How animals around the world have taken a tip from us to cope with the hot weather | Mail Online

 

Cool of the wild: From sunhats to ice-cream, how animals around the world have taken tips from us to cope with the hot weather

By Nick Enoch

An ice lolly, a dip in the pool, deckchairs… when it comes to cooling off in the hot weather, these animals don’t play by the rules.

As Britain enjoys a heatwave, with the mercury hitting 27c (81f) today, these are just some of the cunning ways our furry friends cope.

And as the pictures below show, it’s not just those here who are feeling the heat – from China to Germany, Indonesia to the U.S., animals are scoffing at what they’ve seen in nature documentaries and trying something a little bit different…

Let sleeping dogs lie: Tara the dog opts for a sunbed and parasol to see her through the blistering heat in Britain

Bird bath with a difference: Jacquille the parrot cools down in a tea cup in Costa Rica

One cool dude: Dudu the walrus beats the summer heat in China, at Qingdao Polar Ocean World; right, a squirrel gets stuck into a frozen treat in Swindon, Wiltshire

I’ve got this licked: An African lion in Brookfield zoo, Chicago refreshes himself with a block of ice

Sealion solution: Keepers at Qingdao Polar Ocean World have come up with innovative ways to keep their animals cool; right, Eski the snowy owl could do with a towel in the New Forest, Hampshire

Flew what a scorcher! A tufted titmouse suns itself in Massachusetts

Spread the whirred: This chilled dog has found himself a new fan; right, Chino the donkey enjoys an ice-cream at Pennywell farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon

Furry nice! A squirrel takes a dip in a swimming pool in San Antonio, Texas

Does it come in banana flavour? A baboon enjoys an ice lolly at Hangzhou wild animal centre, China; right, a meerkat at Marwell Wildlife Conservation Park, Hants

To hell with the diet… An orangutan at Ragunan zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia

Just follow my lead: Harland the poodle on Southsea beach in Hampshire; right, a fur seal relaxes in Stromness, South Georgia Island

White tiger cubs Jeevan and Ashoka cool off in a paddling pool at a safari park in Germany

Trunks, glasses and parasol…this pooch looks good – and he knows it

I’ll be finished in about nine hours… A young gorilla chews on a block of ice containing fruit at Los Angeles Zoo

Do I look like I want to share? A ring-tailed lemur at Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Herts

Pass the oinkment, dear: Some pigs tan themselves in Cambridgeshire

It’s bacon hot! A piglet falls asleep in a doll’s house deckchair

How animals around the world have taken a tip from us to cope with the hot weather | Mail Online

She rose from Co-op cashier to become the TV star everyone – including the Queen – adored. So why has English Heritage refused Thora Hird a blue plaque?

Come on English Heritage wake up….She was a Star someone to look up to….pity we do not have more people like her today….she was a star for a long period of time not like people today who think they are famous,have no talent and are paid vast amounts of money which they squander very quickly….where are the true stars of today? we live in a society of the 5 minute star…how sad….let us not forget people like Thora Hird true stars of stage and screen…jboy2244

She rose from Co-op cashier to become the TV star everyone – including the Queen – adored. So why has English Heritage refused Thora Hird a blue plaque?

Thora Hird was more than just a national treasure — she was one of the British crown jewels, a walloping great diamond on a firmly knotted headscarf.

When she died in 2003, aged 91, one obituary summed her up perfectly as a cross between the Queen Mum and a Donald McGill saucy seaside postcard.

But she was also a superb character actress and, for many, as host of Praise Be!, the real face of Sunday worship.

Treasure: Thora Hird’s 90-year career was not enough for English Heritage

So a decision by English Heritage to deny her the honour of a blue plaque isn’t just stuffy and pompous — it’s downright incomprehensible.

When the advisory panel, which includes Stephen Fry, former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion and former Arts Council chairman Sir Christopher Frayling, ruled that Dame Thora’s contribution to theatre might be forgotten in 20 years or less, they betrayed their total ignorance of a career that stretched across an incredible nine decades.

She was eight weeks old when she made her first stage appearance in her mother’s arms. ‘It was the first and only job I ever got through influence,’ she said. (Her father James ran the Royalty Theatre in Morecambe.)

At the other end of her life, she played a centenarian in a Talking Heads play by Alan Bennett, called Waiting For The Telegram. Talk about a lifetime devoted to theatre: Dame Thora packed enough into her career for two whole lifetimes.

It is baffling that English Heritage can’t see this. It’s not, after all, as if accolades weren’t forthcoming during her lifetime. Thora was made a dame in 1993, back when the honour was reserved for theatre heavyweights such as Edith Evans and Sybil Thorndike.

Staying power: Thora Hird and actor Freddie Frinton at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia in 1965

It helped, of course, that she played the Queen’s favourite character in the Royal Family’s favourite TV show, Last Of The Summer Wine.

Thora was Edie Pegden, the hectoring, house-proud president of the local ladies’ coffee morning. Thora’s artful performance delighted in Edie’s snobbish side — when there was company, her voice would lose its coarse edge and turn quite snooty.

