Europe Calling

Adam Powis made the foul-mouthed farewell on the public address system at the hardware giant's Weston-super-Mare branch in November. He shared a TikTok of the incident, which quickly went viral, showing the 18 year-old saying: 'This is a customer announcement. I just got sacked and B&Q are c****. F*** everyone. Have a nice day'. Britain's youngest EuroMillions winner has opened up about how her win didn't bring her happiness, saying she wouldn't 'wish it on anyone'.Appearing on an episode of the US TV show Dr Phil, Jane Park, 27, discussed the downsides of her £1million EuroMillions windfall in 2013 when she was 17-years-old. In the episode, titled 'The Curse of the Lottery,' ...... There are fears union barons could be plotting the first general strike since 1926 when they meet at a 'war cabinet' later this week. Some of the country's top union bosses, including Mick Lynch, will meet at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to plan their next move after weeks of crippling walkouts. It will come just a day after they conduct talks with ministers amid ongoing pay disputes that have seen large parts of the country grind to a halt over the last year. Representatives from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Aslef and the GMB will gather to 'compare notes' on their discussions with the Government, it is being reported.

@vincetracy and @terrywhitehead discussed #Spain #weather #winter #construction #water #cultivation #farmers #Madrid #Eurostat #EU #Russia #imports #BBC #media #protests #Rome #CatholicChurch #PopeBenedict #PopeFrancis

@mattking and @vincetracy discussed the very important question of #retirement looking at #pensions #careers #education #careersadvice #timemanagement #finances #money #age #health #travel #ambition #fitness #languagelearning #Spain #UK #hobbies #music

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill will make it easier for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC), which is legal recognition of their acquired gender.It will introduce a system of self-declaration for obtaining a GRC and remove the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria...................................... Rob Burrow's dad has reacted furiously after the rugby league icon's wheelchair-accessible van was vandalised in Castleford on Friday night. Rob, 40, has Motor Neurone Disease and is a fundraiser for others with the condition. He was made an MBE in the 2021 New Years Honours List for his services to the sport and the MND community. But the Leeds legend's van was scratched up while his family were out for a Christmas meal in West Yorkshire, according to his father, who posted on Twitter about the harrowing incident. Just Stop Oil eco-zealots have been branded hyprocrites after gluing themselves to works of art and the UK's roads to protest - using adhesives made from fossil fuels. The militant campaigners want the government to end all new licenses and consents for the exploration, development and production of the fuel in the UK. Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has been criticised on social media by Muslim fans after he posted a picture of his family next to a Christmas tree. Salah, who is a Muslim, captioned the photo with '#MerryChristmas' on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. The 30-year-old and his family - wife Magi and daughters Makka and Kayan - posed in matching pyjamas for his traditional Christmas post.

Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who has become the face of the European Parliament's widening graft scandal, will spend at least another week in custody before attending a postponed pre-trial hearing, her lawyer said Wednesday. Former EU parliament vice-president Kaili, 44, her partner Francesco Giorgi, 35, ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri and lobbyist Niccolò Figa-Talamanca are all charged with corruption, money laundering and organised crime. A fishing crew has given a shocking account of how drowning migrants 'screamed' for help - as it was confirmed that at least four died after a small boat capsized in the freezing Channel this morning. The captain of the fishing vessel described the scenes as 'something out of a Second World War movie', saying they pulled more than 30 people from the water - but at least one could not be saved.

@mattking and @vincetracy discussed #photogrphy #television #media #software #technology #var #politics #editing #presenting #paperazzi #telephones #animations #disney #misinformation #Qatar

Civil servants have been told to call their Christmas parties 'festive celebrations' in an attempt to avoid offending other faiths. In another move to promote diversity and inclusion, some officials have been informed they cannot drink alcohol at a celebration if one team member is tea-total. UK Driving Low tread on tyres - £10,000 A vehicle with low tread on its tyres becomes even more dangerous in snowy and icy conditions as it can already be difficult to come to a stop. To avoid the fine you must have the minimum legal tyre tread depth for cars in the UK of 1.6mm, but a tread depth of 3mm for tyre is best. Tests by UK technical organisation MIRA found that the difference in wet braking distance between a tyre worn to 3mm and one worn to 1.6mm can be as much as 44 per cent. Careless driving - £5000 Most drivers take extra care in wintry conditions, but failing to drive appropriately to the road conditions could land you the joint second largest fine on the list. Being mindful of snow on the road, the increased risk of the car sliding and of longer breaking distances will help you avoid any potential careless driving charges. Driving through puddles - £5000 Intentionally driving through puddles can have a significant financial penalty, but you are unlikely to be charged if the puddle is unavoidable and you slow down appropriately beforehand. Driving through at speed can be dangerous as there is potentially to lose control of the car, especially if there is snow and ice on the road. Driving in inadequate footwear - £5000 The Highway Code states that drivers should ensure 'clothing and footwear do not prevent you using the controls in the correct manner'. To avoid this fine you must make sure your footwear isn't compromising your driving. Snow on car roof - £2500 A very simple fine to avoid, by remembering to scraping off any snow before you set off. Failing to do so can be expensive and cause potentially dangerous situations for yourself or drivers behind you. Snow on car lights or number plate - £1000 Much like the snow on the car roof fine, taking 30 seconds to make sure you lights are now covered and your number plate is visible could save you £1,000. Driving with low visibility - £1000 It can be frustrating scraping ice off the windscreen in the morning, but not doing this properly or only clearing enough so you can see through a small gap could be costly. Set aside enough time in the morning to scrape off all the ice and snow so that you have full visibility. Defective exterior lights - £1000 Like having snow covering your lights, defective exterior lights can be dangerous - particularly in the snow. Taking a quick look around your car after starting the engine and turning your lights on could save you £1,000

