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The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years. The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century. Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.    More

Scotland Yard was accused of hiring out officers for cash yesterday after Richard Branson’s business empire paid for police investigating a massive fraud. The cable television company Virgin Media agreed to fund the Metropolitan force’s overtime bill in an investigation into a set-box racket costing £144million a year.  The firm paid police £5,060 following raids which revealed how thousands of viewers were using the boxes to view subscription channels without paying. Virgin Media also agreed to give the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) a quarter of any compensation awarded following a successful prosecution.      More Read

While her ex-boyfriend was on the other side of the world looking glum after their split, it would appear that Caroline Flack is made of stronger stuff. Days after it was revealed that she and her One Direction toyboy Harry Styles had called time on their three month romance, the TV presenter wasted no time feeling sorry for herself. Instead she called up a few friends and hit the town for a night out, putting her heartbreak woes to one side.     Read Here

If your idea of exercise is a brisk walk round the park or the occasional run for a bus then this probably isn't the event for you. But if being burnt, bruised, scratched, slashed, electrocuted and caked in mud from head to toe seems like an acceptable way to spend a Sunday afternoon, then the Tough Guy challenge could be just what you've been waiting for. Billed as the toughest race in the world, the eight-mile assault course in Perton, Staffordshire, features a dizzying array of obstacles with names like the Killing Fields, Battle of the Somme, the Vietcong Torture Chamber and the Behemoth.     Full Read

Groomed and poised for victory, when it comes to showjumping, these bunnies certainly know how to hop to it. These are the furry competitors of the Rabbit Grand National, which was staged in Harrogate, Yorkshire. The popular showjumping rabbit race is part of the larger Burgess Premier Small Animal Show, which attracted more than 3,000 contenders.     More

This week I have been greeted with smiles wherever I go – and stopped twice in the street and asked for my photograph. Shop assistants have been falling over themselves to serve me and total strangers – including, bizarrely, a man with a parrot on his shoulder – have been rushing up to start conversations and confide intimate details about their lives. Sadly, I haven’t become famous overnight – or won the lottery.  But I have finally unlocked the secret of something that’s been  troubling me . . . how to persuade  my fellow citizens to take their eyes off the pavement, detach themselves from their mobile phones and be friendly.  I moved to London from Dublin a year ago and, although I love  the hustle and bustle of this wonderful city, getting used to the way  people treat each other – ranging from complete indifference to downright rudeness and hostility – hasn’t been easy.     Read Here

Pensioner John Kapp swims in the English Channel every day after finding his own heated part of the sea where the water is up to 20C. He says the hot water pumped out of Shoreham power station on the Sussex coast warms up a stretch the size of a football pitch. Onlookers have been amazed to watch him wade out into what should be icy waters wearing only his trunks all year round, then spending up to 45 minutes in the surf.     Read Full

Shipwreck surveyors found a remarkable object in the depths of the Baltic Sea, but before they start celebrating, they need to figure out what it is.  A Swedish company named Ocean Explorer have discovered an unidentified object using their sonar technology in a secret location in the Baltic Sea. Because of a lack of funding and bad timing, they have not been able to pull a team together to see for themselves.      More Read

DIY giants Wickes and B&Q boast of their environmental credentials and commitment to using products from ‘responsible sources’. But both have been selling wood feared to have been illegally harvested from endangered rainforests harbouring the world’s dwindling orang-utan population, the Daily Mail can reveal. Even though an official investigation found that a rogue firm had produced huge quantities of plywood in breach of rules – probably using trees from the  forests of Borneo – it has remained on sale in B&Q and Wickes stores across Britain.   Full Read

Thousands of people - and dragons - filled London's Trafalgar Square in central London today in a spectacular show of celebration of the Chinese New Year. The festivities to see in the Year of the Dragon included a dramatic firecracker display and dancers in outfits representing the mythical creature. Acrobats dressed in elaborate dragon costumes leapt from podiums while percussion musicians played a rousing beat.    Read Here

A monster breakfast which weighs the same as a small child and could potentially kill diners is attracting criticism from angry health campaigners The Kidz Breakfast at Jesters Diner in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, includes 12 rashers of bacon, 12 sausages and six eggs and weighs on average 9lb - 1lb 5oz more than the average newborn baby. Health experts are demanding its removal from the menu and are warning someone with a heart condition could die if they eat it, with each helping amounting to at least 6,000 calories, up to three days' food intake for an average person.    More Read

