There was a time when town halls would proudly publicise such civic achievements as a new library, a clean swimming pool or particularly colourful floral displays in the town centre.

But in today's Britain it seems civic pride should be measured by how well councils clean up after vomiting binge-drinkers.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils across Britain, is launching a bizarre poster campaign to raise public awareness of the range of services provided from town halls.

One of the posters in the 'My Council' campaign features a picture of a woman dressed in fishnet tights who, grasping a beer bottle, is bent double and vomiting in the street. The slogan reads: 'My council... clears up my mess'.

In another image, a dog is shown fouling a path with the caption: 'My council... clears me up every day'.

And another shows a man seated in a restaurant alongside the slogan: 'My council... makes sure this romantic meal won't give us the trots'.

The LGA says the campaign is meant to highlight the essential work done by workers such as street cleaners and restaurant inspectors.

But critics claim the posters are a sad indictment of life in modern Britain - and may even breach advertising rules on taste and decency.

Last night David Turtle of the moral campaign group Mediawatch UK said: 'Councils should be trying to educate people, not shock them.

'I'm particularly concerned about the effect of the posters on young people. This will just coarsen their attitudes and normalise this type of behaviour.'

And the Advertising Standards Authority is concerned the campaign may break its guidelines. An ASA spokesman said: 'The LGA must be careful that its shock tactics do not stray into territory that may cause serious or widespread offence.'

The LGA, which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales, is launching the controversial campaign at its annual conference in Bournemouth next week.

Templates for posters - produced by the LGA at a cost of £2,000 - will be distributed and council leaders will be encouraged to mass produce them and plaster them all over their districts.

(From an article in Mail Online)

I always thought that the pass mark in most examinations was 50%.

It is now 21%, as described in the following "Daily Telegraph" article.

PUPILS CAN PASS A NEW MATHEMATICS EXAMINATION BY ANSWEING JUST ONE-IN-FIVE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY.

Thousands of 14-year-olds taking the SATS test this year needed to score just 21 per cent to reach the level expected of their age.

The pass mark was set for pupils taking a more advanced paper as part of so-called Key Stage 3 exams.

Pupils taking a more basic test only had to answer a third of questions correctly.

The disclosure was branded "absurd" by the Conservatives, who said the low pass mark undermined public confidence in the examination system.

It comes amid continuing fears over standards of mathematics in Britain.

Last month, a report by the think-tank Reform said GCSEs were "considerably" easier than tests sat 50 years ago as questions had been simplified to make them more relevant to modern teenagers.

It was claimed that the lack of rigour in secondary schools may be turning many young people off maths - posing a long-term threat to the economy.

This year, around 600,000 pupils sat Key Stage 3 tests in maths, English and science.

The tests - taken three years into secondary school - are seen as a key indicator of success in GCSEs.

In 2007, standards in maths dropped slightly as 24 per cent failed to achieve the target expected of the age group.

But there are fears that low pass marks - set by independent panels who analyse the relative difficulty of the test - may lead to possible grade inflation. Boundaries change year-on-year depending on the exam questions.

In this year's test, 14-year-olds taking the top paper needed to score 21 per cent and pupils required 36 per cent for a slightly easier paper, according to the Times Educational Supplement. A third paper - for the weakest pupils - had a pass mark of 64 per cent.

Teachers said the low marks may prompt schools to enter weak students in the harder tests in the hope they may scrap a pass.

Jennie Golding, from the Mathematical Association, said: "Educationally, what you want is to have pupils taking papers where they can comfortably complete most of the questions. "Passing a harder question with a very low proportion of questions right gives them precious little to build on at Key Stage 4 [last two years of school]."

The pass mark for the lower paper is actually beneath that in a corresponding test sat by primary school children.

At 14, pupils are supposed to gain at least a Level 5 in the annual exams. At the age of 11, pupils are required to reach Level 4 - but can be awarded a higher Level 5 for outstanding results.

An analysis of this year's grade boundaries shows the weakest 11-year-olds had to answer at least 78 per cent of questions correctly to be marked up to Level 5. But in the easiest test for 14-year-olds, pupils needed just 64 per cent for the same mark.

Nick Gibb, the shadow schools minister, said: "It is absurd that you can pass an exam by getting four out of five questions wrong - this simply acts to undermine the public's faith in the exams system."

