1 Those of us who want to get married on the beach may soon not need the services of an airline to make that dream come true. On Tuesday it was reported that Bournemouth is to become the first British town to build a beach hut with a licence to conduct weddings. Tourism chiefs are applying for planning permission to put up a cream-coloured structure to serve as a “chapel” for brides and grooms.
Mark Smith, head of the resort’s tourism department, said: “With the increasing cost of foreign travel, it’s a good time to introduce our very own ‘UK weddings on the beach’ offer.”
In the event of rain, local hotels will be provided as alternative venues.
2 Recycled cardboard in food packaging can cause cancer. A study in Switzerland has found that newspaper printing inks contain mineral oils that are toxic. Used in recycled packaging, they can leach into foods — even passing through protective inner plastic bags.
Swiss researchers who analysed 119 products bought from German supermarkets last year found that about 90 products exceeded safe limits on mineral oils, most by more than 10 times.
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The cereal firm Jordans announced last Tuesday that it had stopped using recycled cardboard while Kellogg’s and Weetabix say they are taking steps to reduce the risk to human health.
3 The British spend longer in the kitchen than the French. Despite their reputation as a gastro-nation, the French are outclassed when it comes to making home-cooked meals. Three out of four Britons usually cook a meal every day, while only two-thirds of our friends across the Channel can make the same claim, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The findings may go some way to dispelling the Gallic perception of Britain’s cuisine, summed up by the former French president Jacques Chirac at a European summit in 2005: “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad.”
4 The wealth of the world’s richest man jumped by 38% last year. Carlos Slim’s fortune is now estimated at $74 billion (£46 billion); the Mexican telecoms tycoon topped the Forbes rich list for the second year in a row, beating Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
According to the list, the number of billionaires increased by 214 to a record 1,210, with an average net worth of $3.7 billion. For the first time in more than a decade the number of billionaires in Asia (332) outstripped Europe (300), while America continued to have the most, with 413. The number of billionaires in Britain climbed to 32 with the Duke of Westminster again named Britain’s richest man.
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