Hugely amused, writer Roy Clarke was inspired to base a whole sitcom on the trait — and Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances was born.

Edie’s character was inspired by the socially anxious, lower-middle-class women whom Thora had observed during her early years working behind the till at the  Co-op in Morecambe.

She spent ten years as a cashier, working by day, acting in the evening and learning lines deep into the night.

Potential: This publicity picture of ‘actress Miss Thora Hird’ was issued in November 1953

She never lost her sense of those humble roots. ‘I scrubbed my mother’s doorstep when I was a young woman,’ she liked to tell reporters. ‘Now go and fetch me mink!’

She married James Scott, a drummer in the theatre orchestra, in 1937, after a four-year courtship, and their only child, a daughter called Janette, was born a year later.

Thora always claimed that, because there were no forceps handy, the midwife used a pair of fish knives.

In later life, her son-in-law was the crooner Mel Torme, and she visited her daughter’s family in Beverly Hills at least two dozen times. She was never tempted to make a home in California, though.

‘There’s no corner shop, love,’ she would say.

Surely the English Heritage committee cannot be prejudiced against her Lancashire accent and working-class humour?

Legends: Thora Hird in June 1970 with comedian Tommy Cooper who collapsed on stage during a live televised show in 1984 and soon after died

It’s true that Thora was salt-of-the-earth, while recent blue plaques have been awarded to the sprinkling-of-chopped-tarragon- and-a grated-truffle type: Sir Terence Rattigan, playwright of the drawing room, for example, or the aristocratic Indian poet Rabindrinath Tagore.

Her rejection has provoked outrage among fans. Maureen Lipman, herself a sitcom actress with strong claims for national treasuredom, called the decision ‘imbecilic snobbery’. Tory MP David Morris immediately announced he would table an Early Day Motion in the Commons to force the committee to reconsider.

But it seems unlikely to succeed: there’s a rule applications cannot be reviewed for at least ten years.

The most puzzling aspect is that Dame Thora’s case met the criteria of English Hidebound (sorry, Heritage). The rules state that to be considered blue-plaque-worthy, a person has to have been dead for 20 years or the centenary of their birth has been passed.

The centenary of her birth was reached last year, on May 28: she would be 101 this month.

She had lived and worked in London, moving there when the musical hall star George Formby asked her to audition for a film with him at Ealing Studios, during the Blitz in 1941.

She didn’t get the part, but the test led to a 1942 film called The Black Sheep Of Whitehall, opposite comedian Will Hay. Incidentally, Hay has got a blue plaque, so has the film’s producer, Michael Balcon. And she died at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors in South-West London.

Hird is so much a part of her adopted city that she is one of the few actors to have inspired a piece of Cockney rhyming slang.

Popular: Thora Hird pictured in 1987 when she was starring in long running British sitcome Last of the Summer Wine which went for 31 series

University students who scrape through their exams are said to get a Thora Hird — or third, as in third-class degree.

If that seems disrespectful, you should hear the stories Thora liked to tell about herself.

Alan Bennett noted one of her favourites in his diary — she claimed that when she was a girl growing up next-door to the theatre in Morecambe, an alley ran along the back where the seaside town’s only lady of the night, Miss Nellie Hodge, would take her clients.

One night, Thora heard a man’s complaining voice: ‘Ee Nellie, I wish you’d stop nodding your head.’

‘I can’t help it,’ Nellie replied. ‘You’ve gone and got tangled in me scarf.’

It’s not the sort of tale Thora would have told on Praise Be! — the Sunday evening collection of viewers’ favourite hymns she hosted, which ran for 17 years on BBC1 in the teatime ‘God slot’. Like former Goon Show entertainer Harry Secombe who presented Songs Of Praise, she became an unofficial symbol of the Church of England.

Varied: Thora Hird also appeared in the TV show In Loving Memory, set in an undertakers business, which ran from 1979 until 1986

It was no stretch to imagine Thora reading her Bible at home and being comforted by familiar verses, or being moved to tears by the plain poetry of well-loved hymns.

Each week, five million people tuned in. She had a wisdom in her voice that was rooted in common sense, something that audiences could recognise and cherish.

It was that quality which Bennett captured in his 1988 short play, A Cream Cracker Under The Settee,  written for Thora.

She played an elderly widow who had suffered a fall. Gradually, in a monologue that becomes mumbled as her life slips away, Thora revealed her fall was the consequence of climbing up on to the furniture, trying to do the dusting.

It was a portrait of abandonment and loss, depicted with such heart-rending pathos that Thora’s postbag was bulging for days after the broadcast with letters from people begging her to come and live with them.

How can English Heritage fail to see how beloved this woman was? And why would they think she might be less warmly remembered in a couple of decades?

A look at recently approved names on plaques provides a clue: they are largely male. So, too, is the committee: seven of the ten, including the chairman, historian Professor Sir David Cannadine, are men.

