By Garry Curtis, author of Incoming! Garry Curtis is a former Royal Marine Commando and one of the UK’s most respected hostile environment consultants whose clients include the BBC war correspondent, John Simpson.  Here Curtis, 49, lifts the lid on one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and how he overcame PTSD. His biography, Incoming! hits the UK shelves this week, and is available to buy on Amazon UK. It looks exciting on the TV, glamorous even. Journalists,...

They say one of the things that inspires a nation's folk-law and fairy tales is the composition of its forests. Germany's Black Forest, known for inspiring Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty, has a slightly dark and sinister feel to them which is reflected in stories by the Brothers Grimm, whereas British forests, which have a mythical feel, inspire tales such as the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings and Robin Hood. The parallel came to mind listening to Jim...

A food bank for pets has been set up to support people who are struggling to feed and care for their animals. Steven Smith, from Banff, Aberdeenshire launched the Aberdeen City and Shire Pet Food Bank -- the second the second of it's kind in Scotland -- in a bid to help families. And as well as helping out individuals, Steven also wants his new organisation to benefit animal rescue centres and shelters in need of extra help. He said:...

A delicacy synonymous with Japanese cuisine, fugu (pufferfish) is highly-prized, but potentially more deadly than cyanide. Each fish has enough tetrodotoxin (one of the world’s most powerful neutrotoxins) to kill 30 adults, so it’s hardly surprising it’s banned across the EU. In Japan, only rigorously trained chefs are licensed to prepare fugu, but the fish has still killed more than 20 Japanese diners since 2000. If improperly prepared, the fish’s tetrodotoxin begins to attack the central nervous system immediately after...

Football legend John McGovern is flogging his treasured Championship winning medals at auction - to help pay for his CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. The former midfielder - who was known as Brian Clough's go-to player - is most famous for captaining the Nottingham Forest side that twice won the European Cup. But now he is selling his 1972 Division One winners medal in order to fund Christmas presents for his friends and family this year. John McGovern The medal, which McGovern won...

The UK will concede that there will be no "regulatory divergence" on the island of Ireland, according to a draft text seen by RTE News. Late last week Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister said he had been in talks with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party on the subject, saying a Brexit deal on the Irish border question is “doable”. The government repeated its demand for an assurance from the UK that there would not be any regulatory divergence between Northern...

There has been a stark warning from Britain’s largest business group about the future of the UK economy. The CBI has said that the UK will face a sluggish period of growth at the same time the global economy will enter a strong and positive economic outlook. The Eurozone will also benefit from a good period of growth. The UK’s GDP is likely to rise 1.5 per cent in 2017 and 2018 and then slowing to 1.3 per cent in...

A company has made a virtually indestructible glove that can survive fire, crushing and CHAINSAWS. Schmitz Mittz have built the tough hand protection to repel extreme heat, pressure and cutting from sharp objects and jagged metal - and electric power saws. Invented by Randy Schmitz, a former Canadian firefighter in Calgary, they are used by fire services across North America to rescue people from burning buildings and wrecked cars. Videos on the company's website showed the gloves being inflated in...

Hundreds of thousands more children and pensioners have been plunged into poverty over the last four years. A devastating report has today revealed some 400,000 more youngsters and 300,000 more elderly people are now living in poverty compared to 2012/13. The results track the period in which the Conservative's austerity cuts were implemented, highlighting the ruinous impact they have had on British society. Joseph Rowntree Foundation chief executive Campbell Robb said: “These worrying figures suggest that we are at a turning...