Sex Theme Park

Sex 'theme park' without any rides - but lots of interactivity
The world's first sex theme park opens in London this summer. Terrified of being labelled sleazy, the "park" (housed in the Trocadero, Piccadilly) is pimping itself as a health and education experience - "a Kinsey-type institute for generation X and Y to bring modern thinking around sexuality" (whatever that means) - and as an alternative new venue for corporate hospitality.
The faux prudishness is rather belied by spokesman Alex Rayner who says: "It may be a theme park but there aren't any rides.
"Instead, there will be interactive exhibits, which are currently being built in Los Angeles."
Sounds like a ride to me - especially at £15 a pop.

The World's Most Expensive Easter Egg

Thought to be the world's most expensive Easter egg, this monster piece of chocolate will be guarded by security guards at the La Maison du Chocolat shop in London. The 2ft tall egg is worth around £50,000 and is adorned with 100 0.5 carat diamonds. It took three weeks to make and should a buyer decide to break open the egg, they will find it contains peach and apricot chocolates along with pralines.

EU: Credit, debit cards charging too much

Credit and debit cards such as Visa and MasterCard are racking up "abnormal" and "excessive" profits for banks, European Union antitrust chief Neelie Kroes said Wednesday.
"Paradise is over," she warned, telling the card industry to make changes or face antitrust investigations that could force them to reform their business or pay fines.
"The more the payment card industry does on its own initiative, the less they are likely to face action under antitrust rules," she said.
In its first report from a wide-ranging investigation into payment cards in Europe, the European Commission said customers are paying too much because the industry was still split along national lines and new card providers find it hard to set up shop. Credit cards are a "very profitable" business, it said. READ ON

Brussels will ban cars in the city center

Starting in June cars will be banned from the centre of the Belgian capital. The City of Brussels is introducing a car free zone at the heart of the capital.
In the streets bordering this car free zone a maximum speed of 30 km/h will apply.
Streets surrounding Brussels' historic market square will only be accessible to pedestrians.
The city authorities are also taking other measures to discourage motorists from heading into the city centre.
The direction of some one-way streets is being altered to ensure that drivers will not be able to cross the city through the city centre.
Instead motorists will be led back into the direction in which they entered the centre.
A carefree stroll through Brussels...
In future pedestrians will be able to walk from the central Station down to the Beurs (stock exchange) and the night spots on the Sint-Goriksplein without having to watch out for cars.
A number of streets are being resurfaced so that pavements can be widened.
The plans to ban the car from the city centre have been toned down somewhat. In order to allow residents and traders to access their property by car the number of streets that were to be made car free initially has been reduced somewhat.
All parking spaces in streets where a 30 km/h speed limit applies will be reserved for local residents.

Eurostar service resumes after house collapses

Eurostar services have returned to normal after trains were disrupted due to a house collapsing in south London.
Routes between Bromley South and Shortlands were suspended and Eurostar trains to Brussels and Paris were unable to go in to or out of Waterloo.
The rail disruption was caused by the collapse of the semi-detached house in Ridley Road, Bromley, near the track on Tuesday. Fourteen homes were evacuated.
No-one was injured but a 40-metre exclusion zone has been set up.
Fire crews were called at 0430 BST on Tuesday when a family found their front door had become jammed.
Treated for shock
Within hours, two large cracks appeared in their house and the road, eventually causing the side of the property to cave in.
A police spokeswoman said the family was treated for shock.
Gas engineers were dealing with escaped gas while surveyors investigated the cause.
Early signs suggest the property may have collapsed as a result of subsidence.
A spokeswoman for Bromley Council said residents from all the evacuated homes were staying with friends or family.
As a result of the collapse, Eurostar passengers were being directed on to trains from Waterloo East station to Ashford International Station in Kent, where they could join the Channel Tunnel service.
But following huge queues, Eurostar later advised passengers against travelling to Ashford and said tickets could be exchanged for another date or refunded.