News

One look at her and you’d think this is just another Photoshop magic! Well, not this time! The amazing real life hour glass figure is “natural” according to Romanian model Ioana Spangenberg.

The 30 year old Romanian model has a 20-inch waist which is narrower than the average models 24-28 inches. The Sun quoted the model saying: “Every day I eat three big meals and I snack on chocolate and crisps all the time. No one seems to believe that.”

And what are those “big” meals? She has breakfast of toast with jam or eggs, a snack of chocolate and crisps around 12pm and sausage, chicken and potatoes for lunch. The model wrap-up her day with bread, meat and cheese sandwiches!

Yet she looks so thin! Ioana says that she was of average size until her teen years and when she was 13 her waist was 15 inches! Now at the age of 30, the Romanian model weighs six stones at a height of 5ft 6 inches.

Ioana revealed that she still wishes to put on some weight but her husband helped her to be comfortable about her extremely thin body!

She said “These days I am much happier with the way I look, and I have Jan to thank for that. I would still like to gain weight so I don’t look so shocking. I get people taking photos of me in the street. But I’m finally comfortable in my own skin. After all those years of hating my body, it felt amazing to have any attention at all. Now I love it.”

Prime Minister David Cameron assured the critics of London Olympics that the event would definitely boost Britain’s economy by £1 billion!

Mr. Cameron points out that this amount is guaranteed when 200 company chiefs and executives from Google to Goldman Sachs arrive on the eve of the games for the big business conference.

Mr. Cameron spoke about the economic potential of the Olympics in London during a Cabinet meeting on January 9 in Olympic Park to mark 200 days to the Games.

The Prime Minister said “I want the message to go out loud and clear, from tourism to business, sport to investment, we are determined to maximise the benefits of 2012 for the whole country.”

The details of contracts for new venues such as handball arena, aquatics centre and ArcerlorOrbit Tower were revealed during the meeting.

The games are expected to create 254 full-time jobs and the officials hope that the venues will be put to profitable use for mass weddings and corporate activities.

Ever wonder how celebs look back then without their celebrity fashion entourage and expensive make overs? Here’s just a peek into some of the hottest stars today who looked very ordinary that you wouldn’t care for a second look at them.

Just look at her who would fall for a girl in glasses? But if they knew how hot she’ll get, no one would have hesitated to make a pass at Charliz Theron those days.

Here’s your good old guy next door becoming the planet’s hottest Hollywood star! It’s Brad Pitt!

A quiet girl who would have blend in to the surrounding so much that you wouldn’t notice her in the crowd. But now she’s around everywhere! Her name, Nichole Richie has become such a great brand!

Who would forget the amazing Sharon Stone? Back then she was quite pretty, but lacked that seductive and sultry attitude. It’s Sharon Stone!

Marking yet another motor sport tragedy less than a week since Indy Car driver Dan Wheldon’s death in Las Vegas, is the horror crash at the Malaysian MotoGP which claimed Italian driver Marco Simoncelli!

Just nine minutes after the race Simoncelli’s Honda bike veered into the path of Colin Edwards entangling Valentino Rossi in the process. Simoncelli’s helmet was instantly knocked off and he was hit by the other two riders causing fatal head, neck and chest injuries.

In a statement MotoGP said, “Despite their efforts, Marco sadly succumbed to his injuries at 4:56pm local time (0856 GMT). Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Marco’s family, friends and team at this tragic loss.”

Ironically, Sepang was the very circuit where Simoncelli showcased his finest when he finished third to claim 250cc title in 2008!

British Airways is planning to offer a course on how to survive a plane crash.

The Independent reports that the airline will offer the course in exchange of mileage points to its Executive Club.

Andy Clubb, BA Manager who is in charge of the course shared his thoughts saying, “It makes passengers safer when travelling by giving additional skills and information, it dispels all those internet theories about the “brace position” and it just gives people so much more confidence in flying.” According to him those who undertake the course can provide much needed help during a crash by speeding up the evacuation process.

Research reveals that most of the plane crashes aren’t fatal. All depend on how the evacuation is done. It is a known fact that panic stricken passengers contribute to their own end. Most of them struggle to release their seat belts which reduce valuable time left to evacuate.

The course covers basics such as practicing releasing the seat belt, locating the life jacket and a simulated emergency evacuation down the escape slides.

BA hopes to offer places next year for £125.

Reports say that in a bid to slash operational costs the Met Police will axe around 2,000 civilian workers within the next five years.

This is part of an ongoing programme to save £600 million by 2015. Apart from the job cut, the Met is selling off 19 buildings, while 18 more are being proposed to sell.

The recent Met reports indicate that so far there are 1,200 layoffs and many of them include Police Community Support Officers, catering staff, traffic wardens and counter staff. Apparently, the Met has pooled in nearly £53 million for the Voluntary redundancy of 2,000 civilian workforce. On the whole, it has offered voluntary redundancy to nearly 4,000 staff in the past 10 months.

Commenting on the current layoff process, the Green Party member for the Met Police said, “Police officers are highly trained with specialist skills and should be used in roles that require these skills. Putting officers on front counters, when this can be done successfully by specialist staff for less, delivers poor value for money for Londoners.”

Yet, there are fears that Police Officers will have to do more behind the scenes to cover for the staff that left!

