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London Diary

London in new tourist record



A RECORD 16 million overseas tourists visited London last year, boosting the capital's economy by £8.7bn, according to the Office of National Statistics, The number of overseas visitors rose by 3.6 per cent on 2006, The total number of visitors exceeded 26 million.

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A record 165.000 foreigners were handed UK citizenship last year- a seven per cent rise, It is four times the number of a decade ago. A third were Africans, with nearly a quarter from India, Pakistan and other parts of Asia. More than 10,000 Afghans became citizens, a hike of 2.11 per cent. There were 6.500 asylum applications in the first quarter of 2008 , a 16 per cent rise on 2007. But the number of failed asylum seekers kicked out in that time fell 13 per cent to 2.805. Some 845,000, Eastern Europeans have registered to work here over the last four years , Non UK-born workers now total 3.7 million, or one in eight of the workforce. But the number of East European families getting child benefits has just topped 100,000. The number of British passport given to migrants reached a record high last year--with one awarded every three minutes. Some 164,635 applications were rubber-stamped in 2007, despite the Government's attempts to make the process tougher. It means the total number of passport awarded to foreigners since 1997 has now reached 1.2 million. The percentage of applications refused --9 per cent - is now lower than in 2005 when it stood at 11 per cent. Just 2,365 people were turned down last year for having an "insufficient knowledge of English.." BRITS STAY AT HOME The British seaside is set to boom this summer as the credit crunch forces people to stay home. A massive 39 per cent more holidaymakers are looking at a UK break compared with last year. And enquiries about buying Tents are up by 15 per cent, a survey by website Kelkoo found. DEATH BY DEGEES A UK university became the first to offer a degree in FUNERALS. The University of Bath will run a two-year foundation course covering skills like beravement counselling, law customer service and disposal of remains A spokeswoman said it offers perspective on "death, dying and loss" Meanwhile City College in Brighton, Sussex, is running a degree in street performance including Juggling mime and fire eating. GRIEF CAN KILL LOVERS. Husbands are SIX times more likely to die in the first 12 months after their wife passes away than at any other time, a study suggests. And a widow's risk rises two fold during the same period, the analysis of 11,454 life annuity policies has found. But the chances of survival rises after a year of mourning, said London's Cass Business School. Report author Dr. Jaap Spreeuw said.."People do die of a broken heart.." MONEY TO BURN SMOKERS spend a whopping £ 102,695 on cigarettes during their lifetime. The average smoker puffs away on 17 cigarettes a day -a total of 386,750 over an adult lifetime- and spends £ 31,66 a week on #. And new research from insurance firm Norwich Union reveals almost half of smokers still puff away at the same rate as before the smoking ban last July. At the same time an anti-smoking pill taken by thousands of Brits has been linked to 37 suicides. Fears about Champix began last year when seven suicides were reported in Britain. That figure is now 11, with 26 more in the US. Experts said a link with physchiatric problems was looking "increasingly likely"Bu t makers Pfizer said no direct link had been officially established. ARE WE SUFFERING OF NOMOBPHOBIA? MILLIONS of Brits are suffering nomobphobia--the fear of being without their mobile phone. The humble gadget has become so vital that discovering the battery has run down or misplacing the phone send stress levels soaring. Research found that more than 13 million Britons fear being out of mobile phone contact. The term nomobphobia ( no mobile phobia) applies to users who worry about being out of mobile phone contact. Keeping in touch with friends or family is the primary reason people are wedded to their mobile, with more than one in two citing this as a reason for never switching off their phone. One in ten who never switch off said they needed to be contactable at all times for work and 9% said that having their phone switched off made them anxious.. The Post Office questioned more than 2,100 people about their mobile habits. Their telecom eexpert Stewart Fox Mills said.."Being phoneless can bring on a panicky symptom in our 24/7 culture.. " A mobile service that lets you track your pals' where abouts is launched this week. The Social Network Integrated Friend Finder (Sniff) uses phone signals to locate people, with