Nearly four million households are expected to fall into fuel poverty this year, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc).

The number of UK households in fuel poverty dropped from 5.5 million in 2009 to 4.75 million in 2010, new figures show. But the improvement is not expected to continue.

The rise in energy prices last year is expected to increase the number of households in fuel poverty again, although the figures will not be published until 2013 and 2014, Decc said.

Projections for England indicated there were likely to be around 3.5 million fuel-poor households in 2011 and 3.9 million in 2012.

The reduction was mainly due to rising incomes, relatively stable energy prices at the time and reduced energy consumption, according to the 2012 Annual Report on Fuel Poverty released by the Decc.

Northern Ireland remains the most fuel poor part of the UK, with estimates suggesting 44pc of households spend more than 10pc of incomes on energy bills.

Fuel Poverty

In Scotland, 28pc of the population are fuel poor, Wales is at 26pc but England drops to 16pc.

Energy and climate change minister Greg Barker said: “I am encouraged by the fall in fuel poverty in the period to April 2011, but there is no room for complacency.

“Fuel poverty remains a serious national problem and the Coalition is absolutely committed to tackling it.

“People can still get help with heating and insulation through Warm Front and around two million households will get money off their energy bills this year through the Warm Home Discount scheme.

“However, our ambitious new policies including the Green Deal will go much further.

“The Green Deal will help people pay for home improvements through savings on their energy bills with extra financial help for the most vulnerable.”

Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director General of Age UK said she was pleased the fuel poverty figures had fallen after six years of annual rises, but the evidence suggested the good news was just a temporary interruption in a steady upward trend.

“Living in fuel poverty is miserable. It leads to serious health problems and at worst kills people,” she said. “The independent Hills Fuel Poverty Review said that even if only 10pc of excess winter deaths are due to fuel poverty that would be more deaths per year than the fatalities on our roads.”

telegraph.co.uk

Former U.K. tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband and four close aides were charged Tuesday over alleged attempts to conceal evidence in Britain’s phone hacking scandal — the first prosecutions since police reopened inquiries 18 months ago into wrongdoing by the country’s scandal-hungry press.

Brooks was one of Rupert Murdoch’s most trusted lieutenants for years and a close friend of the current Conservative prime minister David Cameron. The prospect that courts will hear potentially explosive accusations against her and her husband could rock both Murdoch’s worldwide media empire and Cameron’s political career.

Cameron is a neighbour, friend and occasional horse riding companion of both the ex-editor and her husband, whom he has known since high school.

Brooks, 43, faces three separate allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice — an offence that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The law-breaking allegedly involved removing computers and files in the frantic days last summer when Murdoch shut down his tainted 168-year-old News of the World tabloid in an attempt to halt a tide of public disgust over the hacking furor.

Between July 6 and July 19 last year — the period covered in the charges — Brooks was struggling unsuccessfully to remain chief executive of News International, the British division of Murdoch’s News Corp. Murdoch announced his decision to close the News of The World on July 7 and Brooks, facing tremendous pressure, quit her high-profile role on July 15.

Alison Levitt, the legal adviser to Britain’s director of public prosecutions, said Brooks and the others are alleged to have concealed documents, computers and electronic equipment from police who were conducting inquiries into phone hacking and the alleged bribery of public officials.

With her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter, Brooks is also accused of removing seven boxes of materials from News International archives, Levitt said.

“All these matters relate to the ongoing police investigation into allegations of phone hacking and corruption of public officials in relation to the News of the World and The Sun newspapers,” Levitt said.

Brooks and her husband rejected the charges. Standing side-by-side in front of their lawyers’ office in London, Charlie Brooks slammed what he described as a “witch hunt” targeting his wife.

Rebekah, looking grave, said she was baffled and furious at the charges.

“I cannot express my anger enough that those close to me have unfairly been dragged into this,” she said.

In testimony last week before Britain’s media ethics inquiry, Brooks acknowledged her close links to Cameron and detailed how their families mingled at dinners and Christmas parties. sequences.

Currently suspended from filming scenes for the new series of The Only Way Is Essex, Lauren Goodger is ensuring that she’s putting her time off to good use.

