Breaking news: November 2014

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Have mobile phones turned us into a nation of clingy lovers? One in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every HOUR

Technology means 41 per cent now expect their loved ones to be in touch several times a day

Study also suggests we would rather have fewer but closer friends

One in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every hour

They say a healthy couple is one where both partners are independent and happy being separated.

But modern technology has made near- constant contact the norm, and a staggering one in six Brits are so needy they expect to hear from their partner every hour of the waking day, according to a new study.

Mobile phones and social networking means 41 per cent now expect their loved ones to be in touch several times a day.

The research looked at our relationships with loved ones and businesses - and found Brits choose quality over quantity.

The study suggests we would rather have fewer but closer friends, than a load of pals that aren't close to us.

Two thirds said they have no more than five close friends.

And one in eight (13 per cent) say having fewer friends makes them feel healthier.

The study of 2,000 British adults found we value the same traits in personal relationships as we do with businesses.

Six in ten - 60 per cent - believe trust is the most important aspect to business relationships while 71 per cent say it's the most important for personal ones.

Trust, honesty and loyalty are key components to a strong business relationship whereas trust, loyalty and humour make for a strong personal relationship.

Set a web spy on your partner - for just £200: Is new website a positive step in the war on domestic violence or a boon for nosy neighbours?

New website Are They Safe checks criminal records of people's partners

Laura Lyons set up site after finding her husband had history of violence

Concerned people can pay up to £350 for 'enhanced background checks'

But there are concerns the site could be used by snooping neighbours

Laura Lyons, 29, created website Are They Safe, which runs comprehensive searches on people, after she found out her husband had a history of violence against previous par

A woman who was unaware her new husband had a history of violence against previous partners has set up a website offering £200 background checks to try to stop others suffering a similar fate.

The website, called ‘Are They Safe’, is thought to be the first of its kind, with its founders offering to undertake comprehensive searches of public records to verify someone’s identity, marital history, finances, and uncover any criminal convictions.

Anyone worried about a prospective or current partner, a potential son or daughter-in-law or a business partner, can pay a fee and be supplied with a report of the kind usually compiled by private detectives at much greater cost.

But there have been warnings that the new site goes much further than the ‘Clare’s Law’ checks for domestic violence currently available to police, and could be used by people embarking on anonymous ‘fishing expeditions’ to uncover information that could be used maliciously.

AreTheySafe.co.uk has been created by Devon businesswoman Laura Lyons, 29, together with experienced investigators and private security specialists.

Ms Lyons had been the victim of violent domestic abuse at the hands of her husband, Farouk Ali, before she left him last year. When she married Ali, Ms Lyons was unaware he had abused previous partners and had two assault convictions.

And in September, he pleaded guilty to bigamy, saying he had another wife in Bangladesh.

‘If something like this service had been available to me, I would have avoided years of violence and misery,’ Ms Lyons said.

But Professor Liz Kelly of London Metropolitan University, an expert in the field of domestic violence, said the numbers of women who would be helped might be limited.

She said: ‘If you’ve fallen for someone, you may not want to check them out at an early stage. I’m not convinced enough people will use it for it to be truly preventative.’

What cards are left up your sleeve, George? Households hoping for 'surprise' giveaways in Autumn Statement

Households up and down the country are hoping Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will come up with a couple of ‘surprise’ announcements in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement to make their financial life a little easier.

Money experts believe there will be nothing to quite match the shock overhaul of the pensions market revealed in Osborne’s Budget in March – reform that will enable most people aged 55 and over to access their pensions from next April as they see fit rather than be compelled into an uncompetitive or inappropriate annuity.

But with one eye on next May’s General Election, they say he might firm up on broad pledges already made by the Prime Minister to increase tax-free personal allowances, the level of income after which taxpayers begin to pay the 40 per cent higher rate of tax – and the inheritance tax threshold.

Surprises up his sleeve? Households up and down the country are hoping Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne will come up with a couple of ‘surprise’ announcements in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement

At the Conservative Party conference early last month, David Cameron said he would raise the tax-free allowance from £10,500 to £12,500 by 2020. He also confirmed that the threshold for the 40p income tax rate would be raised from £41,900 to £50,000 by the end of a five-year Conservative government.

Separately, he said only the ‘very wealthy’ should pay inheritance tax. Currently, the tax is charged at 40 per cent on the value of estates over a threshold of £325,000 – or £650,000 for married couples and civil partners.