The Mayor of London has called for the ‘true spirit of London shine through’ during the
Notting Hill Carnival this Bank Holiday weekend, to help heal the bad memories caused by
the riots earlier this month.

Boris Johnson has reached out to Londoners to ‘celebrate our vibrant, diverse and
historical culture’ during Europe’s biggest street festival. The Major has warned that
anyone suspected of inciting violence this weekend will be seized by police.

The streets of the capital will be patrolled by over 10,000 officers to prevent the civil
disorder that destroyed homes and businesses 2 weeks ago.

Organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival today said that the festival was an opportunity
to ‘heal a nation’ after the worst street violence in living memory. Mr Johnson added that
London needs to prove that it can stage large events peacefully ahead of the Olympics in
2012.

The Mayor told The Evening Standard: ‘It’s right that carnival goes ahead so we can show
the world that the overwhelming majority of London’s people are decent, law-abiding
citizens who respect the law, love their city and want to celebrate our vibrant, diverse and
historical culture.

‘The police will be out in force all weekend and their intention, quite rightly, is to be robust
with anyone who does not appreciate that this great event and annual celebration of our
city is a chance to let the true spirit of London shine through. They will not be able to sour
the end of our summer.’

22 boroughs across the capital were affected during the four days of rioting earlier this
month, leaving repair bills totalling tens of millions of pounds.

A cancer sufferer and father-of-three has been fired by Argos after his employers saw complaints about his job on Facebook.

David Rowat was sacked for gross misconduct after posting moans about returning to work following a holiday. Although he didn’t actually mention the store name, his employers were still alerted to the comments.

Mr Rowat intends to appeal against his dismissal and couldn’t believe his treatment after being frogmarch from the Romford store on Tuesday after 13 years of loyal service.

The comments read: “Had a great day back at work after my hols who am I kidding!!” and “Back to the shambles that is work.”

H was informed by his employers that the comments breach the Argos “social networking policy” and that they could “damage the reputation of the company”.

Mr Rowat said: “The store manager told me to be honest and apologise. He said I’d get a telling off but I was sacked and run off the premises like a criminal.”

He added: “I’m the sole breadwinner in my house ¬- my wife had to take early retirement because of ill-health.”

His daughter Tina Jackson said: “He is a sick man and this stress is not going to make him any better – he has served that company loyally and this is how they repay him.”

A spokesman for Argos said: “We take matters of this nature extremely seriously and have arrived at this course of action after an extensive internal investigation that involved multiple factors and events.”

Free Libya supporters gathered outside the Libyan Embassy in Knightsbridge today
following news that Gaddafi’s regime has been ousted from power.

The celebrating Libyans arrived throughout the day to show their support for the rebels by
waving flags and shouting chants such as ‘Freedom’.

Basma El Mesmari, the niece of the head of Libya’s transition government, used to work
for the Libyan Embassy in Lebanon and now works at the embassy in Knightsbridge. The
29 year-old spoke of her joy at the end of Gaddafi’s regime, revealing that last night was
the first time she was able to speak to her family without fear of being monitored. Miss
Mesmari added that she was looking forward to joining her family in her home country as
soon as possible.

She said: ‘I’m so happy because all my family are there and in Libya where there has been
no international calls, no internet, people from my family have died. For six months until
yesterday there has been lots of things happening in Libya.

‘People have been killed and their homes taken.

‘It was the first time in my life I could speak to my family freely. Before if they said
something wrong about Gaddafi someone from Gaddafi’s regime would come to their
house.’

Political leaders and Libyan exiles celebrated across the world as rebel forces made
ground in Tripoli.

Dozens of Libyan residents stormed their country’s embassy in the Turkish capital of
Ankara to set fire to posters of the Gaddafi.

In Malta, around 200 Libyans entered their embassy to fly the tricolour flag of the rebel
forces, after setting fire to pictures of the Libyan leader.

Police were called to Sarajevo, Bosnia, after a group of Libyans forced their way into the
embassy and demanded the resignation of the ambassador. The protestors then threw
Gaddafi’s pictures out of the windows and raised the rebels’ flag.

Despite restaurants prices increasing by 11.1 per cent, London restaurants still offer more for your pound.
Harden’s London Restaurants 2012 guide announced that the cost of an average dinner for two now “bursts the £90 barrier’.

The Harden’s average is hardly the average of the high street consumer but high prices for eating out will not come as a surprise to anyone who’s eaten out in London over the last year. It’s not just restaurants that have felt the effect of increased VAT, consumers would have noticed the increases in utilities bills and general food prices.

There is however a persistent argument of why the prices of dishes served at restaurants seems to be so dramatically higher than the cost of the ingredients. Furthermore, why do guides like Harden’s pander to it?
The reality is that with a little research, cheap eats in London are not hard to find. Guides can not factor in bookings sites that offer substantial discounts and 2-for1 offers that allow the average consumer to eat out more than occasionally.

In their section that looks at notable restaurant openings for the year Harden’s feature Brawn in Bethnal Green, where the average bill will come to a lot less than £45 a head and the Pollen Street Social in Mayfair where the cost is likely to be significantly higher than that. Compared to other parts of the UK and other countries, the sheer choice on offer and unassertive hours means that London still offers plenty of pleasure for your pound.