EU BANS SALE OF "TOO SMALL" KIWIS

A wholesaler has been banned from selling a consignment of kiwi fruits because EU laws deemed them too small.

Tim Down, a market trader for 25 years, said he was not permitted even to give away the 5,000 Chilean fruits, each of which is about the size of a small hen's egg and weighs about 60g.

Mr Down said his family run firm would lose several hundred pounds in sales because of the ban.

"It is bureaucratic nonsense, they are perfectly fit to eat," Mr Down said at his stall at the Wholesale Fruit Centre in Bristol.

Inspectors from the Rural Payments Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), made a random check on his stall, and found a number of his kiwis weighed 58g, four grams below the required minimum of 62g.

Mr Down said that 4g in weight was the equivalent of about one millimeter in diameter.

He said: "They (the inspectors) went through a lot of my stock using their own little scales.

"These regulations are enforced in the United Kingdom with a higher level of rigour than is applied in mainland Europe. There is not a level playing field.

"This fruit will now go to waste at a time when we are all feeling the pinch from rising prices." He said there would also be the environmental cost of taking the fruits to a landfill site.

Mr Down said he was not permitted by law to give away the kiwis to a school or hostel and faced a fine of several thousand pounds if he did.

Barry Stedman, head of the Rural Payments Agency's inspectorate, said the consignment had failed to meet the minimum standards for saleable produce, in contravention of EU grading rules.

"The inspector's decision is consistent with RPA's commitment to protect consumers, who must feel confident that the produce they are buying is of the right quality," he said.

"RPA's role is to work with traders to provide advice and assistance to ensure that this happens and to help traders carry out their business within the law."

The agency said Mr Down has been given a number of options, including sending the fruit back to the importer.

The European Commission said recently that it wanted to relax the regulations which prevented misshapen or underweight fruit and vegetables being sold.

The rules have previously banished curved cucumbers, straight bananas and skinny carrots.

"The inspectors visit us on a random basis, probably two to three times monthly and select items at random that they wish to inspect," said Mr Down.

"The latest inspection took place subsequent to the announcement by the EC that the regulations are being modified.

"We have had many items rejected over the years, but this, for a variety of reasons, is one of the most nonsensical."

(Telegraph)

NO BARE BUMS ON OUR CAKES

A mother who wanted to give a birthday cake to her son featuring a photo of him as a baby was forced to have it censored because it showed his bottom.

Gail Jordan, 41, had gone to an Asda store in Liscard, the Wirral, Merseyside, on June 13 with the photo of her son David taken when he was five-months-old.

But staff at the supermarket initially refused to scan the picture on to a cake because it featured nudity.

They eventually put a star over the offending part of the photo which was scanned on to the cake.

The cake was to be a surprise for David’s 21st birthday on June 18.

Ms Jordan, who lives in Rock Ferry, the Wirral, said: “I took the photo of my son to the store in Liscard and they said we can’t do that - it’s nudity.

“It was a photo of my son at five-months-old. I could not believe it.

“Eventually another member of staff cut a star out and put it on his bottom on the cake.

“I just wanted a picture on his cake. Staff said it was deemed as pornographic.

“I don’t normally shop there, but it would not stop me going back.”

Speaking about her son’s reaction to what had happened, Ms Jordan said: “To be honest he was a bit embarrassed by it all. He liked the cake in the end.”

A spokesman for Asda said: “We did not say it was pornographic. It is policy across the board that we don’t do nudity of any sort at any age. It is nothing new.

“They (the staff) made a couple of suggestions - enlarge it so you take the bottom out of it, make the border different and another suggestion was putting a star on the offending area.”

(Liverpool Echo)

A newspaper report today states that police are planning to install a high-pitched "Mosquito" device at a Cornish seaside resort in the hope it will deter unruly gangs of public school children from holding rowdy beach parties.

Pupils from many of Britain's top independent schools go to Polzeath every summer to celebrate the end of their exams, but in recent years the behaviour of some has upset residents.

Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to homes and businesses with locals complaining of littering, fighting, vandalism and binge drinking. The pupils have come to be known as "snob-yobs" because of their antics.

Now officers have decided to put up two Mosquito devices which release an irritating noise that can only be heard by young people, in the hope it will prevent them from gathering in large groups.