The 25-year-old showed off the latest results of her Cambridge Diet when she took to the blue carpet at the Men In Black 3 premiere last night in London.

Lauren beamed from ear to ear as she posed in black on black ensemble.

The former TOWIE castmember wore a long sleeved black dress which hugged her curves and she wore a pair of patent black heels which helped to elongate her toned legs.

The salon owner also left her long brunette tresses down in loose curls and looked flawless as she opted for the minimal look with her makeup.

She finished the outfit with a small black quilted handbag which she wore on her left shoulder.

Realising she wasn’t just among celebrity who have only found fame from taking part in reality TV shows, she seemed pretty starstruck when she was seated near hip-hop mogul Jay-Z.

She tweeted, ‘Erm OMG Jay Z is like an arm stretch away from me! ..Will smith I’m excited ha ha!x.’

Having enjoyed the latest instalment of the comedy sci-fi movie, she posted another tweet, which read, ‘What a wicked film Men in Black 3D saw Jay Z,Will smith and Nicole Sherzinger! X.’

Although Lauren looked picture perfect at the screening, she revealed on Twitter that she had gotten dressed in a hurry.

Yesterday she tweeted, ‘That was a rush 2 get ready… On way to men in black premier xxx’

Last week the scenes as Lauren left Faces nightclub in Gants Hill was very different from the graceful showing she put on last night as she headed home.

She was pictured looking bleary-eyed and slightly worse for wear as she made her way into a cab following a night out with fellow TOWIE stars including Lydia Bright and Joey Essex.

The reality star showcased her newly-slim figure in a pair of tight black shiny leggings to display the results of sticking to The Cambridge Diet, pairing the trousers with a cute mint green sheer shirt.

But even as she pouted and posed in the chic outfit it failed to distract from Lauren’s apparently intoxicated state, as she was helped out of the nightclub by a friend in the early hours of this morning.

Not all the Avengers are equal, according to their pay packets anyway.

Sources have revealed to trade mag The Hollywood Reporter that Robert Downey Jr. was the top paid star in ‘Avengers Assemble’… but it’s a shock by just how much. The ‘Iron Man’ star picked up $50m (£31m) once bonuses and his share of the profits are totted up – and this will rise as the film makes more cash.

Reportedly Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Chris Evans (Captain America) and Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) will earn between $2m and $3m (£1.25m – £1.9m); while Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) fare slightly better with a reported $4m – $6m (£2.5m – £3.8m).

So what’s the reason for this disparity?

According to THR, after the success of ‘Iron Man’ Downey Jr.’s canny reps negotiated a deal that will see him take a percentage of Marvel’s profits from any film in which he plays the metal-suited hero. The exact figure is debated, and neither Marvel nor the star’s reps have commented, but when a film rakes in over $1bn in a few weeks any percentage is a cause for celebration.

The report will do nothing to dispel Marvel’s reputation for being cheap with star salaries.

A total of 6.25 million people aged over 50 will rely solely on the state pension when they retire because they have not saved for the prospect, according to the State of Retirement Report from LV=, the insurer previously known as Liverpool Victoria.

The average state pension is currently £9,672 a year when additional benefit income such as the additional state pension and the pensions credit is taken into account, the report said. This is significantly less than the national minimum wage, which is equivalent to £11,477 a year for a full-time worker.

Retirement

At present 1.2 million people live solely on the state pension, so the report is predicting a huge increase in the number of people who will make no financial provision for retirement.

It found that 15pc of those already retired, or within five years of retirement, had cut back on long-term saving over the last 12 months. The average decrease was £296 a month or £3,552 a year. This equates to a total of £8.3bn “lost” in retirement savings in the past year.

While the Government plans to introduce a universal state pension of about £140 a week, this would still provide an annual income significantly below the minimum wage, LV said.

When asked if they could live on the equivalent of the minimum wage in retirement, 43pc of people surveyed said they couldn’t live on that alone and 27pc said they would really struggle.

For those who have private pension savings, the average income in retirement is currently £7,488 a year. When added to the state pension, this produces an income marginally more than the minimum wage.