Glamour: This picture taken in 1966 shows Thora Hird enjoying a night at the fashionable Dorchester Hotel in London’s Park Lane

Plenty of plaques have been granted to actors in the past few years. Alastair Sim, a star of Ealing comedies, was honoured with a blue plate at his Hampstead home.

Sim was a lovely, lugubrious comic, but he is hardly a household name — never the star of TV’s longest-running sitcom, for instance.

To test the theory that there’s a sexist bias at English Heritage, I suggested a couple of candidates — both actresses. One was Hattie Jacques, the matron of the Carry On movies. The other was Diana Dors, the only bona fide sex-bomb of British cinema’s golden era.

Both were younger than Thora. Both have been dead for more than 20 years. Both lived and worked in London. In other words, they meet  the criteria.

A spokeswoman for English Heritage admitted last night that neither Hattie nor Diana had ever been considered.

That’s a disgrace. But for a committee that is incompetent enough to deny an honour to the Queen’s favourite actress, it’s probably not surprising.

Or as Dame Thora might have said: ‘Them’s too numb to know they are numb!’

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS compiled The Masters Of Sitcom: From Hancock To Steptoe (Michael O’Mara Books).

Friends: Thora Hird arriving at the memorial service for entertainer Sir Harry Secombe at Westminster Catherdral in October, 2001

She rose from Co-op cashier to become the TV star everyone – including the Queen – adored. So why has English Heritage refused Thora Hird a blue plaque? | Mail Online

By Christopher Stevens

Carpenter builds incredible egg-shaped tree house hidden from view on Crown land just yards from multi-million homes

 

‘Squatter’ secretly builds incredible (but thoroughly illegal)  tree house hidden in Canada’s Whistler forest just yards from multi-million homes

By Leon Watson

It took months to find the right tree to build on, and when he did the spot was on public land looking down on a row of multi-million dollar homes.

But that didn’t stop Joel Allen – he just built this incredible egg-shaped tree house in Canada anyway, without telling anyone.

The computer technician-turned-carpenter started off by creating a scale model of his design to test its strength and durability, before beginning the months-long quest to find the perfect tree.

Joel Allen stepping into the amazing treehouse he built on public land in Canada at night

Joel Allen has built this incredible treehouse in Hemlocks, Whistler, western Canada

Joel took years to construct the tree house. At this point he was working on the base

Without the money to buy property, he decided to do it on Crown land in the forests of Whistler.

‘Finding that perfect spot on Crown land wasn’t so easy,’ he said. ‘I had an informal checklist of requirements, the most important ones being that it within a reasonable distance to a road, yet out of sight and out of earshot of human traffic.

‘The other requirement was hard to qualify, but was of prime importance: the shape of the egg would need to suit the environment and be proportionate to the tree. I couldn’t explain exactly what that was but I figured I would know it when I saw it.’

Mr Allen found it in a patch of old growth near a development of multi-million dollar homes, then began secretly constructing it. The process took years, thousands of dollars, and many free items found on Craigslist.

Finally, he created the HemLoft.

Without the money to buy property, Joel decided to do it on Crown land in the forests of Whistler

Mr Allen found the perfect spot in a patch of old growth near a development of multi-million dollar home

Hidden: The treehouse in Hemlocks was built in a forest away from view of nearby homes

Admiring the view: Joel Allen in the treehouse he built using items from Craigslist

Asked by a friend why he did it, Mr Allen said: ‘I found myself grasping for some sort of rationalisation that would make me seem less crazy.

‘She said "no, why did you really build it?" For the first time in my life, I was forced to face the truth about it. I said "I guess… I just wanted to build something cool".’

‘Since the treehouse was built on crown land, I don’t technically own it, and so its fate is uncertain.

Joel said: ‘The shape of the egg would need to suit the environment and be proportionate to the tree. I couldn’t explain exactly what that was but I figured I would know it when I saw it.’

The computer technician-turned-carpenter started off by creating a scale model of his design

It took Joel months to find the right tree to build on before he settled on the spot

The perfect egg-shaped treehouse was built on a tree over a slope on the mountain

For three years I kept the HemLoft secret, but now that I’m finished, I’ve found myself wanting to share it…Coming out of the bush about the HemLoft is fun, however it poses a few problems; if people know about it, they might try to find it. And if the wrong people find it, they may make me take it down.

‘It took a lot of work to build it, and I’d rather not take it down, just yet. So I’ve been thinking of ways to expose the HemLoft, while somehow making it legal.

‘To the best of my knowledge, Squatting on Whistler Mountain, beneath some of Western Canada’s most luxurious mega-homes would not be looked favourably upon.’

Joel Allen said: ‘It took a lot of work to build it, and I’d rather not take it down, just yet.’

Joel Allen’s construction was conducted in secret until he finally went public.

Carpenter builds incredible egg-shaped tree house hidden from view on Crown land just yards from multi-million homes | Mail Online

American Reunion Irish premiere: Jedward’s brother Kevin accompanies twins and Tara Reid | Mail Online

 

Meet Kevin… Jedward’s older brother! Rarely-seen sibling accompanies the twins (and Tara Reid) to American Reunion Irish premiere

By Sarah Bull

His brothers are arguably the one of the world’s most famous set of twins – with their wacky behaviour and trademarked quiffs setting them apart from their peers.