Sergeant Robin Moorcroft, from Devon and Cornwall police, said: "It takes about eight to ten seconds for the sound to be heard by the human ear so if people are walking past it will not bother them but, if youths start to congregate in the area it will soon start to annoy them enough to move on.

"Last year many of these youngsters were drinking and hanging around on the green opposite the beach.

"By using the mosquitoes we hope it will move them on so that they wouldn't cause a nuisance."

(Telegraph)

However, another newspaper reports:

COUNCIL BANS ANTI-YOB MOSQUITO BUZZER 'TO PROTECT CHILDREN'S HUMAN RIGHTS'

Amid concerns that the Mosquito infringes children's human rights, Kent County Council said it is one of the first authorities in the country to prohibit the gadget in its buildings.

An estimated 3,500 of the devices - which emit a high-pitched sound - are in use throughout England in shopping centres, parks and shops since their introduction in January 2006.

The sound causes discomfort to young ears, although over-25s cannot hear it.

The Association of Convenience Stores, which represents 33,000 local shops, has said the Mosquito can be useful in tackling anti-social behaviour.

At a Spar store in South Wales, like birds perched on telephone wires, surly teenagers used to plant themselves on the railings just outside the door, smoking, drinking, shouting rude words at customers and making regular disruptive forays inside.

"When a mosquito buzzer was installed the results were almost instantaneous. It was as if someone had used anti-teenager spray around the entrance, the way you might spray your sofas to keep pets off. Where disaffected youths used to congregate, now there is no one."

But critics claim that it demonises young people and they now plan to lobby for a nationwide ban.

Community services Cabinet member Mike Hill said: 'These devices are abhorrent and give completely the wrong message to our young people.'

It’s interesting though that teenagers have turned the technology against their adult oppressors, with a mosquito ringtone that lets them use their mobile phones in schools without their teachers hearing it.

(London Evening Standard)

Many neighbourhood associations are now actively involved in checking and reporting speeding motorists.

Should this be encouraged or condemned?

"Community Speed Watch" is a scheme to help people reduce speeding traffic though their community. The scheme enables volunteers to work within their community to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and to help control the problem locally.

"Community Speed Watch" incorporates poster campaigns and a pledge system linked to direct action using radar speed guns and Vehicle Activated Signs, all under the supervision of the County Council.

The use of the radar devices will not lead to prosecution - drivers will get a letter from the police instead - but will help to underline the community’s commitment to reducing speed.

County Councillor Nicholas Rushton, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said:

“The County Council and the police already work hard to control speeding and this scheme will complement our work. It gives communities the chance to take action to help themselves, in a controlled way which will be acceptable to all. By getting involved, people will be working to improve the quality of life in their own community.”

The scheme is a partnership between Leicestershire County Council and the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership.

UK'S UGLIEST BUILDING SET TO BE GIVEN LISTED BUILDING STATUS

Prince Charles once described it as an 'incinerator' more suited to burning books than storing them.

Even English Heritage concede that Birmingham Central Library is a 'brutalist modern building.'

But it is for that very reason that the conservation watchdog has recommended that the concrete 1970s library - branded an 'eyesore' by locals - should be made a listed building.

The move threatens to scupper plans to demolish the five-storey building, which stands in the shadow of the Grade I listed Victorian Town Hall, as part of a £1billion regeneration project in the city centre.

The city's Civic Society reacted with 'dismay and disbelief' at English Heritage's stance, while the city council vowed to continue its attempt to pull the building down.

(Daily Mail)

Yesterday I posted an article from the Daily Mail about the alleged doubling in size of 'ready meals'.

WHAT A LOAD OF COBBLERS!

Due to severe financial difficulties (made redundant) I switched to a diet of microwavable "ready meals" 12 months ago, I eat NO fresh fruit or vegetables, eggs, or pasta.

My only means of cooking are a deep-fat fryer and a 20 year old microwave, oh and a toaster, so I eat ready meals or stuff like fish and chips, beans on toast and breakfast cereal.

Dieticians will throw up their hands in horror but guess what? I have lost seven and a half stones in that time.

Just to really put the boot in, I am a Diabetic!

