World Briefs

Half of mothers lose sleep because they stay awake at night worrying about their career, according to a new study published yesterday.

Recruitment firm Women Like Us said it had noticed a growing trend of women registering with the company in the middle of the night. The survey of 1,500 women found that just over half were being kept awake at night by work worries, including concerns about balancing careers with family life.

One in 10 said they started worrying about returning to work when they were pregnant.

Average London salary

Average pay in the City of London has jumped by 12 per cent to £83,000 in the last year, a new report said yesterday. A study by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden showed that pay rose more in the first half of the year when confidence among banks was high. The biggest average pay increases were for City workers who changed jobs (up 20 per cent) or were promoted (up 15 per cent). Staff who stayed with their employer and were not promoted saw pay increase by eight per cent.

Einstein’s grey matter

A medical museum in Philadelphia has some pieces of Albert Einstein’s brain on display.

Lucy Rorke-Adams donated 46 slides of Einstein’s grey matter on Thursday to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians.

The 82-year-old doctor neuropathologist has worked at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for 47 years. She said she wanted to make sure the slides were safely in a museum. A colleague gave her the slides in the mid-1970s.

Disabled actors honoured

People who have fought back against disability were among those honoured at an awards ceremony yesterday celebrating diversity in the media.

Blind actor Ryan Kelly, who plays Jazzer in the long-running soap The Archers, was one of those recognised at the Ability Media International awards, created by Leonard Cheshire Ability.

Other awards went to disabled actress Cherylee Houston, who plays Izzy in Coronation Street, and Katie Piper, for My Beautiful Friends.

The series features Ms Piper, the victim of an acid attack, meeting people who have been disfigured, disabled or physically altered as a result of illness, injury, assault, accident or surgery.

Limes classified as a weapon

A catering chef was almost banned from buying two limes – because he was told they could be classed as a weapon.

Marisa Zoccolan, 31, called into the Asda supermarket close to her home in Wallsend, North Tyneside, for groceries and a couple of the offending fruits. But when the self-employed chef tried to pay for them at the self-service checkout, the message “amount exceeded, authorisation required” flashed up. An assistant told her that more than one lime was deemed a weapon – because the citric acid could be squirted in someone’s eye.

Asda said it had been the victim of a staff member’s sense of humour, and a problem with the till’s electronic scanner.