Students to guard stars at Olympics

OLYMPIC security chief have ruled out using the Army to protect competitors and spectators at the 2012 Games, and instead they will rely on thousands of teenagers taking a 3 hour events safety course.

   The move has provoked anger among military figures, who believe Army expertise is needed to ensure the London Olympics are safe from a potential terrorist outrage.

   The task of protecting the Olympic Park will rely on private security staff, and 6,000 16 to 19 year olds taking specially developed BTEC qualifications

    Sir Ian Johnston, the Director of Security for the Olympics Organising Committee said policing the event would require thousands of private security guards. The former Chief Constable of British Transport Police said to provide the extra staff needed, 50 colleges were being encouraged to set up courses that would supply 6,000 students to patrol Olympic sites.

   Security Minister, Lord West, said the Olympics presented the greatest security challenges since the Second World War, the level of terrorist threat is expected to be severe the second highest level he added.

   Shadow Security Minister, Dame Pauline Neville Jones, said the Army should have a role at the Games but stressed this did not necessarily mean it should conduct high-profile patrols.

Leaving Britain

THE NUMBER of Eastern Europeans returning home from Britain more than doubled last year, pushing emigration to a record level, at the same time, the number of new arrivals increased to almost 600,000 according to official figures . Almost nine out of ten new arrivals were not British citizen, the Office for National Statistics said. A total of 427,000 people left Britain, up from 330,000 in 2007. The figure included 172,000 Britons heading for countries such as Australia, France and Spain.

   The number of non-Britons leaving rose by 50 per cent from 169,000 in 2007 to 255,000 last year. Almost half of the rise was attributed to people from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Slovakia departing as the recession deepened.

   Large numbers of Poles left the country, resulting in Poland being the second-most popular emigrant destination after Australia.

The nerve to forget

SCIENTISTS claim to have discovered why we forget where our keys are, but usually remember where we live. A study found the brain decides what memories to store long-term and what to discard by altering nerve fibres called synapses. These chemical changes are then converted into long-term memories, which are stored.

   The research, by a Karolinska Institu team in Sweden, could help with treatment of memory loss.

 The report from Supermarket Aldi

BRITS spent more than £15 billion on takeaways last year, despite nearly half cutting back during the credit crunch, a survey revealed last week.

   The average person splashed out £13.03 on the unhealthy treat once a fortnight; this was despite 43 per cent having less fast food to save cash in the recession.

 Chinese was the favourite takeaway, followed by Indian, pizza, fish and chips, and kebabs.

Eat less meat to be Green

PEOPLE should eat less meat and dairy products to reduce the effect of climate change, according to the Lancet journal. Cutting the consumption of saturated fat could also help prevent about 18,000 premature deaths a year medical researchers say. Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said “UK agriculture could make its contribution to halving emissions by 2030”.

A cup of tea can fight Heart Disease

A DAILY cup of tea can fight heart disease, boost brain power, and even help to live longer, experts said last month. A global review of research papers on the health effects of caffeine has found that drinking up to eight cups of tea a day offers ‘significant health benefits’ including a lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

   Caffeinated drinks such as tea, coffee and cocoa also have positive effects on mental function, increasing alertness, feeling of well being and short -term memory.

   The research even suggested that people who cut out tea and coffee from their diet in a bid to be healthy may be doing more harm than good.

   The major review of 47 published studies was carried out by independent dietician Dr. Carrie

Ruxton.

   Tea is Britain’s most popular beverage drunk daily by 77 per cent of the population.

Take more exercise

HALF of Londoners still take no exercise despite government attempts to increase participation in sport the capital’s health watchdog warned.

   The recommended amount is one hour a day for children and 30 minutes at least five times a week for adults. But a snapshot survey by the London Health Observatory found that only just over a quarter worked out for up to three hours weekly and just under 15per cent for longer.

   Bobbie Jacobson, Head of the Observatory said “Unhealthy lifestyles put lives at risk. We want to avoid people only taking action when they’ve been diagnosed with a serious illness such as diabetes.”

   The least active were Asian communities, where two thirds of people did not exercise or take part in sport, compared with 55 per cent for whites.

   Just over half of Londoners consumed the recommended five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, slightly higher than the national average. However more women than men ate their ‘five day’ and consumption was also higher in the Asian community.

The Study of Anti Semitism

BRITAIN is to get its first academic institute for the study of ant Semitism, the University of London announce. The Institute at Birkbeck College will be located beside the world’s oldest Holocaust memorial library, the Wiener Library which will move to Birkbeck in 2011. The Institute will be funded by a donation of £15 million from the Pears Foundation, a charitable organisation.

News from the Auction Room

A COPY of James Bond book ‘Diamond are Forever’ annotated by author Ian Fleming has fetched more than £60.000 at auction. The copy from 1955 is covered with notes written with Fleming’s blue ballpoint. Bonham’s auction house had expected it to fetch about £30.000.

Historic Treasure

A GOLD ring with a lock of Napoleon’s hair that belonged to architect Sir John Soane has been found at a Christie’s auction.

   It was thought missing since Soane’s death in 1837. The buyer will sell it to the Soane Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Field for £41.000,

You called him What?

A LONDON firm is offering parents-to-be the chance to check whether their chosen baby names mean anything embarrassing or offensive in other languages.

Liver scan detects fatal ‘Iron Overload’

A LONDON hospital is the first in the world to use a scanner to detect a potentially fatal liver condition. Whittington in Archway is using an MRI machine in a new way to measure the iron concentration of the liver in only 10 minutes, meaning patients will not have to undergo an invasive and expensive biopsy. The scans can detect a potentially fatal ‘iron overload’ which can happen to patients with diseases including sickle cell anaemia

Britain’s population may grow to 74 million

BRITAIN’S population may grow to 74 million over the next 20 years according to official estimates.

   The Office for National Statistics said that if immigration continues at such high levels the population will swell by more that a fifth, some 12 million, in two decades.

   And according to calculations of the highest likely scale of future population growth the numbers will reach the 70 million mark by 2023, six years earlier than otherwise expected.

Students to test stadium for Olympics

BRITAIN’S leading student athletes will be the first to use the 80,000 seat Olympic stadium in rehearsal for the 2012 Games.

   The Standard has learned that the annual three-day British Universities and Colleges Sport championships featuring athletes from 90 colleges and universities will take place in May 2012 as a ‘test event’.

   Plans to switch the annual athletics grand prix from Crystal Palace before 2012 have been abandoned, broadcast live, it cannot risk any teething problems.