The Detroit Tigers signed free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year contract worth $214 million, CBSSports.com reported today, without citing where it got the information. Fielder, 27, hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 runs batted in last season for the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the National League Central division title. He also finished third in voting for the league’s Most Valuable Player award for the second time. The Tigers last week lost four-time All-Star Victor Martinez for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The Tigers were 95-67 last year behind American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander . Detroit lost to the Texas Rangers in the AL championship series after eliminating the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.     More Read

Singapore ’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, isn’t often taken publicly to task. But when you make S$3.1 million ($2.4 million) annually to run a country, people tend to expect results. When they don’t get them, the aggrieved masses turn to that lowest-of-common-denominator gripes: Hey, how much are we paying this guy? Lots compared with, say, Barack Obama , who as U.S. president gets $400,000 a year. Lee’s compensation will fall 36 percent, and that of Singapore’s president will drop 51 percent, to S$1.54 million. The cuts were based on the recommendations of an advisory committee formed three weeks after last May’s elections, when opposition party candidates made hay with the pay issue -- and the ruling People’s Action Party won with the narrowest margin since independence in 1965.     Read More

A US marine accused over the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha was demoted to the rank of private but will serve no time behind bars, a military spokesman has said. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, the last squad member to face justice after all the others were cleared, was sentenced to 90 days confinement but he will not serve it for procedural reasons, the spokesman said. The sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, south of Los Angeles. Word of the maximum sentence sparked outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "an insult to all Iraqis" and "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights." Wuterich, 31, the commander of a unit whose other members have been exonerated, pleaded guilty on Monday to negligence, ending the final prosecution stemming from the 2005 incident. He entered his plea as part of a deal with military prosecutors in wh...

Apple has posted impressive quarterly earnings for the 14-week period ending on December 31, 2011. According to a press release , the company reported a quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion, as well as a quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share, the company's best quarterly results yet. "These results compare to revenue of $26.74 billion and net quarterly profit of $6 billion, or $6.43 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter," per the release . The Verge reports on the company's record-shattering iPhone, iPad and Mac sales, writing, "Apple sold an astonishing 37.04 million iPhones, 15.43 million iPads and 5.3 million Macs during the quarter, which represent increases of 128 percent, 111 percent, and 26 percent from last year. That's 2m more phones sold than Samsung shipped last quarter, which is astonishing."      Read More

The winds of change are blowing across Facebook's international network of over 800 million profiles. On Tuesday, Facebook announced in an updated blog post that its radically revamped profile design, called "Timeline," will become the mandatory format for all users "over the next few weeks." The social network first unveiled the Timeline, a media-rich profile page designed to tell the story of the user's life in reverse chronological order from present day to the user's date of birth, at the company's f8 conference in September. Since the feature debuted, users could upgrade their profile by "liking" the Facebook Developer app and accessing the platform as a developer . The Timeline officially became available for all users to try out on December 15.        Read Here

Rachel Schoger of Caldwell, Idaho, had been trying to have a baby for two years and eight months -- a grueling wait interrupted by three positive pregnancy tests and three unexplained miscarriages . After a fourth positive test, she went to her doctor for answers. The news was devastating. "It's ectopic," Schoger recalled the doctor saying after a hormone test and an ultrasound. "I was so upset because we'd been trying for so long." An ectopic pregnancy is one that occurs outside the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes. Because the fetus cannot survive and the mom could suffer life-threatening internal bleeding, ectopic pregnancies, which may account for as many as one in 40 pregnancies, are terminated at the earliest sign. Schoger's doctor recommended using methotrexate -- a chemotherapy drug that would save her and her fallopian tube, and kill the doomed fetus.       More Read

While not your average nursery, a newly discovered nesting area reveals that some early dinosaurs were more attentive parents than previously known. Paleontologists recently uncovered fossilized eggs and footprints at a 190 million-year-old South African site shedding new light on the reproductive and parenting traits of the Massospondylus dinosaurs. The long necked species, related to the giant sauropods from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, could grow to nearly 20 feet in length. Currently 10 nests have been found at the site, which is 100 million years older than any other previously discovered nesting site. David Evans, the associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum said that prior to the excavation there was sparse information on how early dinosaurs procreated.      Full Read