And while he doesn’t have the same blonde hair as his siblings, Jedward’s older brother Kevin decided to follow in their dubious style footsteps last night as he joined the pair on the red carpet at the Irish premiere of the latest American Pie offering – American Reunion.

The similarity between Kevin and his brothers was clear to see, with the redhead even sporting the same slicked down hairstyle as his siblings.

Family affair: Jedward’s older brother Kevin accompanied the twins on the red carpet at the Irish premiere of American Reunion in Dublin last night

Heading home: Kevin was seen following along as Edward and Tara left the afterparty

Law student Kevin, 21, also wore the same black suit, skinny maroon tie and black patent shoes as his brothers as the trio posed up with one of the film’s stars Tara Reid on the red carpet.

And while the ensemble may have been slightly different from his usual student attire, Kevin should perhaps be grateful that his younger brothers had decided to leave their usual garish outfits at home for the evening.

Understated: John and Edward ditched their quiffs for the occasion as they posed up with Tara on the red carpet

Here today, gone tomorrow: Jedward sported quiffs at the LA premiere last month

The 20-year-olds are more notorious for their ridiculous styling – which has seen them in red satin suit for their Eurovision performance and trainers with angel wings – even opted for ties this evening.

The brothers were clearly excited about the Tinseltown starts descending on their home turf, tweeting: ‘Everyone we are so excited about coming to the savoy cinema in Dublin with @TaraReid it will be awesOme can’t wait to see everyone =:)’

Centre of attention: Even Jedward’s hair couldn’t detract from Jennifer Coolidge’s bust

The gang: Seann William Scott and Eugene Levy take a trip from Hollywood to the Savoy Cinema in Dublin

Meanwhile, Tara – who struck up a friendship with the duo on Celebrity Big Brother UK – wrote: ‘So excited to see @planetjedward at @AmericanPie #AmericanReunion premiere tonight in dublin!’

Tara, 36, looked striking by opting for a simple yet elegant floor-length gown which oozed glamour.

However, as ever, Jennifer Coolidge – aka Stifler’s mum – threatened to steal the show once again.

My Car? hunk still looked undeniably handsome despite his grey beard.

Say hello to mummy: Seann plays Jennifer’s son in the comedy franchise

The 48-year-old squeezed her voluptuous silhouette into a curve-hugging black cocktail dress with lace detail on the sleeves, with her ample bosom trying to break free.

On-screen son Seann William Scott put in an appearance too, looking a little older than his 35 years.

Demure: Tara looked striking in simply yet elegant Hollywood glamour

Protagonist Jason Biggs was notably absent, enjoying a European leg of promotion with Chris Klein.

The actor, famed for his role of Jim Levenstein in the comedy series, was seen dining alfresco with Chris, co-star Mena Suvari and celebrity stylist David Stanwell while they were sent to Rome.

The castmates have been split up over the last few weeks of world touring to cover more locations.

European break: Jason Biggs and Chris Klein missed the premiere as they were in Rome

When in Rome… Jason can be seen with Chris, Mena Suvari and celebrity stylist David Stanwell

American Reunion Irish premiere: Jedward’s brother Kevin accompanies twins and Tara Reid | Mail Online

Baldness cure secret revealed by mice – Yahoo! Lifestyle UK

 

Baldness cure secret revealed by mice

By Kim Hookem-Smith

A tuft of hair grown on the back of a bald lab mouse may hold the key to curing baldness in humans.

A research team in Japan used stem cell cultivation to create hair follicles from scratch. These follicles were then implanted into the hairless mice where they grew hairs.

The stem cells were taken from a balding man and the next step is to implant the created follicles into a human head in order to win the battle against balding, experienced by more than seven million men in the UK.
The technique may also allow men to re-grow hair in their original colour, even if they’ve already started to go grey.
The researchers from Tokyo University believe a cure for baldness could be engineered within three years. It will be an expensive treatment, however, and they believe it could be more useful in reconstructive situations where traditional hair transplant operations aren’t possible.
And there’s more research to be done, as the team do not yet know if it would be possible to recreate an entire head of hair. In this study, the hairs had to be implanted one at a time, which is fine on a mouse but a rather different proposition on an entire bald head!

Baldness cure secret revealed by mice – Yahoo! Lifestyle UK

56 stars tattooed on Belgian woman’s face still visible a year after she planned to have laser surgery | Mail Online

 

Still star struck: Young Belgian’s misery three years after she had 56 tattoos on her face

By Lyle Brennan

A disastrous mistake looked set to cost Kimberley Vlaeminck more than her looks after the young Belgian had 56 stars tattooed on her face.

Last summer she was preparing to shell out £9,000 for laser surgery and said she hoped to have the design removed by the end of September.

But, almost three years after the 21-year-old decided to go under the needle, the constellation shows little sign of fading.

