News Round Up
by Patrick O'Connor
IT looks as if Pippa has been pipped!
The Sun reports that a new 'party book' by Pippa Middleton, sister of Prince William's wife Kate, which was launched with a massive publicity jamboree, has been beaten in sales by Peppa Pig's Christmas Wish in the UK book charts. Peppa Pig is an animated children's TV series.
Pip's Celebrate sold just over 2,000 in its first week and has now slumped to 188th in the charts despite Amazon cutting the price from £25 to £12.50.
Pippa was famed for her 'pert bum' at the royal wedding and received a £400,000 advance from publishers Penguin. But critics panned her party tips, including “turkeys are perfect for feeding large gatherings.”
The cheek of it!
A robber threatened staff at a bank – for the second time in five days.
The Daily Mirror story reveals how he struck twice at the same branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Stockport, stealing £3,000 in cash on both occasions.
Both times he struck at around 10am – and both times he wore the same grey tracksuit and baseball cap.
During the second raid, the robber – who had put a pair of tights over his head – pulled a handgun from a bag before pointing it at a cashier.
Det Con Jeanette Lamb, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “Committing one daylight robbery is one thing, but to return to the same location less than a week later and threaten staff once more at gunpoint demonstrates a level of audacity rarely seen.”
Apparently chess lessons are being reintroduced at schools in a bid to boost children's brainpower, says the Daily Mail.
The game had virtually disappeared from state schools 30 years ago but in the last two years 175 primary schools in England and Wales have introduced formal teaching in chess.
It follows research suggesting that chess brings a range of educational benefits including improved concentration and memory.
Malcolm Pein, an international chess master and chief executive of the charity Chess in Schools and Communities said chess was an antidote to the relentless rise of video games.
“Chess fell out of favour in the 1980s, as did lots of extra-curricular activities, when there was a big falling out between the Government and teachers, and didn’t recover,” he said.
“Chess is now growing in schools because there is increasing awareness among head teachers it’s a very good thing.”
Of course, another way to be a bright spark is to pay someone to do your essays!
The Daily Telegraph claims that a growing industry has developed around the business of completing assignments for others, who can then pass them off as their own.
Companies offering the essay-writing service advertise in newsagent windows and even outside campuses in some cases.
Universities cannot easily detect this type of cheating, but anyone found to have handed in work that is not their own can be expelled or stripped of their degree.
The firms can charge £70 for a short essay but hundreds of pounds for a longer piece of work.
Professor Robert Clarke, from Birmingham City University, said: “Would you want to be treated by a nurse who's cheated on their assignment? Would you like to go for a job and be pipped to the post by someone who cheated in their degree?”
Youngster Rachael Spelling is already a high achiever.
The Sun has celebrated the fact that Rachael has become the youngest girl in Britain to fly solo – at the age of just 16.
She took to the sky on her birthday after racking up 50 hours with an instructor since she was 14.
Rachael, from Benington, Hertfordshire, said: “I was looking at the runway and it dawned on me I wasn’t old enough to drive but I was about to fly.”
The Daily Express is warning people not to expect not to expect too many kisses under the mistletoe this Christmas because the poor summer has led to a washout crop.
The rain and cold forced bees to hide in their hives, leaving many mistletoe flowers unpollinated when they bloomed.
Heart-warming story in The Sun about a 10 year old boy who was saved by his pet dog from a speeding hit-and-run driver.
German Shepherd-Collie cross Geo pushed Charlie Riley out of the way when a pick-up truck mounted the kerb and hurtled towards him.
The dog took the full force of the vehicle but despite receiving a broken leg, fractured spine and severe bruising is expected to make a full recovery.
Charlie's mum Carly, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, said: “We were waiting to cross the road, when I just heard a car going really fast. Then a pick-up truck mounted the kerb, and the next thing I know is Geo has pushed Charlie out the way. Geo took the full force — then the truck hit him again and just drove off. I have no doubt Geo saved Charlie.”
Hidden gem- 1: The Mirror reports that a wig stand that belonged to a Chinese emperor but was used as a reading lamp with a shade for 50 years was sold for nearly £100,000.
The 19th century porcelain stand was discovered on the windowsill of a pensioner's bungalow when experts were called in to value belongings in the man's home in Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy. They discovered that it was from the Qing dynasty and is likely to have been owned by Emperor Daoguang.
Hidden gem-2: The Express reports that a woman from Tunbridge Wells, Kent who cleared out her late husband's chest of drawers found an old coin inside worth £150,000.
She had no idea that he had the gold piece stashed away among his clothes. It turned out to be a coin made from gold seized by the British from a Spanish treasure ship in 1702.