How We See The World

A Marks and Spencer employee was swept off her feet at work when her boyfriend re-enacted a scene from hit movie An Officer And A Gentleman to propose. At first Martine Diamond, 39, a store displays manager in Talbot Green, south Wales, thought she was being asked to deal with a difficult customer. But instead she was confronted by Tony Brown, 37, in a white naval uniform. He took the Richard Gere role from the 1982 film to pop the question. She said yes - and they plan to marry in 2008. She said: "I went into work as normal. It was my birthday and my boyfriend had asked me to meet him after work to go for a meal. "When I got into work, every time I went…

Heroin should be prescribed to drug addicts to tackle crime, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire has said at a drugs conference. Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers' conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed. He said the treatment would cost £12,000-a-year per addict but added that drug users steal on average £45,000-worth of property a year. The idea is being piloted in London, the south east and north of England. "At the moment across the country we see levels of burglary, robbery and murder being committed by drug-fuelled addicts who are doing so in order to get the money to buy the drugs," Mr Roberts told the …

A woman left infertile after cancer treatment is making a final appeal to a court for permission to use frozen embryos fertilised by a former partner. Natallie Evans, of Trowbridge, Wilts, and Howard Johnston began IVF treatment in 2001 but he withdrew consent for the embryos to be used after they split up. She turned to the European courts after exhausting the UK legal process. Ms Evans, 34, says her appeal to the Grand Chamber of the European Court is her last chance to have a baby. Ms Evans, of Trowbridge, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2001, but six of her fertilised embryos were frozen and stored prior to her treatment. But she and Mr Johnston,…

Motorists who get stopped by the police could have their fingerprints taken at the roadside, under a new plan to help officers check people's identities. A hand-held device being tested by 10 forces in England and Wales is linked to a database of 6.5m prints. Police say they will save time because people will no longer have to go to the station to prove their identity. Officers promise prints will not be kept on file but concerns have been raised about civil liberties. Bedfordshire are the first force to use the equipment, which is being distributed among the forces in Essex, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, North Wales, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and West Yo…

Police officers accepted gifts from Church of Scientology By BEN TAYLOR Last updated at 22:00pm on 21st November 2006 Cruise control: Officers have received sought-after free invitations to film premieres and £500-a-head charity dinners Dozens of police officers have accepted film premiere tickets, banquet invitations and the use of a jazz band from the controversial Church of Scientology, it has emerged. The wealthy religious movement has spent thousands of pounds cultivating contacts in the City of London police. Officers have received sought-after free invitations to film premieres and £500-a-head charity dinners where the guest of honour i…

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Illusionist David Blaine has begun his next stunt, spinning inside a gyroscope above the streets of New York. Blaine will dangle near Times Square for almost three days before attempting to escape from some shackles. "This is more difficult than anything I've ever done," Blaine said before he was loaded into the gyroscope, which was then hoisted up 50 ft (15m metres). The three spinning steel rings will flip Blaine in various directions up to eight times per minute. The shackles will be added to Blaine on Thursday, giving him 16 hours to free himself. The illusionist said his biggest concerns, besides not eating or drinking, were the freezing weather and dizziness…

Well, I just watched this BBC documentation (60 min.) about English hooligans during World Cup in Germany and what can I say... It's absolutely disgusting and awful! I didn't know about all these scuffles suborned by hooligans, only about that one in Dortmund. Luckily I've never seen any of these shameful pictures when I was in Berlin twice. It's a good example which shows that the society really has a problem... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=26713483704811088&q=p88

'Animal Olympics' cancelled after cruelty complaints Last updated at 14:57pm on 21st November 2006 A Shanghai zoo said today it had cancelled a show dubbed the "Animal Olympics" following accusations of cruelty from animal welfare groups. The show was scrapped "out of consideration for the safety of our visitors," said a woman who answered the phone at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park's publicity department. The woman declined to give her name and said official spokesmen were unavailable. She refused to answer questions about the cruelty accusations or give other details. However, the Shanghai Daily newspaper quoted a park official, Su Feilong…