Clear as the night sky: Kimberley Vlaeminck still bears the 56 tiny black stars she said she planned to have surgically removed

In June 2009, Miss Vlaeminck lied to family and reporters that she had asked tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz for just three stars near her eye.

As her regret sank in, she claimed he kept adding more and more after she fell asleep at the Tattoo Box in Coutrai, Belgium.

She promised to sue the tattooist for the cost of removal, claiming a language barrier meant the Flemish speaker had misunderstood when she gave instructions in French and English.

Miss Vlaeminck said she avoided going out in public because the tattoos made her feel like a ‘freak’.

But a week later she confessed to a Dutch TV station that she had been awake throughout and had indeed asked for the full 56 marks.

She said she lied because she was afraid of how her father would react.

Freshly inked: Miss Vlaeminck at the age of 18 in 2009, shortly after she asked tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz to cover her face in black stars

Even still, Mr Toumaniantz – whose own face is covered in tattoos and piercings – offered to pay half the cost of laser removal, saying he did not want to leave a customer unsatisfied.

He later retracted this offer, leaving Miss Vlaeminck to cover the cost alone.

Though laser treatment has been shown to be a effective way of removing ink, even the most advanced technology would leave white marks across her face.

According to Belgian media, Mr Toumaniantz said he did not regret tattooing Miss Vlaeminck, adding that it had given him publicity.

He has since started asking all his customers to give written consent to his designs.

Bizarre: Tattooist Mr Toumaniantz (right) originally offered to pay half the cost of Miss Vlaeminck’s laser removal – even though she threatened to sue him and lied that she had asked for only three of the 56 stars

56 stars tattooed on Belgian woman’s face still visible a year after she planned to have laser surgery | Mail Online

David Cameron fundraising scandal: Guest list of Tory donors who had dinner at Downing Street | Mail Online

 

Cam dine with me: The guest list of Tory donors who had dinner with Dave and Sam at No. 10 and Chequers

By Jason Groves and Emily Allen

The guest list of Conservative Party donors wined and dined by David Cameron and his wife Samantha at Downing Street and Chequers has been revealed today.

Lord John and Lady Sainsbury, secretive tycoon David Rowland – once branded a ‘shady financier’ – and billionaire City businessman Michael Spencer, are among the 26 people who have been invited for supper with the Prime Minister either at Number 10 or his country residence Chequers.

Mr Cameron – who sometimes cooks – confirmed he had dinner with ‘significant’ Conservative Party donors at his flat on three occasions since becoming Prime Minister, as well as at a post-election dinner in No 10 in 2010.

Scroll down to hear David Cameron’s reaction

Close relationship: Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas, left, boasted that he could give donors private access to David Cameron, right

Today he pledged to publish a quarterly register of any future meals at official residences with people who have given more than £50,000 to the Tories.

The announcement came as Mr Cameron was put under huge pressure over claims by former Tory co-treasurer Peter Cruddas that individuals could secure meetings with ministers and influence policy formation in return for a ‘premier league’ donation.

Mr Cruddas quit on Saturday after the Sunday Times published secret recordings in which he urged undercover reporters to give more than £250,000 in return for direct face time with senior ministers.

Invited: David Rowland in an early picture and right, Telegraph Media Group chief executive Murdoch MacLennan, who is not listed by the Electoral Commission as a donor to the Tories

Mr Cameron yesterday denounced his comments as ‘completely unacceptable’ and announced an internal party inquiry to ensure there would be no repeat.

And senior Tory Francis Maude this morning appeared to hope that this had drawn a line under the affair, telling BBC Radio 4′s Today programme it was ‘a bit of a nonsense’.

Billionaire city boss Michael Spencer went for dinner at Number 10 in February

But it was later announced that Mr Maude would give an oral statement to the House of Commons this afternoon to update MPs on reform of political party funding.

And Mr Cameron broke into a scheduled speech on dementia care in London to address the Cruddas affair head-on.

He confirmed that he had held a post-election ‘thankyou’ dinner for supporters, including some major donors, in 10 Downing Street in July 2010, followed by three private dinners in the flat above Number 11 where he lives with wife Samantha.

He denied that any of those invited had been recommended by Mr Cruddas, describing most of them as people he had known for many years. Neither had Mr Cruddas – himself a big donor to the Tories – ever attended a Downing Street dinner.

‘In the two years I have been Prime Minister, there have been three occasions on which significant donors have come to a dinner in my flat. In addition, there was a further post-election dinner which included donors in Downing Street itself shortly after the general election,’ said Mr Cameron.

‘None of these dinners were fundraising dinners and none of these dinners were paid for by the taxpayer. I have known most of those attending for many years.’

Dinner date: Sir Anthony Bamford of JCB and right, Lord Sainsbury who attended dinner on July 14 2010

It was publicly known that the Conservatives held regular dinners with the PM and other ministers for the ‘Leader’s Group’ of donors who give more than £50,000, said Mr Cameron. From now on, the party will publish a register of attendees at these events.