2 months ago I was having to inject myself with insulin 4 times a day. Now my diabetes is diet-controlled, which I have to say is really annoying the doctors at the clinic.

So unless someone is eating a "Family sized" ready meal as a single portion there is no reason why they should get fat.

I strongly feel any obesity problem lies elsewhere than with ready meals.

Andy, Birmingham England, 21/6/2008

It makes you think, doesn't it?

"SERVING UP OBESITY? SUPERMARKET READY MEALS DOUBLE IN SIZE IN A DECADE"

The above is the headline of an article in a recent edition of the "Daily Mail".

It goes on go on to say "Products such as curry, cottage pies, pasta dishes and casseroles can be more than 50 per cent bigger than in the 1990s."

This is followed by the following table:

You can see that none of the products show an increase of 100% which would be "double the size"

One is 75% but, without that, the average increase of the remaining 21 items is 31.3% - under a third.

The writer seems to think that a 50% increase is 'double', which is a popular misconception.

You can read the full article at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028106/Serving-obesity-Supermarket-ready-meals-double-size-decade.html

WHITE WORKING-CLSS BOYS BECOME AN UNDERCLASS

White teenagers are less likely to go to university than school-leavers from other ethnic groups - even with the same A-level results, according to official figures.

The gap is widest among male teenagers from poor backgrounds, raising fresh fears that working class boys are becoming the education "underclass" in England.

According to a Government report, just over one-in-20 white boys from poor homes goes on to university.

This compares to 66 per cent of Indian girls and 65 per cent of young women from Chinese families

An analysis published by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said the rise in the number of women going to university over the last 10 or 20 years "had made the performance of males look relatively dismal".

The report said many working class white boys dropped out of education at the earliest opportunity, aged 16.

Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, said schools needed to intervene at an earlier age to get white boys interested in college and university.

"I think that culture plays a very important role," he said. "Part of what we have to do is to look across society and look among the ethnic minority groups where there is a very strong attachment to education and try to learn from that."

An analysis carried out by the DIUS looked at the number of teenagers going on to university, broken down by gender, ethnicity, social class and achievement at school.

It found that women were in the minority at university up to 1992, but over the last 15 years the balance had shifted.

Last year the proportion of young men studying for a degree fell to 35 per cent, compared to 47 per cent of women.

Despite fears that women are much more likely to go to university, the report said ethnicity and social class had a "larger" bearing on staying on rates.

The gaps "did not disappear entirely" even when comparing students with the same A-level results, researchers said.

"In fact, in the case of ethnicity, it was overwhelmingly clear the young people from non-white backgrounds were much more likely to participate in higher education than their white peers with similar prior attainment," said the study.

Just six per cent of white boys eligible for free school meals went to university compared to 26 per cent of working class young men from ethnic minority backgrounds. Some 34 per cent of girls from deprived ethnic minority families went to university, according to researchers.

Young white men from poor homes were eight and a half times less likely to go to university than ethnic minority women from middle-class families.

Among some ethnic groups, university participation rates were even higher.

Overall, 58 per cent of men from Indian backgrounds and 66 per cent of women go on to university. Among Chinese families, 60 per cent of boys and 65 per cent of women go to university.

Black Caribbean boys were the only group less likely to go to university than white boys.

The Conservatives said the disclosure proved that Labour was failing pupils from poor homes.

But the Government insisted a series of programmes had been launched to break down the barriers, including sending successful male role models into state schools.

In Leicester, undergraduates hold a football competition for schoolboys to give them a taste of student life.

It is also hoped the Government's new-style diploma qualifications - combining work-based training and classroom study - will prove more popular than traditional A-levels among many young men.

ACTUALLY FROM THE "DAILY TELEGRAPH"

FRUIT PICKERS FREE FOR ALL ENDS

A fruit farm has stopped doing "pick your own" strawberries because customers are eating too much of the fruit without paying.

Hacker's Fruit Farm, near Cambridge, had offered pickers the chance to select their own strawberries for the last 40 years.

Mark Spight, who runs the farm, said he was annoyed at the number of people not paying for the strawberries.

One family were caught dipping the berries in cream as they picked them.

Mr Spight said he used to get angry watching people gorging themselves then only taking a handful of fruit to be paid for.

He said some people were eating up to £15 worth of strawberries and would come to the checkout covered in juice.

