US rapper Kanye West charged over photographer attack

The US rap star Kanye West has been charged with battery and attempted theft over a scuffle with a paparazzo at Los Angeles Airport on July 19 this year.

The photographer, Daniel Ramos, sued Mr West after he allegedly punched him and chucked his camera on the ground.

According to West's lawyers, he had simply been trying to prevent the snapper from taking pictures of him. The hearing has been set for October10, but West is not required to appear if he has a lawyer.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of six months in prison.

The incident took place at the airport, when several photographers, including Mr Ramos, were waiting for West to arrive.

West is said to have been irritated by their presence and to have then lunged at Mr Ramos and tried to seize his camera.

"When Kanye West attacked me, I was in complete shock," Mr Ramos told reporters.

"All I had done was ask him a question. I was terrified when Kanye started to come at me. I backed up because I felt from the look in his eyes that he was going to attack me."

He added that he had been forced to use crutches and a cane after the incident.

Slovenia starts work on its first mosque

Thousands attended ceremony in Ljubljana, as foundation stone is laid for Muslim place of worship.

Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek has helped lay the foundation stone for what will be the country's first mosque, 44 years after the initial request to build it was made.

Bratusek declared the move in the capital, Ljubljana, a "symbolic victory against all forms of religious intolerance", adding that Europe would not be as culturally rich without Islam.

About 10,000 people attended the ceremony on Saturday, including Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic, and a government minister from Qatar which is helping fund the project.

"We are happy to be starting this civic project in Ljubljana, which will thus become a better-known and a more pluralistic city," Mufti Nedzad Grabus, the highest representative of Slovenia's Islamic community, told the ceremony.

Building will begin in November and should be finished by the end of autumn 2016. The cost of the project, which includes a Muslim cultural centre, is $16m, 70 percent of which will be met by Qatar.

"This means the world to me," said Sahra Kacar, who was born the same year as the first official petition to build the mosque in Ljubljana was filed. "We will have a proper place to pray, rather than using various public halls."

Petition for referendum

The proposal for a mosque had been held up by reluctant local officials, some of whom tried to force a referendum on the matter in 2004.

Five years later, about 12,000 people signed a petition calling for a referendum, but once again Slovenia's Constitutional Court ruled against it on the grounds of religious freedom.

Slovenia is a Catholic country of two million people, of which about 50,000 are Muslims.

While the plan for a mosque had stirred debate, the concerns have been overshadowed by the financial turmoil facing the country. 

The project comes during Slovenia's worst financial crisis since independence in 1991, which threatens to make the country the latest member of the 17-nation eurozone to seek a bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

"I personally am not against the mosque but I do know people who are still against it," said a 30-year old designer who lives near the site of the new mosque and gave her name as Ana. 

"But the mosque is no longer that high on the political agenda because the attention is now focused on the economic crisis that is crippling Slovenia," she said.

Yemeni minister to seek child-marriage ban

Human rights minister pledges to press for minimum marriage age to be fixed at 18, after reported death of child bride.

Yemen's human rights minister has said she will press for the minimum age of marriage to be set at 18, after the reported death of a young girl on the first night of her marriage.

Eight-year-old Rawan was said to have died last week from internal bleeding after sexual intercourse, after having been married to a man in his 40s in the northeastern province of Hajja.

The provincial governor, however, on Saturday denied the reports that Rawan had died.

Huriya Mashhoor told the AFP news agency she wanted to revive a bill that has lain dormant since 2009, which would have set the minimum age for marriage at 17, and amend it to raise the age to 18.

"We are asking to fix the legal age for marriage at 18, as Yemen is a signatory to the international conventions on children's rights," she said.

Mashhoor spoke a day after the government formed a committee to investigate the reports of the girl's death.

The governor of Hajja province told official news agency SABA that Rawan was still alive.

Ali al-Qaissi said "the young girl Rawan Abdo Hattan is still alive and normally lives with her family who, in turn, deny the whole thing".

But he added that "the young girl is currently in a social protection centre after undergoing physical and psychological tests in a public hospital" in the area.

'Not enough evidence'

Before the denial from the governor, Mashhoor had said: "We do not have enough evidence at the moment."

"But I am worried that there could be an attempt to silence the matter, especially as it took place in an isolated rural area in Hajja province where there have been similar cases before.

"If the case was confirmed and covered up, then the crime would be more serious," Mashhoor warned.

Mashhoor has been involved in a campaign against the marriage of child brides in Yemen. There is no clear definition in the country of what constitutes a child, making it difficult to battle the practice.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Sanaa authorities on Friday to investigate the case "without delay and to prosecute all those responsible for this crime".

Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that 14 percent of girls in Yemen are married before the age of 15, and 52 percent before 18, citing Yemeni and 2006 data from the United Nations.