Kick-boxing orangutan head home from Thailand Last updated at 20:13pm on 21st November 2006 Reader comments (0) Bewildered, afraid and with a deep distrust of humans, the orangutans cling to each other for comfort. There is sadly no way to reassure them that their lives are about to take a dramatic turn for the better. • See more pictures of the orangutan here This animal is one of more than 100 forced to take part in degrading kick-boxing matches in a ring set up at a Thai amusement park. Scoll down for more But yesterday their freak-show existence was behind them after a rescue operation began to airlift them back to their home in…

Ten-day-old tiger cub is killed, stuffed and then sold in London for £20,000 Last updated at 11:05am on 17th November 2006 This 10-day-old tiger cub was killed and stuffed to be sold on London's thriving black market for £20,000. It was so young when seized by poachers that it would have been unable to open its eyes. The cub stares out from its plinth after work by a taxidermist. It was one of two stuffed tiger cubs seized by police from dealer Robert Sclare who ran a taxidermy shop in Islington called Get Stuffed. Sclare was jailed for six months. The cubs were part of a haul of 65 stuffed animals found at the shop including a wolf, g…

Parents face £1000 fine for bullying children Last updated at 09:41am on 20th November 2006 Alan Johnson wants a 'zero tolerance' attitude towards bullying Parents of bullies could be forced to attend parenting classes or face a £1,000 fine, Education Secretary Alan Johnson warned today as campaigners said 20,000 children were skipping school every day to avoid being bullied. Mr Johnson said he wanted to create a "zero tolerance" culture towards bullying in an effort to stamp out the "despicable" and "intolerable" phenomenon. New powers under the Education Act would allow parenting orders to be imposed on mothers and fathers of bullies, with …

Scarlett Johansson says that she likes Uma Thurman's perfect body. The 'Black Dahlia' star who recently hit out against the current trend in hollywood for skinny actresses,admits she was blown away by the 'Kill Bill' star's amazing physique when she first saw her on the big screen. however Scarlett 21,acknowledges that she will never be able to look like her idol because they have different physiques. she told Cosmopolitan magazine "i'm never going to look at uma thurman and hope i will have her body.i'm not built like that." Scarlett also insists that women care too much about what men think of their appearance. she said "men,what do they know?they don't know if…

Violent teenage boys 'hit their girlfriends' Last updated at 11:55am on 20th November 2006 More than four out of 10 young people know girls who have been assaulted by their boyfriends, a survey revealed today. Almost the same number of girls had been pressurised into having sex. The ICM Research survey for Amnesty International's End Violence Against Women campaign polled more than 500 people aged 16 to 20 across the UK. It found 26 per cent knew one girl who had been hit by her boyfriend, 15 per cent knew a "few" girls who had been hit and 1 per cent knew "a lot" - a total of 42 per cent. In all, 40 per cent knew a girl who had been co…

'Teenage girls binge-drinking more than boys' By LUKE SALKELD Last updated at 22:00pm on 17th November 2006 Teenage girls in Britain are now binge drinking more than boys, it emerged. Research suggest almost a third regularly drink to excess, while women of all ages have doubled the amount they drink since the last decade. Experts said the binge-drinking culture is 'spiralling out of control', turning town centres across the country into 'mini Ibizas'. Martin Plant, a Professor of Addiction Studies, said British teenagers and young adults are among the worst binge drinkers in the world. Britain and Ireland are the only two countries in Eu…

Simon Cowell refused to appear in Ricky Gervais' comedy programme Extras because he will not sing live. The X Factor judge spends each week judging the live performances of music wannabes, but it seems that when it comes to people judging him, Cowell won't play ball. Gervais reportedly wanted him to sing Elton John's hit Daniel, but Cowell told him: "I can't sing. Why would I humiliate myself?" Gervais, who stars as actor Andy Millman in Extras, said: "He said it was the one thing he couldn't do. "I wanted him to sing Daniel and he told me 'I can't do it darling'. He said he'd do anything but that." Had Cowell agreed to take part he would have been the lat…

C harlie Hodgson and Andrew Sheridan will miss the rest of the season after suffering knee and ankle injuries in England's win over South Africa. The Sale duo were carried off in Saturday's 23-21 victory at Twickenham. And further analysis showed fly-half Hodgson has ruptured his cruciate knee ligament, while prop Sheridan has a broken left ankle and ligament damage. They will both be operated on in the next week but are certain to miss England's Six Nations campaign. Hodgson's injury ends a miserable autumn series for the Sale fly-half after he struggled to reproduce his outstanding Guinness Premiership form on the international stage. And with Jonny…