Three protestors from Occupy Miami and Occupy West Palm Beach were arrested Monday evening in Boca Raton after laying in the Camino Real Bridge roadway, blocking traffic at rush hour in protest of nearby hedge fund industry conference. Don Carter, 24, of Longwood, Ana Rodriguez, 30, and Kevin Young, 27, of Miami, were taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest without violence, obstructing a highway, and a municipal ordinance violation. The trio linked themselves together with 'lockdown devices' scrawled with anti-greed slogans and lay down on the bridge, snarling traffic from roughly 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. before police were able to unlink and remove them. The protest was "an attempt to disrupt the cocktail hour and to bring public attention to the list of 'corporate criminals' gathered in Boca" at the 2012 GAIM conference , Occupy Palm Beach said in a statement. GAIM, held at the Waldorf Astoria-owned Boca Resort on Camino Real, ...

Government watchdogs are crying "bullshit" and calling the U.S. Navy a "bully" in response to a redacted federal report on the drinking water supply at the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune, the site of an ongoing pollution scandal. The report released on Friday is a prerequisite for studies to come out in the next couple of years exploring links between chemical exposures in the late-1950s to mid-1980s and what appears to be increased levels of cancer and other diseases among former Camp Lejeune residents. Watchdog groups say that redacting information pertinent to these studies could impede justice. "Given the many documented instances of inappropriate secrecy related to the Camp Lejeune water contamination, it unfortunately is only reasonable to question the interest being sought by the Marine Corps," reads a letter addressed to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and 30 o...

WASHINGTON -- The push to make Indiana a right-to-work state has caused a deep partisan divide in the state legislature, with Democratic lawmakers doing all they can to block the GOP majority from passing a bill. It's also pitting Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) against his former classmate from North Central High School in Indianapolis. Leon Fink is now a history professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, specializing in the U.S. labor movement. But in 1966, he was a senior handing off his gavel as North Central student government president to Daniels, a junior classmate. The moment was memorialized in a picture ( here and below) in the school yearbook, with Daniels at the microphone and Fink in the background. Fink recently scanned the image from his own yearbook.          More Read

Google announced changes to its privacy policies that will allow the web giant to merge user data collected across multiple services, an update that promises to renew scrutiny over Google's privacy practices. The new privacy policies go into effect on March 1. Users have no choice but to accept the changes , except, of course, to stop using Google's services. The update marks the latest in Google's ambitious push across to learn even more about the people who use its services , an effort that has preoccupied the company of late and helped spur the launch of new products such as social networking site Google+. By combining information it gleans about an individual's interests and preferences based on his use of several different Google products, from Gmail and YouTube to Google search and Googe Maps, Google can effectively compile more complete profiles of the people using its offerings -- and, among other things, serve up more targeted ads and mor...

David Cameron's brother Alexander called in the police after he was ‘stalked’ by a glamorous Polish woman. The successful barrister made a complaint to police after being plagued by countless telephone calls and text messages from Irene Szymanska. Mr Cameron assisted officers in their investigation and brunette Szymanska, 43, was charged under anti-stalking laws. But her case was dismissed before she could enter any pleas at court and instead a restraining order was issued on behalf of Mr Cameron, prohibiting Szymanska from contacting him again. It is believed Szymanska made a series of calls and texts to  Mr Cameron during a one-month period last year, having been previously banned from  doing so.       More Read

It was never going to be the most onerous of scientific endeavours. When experts set out to examine the alluring sway of a woman’s hips when she walks, a delighted and charming young male researcher was tasked with chatting up more than 100 young single women. The unnamed researcher then secretly filmed them from behind using a camera in his buttonhole.     Read Full

This is the shocking moment a police officer launches a vicious assault on a 66-year-old-dementia sufferer.  Officer Derek Middendorf then tried to cover his tracks by deleting the recording from his dashcam. But it has been recovered by technicians in Florida, in the US, and now the attorney for victim Albert Flowers told Florida Today that his client was prepared to sue the city of Melbourne.       Read Here

It was the most gripping television cliffhanger of recent years – sparking a frenzy of speculation and armchair detective work among the programme’s eight million viewers. Last Sunday the second series of the BBC drama Sherlock concluded with its protagonist appearing to leap to his death from the roof of a hospital while his best friend Dr Watson looked on.  But he emerged alive and well a few months later. How on earth did Holmes manage it?      Full Read