Marrying off young daughters is a way for poor Yemeni families to save on the costs of bringing up a child and earn extra money from the dowry given to a girl.

According to the UN about half of Yemen's 24 million people lack sufficient food and access to safe water.

Full stream ahead! How hypnotherapy is helping patients beat IBS

Hypnotherapy to encourage positive thinking could help people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

The new approach uses a technique often known as positive visualisation and it can involve patients imagining the digestive system as a river.

A study last year at Manchester University found three-quarters of  IBS patients experienced improvement in their symptoms after hypnotherapy, and the effects lasted for five years  or more.

But the researchers say many sufferers are being denied the treatment because of prejudice

‘Sadly many health professions are sceptical,’ says  Professor Peter Whorwell, who pioneered the treatment at Manchester.

He adds: ‘It works for people who are quite ill and who have not responded to other treatments.’

IBS, which is experienced by ten to  15 per cent of the population, affects the digestive system and can cause stomach cramps, bloating, constipation and diarrhoea.

Its cause is not known. Treatments include diet changes, laxatives and anti-depressants.

The hypnotherapy treatment involves weekly sessions for three months,  during which patients are given suggestions about how they can gain control over their gut.

 

‘They might be imagining their gut as a river, for example,’ says Prof Whorwell, ‘and modifying its flow according to  their needs – a fast-flowing stream being slowed down to a gently meandering river, or the reverse for someone suffering from constipation.

One patient to have benefited is  Joanna Cowdrey, 31, a supermarket manager from Southampton, who began having bowel problems six years ago.

Joanna tried various kinds of medication, but none reduced the symptoms – until she was invited to have hypnotherapy at Manchester University.

She says: ‘There were no swinging watches like in films – you just feel half asleep then alert and invigorated afterwards. 

'I had 12 sessions but saw benefits after the third. It really has changed my life – my symptoms are far less intrusive and I feel great.'

We're all sugar junkies now: Britons now wolf down an almost unimaginable 160 teaspoons of it a week - and the even worse news? It really IS addictive

Put a cake in front of  me – chocolate, sponge, carrot – and, if I let myself, I’ll start eating it. One slice or two. Perhaps three. There have been days when I’ve munched my way through well over half, maybe even the entire cake. The lunacy is that often when I start eating, I am not even hungry.

Replace the cake with a plain  bowl of porridge, no sugar or honey, and I am not interested.

Does that make me a sugar addict? New scientific research suggests that perhaps it does. French researchers in Bordeaux recently reported that laboratory rats chose sugar over cocaine – despite the fact that they were addicted to cocaine.

I am not alone. Much has  been made recently of how the food industry has turned us all into ‘sugar junkies’. 

In the US, there is a whole genre of literature devoted to the subject. Endocrinologist Robert Lustig’s lecture Sugar: The Bitter Truth has been viewed almost four million times on YouTube – quite unprecedented for a rather dry medical lecture.

It’s often casually mentioned, as if it’s fact, that manufacturers secretly spike everyday foods with sugar to keep us hooked and that this is what is behind the spiralling number of obese Britons

Half of us are overweight, and a quarter so overweight there is a risk of a host of illnesses from cancer to heart disease. But the truth is far more complex.

According to the National Diet And Nutrition Survey, a rolling research programme that aims to give a yearly snapshot of our eating habits, we are now eating fewer sugary snacks than we were when the project began in 2007, taking in 13g of sugar in this way a day, down from 22g then.

Why couldn't you play for England? Rooney starts for United... just days after missing crucial World Cup qualifiers

Wayne Rooney started for Manchester United against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon after missing two important England World Cup qualifiers with a cut head.

England beat Moldova at Wembley, but stuttered to a goalless draw against Ukraine, in a game that would have benefited from the striker's tenacity and creativity. 

It seemed unlikely that Rooney would start - and instead be saved for the derby clash with rivals Man City next Sunday - but he lined up alongside Robin van Persie.

David Moyes said, when asked on Friday if Rooney would play: 'It's something we'll look at.

'I've got to take the risk because you could just knock the head and it could split open because it's right down there [the middle]. It's healed really well, better.

'Put a big Fozzie [Steve Foster] head band on it? There's a possibility I could do that, but we'll see what we can do.'

Rooney had posted a picture of the injury he sustained in training on Facebook, after he pulled out of the England squad.

Daniel Sturridge is another striker who was judged unfit to play for England but could feature for Liverpool on Monday night against Swansea.

Everton 1 Chelsea 0: Naismith leaves Eto'o in the shade as Toffees stun Mourinho

There are few better places to watch the defeat of one of the major English clubs than Goodison Park.

The old stadium seemingly magnifies the noise tenfold, the roar of the crowd growing ever more frantic as Evertonians anticipate a famous victory.

