait Staff	Retail Associate	Ranch Staff	Ticket Cashier
Bartender	Country Club Staff	Snack Bar Attendant	Ride Operator

Every employer has been pre-approved by our US visa sponsor, CIEE. Each job meets State minimum wage, and most employers also provide access to subsidised accomodation.

Each job will run from June to September, so you must be available to start work between the 1st and 15th of June. 

How it works

We want to hear from you! Complete your booking form online and on BUNAC team will give you a call to discuss your application and your ideal Work America adventure. 

 BUNAC team will assess your preferences and experience, and will then arrange a Skype or UK face-to-face interview with your potential employers. 

Nigeria says scores dead in Boko Haram battle Army says 50 Boko Haram fighters, 15 soldiers and five civilians killed as armed group tried to cross Cameroon border.

        

Nigeria's military has said it killed 50 members of the armed group Boko Haram as they tried to cross Cameroon's border.

Fifteen soldiers and five civilians were also killed in Monday's battle, it said.

Boko Haram wants to carve out an Islamic state in a country split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims.

Since starting its uprising in 2009, the sect has turned itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an militia with links to al-Qaeda's West African wing.

Nigerian forces stepped up their military offensive in the northeast after Boko Haram fighters, armed with grenade launchers and anti-aircraft weapons, attacked their barracks in the town of Bama on Friday.

Several soldiers' wives and children were abducted during the attack. 

Nigeria's army also engages in the practice of seizing relatives as a way to get suspects to give themselves up. 

The military rarely admits casualties among its own troops or civilians.

The 14 worst things sportsmen did in 2013: From Luis Suarez (twice) to Lance Armstrong through Sebastian Vettel

       
While sport has been treated to some tremendous occasions in 2013, there will always be a few who let the side down with some truly despicable behaviour. Metro Sport looks at the 14 bad guys who have definitely been struck off Santa’s Christmas list for this year

Luis Suarez biting Branislav Ivanovic

If casual racism didn’t endear the Liverpool striker enough to the sporting world, Suarez presumably decided that taking a bite out of Ivanovic back in April may curry him some favour. He was slapped with an unprecedented 10-match ban for his munchy ways

Chelsea fans being horrible little blighters to Rafa Benitez

Blues fans are not always known for their compassion – and are certainly not sportsmen, but they make our list because travelling up to Middlesbrough on a week night in February (bad enough in itself!) to spend 90 minutes abusing their own manager is just plain mean.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto posts smiling pic after Spurs lose 5-0

This however, is pretty mischievous. Having been exiled to QPR by then boss-Andre Villas-Boas, the Cameroonian seemed to take his parent club’s 5-0 hammering at the hands of Liverpool really, reallywell…

Fergie backs David Moyes for Manchester United manager

At some point this year, there would have been a conversation at Old Trafford that went something like: ‘Sir Alex, who would you recommend we hire to continue your legacy after your retirement?’ And the rest is history… What a bad guy.

Luis Suarez requesting a summer transfer

So, you know how Liverpool backed Suarez to the hilt throughout racism, biting and diving storms, right? Well, there was really only one way he could repay them after that, wasn’t there…

Deadly storms to cause travel chaos on Christmas Eve

      

Torrential rain and gale-force winds linked to the deaths of at least two people are set to cause severe transport disruption into Christmas Eve.

As a man and woman died in separate river incidents, thousands of people face travel chaos trying to make it home for Christmas.

The Environment Agency issued a severe flood warning – its most serious warning – in the south-west due to ‘extremely dangerous conditions’, but the two fatalities occurred in Cumbria and North Wales

Met Office forecaster Emma Compton said major disruption to rail and road networks would go hand-in-hand with the severe weather conditions, set to stay around over the next week.

Robin Gisby, managing director of operational services for Network Rail, acknowledged the major problems facing train providers.

‘Today’s been a difficult day with the storms and I thank passengers for their patience as we worked clearing around 80 trees off lines and overhead wires to get them home today,’ he said.

‘Tonight we continue that work as the storm passes over the country, with hundreds of engineers out clearing the tracks and fixing any damage

Wing of British Airways plane hits building as it prepares to take off from South Africa

       

A British Airways plane has crashed into a building before take-off in South Africa.

The flight heading to London from Johannesburg's Tambo airport veered off course during taxi to the runway and its right wing struck a two storey brick building.

The plane was evacuated, with 182 passengers led to safety.

They were put up overnight in a hotel.

Harriet Tolputt, head of media for Oxfam, was on the flight and took the image above.

She posted on Twitter: "BA plane crashes into building at J Burg airport. No one injured only the pilot's pride. Not impressed that first class passengers get off before premium economy during an emergency."

