News Round Up
by Patrick O’Connor
IF someone offers you a ring that has white gold bands, large, square cut stones and diamonds on the shoulder of the ring then you might want to consider declining the offer, says the Daily Mirror.
For the paper reports a new study carried out by independent jewellery website CompareJewellery.com which describes what the unluckiest engagement ring would look like.
They compared the style of rings worn by brides whose marriages ended in separation or divorce and then an artist came up with a design combining the most common traits of ‘unlucky’ rings.
“The ring itself is both incredibly beautiful and a popular style, but maybe that will change once people know it’s somewhat unlucky reputation. Maybe one to think twice about should any men be planning on popping the question this Christmas!” said Ali O’Neill from CompareJewellery.com.
Happy toy story for Christmas in The Independent which tells us young girl Phoebe Simpson was set to be reunited with a lost teddy bear called ‘Roar’ after a social media campaign by the woman who found it.
Phoebe lost Roar after she left it on a train during a trip to London but it was found by Lauren Bishop Vranch who urged her Twitter followers to help trace the owner.
She wrote: “Found this well loved little dude on an East Coast train at Kings Cross – let’s find the owner, Twitter!”
News of this eventually reached Phoebe’s father Ben who was able to get in touch and claim the lost bear.
There was the usual pre-Christmas shopping frenzy but congratulations to the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury which, according to the Daily Star, bought more Christmas products per head than anywhere else in the country.
They were quoting Amazon which revealed that Aylesbury’s 70,000 residents ordered the most Yuletide compilation albums, selection boxes, Santa hats and novelty socks.
Amazon boss Xavier Garambois said: “It’s Aylesbury that’s the inspiration for the nation when embracing the festive season.”
So now we know…the Daily Express says that average woman spends 12 hours and four minutes each week fretting about her appearance and that over a year this adds up to 627 hours and 28 minutes – almost an entire month.
Fifty minutes a week is spent picking outfits and one hour and 32 minutes worrying if what she has chosen still looks good.
The data comes from a survey of 2,000 women, by Invista, owner of Lycra fabrics, which found that common concerns include a fear of being too fat or too thin, too bloated, having spotty skin, pale skin or frizzy hair.
It’s a vital part of the one meal I feel fully confident of cooking but it seems that it’s bleak times for baked beans.
The Daily Mirror says that sales have plummeted by nearly £21million in the past year. They quote an article in The Grocer magazine study which stated: “Britain is off the beans. We’ve forked out £20.8million less on them in the past year, the biggest decline of all the canned food market.”
Another ‘big drop of numbers’ story in the Mirror is the news that the Queen’s favourite breed of dog – the Pembroke Welsh corgi – is at risk of disappearing.
The breed is on the Kennel Club’s ‘At Watch’ list, and will be considered officially endangered if their numbers drop below 300 – there are currently 301 registered.
It would appear that celebrity dog lovers have started the craze for trendy new breeds such as Chihuahuas, Terriers and Pugs, with the likes of Cheryl Cole and Paris Hilton known fans.
Christmas joy for a church in York which, says the BBC, has been told it can keep about £100,000 in banknotes which were found in a bin bag on its property.
The money was discovered by a local resident on land owned by the church of St Thomas with St Maurice and was handed to police.
But now magistrates have given the okay for the money to be retained by the church and the Diocese of York said it will be spent continuing the work of the church within the local community.
Reference lists:
The Express(www.express.co.uk)
The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
Daily Star (www.daily star.co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)