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The threshold has been frozen since 2009 resulting in many households, especially in London and the South East being potentially exposed to the tax. An exclusive survey of more than 10,000 investors conducted by financial company Interactive Investor shows that moves on these three fronts would all prove popular, with bigger personal allowances being welcomed the most.

Some 29 per cent of those polled said higher tax-free allowances were the policy initiative they wanted more than any other.

What we want to hear: Nearly 30 per cent of people want to see an increase in personal tax allowances

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, says: ‘It’s not surprising that more people want to keep more of their income, either through an increase in personal allowances or by a hike in the threshold for 40 per cent tax.’ One other tax that Osborne might act on is stamp duty on house purchases. Some 22 per cent of those taking part in Interactive Investor’s survey voted for a rise in the value of house purchases exempt from stamp duty – from the current £125,000 to £300,000.

It is expected that the Chancellor will use the Autumn Statement to announce improvements to the Current Account Switching Service launched last year to make it easier for people to switch banks.

Despite the new service, switching levels remain low so Osborne might require banks to complete switches within five working days, rather than the current seven days.

Brynne Edelsten slips into bandeau bikini and micro-mini shorts as she sunbakes by the beach with her pet pooch before hitting the town on girls night out

She's had a lot on her plate as she deals with repeated calls from her ex and his new fiancee to change her married name.

But Brynne Edelsten, 31, seemed completely carefree on Sunday when she took some time out for herself and enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach with her pet pooch.

The reality television star and former wife of businessman Geoffrey Edelsten stripped down to a purple bandeau-style bikini top and tiny pair of denim cut offs while soaking up the sun at Port Melbourne.

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Soaking up the sun:Brynne Edelsten stripped down to a purple bikini and tiny pair of denim cut offs to enjoy a day at the beach with her puppy on Sunday

Sure to protect her face from any harmful rays, Brynne kept a floppy straw hat firmly over her blonde locks and wore an oversized pair of shades.

Holding her shaggy puppy, named Juddy, in her arms, she is seen sitting on a bright pink towel in an image posted to her Facebook page.

'Beaching it! Beautiful day at Port Melb!' she wrote alongside the snap.

The busty blonde was out with a friend and made the most of the daylight before heading off to a girls night later that evening.

Swapping her bright bikini for some finer threads, the My Bedazzled Diary star slipped her famous frame into a midriff-baring crop top with a lace finish.

Girls day: The reality TV star was joined by a friend as they relaxed at Port Melbourne

She teamed the chest-enhancing number with an asymmetrical zebra-print skirt that showed off her bronzed thighs.

With her bleach blonde tresses styled in loose curls, she completed her look with a towering pair of stilettos heels embellished with a multitude of glimmering crystals.

Brynne's estranged husband Geoffrey has been making it clear he wants his former flame to change her surname and has been suggesting a number of options of late.

The 71-year-old Melbourne local, who is engaged to 25-year-old Gabi Grecko, told Daily Mail Australia this month that he wants Brynne to revert to her maiden name, Gordon, or use Red Ra - the name her current boyfriend, Big Red Ra or Cemre Volkan, goes by.

'Gabi will be the real Mrs Edelsten,' he said, 'The day I sign the papers, I've asked her to change her name to mine. And I haven't considered Brynne to be Mrs Edelsten for a long time.'

Gabi has also been vocal in her dislike of Brynne using her married name, and took to Instagram last week to fire shots at Geoffrey's former wife, writing: 'WTF is her name?'

Painting the town red: She later swapped into a midriff bearing outfit as she hit the town with her gal pals

Brynne Edelsten responds to Gabi Grecko's heartfelt apology

New flame: Brynne's estranged husband Geoff, 71, is now engaged to Gabi Grecko, 25

'She's a naughty girl': I'm A Celebrity's Kendra Wilkinson 'filmed a second sex tape'... but with a female friend

s well known that Kendra Wilkinson once took part in the filming of a sex tape with her ex-boyfriend.

But now it has been revealed that the I'm A Celebrity star also once filmed a second one: a lesbian tape with a female friend.

The 29-year-old former Playboy playmate is said to be involved in a 45-minute long clip, a friend of the star told The Sun.

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'She's a naughty girl': Kendra Wilkinson's friend has told The Sun of her open nature when it comes to sex, in regards her reported lesbian sex tape that was first leaked back in 2010

The curvy blonde beauty is seen getting intimate with her friend Taryn Ryan in the tape that was originally leaked on the internet back in 2010.

Speaking to the newspaper, Kendra's friend Jessica Hall said: 'Kendra is a naughty girl, and when she filmed those tapes she was really living it up.

