Bean farming entails a lot of labour. 'I help the community as most of the workers who work for me are from the local community. It helps me and it helps the memebers of the community that work for me. There are not many chances for work in this area,' said Anthony Mucheke.
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What is it about being a mother that makes you fat? Of course it is not the story for everyone – lots of women "snap back" after pregnancy, or fight their way through WeightWatchers when their youngest is two or three and then keep it off. But there are plenty of others pushing buggies, playing with toddlers and delivering children at the school gates still a stone or three heavier than before they were pregnant.
I am one of these women. I was never skinny but at 5ft 4in, I weighed around 9st 7lb for most of my adult life and had never weighed more than 10st. It was a good level for me: sustainable while I ate and drank pretty much what I wanted and exercised to please myself. A happy size 12.
I loved being pregnant but I remember a sinking feeling when I was reading an NHS pamphlet that warned me not to eat too much. "Pregnancy can be the start of lifelong weight problems for some women," it insisted darkly, and somehow I knew I was one of them. When I dared to weigh myself after my daughter was born I was 10st 10lb – not bad, compared to some women around me, who had three or four stone to lose. But I am still 10st 10lb today and my daughter is at primary school.
The Government is concerned about women like me. At the end of this month, Nice plans to issue guidelines to GPs to advise women against gaining too much weight in pregnancy (you don't need to eat for two), and to assist them in losing their extra pounds afterwards.
Media attention tends to focus on one end of the scale – the pressure on women created when celebrities like Myleene Klass lose their baby weight quickly – but the NHS is probably more concerned about the women who don't lose it at all. When Nice published its draft advice, Mr Tahir Mahmood, vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said, "We need to get the message across that mothers should be encouraged to work towards reaching their pre-pregnancy weight as this is an important indicator of future health."
I think I eat fairly sensibly. I resist my partner's special breakfasts of fried Spam and eggs and I try to fit in some exercise. So what is it that has happened to my body? Why can't I reach and sustain the weight I was before, effortlessly, the way it used to be? Is there some trick of the metabolism at work?
Helen Bond, a nutritionist and dietician based in Derbyshire, quickly banishes that idea. "During pregnancy your metabolism increases greatly, and it increases again when you are breastfeeding, but afterwards, it will go back to where it was before," she says.
Age, however, is an issue, she says, because metabolism slows down when you get older, and of course there are more older mothers these days. I was 39 when I had my daughter. "When you are 39 your metabolism is much slower than at 29. It is much harder. Your body has a set point that your weight moderates to and it goes up as you get older."
The majority of women, she says, do get back to their pre-pregnancy weight within a year of birth, and you should make this your aim. "If you enter the toddler stage still overweight, then it is much harder to get it down. Because all the mum hazards kick in. Baking, clearing up the toddler's plates... their priorities take over from yours. You can't get out to exercise. You might be feeding your children healthily but often not yourself. You have the odd biscuit, the odd fish finger, you don't count it and it all adds up. And if you don't get enough sleep, you will gain weight. Lots of studies show that."
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Warrington are a club in the process of rewriting their history. From not having won the Challenge Cup since 1974, they have now won it twice in two years and, given their ability and ambition, there is no reason they should not continue to carry off trophies.
It was Warrington's fault that this was not the classic Wembley many of us predicted. They were just too good on the day. All the trappings of a classic were in place. Players from the unforgettable 1985 final between Wigan and Hull were paraded before the game. Leeds were led out by their 90-year-old president, Harry Jepson, who was at Wembley when these two clubs last met in a Cup final in 1936. Also, instead of being presented to some dignitary who neither knows nor cares about rugby league, the two sides hugged – no place for formal handshakes, this – Steve Prescott, the ex-player who has been such a tireless fund-raiser since being diagnosed with cancer. It was a heart-warming sight to see the game embrace its own.
With all tickets sold and even the "Ring of Indifference" that is Club Wembley tolerably full and looking less like a tidemark around a bath-tub than usual, there was never going to be any lack of atmosphere. It was just a shame that Leeds failed to come to the party, but that was because they had the invitation snatched away by the Wolves whenever they got near the doorstep.
If the game as a contest failed to live up to its promise and its setting, it was their doing. Warrington were just too efficient to let that happen. Mind you, it helps when, even when you could have got it wrong, you get it right.
