More than two in five drivers are illegally using hands-held mobiles while at the wheel, with some even taking pictures of crashes, according to an AA/Populus survey in the UK.
Of the 42 per cent who used mobiles while driving, 60 per cent said it had distracted them.
As many as 74 per cent of the 21,000 drivers polled said they had seen others using mobile phones on some or most journeys, with 25 per cent seeing mobile use on all trips.
Around 20 per cent admitted using a mobile to send a text, four per cent checked e-mails and two per cent even sent e-mails while at the controls.
Apple launches iPhone 5
Technology giant Apple has unveiled a raft of updated products including the latest model of its iPhone.
The iPhone 5, which weighs in at 112 grammes, has a four-inch screen - half an inch bigger than previous models.
The company’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller said the phone was “an absolute jewel”.
Speaking at a launch event in California, he said the phone was “thinner, lighter and smaller” than previous models and “the most beautiful product we have ever made, bar none”.
Woman charged over baby found near rubbish chute
A woman in the UK has been charged with the attempted murder of a baby girl.
The girl was found critically injured at the foot of a tower block rubbish chute in Wolverhampton.
West Midlands Police said the woman, aged 24, would appear at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court today accused of trying to kill the infant, who was found with serious injuries in the city last Saturday.
Are phallic symbols in art?
New light is being shed on a star painting in Tate Britain’s new pre-Raphaelite exhibition after phallic symbols were apparently discovered in the work.
Tate curator Dr Carol Jacobi is challenging the reputation of Victorian puritanism with a paper on the painting Isabella (1848) by John Everett Millais.
It examines the painting of two brothers from Florence. Dr Jacobi said that the shadow of a nutcracker, as well as the shape of one of the brother’s legs, appear to be phallic expressions.
Early release for Pussy Riot?
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for the three jailed members of the punk band Pussy Riot to be freed, raising hopes of their early release.
With their case coming up for appeal on October 1, he said further prison time would be “unproductive”.
The women had already spent over five months in jail when they were convicted in August of “hooliganism driven by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in prison. They were arrested after performing a prayer inside Moscow’s main cathedral asking Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin.