Families urged to start Christmas shopping now

Badger cull costing more than official figures
London: Care For The Wild, an animal charity, said that the official figures show the pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire cost £6.3 million, equivalent to £3,350 for every badger killed, but the figure did not include the cost of policing. According them the cost would be equivalent of £5,200 for each badger killed. The charity had previously estimated it cost more than £4,000 per badger killed.
Britain's top earners pay more in tax than 9 mn lowest-paid workers
London: Official figures show that the top 3,000 income tax payers in Britain contribute 4.2 per cent of the government revenue from income tax than the 9 million lowest paid workers who contribute less than four per cent to the government kitty in this financial year. Each of the top 3,000 earners declared an income above £2.7 million, the figures from HM Revenue and Customs show. Some 30 million people pay income tax – meaning the contribution from the top 3,000 is the same as the total from around a third of the lowest earners.
Suspected terrorist flees to Syria
London: Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah, a suspected terrorist with close ties to Waltham Forest has fled to Syria with his family despite a travel ban. He was a founding member of
 Islam4UK and is a close associate of Walthamstow-based Islamist cleric, Anjem Choudhary. He was arrested in September on suspicion of encouraging terrorism as part of a probe into the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun, which was led by Choudhary. He was ordered to hand over his passport, but left London on a coach to Paris. It is believed that he is now in Syria with his wife and four children under the Islamic State.
Drinking problem among retired professional women rising
London: Doctors say the drinking problem among retired professional women are rising. One reason for the rise is the online delivery service. Increasing number of female retired professionals have developed drink problems after stepping down from successful careers, mirroring a pattern seen among men, they said. Government figures published last month showed a 65 per cent increase in the number of women over pension age beginning treatment for drink related problems in the last five years in England.
December set to become the wettest month
London: According to the Met Office, a rainy December could make 2014 the wettest year ever recorded in the UK. The 10 months to the end of October were already the second rainiest such period since records began, official statistics show. If November and December see rainfall just one-fifth above historical averages, it would be enough to make 2014 the wettest year overall – beating the record set in 2000.
More British students enrolling in US universities
London: For the first time, more than 10,000 bright British students are studying in the American universities, warning a backlash over the UK’s "narrow and utilitarian" degrees. One reason is the attractive liberal arts degrees and generous scholarships. Figures show the number of students crossing the Atlantic jumped by a record eight per cent in the last academic year following a major recruitment campaign by universities, including leading Ivy League institutions.
One kiss shares 80 million bacteria
Amsterdam: Dutch scientists say that a single 10-second kiss can transfer as many as 80 million bacteria. They monitored the kissing behaviour of 21 couples and found those who kissed nine times a day were most likely to share salivary bugs. Studies suggest the mouth is home to more than 700 different types of bacteria - but the report reveals some are exchanged more easily than others.