British Airways said an investigation was underway.

A spokesman said: "A British Airways Boeing 747 was damaged while taxiing at Johannesburg airport.

"The 182 customers disembarked safely and there were no reported injuries on board the aircraft.

"Customers were looked after by our staff and provided with hotel accommodation and we are arranging alternative flights for them.

"We have launched a full investigation into the incident and are giving our assistance to the independent South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) with the matter.

Deadly explosion rocks Egypt's Nile Delta. At least 14 people killed and 120 injured in an explosion in the Egyptian city of Mansoura.

      

A car bomb has killed 14 people and injured 120 as it tore through a police headquarters in the Delta region city of Mansoura, Egyptian officials have said.

Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Cairo, said it was not yet clear whether he bomb that rocked Dakhalya Police Security Directorate in the capital of Dakhalya Governorate early on Tuesday had been operated by a suicide bomber or whether it was remotely detonated.

"Police also said that there was a second device," our correspondent said.

The Ministry of Interior said that a police van containing 15 policemen parked by the building was destroyed, set ablaze and four bodies had been pulled out. Rescuers were still trying to reach the other bodies.

Al Jazeera's Mohamed Fahmy said five high-ranking police officers were among those to die in the blast while the head of security and the head of investigations department were critically injured.

"The explosion was so strong that parts of the gate surrounding the directorate is demolished," Fahmy said.

"The injured are both police and civilians.

"Rescue teams pulling people from under rubble."

TOWIE's Sam Faiers is named best bikini body of 2013 - beating Lucy Mecklenburgh, Kim Kardashian and Kelly Brook to top spot TOWIE's Sam Faiers is named best bikini body of 2013 - beating Lucy Mecklenburgh, Kim Kardashian and Kelly Brook to top spot

               

TOWIE beauty Sam Faiers has been named the celebrity with the best bikini body of 2013.

The star fought off tough competition, including from love rival Amy Willerton and superstar Rhianna, to scoop the title

The survey asked 680 women to name the celebrity whose body they’d most love to be able to flaunt on the beach - and Sam took a fifth (20 per cent) of the vote

The 22-year-old reality star is regularly photographed on holiday with her sister Billie and TOWIE cast mates showing off her bikini body.

After having recently slimmed down and toned up for the festive season, Sam has been following a no carbs, no alcohol regime, and has let her fans see the enviable results through her social media accounts after snapping multiple selfies in her underwear.

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 0: Gunners miss chance to go top after feisty derby ends in stalemate... meaning Liverpool are Christmas No 1

It was rather fitting that on the night when the late John Sullivan’s family were in attendance, Chelsea should be rescued by the man they call Dave.

Sullivan was the genius behind Only Fools And Horses, the creator of Del Boy, Rodney, Boycie and Trigger, and a lifelong Arsenal fan. He would have been 67 on Monday. 

One of his running jokes was that Trigger, no matter how many times he was corrected, mistakenly referred to Rodney as Dave.

Discussing Del Boy’s impending fatherhood, Trigger tells his pub audience: ‘If it’s a boy they’re going to call it Rodney.’ Pause. ‘After Dave.’ 

And so it was that when Cesar Azpilicueta arrived at Stamford Bridge, the players took one look at that name, with its many syllables, that p straight after the z and the tricky cuet sound near the end and decided: Dave.

So Dave it is, and Dave it was who, at the moment when Chelsea could have surrendered three points in the final minute, came to the rescue. Bacary Sagna’s header was not the most powerful, but it was downwards and goalbound, and there would have been precious little time for Chelsea to get back into the game had there not been a protector at the far post. 

And that protector was: Dave. He launched the ball upfield and Chelsea survived. He certainly won’t be invited to Arsenal’s Christmas party next year — unlike the man he replaced at full-back, Ashley Cole.

You’ve got to hand it to Jose Mourinho. He knows his way around matches like this. It is 10 games and counting without defeat against Arsene Wenger and despite that late escape, had Chelsea not got a point here justice would not have been done.

Is this the smartest man in football?

                        

Look, we don't mean to pour cynicism all over Adebayor's fantastic week of Tottenham redemption post-AVB, but it's fair to say that this boy has cried wolf more than once in the past. The striker's sudden bursts of form (and more tellingly, of work-rate) are frustratingly convenient and remind his team's fans all-too-painfully that he could and should be doing this week in, week out.

Some houseowners only bother giving their property a proper clean when they are ready to sell it for as much as possible. Adebayor has managed to turn that mentality into an extremely lucrative career for a fraction of the effort of many of his Premier League peers. He'll probably stop caring again soon.