Saturday was just such an evening. Everton, with Ross Barkley outstanding and Leon Osman, Gareth Barry and Steven Naismith to the fore, were excellent. Chelsea, despite an array of chances, looked strangely vulnerable amid the cacophony of noise

It will be a while before we can question Chelsea’s transition under Jose Mourinho but it is fair to say seven points from four games and a UEFA Super Cup defeat, albeit on penalties, was not the start he would have anticipated.

This does not look like Mourinho’s Chelsea at present. They lack the authority of old, with neither overwhelming strength nor ruthlessness under pressure. They look a team with an identity crisis, caught between the manager’s requirements and the owner’s vision.

‘Artistic football without goals is not good,’ said Mourinho as he listed the litany of chances his team missed, debutant Samuel Eto’o and summer signing Andre Schurrle bearing the brunt of his criticism.

He offered no easy excuses for the slackness in defence and finishing. ‘I don’t think it’s a question of sharpness,’ he said before identifying the lazy ball from Schurrle on 28 minutes and the delay from Eto’o that allowed Barry back to block in front of an open goal after Tim Howard’s mix-up with Sylvain Distin.

‘Perhaps it is not having the killer instinct. If they don’t have it they have to get it but I think they have it.

‘My team are always my team. Winning, losing, playing badly, they are always my responsibility. Later they will have more the identity of the manager and it’s easier to do that after five months than after four weeks.’

Ronaldo handed £76million sweetener as Real attempt to stop him returning to United

Real Madrid will offer Cristiano Ronaldo a five-year deal worth 90million euros (over £76m) to make him the world’s best-paid footballer and ensure he stays with the Spanish giants. 

The package would see him earning almost twice as much a season as Gareth Bale and is a calculated move aimed at soothing Ronaldo’s bruised ego after he lost the mantle of the world’s most expensive player to the £86m Welshman. 

Under the new deal, Real will pay Ronaldo £15m a year after tax and before bonuses. Bale is on £8.3m a season and Ronaldo’s new deal would put him £850,000-a-year ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic

It would also all but end Manchester United’s hopes of persuading Ronaldo to return to Old Trafford. United want Ronaldo to sit tight on his current deal, which runs out in 2015, and then move for a massive £50m signing-on fee in two years’ time. 

Ronaldo will be pressured to put pen to paper in the coming weeks and is understood to be happy in the Spanish capital but still not entirely convinced about committing his long-term future to Real. 

One option would be to agree in principle on the extension but not sign until the end of the season. 
Madrid are keen to send a message to Ronaldo that he remains their most important player, despite the arrival of Bale.

The restoration of Ronaldo as Real’s most lucrative property could help Bale in his battle for acceptance in the Real Madrid dressing room. Ronaldo’s reaction to the new signing has been mixed ever since Bale’s move was first mooted in July. 

When asked what he thought about the potential signing of Bale, Ronaldo said: ‘I have my opinion but I am not going to give it publicly. I think the players we have signed already are very good. They are Spanish and know the league.’

There was a warm, if slightly staged, welcome on Wednesday when Bale trained for the first time with his new team-mates. Ronaldo met Bale in the club’s car-park, shook him by the hand and asked how he was. On Friday, however, there was another reminder of who is boss when Ronaldo was pictured going in late and studs-up on Bale in a training drill. 

The two men both scored in their first game as team-mates on Saturday night in the 2-2 draw against Villarreal and the Welshman now prepares for his first taste of Champions League action since the 2010-11 season alongside Ronaldo, whom he faced the last time he played in the Champions League.

Arsenal go back for £30m Rooney: Wenger hopes Ozil's presence will finally solve Arsenal's striker shortage

Arsenal will test Manchester United’s resolve to keep Wayne Rooney in this January’s transfer window, with their spending ready to continue following their record £42million deal for Mesut Ozil.

Arsenal still have funds to make a bid of about £30m and the feeling at the club is that the signing of Ozil has indicated to Rooney, who scored on his surprise return from injury in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, that they have returned to being serious title contenders.

Ozil inspired Arsenal to a 3-1 win at Sunderland on Saturday, but they want to add a striker in January if possible and Rooney and Luis Suarez remain the two players that Wenger would like to add to the team.

The club believe that Rooney will consider their bid seriously, even though he seemed to prefer to move to Chelsea in the summer, because they have now signed Germany playmaker Ozil.

Neither Suarez nor Rooney will be easy to prise away, with United having proved resolute in their determination to keep Rooney, rejecting bids from both Arsenal and Chelsea and Liverpool proving equally intransigent over Suarez, rejecting a bid of £40million, plus £1, from Arsenal.

