the Queen also wears an extra shoulder pad on one side todisguise a slight imbalance Part of Queen Elizabeth's secret which is down to nature rather than her entourage is that she does not perspire, ensuring that she never looks flustered or creased, he added. "I am somebody who creases all their clothes. I'm always hot, the queen is very lucky, she doesn't crease her clothes," he said. "The clothes are always impeccable. But it is also that she doesn't glow. If you are a cold person your clothes don't crease." Mr Parvin also revealed that he fits an extra pad on one shoulder to disguise the fact that the Queen has a slight drop on one side, and picks bright colours for her garments ... Continue reading →
Chow Hok Kuen, 28, who is of Taiwanese origin, was arrested with the grisly haul in the city's Chinatown on Thursday, police said. The corpses had been packed into luggage and were set to be smuggled to Taiwan. The suspect bought the foetuses several days ago from a Taiwanese man in Thailand for 200,000 baht ($6,500) and planned to sell them in Taiwan for up to six times that amount, police said. The origin of the foetuses was unclear. "He said he planned to sell the foetuses to clients who believe they will make them lucky and rich," said Colonel Wiwat Kamchamnan of Bangkok police. The man faces one year in prison and a 2,000 baht fine for possession of the foetuses. In Thai black ... Continue reading →
“Today many peoples, starting with those in Europe, are awaiting and watching us. To overcome the crisis hitting it, Europe needs projects, it needs solidarity, it needs growth,” he said. “To our partners I will propose a new pact that will combine the necessary reduction of public debt with indispensible stimulation of the economy,” said Mr Hollande. Mr Hollande has championed the idea of renegotiating the fiscal pact that enshrines budgetary discipline in the eurozone to include a growth chapter. Mrs Merkel is categorical that the pact, signed by 25 of the 27 EU countries and already ratified in some, must stay as it is. Mr Hollande was at pains not to downplay the constraints his country faces, "I take stock today of the force ... Continue reading →
Japan has a reputation for providing first-class toilet facilities - there is even a guide book to the best rest rooms in Tokyo - but the latest addition to the nation's public lavatories takes that to a new level. Officials in the otherwise unremarkable town of Ichihara, east of Tokyo, opened the largest public toilet in the world in April. Conveniently sited alongside Itabu Station, the lavatory comprises a single sit-down toilet surrounded by glass and with a stylish ivory curtain. Trains on the Kominato Railway Line provide the background noise. The cubicle has a light and a wash basin and looks out over a garden of cherry, plum and peach trees and potted plants, including clover. To keep peeping toms at a distance, the ... Continue reading →
Mr Hollande, 57, the first socialist leader of France since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995, officially took over from Nicolas Sarkozy in a relatively low-key inaugural ceremony at the Elysée Palace this morning. “Today many peoples, starting with those in Europe, are awaiting and watching us. To overcome the crisis hitting it, Europe needs projects, it needs solidarity, it needs growth,” he said. Mr Hollande has championed the idea of renegotiating the fiscal pact that enshrines budgetary discipline in the eurozone to include a growth chapter. Mrs Merkel is categorical that the pact, signed by 25 of the 27 EU countries and already ratified in some, must stay as it is. Mr Hollande was at pains not to downplay the constraints his country faces, ... Continue reading →
Police officers detain a man in Enfield, North London. It is not known why he was detainedPhoto: AP Continue reading →
“When you step back a little and assess the record of Obama on gay rights, you see, in fact, that this was not an aberration. It was an inevitable culmination of three years of work,” he wrote. President Obama announced that he was in favour of gay marriage in an interview with ABC last week. It followed an unexpected endorsement from Joe Biden, the vice president, who said he was "absolutely comfortable" with homosexuals marrying. Mr Biden later apologised for the timing of the remarks, which pressured the president into clarifying his own stance on the matter. At the time, Mr Obama said: "Would I have preferred to have done this in my own way, in my own terms, without I think, there being a ... Continue reading →
And the pool? It is lined with a film of green algae which floats on stagnant water that won't be cleaned in time for the hottest months – because the council coffers have run dry. This is Pioz, the town in the Guadalajara province of Castilla-La Mancha which has now earned the unwanted distinction of being the most indebted in Spain. In fact with its projected income, Spain's Ministry of Public Administration estimates that Pioz will take 7,058 years to repay itsdebts thanks to mismanagement and a vast programme of overspending during the boom years when credit flowed and developers stampeded to put up housing estates they could never realistically hope to fill. While eyes across Europe focus on Greece and the political turmoil that ... Continue reading →