Christians at a Devon university are threatening legal action against their students' union because of a row over equal opportunities. Exeter University's Guild of Students says the Christian Union (CU) is not open to all - because members must sign a form saying they follow Christ. The guild said some privileges afforded to societies had been suspended because of the CU's constitution. The CU said it was challenging the ruling under Human Rights laws. Declaration signing The 50-year-old CU said in a statement that it had been temporarily suspended from the official list of Guild of Students' societies. The CU said it appeared that unless it disass…

Rangel Says He Will Revive Legislation to Impose Military Draft By Nadine Elsibai Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Representative Charles Rangel said he will again introduce legislation to revive a U.S. military draft when his party takes control of Congress in January. Broad-based conscription for the military or public service would make U.S. leaders more cautious about going to war, Rangel, of New York, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation.'' ``There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congres…

Picture: The unlucky star in a new Jaws movie Last updated at 23:02pm on 19th November 2006 Many times in the Jaws movies, viewers have shuddered at the awesome power of the Great White Shark. But this unfortunate cape fur seal got to experience those infamous teeth only once - and they were the last things it saw. In astonishing footage for the BBC's Planet Earth series, the 12ft shark is seen swallowing its victim in virtually a single gulp. Such is the impact as it blasts through the surface from the deep that both hunter and prey fly six feet clear of the water. The cape fur seal is an inquisitive and friendly animal and will often accompany…

PlayStation 3 consoles advertised as used are appearing for sale in Japan shops as well as online auctions. They are being sold for up to four times the retail price of the console, which went on sale in Japan last Saturday for about £270. There are also reports that homeless people were paid to queue for the console on behalf of people now selling them on at a higher price. The product launch is one of the most crucial in Sony's history. Thousands of people queued for many hours in cities across Japan on Saturday and many people went home empty-handed. Sony has had difficulties in mass producing the console because of problems with a specific part of th…

Harry Potter star makes the most of his first on-screen kiss By PAUL THOMPSON Last updated at 00:01am on 18th November 2006 Romantic interlude: Harry Potter gets to grips with Cho Chang (Katie Leung) in the next Hogwarts movie as revealed how much he enjoyed his first on-screen kiss. He gets to lock lips with co-star Katie Leung who plays his Hogwart's crush Cho Chang. The romantic moment will be seen in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", the fifth film in the hugely successful series. Daniel denied that he needed 30 attempts to get the kiss right - but admitted he enjoyed the moment. He said: "It would have been more nerv…

The Sudanese government together with the Janjaweed militia have launched new attacks in northern Darfur, the African Union (AU) has said. The AU said the ground and air offensive was a flagrant violation of security agreements. http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/11/18/sudan-begins-new-darfur-attacks/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F2%2Fhi%2Fafrica%2F6161692.stm&frame=true This is sick

Man jailed in first web rage attack Last updated at 12:01pm on 17th November 2006 Paul Gibbons was convicted of the first web rage attack in Britain A man was jailed at the Old Bailey today for Britain's first web rage attack on another internet user. Paul Gibbons, 47, traced John Jones, 43, after they exchanged insults in a chatroom. He was armed with a pickaxe handle and was with a man with a machete. Mr Jones, who had gone to the door of his home in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, with a knife, was disarmed and had his neck cut by Gibbons. Gibbons, unemployed, of Southwark, south London, was jailed for two-and-a half years for unlawful wounding.…

Prisoners get their own 'cell-phones' By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE, Mail on Sunday Last updated at 21:43pm on 18th November 2006 David Davis: Shadow Home Secretary outraged that lags get phones. Prisoners are being given phones in their cells to ring friends and family - and stop them feeling lonely The controversial 'soft touch' has been introduced at privately run Lowdham Grange Category B prison in Nottinghamshire, which houses robbers and drug dealers. Lowdham Grange, which opened in 1998 and is run by the services firm Serco, already provides its best behaved inmates with in-cell satellite TVs and showers. The jail has even earned the n…