United are preparing to offer Rooney a new contract as his current deal runs out in 18 months, but have indicated that they will wait until January before opening talks. United need to sign him on a longer-term deal before his market value dramatically decreases in the final year of his contract.

Real Madrid are now expected to bid for Suarez in January and it is clear that Liverpool would prefer to sell him abroad and that the player would prefer a move to the Bernabeu.

Rooney started Saturday’s game after his training-ground accident with Phil Jones that gashed his head, but his situation will continue to attract attention, especially with the launch of Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography next month. 

Rooney still strongly contends Sir Alex’s version of events at the end of last season, the former Manchester United manager claiming that Rooney asked to leave the club. United have confirmed that Rooney never submitted a formal transfer request.

Anything you can do: £86m Bale strikes on debut as Ronaldo nets too... but Spurs outcast Dos Santos has final say with leveller

203 goals in 203 games for Cristiano Ronaldo; one goal in one game for Gareth Bale. That was the return from the £85million man’s goal-scoring debut against Villarreal tonight.

And thanks to his first half strike and Ronaldo’s second-half goal, Real Madrid picked up a point in El Madrigal.

It wasn’t quite Beckham after three minutes but Bale’s first goal for Real Madrid came just 38 minutes into his debut. He was so pleased he almost forget the trademark love-heart goal celebration as he was mobbed by relieved team-mates.

Real Madrid were strangers in the night under the lights of the Madrigal playing with two debutants and a fourth choice left-back and struggling to find each other.

But with his side chasing the game after conceding on 20 minutes to a goal from Cani, Bale forced Madrid back into the match. He drifted into a central position and muscled his way to the edge of the six-yard box to stab a Dani Carvajal cross past Sergio Asenjo in the home team’s goal.

It had been Luka Modric who played Carvajal in down the right. Modric and Bale’s combinations provided rare moments of clarity in a chaotic first half.

The new man will have wondered if he had really joined the biggest spending club in the first 45 minutes as he chased wild over-hit passes and spent much of the first period tracking back to help Madrid defend their goal.

From his first assured touch inside to Isco inside the first minute it was a confident display from Bale as he lined-up on the right hand-side of Madrid’s attack.

His first chance to take a Real Madrid free-kick came on 15 minutes. He shuffled across to the dead ball five yards from the edge of the area... and watched as Ronaldo took the kick and blasted it over Asenjo’s bar.

His first chance to steam past free-transfer full-back Jaume Costa came shortly afterwards but he played safe and spared the inexperienced defender.

Madrid were having their own inexperienced-defender troubles.

There had been talk of Bale starting at left-back in midweek because Real were without their three first choice left-backs. And Villarreal were having Madrid for dinner with Nacho on the side in the first half an hour.

Time again Villarreal carved Madrid open down the flank being defended by the youngster. The only surprise when their goal came was that it did not involve him.

Debutant Assier Illaramendi, sat in front of the back four for Madrid, failed to prevent Bruno threading a ball through to Jonahtan Pereira.

Parents 'should ignore mobiles when talking to their children so that they know their views are important'

                    

Parents should stop checking their mobiles and listen to their children when they are talking to them, headteachers said yesterday.

They said it is vital that mothers and fathers are not distracted by phones and computers and that they spend time talking and listening to their children so that they know their views are important.

Bernadette Hunter, president of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: ‘It’s easy for everyone, even parents, to be distracted by the immediacy of electronic communications. 

‘We understand the pressure and temptation to respond straight away but it’s important that parents spend time speaking and listening with their children.’

The advice comes in a leaflet published by the NAHT and the Family Action charity, aimed at helping parents to develop their child’s speaking and listening.

It advises: ‘Give your child your attention: Don’t check your mobile phone at the same time as they are talking to you.’
‘Switch off television and laptops well before bedtime. Chat or read a bedtime story together instead.’ 

Other advice includes being patient and not interrupting children, to ask questions, discuss the day, and to try to have a family meal together.

And it suggests that parents praise their child for listening to them and following instructions, while those mothers and fathers who do not have English as their first language should make sure they speak their native tongue ‘confidently and well’.

David Holmes, chief executive of Family Action, said: ‘We all know how easy it is to be distracted by our mobiles when with our children. That’s part of modern life. 

‘But this leaflet is a reminder to  parents about the importance of  making time to listen actively to our children. We all need to do this so that children in turn learn to speak and listen well.’

The leaflet is the second published by the two organisations. The first called for parents to give their children ‘lots of hugs’, play games and ensure youngsters get enough sleep.

They also urged families to eat  dinner together and make time for homework, reading and talking.

Al-Qaeda leader urges attacks on US soil

Ayman al-Zawahiri, in audio speech, calls on his followers to strike inside US to "bleed America financially".