Weather: Two Die As Storm Batters Country in UK

                       

A man and a woman have died as rain and winds of up to 87mph sweep the country disrupting the Christmas getaway and leaving more than 6,000 without power.

A man died in Cumbria after falling into the River Rothay at Ambleside triggering a large rescue search involving the police, RAF, Coastguard, and mountain rescue teams. In a separate incident, a woman died after falling into a river at Gwynedd in North Wales.

A motorist died on Sunday at Bolventor, in Cornwall after a three-car accident during a hail storm.

In Horsham, West Sussex, two children were treated for minor injuries after being hit by branches from a falling tree.

Flood warnings were in place across the whole country as it was hit by relentless rain falling on already saturated ground and winds whipping to 70-80mph.

Around 3,000 homes are without power in Cornwall and a further 2,000 in other parts of the South West after high winds brought down power lines, according to Western Power Distribution. According to Southern Electricity, there are 1,100 without power in Berkshire.

The spokesman for the Met Office said a new wind speed high had been recorded at Capel Curig in Conwy, North Wales, with gusts blowing at 87mph.

Not far behind was Berry Head in Torbay, Devon, with gusts of 76mph.

The Dartford QE2 bridge is closed until 4am tomorrow morning, the M48 Severn Bridge is closed to high-sided vehicles and the Sheppey Crossing in Kent has also been closed until Tuesday morning.

An Essex police spokesman said: "The tunnels will remain open to help maintain the flow of traffic, but congestion is expected so drivers are advised to seek alternative routes if possible or avoid the Thurrock and Dartford areas of Essex and Kent."

Vin Diesel confirms Fast & Furious 7 will go ahead

                               

Vin Diesel has confirmed that 'Fast & Furious 7', the movie actor Paul Walker was filming when he died last month, will go ahead.
In a post on his Facebook page, Diesel announced that Walker's last movie will be released on April 10, 2015
“There was a unique sense of completion, of pride we shared… in the film we were now completing… the magic captured… and, in just how far we’ve come,” he added.

Filming had been halted on the project, directed by James Wan, while it was being decided whether the film would continue production or be scrapped entirely in the wake of Walker's death in a car wreck in November.
But now it seems that they will start filming again, perhaps in January, while it was rumoured – but so far it remains very much a rumour – that Cody Walker, Paul Walker's stunt actor brother, could step in for some final scenes.

The film was previously set for release on July 11, 2014, before the tragic death of the star on November 30 in Valencia, California.

Is this the most luxurious place in Britain to spend Christmas? Seven-bedroom country house comes with its own boating lake, pool and bowling alley (but it'll cost you £12,500 for five nights)

By now, most people will be panicking over how to fund the festive period, but if money was no option, there would be worse places to spend Christmas than this £2,500-a-night holiday let in Petworth, West Sussex.

Cornucopia is set in 40-acres of private parkland - which is maintained by a groundsman who lives on site

The four-storey property, featured on Unique Home Stays, has seven beautifully decorated bedrooms with views over the private grounds, king-size beds and en suite bathrooms.

On the first floor sits the grand master suite which has not one but TWO en suite bathrooms with stand-alone bath tubs, walk-in rain showers, and floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing views across the Sussex countryside.

The second floor has four bedrooms at the top of a grand staircase that would give Downton Abbey a run for its money - each with a four-poster bed, en suite with bath tub and shower, and a quirky mezzanine snug area. 

On the first floor there is also a French-style bedroom, plus an additional king-size room

Samsung files patent for a phone with TWO SCREENS to make reading, gaming and conference calls easier

                      

The mobile communications technology race has taken an interesting turn with the release of plans for a smartphone with a dual display.

Tech giant Samsung has filed a patent for a phone with two interconnected touchscreens that can display two independent applications, or work together to give the user an enhanced experience in gaming, reading e-books, conference calls, web browsing and multi-tasking.

Pictures of the device have been filed with the U.S. Patent Office and show the potential benefits of the technology.

Samsung's filing contained more than a hundred patent figures broken into distinct categories such as calendars, photo cataloging and many more, reports Patentbolt.

The dual displays are connected by a hinge, which allows the as-yet-unnamed device to stand freely, similar to the rigid covers used by tablet owners.

This provides exciting gaming opportunities, as users can sit around a table with one screen visible to them and one on display to their opponents.

In terms of photos, the phone can display an image on one screen and photomanipulation tools on the other, allowing easy retouching.

The two screens could also display images and video across both screens for a more immersive experience.

The images in the patent filing also show an enhanced conference call function, where the participants' faces are shown at the top of the screen, while other data, such as a business presentation or scientific data, is displayed along the bottom.

