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New figures show an 80 per cent rise in breast reduction operations carried out on men. The annual audit by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) reveals its members carried out 581 male breast reductions last year, up from 323 in 2008. Five years ago just 22 such procedures were performed on men. The procedure is now the third most popular cosmetic operation for men behind nose jobs and eyelid operations to remove fat. [Daily Telegraph]
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Australian banker caught ogling pictures of semi-naked model on TV keeps job –
Macquarie Group broker David Kiely, who was seen live on television opening an email carrying pictures of model Miranda Kerr, will remain at the investment bank. After initial speculation that he had been sacked, it emerged that he had been holed up in his Sydney home on suspension while Macquarie Bank, known locally as the “millionaire’s factory’, undertook an investigation into the embarrassing incident. The subject of the semi-naked photos – model Miranda Kerr – backed a campaign to save Mr Kiely’s job. [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
Honda recalls thousands of cars amid fire fears
Honda has become the latest car manufacturer to recall thousands of vehicles amid fears that one of its models could catch fire. The Japanese motor company has recalled 171,372 of its Jazz models in Britain, as part of a larger worldwide recall, after several accidents including one in which a South African child died. Honda’s recall comes after Toyota called in at least 180,000 cars amid concerns over faulty accelerator pedals and means that more than 350,000 cars have now been recalled in Britain due to safety fears in less than a week. [Daily Telegraph]
Scientists invent wafer-thin plastic that can store electricity –
The battery, which has powered our lives for generations, may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. British scientists say they have created a plastic that can store and release electricity, revolutionising the way we use phones, drive cars – and even wear clothes. It means the cases of mobiles and iPods could soon double up as their power source – leading to gadgets as thin as credit cards. Dr Emile Greenhalgh, from Imperial College London’s Department of Aeronautics, said the material is not really a battery, but a supercapacitor – similar to those found in typical electrical circuits. His team’s prototype – which is around five inches square and wafer-thin – takes five seconds to charge from a normal power supply and can light an LED for 20 minutes. [Daily Mail]
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Los Angeles: in motion from Michael Marantz on Vimeo.
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Half a million going to university in UK –
In 2014, for the first time, the number of UK university entrants passed 500,000. Among 18-year-olds, 34% of women were allocated university places, compared with 26% of men, the widest ever gap, making women a third more likely to enter higher education than men, Ucas admissions service figures show.
Extreme deep sea fishing –
The Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel, Falkor, on an international expedition to the Mariana Trench has discovered a strange-looking creature, new to science, 8,145m beneath the waves, beating the previous depth record by nearly 500m.
Rotten to the core –
Senior Apple executive Jeff Williams says the company is “deeply offended” by a BBC Panorama investigation into conditions for workers involved in manufacturing its devices. Rules on workers’ hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were routinely breached, the programme witnessed.
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Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.
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Haitian carnival accident kills 16 –
At least 16 people are killed when a power-line connected with a carnival float in Haiti’s capital Port au Prince. Some died through electrocution, others in the panic that ensued. Around 78 others were injured.
Where there’s make-up, there’s brass –
YouTube beauty blogger Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, buys a five-bedroom £1 million home in Hove, East Sussex, England, with her boyfriend Alfie Deyes. Zoella has seven million subscribers on her beauty blogs and charges advertisers £20,000 a month to place ads on her vlogs. She also features in the celebrity edition of The Great British Bake Off.
Zoe Sugg A.K.A. Zoella
Sony start taking orders for SmartEyeglass –
Sony announce that their “augmented reality” smart glasses will go on sale in ten countries in March 2015 and pre-orders for the SmartEyeglass, costing $840 (£620), are now being taken in the UK and Germany. The glasses work with recent Android operating systems but also come with a software kit so developers can design apps for it. It includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, brightness sensor and two microphones.
Sony SmartEyeglass
Apple Watch not that exclusive –
Apple orders between 5 and 6 million Apple Watches to be produced in time for their release in April 2015. The Apple Watch is the first unique product Apple has launched since the iPad in 2010. There are 3 versions – Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.