Tourist trophy hunters are paying thousands of pounds to go and shoot giraffes with high-powered guns and bows.  The gentle giants are loved around the world for their comical appearance and gentle nature. Just like character 'Melman' played by Friend's-star David Schwimmer in Disney's Madagascar, they are a hit with kids who love their long necks and eyelashes. But shocking images show how scores of big-spending men and women - and even families - travel from across the globe, some even from Britain, to kill them for sport.      More Read

A CASUALTY department has been forced to ask the ARMY for help because it does not have enough doctors. Pontefract Hospital's A&E department in West Yorkshire has shut overnight since November. It does not accept patients between the hours of 10pm and 8am. Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust has asked the military for "temporary support" so it can stay open 24 hours. It follows a similar request from Mid Staffordshire last year.       Read More

Action heroes the world over can rest easy after one bungling buffoon showed precisely how not to carry out a stunt.   A video, uploaded to YouTube by 'Stuntman 89', shows the man attempt to grab a tomato attached by a string through the blades of a ceiling fan - with predictably painful consequences.  The man first explains his trick and then climbs on a chair underneath the whirring blades. As he reaches up, the electric fan catches him on the forehead and sends him sprawling.    Read Here

A 12-year-old boy found guilty of murdering his 11-year-old sister said he was forced to confess to the murder after hours of 'terrifying' police interrogation - although he had nothing to do with it. Police suspected Thomas Cogdell, now 18, had strangled his sister at their Camden, Arkansas home after his shock at her death stunned him into silence. Hours later, he admitted he was to blame. Although found guilty, Cogdell insists he had no part in her murder and was coerced into a confession. After two years in jail, he was released when a judge found he was unfairly questioned.     More Read

It was every man – and crew member – for himself. Survivors from the Costa Concordia spoke angrily yesterday of the nightmare evacuation from the stricken ship as women and children were left behind.  In the terrifying moments after the giant vessel began to list, fights even broke out to get into the lifeboats. Men refused to prioritise women, expectant mothers and children as they pushed themselves forward to escape. Crew ignored their passengers – leaving ‘chefs and waiters’ to help out.  In heart-rending footage, recorded on mobile phones, British children could be heard shouting ‘Daddy’ and ‘Mummy’ in the melee. As she waited for a flight home from Rome, grandmother Sandra Rogers, 62, told the Daily Mail: ‘There was no “women and children first” policy. There were big men, crew members, pushing their way past us to get into the lifeboats. It was disgusting.’     More Read

There's a scene in the disaster movie The Towering Inferno in which Steve McQueen’s fire chief rails against architects for building office blocks higher and higher with scant regard for public safety. So what would he have made of the gigantic, floating hotels that pass for modern cruise liners? In the past decade, the size of the passenger ships cruising the world’s oceans has doubled. The biggest of these monsters weigh more than 225,000 tons and carry more than 6,000 passengers.    Read Here

The captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia was delivering a ‘salute’ to a friend on shore when he  sailed into disaster, it was claimed last night. Francesco Schettino, 52, has been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship when the cruise liner ran aground after sustaining a 160ft gash in the port-side hull – leaving at least five dead and 15 missing. Italian investigators are working on the theory that the £390million vessel sailed close to the island of Giglio to greet an officer from the Italian merchant navy who was friendly with those on the Concordia.      Read Full

A persistent group of thieves went to extreme lengths to get their hands on extra cash - after digging a 100ft tunnel under a building to reach a cash machine. The labour-intensive robbery saw the gang spend six months digging a passageway under a Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield, Manchester to get up underneath the cash machine. Amazingly, the group managed to get into the cash machine after completing the tunnel - which they had started four years ago in a previous botched raid.     More Read

Tens of thousands are dead, hundreds more of the dying lie writhing on the battlefield, powerless to protect their children.  These horrifying and yet fascinating scenes are the highlights of a three-hour battle between just 30 giant Japanese hornets and 30,000 European honeybees.    The video, from a National Geographic documentary called Hornets From Hell, shows a full-scale attack on the honeybees' comb in order that the hornets can get at their larvae.       Full Read

RYAN Giggs' betrayed brother Rhodri last night opened his heart to The Sun and declared: "The man is nothing but a worm." Shattered Rhodri – speaking for the first time about the Man Utd star's eight-year affair with his wife – lifted the lid on the explosive scandal that has rocked his family. He told of the agonising moment he was given a Dear John letter from wife Natasha, confessing to the affair and begging for forgiveness.      Read More