The Wolves coach, Tony Smith, made a huge call by leaving out his regular scrum-half, Richie Myler, amid unconfirmed rumours of a major argument between the two. Heartbroken in the build-up, Myler said and did all the right things on the day, while Smith was disinclined to claim too much credit for selectorial genius. As he will know, the Wolves were so superior on the day that they would have won with the septuagenarian Frank Myler at half-back, let alone the pacy Richard.
Those who might have missed out had he played, Jon Clarke and Micky Higham, did not have the most eye-catching of games and nor did last year's man of the match, Michael Monaghan, but between them they undeniably got the job done.
Leeds' Brian McClennan also made a big decision, leaving Ali Lauitiiti out for what he expected to be a defensive slog in the sun. As it was, the Rhinos were soon behind and in need of a spark of creativity, which Lauitiiti might just have provided from the bench.
The Rhinos could have had the early lead they needed, however, if Ryan Bailey had not tried to go through Richie Mathers rather than past him. Helped by Louis Anderson, the full-back – effectively shown the door at Warrington by the signing for next season of Brett Hodgson – managed to prevent the ball being grounded. It was one of at least three try-saving tackles in a performance that raised the question of why it is necessary to replace him with a veteran Australian. "I thought he was fantastic," said Smith. "It was the best game I've seen from him in a Warrington shirt."
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Iranian state media called France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a "prostitute" on Monday in an unusual attack on the wife of a world leader that shows deep anger over her support for an Iranian woman who faced death by stoning for adultery.
The wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy has condemned the stoning sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, which Iran suspended after an international outcry.
Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, could still face execution by hanging.
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Impenetrable "clusters of privilege" are forming around the best state schools, Barnardo's, Britain's biggest children's charity, warns today. Poorer families are losing out to better-off neighbours who move house or attend church to get a better education.
Unfair admissions practices result in schools with skewed intakes that do not reflect their neighbourhoods, Barnardo's says, citing research that indicates the top secondary schools in England take on average just 5% of pupils entitled to free school meals.
Schools should be encouraged to admit pupils in "bands" based on their academic ability in order to increase the social mix, the charity recommends.
Government plans to expand the number of academies and create parent-led "free schools", which will control their own admissions, risk widening the gap.
Martin Narey, Barnardo's chief executive, said: "Secondary school admissions fail to ensure a level playing field for all children. Instead we are seeing impenetrable clusters of privilege forming around the most popular schools.
"Allowing such practice to persist – and almost certainly expand as increasing numbers of schools take control of their own admissions – will only sustain the achievement gap in education and undermine the prospects of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children."
Narey said school admissions had become a "complex game, one that many parents in poorer households are not aware is going on around them.
"Even when conscious of a race for the best schools, some less confident and able parents are often overcome by a fatalism and are resigned to the fact that their son or daughter will be left with whatever school other parents don't want."
Although the school admissions code is meant to stop schools favouring better-off children, many parents from less well-educated backgrounds are still being deterred, the charity says.
Parents who lack confidence in their own writing skills find it hard to deal with complex forms. Voluntary-aided schools, which usually have a religious link, have forms that require detailed replies about religion.
The charity said its local services had advised increasing numbers of eastern European immigrants who struggled to get into faith schools, even though they are devout Catholics, because they have recently arrived or moved around a city and therefore fail to meet the church attendance criteria.
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I don't remember the exact moment I realised my husband was famous. Maybe it was when a paparazzo ran backwards snapping at us with a long-lens camera as we took a stroll with our baby. Perhaps it was when the Daily Mail wrote a gushing article about "Prof Cox the Fox". Though when he turned up as a question on University Challenge, I finally had to concede that he'd actually become "one of those people off the telly".
When we first met, I was the expensively groomed television professional, working on mostly science and technology shows, and he was the newly appointed physics academic with a student's wardrobe and a single bed. All that remained of his music days with D:Ream were a few William Hunt suits in his wardrobe and framed backstage passes on his bathroom wall. It may have been my love of the Apollo moon missions or him telling me he worked at Cern, but we instantly struck up a geeky friendship. Together we started writing ambitious documentary ideas with the sole aim of "making science part of popular culture". Fast-forward 10 years and we're a lot closer to our goal, but it's not quite how I imagined it would be.