Ray Chinn, the head of pensions at LV=, said: “It is worrying that so many people are saving little or nothing for their retirement ‘wages’, instead expecting to fall back on the state pension.

“While working hard up to their retirement to bring home a decent wage, I’m sure many will be disappointed to retire with an income equivalent of less than the minimum wage. If more people reflected on their pension as a ‘wage’ that they will potentially be relying on for over two decades, they might feel more inclined to plan ahead.”

telegraph.co.uk

The Shropshire Star can reveal that McCarthy, who is on holiday in Florida at the moment, had a telephone conversation with Faulkner late last night as Villa started to widen their search to replace Alex McLeish, who was sacked by owner Randy Lerner earlier this week.

Bookmakers have slashed the odds on McCarthy replacing McLeish in the Villa Park hot-seat from 25-1 to 11-8 favourite, although the claret and blues have yet to formally interview any potential candidates.

Villa fans have reacted with alarm to speculation linking them with another manager tainted by relegation so soon after McLeish.

But it is understood McCarthy has been admired from within the Villa hierarchy for some time for his ability to recruit young and hungry players on a relatively low budget.

McCarthy has been out of work since he was sacked by Wolves in February after five-and-a-half years at Molineux and has turned down opportunities at Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town in a bid to secure a return to a Premier League club.

The 53-year-old would appeal to some of the senior figures in the Villa dressing room including defender Richard Dunne, who was handed his Ireland debut by McCarthy, and goalkeeper Shay Given having worked with both at international level.

Should he land the job McCarthy would also be in a prime position to cherry-pick the best players from Wolves’ squad following their relegation, including winger Matt Jarvis and striker Steven Fletcher.

Other possible job contenders include Norwich’s Paul Lambert and Wigan’s Roberto Martinez.

Faulkner revealed his phone has been “going non-stop”. “I think there’s an awful lot of reasons you would want to come to Villa,” said Faulkner.

“Our stadium is one of the best in the country, we have a fantastic owner who loves the club , the club’s history, the fans are phenomenal – why would you not want to come here?”

At the mid-point of $36, Facebook would raise $12.1 billion by selling 337.4 million shares.

The company founded in a Harvard dorm room by Mark Zuckerberg, who turned 28 on Monday, had originally aimed for $28 to $35 a share.

Wall Street had expected the company to increase the price range, with investors keen to get in on Silicon Valley’s largest ever IPO that eclipses Google Inc’s 2004 debut.

Its roadshow began last week and has drawn crowds.

Facebook IPO

The company plans to close the books on its IPO on Tuesday, two days ahead of schedule and in a signal that the landmark initial share sale is drumming up strong demand, a second source familiar with the deal told Reuters earlier.

The social network is scheduled on Thursday to price its shares, then begin trading on Friday.

The IPO is already ‘well oversubscribed,’ which is why the company is closing its books earlier than anticipated, the source said.

The raised price range marks an increase of 21 percent on the lower end. A hike of more than 20 percent typically means the company would have to file an amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Company spokesman Jonny Thaw declined to comment on Monday.

The IPO comes amid concerns from some investors that Facebook hasn’t yet figured out a way to make money from an increasing number of users who access the social network on mobile devices such as smartphones.

Facebook will continue with its roadshow for the rest of the week, said a third source familiar with the deal, and investors who haven’t yet attended a roadshow presentation will still be able to place orders.

Company executives met with prospective investors in Chicago on Monday and are slated to travel to Kansas City and Denver, before returning to Menlo Park, California, where Facebook is headquartered.

A host of Wall Street banks are underwriting Facebook’s offering, with Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs serving as leads. Facebook will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol FB.

CNBC reported the higher price range earlier, citing sources.

thisismoney.co.uk

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 version of indie game hit Minecraft has been sold more than a million times.

The game was released through digital download over Xbox Live on May 9 and hit the million-download mark yesterday, making it one of the fastest-selling downloadable Xbox 360 games to date.

