Asda employees turned their hands to midwifery when a woman gave birth in the supermarket.

Three staff members at a store in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, UK, heard a woman in distress in the customer toilets at around 1 a.m. on Thursday. It turned out that a mother-to-be had gone into labour and was in urgent need of medical attention to help deliver her baby.

The three staff members, Les Hepworth, Corrine Armitage and Karen Booth, helped the woman and got towels and pillows from the aisles to make her comfortable. An ambulance was called but it seemed the baby's head and shoulders were already showing.

Mr Hepworth, a trained first-aider but who had no idea how to deliver a baby, was guided through the delivery by paramedics over the phone. The newborn baby boy arrived just as the ambulance pulled up outside the store and both he and mum are healthy, an Asda spokesman said.

The store will be sending the new mum a bumper pack of nappy essentials. (PA)

Death on the Nile

A British holidaymaker died yesterday when a sailing boat capsized on the Nile as atrocious weather swept across the Middle East.

The man, named by local media as Luke Day, was on a cruise with his wife and two other tourists, from India and Canada, when their vessel overturned in heavy wind and rain at Aswan in southern Egypt. The other three tourists in the boat survived.

At least six other people were also killed as the torrential rain sparked flash floods in Egypt and Israel.

The bad weather caused power failures in several areas of the historic Egyptian city of Luxor, disrupting Nile cruises and ferry timetables.

Flooding brought down electricity cables and phone lines in the cities of Sharm el-Sheik and al-Tor, and the rain damaged the roof of Sharm el-Sheik's airport.

Five Egyptian Red Sea ports were closed because of the stormy seas and poor visibility. (PA)

Big Brother models strip off

Celebrity Big Brother babes Ivana Trump and Nicola Tappenden stripped down to their underwear for the show's latest task.

Big Brother housemates got creative with a life drawing class.

The pair, who were nominated by their fellow housemates to be models, wore nude-coloured underwear as they posed.

The budding artists were given easels and pencils to draw their subjects.

Ms Trump and Ms Tappenden will both receive a reward for their participation as models. The "artwork" will be judged and the housemate with the winning picture will also receive a special treat. (PA)

Commuting cat killed by car

A cat who won worldwide fame for cadging free bus rides has died after being struck by a car.

Casper the cat, who was a familiar figure on public transport in Plymouth, Devon, is thought to have been the victim of a hit and run incident.

A notice has gone up at Casper's bus stop announcing his death.

The sad letter reads: "Many local people knew Casper, who loved everyone - he also enjoyed the bus journeys. Sadly a motorist hit him... and did not stop."

His owner, Sue Finden only found out about his passion for travel when he followed her onto a bus. The driver told her he frequently hopped up the steps to hitch a lift.

Drivers got used to letting Casper, of Poole Park Road, off at the correct stop. (PA)

Eco-bus adventurer freed

A London-based environmentalist driving a biofuel-powered bus around the world was freed on bail by a judge in India yesterday after being arrested for illegally using a satellite telephone.

Andy Pag's lawyer Prateek Kasliwal said the court in Ajmer released him on condition he put up a personal guarantee of 40,000 rupees ($900).

"Justice P.K. Aggarwal released him on bail after he told the court he was unaware of Indian laws which prohibited the use of satellite telephones without a permit," Mr Kasliwal said.

The judge said police had failed to provide evidence that Mr Pag posed a threat to Indian security.

Mr Pag, 35, who left London in his biofuel bus in September, was arrested in Pushkar after Indian army radar detected the signals from his satellite telephone.

The campaigner who converted his vehicle to run on vegetable oil hopes to raise awareness of alternative fuels as he tours the globe. (AFP)

Sparse religious output from BBC

The BBC is to come under attack over its coverage of religious and ethical issues in a debate at the General Synod of the Church of England.

Former BBC senior local radio producer Nigel Holmes will call upon the BBC and broadcasting watchdog Ofcom to "explain" why British TV - once "exemplary" in its coverage of religious and ethical issues - now allegedly "marginalises" the few that remain.

Mr Holmes said the past 20 years show there has been a reduction in religious TV output from 177 hours to 155 hours a year. (PA)