When Brian first started appearing on TV, he was more of a cult figure than a celebrity. People would occasionally come up to him with a question about black holes or the Higgs boson, having seen him on Horizon or This Morning. The only time he was asked for his autograph was after a talk he'd given in a school, or occasionally at a nerd gathering such as Skeptics In The Pub. Then he presented Wonders Of The Solar System and everything changed.
Wherever we went, people would stare, take photos with their phones or shout his name excitedly from passing cars. The novelty wore off, however, when it began to feel as though people were intruding into more private moments. In Sainsbury's, a couple of giggly middle-aged women ran up and thrust pieces of paper at him to sign. As Brian chatted to them about the physics A-levels their children were taking, I tried surreptitiously to sneak a pack of sanitary pads into our trolley. I needn't have bothered. I could have juggled a few boxes of tampons while whistling the theme tune to The Sky At Night and they still wouldn't have realised I was there.
A few years ago, I started to notice that the more Brian appeared on TV, the less interesting I became to other people. I started to morph from Gia Milinovich, independent woman with her own life and separate bank account, into "Mrs Brian Cox", then into "wife". Pre-fame, I was asked for my opinions; now, I'm asked what Brian thinks. During a discussion recently, someone said to me, "You only think that because your husband is a physicist", as if I am now incapable of my own thoughts. I am in the throes of what Edna Healey, Denis's wife, called Invisible Wife Syndrome.
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An idyllic picture of scenic Britain, complete with its typical weather, was unveiled in the new UK passport today.
Sundials, narrow boats and windmills appear alongside clouds, lightning and a compass to enhance security in the "universally trusted document", the Identity and Passport Service said.
The makeover comes as part of a £400 million 10-year contract with De La Rue, which will start producing the new passports in October.
Each page includes a symbol depicting "typical British weather", but the outlook is predominantly cloudy with just four of the 28 pages forecasting the sun in a cloudless sky.
And while famous images - including the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula in Wales, Ben Nevis in Scotland and the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland - represent rural scenes from across the UK, images of urban Britain are nowhere to be seen.
Sarah Rapson, chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service, said: "What we're not trying to do is represent every single aspect of Britain today.
"We've deliberately chosen scenic Britain, the images you're seeing are representative of that aspect of Britain."
The 10-year adult passport, which will cost the same £77.50 as now, uses complex images to help prevent fraud.
Alongside the weather patterns, isobars and thermometers, the inside pages show intricate pictures of Blenheim Palace Gardens, a beach hut and the Dorset coast - all spread across two pages to increase security.
The holder's identity pages have been moved to the front of the book in a bid to reduce the time taken to pass through border controls and to bring the UK passport in line with others from Europe and the United States.
And there are now two photographs of the individual, with the main photo-page covered in a transparent film containing several layers of holograms.
Two birds, a tern and a fulmar, fly over a composite image of the White Cliffs of Dover merging into the outline of the UK on the same double-page spread.
Among the other most obvious changes, the electronic chip, which was introduced in 2006 to hold personal details, will be hidden inside the passport cover, making it harder to replace or alter without causing obvious damage to the document.
Some 25 million of the e-passports, issued since 2006, are currently in use, the Identity and Passport Service said.
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Renowned deal-broker Keith Harris claims an overseas buyer is considering making an offer of between £400million and £500million for Liverpool.
The former Football League chairman, who has had a hand in the sales of Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City in the past, said due diligence has already been done.
Harris also said the party he was representing was not one mentioned publicly before.
"The overseas buyer we represent has completed due diligence. A huge amount of work has been done," he said.
"It is none of the groups mentioned in the press. The ball is now in our client's court to make an offer.
"I do not think the deal will be done before the transfer window closes this month but the next pressure point is October when some of the RBS loan of £237million has to be repaid.
"It may happen then. But in the present climate these things are impossible to predict."
Last week Hong Kong-based businessman Kenny Huang - whose interest was allied to the Chinese government - pulled out of the bidding process, while Syrian-Canadian Yahya Kirdi's much-publicised interest has been treated with scepticism.
Harris said history has taught him that those who went public before an agreement had been reached rarely succeeded.
"The Chinese government involvement was always a bit far-fetched," he told the London Evening Standard.
"In any takeover situation, when people resort to announcing it to the media, you have to question the seriousness of the offer.