The leader of al-Qaeda has urged his followers to strike inside the US to "bleed America economically", adding that the United States can be defeated by targeting its economy, according to a message posted on a website frequently used by the group.

In an audio speech released online two days after the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes, Ayman al-Zawahiri said that America is not a "mythic power" and that the mujahedeen - Islamic holy warriors - can defeat it with attacks "on its own soil".

"We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure," al-Zawahiri, the successor to Osama bin Laden, said.

The message's authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

Keeping America in such a state of tension and anticipation only required a few disparate attacks "here and there", he said.

"As we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, so we should follow it with ...war on its own land. These disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few of the brothers."

At the same time, Muslims should seize any opportunity to stage small attacks or a "big strike" against the United States, even if this took years of patience, he said.

Enemies of Islam

The September 11, 2011 attacks, in which hijacked airliners were flown into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington and a Pennsylvania field, triggered a global fight against al-Qaeda members and their affiliates.

Almost 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.

In his audio speech, al-Zawahiri - who is believed to be hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region - said Muslims should refuse to buy goods from America and its allies, as such spending only helped to fund US military action in Muslim lands.

He added that Muslims should abandon the US dollar and replace it with the currency of nations that did not attack Muslims.

Al-Zawahiri spoke approvingly of one of the worst attacks on the US soil since September 11, 2001, the bombing of the Boston Marathon in April, which US authorities say was carried out by two ethnic Chechen Muslim brothers. The attack killed three people and injured 264.

On Syria's civil war, al-Zawahri addressed al-Qaeda-linked fighters - including many foreign fighters - who have taken an increasingly prominent role in the fight against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Their rise has caused tensions with more moderate Syrian rebel factions, even escalating to violence and turf battles.

America wants to use "the Muslim people as a means to topple the pro-Iran Baathist regime and install a secular government and peaceful to Israel", al-Zawahri said.

It "will try to push the mujahedeen to compromise with the secular factions and the enemies of Islam".

"I warn my brothers in Syria against any compromise with those factions. They have to learn the lesson of Egypt," al-Zawahri said.

US and Russia reach deal on Syria weapons

Damascus is given one week to declare its stock of chemical weapons as part of a plan to eliminate its arsenal.

Syria has been given one week to declare its stock of chemical weapons, and the country must immediately allow in international inspectors, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday after talks in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva on Saturday, after the third day of intense negotiations, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that arms inspectors should be on the ground in Syria by November with the goal of eliminating the country's chemical weapons by mid-2014.

"Providing this framework is fully implemented it can end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but also to their neighbours,"  Kerry told reporters at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after they wrapped up three days of talks in Geneva.

"Because of the threat of proliferation this framework can provide greater protection and security to the world," he said.

"The world will now expect [President Bashar al-] Assad's regime to live up to its commitments... There can be no room for games. Or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime," he added.

They said Syria must comply with the agreed deal and that if Damascus fails to do so, they will seek a Security Council resolution.

Lavrov said their decision was based upon "consensus and compromise", pointing out that the deal contained nothing about the potential use of force if Syria fails to comply.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry said there was no pre-agreement on what action the UN Security Council might take if Syria fails to comply with the plan, which envisages a complete destruction of its chemical weapons by mid-2014.

The negotiations between the US and Russia on securing Syria's chemical weapons also are considered key to a resumption of peace talks to end the Syrian civil war.

Woman wins right to cover up in court: Muslim wears fullface veil in the dock for first time

A judge yesterday allowed a Muslim woman to wear a full face veil in the dock for the first time.

Peter Murphy stopped proceedings last month when she refused to lift her niqab to confirm her identity at a plea hearing.

The 22-year-old woman, who is accused of witness intimidation, said she would not lower her full-face covering with men in the room.

She claimed it was against her beliefs to allow any man other than her husband to see her face.

But district judge Murphy said that being unable to identify the defendant was contrary to the principle of open justice, which overrides religious belief. 

He refused to let her submit a plea on the grounds that he had no way of knowing whether she was the person she claimed to be.

But, after the case was adjourned for legal argument this week the judge backed down, allowing her to enter a not guilty plea after she agreed to lift her veil in front of a female police officer in a room next to the court.

This confirmed her identity.

Judge Murphy agreed to the proposal but he indicated that she may have to remove the full-face covering in front of the jury when the case comes to trial at Blackfriars Crown Court in November.

The judge said he feared jurors would not be able to see the defendant’s facial expressions, adding: ‘I will not have the defendant dictating to the court how she wishes to appear.’

Susan Meek, defending, argued that the right to wear a niqab was protected under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides the right to freedom of religion.

School form offers choice of 80 languages including Igbo and Tagalog in an area that is 96 per cent white

When it comes to finding out the first language of children being raised in North Wales, most would assume that English and Welsh were the two obvious choices.

