Stamp Honours George V

Royal Mail is celebrating the accession of King George V, 100 years since the philatelist king came to the throne. It is being marked at the London 2010 Festival of Stamps with a sheet of miniatures, The King's Stamps Miniature Sheet.

VE Day Recalled

This weekend sees the 65th anniversary of VE Day, the day the war in Europe finally ended. With Hitler dead and Nazi Germany defeated, people celebrated in street parties and parades. Things military are also getting royal attention today too as The Queen opens one of the UK's top military buildings which will be the base for staff co-ordinating the British forces in Afghanistan. The building in Northwood, northwest London, is part of a complex, which is undergoing a £150m redevelopment programme due to finish in late-2011. It will house the Permanent Joint Headquarters responsible for planning all overseas operations.

'High Value Metal Stolen

Detectives are appealing for witnesses following the theft of valuable metal from a construction site in West Lothian. According to Lothian and Borders Police the incident happened around 10.40am yesterday at the Broxburn Stormworks near Newbridge. Two men gained access to the site before using a power saw to cut away a stainless steel storm screen. The men were disturbed by a workman and made off west, towards the River Almond with the stolen metal. The combined value of the theft and required repairs is estimated to be around £10,000. Police are now appealing for anyone who was in the area and saw anything suspicious to come forward.

Sinn Fein In Poll Position

Republicans may be on the way to defeating the main unionist party at today's General Election poll. Media coverage showing the pro-activity of parties and candidates over the last four weeks leading up to the election on Thursday shows Sinn Fein narrowly ahead of the DUP in winning the hearts and minds of the electorate. Northern Ireland Media Monitoring Services (NIMMS) has conducted an unprecedented survey of all the print media in every constituency throughout the province and has identified the top performing parties and politicians as well as the issues that have dominated this campaign.

Gerry Ryan Buried

There's live TV coverage today as the Irish President Mary McAleese joined mourners at the funeral mass of RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan in Clontarf in Dublin after the 53-year-old presenter was found dead at his apartment at Upper Leeson Street last Friday. The members of Westlife, Louis Walsh, Twink and other leading figures from the entertainment were also among those at St John the Baptist Church. Broadcasting colleagues Marian Finucane, Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy and Pat Kenny were also in attendance.

Guinness Sups-Up

The famous Guinness brewer Diageo has enjoyed a big sales rebound with more customers than expected supping its various brews. During in the first three months of 2010 it has seen strong emerging market growth and has even seen signs of fragile recovery in its mature markets such as North America and a stronger one in its emerging markets of Latin America, Africa and Asia. The London-based drinks company, which also makes of Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum, reported that its third-quarter - from January to March - showed underlying sales up by 12% as compared with a consensus forecast of 6.5% by analysts and rival Pernod Ricard's 16% growth.

(BMc/GK)