The Duchess of York faces 22 years in jail after a Turkish court pressed charges against her for secretly filming in an orphanage. The charges relate to an undercover documentary Sarah Ferguson made with ITV in 2008 to expose 'appalling' conditions in state run institutions. A spokesman for the Duchess said: ‘The Duchess of York has fully co-operated with both the Turkish and British authorities at all times on this issue.        Read Here

Parents have accused a Hartlepool school of 'asking for trouble,' after it built unisex toilets for secondary school pupils. The toilet block at Dyke House Sports and Technology College was rebuilt as part of a £12.4m revamp and features three floor-to-ceiling cubicles, each for males and females. The new design, unveiled after the school was remodelled under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, sees both sexes walk out from the cubicles to the same room and use communal sinks.    Full Read

Eating one sausage a day or two rashers of bacon raises the risk of pancreatic cancer by a fifth, according to research. Scientists have found that even relatively small amounts of processed meat increase the chance of developing this deadly illness. Pancreatic cancer is called ‘the silent killer’ because it often does not produce symptoms in early stages.     Full Read

They may feel they are in their prime with many years ahead of them. But people of 54 are at the start of their old age, according to the younger generation. And youth ends when people turn 32, say the under 25s. A survey of 2,200 people questioned as part of research by the Department for Work and Pensions, showed that on average, Britons think old age starts at 59, while youth ends at 41. Unsurprisingly the survey also showed that older participants deemed old age to come later with those over 80 classing the end of youth as 52 and the beginning of old age at 68.      More Read

A sex education video produced by the BBC for children as young as nine has been criticised as being 'like a blue movie' by an MP who said the material is 'shattering the innocence of childhood'. The video aims to teach children aged between nine and 11 about growing up, the cycle of life, feelings, family life and friendship. But included in the CD-ROM is an animated video of two cartoon characters making love and a computer-generated sequence showing a couple having sex, accompanied by a graphic explanation.      Read Here

The daughter of a couple found murdered in their home sobbed uncontrollably yesterday as she told how the family’s hearts had been ‘broken for ever’.  Michelle Kirwan said her parents Carole and Avtar Kolar, who are believed to have been battered to death, were ‘the sweetest, kindest people’. Referring to their brother and sister, their four children and eight grandchildren, the 39-year-old added: ‘Whoever has done this has taken not just two lives, but 16.’    More Read

Russia sought to undermine the authority of the U.S. as a global judge of human rights with its first report detailing allegations of torture, phone tapping and abuse by the U.S. government. "The situation in the United States is a far cry from the ideals that Washington proclaims," says the foreign ministry's report, released Wednesday. Criticizing the U.S. for double standards, Russia said President Barack Obama had failed to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and accused the White House of sheltering officials and CIA operatives from prosecution. The report accuses the U.S. of prying into citizens' personal lives and violating the rights of Muslim Americans in the fight against terrorism. It also points to errors made by American courts. "Judicial errors are the Achilles heel of American justice as concerns capital punishment," the report argues. It states roughly 130 people sentenced to death in the past 30 years were later ...

MOSCOW—The Kremlin is tightening control over permits for rallies next to its walls, as the opposition plans a campaign of antigovernment protests around the March presidential elections.  "It looks like they are afraid of some kind of a storming of the Kremlin, which is a pure paranoia," said Dmitry Butrin, a journalist who is one of the organizers of the demonstrations. A Kremlin spokesman said it was just a routine change aimed at making the rules more consistent. He denied it was related to the demonstrations or an effort to prevent rallies in the area. The Presidential Press Service announced the changes to the decree governing the Kremlin at its surroundings on Jan. 4, when Russia was shut down for its weeklong New Year's holiday. Under the new rules, permission from the presidential administration will be necessary for any public event on Vasilievsky Spusk, the cobblestone expanse along the Kremlin wall behind St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Sq...