So parents were stunned when pupils were sent home from school with a form asking them to tick the dialect that applied to them from a list of more than 80.

Remarkably, the local authority in Conwy, where 96 per cent of the population is white, says it trimmed the list from one supplied by the Welsh Government, which contained around 300 different languages and races.

The baffling list still included obscure languages spoken by races in far-flung corners of the world, including Igbo, a dialect spoken by people native to south-eastern Nigeria, and Tagalog, which is spoken by just a quarter of Filipinos.

Other languages listed on the form were Kannada, the mother tongue of people living in the Indian state of Kannartaka, and Wolof, the dialect of the Wolof people living in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritius.

It was accompanied by an equally confusing form asking parents to detail their child’s ethnicity, which included seven categories for travellers and gypsies alone, plus around 85 other nationalities and races.

The ‘data collection’ documents were issued by schools in Conwy County Borough Council this week as children returned after the summer holidays.

The area has a predominantly white British population, with less than four per cent coming from an Asian, black or other ethnic background.

The council says the information is needed to help schools ‘provide a better education service’.

But one parent said yesterday: ‘This form was a baffling lesson in geography.

‘It’s another example of councils trying to micro-manage and know everything about the people who live in their communities.

'While everyone understands the importance of giving every child a good education, this seems completely over the top.

Not so pure after all: Most holy water 'is contaminated with faecal matter' and could be harmful to health

Many people believe that holy water has healing properties but new research suggests it may actually do more harm than good.

Scientists have discovered that 86 per cent of water samples from holy sources contain faecal matter.

Austrian researchers also found that church fonts contain high levels of bacteria and that none of the holy springs they studied could be considered safe for drinking from.

The researchers, from the Institute of Hygiene and Applied Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna, analysed the water in 21 holy springs in Austria, and in 18 fonts in Vienna, at various times during the year.

They found that in every millilitre of holy water there were up to 62 million bacteria.

They also found that the busier the church, the more bacteria it tended to have in its font.

The study also revealed that holy springs contain not only faecal contamination with E coli bacteria and enterococci, but also Campylobacter, which can cause inflammatory diarrhoea. 

Many of the springs were also contaminated with nitrates from agriculture making the water unsafe for drinking. 

‘We need to warn people against drinking from these sources,’ said Dr Alexander Kirschner, a microbiologist from the Medical University of Vienna. 

He recommends that the responsible authorities and priests put up warning signs by the holy springs. 

Dr Kirschner said that the springs got their healing reputation in the Middle Ages and that things have changed since then.

He explained: ‘In those days, the quality of the water in towns and cities was generally so poor that people were constantly developing diarrhoea or other diseases as a result. 

‘If they then came across a protected spring in the forest that was not as polluted and drank from it for several days, their symptoms would disappear. 

‘So although in those days they were drinking healthier water, given the excellent quality of our drinking water today, the situation is now completely reversed.’

Based on the study’s findings, Dr Kirschner recommends that salt could be added to holy water in fonts to reduce the chance of bacteria thriving, he also suggests that holy water in churches should be changed regularly.

'Follow me on Twitter or I'll break my dog's neck': Obsessed One Direction fan 'kills pet Chihuahua' after tweet goes unanswered by the band

A One Direction fan reportedly killed her pet Chihuahua in a fit of rage because the British boy band did not respond to requests to follow her on Twitter.

The woman sent a desperate tweet to the five singers from her @illumivato account two weeks ago saying: 'Follow me or I'll break my dog's neck'.

The post was accompanied by a picture showing someone pinning a dog to the ground by its throat.

But with millions of tweets being sent to their account everyday, the group very likely did not spot the message and it went ignored.

Several days later, she wrote directly to band member Liam Payne on the social networking site to say: 'I love you. Follow me. My dog has just died.'

She added a picture that she claimed showed her crying as she cradled a dead dog, it was reported by the New York Daily News.

It was all later revealed to be a sick hoax.

MailOnline discovered the picture of the girl with the dead dog was first posted onto the internet in June - two months before she claims to have threatened to kill it:

Female Hormone Plays Role In Male Sex Drive

New research suggests oestrogen, not just testosterone, plays a role in growing bellies and lower sex drive in middle-aged men.

Oestrogen, the female sex hormone, may play a bigger role than previously thought in explaining how middle-aged men see their bellies grow and sex drive decrease.

So far these symptoms, associated with midlife crisis, have been blamed almost entirely on declining levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone.

But a new study suggests a role for oestrogen - a finding that may guide development of sex-drive treatments.

"A lot of things we think are due to testosterone deficiency are actually related to the oestrogen deficiency that accompanies it," said Dr Joel Finkelstein of Massachusetts General Hospital.