A TikTok star has revealed how he makes more money than a doctor - despite sleeping in and only working two hours every day.Andy Peng, who goes by Andy the Sk on social media, has racked up more than 4.6million followers on TikTok thanks to his outrageous pranks. For years, the obituaries in our grander newspapers have been dominated by the intensely moving life stories of men who fought on against impossible odds, when all around them were dead, who flew badly damaged aircraft safely home despite terrible injuries and loss of blood, or who turned the tide of battle with a crazy charge. The row over Labour's 'class war' plan to add VAT to private school fees deepened last night after it emerged that Sir Keir Starmer sent his children to a primary school which has been described as a 'state-run prep school for the middle classes'. The move to strip private schools of their charitable status – meaning their fees will be subject to 20 per cent VAT – triggered a political storm after it was highlighted in last week's Mail on Sunday, with experts warning that tens of thousands of pupils would have to switch to state schools because their parents would be priced out A row of terraced houses has been lit up with Christmas decorations as part of an anuual tradition to raise money. Houses on Byron Road in New Milton have been going the extra mile for the Christmas light switch-ons over the years - and residents are now raising money for the NHS. They band together to deck their halls in luminous twinkly lights and raise money, but one home - which remains undecorated - seemingly didn't seem to want to participate.

According to Spain’s Labour Inspectorate Ryanair violated the right of workers to strike earlier in the year, when it used so called “scab” labour. Business Secretary Grant Shapps today acknowledged 'national security' fears led to taxpayers' cash being used to end China's involvement in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Shapps boasted the Government's £700million investment in the controversial Suffolk project would help create thousands of jobs and shore up Britain's energy security. The US Air Force is planning to unveil the most advanced aircraft ever created early next month after spending nearly $203 billion on the program.The B-21 Raider stealth bomber will be unveiled at the Northrop Grumman facility in Palmdale, California, on December 2.The bomber was designed to carry out long-range bombing and nuclear missions employing cutting edge stealth technologies. No one at the BBC could understand how the disgraced journalist Martin Bashir got his job as religious affairs editor after he hoodwinked Princess Diana for his Panorama interview, Radio 4 presenter Samira Ahmed has claimed. Writing in the Radio Times, she said workers were 'puzzled' as to how Bashir - who has since been criticised by the broadcaster for faking bank statements that persuaded Diana to give him an interview in 1995 - managed to get the position in 2016.

Plans to use ‘pushback’ tactics against small boats in the Channel have been ditched by the Home Office, the immigration minister confirmed yesterday. Robert Jenrick said analysis showed there were only ‘limited circumstances’ in which the turnaround idea could be deployed against dinghies. He said the proposals were ‘currently withdrawn’ and there were ‘no current plans’ to bring them into operation. Church worshippers cried 'heresy' at the Dean of Trinity College as they left a sermon claiming Jesus may have been transgender 'in tears'. But the view of a transgender Jesus is 'legitimate', according to Dr Michael Banner, the Dean who stepped in to defend the claim made at a Sermon last Sunday that Christ had a 'trans body'.Dr Michael Banner, the Dean of Trinity College, was backing up junior research fellow Joshua Heath, who displayed Renaissance and Medieval paintings of the crucifixion depicting a side wound that he likened to a vagina in front of the congregation.

