Congolese diplomatic staff have taken refuge at the Democratic Republic of Congo's embassy in London after the electricity to staff housing was cut.
A member of the mission told the BBC that the power supply was interrupted because the bill had not been paid.
The BBC's Jonny Hogg says those taking refuge, including three families, are upset at a lack of management.
Electricity bills and even salaries have not been paid on a regular basis, he was told.
It appears that those in charge of finances for the embassy have not been coming through with the money, he says.
Staff are storing their belongings including fridges and televisions in the embassy building's reception, near the visa collection point.
At least 15 people moved out of their homes on Thursday after the power cut.
The ambassador is currently in the DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa, and said the problems of mismanagement dated to before her appointment.
She said she was trying to resolve the problem with the government, and that she hopes to return to the UK soon. A member of staff had said earlier that no-one was authorised to pay the electricity bill in the ambassador's absence.
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Friday, 24 October 2008
Husband seeks divorce as wife loses Rs 30L in market
AHMEDABAD: The bloodbath in the stock market has not only led people to lose everything, it has also exposed cracks in relationships. A woman in Ahm
edabad is in distress after her husband is talking of deserting her as she lost over Rs 30 lakh in the market in recent times. "I am a 34-year old housewife. I am married for the last ten years and have one daughter. In my free time, I have been trading online in stocks and earned quite a lot. But recently in this bearish trend, my stocks are not doing well and I have run into losses to the tune of Rs 12 lakh.” “I suppose, everyone who is into stock-trading is sailing in the same boat. But my husband is not ready to take this fact. He says that he is not going to support this loss. In fact, when I was making money in the market, he was enjoying its fruits and now when I'm passing through a bad market phase, he has washed his hands off. He is also saying that he would prefer to divorce me than shoulder my losses. It is a question of patience but he does not seems to be supportive at all. Please guide me on what to do?" This woman apparently poured her heart out on a website launched by city-based psychiatrist Dr Hansal Bhachech for free counselling, claimed to be the first of its kind in the country. She has sought help in this situation where she has not only lost money but is also struggling to keep her marriage. "Many women who have taken to stocks are now facing twin problems - how to cut down their losses and cut flak from their respective families for losing their money," says Dr Bhachech
edabad is in distress after her husband is talking of deserting her as she lost over Rs 30 lakh in the market in recent times. "I am a 34-year old housewife. I am married for the last ten years and have one daughter. In my free time, I have been trading online in stocks and earned quite a lot. But recently in this bearish trend, my stocks are not doing well and I have run into losses to the tune of Rs 12 lakh.” “I suppose, everyone who is into stock-trading is sailing in the same boat. But my husband is not ready to take this fact. He says that he is not going to support this loss. In fact, when I was making money in the market, he was enjoying its fruits and now when I'm passing through a bad market phase, he has washed his hands off. He is also saying that he would prefer to divorce me than shoulder my losses. It is a question of patience but he does not seems to be supportive at all. Please guide me on what to do?" This woman apparently poured her heart out on a website launched by city-based psychiatrist Dr Hansal Bhachech for free counselling, claimed to be the first of its kind in the country. She has sought help in this situation where she has not only lost money but is also struggling to keep her marriage. "Many women who have taken to stocks are now facing twin problems - how to cut down their losses and cut flak from their respective families for losing their money," says Dr Bhachech
Gordon Ramsay becomes highest earning chef in the WORLD as he rakes in £15m in a year
Gordon Ramsay has grabbed the title of the world's highest earning chef with an income of up to £15 million a year.
The global success of his television shows means he is commanding $250,000 (£157,000) an episode to make the American versions of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares.
Other broadcasting and book contracts, as well as endorsements for products such as Gordon's Gin, will swell the multi-Michelin-starred restaurateur's earnings outside the kitchen to between £12 million and £15 million this year, the London Evening Standard newspaper has found.
This puts the 41-year-old behind only a handful of pop superstars and his close friend David Beckham.
In an exclusive interview, his business partner and father-in-law Chris Hutcheson said revenue from the Gordon Ramsay empire is set to hit £100 million by 2010 in defiance of the economic slowdown.
He added: 'Next year will be stunning for us because everything is firing on all cylinders.'
Gordon Ramsay Holdings now runs 25 restaurants and pubs in London, America, Europe and Asia with plans for up to four more by 2010.
Apart from a slump in takings at The Narrow, his pub in Docklands, and a five per cent drop in private dining bookings, the restaurants are riding out the economic turmoil, Mr Hutcheson said.
But it is Ramsay's breakthrough in America through his deals with broadcaster Fox that has sent his earning potential into the stratosphere.
Hell's Kitchen USA was commissioned for its sixth and seventh series last month and US Kitchen Nightmares is in its third season.
In an extraordinarily frank disclosure of his son-in-law's finances, Mr Hutcheson revealed that Ramsay:
Makes £2 million a year from his Channel 4 contract - a £1 million retainer and £1 million from individual appearances. The contract extends to 2011.
Earns around £1 million per book and is contracted to write two a year, including the latest Cooking for Friends. A book on pubs is due in March.
Makes 60 per cent of his non-restaurant earnings from America.
Has this year insured his life at Lloyd's for £25 million to protect the business and his family.
Long awaited accounts for Gordon Ramsay Holdings filed with Companies House today show that turnover from British restaurants alone grew 21 per cent to £38.1 million in the year to the end of August 2006. The business made an £816,717 pre-tax profit.
Enlarge
But Mr Hutcheson, who owns 31 per cent of Gordon Ramsay Holdings and is entitled to a cut of the TV and book revenues, said turnover grew strongly again in 2007 to reach £46 million with profits of £3.6 million.
On top of that, the restaurants in New York, Florida and Los Angeles are generating $40 million (£25 million) a year - now boosted by the strengthening dollar. Total income for all the restaurants, the TV shows and other Ramsay earnings will be more than £80 million this year.
But the reopening of the Savoy Grill and the relocated Petrus in 2009 combined with new restaurants in Doha, in Qatar, and Melbourne will push this over the £100 million mark in two years, he said.
The single highest earning London restaurant is Maze in Grosvenor Square with a turnover of more than £10 million, putting it on a par with The Wolseley. Claridges is most profitable, generating £2 million a year.
Mr Hutcheson met Ramsay - who features in a live 'cookalong' on Channel 4 tonight - 16 ago when the chef started going out with his daughter Tana.
He said: 'Yes, the banks are cancelling some of their private dining, but there you are. We have to cut back as well. It is a good, profitable part of the business.'
He added there was still scope to grow: 'The first £100 million is the hardest bit. It's the hundreds of millions that come after that that will be more interesting.'
The global success of his television shows means he is commanding $250,000 (£157,000) an episode to make the American versions of Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares.
Other broadcasting and book contracts, as well as endorsements for products such as Gordon's Gin, will swell the multi-Michelin-starred restaurateur's earnings outside the kitchen to between £12 million and £15 million this year, the London Evening Standard newspaper has found.
This puts the 41-year-old behind only a handful of pop superstars and his close friend David Beckham.
In an exclusive interview, his business partner and father-in-law Chris Hutcheson said revenue from the Gordon Ramsay empire is set to hit £100 million by 2010 in defiance of the economic slowdown.
He added: 'Next year will be stunning for us because everything is firing on all cylinders.'
Gordon Ramsay Holdings now runs 25 restaurants and pubs in London, America, Europe and Asia with plans for up to four more by 2010.
Apart from a slump in takings at The Narrow, his pub in Docklands, and a five per cent drop in private dining bookings, the restaurants are riding out the economic turmoil, Mr Hutcheson said.
But it is Ramsay's breakthrough in America through his deals with broadcaster Fox that has sent his earning potential into the stratosphere.
Hell's Kitchen USA was commissioned for its sixth and seventh series last month and US Kitchen Nightmares is in its third season.
In an extraordinarily frank disclosure of his son-in-law's finances, Mr Hutcheson revealed that Ramsay:
Makes £2 million a year from his Channel 4 contract - a £1 million retainer and £1 million from individual appearances. The contract extends to 2011.
Earns around £1 million per book and is contracted to write two a year, including the latest Cooking for Friends. A book on pubs is due in March.
Makes 60 per cent of his non-restaurant earnings from America.
Has this year insured his life at Lloyd's for £25 million to protect the business and his family.
Long awaited accounts for Gordon Ramsay Holdings filed with Companies House today show that turnover from British restaurants alone grew 21 per cent to £38.1 million in the year to the end of August 2006. The business made an £816,717 pre-tax profit.
Enlarge
But Mr Hutcheson, who owns 31 per cent of Gordon Ramsay Holdings and is entitled to a cut of the TV and book revenues, said turnover grew strongly again in 2007 to reach £46 million with profits of £3.6 million.
On top of that, the restaurants in New York, Florida and Los Angeles are generating $40 million (£25 million) a year - now boosted by the strengthening dollar. Total income for all the restaurants, the TV shows and other Ramsay earnings will be more than £80 million this year.
But the reopening of the Savoy Grill and the relocated Petrus in 2009 combined with new restaurants in Doha, in Qatar, and Melbourne will push this over the £100 million mark in two years, he said.
The single highest earning London restaurant is Maze in Grosvenor Square with a turnover of more than £10 million, putting it on a par with The Wolseley. Claridges is most profitable, generating £2 million a year.
Mr Hutcheson met Ramsay - who features in a live 'cookalong' on Channel 4 tonight - 16 ago when the chef started going out with his daughter Tana.
He said: 'Yes, the banks are cancelling some of their private dining, but there you are. We have to cut back as well. It is a good, profitable part of the business.'
He added there was still scope to grow: 'The first £100 million is the hardest bit. It's the hundreds of millions that come after that that will be more interesting.'
Speed of eating 'key to obesity'
Speed of eating 'key to obesity'
Slow down!
Wolfing down meals may be enough to nearly double a person's risk of being overweight, Japanese research suggests.
Osaka University scientists looked at the eating habits of 3,000 people and reported their findings in the British Medical Journal.
Problems in signalling systems which tell the body when to stop eating may be partly responsible, said a UK nutrition expert.
He said deliberately slowing down at mealtimes might impact on weight.
The old wives' tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact
Professor Ian McDonaldNottingham University
The latest study looked at the relationship between eating speed, feelings of "fullness" and being overweight.
Just under half of the 3,000 volunteers told researchers they tended to eat quickly.
Compared with those who did not eat quickly, fast-eating men were 84% more likely to be overweight, and women were just over twice as likely.
Those, who, in addition to wolfing down their meals, tended to eat until they felt full, were more than three times more likely to be overweight.
Stomach signals
Professor Ian McDonald, from the University of Nottingham, said that there were a number of reasons why eating fast could be bad for your weight.
He said it could interfere with a signalling system which tells your brain to stop eating because your stomach is swelling up.
He said: "If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing - you can overfill the thing."
He said that rushing meals was a behaviour that might have been learned in infancy, and could be reversed, although this might not be easy.
"The old wives' tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact."
'Biological imperative
In an accompanying editorial, Australian researchers Dr Elizabeth Denney-Wilson and Dr Karen Campbell, said that a mechanism that helps make us fat today may, until relatively recently, have been an evolutionary advantage, helping us grab more food when resources were scarce.
They said that, if possible, children should be encouraged to eat slowly, and allowed to stop when they felt full up at mealtimes.
Dr Jason Halford, Director of the Kissileff Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory at the University of Liverpool, said that the way we eat was slowly being seen as a key area in obesity research, especially since the publication of studies highlighting a genetic variant linked to "feelings of fullness".
His own work, recently published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that anti-obesity drug sibutramine worked by slowing down the rate at which obese patients ate.
He said: "What the Japanese research shows is that individual differences in eating behaviour underlie over-consumption of food and are linked to obesity.
"Other research has found evidence of this in childhood, suggesting that it could be inherited or learned at a very early age."
He said that there was no evidence yet that trying to slow down mealtimes for children would have an impact on future obesity rates.
Slow down!
