BT Broadband And Website Crash UK-Wide

The communications firm confirmed that its website and customer service platforms were affected by the glitch, which it was yet to explain, though it said there was no evidence of foul play.

Its statement said: "Large numbers of customers have been experiencing temporary issues with their broadband services this afternoon. Customers can still receive and make calls as normal.

"We've been working hard to fix the issue and are glad to report that nearly every customer affected is now reconnected, approximately two hours after the problem started.

"We apologise to any affected customers for the inconvenience.

"There is no evidence at this stage to suggest that we were subject to a malicious

attack."

Social media users first started reporting problems at 2.30pm and customers took to Twitter to relay their experiences.

One, Keith Pestell, tweeted: "BT internet down, support lines down and website down. I did get through to India and the lady said: It's working here... really?".

Another, Char X, said: "What's happened with #BT? Internet down, help numbers not working and every page leads me to an error on the website!!!"

The Down Detector service, which monitors internet-based failures, noted thousands of customers in major cities reporting faults.

Iran now has $100 billion of overseas assets unfrozen under nuke deal

Iran said Monday it now has access to more than $100 billion worth of its frozen overseas assets after the implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

Government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht said much of the money had been piling up in banks in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey since international sanctions were tightened in 2012 over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency meanwhile quoted central bank official Nasser Hakimi as saying nine Iranian banks are now reconnected to SWIFT, a Belgian-based cooperative that handles wire transfers between financial institutions. No foreign banks operate in Iran, and ATMs in Iran are not yet linked to the global system.

SWIFT had no immediate comment.

The historic agreement brought about the lifting of international sanctions last month after the United Nations certified that Iran has met all its commitments to curbing its nuclear activities under last summer's accord.

“These assets [$100 billion] have fully been released and we can use them,” Nobakht said in comments posted on the website of state-run Press TV.

He said much of the money belongs to Iran's central bank and National Development Fund. He said Iran will not bring all the money back because it can be spent on purchasing goods.

Iran expects an economic breakthrough after the lifting of sanctions, which will allow it to access overseas assets and sell crude oil more freely.

Mohsen Jalalpour, the head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, said on state TV Monday that Iranian businessmen are already able to open letters of credit for transactions in other countries. 

EasyJet Founder's Store Selling Food For 25p

The easyFoodstore's current prices are an introductory offer but it plans to roll out the trial elsewhere as long as it can prove profitable.

The single store - offering a "limited and basic range" - has opened in Park Royal, northwest London under the slogan: "No expensive brands. Just food honestly priced."

Items on offer include tinned sardines, pineapple chunks, baked beans and wine gums but the list of initial products does not include fresh meat, fruit or vegetables.

Sir Stelios, who has run food initiatives through a charitable organisation in Greece and Cyprus, said: "This is another way the easy brand can serve the less well-off."

He said it was a "commercial attempt to sell basic food for 25p per item to those unwaged or low-waged living around Park Royal".

The businessman's latest initiative aims to undercut the discounters Aldi and Lidl, as well as Poundland.

Traditional big supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are already feeling the squeeze from this end of the market resulting in a fierce price war.

Sir Stelios first announced initial plans in 2013, saying then he had "a feeling that there is a gap in the food retail market - a niche below some of the current budget operators such as Aldi and Lidl".

The tycoon and his family still own about 35% of easyJet and are the biggest shareholders.

The brand has expanded to easyCar, easyHotel, easyGym and easyProperty.

Early-50s Are 'Most Anxious' And 'Least Happy'

More than 30,000 people across the UK were asked four questions about life satisfaction, happiness, anxiety and how worthwhile they feel their life is.

Those aged 50-54 scored the lowest when it came to happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) study.

But the best of life could come after your mid 60s - the report found the most satisfied are between 70-74. 

They were also most likely to say the things they do are worthwhile, and on average more 65-69-year-olds said they felt happy.

Wellbeing starts to drop off after the age of 75, according to the research.

People over 90 were more likely to say the things they do are not very worthwhile - but were also the least anxious group.

Happiness jumps when people hit their mid 60s, according to the research

Those aged 16-34 scored consistently positive results in all four questions.

"In the past, we've thought of personal wellbeing as peaking in younger and older age," said Glenn Everett from the ONS.

"What these findings tell us is that that's not quite true.

"Wellbeing falls again after people reach the age of 75.

"This presents a considerable challenge for policy-makers and providers of health and social care services, for example, given that life expectancy is rising.

"The low wellbeing in middle age might also suggest that those in this age group are struggling with the double responsibility of caring for children and for elderly parents."

Saamah Abdallah, from the Centre for Wellbeing, told Sky News, the study was important. 

"Decades of research by economists and psychologists have shown that this data is meaningful and it's useful.

"It correlates with lots of things, like brain scans and physiological responses, and it predicts things.

"Your wellbeing predicts how likely you are to stay in your job, how likely you are to stay married, how long you can expect to live."

Ralph Scott, from think-tank Demos, said the survey was perhaps too subjective and might not reflect the "concrete, everyday reality of their lives - the economic conditions".

BT working to fix nationwide broadband issues

website that monitors internet failures, reported thousands of cases including parts of Scotland, London, Birmingham and Sheffield.

It began trending on social media with customers reporting issues.

BT confirmed that there had been problems but said most were fixed. It said there was no evidence of a hack attack.

"Large numbers of customers have been experiencing temporary issues with their broadband services this afternoon. Customers can still receive and make calls as normal," it said in a statement.

"We've been working hard to fix the issue and are glad to report that nearly every customer affected is now reconnected, approximately two hours after the problem started.

It did not give details of what may have caused the issue but said: "There is no evidence at this stage to suggest that we were subject to a malicious attack."

Its website had also crashed for a time and some users reported that its customer service line was down.

Hundreds of people took to social media to express their frustration using the hashtag #BTdown, which is currently trending on Twitter.

Lady Gaga to Perform David Bowie Tribute at Grammys

Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesLady Gaga performs onstage at the 27th Annual Producers Guild Of America Awards in Century City, Calif. on Jan. 23.

One of the late David Bowie‘s biggest fans will honor him at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Lady Gaga, who used to paint a thunderbolt on her face as a nod to Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, will perform a special Bowie tribute at this year’s awards show on CBS on Feb. 15, the Recording Academy announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

“He’s sort of like an alien prince,” the six-time Grammy winner said in 2013 of Bowie, who died last month at the age of 69. “He still runs my universe as well, like, every morning I wake up and I think, ‘What would Bowie do?'”

Six-time GRAMMY winner @ladygaga will perform a special tribute to #DavidBowie at the 58th #GRAMMYs on @CBS Feb. 15! pic.twitter.com/ldn0axur2b

— The GRAMMYs (@TheGRAMMYs) February 2, 2016

Skegness sperm whale removal costs taxpayer £26,000

The whales were found on the Lincolnshire coast - two at Gibraltar Point and another in nearby Skegness. 

The operation to remove the animals took more than six hours and involved a team of 14 workers.

East Lindsey District Council said they were taken away and "melted down", not sent to landfill as previously stated.

James Gilbert, from the authority, said the 30 tonne animals were taken to a rendering plant, where the carcasses were recycled.

He said the operation was carried out with "the greatest of respect" and had been "incredibly sad".

"From talking to people in Skegness I think it has really touched the community," he added.

The sperm whales are believed to be from a pod spotted off the Norfolk coast.

Prior to the Skegness find, a whale washed up on a beach in Norfolk.

Another was later found on the site of a former bombing range near Wainfleet in Lincolnshire.