A female secondary school mentor sent a teenage pupil 3,000 messages in just two months and told 'I think I'm falling for you' and 'I want you so badly', a court heard.In a series of 'overtly sexual' texts Ellen Cadman-Smith told the 15-year-old that he 'drove her insane' and that she was 'thinking about him non-stop'.In extracts from messages read to a jury, the school worker, of Sandown, Isle of Wight, admitted she was 'half naked', saying 'I can't have you and you know why,' before arranging to meet him in her car........... Cadman-Smith was a mentor at the Cowes Enterprise College responsible for supporting pupils' 'behaviour, mental health and learning difficulties'. A drugs Queenpin running a county lines operation on her own has been convicted after she boasted about her lavish lifestyle including £500 haircuts in Knightsbridge which were funded by selling crack cocaine and heroin on Snapchat. Henna Ashraf, 25, flaunted her wealth by taking pictures inside her flash Mercedes car while also posting photos of bundles of cash on social media. A predatory rapist Googled how to get away with assaulting a woman on the same night he carried his victim to a car park in Portsmouth before sexually assaulting her.Daniel Booth, 20, of Beresford Road, Portsmouth, began his seven year jail sentence on Saturday, which was handed down nearly 17 months after the attack. The jury heard how a young woman, aged in her 20s, had become separated from her friends shortly after 11pm following a night out in Portsmouth in June last year. She woke up in a car park after passing out with no idea what had happened to her, a court heard. A woman in North Wales was left shocked after spotting the world's deadliest plant, which contains a substance 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide, in a council flowerbed. The flower, called Ricinnus Communis and known as the Castor Oil plant, was named by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most poisonous. Do you want to know why the Just Stop Oil fanatics manage to cause so much chaos? It is because of New Labour’s Left-wing Supreme Court, which has made the police and the law so feeble when faced with green zealots blocking motorways and roads.This grandiose tribunal, whose very existence has given liberal judges more power, should really be called the Blair Court. It has existed only since 2009.

Ministers were accused of betraying British workers today as a £1.6billion contract for Royal Navy support ships was handed to a consortium that will carry out work in a Spanish dockyard. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today announced the Team Resolute consortium including Navantia, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, was the preferred bidder to construct three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) vessels. A judge slammed a blundering barrister for turning up at court in Newport in Wales - when he should have been 150 miles away for a case in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Lawyer Brad Lawlor had travelled from London after being drafted in to pick up the case from a colleague after reading it was in Newport. Michael Sheen appears to have taken yet another swipe at Prince William by sharing a clip of Welsh children cheering Gareth Bale and the national team before they left for Qatar after he ignited a row over whether the new Prince of Wales should have done the same. SPANISH Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez held second meeting this year with Samsung executives, this time during his official visit to South Korea on November 17. This follows a meeting held in Madrid on August 31 as Sánchez wants help to grow the new tech industry in Spain whilst Samsung has not only the technology but looks to receive a sizeable chunk of the European Recovery Funds allocated to technology. Party hotspot Malaga is set to ban inflatable sex dolls and blow-up penis costumes in a huge crackdown on stag and hen parties. The southern Spanish city has become a tourist favourite thanks to cheap flights and a buzzing nightlife - but now locals are set to come down hard on crude antics. New legislation passed in France this week, by President Emmanuel Macron, insisted that all large car parks must be used for the installation of solar panels. This move comes as part of the French government’s drive for the use of renewable energy. According to The Guardian today, Sunday, November 13, this new law passed by the French Senate applies to car parks – either existing or when planned to be built – with a capacity for 80 vehicles. Caving in to nurses’ wage demands would hike their average annual pay to more than £46,000, a Mail on Sunday analysis reveals ahead of their strike.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) wants a 17.6 per cent rise, claiming a 20 per cent cut in real-terms pay since 2010.But figures provided by NHS Digital show the average pay for qualified nurses in England has reached £40,147.This comprises basic salary of £35,841, plus extras for shift work, overtime and living in a pricier area worth £4,306. A former teacher will face misconduct proceedings almost a year after she was jailed for a 15-month 'affair' she had with a schoolgirl. Aimee Jones, 36, admitted sexually touching the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the back of her car months after she initially approached her victim at school. Teesside Crown Court heard how she told the teenager she was bisexual and that she was 'having feelings of attraction towards her'.A woman has sparked an online debate after saying stay at home wives and mothers are often the target of vitriol - prompting some to say they would be 'devastated' if their offspring chose not to work.