DOWNING Street officials have come up with a way to stop unruly yobs running riot in the classroom – by drafting in Army instructors to man the classroom. Specific academies could be established in problem areas, with the Armed Forces pulling rank to drill hoodlums into shape. The militant proposition is under consideration by David Cameron after receiving the backing of ex-Special Forces supremo Lt General Sir Graeme Lamb. With Cabinet ministers already keen on boot camps and summer schools for tearaways, would these drastic new steps make troublemakers stand to attention? For war_on_chavs such a move couldn't come sooner: "Finally!!! I knew Cameron would pull through it's why I voted for him. This is not just a good idea - it is the revolution against the ways of the chav world."        Read Full

WHOOPING cough was virtually wiped out in the Fifties when a nationwide vaccination programme was introduced – but now it's back. The number of cases more than DOUBLED last year — to 1,040 in England and Wales, compared to just 421 in 2010, say experts at the Health Protection Agency. But it's not the only Victorian disease to make a comeback. Mumps, measles, typhoid and scarlet fever are also on the rise. The increase is being blamed on a fall in the number of parents getting their kids immunised. But these diseases don't only affect children but teens and adults too. Whooping cough spreads easily and in the worst cases, can be fatal.         Full Read

LADY Gaga is the last person you'd expect to see standing on the oche down the pub.  But it turns out she's right at home chucking the arrows. Her boyfriend Taylor Kinney and pals meet every month to play in their local darts league in California — and last week Gaga went along too. She took part in a bit of tungsten tickling and, thanks to her eye for the triple 20s, ended up beating half of them. A source said: "She was invited to play with the lads, who at first found it funny that she was so up for it. "There was a load of banter about whether she knew where to stand and where to aim. But after a while all that stopped.         More Read

A SECRETARY convinced she was pregnant was horrified to find her "baby bump" was a melon-sized tumour. Kayleigh Terry, 21, thought she was expecting when she started to put on weight and suffer pains and tiredness. A pregnancy test came back negative so doctors sent her for a scan. It showed a cancer stretching from her breast to her lower stomach. Kayleigh had chemotherapy to shrink the rare Ewing's sarcoma before it was removed.    Read Here

A TEENAGER arrested on suspicion of murder after four children died in a house fire wrote a tribute to them on Facebook. Dyson Allen was quizzed by cops yesterday over the blaze that killed four-year-old twins Holly and Ella Smith, Jordan, two, and 19-year-old Reece.    Read Full

Children are being abandoned on Greece's streets by their poverty-stricken families who cannot afford to look after them any more. Youngsters are being dumped by their parents who are struggling to make ends meet in what is fast becoming the most tragic human consequence of the Euro crisis. It comes as pharmacists revealed the country had almost run out of aspirin, as multi-billion euro austerity measures filter their way through society.     More Read

A secretary who thought she was pregnant with her first child after piling on the pounds was terrified to discover she actually had cancer. Kayleigh Terry, 21, had also been suffering from pains and fatigue but was bemused when a pregnancy test came back negative. A follow-up ultrasound scan revealed she had a large cancerous growth which covered an area from her breast to her lower abdomen. She was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma and had emergency chemotherapy to shrink the potentially deadly tumour.      Read Here

A patriotic prisoner of war stitched up his German captors after they unwittingly displayed his  needlework containing the coded message ‘F*** Hitler’ in camps where he was held captive. Major Alexis Casdagli never lost his fighting spirit and developed his own form of resistance, adding the secret messages to his needlework which were never spotted by his Nazi captors.   Pinching red and blue thread from a disintegrating pullover belonging to an elderly Cretan general, Major Casdagli passed the long hours in captivity painstakingly creating the sampler in cross-stitch.       Read More

A little girl whose birthmark was literally strangling her to death can finally smile after becoming the first person in the UK to trial a miracle drug. Millie Field, three, was born with a small, blue mark on her face which doctors told her parents Michelle and Stuart was a bruise from a particularly speedy labour.  However, within a matter of days the mark had developed into an angry and ulcerated red growth which not only left Millie disfigured but was also forming a stranglehold on her windpipe, jaw and larynx. At just 20 days old Millie was taken into intensive care where she spent the next six months.    Read More

The son of football legend Trevor Francis has appeared in court charged with burglary after he allegedly stole a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes and expensive jewellery from former England star and Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie's £1.7million home. Appearing at Warwickshire Magistrates Court, Leamington Spa, today, 24-year-old James John Francis was committed to appear for trial at Warwick Crown Court on February 29. Francis, who wore a smart grey suit with an expensive-looking watch, spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the short hearing. The youngest son of Birmingham City legend Trevor, who became Britain's first £1million player in 1979, is alleged to have stolen a string of luxury goods from a cottage at Hendrie's six-bedroom country house in leafy Rowington, Warwickshire, in July last year.     Read Full