'She let loose, she had fun and she lived a life that she thought was every girl's fantasy. I don't remember a lot of things from back then.'

Her pal, who has known the model for nine years, added: 'Everybody has a past, and she didn't choose to put these things out there. But she won't care what people say, she'll deal with it and move on.'

Not shy: Kendra has proudly been revealing her enviable figure in her fitted swimsuit while in the I'm A Celebrity jungle

Jungle campmates are drenched in slime and cockroaches

It has been claimed that the video is filmed in night-vision, as Kendra and Taryn kiss on camera.

It's also believed it was taped by her boyfriend at the time Frye, and Taryn's boyfriend.

The first homemade sex tape starring Hugh Hefner's former girlfriend did the rounds on the internet - as well as revealing stills from the video - as she embarked on her jungle challenge a few weeks ago.

It was originally filmed back in 2005 when she was 18, and in a relationship with Frye.

Back when it was first released four years ago, she said: 'It just had to come out now when I finally cleaned up my life.

'It's extremely embarrassing. I am a very open person, I am very honest about my life, but a sex tape was definitely not what I wanted in my life.

TV gold: Kendra has been more than entertaining during her time in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, and is putting her past behind her

Kendra is emotional as she wins TEN STARS for camp

'It wasn't for anybody else's eyes to see except for ours.'

Kendra has been TV gold while spending time with her fellow contestants in the I'm A Celebrity jungle, and recently opened up about her sex life with the Playboy boss.

The mother of two commented: 'I was usually very drunk doing those evenings, I tended not to care about much until the next day. I had to be very drunk or smoke lots of weed to survive those nights.

'At about the minute mark, I pulled away and it was done. It was like a job. Clock in, clock out. It’s not like I enjoyed having sex with him', the Daily Mirror recently reported.

Kendra's comments came after she spoke about her husband Hank Baskett's severe depression to her famous campmates, who is reported to have cheated on her with a transgender model.

She said: 'There is such a thing as depression and even a big guy like you [Jake Quickenden], you have to hear people's cries and I didn't. He came to bed so many times crying and I wasn't there for him.'

Recently in the jungle, Kendra has undergone a bit of a turnaround. After feuding with fellow campmate Edwina Currie, she has since become friends with her after they successfully completed a Bushtucker trial together.

They've since dubbed themselves 'Team Kenwina'.

Team Kenwina! Kendra and former foe Edwina Currie put their differences aside to complete a Bushtucker Trial

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'Why are you crying Daddy?': Heart-breaking final words of girl, 5, who died of a heart attack brought on by illness doctors failed to spot

Doctors sent Ward Alshammary home with a virus in January this year
Two days later, she was back in hospital and suffered a cardiac arrest
An inquest heard doctors at Southampton General Hospital failed to spot a major infection between her lung and chest wall
Internal hospital investigation revealed there had been failings in her care
But coroner Grahame Short said it would never be known if her death could have been prevented by earlier treatment
Her devastated father revealed the youngster wanted to be a paediatrician

By KHALEDA RAHMAN FOR MAILONLINE

'Why are you crying Daddy?' were the final words a five-year-old girl said to her distraught father as she died of a cardiac arrest brought on by an illness doctors failed to spot, an inquest has heard.

Doctors sent Ward Alshammary home with a virus in January this year but two days later she was taken back to hospital after her condition rapidly deteriorated.

It was found her irritable rash, sore throat and pain in her lung was actually bronchial pneumonia and doctors were unaware of a major infection between her lungs and chest wall.

As they prepared to move her to paediatric intensive care from a high dependency unit, they gave her medication to tackle the bacterial infection but the youngster suffered a cardiac arrest.

But just moments before she died, Ward gave her crying father Badr Alshammary a kiss and asked him why he was in tears.

Speaking about how their lives had been turned upside down by her death, her father and mother Feraihah said they never thought they wouldn't come home from the hospital without their daughter.

The couple, who used to live in Southampton, said: 'We were incredibly close to our daughter Ward.

'Although she was only five years old, she cared for us, as much as we cared for her.

'She loved her siblings and all of her friends at school. Ward loved going to school and she loved her teachers.

'When she grew up she wanted to be a paediatrician - she even told the doctor at the hospital that was what she wanted to be.

'After that first visit to the hospital, we thought she would be fine. Even when we went back on 21 January 2013, we did not expect to leave the hospital without our daughter.

'Ward's death has affected our lives significantly: our family life, our studies, every day, even walking down the street.

