Dec Marries His Manager - With Ant As Best Man

Declan Donnelly has married his manager Ali Astall at a ceremony in Newcastle - with Ant McPartlin as best man. The TV presenting duo, both 39, were all smiles as they arrived outside St Michael's Church in Elswick, and Dec's brother, Father Dermott Donnelly, led the service. Several famous faces were in the congregation: Vernon Kaye, Philip Schofield, Holly Willoughby and Tess Daly among them. Leigh Francis - better known by his alter ego, Keith Lemon - was also seen arriving at the church in an outlandish suit. Earlier on Saturday, Donnelly tweeted: "Morning! I know I've got to be somewhere today but I can't for the life of me remember where…...

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Family Feud At Memorial For Bobbi Kristina

Tensions between the families of Bobbi Kristina Brown's parents have been aired during a memorial service for the 22-year-old, who died last week. Mourners gathered in Georgia for the funeral service to remember the only child of Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown. But the event, held at St James United Methodist Church, was interrupted by the airing of a long-standing rift between Bobbi Kristina's famous mother and father. Leolah Brown, the sister of Bobby Brown, walked out of the church during the service to speak to reporters. She said she was angry because Pat Houston, the sister-in-law and former manager of Whitney Houston, was addressing the funeral. "I told her that Whitney is going to haunt her from the grave,"...

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AC/DC's Rudd In Court For 'Drinking Alcohol'

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has pleaded not guilty to breaching rules of his home detention sentence by drinking alcohol. A judge in New Zealand allowed the musician to remain at home on bail pending a November hearing on the possible breach. If Rudd is found to be in breach of his conditions he could face further sanctions, including jail time. However, drinking alcohol is likely to be considered a less severe offence. Asked by reporters after the hearing if he was nervous about what lay ahead in the case, Rudd replied: "No, the only thing I'm nervous about is I don't, I don't actually don't know what's going on." Asked how he would be spending time on bail, he responded by saying "Self-improvement," before his lawyer hustled him into...

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Fresh Tube Strike Begins In London Tonight

Londoners are being urged to leave work early this evening – before a fresh Tube strike brings the city's transport network to a halt. Members from four unions begin their walkout at 6.30pm, and services on the Underground are not expected to return to normal until Friday morning, with no services running at all tomorrow. Although 250 extra buses will be laid on, and Overground trains will be running as usual, TfL bosses have warned that all remaining transport links in the capital are likely to be extremely busy. Additional river services between central London, Canary Wharf and Putney are being planned to ease the strain on commuters, while extra bike hire hubs in seven key locations are planned during peak times. The walkout is...

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Snoop Dogg Collared For Carrying Too Much Cash

Rapper Snoop Dogg has had his second brush with the law in a week, this time for trying to board a plane with almost half a million dollars in cash. Snoop was stopped by customs at Italy's Lamezia Terme Airport in Calabria carrying $422,000 (£270,000), well over the legal limit. Travellers are allowed to carry up to €10,000 (roughly £7,000) in undeclared cash across European Union borders. It is thought the 43-year-old was on his way to the UK. The rapper, who played in Calabria on Friday night, is scheduled to perform at the Kendal Calling Festival in the Lake District on Sunday. Italian Police have confirmed that half of the cash was seized under Italian anti-money laundering codes.  The money is usually returned,...

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The Pill Cuts Womb Cancer Cases By 200,000

The Pill has helped to prevent 200,000 cases of womb cancer over the past decade alone, according to Oxford University researchers. For every five years that a woman takes the oral contraceptive, the risk of developing endometrial cancer decreases by 25%. In females who have taken the Pill for 10 years, rates of womb cancer diagnosis in under-75s also fall from 2.3 per 100 to just 1.3. Professors believe the protective effects of the Pill, which includes a dose of oestrogen, last for decades after someone stops taking the contraceptive – with women in their 20s continuing to benefit when they are in their 50s. The study estimates that in the 50 years since oral contraceptives were introduced, about 400,000 cases of womb cancer have...

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Bin Laden Relatives 'Incinerated' In Plane Crash

The bodies of three of Osama bin Laden's relatives were "incinerated" when their private jet nosedived into a car auction site, a coroner has said. The trio - including the former al Qaeda leader's stepmother and her daughter - died along with their Jordanian pilot following the crash in Hampshire on Friday. The Phenom 300 jet was attempting to land at Blackbushe Airport when it fell from the sky - in an incident that has left experts baffled. Andrew Bradley, coroner for North Hampshire, said: "The bodies were incinerated but I cannot tell you any more than that about how they died at this stage." Mr Bradley confirmed the identities of the three bin Laden family members as Raja Bashir Hashem, 75, her daughter Sana...