There had also been an increasing problem with unruly behaviour leading to plants being trampled and fruit damaged.

"We don't mind people going picking and trying some strawberries, but we once had a family come with a bowl of cream. It was shocking," said Mr Spight.

"We used to have a lot of children playing in the fields and trampling the plants.

We thought it was not worth it."

The farm still has a farm shop and "pick your own" blackberries and other berries.

A Devon petrol station which charged £1.99 a litre for petrol has been forced to reduce its prices after coming under fire for cashing in on fuel shortages.

Foxhayes garage at Exwick, near Exeter, was charging the equivalent of more than £9 a gallon on Monday, saying it wanted to conserve stocks.

Fuel price watchdogs slammed the increase as "inexcusable".

And on Tuesday the price had dropped to £1.20 a litre for petrol and £1.36 for diesel, with a maximum £5 spend.

A member of staff at the garage told BBC News: "It got a bit extreme. I heard on the radio that we were more vilified than George Bush."

The woman, who did not want to be named, said motorists had been "quite pleasant" despite the rise in prices.

"Some taxi drivers were upset because they did not see the price before they filled up."

(BBC)

NEW YORK DOG SUCKED INTO STREET CLEANER

A New York dog owner was left holding a broken leash after his Boston terrier Ginger was swallowed by the automatic suction hose on a street cleaning truck in the Bronx.

The animal was killed as it was pulled through the machine's rotating bristles, after the truck sped past the pavement where Robert Machin was standing.

Mr Machin had been walking Ginger and his other pet terrier Buster, and was preparing to lift them into his car when the cleaning truck raced past.

Mr Machin, who used to work in the transit business, said he suddenly felt a tug on Ginger's lead.

"It happened so fast," he said. "It spun me around, and as it spun me around, I caught a last glimpse of her."

Stunned and enraged, he ran after the speeding vehicle with some friends shouting to attract the driver's attention.

"I went berserk at that moment because I couldn't believe what had occurred," he said.

After two and a half blocks he finally caught up and Ginger's body was extracted from the sweeping mechanism.

The 57-year-old said he believed the truck had exceeded the speed limit in the area and was investigating legal options.

The city Department of Sanitation called the incident "a rare and unfortunate accident."

Mr Machin said that his children had grown up and his dogs had become very important to him. "These two dogs, they're my life," he said.

(BBC)

Juno breasfeeding Hercules (Tintoretto)


MOTHERS COULD WIN RIGHT TO BREASTFEED IN PUBLIC

Mothers will win a legal right to breast feed in public, under plans being considered by the Government.

At present, women can face prosecution under public order or indecency laws if they nurse their babies in public.

But ministers are poised to give new mothers with babies up to the age of six months the right to feed them in restaurants, galleries, on public transport and other public places.

The move comes a week after Terri-Ann Barnes, a 23-year-old mother from Exeter in Devon, was warned to stop feeding her three-month-old son in the reception of her local GP surgery by staff who told her she was in breach of health and safety rules

Britain has one of the lowest rates of breast feeding in Europe, and ministers are aiming to end the taboo on nursing in public.

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said: "Final decisions have yet to be made, but the Government is keen to give new mothers complete confidence to breast feed while going about their normal business, for example while on the bus or in a café."

The move, which is likely to be contained in the planned Single Equalities Bill, which will come before the House of Commons later this year, was welcomed by the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition.

Francesca Entwhistle, of the Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition, said: "One of the reasons that many women do not currently breast feed is because they do not want to breast feed in public.

"If any place is made welcoming, I am sure they will have the confidence to breast feed in greater numbers.

"It is about making it the norm in society, rather that something women have to ask permission to do."

Women MPs who championed the change in the law will ironically not themselves benefit from it.

The Houses of Parliament are a Royal Palace, meaning they are exempt from the law.

Despite a campaign by some MPs who became mothers after being elected, the Speaker, Michael Martin, has refused to relax the ban on breast feeding in committee rooms, although women are allowed to use specially-designated areas in the Commons.

Ministers will now consult further on whether the new rights should apply to women with babies older than six months.

Mothers already have the legal right to breast feed in restaurants and bars, and on buses and trains, in Scotland up to the age of two.