'We know that nothing can bring Ward back but we hope that knowledge of the circumstances in which Ward died, which we now understand in more detail, can prevent similar deaths in the future.'

When she was first admitted, the little girl was examined and given an antihistamine drug before being sent home.

Maybe this is the new-age Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No, we're not going to start any more Nick Saban-to-Texas rumors.

But, boy, was there a Big 12 feel to Alabama's 55-44 Iron Bowl victory over Auburn on Saturday night, the kind of back-and-forth shootout that Xbox junkies live for and the kind of game that looked a lot more like basketball at times than it did football.

Leave it to Saban's wife, Terry, to shed perhaps the best perspective on this new-age Alabama as she traded jubilant high-fives with a fan while exiting the elevator on this record-setting night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"That's what you call 'doing whatever it takes,'" she exclaimed.

Her husband would tend to agree, even though he likes giving up 44 points and 630 yards of total offense (the most ever given up by any Alabama team) about as well as he does perusing message boards and listening to sports talk radio. For the record, it's not like Saban and Phyllis from Mulga are phone pals.

"There's a lot more points being scored in this day and age of college football than ever before," Saban said. "The hurry-up offense and the advent of zone-reads and option passes that come off of it make it very, very difficult to defend, and if you can't match up with people man to man, it probably makes it even more difficult. We didn't do a very good job of that today.

"But the way we're headed in college football, there are going to be games like this, and you're going to have to be able to win games like this, and I'm sure glad we were able to win this game like this today."

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Allen Kee/ESPN ImagesBlake Sims overcame three interceptions and rallied the Crimson Tide from down 33-21 in the third quarter.

The two teams combined for 1,169 yards of total offense and 52 first downs. It was the highest-scoring Iron Bowl in history, and there were only four punts in the game.

Wasn't it only three years ago Alabama and LSU played the so-called "Game of the Century" here in that No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown and nobody scored a touchdown?

Well, times are changing, and so is Saban, to a degree. It's not quite, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," because Saban's Alabama teams have won 22 of the past 25 SEC games in which they've played and they're headed to the SEC championship game next Saturday in Atlanta for the second time in the past three years.

But if Saban drew it up, this wouldn't be his course for college football. He's a defensive guy. Always has been and always will be.

He's also a lot more progressive than given credit for, which is why you see Alabama running a steady dose of no-huddle offense under first-year coordinator Lane Kiffin, spreading it out a lot more, and, in the words of star receiver Amari Cooper, "running plays we didn't use to."

Saban conceded the way it all went down Saturday wasn't Alabama's style. But then, he's never been big on style anyway.

"We just kept grinding and started making some plays on offense and got the momentum of the game back," Saban said.

The stats, at least from an Alabama defensive perspective, were ugly. Not only were the Tide shredded for 630 yards -- 22 more than they gave up last season to Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in a 49-42 win -- but they were also on the field for 90 defensive snaps. Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall passed for a school-record 456 yards and three touchdowns, and receivers Sammie Coates and Duke Williams repeatedly ran by Alabama's man coverage and piled up 327 receiving yards between them.

"Me, personally, that's frustrating to give up that many points and yards," Alabama linebackerTrey DePriest said. "I don't like that, but to be able to find a way to win says a lot about this team."

It also says that the Tide, going forward, might not be a fish out of water if they happen to get into another one of these track meets, whether it's against Missouri in the SEC championship game or on down the road in the College Football Playoff if they can get past the Tigers.

"Coach Kiffin knows what he's doing," Alabama offensive tackle Austin Shepherd said. "It's fast paced, going at it, and that's what we do."

Alabama trailed 33-21 in the early minutes of the third quarter after quarterback Blake Simstossed his third interception of the game, but there was never any panic on the Tide sideline, even though Saban had backup Jake Coker warming up at one point.

After his third pick, Sims came back to hit six of seven passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter, and he made sure to find the best player on the field. Cooper made his strongest statement yet that he belongs in New York City at the Heisman Trophy presentation. He caught 13 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns.

"We're relentless. We don't want to lose," Cooper said. "We'll win by any means."

Even if that means winning a game in which defense is optional, which is starting to become the norm in the SEC.

"It's always a positive to win in a situation we're not comfortable with or not used to," Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen said. "I gotta give a lot of credit to our offense. The game's changed, but it's something we need to adapt to and keep getting better at."

read more info:http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/94610/maybe-this-is-the-new-age-alabama

Sunday, 30 November 2014

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