"If the name of the prospective buyer comes out before the deal is done then probably it is never going to be done.
"Look at when Chelsea was sold in 2003. My firm was advising the club and we only knew of Roman Abramovich on the Thursday before the deal was completed the following Tuesday."
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Sam Walthen was not overly emotional as she put down her phone, took a sip from her drink and walked away from her desk. "I've only had two people break down in tears so far," she said. "That's good for results day."
Welcome to the UCAS call centre and the brutal world of university clearing.
"We have to keep calm and carry on," her colleague Barbara Weldon added. "I have sons myself who have all gone through this, there have been tears in the toilets in the past but it doesn't do the student any good to do that."
The two women and their colleagues in Cheltenham were fielding calls yesterday from thousands of teenagers – some nervy, trying to find out if their A-level results were going to be good enough to get them into university, others tearful as they came to the realisation that they weren't.
A large monitor on the wall reminded the staff how many calls they had answered and how many people were still on the line, waiting to be told their fate. In the first few hours alone, there were 4,000 of them.
Sam said: "One of my first calls of the morning was from a young girl: I got to deliver the news to her that she had got into Oxford. In the background, I heard her whole family erupt in cheers and shouting, they had all come round to sit with her while she made the call, the party is probably still going on now.
"But then you get the ones who didn't make it. Then your professionalism has to kick in."
At one nearby desk, congratulations were being offered. At the next, a more difficult conversation was playing out: the operator's pad covered in frantic scribblings as he tried to convince the caller that failing to get the required grades was not the end of the world.
Barbara said that there are a couple of issues for the staff this year. "We are a little worried about the number of people disappointed, but there are always going to be some," she said.
Across the room, David Willetts, the minister for Universities and Science – in for the day – was hearing a tale of woe from one girl who had not made it. "She needed three As to get on to her course but got an A*, and A and a B. She was on tenterhooks. These experiences bring it home to me: there are human stories, there are young people trying to do the right thing and I do sympathise with them," he said.
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Eco-tourism. Is this now-fashionable concept basically a contradiction in terms – on a par, as cynics might say, with "business ethics" or "compassionate conservatism"? "Adventure travel" is, of course, a concept as old as the hills, even if some of our greatest adventurers, such as Captain Scott, took great pains to proclaim their serious scientific purposes.
Nowadays, much "adventure travel" is given a deliberately green tinge. Organisations like Earthwatch send young (and increasingly frequently old) people to the four corners of the earth to study and protect endangered wildlife of every sort and, yes, to enjoy themselves in doing so.
But just how realistic is it to imagine that increasing numbers of people can visit the wild places of the earth, and the animals, trees and plants that live there, without destroying them? Oscar Wilde famously wrote that "each man kills the thing he loves". Have we reached, or are we approaching, the limits of sustainable wildlife tourism? Should there be a strict rationing of visitors in sensitive areas? Should "return visits" be banned? Should there be total no-go zones?
There are no easy answers to such questions, but it is important that they should be asked. Take the Galapagos Islands, for example. Historically, British visitors have formed the second largest group. Even with the recession, there were still 14,000 British visitors last year.
When I first went to the Galapagos, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, in 2006, I did ask myself whether it was altogether appropriate to visit, but the sheer excitement of being offered a bite at this incredible cherry won the day.
During that first trip to the archipelago, I spent 10 days on board a 16-berth schooner, sailing from island to island. For me, as for most visitors, the love affair began as soon as I stepped off the aircraft. The astonishing thing about the Galapagos is that you actually do get to see what you hope to see. If you are lucky, you will come across most of the famous birds that intrigued Charles Darwin when he landed there 175 years ago next month. You will see blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds, Galapagos hawks and flightless cormorants. You may swim and snorkel among huge Pacific Green Turtles and white-tipped reef sharks. You will meet giant tortoises well over 100 years old and still going strong.
This relatively benevolent relationship between man and nature didn't always exist. Vast depredations of Galapagos wildlife occurred in previous centuries. Tortoises were captured in their thousands by passing ships. The surrounding oceans were virtually emptied of whales. It is only really since 1959 when the Galapagos was established as a national park and, subsequently, as a World Heritage Site, that a proper framework has been created for safeguarding this paradise. But since then numbers of human residents and visitors have boomed.
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