The National Gallery apologised to another woman who was ordered to stop feeding her baby daughter beside the Tintoretto painting Origin of the Milky Way, which depicts Juno breastfeeding Hercules.

The Bill will streamline all current equality legislation, and includes additional powers to outlaw discrimination against women, homosexuals and the disabled.

Last week, Harriet Harman, the Deputy Labour Leader and Minister for Women, told MPs this would include measures to stop mixed-sex private organisations such as golf clubs treating women as second-class citizens by limiting the areas they can enter or having restricted access to facilities.

Single sex clubs, such as working men's clubs or the Women's Institute, will not be affected.

(Telegraph)

The Duke of Devonshire has laid down strict rules for visitors to the Royal Enclosure at Ascot racecourse this summer.

He certainly would not approve of this:

The duke, the chairman of the course, has clarified the strict dress code for next week's event in guidance sent to all 80,000 Royal Enclosure badge holders.

In a humorous "A to Z of Do's and Don'ts, women are advised to keep their underwear under wraps during the five-day meeting starting on Tuesday.

"Knickers," it says. "A definite yes, but not on show please ladies."

Mini-skirts are considered "unsuitable", midriffs "must be covered" and trouser suits are acceptable but only if they are "full length and of matching material and colour"

Men are also expected to adhere to the code, which means they must wear either black or grey morning dress, including "a waistcoat, with a top hat, which must be worn at all times in the Royal Enclosure".

The dress code for the Royal Enclosure has been tightened in recent years following complaints that standards are slipping.

Other faux pas to avoid are chewing gum and talking on a mobile phone.

Nick Smith, an Ascot spokesman, said the strict rules were greatly appreciated by visitors to the Royal Enclosure.

"People come to dress up and they expect people to do the same," he said. "It's all a question of balance. If someone is judged to be dressed inappropriately they will be politely asked to leave."

(Abridged from a Telegraph article)

I came across this on an American website yesterday: High-heel shoes for babies aged 0 to 6 months.

They can't even walk at that age, but apparently the little babes are fighting for them!

A reviewer wrote:

I'd love to tell you that this was just another hilarious prank, but I can't find any evidence of it being anything other than a serious business venture by two misguided souls, who think the whole concept is a hoot.

Still, if you quite like the idea of your very own barbie baby, pop over to the Heelarious website for a list of stockists.

http://www.heelarious.com/index.php

P.S. The manufacturers say: "Not intended for walking (heel will collapse with weight)"

I was reading yesterday in the Sun newspaper of an English mother who is still breast-feeding her two children aged THREE and FIVE.

She is quoted as saying:

"I grew up in South Africa where the women see breasts as something to feed your children with, not something sexual.

Some people are squeamish about it, especially in public, but you wouldn't throw a blanket over a sheep feeding a lamb in a field, would you? It's what nature intended."

She added her children would probably stop breastfeeding somewhere between the ages of five and eight because their immune systems would be fully developed.

Dr Kathy Dettwyler, a leading anthropologist, said: 'There is no research to show that breastfeeding a child for three or more years causes any sort of physical, psychological or emotional harm.'

It made me think "What is the oldest that a child has been breastfed?'

No doubt many of you have seen the adult on the BBC TV comedy programme 'Little Britain' who is always pleading for "Bitty".

I am not sure that many people have gone that far, but an Australian newspaper, the 'Courier Mail', has reported the following:

CHILDREN STLL BREASTFED AT SEVEN

"You have to wonder if it's for the child or the mother - I bet it's for the mother."

http://www.videovat.com/videos/872/little-britain-breast-feeding.aspx

NEW MOBILE PHONE SERVICE LETS USERS 'SNIFF' OUT WHERABOUTS OF FRIENDS - AT 50P A SNIFF

A mobile phone service that sends users an electronic map of their friends' whereabouts is to be launched in the UK today.

The 'Social Network Integrated Friend Finder' (Sniff) uses mobile phone signals to locate friends and family - to the nearest 100 yards - regardless of where they are in the UK.

The application will be accessible through the Facebook social networking website and across all the major mobile phone networks.

Useful Networks, the US company behind the technology, said the application would only be available to over-18s and those who gave their permission to be tracked.

Friends had control over who could find them and when, and could instantly switch between being 'visible' and 'invisible'.

Mobile customers will pay 50p for each 'sniff' and will receive the answer by text.