He led the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Men's bodies convert some of the testosterone they produce into oestrogen, and levels of both decline with age.

The study concludes that both hormones are needed for libido and that lower oestrogen may be responsible for middle aged men's expanding waistlines.

The research involved 400 healthy male volunteers, aged 20 to 50.

They were given drugs to temporarily reduce their testosterone production to pre-puberty levels.

Then they were given various doses of testosterone gel or placebo, but half the men were also given a drug to prevent testosterone's conversion into oestrogen.

This allowed researchers to assess the different effects of the hormones and of having testosterone but no oestrogen.

After 16 weeks, researchers saw that muscle size and strength depended on testosterone, while body-fat mass depended on oestrogen.

Both hormones were needed to maintain normal sex drive and performance.

Doctors say the finding is surprising but stress that more research is needed.

The new study, for example, was too short to see long-term benefits or risks, such as the effect of testosterone supplements on the heart, mental sharpness, prostate enlargement or cancer.

Guinness World Records: Skate Goat Features

The biggest motorbike on earth and a contortionist who drinks tea with her feet feature in the new Guinness World Records book.

Also included in the newly released compendium is Germany's Julia Plecher, who ran the fastest 100m in high heels - 14.531 seconds.

And among the more outlandish record-holders is Happie the goat, who achieved the farthest distance skateboarded by a goat after whizzing along for a total of 36 metres.

Beyond the help of even iPhone 6? iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C might be final nails in Apple’s coffin

Apple has been losing the love a lot lately. It’s no secret that the stock price is going down and it’s really no secret that its newest additions to the Apple mountain slide that is the iPhone will only be loved by die-hard Apple fans refusing to leave the comfort of their brand blindness.

The one major fail with the newly launched phones is the contradiction of them and, in turn, the suggestion that they thought their audience would be ok with it.

The iPhone 5C - a ‘budget’ option – clearly came from Apple people in jobs where they get paid enough for a £400 phone to be classed ‘budget’. It’s also a bit of a thorn in the side of anyone that shelled out on an iPhone 4S a few short months ago, and these new colourful plastic-cased phones have pretty much the same spec, Siri and all.

The luxuriously metallic full whack iPhone 5S makes the divide clear, though doesn’t offer much in innovation other than the largely inconvenient iTouch fingerprint scanner. Have you ever thought how often you ask someone else to grab something off your phone for you? Or when you have to use a different finger because you’re trying to read a recipe and you’re covered in flour? Or your left hand while driving (shhh…)?

MORE: iPhone 5S fingerprint reader may lead to more people having digits cut off, says expert

However, at its cheapest starting point this phone is only £120 less than the budget option and at its most expensive it’s almost a grand.

What Apple have really done with their helpful, two phone release is enable themselves to bring out a normal iPhone for a normal price at a cheaper manufacture cost, and a luxury largely marked-up iPhone to push themselves into a luxury market.

I used to be a massive Apple fan but I’m certainly starting to have my eyes opened up to the fact that they’ve become lazy and cash hungry. I, for one, won’t be buying a new iPhone, budget or otherwise.

MORE: iPhone 5C and 5S verdict: Apple didn’t brighten the day – it made it disappointing and gloomy with bluster and spin

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg: US government ‘blew it’ with NSA scandal

The founder of Facebook has accused the US of ‘doing a bad job’ in handling the fallout from the snooping scandal.

Mark Zuckerberg said the government ‘blew it’ when it should have been trying to protect people’s freedom.

Leaked documents had suggested that Facebook gave the National Security Agency access to private data about its users on the social network.

But the 29-year-old said the US should not have denied that information was being collected on Americans.

Mr Zuckerberg added: ‘They said “don’t worry, we’re not spying on any Americans”. Wonderful, that’s really helpful for companies trying to work with people around the world. Thanks for going out there and being clear. I think that was really bad.’

The entrepreneur, worth £8.4billion, was speaking at the Tech Crunch Disrupt conference in California. Facebook suffered a backlash from users after the allegations but insisted the NSA did not have access to its servers.

Chief executive of Yahoo!, Marissa Mayer, also told the conference why she could not be transparent about NSA requests. She said: ‘Releasing classified information is treason and you are incarcerated.’

She added she was ‘proud to be part of an organisation that, from the beginning, in 2007, has been sceptical of – and has scrutinised – requests from the NSA’.

Yahoo! and Facebook, along with Microsoft and Google, have filed lawsuits against the US government.

The companies hope that if their cases are successful, they will be allowed to disclose how many national security- related data requests they receive.

Arsenal overpaid to land £42.5m Ozil, claims Spurs boss AVB as Tottenham manager unveils his magnificent seven signings

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas believes Arsenal have paid heavily for £42.5million signing Mesut Ozil and claims Spurs have done better business in the transfer market than most of their Champions League rivals.