Britain is facing a winter of discontent after 100,000 civil servants voted to strike today as comrades on the rail network agreed new dates and nurses decided on taking industrial action for the first time in more than a century. Salto de Castro, found in north-western Spain, has 44 homes, a hotel, a church and a swimming pool has been put up for sale by the current owner. The village is built over 65,000 square feet along the hilltops in the province of Zamora, near Spain's border with Portugal. But despite its picturesque location, Salto de Castro is home to no inhabitants, and has been abandoned for more than three decades. Morocco announced on Friday, November 4, that it had appointed a new person to oversee the public company that is in charge of the project to construct a 40km tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar to link the north African county to Spain. During the Moroccan government council meeting held on Thursday 3, it was decided to appoint AbdelKabir Zahoud. Spain briefly closed parts of its airspace over risks posed by a Chinese rocket re-entering Earth's atmosphere. Barcelona and Ibiza airports were among those impacted by the grounding, which lasted around 40 minutes on Friday. The decision came after China sent its powerful Long March 5B rocket to deliver the final module of its Tiangong space station. Greta Thunberg believes it is time for her to 'give up the megaphone' on climate change issues - but called for more 'civil disobedience' as eco-protests sweep Europe.The teenage activist, 19, wants to step out of the limelight to make room for people who are actually suffering the effects of climate change, four years after starting her world-famous 'school strike for climate' movement Four people were killed, including a teenager, and eight others were injured early on Sunday after a car rammed into members of a wedding party near Madrid following a brawl, police said.The fight erupted at dawn outside a restaurant that was hosting the wedding in Torrejón de Ardoz, some 25 kilometres northeast of Madrid. The new regulations, which introduced fines for both, produced the desired effect and while prostitution continues, it is hidden from view. Fewer homeless are now seen sleeping in the city centre and many have moved on to neighbouring Elche. Mariano Valera, Elche’s Social Rights councillor, condemned the Alicante City law, approved with the votes of the Partido Popular, Ciudadanos and Vox parties, as “shameful” when it came into force. Watching violent television programmes from a young age has been scientifically linked to poor performance at secondary school. Researchers from the University of Montreal analysed the content shown to nearly 2,000 children aged 3.5 to 4.5. When the kids turned 12, the team asked them and their teachers to evaluate how well they thought they were doing at school. It was found that boys and girls exposed to violent content in early childhood were more likely to experience 'increases in emotional distress' later on. Uk Labour's Ed Miliband today backed calls for taxpayers' money to be given to countries such as Pakistan and the Maldives for 'loss and damage' from climate change.The shadow climate and net zero secretary insisted it was 'morally right' to hand money to poorer nations that are 'on the frontline of the climate crisis'.As the Cop-27 climate change summit begins in Egypt, Mr Miliband stressed it would also be in Britain's 'self-interest' to boost aid to developing countries.But, while he highlighted both Pakistan and the Maldives as possible recipients of 'loss and damage' payments, he denied it would also see China handed cash

@mattking and @vincetracy discussed the implications of #alcohol and #drugabuse from definitions of these terms via #teaching #experience #sport #rugby #judo #music #Spain #UK #theosaps #advertising #sponsors #centrepoint #emmerdale #coronationstreet #beer #spirits #depression #loneliness #socialdrinking #age

A Royal Navy submarine which was fully armed with nuclear missiles aborted a top secret operation after a fire broke out onboard.The £3billion HMS Victorious, which is one of Britain’s four Trident submarines, had been sailing to a base overseas when the electrical fire started six weeks ago. The Home Office is spending millions of pounds on taxis to transport migrants across the UK - with some drivers claiming they were told to drop off passengers at railway stations with no follow up. Officials have paid more than £3.7million in the past year alone for taxis, vans and buses to move asylum seekers, illegal migrants and unaccompanied minors, an analysis of public contracts revealed. Gary Neville, the former Manchester United footballer, 47, sparked a blacklash when he agreed to be a pundit for state broadcaster beIN SPORTS for the World Cup tournament - due to begin later this month. Neville has repeatedly insisted he will 'never shy away' from highlighting controversial issues while working for the broadcaster. Commuters can shell out more on railway station parking than on travelling on the train, campaigners said yesterday. Their research shows that some drivers face bills reaching as high as £3,000.In some cases it costs more to use a car parking space year-round than it does to take the train. Grant Shapps was facing fury last night after saying there ‘wasn’t really much point’ to a long-promised railway across northern England. Bonfire Night across the country erupted into chaos last night as thugs chucked fireworks at passers-by, set alight wheelie bins and threw explosives at police. Scenes of disarray were seen in Leeds and Edinburgh with police in Manchester and Merseyside reporting blockaded roads. Civil servants have spent £500,000 of taxpayer cash on mindfulness apps which have celebrities including Idris Elba and Kate Winslet reading bedtime stories to soothe users to sleep. Fly-tipping has been practically decriminalised across Britain, with fewer than one in 400 offences being prosecuted in the past decade. .A partygoer died after a downing three pints of gin in a drinking game during a 36-hour session, an inquest heard. Shamed inspector Dean Gittoes, 49, of Merthyr Tydfil, who 'throttled' a teenage boy and called him a 'clever little internet freak' because he was filming a police station faces losing his job. Gittoes was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work after 'unlawfully' detaining the 16-year-old outside Merthyr Tydfil police station on August 20 last year.