Wolfing down meals may be enough to nearly double a person's risk of being overweight, Japanese research suggests.
Osaka University scientists looked at the eating habits of 3,000 people and reported their findings in the British Medical Journal.
Problems in signalling systems which tell the body when to stop eating may be partly responsible, said a UK nutrition expert.
He said deliberately slowing down at mealtimes might impact on weight.
The old wives' tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact
Professor Ian McDonaldNottingham University
The latest study looked at the relationship between eating speed, feelings of "fullness" and being overweight.
Just under half of the 3,000 volunteers told researchers they tended to eat quickly.
Compared with those who did not eat quickly, fast-eating men were 84% more likely to be overweight, and women were just over twice as likely.
Those, who, in addition to wolfing down their meals, tended to eat until they felt full, were more than three times more likely to be overweight.
Stomach signals
Professor Ian McDonald, from the University of Nottingham, said that there were a number of reasons why eating fast could be bad for your weight.
He said it could interfere with a signalling system which tells your brain to stop eating because your stomach is swelling up.
He said: "If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before your gastric feedback has a chance to start developing - you can overfill the thing."
He said that rushing meals was a behaviour that might have been learned in infancy, and could be reversed, although this might not be easy.
"The old wives' tale about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you did take a bit more time eating, it could have an impact."
'Biological imperative
In an accompanying editorial, Australian researchers Dr Elizabeth Denney-Wilson and Dr Karen Campbell, said that a mechanism that helps make us fat today may, until relatively recently, have been an evolutionary advantage, helping us grab more food when resources were scarce.
They said that, if possible, children should be encouraged to eat slowly, and allowed to stop when they felt full up at mealtimes.
Dr Jason Halford, Director of the Kissileff Human Ingestive Behaviour Laboratory at the University of Liverpool, said that the way we eat was slowly being seen as a key area in obesity research, especially since the publication of studies highlighting a genetic variant linked to "feelings of fullness".
His own work, recently published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found that anti-obesity drug sibutramine worked by slowing down the rate at which obese patients ate.
He said: "What the Japanese research shows is that individual differences in eating behaviour underlie over-consumption of food and are linked to obesity.
"Other research has found evidence of this in childhood, suggesting that it could be inherited or learned at a very early age."
He said that there was no evidence yet that trying to slow down mealtimes for children would have an impact on future obesity rates.
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Kenya seeks big airport for Obama
Nairobi (XOL)- Kenyan MPs have called for an airport in the west of the country to be upgraded for Air Force One in case Barack Obama wins the US elections.
Mr Obama's father was born in Nyanza Province and the MPs say the local Kisumu airport should be expanded in case he wants to visit.
The Illinois senator is a local hero in his father's homeland, where a local beer has been named after him.
Mr Obama has never lived in Kenya and he has visited just three times.
The MPs from Nyanza Province said it was clear that Mr Obama was going to clinch the US presidency, the private Nairobi Star newspaper reported.
Mr Obama will face Republican John McCain in the 4 November elections.
Mr Obama's father was from Alego-Kogello village which is 60km (37 miles) from Kisumu.
Kisumu Town MP Aluoch Olago told parliament that the delay in the airport's expansion was a major concern, the Nairobi Star reported.
Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere said the airport's expansion programme was behind schedule, and is expected to be complete by July 2010.
Mr Obama's father was born in Nyanza Province and the MPs say the local Kisumu airport should be expanded in case he wants to visit.
The Illinois senator is a local hero in his father's homeland, where a local beer has been named after him.
Mr Obama has never lived in Kenya and he has visited just three times.
The MPs from Nyanza Province said it was clear that Mr Obama was going to clinch the US presidency, the private Nairobi Star newspaper reported.
Mr Obama will face Republican John McCain in the 4 November elections.
Mr Obama's father was from Alego-Kogello village which is 60km (37 miles) from Kisumu.
Kisumu Town MP Aluoch Olago told parliament that the delay in the airport's expansion was a major concern, the Nairobi Star reported.
Transport Minister Chirau Mwakwere said the airport's expansion programme was behind schedule, and is expected to be complete by July 2010.
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