Arsenal’s blockbuster capture from Real Madrid is suffering from a stomach upset but will travel with his new team-mates to Sunderland as Arsene Wenger weighs up whether the Germany playmaker is fit to make his debut.

All being well, Ozil will take his bow six hours before Gareth Bale’s debut for Real Madrid at Villarreal on Saturday night. Bale’s £86m move to the Spanish giants opened the door for Ozil’s switch to Arsenal for a club record fee, while Tottenham splurged £100m-plus on Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen, Paulinho and more.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already suggested Tottenham have upset the balance of their squad but  Villas-Boas hit back by arguing Arsenal’s policy has seen them pay a heavy price for a No 10 when ‘they have lots of players for that position’. The Spurs boss said: ‘Real Madrid sold a player for 50million euros; a wonderful, gifted footballer and in the end Arsenal paid heavily for a player of that dimension.

‘It’s a €50m transfer for a No 10 who nobody has any doubt over his ability. They have lots of players for that position but they have become stronger with Ozil.

‘We are happy with what we have done in the transfer window, extremely happy. Arsenal did a great  last-minute coup with Ozil but they will be as competitive as they were before.

‘All of us have done good business in the transfer window — Man City and us maybe a little bit more than Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.’

How popping too many painkillers could make symptoms WORSE: Effects of codeine are particularly bad for headache patients

Taking the popular painkiller codeine too often could make a headache worse, according to a new study. 

Researchers found the more of the over-the-counter medication people take, the worse their pain gets, a particular problem for chronic sufferers.

A study that compared the effect of codeine and morphine - both opioid drugs - for the first time, found the former provided much less pain relief, but resulted in the same level of increased sensitivity to pain.

Headache specialist Professor Paul Rolan, of the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia, said codeine has been widely used as pain relief for more than 100 years, but its effectiveness has not been laboratory tested in this way before.

He said: 'In the clinical setting, patients have complained their headaches became worse after using regular codeine, not better.

'Codeine use is not controlled in the same way as morphine, and as it is the most widely used strong pain reliever medication in the world, we thought it was about time we looked into how effective it really is.'

Jacinta Johnson, a University of Adelaide PhD student, said a major issue for users of opioid drugs is the more you take, the more it can increase your sensitivity to pain, so you may never get the level of relief you need.

Ms Johnson said: 'In the long term it has the effect of worsening the problem rather than making it better -  a phenomenon known as 'rebound headaches'.

'We think that this is a particular problem in headache patients, who seem more sensitive to this effect.

'Both codeine and morphine are opioids but codeine is a kind of ‘Trojan horse’ drug - 10 per cent of it is converted to morphine, which is how it helps to provide pain relief. 

'However, despite not offering the same level of pain relief, we found that codeine increased pain sensitivity just as much as morphine.'

While more research is needed, the findings suggest a potential problem for anyone suffering from chronic pain who needs ongoing medication.

Facebook for apes: Orangutans plan their day the night before and let their friends know what they're up to

It's the ape equivalent of Google Maps and Facebook. 

The night before a big trip, Arno the orangutan plots his journey and lets others know where he is going with a long, whooping call. 

What he and his orangutan friends do in the forests of Sumatra tells scientists that advance trip planning and social networking aren't just human traits

A new study of 15 wild male orangutans finds that they routinely plot out their next day treks and share their plans in long calls, so females can come by or track them, and competitive males can steer clear
.

The researchers closely followed the males as they traveled on 320 days during the 1990s. The results were published this week in the journal PLoS One. 

Typically, an orangutan would turn and face in the direction of his route and let out a whoop, sometimes for as long as four minutes

'This guy basically thinks ahead,' Mr van Schaik said. 'They're continuously updating their Google Maps so to speak. Based on that, they're planning what to do next.'

The apes didn't just call once, but they keep at it, calling more than 1,100 times over the 320 days. 

'This shows they are very much like us in this respect,' Mr van Schaik said. 'Our earliest hominid ancestor must have done the same thing.'

Scientists had seen such planning in zoos and controlled experiments, but this study provides solid evidence of travel planning in the wild, said Frans de Waal of Atlanta's Emory University, who was not part of the study. 

Mr Van Schaik said he and colleagues happened upon the trip calls by accident nearly 20 years ago, first with the dominant male Arno, who they followed more than the other 14 males. 

They waited to publish the results because he thought few people would believe orangutans could do such planning. But in recent years, the lab and captivity studies have all shown such planning. 

Based on previous studies and monitoring, Mr van Schaik figured the male lets the world know his plans so females can come to him or stay close. 

Some females may want to stay within earshot in case they are harassed by other males and need protection. Others can come to mate.