Mr Cameron dismissed Mr Cruddas’s promise that major donors’ concerns would be fed into a Downing Street ‘policy committee’.

No such committee exists, and members of the Number 10 Policy Unit had never met anyone as a result of a request from the former co-treasurer, he said.

Mr Cameron added: ‘To avoid any perception of undue influence, from now on we will put in place new procedures in which if any ministerial contact with a party donor prompts a request for policy advice, the minister will refer this to his or her private office, who can seek guidance from the permanent secretary.’

Secretive tycoon David Rowland and billionaire City businessman Michael Spencer, are among the people who have been invited to either Number 10 or his country residence Chequers (pictured)

The internal Conservative inquiry into the Cruddas affair will be led by Tory peer and prominent lawyer Lord Gold, said the Prime Minister. It had earlier been reported that Tory co-chairman Lord Feldman would lead the probe.

Labour former Cabinet minister Jack Straw said that today’s announcement was ‘symptomatic of the pandemonium that has broken out in the Conservative Party and in the higher reaches of the Government.’ He told BBC Radio 4′s World at One: ‘I think that we will still need an independent inquiry.’

WHO HAD A DINNER INVITE TO DAVE AND SAM’S?

May 31, 2010 – Chequers – lunch

– Michael Spencer and his partner

June 6, 2010 – Chequers – lunch

– Lord Ashcroft and his wife

July 14, 2010 – 10 Downing Street. Described as a ‘thank-you dinner’ inside Number 10 itself, while flat was being refurbished

– Anthony and Carole Bamford

– Michael and Dorothy Hintze

– Murdoch and Elsa MacLennan

– Lord John and Lady Sainsbury

– Andrew Feldman

– Jill and Paul Ruddock

– Mike and Jenny Farmer

– Michael and Clara Freeman

August 8, 2010 – Chequers – lunch

– David Rowland and his wife

November 7, 2010 – Chequers – lunch

– Fares Fares and his wife

February 6, 2011 – Chequers – lunch

– Howard Leigh and his wife

February 28, 2011 – Downing Street flat.

– David Rowland and his wife

– Andrew Feldman also attended

October 15, 2011 – Chequers – A charity fundraiser in aid of Mencap and three smaller charities in aid of disabled children, attended by a large number of people, including donors to both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

November 2, 2011 – Downing Street flat. Described as a ‘social dinner for strong and long term supporters of the party, with whom the PM has a strong relationship’.

– Henry and Dorothy Angest

– Michael Farmer and wife

– Ian Taylor and wife

February 27, 2012 – Downing Street flat. Said to have been a ‘social dinner’

– Michael Spencer and partner

Lord Feldman is said to have visited Chequers on ‘several occasions’ as Conservative Party co-chairman.

The Prime Minister renewed calls for Labour to agree on a cap of £50,000 on donations to parties, but insisted that this limit must apply not only to individuals and companies but also to unions – something Labour has always resisted.

Labour leader Ed Miliband will respond to Mr Maude’s statement in the Commons this afternoon, and said he had contacted Downing Street to say that it was Mr Cameron – and not his Cabinet Office minister – who should address MPs.

The Conservative Party said that a post-election ‘thank-you dinner’ was held at 10 Downing Street on July 14 2010, attended by Anthony Bamford of JCB, hedge fund tycoon Michael Hintze, Tory peer Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, Lansdowne Partners chief executive Sir Paul Ruddock, City financier Mike Farmer and Michael Freeman, as well as their spouses.

Telegraph Media Group chief executive Murdoch MacLennan, who is not listed by the Electoral Commission as a donor to the Tories, also attended.

On February 28 last year, property tycoon and major donor David Rowland, who had previously been appointed party treasurer but quit before taking up the post, attended a dinner in the flat, along with party co-chairman Lord Feldman.

Mr Rowland spent some 40 years as a tax exile and on his return to Britain, began giving generously to the Tory Party, eventually donating over £4million.

He has had an extremely controversial business career, being once described as ‘shady’.

He attracted unproven accusations of misallocating millions of dollars in New Zealand, and also of asset-stripping.

On November 2 last year, Mr Cameron held a ‘social dinner for strong and long-term supporters of the party, with whom the PM has a strong relationship’, including banker and Tory donor Henry Angest, Mr Farmer and oil company boss Ian Taylor.

And on February 27 this year, he held a social dinner with former treasurer and major donor Michael Spencer and his partner.

An aide to the Prime Minister said he would not be releasing retrospective records of party dinners at Chequers as it would be difficult to provide an accurate record, but added that there had been no ‘donor only’ meals at the grace and favour estate.

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, whose own meetings with politicians have come under intense scrutiny as a result of the News of the World hacking scandal, called for an independent inquiry into the ‘cash for access’ affair.

Appalled: Sir Christopher Kelly, Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said the revelations were ‘not an isolated incident’ while Labour leader Ed Miliband called the news ‘disturbing’

Writing on Twitter today, Mr Murdoch said: ‘Of course there must be a full independent inquiry on both sides. In great detail, and with consequences. Trust must be established. Without trust, democracy, and order will go.’