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The Apple Watch trailer
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BBC Comic Relief raises £78 million –
A record-breaking £78million was raised for Comic Relief by the end of Red Nose Day 2015. The total was revealed during the live television spectacular on BBC One. The charity also revealed that more than a billion pounds has been raised for Comic Relief since the charity was set up 30 years ago. Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis said he was “enormously proud” of the charity’s achievements. Rowan Atkinson brought back Mr Bean. Dawn French starred in one-off Vicar of Dibley special. Bond stars Daniel Craig and Roger Moore teamed up for a special 007 sketch, while Professor Stephen Hawking appeared in Little Britain. Victoria Wood triumphed in the celebrity Bake-Off. Star-studded sketch saw Liam Gallagher named a national treasure. [BBC]
Putin missing mystery magnifests –
The mystery over the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin deepened on Saturday as Russian state media broadcast – then retracted – reports that he had hosted an official visit from the President of Kyrgyzstan. Mr Putin has remained hidden from public view for nine days. Levels of fear and uncertainty in Moscow have been rising as rumours fly over what could be behind Putin’s lengthy disappearance.The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that there is anything amiss with the Russian leader, batting away suggestions that he is ill, dead, victim of a palace coup or in Switzerland to be by his girlfriend’s side as she gives birth. [Daily Telegraph]
Vladimir Putin
Massive cyclone hits island of Vanuatu –
Dozens are feared dead after a ferocious tropical cyclone suddenly switched direction and smashed through the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, causing landslides, flooding and sea surges and widespread destruction. Cyclone Pam, one of the worst recorded in the southern hemisphere, is believed to have destroyed entire villages as it swept across the Pacific archipelago with winds of more than 200 miles an hour. Aid workers warned of “complete annihilation” in Port Vila, the capital, where some observers estimated 90 per cent of houses had been destroyed. “It felt like the world was going to end,” Alice Clements, from Unicef, told ABC News. [Daily Telegraph]
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Arnold Schwarzenegger: ‘Go part-time vegetarian to protect the planet’ –
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says people should go meat-free one or two days a week to protect the climate. Meat-eating was an environmental problem, with farming creating an estimated 28% of global greenhouse gases, the body-builder and movie star told BBC News. Asking people to go totally vegetarian would be too demanding, he said. It would better to suggest giving up meat once or twice a week, he added. When asked how young men would achieve a body like The Terminator – the cyborg assassin in the film of the same name – without steak, he said many successful body-builders avoided meat. [BBC]
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Saint West: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West name their baby boy –
Many of her fans had been hoping she would choose “South” but Kim Kardashian West surprised them once again by calling her new baby “Saint”. Saint West, who weighed in at eight pounds one ounce, arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday. But Mrs West, and rapper husband Kanye, waited for two days before announcing the name on Twitter and her app. The couple’s first child, daughter North West, was born in 2013. [Daily Telegraph]
Kuala Lumpur airport seeks owner of ‘abandoned’ jets –
Officials at Malaysia’s main airport have taken out a newspaper advert seeking the owner of three Boeing 747 jets they say have been left unclaimed. The notice said if the owners “fail to collect the aircraft within 14 days…, we reserve the right to sell or otherwise dispose of the aircraft”. It said fees for landing and parking were also owed. An airport official was quoted as saying they had tried to contact the jets’ last known owners. He added that in the past decade a few other planes, mostly smaller aircraft, have been abandoned, with one that was left in the 1990s eventually being bought and turned into a restaurant in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. [BBC]
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The Trial of Barnaby Finch from Sorrel Brae on Vimeo.
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Obama issues order lifting nuclear-related sanctions on Iran –
U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Saturday lifting sanctions on Iran related to its nuclear program after Tehran fulfilled requirements under a nuclear agreement with world powers, the White House said. Obama determined that Iran’s implementation of the pact “marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran’s nuclear program,” he wrote in the order, released by the White House. [Daily Mail]
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Sia | Draw My Life
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Messi scores 500th career goal –
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has scored his 500th career goal. The Argentine forward netted in the 63rd minute of Sunday’s Liga clash with Valencia to bring up the landmark. Messi, who was making his 525th appearance for Barca, has now scored an incredible 450 goals for the Liga champions, while he has a total of 50 for Argentina from his 107 caps for the national team. [Goal.com] In January Messi won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for the fifth time.
Lionel Messi
Apple recovered one tonne of gold by recycling iPhones last year –
Apple has revealed it reclaimed almost one metric tonne of gold by recycling its own products in 2015. At current prices, that’s equivalent to around £28 million worth of gold. The figure was revealed in Apple’s recently-released Environmental Responsibility Report, which details the results of the company’s eco-friendly efforts in the last financial year. As well as the gold, Apple recovered three tonnes of silver (worth around £1.1 million at current prices), and over 1,300 tonnes of copper. These valuable materials were reclaimed through the Apple Renew scheme, which lets customers hand in their worn-out Apple devices in exchange for money off future Apple purchases. [The Independent]
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How To Hide You’re Out Of Shape
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Playboy mansion bought by Hugh Hefner’s neighbour –
The Playboy mansion, home to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, is being sold to a private equity boss who lives next door. Daren Metropoulos, 32, is buying the 200,000 sq ft ((1,858 sq m) property, which was on the market for $200m (£138m). He bought the neighbouring property from Mr Hefner in 2009 for $18m. Mr Metropoulos is a principal at Metropoulos & Co, which is run by his father Dean. “The heritage of this property transcends its celebrity and to have the opportunity to serve as its steward would be a true privilege,” Daren Metropoulos told The Wall Street Journal. The mansion was built in 1927 and purchased by Playboy in 1971 for a reported $1.1m, making it the most valuable real estate deal in Los Angles at the time. It features a tennis court, free-form swimming pool, wine cellar, home theatre and games house but needs renovating to meet the same standards as other Beverly Hills homes. Neither party has confirmed what the mansion was sold for. Mr Hefner, 89, has the right to remain living in the property until his death. The LA estate eventually replaced the original Playboy Mansion, which opened in 1959 in Chicago. [BBC]
Hugh Hefner in 2010
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MAR from Finisterre on Vimeo.
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Spanish town’s giant dog dropping goes walkies –
A town in Spain is facing an unexpected bill after thieves apparently made off with a giant dog dropping being used as part of a local campaign. Torrelodones, a municipality just outside the capital Madrid, is 2,400 euros ($2,726; £1,885) out of pocket after the three-metre high inflatable bought as part of a campaign to encourage pet-lovers to pick up after their dogs went missing, El Pais newspaper reports. The bizarre inflatable disappeared after it had been packed away in its carry-case and the police are now on the trail of the 30 kilogramme dog poop, town officials say. Speaking to the ABC newspaper, town councillor Angel Guirao said staff were shocked and perplexed by the theft, and a replacement excrement was already on order because “we know that the campaign has been a great success”. The inflatable is not the only symbol of the municipality’s “Lay an egg” campaign. Torrelodones has also left a number of concrete dog poops around the town bearing the message “This is a big blockage to living together. If you have a dog, help us”. People taking the time to engage with the campaign by posting photos on social media can win “Lay an egg” T-shirts, tastefully illustrated with a picture of a hen’s egg. [BBC]
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A Brief History of Video Game Title Design from Art of the Title on Vimeo.
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