News Round Up
by Patrick O'Connor
IT seems that us Brits love nothing better than bath time with Adele!
The Daily Mail reports on a survey by bathroom retailer Bathstore which revealed that the perfect bath is 39C, lasts 27 minutes and 12 seconds – and is accompanied by one candle and music by the British singer. One in seven Brits chose Adele to soundtrack their bathing time.
Twenty per cent of those surveyed said they checked work emails, online banking and internet shopping whilst in the bath.
Claire Bayliss, of Bathstore, commented: “Though there’s clearly still a lot of appreciation for seeking complete tranquillity via a good soak, it appears the tub is now a hub for life administration.”
The Daily Mirror reports that 2013 was a very lucky year for National Lottery punters with a record 335 players becoming millionaires and admin workers collected more jackpots than any rival group of workers in the last 12 months, according to the Lottery.
News from the BBC that Robin Hood and Maid Marian have a baby girl.
University lecturers Sally Chappell, who is Nottingham's Maid Marian, and Tim Pollard, who has been Robin Hood for over 20 years, have announced the arrival of Scarlett Louise, weighing in at 7lb 14oz.
As Robin and Marian, the couple help promote tourism in Nottingham and take part in civic events including the annual Robin Hood Pageant. They helped ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean welcome the Olympic torch to the city in 2012.
England is getting very crowded, says the Daily Mail. Quoting House of Commons figures, the paper reports that England has become the most overcrowded major country in Europe.
The Mail says that population growth is so rapid that four times as many people will soon be crammed in as France and twice as many as Germany.
Heart-warming story in the Daily Express about Golden retriever dog Toby who saved the life of his owners' cat after it was badly injured by a car and had not been seen for more than 24 hours.
Apparently Toby would not stop barking at a bramble bush in the back garden of their house in Endon, Stoke on Trent and when Kevin and Louise Errington investigated they found their cat Stewart cowering under the shrub. It was rushed to the vets for emergency surgery after his pelvis had become detached from his spine.
The vets reckoned that if Toby had not raised the alarm, the cat would have almost certainly died.
Kevin said: “Stewart and Toby are the best of pals. We were starting to worry when we hadn’t seen Stewart for a day but we weren’t too concerned. But Toby knew something was wrong.
“We let Toby out and he ran to the bottom of the garden and was barking and barking at this bramble bush. He kept looking over at us and barking but he wouldn’t leave the bush.”
Figures released by police forces across the country reveal that hundreds of people have dialled 999 to report supernatural activity, says the Daily Mail.
Seventeen police forces in England and Wales reported details of 277 cases in which people had requested urgent assistance following ’paranormal’ or ‘extra-terrestrial’ incidents over the past three years. Most of the calls related to ghosts with some claiming to have been possessed.
A story in the Daily Mirror says that a ventriloquist’s dummy, human skull and an urn containing cremated ashes were among the unexpected objects left behind by customers of Liverpool hire car firm Easirent. Other discoveries have included Punch and Judy dolls and a full-size skeleton.
Managing director Paul Hanley said: “We have a lost property cupboard at Bootle where all our depots send some of the stuff left in cars.
“The strangest for a long time was an urn with the ashes of a deceased person, found in the boot of a Liverpool airport car hire customer. We think the skull was left by medical students as we had the car on hire to Liverpool University medical school. No one has claimed it.
“The other weird one is a chastity belt, which we think was from a stag do as we found it in the back of one of our mini buses. It is now in pride of place in a box in our office.”
Reference lists:
The Express(www.express.co.uk)
Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
Daily Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)