It also acts as an e-reader, where the user can hold the two screens with text on both displays, a experience more akin to reading an actual book than usually afforded by conventional e-readers

Last month Samsung promised to introduce devices with fully folding displays to the general market in 2015

Google's Zeitgeist List revealed: Paul Walker, twerking and pancake recipes top website's most searched for topics of 2013

  

2013 has been a busy year. 

Politicians Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela died, the royal baby was born, Andy Murray became the first British man to win a Wimbledon grand slam in 77 years and Miley Cyrus caused outrage by 'twerking' at the MTV Video Music Awards. 

To round up this eventful year, Google has published its Zetigeist list, which highlights the most searched-for people, questions, events, songs, and more of the past 12 months. 

And according to the list, the most popular search of 2013 was for Paul Walker, the American actor, who was killed in a car crash in 30 November

Mr Walker was listed above Apple’s iPhone 5S, the royal baby Prince George, the UK government's Universal Jobmatch site and Microsoft's Xbox One.

In the days following his death, interest in Nelson Mandela caused a surge in searches to send him to sixth on the chart of trending terms in the UK, and he topped the list of global searches.

The top trending ‘What is’ query was ‘What is twerking?’, fuelled by Miley Cyrus’ performance on this year’s VMAs in August. 

‘What is my IP’, which stands for Internet Protocol and is the address used by computers to access the web, and ‘What is YOLO’, the acronym for You Only Live Once were second and third

Want people to be nicer to you? STOP wearing deodorant: Bad body odour makes others more generous and supportive

                           

Sharing a desk or spending time with someone who smells is usually best avoided, yet it could make you more compassionate. 

Research has found that bad body odour is commonly associated with vulnerability, which triggers feelings of concern in others. 

This means people tend to increase their level of co-operation when dealing with someone who smells bad because they feel sorry for them

Psychologists from Belgium found that bad body odour is commonly associated with vulnerability, which triggers feelings of concern. This, in turn, leads other people to pity the person with the odour and treat them more favourably than others

'Even though it has been argued that bad scents invoke negative judgments, we argued and demonstrated that a bad body odour elicits feelings of pity in others and increases prosocial behaviour.'

This can include underarm sweat, smelly feet, bad breath or other foul-smelling odours. 

The research, published online in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, involved several experiments.

In the first experiment, 36 participants were randomly placed into two groups.

Half were asked to sniff a bad smelling T-shirt that had been dowsed in human sweat, beer and sprayed with foul smells. The other half smelt a more neutral-smelling T-shirt.

All the T-shirts were of the same shape and colour and all participants were told to imagine the item belonged to someone they worked with.

Black women find it harder to lose weight than white women because they have slower metabolisms

                              

From their genes to the speed of their metabolism, people come up with an enormous range of excuses for their failure to shed their extra pounds.

Now, new research suggests ethnicity could be a valid explanation for dieting disasters.

Researchers discovered African-American women have to eat fewer calories and take more exercise to lose the same amount of weight as their Caucasian counterparts.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe this is because they have slower metabolic rates.

During their study, they found African-American women lost, on average, 7lbs less than Caucasian women on the same diet.

Previous studies have shown that black women do not lose as much weight as white women when they diet.

Dr James DeLany, associate professor at the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Pitt School of Medicine, explained: ‘At first, it was thought that perhaps the African-American women didn’t adhere as closely to their calorie prescriptions or that the interventions were not culturally sensitive.

‘But even in research projects that were designed to address those possibilities, the difference in weight loss remained.’

Dr DeLany’s team decided to see if there were metabolic reasons behind the discrepancy.

They examined body weight changes, energy expenditure, physical activity and calorie intake in 39 severely obese African-American and 66 Caucasian women who were participating in a six-month weight loss programme.

Wish you were here! Toure and Aguero urge Barca star Messi to join them at Man City

                

Manchester City stars Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero have urged Lionel Messi to join them at the Etihad Stadium.

Speculation persists that the Argentine superstar is unsettled at Barcelona, after Messi last week publicly hit out at the club's vice-president Javier Faus, claiming that the director 'knows nothing about football'. 

The problem is exacerbated by Messi's recent injury problems and the current holder of Ballon D'Or has not played since early November after breaking down with a hamstring injury against Real Betis.

And speaking to beIN Sport, Toure said: 'If Messi can leave Barca? To come to us, yes! I want to say yes! At Barcelona, there is always one star. One. Two is not possible. 

'With the recent injury to Messi and the off-the-field problems that he is having at the moment, and with Neymar gradually getting promoted, it is complicated for him [Messi], for sure.'

While Messi's Argentina strike partner Aguero told the Manchester Evening News: 'Yes, he should come to City. Then we’ll definitely play together! City should buy him