‘Business deals’: Mr Cruddas was secretly filmed telling undercover reporters he could arrange private meetings with senior Conservatives

Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, last night warned that the revelations were ‘not an isolated incident’.

He added: ‘As long as we have a system in which the main political parties are reliant on very large donations from very rich individuals – or organisations, in the case of the Labour Party – then events of this kind are almost bound to happen.

‘It is a cancer which needs to be addressed.’

The revelations are deeply embarrassing for Mr Cameron, who pledged two years ago to crack down on the shadowy world of lobbying.

The existence of secret dinners with donors also undermines the Coalition’s much-vaunted transparency drive, which allows the public to see who ministers have met in their official capacity.

Downing Street insisted that the Government had been ‘more transparent’ than any previous administration.

Asked about the actions of Mr Cruddas, the spokeswoman said: ‘We are just as flabbergasted as you guys.’

David Cameron fundraising scandal: Guest list of Tory donors who had dinner at Downing Street | Mail Online

Mother’s bid to become the fattest human ever at 115 stone… (and she’s marrying a chef to help her) | Mail Online

 

• Supersize mum who dreams of becoming the world’s fattest woman reveals she’s marrying a CHEF

By Emily Allen

A mother bidding to become the fattest woman in the world has become engaged to marry a chef.

Susanne Eman, 33, revealed her controversial dream of reaching a target weight of over 115 stone last year – to become the biggest human ever.

Now the mother-of-two, who currently weighs more than 54 stone, plans to wed fiance Parker Clack, 35, who loves cooking for her.

Supersize diet: Susanne Eman, 33 being spoon fed by her boyfriend Parker Clack, 38 at the breakfast table

The pair met over the internet last year and hit it off following a string of emails.

Within months Parker moved in to Susanne’s home in Casa Grande, Arizona, where she lives with sons Brendin, 13, and Gabriel, 17.

Unemployed Susanne said: ‘We are a match made in heaven. I love eating and Parker loves cooking.

Love: Susanne and Parker share a kiss on their bed. The pair met over the internet last year and hit it off following a string of emails

Feast: Susanne enjoys her dinner at a local restaurant tucking into several dishes, including a side salad

‘It’s a perfect pairing. I still want to be the fattest woman in the world and Parker is fine with that.

‘He loves larger women and sees how happy I am when I’m eating.

‘His cooking skills were definitely part of the attraction. How could I resist a man with talents in the kitchen?

‘His signature dish, spaghetti bolognese, is my favourite. I could eat it all day.

‘Parker helps by doing the housework too.

‘He does most of the house work, cooking, helps encourage me to go for walks, he goes swimming with me, helps me do anything I have difficulty with.’

Parker encourages Susanne to go for walks and swim to keep her mobile and helps her with anything else she has difficulty with

Keep-fit: Parker is supporting Susanne in her controversial goal of becoming the world’s heaviest

Susanne says she has gained several stone since her last weigh-in last year when she registered at 54 stone

Amazingly Parker is supporting Susanne in her controversial goal of becoming the world’s heaviest.

Seen here dishing up a home-cooked breakfast for her, Parker cooks mountains of bacon and scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, huge slices of toast and even salad for Susanne.

Parker said: ‘I support her because it makes her happy, and I love big women.

‘I do worry about her health of course, but I try to make sure she eats some healthy food like salad, and I make sure she does exercises.

‘She’s taken up swimming since we met and we love to swim together.

Susanne poses for a photograph with her two sons Gabriel, left, 17, Brandon, right, 13, and her fiance Parker Clack. The couple are pictured right, together. Doctors have told Susanne she is gambling with her life

‘I know becoming the biggest woman ever is something she truly wants to do with all of her heart.

‘She had a check up last year and the doctor said she was fine, even though he doesn’t support her mission. He said she’s gambling with her life.

‘As long as the doctors say she’s okay, I’ll support her.

‘I’d love Susanne whatever she looked like, but if she was a size-zero model I wouldn’t have noticed her in the first place.

‘We met online and exchanged photos when we were courting. I thought she was beautiful.

‘I’ve always preferred bigger girls. To me there’s nothing attractive about a skinny woman. It’s more ladylike to have curves.

As Susanne, a size 10XL, continues to balloon, Parker takes her and her sons to the park on day-trips – wheeling Susanne around in her wheelchair

‘Men aren’t supposed to have curves, but women are, and Susanne definitely has them.’

Susanne says she has gained several stone since her last weigh-in last year when she registered at 54 stone.

She had hoped to be three stone heavier by the end of 2011.

‘It’s harder to gain than you might think because I’m trying to stay as healthy and active as possible,’ she said.

‘I’ve been slowly upping what I eat. It’s like an athlete training but instead of training to be harder, I’m making myself softer.

‘There’s not been a point where I’ve doubted what I’m doing. It’s deep desire for me to do this and I feel I can do it without endangering my health so I don’t worry about my boys.’

