Extras

    The release of a Bollywood film has been put on hold after a $1.5m (£1.1m) bounty was offered to anyone who beheads lead actress Deepika Padukone and the film’s director. Suraj Pal Amu, a member of India's Hindu nationalist ruling party, made the call against the actress, who previously starred alongside Vin Diesel in the xXx franchise, ahead of her latest project Padmavati over its alleged portrayal of a relationship between a Hindu queen and a Muslim conqueror. According to local media reports, the party member, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana, declared that the film would not be allowed to release at all after it was scheduled to open to audiences on 1 December. It has already been banned outright in two states. There are now growing sec...

    Take a closer look at that small, rectangular booklet in your hand. Depending on where you’re from, its colour could tell you a lot about the country you call home. (Don't miss learning more about the rarest passport in the world, too.) Although there are no strict international guidelines for passport colours, the shades are by no means random. Countries typically choose colours that pay tribute to their culture, politics, or faith, Claire Burrows of De La Rue, a British passport-making company, told the Economist. For example, Islamic countries often use green passport covers because the colour is important in their religion. Member countries of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) cover their passports with various shades of green, too. Member...

    An image provided by NASA shows Saturn's largest moon Titan passing in front of the giant planet in an image made by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The natural color view of Saturn and one of it's moons was made by Cassini's wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012 and released by NASA on Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012. NASA on Thursday will unveil its latest discoveries about ocean worlds in our solar system "and the broader search for life beyond Earth." The briefing will provide information gleaned from the Cassini spacecraft and Hubble Telescope, NASA says. The agency says the new discoveries will help "inform future ocean world exploration" — including NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission planned for launch in the 2020s. Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn for almost 13 ye...

    At the last count, 42.5million of the UK's population of 64.1 million hold a passport. Whether foreign or British, these passports will adhere to one of just four colours. You've probably noticed how passports don't come in a rainbow of different hues and shades. They tend to be quite unadventurous in colour. As for the small selection, there's a reason for each one. Here's what each colour is - and what each one means. 1. Red As any Brit knows, when it comes to UK passports, deep red is the colour of choice. It also happens to be the most common passport colour with all members of the European Union, apart from Croatia, sporting a burgundy hue. The Economist called this a "branding exercise" - though there's no word on whether we'll stay a nice shade of EU re...

    Lurid accusations of priests involved in sex orgies, porn videos and prostitution have emerged from several parishes in Italy recently, sending shock waves all the way to the Vatican and challenging the high standards Pope Francis demands of clergy. In the southern city of Naples, for example, a priest was recently suspended from the parish of Santa Maria degli Angeli over claims he held gay orgies and used Internet sites to recruit potential partners whom he paid for sex. The allegations concerning the Rev. Mario D’Orlando were brought to the attention of the diocese when an anonymous letter was sent to a Naples bishop. D’Orlando denied the charges when he was summoned by the city’s archbishop, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, but is now facing a formal inquiry conducted ...

    If you’ve ever imagined pee or poop dropping out of an airplane like a surprise crop-dusting, that actually used to happen. Early airplane toilets were primitive and direct: a bucket or bottle. The contents were simply hurled out of the window onto the unsuspecting world below. However, once commercial flying become popular and pressurized cabins were introduced, they had to develop a new system. That’s when airlines introduced a toilet using Anotec (a blue deodorizing gel) to flush away waste and combat odor. But this meant carrying gallons of Anotec, which was very heavy, causing planes to waste precious fuel and limiting passenger space. Storage tanks were also directly underneath the toilets, so the smell sometimes drifted up into the cabin not something you want when ...

    With snow falling across Greater Manchester a few of us could find ourselves unable to get to work in the morning. Whether your car is stuck in the snow, or the bus, train or tram is not running, you may be unable to get to the office or your place of work due to the adverse weather. But what are your rights if you can't make it in due to the weather? We have all the answers. Will I be in trouble if I can't make it in? Your boss might be able to make you take unpaid leave, holiday days or work flexible hours to make up time even if you legitimately can't make it in. But if you show you've made an effort and speak to them early, a reasonable boss shouldn't penalise you. It's worth checking your contract or staff handbook, though, in case there's anything in it about extreme...

    The 2016 death list seems to go on forever. Forget the rest of the year just take the last week or so: George Michael, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Richard Adams, Rick Parfitt, Rabbi Lionel Blue, Zsa Zsa Gabor. A few months ago a New Yorker cartoon depicted an angel advising Death: Maybe cool it on the beloved celebrities for a bit, and there were suggestions on social media that Time magazine’s Person of the Year shouldn’t be Donald Trump but the Grim Reaper himself. The comedian and writer David Baddiel tweeted: Starting to think it might be a serial killer, with a grudge against people who are massively loved. Even early in the year there were suspicions that celebrity mortality was on the rise. In April by which time we had already said goodbye to David Bowie, Pierr...

    The explorer made the bold claims in relation to the stolen gold the Nazis hoarded during World War Two. His stash, reported to be worth £100 million, has been the subject of a number of treasure hunts. Some believe it was stored in a secret bunker before the fascist dictator's suicide But diver Phil Sayers has now claimed the stash is 450m deep on the bottom of the Baltic sea. The former professional said that he met a survivor of the tragic Wilhelm Gustloff ship, which was sunk by Soviets in January 1945 killing 9,500 on board. Mr Sayers, 61, claims that survivor Rudi Lange - who was a radio operator on the ship - saw crates of what he said is Nazi gold being boarded onto the boat. He did not know what was being taken on at first, but it was not until 1972 when he met up...

    It’s not only large companies that face cyberattacks – there are affordable steps small companies can take to protect their business data and IT systems. You can’t assume that your small business is not a target for hackers. As many as three-quarters of smaller businesses are at risk, according to the latest Government Security Breaches Survey, with the worst breaches costing up to £300,000. Small companies face attack from multiple angles. “Like [larger] enterprises, they face targeted attackers who are interested in intellectual property and other confidential data, as well as using smaller organisations as a way into larger ones,” says David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab. And like consumers, they face random, speculative attacks that make up the bu...