It will be the first Facebook application to apply premium charges to customers' mobile bills.

The application is popular in Sweden, where more than 80,000 people are registered to use it.

'Sniffing' works through similar technology used by the police to track down suspects or missing children via their mobile phone.

The phone sends a signal to nearby base stations and software performs a calculation on the information from the base stations and converts it into a geographical location.

Brian Levin, chief executive of Useful Networks, said: 'People are spending increasing amounts of time managing and mapping their friendship groups online, so why not literally map them offline too.

'If you've ever found yourself stuck at home because your mates down the pub couldn't hear your calls above all the noise or missed out on an impromptu night out because you didn't realise that friends had been out and about near where you were, then sniff is for you.

'Sniff is for people to use within their close friendship circles. It's easy, fun and it works. And because you have absolute control over if, how and when your location information is shared, it is also very safe too.'

Mr Levin cautioned that sniffing should not be relied upon by parents to track their young children because the service would only place a location within a radius of several hundred metres.

(Daily Mail)

Lesbos Harbour

RESIDENTS ON THE GREEK ISLAND OF LESBOS HAVE BEGUN A LEGAL BATTLE TO RECLAIM THE TERM "LESBIAN" FROM HOMOSEXUAL WOMEN.

A group from the Aegean island claim that the international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders and disgraces them around the world.

They have asked a court to rule against the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece and order them to change their name.

If the islanders are successful, they have vowed to fight for the meaning of the word lesbian internationally.

"Our case is an attempt to end the insult that our island is suffering, both in Greece and internationally," Dimitris Lambrou, a magazine publisher and one of three plaintiffs, told a court in Athens at the start of proceedings.

The islanders claim that the term "lesbian" should only be used to describe those who hail from Lesbos, which has a population of 100,000.

It was adopted by homosexual women because the island, the third-biggest in Greece, was the birthplace of Sappho, who expressed her love of women in poetry in the seventh-century BC.

"The name Lesbian has been distorted and insulted by giving it a sexual connotation, which is totally unjustified and unnecessary," said Mr Lambrou.

Human rights campaigners say the court action has been motivated by barely-disguised homophobia in a nation that remains reluctant to accept homosexuals.

"Claiming that the word insults their history is ridiculous," said Evangelia Vlami, a lesbian activist who caused controversy earlier this month by becoming part of the first female couple in Greece to get married. "It is a word that has evolved harmlessly from history and mythology."

Mr Lambrou said: "This must not be confused with homosexual or gay rights, or human rights or women’s rights, or whatever. They can do what they want with their bodies and they can call themselves what they want — but not lesbians."

A decision on the court hearing is expected within a month.

Sappho is the island's most famous inhabitant

(Telegraph)

Children who fish for crabs at a seaside resort will be handed a leaflet filled with health and safety advice this summer – on how to treat the crustaceans.

Generations of youngsters have spent their holidays dangling a line over seawalls and quaysides in the hope of hooking a crab, with little cause for concern.

But it seems there is now some worry that the creatures are not properly cared for once they have been caught and transferred into a plastic bucket.

Around 10,000 advice leaflets are being distributed around the crabbing haunts of Wells on the North Norfolk coast, warning children that the creatures may become distressed if they are not kept in the right conditions.

The move follows a study by zoology students at Cambridge University who discovered that over-crowding in buckets could cause stress for smaller crabs and lead to fights among them.

They also advise that children should only keep the crabs are kept in seawater which should be changed every hour to keep oxygen levels up.

Buckets should be kept out of direct sunlight, as unlike the shore pools, they contain no rocks for crabs to shelter under.

But the leaflets, which have been paid for by the by Norfolk Coast Partnership and Wells Field Study Centre, have been ridiculed as “soft” by fishermen who say crabs are a tough crustacean.

Mike Richards, 44, a fisherman from Cromer, Norfolk said: “Kids who catch crabs with a hook and line are generally pretty sensible and don’t overcrowd or boil the crabs alive in the summer sun so this leaflet is a waste of time.

“It is soft to think that a leaflet will help when it is simply a common sense approach that all children will understand.”

Crab fisherman John Davies said: “Caring for crabs is a good message to send out, but this could be a little over the top.”

(Daily Telegraph)