As Susanne, a size 10XL, continues to balloon, Parker takes her and her sons to the park on day-trips – wheeling Susanne around in her wheelchair.

‘My mobility is decreasing,’ she said. ‘But I always knew this would happen as I gained. I get out of breath more easily and Parker has to push me in my chair more often.

Susanne is served breakfast in bed by Parker who is a chef. Her favourite food is spaghetti bolognese which is his signature dish

‘When we go to the store he shops for me. He helps me in and out of the car. He encourages me to do my exercises.

‘My aim is to never become bed-bound. As long Parker keeps taking me out to the park for waddles, then I know I can keep moving.’ 

Reaching her goal would mean Susanne tops that of previous world record-holder Carol Ann Yager, who died in 1994 from kidney failure caused by morbid obesity.

But despite warnings from doctors that she is playing ‘Russian Roulette’ with her life, Susanne says she can avoid the fate of others who have reached over 1000lbs (71 stone).

‘I do my best to eat as much healthy food as possible,’ said Susanne.

‘I do an exercise regime to keep me as mobile as possible and Parker helps with that. He makes sure I do my stretches and sit ups.

‘I want to try and break the stigma that being fat is bad.

‘And it’s helped me to find love, so hat’s wrong with that.’

Mother’s bid to become the fattest human ever at 115 stone… (and she’s marrying a chef to help her) | Mail Online

Play time for young and old! Polar bears from Canada to Norway caught mucking about in the snow | Mail Online

 

Play time for young and old! Polar bears caught mucking about in the snow after a long hibernation

By Lyle Brennan

Playfully clambering over their doting mother these polar bear cubs spring into action for the most sociable time of the year.

Across the polar regions from Norway to Canada these images show the intimate relationship between polar bear mothers and their young as they emerge from their winter hibernation.

Each winter females dig dens, where they give birth to their cubs – usually two, but sometimes as many as four.

All aboard: A female polar bear and her cubs play in the snow in Canada after a long winter’s rest in the den

Peek-a-boo: A cub takes shelter as it ventures out in Churchill, Canada

Making its own entertainment: Grappling with a birch tree in Canada

The timing of the birth is sometime during early winter, between December and January.

The snow den, the mother’s body heat and her milk, which is high in fat content, enable the cubs to keep warm and grow rapidly before leaving the den in March or April.

Short trips are made to and from the den for several days as the cubs get used to the outside temperatures. Then the family leaves and makes its way to the sea ice, where the mother teaches, hunts for and protects her cubs.

Gone fishing: Meanwhile in Norway a polar bear takes the plunge into icy waters in the hope of finding a bite to eat

After two years together, the family disperses and the cycle begins again.

But not before a bit of light play in the snow.

Photographers have spent hundreds of hours in the Arctic regions, photographing the amazing interactions from lounging around in the snow to diving head first into the icy waters looking for food.

Taking the weight off its paws: A polar bear stretches out on the snow in Churchill, Canada

‘The polar bear’s presence is entirely transitory, with photography dependent on accurate timing, the right weather and exceptional luck,’ said Steve.

‘Imagine a world without polar bears.
‘It seems unthinkable, yet as climate change gathers pace, the Arctic ice floes upon which the polar bear depends are beginning to break up.

Come here, you: Two polar bears nuzzle with each other in Churchill, Canada

‘In the years ahead, this could be catastrophic for this truly charismatic bear which, when it stands up, is taller than the largest elephant.

‘The irony is that the polar bear represents one of conservation’s greatest successes: thanks to an international convention controlling the hunting of the species.’

Little attention-seeker: A bear and her cub in a snow-covered forest in Canada

Bear hug: A show of affection in Churchill, Canada

Play time for young and old! Polar bears from Canada to Norway caught mucking about in the snow | Mail Online

Viewers ‘spot newsreader sleeping’ on BBC Breakfast – Yahoo! TV UK

 

Viewers ‘spot newsreader sleeping’ on BBC Breakfast

By Ben Skipper

 

For years presenters of early morning TV shows have talked about their early starts and yet they never show signs of tiredness… until now anyway.
At around 8:30am on Friday morning ‘BBC Breakfast’ cut to their BBC News Channel counterparts only to see newsreader Simon McCoy seemingly sleeping at his desk.
Viewers spotted him with his head resting on his arms, with many taking to Twitter afterwards to point out the gaffe.
One tweeter called Neil Tam-I’m, said: "LOL at Simon McCoy being caught napping during a live bulletin!”
Sleeping newsreader McCoy took to Twitter himself to laugh off the incident. He joked to one user: “I was not asleep! Had just been told The Queen wanted me to cover her NEXT visit…”
He later said it was “a long desk head-banging that wasn’t meant to be picked up in the BBC1 opt!!”
It’s not the first time Simon McCoy has made the headlines with his strange antics. In 2009 he was caught doing push-ups at his desk and a year later the BBC had to apologise after a weatherman was caught on camera making a rude gesture at McCoy.

Viewers ‘spot newsreader sleeping’ on BBC Breakfast – Yahoo! TV UK