“With more than 5.2M total online hours of gamers mining away, 4M total multiplayer sessions played, and more than 2.4M multiplayer gaming hours played, ‘Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition’ is showing that it’s not only selling well, but that gamers are remaining highly engaged, wandering through new vistas and exploring caves with their friends,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Minecraft has been fascinating the world of PC gamers for years now, and it has been slowly working its way to expand into new platforms and attract new groups of customers.

Minecraft has grown from a small project with a big dream to a huge community with more than 20 million registered users.

The game is all about construction – building the perfect world with a highly customizable set of tools, and a unique graphical style that makes this title unlike anything before it.

The way the game is presented makes it fun and addicting for players of all ages, but it was very much built as a PC game. There’s a lot of point-and-click functionality that may be difficult to transfer to a console that relies on controller input.

Minecraft has already found a second home on mobile devices, but that also gives users a point-and-click mechanic, so one of the things fans were anxious to see was how developers managed to translate that to the Xbox 360.

Apparently they did a pretty good job.

A statement from Williams described the man’s condition as “stable”, adding that he is “in good spirits” and would return to the UK in the next 48 hours.

Two other members of the team, who were treated for smoke inhalation, were discharged, with investigations into the cause of the fire ongoing in collaboration with the FIA, Formula One’s governing body, and the local authorities.

There was no news on MOnday night on the four other non-Williams team members who had been hospitalised following the incident.

Sir Frank Williams said he had been overwhelmed by the support his team had received, with rival pit crews and even attendant media leaping into the fray to help extinguish the fire.

“While the incident was unexpected and definitely most undesirable, it has demonstrated the genuine cohesiveness, camaraderie and spirit of co-operation that exists within the paddock,” he said.

Mark Gillan, in charge of race operations at Williams, said that most of the equipment in the garage at the time had been lost, including computer hardware, telemetry and pit equipment. Incredibly, though, initial inspections of Bruno Senna’s car, which was in the garage when the fire erupted, suggest the chassis may still be usable at next week’s Monaco Grand Prix.

But while there was relief, there was also anger, with Force India’s deputy team principal, Bob Fearnley, scathing of the circuit’s emergency response crews. “Incompetent would be polite,” Fearnley said.

It all rather took the gloss off an exceptional win by Maldonado, although not in Venezuela where the country responded wildly to their new sporting hero. President Hugo Chavez and his opponent in this autumn’s presidential election, Henrique Capriles, both sought to make political capital out of the good news story with the country’s press going into overdrive.

Williams, too, was impressed by his young charge, saying the 26 year-old had the mark of a champion. “Undoubtedly, and I’ll tell you why, because he is very quick and he does not make mistakes. He was calm on the radio the entire time. That’s what champions do.”

A cast member of the reality TV show “Swamp People” died Monday, a Louisiana sheriff said.

Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack said Mitchell Guist was pronounced dead at a hospital. He had fallen while aboard his boat on the Intracoastal Waterway, near Pierre Part.

History, which produces the reality show with Original Media, said Guist would have turned 49 on Friday.

“We are extremely saddened to report that our friend and beloved member of the Swamp People family, Mitchell Guist, has passed away. … Mitchell passed on the swamp, doing what he loved. We appreciate your respect for the Guist family’s privacy and hope you join us in sending our thoughts and prayers to his brother, Glenn, and the rest of the Guist family,” the network said in a statement.

Initial reports from deputies in neighboring St. Martin Parish are that Guist was traveling on the waterway around 9 a.m. when he fell, Waguespack said. The boat returned to a nearby landing in St. Martin and Guist was taken to a hospital. The cause of his fall is unclear, and there is no word yet on the official cause of death.

WAFB-TV reports 911 tapes were released later Monday, revealing the lengths people in the Belle River community went to try and revive Guist. Witnesses called the emergency response number and asked for ambulances or a helicopter.

“You say he’s in cardiac arrest?” the dispatcher said on the call.

“Yes sir, we’re blowing and pumping the guy’s chest right now,” the caller said. “It looks like he may have had a heart attack.”

“Swamp People,” on the History cable television channel, features residents of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya swamp country during alligator hunting season.