Infozone Breaking World News

An off-licence in Essex has refused to sell alcohol to a 92 year old woman because she had no proof of age. Diane Taylor, who is a great-grandmother when into her local shop to buy a bottle of whisky for he son and was turned away because see didn’t have any photo ID.

Ms Taylor said, “It seemed so stupid I thought the cashier was complimenting me.

“But then I realised that she was being serious so I pulled out my bus pass, my blood donor’s card but it was no good.
“She said she wanted proof of age. I was so taken aback I didn’t know what to do.”

Adding that, “No one can convince me I look under 25 – I’d only take 78 at a push.”

A spokesman for the shop has apologised for the incident, but reiterated that staff cannot sell alcohol to people without seeing photo identification.

Ms Taylor eventually bought her son’s whisky from another store.

A marathon runner has had his medal taken away from him after it emerged that he caught a bus in the middle of the run. Rob Sloan, who came third in the Kielder Marathon initially denied cheating, but then admitted to catching a bus at the 20 mile mark before re-joining the run in the leading pack.

Suspicions were raised after a number of runners stated that they had not seen Sloan pass them in the race and other witnesses also reported that he was hiding behind a tree before joining the race in third place. The 31 year old now faces a ban from his local running club and could also be banned from entering any future competitions.

Former Olympian Steve Cram who organised the event said, “He was the only runner in the whole of the race who ran the second half quicker than the first half”.

British Airways has announced that it is to offer its frequent flyers a course in surviving planes crashes. The four-hour lessons, which teach survival techniques are scheduled to start next year and passengers can pay for them with their air miles.

The BA manager running the courses told the press, “It makes passengers safer when travelling by giving additional skills and information, it dispels all those internet theories about the ‘brace position, and it just gives people so much more confidence in flying.”

A Civil Aviation Authority study conducted in 2006 found that a large portion of passengers struggle with even the most basic tasks like undoing their seatbelts when under pressure. British Airways first developed the passenger training programme for BP, who regularly send staff into remote areas of the world.

The course teaches passengers how to release their seatbelts quickly and effectively, as well as locating the life jackets and concludes with an emergency evacuation down a planes escape chute.

A new study has shown that childhood obesity seems to begin in the mother’s womb and that some babies had a build-up of fatty tissue around their stomachs similar to adults in their 50’s have. The study, conducted by the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital used state-of-the-art monitoring equipment to monitor the unborn babies.

The study also showed that mother’s that were overweight or obese during pregnancy could potentially harm their babies due to changes in fat levels inside the womb. 105 babies were tested, 54 boys and 51 girls; of those 31 had more fatty tissue around their abdomen than normal.

Professor Modi, a consultant for the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital told the press that women should be warned about the effects of being overweight during pregnancy. She said, “This shows how sensitive the baby is to the environment experienced within the womb and how lifelong effects may be initiated before birth.”

Children’s favourite confectioners Nestle have stated that 195 of their fruit gum sweets have as much Vitamin C as one of your ‘five-a-day’. This equates to 11 and a half tubes of fruit gums costing over £7, whereas an orange costs around 40p.

Before fruit gum lovers everywhere rejoice, the 195 sweets contain a staggering 1955 calories and nearly five times the recommended sugar for a day at 238 grams. Nestle stressed that while the Vitamin C information was correct, that people should not eat copious amounts of fruit gums as a substitute for their five-a-day.

A spokesman for the company said, “Fruit Gums like all confectionery should only be eaten as a treat and as a part of a healthy balanced diet”. Adding, “We would never recommend that you eat Fruit Gums as a substitute for Fruit and Veg”.

The Queen has honoured Henry Winkler, famous for his role as the Fonz in the 70’s US sitcom Happy Days with an honorary OBE for his work on promoting dyslexia awareness in the United Kingdom. Mr Winkler received his award at the British embassy in Washington which was presented to him by the British ambassador Nigel Sheinwald.

The US actor was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult and has spent the last two years touring UK schools talking to pupils about the disability. Mr Winkler posted a picture of himself with the OBE on his twitter page saying, “Here I am with my OBE pinned on Very honoured very proud…”.

The Queen gives honorary awards to non-British citizens on advice from the UK Foreign Office; it is not clear if the Queen is a fan of the US actor’s role in Happy Days as the Fonz.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has said that the majority of new homes being built in the UK are ‘shameful shoebox homes’ that are too small for family life. The institutes study looked at over 3,400 three-bedroom homes in England and concluded that the average new home is 8% smaller than the recommended minimum for building regulations in London.

The RIBA’s study showed that a two storey, three-bedroom house was 8 square meters too small, about the space of a single bedroom, but the House Builders Federation says that bigger houses would be unaffordable for young people and first-time buyers.

The institutes study was based on newly imposed regulations for London Plan space standards, which state that the minimum size of a three-bedroom house has to be at least 96 square meters; there is currently no UK wide building regulations in force.

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has confirmed that he will be the voice for Tom Tom’s latest satellite navigation device. Drivers will now be able to listen to Clarkson’s tongue and cheek instructions instead of the generic softly spoken woman found on many sat nav devices.

Describing how his voice will sound on the new device Clarkson said; “There’s a tone of voice I use when ordering people to do things, so ‘I said left, left, I said left’, you know, that kind of thing. It’s not a gentle sat nav voice, put it like that.”

Top Gear is one of the most popular car shows on television and is shown in 170 countries worldwide.

The new Tom Tom sat nav will be released sometime next month.

Mr Clarkson joins a host of other celebrities that feature on sat nav devices including Roger Moore, Ozzy Osbourne and Snoop Dogg.

Two security workers have been fired after it came out that they had installed an electronic tag on an offender’s false leg, meaning that he could remove it to breach his curfew. The offender, Christopher Lowcock had wrapped his false leg in a bandage, which fooled the security workers as they set up the device.

Mr Lowcock, 29, was ordered to wear an electronic tag for drink driving offences as well as possession of an offensive weapon, but he was able to break the curfew by simply removing his false leg.

The security firm became suspicious last month, but by that time Mr Lowcock was already back in custody for driving whilst being banned and having no insurance. A spokeswoman for the security firm who had miss-fitted the tag said; “In this individual’s case two employees failed to adhere to the correct procedures when installing the tag. Had they done so, they would have identified his prosthetic leg.” Adding that, “The two employees responsible for the installation of the tag have now been dismissed.”

Police have arrested a 32 year old businessman at Heathrow airport after he threatened to stab the pilots of his British Airways flight. Witnesses state that the man got angry when he was refused more alcohol on the Phoenix to London jet and produced a shard of glass stating that he was going to stab the pilots.

Mr Bradley was remanded by police after the jet landed and later appeared in court charged with common assault and being drunk on an aircraft. He was remanded in custody and will appear for sentencing on the 23rd of September.

A fellow passenger who witnessed the incident told the press, “”He was shouting at customers and crew, swearing, stumbling about the cabin”. Adding that; “He was swearing at the manager of the crew. He pushed him in the galley and wanted to know why he was refused more wine.”

She went on to say that, “At one stage I could see him holding a broken glass.”

A British Airways spokesman said: “We do not tolerate abusive behaviour towards our staff or customers”, adding; “Although the cabin crew tried to pacify the passenger, his behaviour continued to be unacceptable and the flight was met by the police.”

Picture courtesy of joeszilagyi