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Blindness Warning After Illegal Booze Bust

People are being told to keep away from cheap booze after police uncovered an illegal alcohol factory which may have sold counterfeit and potentially "toxic" vodka. Trading Standards urged drinkers to avoid any unusually cheap alcohol, warning it can pose serious heath risks, including blindness. Authorities seized some 130,000 litres of the suspected illegal alcohol from an industrial unit in Widnes, Cheshire, on Friday following an investigation coordinated by Cheshire Police, HM Revenue and Customs and Trading Standards. The haul was worth £1.7m in unpaid duty, HMRC said. Suspected counterfeit vodka labels and bottle tops were also discovered during the raid. It is unclear how many fake bottles may have been sold to the public. Deana Perchard, principal trading standards officer...

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'Godfather' Of Hooligans Banned From Football

A "Godfather" of football hooliganism has been banned from every professional ground for five years. Police say Gilroy Shaw was their "number one target" who had "become almost a Godfather figure" for those who partake in football-related violence. The 47-year-old had a history of starting trouble before "slipping away while his minions throw the punches". Shaw's involvement in football hooliganism dates back 30 years, and in 1988 he received a five-year football ground ban. The Wolverhampton Wanderers fan has been barred from their stadium since 2010. His latest national ban followed a civil action by West Midlands Police. Following the ruling at Birmingham Magistrates Court, Chief Inspector Nick Rowe said: "Shaw is a familiar...

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Police Chiefs Back Calls For Force Mergers

Police chiefs have backed the idea of legislation allowing some of Britain's 43 forces to amalgamate after it emerged budget cuts might leave them with no alternative. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) told Sky News police must make "fundamental changes" to save cash. "Most would agree that fewer forces is the best option, but if the desire is to maintain 43 then forces will need to collaborate more," the NPCC's Chair Sara Thornton said in a statement. That collaboration process would be "helped by there being a new statutory provision that allows forces that want to work together to amalgamate," she said.  The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners estimates that up to £300m could be saved within a few years...

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Gusts Of Wind Blow Ferry Back Onto Moorings

Gale force winds have prevented a passenger ferry from leaving Holyhead, on the Isle of Anglesey. The gusts of wind were so strong that the vessel Jonathan Swift was blown back onto its berth as it tried to leave for Dublin from Holyhead and the 650 passengers had to disembark as a precaution. A spokesman for Irish Ferries said replacement services would take the passengers on to their destination throughout the day. "Just as she was leaving the berth at Holyhead she was caught by a gust of wind and blown back in. She was only yards off the berth and the ropes had been loosened," the spokesman said. A statement on Irish Ferries' website said: "Irish Ferries would like to advise that due to technical problems our HSC fast ferry...

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Police Chiefs Back Calls For Force Mergers

Police chiefs have backed the idea of legislation allowing some of Britain's 43 forces to amalgamate after it emerged budget cuts might leave them with no alternative. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) told Sky News police must make "fundamental changes" to save cash. "Most would agree that fewer forces is the best option, but if the desire is to maintain 43 then forces will need to collaborate more," the NPCC's Chair Sara Thornton said in a statement. That collaboration process would be "helped by there being a new statutory provision that allows forces that want to work together to amalgamate," she said.  The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners estimates that up to £300m could be saved within a few years...

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New Trains Every Two Minutes Promised For Tube

A £760m contract to update the Tube's signalling and controls has been awarded to French engineering giant Thales. Transport for London (TfL) says the upgrades will bring faster, more frequent and more reliable trains to passengers who use the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines. Nick Brown, managing director of London Underground, said: “Having successfully modernised three of the most heavily-used lines on our network, we are ready to begin work to bring the next four lines into the modern era. "This will transform the journeys of millions of our customers, significantly increasing service reliability and frequency."   TfL says the improvements will result in capacity increasing by, on average, a...

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Greek Market Reopens: Shares Fall 23%

The Athens Stock Exchange has plunged 22.87% this morning as markets reopen for the first time in five weeks. It had been closed whilst capital controls have been in place.  The Athex Large Cap Index, which is a subsection of the overall Athens Stock Exchange is currently trading 16% lower at 203.2 points which means that £2.1bn has been wiped off the value of the country's biggest 25 companies.  Over the last five years, as the economic turmoil escalated, the Athex Large Cap Index lost more than 75% of its value. The largest five companies listed in Greece are Coca-Cola Hellenic - the world's second largest Coca-Cola bottler - Hellenic Telecom, National Bank of Greece, Opap - which runs the Greek national...

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