A British woman has paid £1.5 million in a charity auction to fly with the Royal Air Force's aerobatic Red Arrows display jets, the Help for Heroes charity said yesterday. Julie Heselden's winning bid gives her and eight family members or friends the opportunity to fly in the nine famous display Hawk jets after the Royal Air Force put the Red Arrows up for auction for the first time.
Mrs Heselden is married to Jimi Heselden. He owns Hesco Bastion, a company that makes temporary blast walls used widely by British and US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We are speechless," the RAF said in a statement after Mrs Heselden's bid at the Heroes' Ball on Friday, a fundraiser for the HFH charity which provides support for servicemen and women injured in the line of duty. "We know it is a special prize - a once in a lifetime opportunity - but we are all astounded that someone could be so generous," the RAF said.
Diplomat charged with killing daughter
Greek prosecutors have charged a former Japanese ambassador to the Vatican and his wife with the murder of their 36-year-old daughter, police officials said yesterday.
The 77-year-old former diplomat, Masami Tanida, and his Greek wife, 65, were arrested on Saturday after police discovered the body of their daughter in the bathroom at their home on the island of Evia. A coroner's report found the woman had been strangled to death and her wrist slit to make it appear that she took her own life, said the police officials.
The couple deny the murder charge and say their daughter committed suicide. The couple have admitted to rowing with their daughter about the upbringing of their grandchild, police said.
Authorities were alerted after the diplomat's wife appeared at a local hospital on Saturday requesting a death certificate for their daughter, who was only reported missing on Thursday.
Police later searched their home and found the body, the police officials said.
Italian politicians pay homage to fascism
Italy's Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa, speaking at an event marking the anniversary of Rome's resistance to Nazi occupation in 1943, yesterday paid homage to pro-Nazi troops, the second senior conservative in two days to voice sympathy with fascism.
Rome's mayor, former neo-Nazi youth leader Gianni Alemanno, caused controversy on Sunday by saying he "does not and never has" considered fascism to be "absolute evil".
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has faced accusations of racism and fascism since coming to office in May, mostly for its tough stance on illegal immigrants and crime.
Musical taste 'defines personality'
Fans of classical music and jazz are creative, pop lovers are hardworking and, despite the stereotypes, heavy metal listeners are gentle, creative types who are at ease with themselves. So says Adrian North of Scotland's Heriot-Watt University who has been studying the links between people's personalities and their choice of music.
In what Prof. North said was the largest study ever conducted into individuals' musical preference and character, researchers asked 36,518 people from around the world to rate how much they liked 104 different musical styles before taking a personality test.
The study concluded that jazz and classical music fans are creative with good self-esteem, although the former are much more outgoing whereas the latter are shy.
Country and western fans were found to be hardworking and shy; rap fans are outgoing and indie lovers lack self-esteem and are not very gentle. Those who like soul music can take heart as the research concluded they are creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease with themselves and have a high self-esteem.
Japanese PM scores with parting shot
Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was unpopular with voters but T-shirts printed with his huffy parting shot are now a hit.
At a nationally televised news conference where he abruptly announced his resignation last week, Mr Fukuda was criticised by a reporter for not having had his heart in his job.
"I can see myself objectively. I'm not like you," he snapped back. The flash of anger took many voters by surprise because Mr Fukuda had kept his testy temperament under wraps as leader. The comment, the talk of tnternet chat rooms, has spawned T-shirts, mugs and even baby romper suits printed with the words: "I'm not like you".