Average Briton only has three true friends

October 1st, 2009 LONDON - An average British person spends 30 hours online every week, according to a new survey. The study says 93 percent shop and 82 percent manage their finances using the Internet.

September 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 12-year-old Chinese boy has found himself three very unusual friends - wild birds. Wu Rongtao brought them to his house in Lianyuan, Hunan province, after he found them injured and lying under a tree three months ago, reports the China Daily.

September 4th, 2009 LONDON - British drinkers splash out an average of 39,480 pounds buying rounds for their friends over a lifetime, according to a new survey. The study involving 4000 Britons adults revealed that they spend around 840 pounds a year on drinks for their friends, partners and work colleagues.

September 1st, 2009 Train from Prague carries kids who escaped NazisPRAGUE — A vintage train carrying people who escaped the holocaust as children is steaming from Prague to London to mark the 70th anniversary of mass evacuations of children from Czechoslovakia. Sir Nicholas Winton, a Briton, arranged eight trains to carry 669 mostly Jewish children through Germany to Britain at the outbreak of World War II to prevent them from being sent to Nazi concentration camps.

July 13th, 2009 Friends Provident rejects takeover offerLONDON — British insurance and pensions provider Friends Provident PLC said Monday that it had rejected a 1.7 billion pound ($2.7 billion) takeover offer from buyout company Resolution Ltd. Friends Provident said the proposed offer of 0.8 new Resolution shares for every Friends Provident share was "wholly inadequate." It also said Resolution's governance structure would offer "less transparency" than its shareholders were used to "and a structure significantly different from recognized public company best practice." Resolution said it was considering making another offer.

June 21st, 2009 LONDON - A recent study shows that we use two separate processes to determine the subtle differences between true and false in our daily lives as opposed to previous views that true and false statements are both processed in the left inferior frontal cortex. According to researchers from the Universities of Lisbon and Vita-Salute, Milan, determining whether a statement is true involves memory and deciding whether one is false relies on reasoning and problem-solving processes.

June 3rd, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka is reportedly hampering international relief efforts by forcing dozens of British and other foreign aid workers to leave the country because it considers them sympathetic to the defeated Tamil Tigers, The Times has learnt. Aid organizations say the policy is costing them tens of thousands of pounds of donors' money as they struggle to help 280,000 Tamil civilians in internment camps.

April 21st, 2009 LONDON - Former Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell's dream of making movies will come true with the help of Virgin Media. Halliwell said she wanted to give up music and go into movies as she is really passionate about 'story-telling'.

April 12th, 2009 LONDON - Kerry Katona's hubby Mark says his 'worst nightmare has come true', for his mother-in-law is moving in with them full time. Kerry's mum Sue is shifting because she's being kicked out of the home that was originally bought for her by her daughter.

April 7th, 2009 LONDON - Grieving widower of reality TV star Jade Goody wants to be buried next to her when he dies so that the couple can lie together forever. The family has bought a double plot in the tranquil churchyard where the 'Big Brother' star was laid to rest so that Jack Tweed's wish can come true, thesun.co.uk reported.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - A new study has debunked the myth that women are the ones who love to gossip, for it has been found that men are bigger tittle-tattlers than ladies. A poll of 5,000 people by research company www.onepoll.com has revealed that blokes spend an average 76 minutes a day rumour-mongering with pals and colleagues while women do it for just 52 minutes.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - Popstar Lily Allen has revealed that she didn't have a single friend in school, and thus the feeling of not having any pals goaded her to make huge number of internet pals. The 'Not Big' hitmaker revealed that she went on to make the most number of "friends" on the MySpace networking site than anyone else in Britain.

March 25th, 2009 LONDON - If you're one of those who live by the motto "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", then chances are that your life will be full of miseries, a new study has found. According to the study, published in the Economic Journal, people who apply a "tit-for-tat" attitude to life are more likely to be unemployed, have a smaller circle of friends and be less happy.

March 24th, 2009 LONDON - A new report has indicated that the greenhouse gas emissions of large cities are far below those of rural areas, which means city dwellers harm climate less. According to a report in New Scientist, David Dodman at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, who led the study, said previous claims that cities contribute disproportionately to global climate change are unfounded.

January 5th, 2009 LONDON - Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan has lashed out at reporters who insist that she has split from her DJ girlfriend Samantha Ronson. Speculations were rife suggesting that Lohan, 22, broke up with her lesbian lover, Ronson, 31, after a fierce fight Monday, reports contactmusic.com.