A British army officer is hoping to top the festive singles charts with a song about spending Christmas away from home in Afghanistan.

Captain Xander Rawlins, who served in the country with the Grenadier Guards, is tipped as a contender for the coveted Christmas number one slot with his song “1,000 Miles Apart”. The video for the single includes footage filmed by the 25-year-old in restive southern Helmand province.

Bookmaker William Hill has offered odds of 25-1 on it reaching the top spot after its release on December 13.

The record faces stiff competition as in recent years the Christmas number one usually goes to the winner of a television talent contest. (AFP)

Easing a hangover…

Two US college graduates are enjoying a marketing bonanza after launching a business offering to help hungover party hosts clean up and recover from the night before.

Hangover Helpers is the brainchild of Marc Simons and Alex Vere-Nicoll, who only launched the service a few weeks ago in the college city of Boulder, in the western state of Colorado.

For $15 per roommate they offer to deliver burritos and sports drink Gatorade to ease aching heads and calm fragile stomachs, while clearing up sticky glasses, empty bottles, stale food and cigarette stubs left by guests.

“We can be called in the middle of the night, during the party, when they realise it’s getting out of hand and they want us to come in the morning,” said Vere-Nicoll, who took one call at 3.15 a.m. (AFP)

Red Sea shark alert

Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after four tourists were attacked by a shark.

The oceanic white tip shark bit the arms off two people and seriously injured another pair in two separate incidents.

The tourists, all Russians, were taking a dip from their Red Sea beachfront hotels when the shark struck, a local conservation worker said.

Director of Sinai Conservation Mohammed Salem said the shark first attacked two people swimming in the Ras Nasrani area.

The same shark was also thought to have been involved in an attack on another Russian couple swimming close to the resort beach, he added.

The shark badly injured a woman’s legs and back, and she had to be resuscitated after her rescue. It also tore the man’s legs. (PA)

Bad grammar school

A school in the UK has been criticised after one of its teachers sent an e-mail to a pupil’s parents containing 14 spelling and grammatical errors.

The message was sent from a form tutor at Gleed Girls’ Technology College in Spalding, Lincolnshire, after the teacher was unable to meet with one pupil’s parents at a parents’ evening. It contained errors such as “role modal” and “attenance”, as well as a number of misplaced apostrophes. (PA)

Boy undergoes sat nav brain operation

Surgeons have operated with electro magnetic sat nav equipment for the first time during brain surgery on a seven-year-old boy. The boy has had the same operation five times since birth, but this time the new Medronic equipment gave extra precision, NHS Lothian said.

The child has spina bifida, a birth defect which causes the incomplete development of the spinal cord, and hydrocephalus, a build up of spinal fluid in the brain that can sometimes be caused by spina bifida. (PA)

Pope’s condom comment

French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a global AIDS ambassador whose own brother died of the virus, said yesterday she was grateful to the Pope for easing the Catholic Church’s condom ban.

“I think it is a fairly enormous step towards something new. I was surprised, touched, and grateful,” said the former model and singer who is a goodwill ambassador for a campaign against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

“A certain number of African countries are Christian and they listen a lot to the words of the pope,” President Nicolas Sar­kozy’s wife told RTL radio in an interview to mark World AIDS Day. (AFP)

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