each "sniff" costing 50p. It is accessed through the Facebook website and all major mobile networks. Useful Networks, which created the system said.."I's easy, fun and it works...." DESK JOBS CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH DESK jobs can damage your health a study claims. Too much time sitting at work may double the risk of blood clots in the legs or lungs and could be a bigger threat than long-haul flights, according to research at Wellington Hospital in New Zealand. Staff should do leg and foot exercises and take screen breaks, The study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, involved 201 adults. Now British workers take shorter lunch breaks than anyone else in Europe, a survey reveals. Almost half gobble down a sandwhich in 30 minutes or less. That compares with two-hours midday breaks in Spain and a full hour for 60 per cent of German workers. The survey for soft drink maker Orangina showed only 23 per cent of Brits took a full hour. Brand manager Eric Folliott said.."We already knew Britons worked far longer hours. Now it seems we're missing out at lunchtime tpp." BRITAIN'S COST IN IRAQ WAR THE cost of Britain's involvement in the Iraq war is to rocket to more than £6.5 billion. Combat and peace keeping operations since the March 2003 invasion have already reached £5 billion the Government revealed last week. And a further £1,6 billion needed to keep a presence in Iraq is due to be voted on in Parliament. The news will infuriate taxpayers who believe the cash could be better spent on hospitals and schools. OLYMPIC BILL SOARS TO £12 BILLION THE LONDON Olympics could cost £12 Billion three times more than originally predicted. It soared from £4 billion to £9.3 billion but a Commons report unearthed further bills 0f £3 billion They include £2 billion for "staging costs "-- like hiring venues such as Wimbledon and Wembley and paying off staff --plus the £650 million cost of buying the Olympic Park land, says the Public Accounts committee, Olympics minister Tessa Jewell said.."We are financially on track.." ROYALS TO GET SEX EQUALITY THE Royal Family is to get sex equality. The 300-year-old law forcing a monarch's daughter to let her younger brother take over the throne will be abolished. Solicitor General Vera Baird said the 1701 Act of Settlement was " a load of rubbish..- we have to integrate the Royal Family as far as possible into the human race --" She also wants to end the ban on the heir marrying a Catholic . But it could be difficult - Labour MP Andrew Macinlay, who has campaigned for the changes, said another law says parliaments in every country where the Queen is head of state must back it. MONEY WORRIES Nearly one in five Britons worries about money every day while 30 per cent feel anxious about it several times a week., according to Alliance & Leicester. Just under half of people said they felt worried when they had to pay bills, while more than a third 37 per cent admitted they were so worried about their finances they avoided checking statements. Three times more people than last year reckon the best place for money is under a mattress, in figures that surfaced last week. Around 11 per cent said it was safer than in a bank in the wake of the Northern Rock crisis. Britons have twice as many credit cards as people in any other country in Western Europe. The average Brit had 1.4 credit cards in their wallet in 2007 -twice that of second place Norway where they have just 0.7 each. Only one in every 16 cards in Germany is a credit card, says market analyst Datamonitor. Britons owed £54.93 billion on cards by the end of last year, according to Bank of England figures. Report author Andrew Fabricius said.."UK consumers enjoy the flexibility of paying over a longer time.." But credit and debit card fraud soared by a quarter to £535 million last year a survey has shown . It was largely due to a £90.5,million increase in Britons plastic used dishonestly abroad. SOUPED UP ROBOT BRITISH scientists have won a £1 million European grant to find out if a robot can safely be employed to stir soup in a kitchen. Prof. Chris Melhuish of Britsol Robotics Lab, said."If the project works we will be a step closer to having service robots in our society. UK No1 FOR TEEN MUMS THE UK still has the highest rate of pregnancy among girls under 18 in Western Europe -- despite being at it lowest level for 20 years. Efforts to cut the number will be stepped up in as a current bid to halve the rate by 2010 is failing. Gerd is a freelance writer living in England. Gerd is the author of “GOODBYE YESTERDAY”


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Guest Column Gerd Treuhaft -- Bio and Archives

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