And the award for best dress goes to... The Saturdays shine in four contrasting evening gowns at The Pride Of Britain Awards

It’s a night devoted to the achievements of the great British public, so it was no surprise to see an array of stars hit the red carpet for this year’s Pride Of Britain Awards on Monday evening.
Amongst those vying for attention on the red carpet outside London’s Royal Albert Hall were The Saturdays, who stunned in four contrasting evening gowns.
The girls – minus Frankie Sandford, who is on maternity leave – were on hand to support the heroics of those who have helped others over the last twelve months. 

Stunning: Saturdays band-mates Una Healy, Vanessa White, Mollie King and Rochelle Humes stand out on the red carpet at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Monday evening

But as always, the evening began with an obligatory red carpet appearance, where the band was joined by the likes of Pixie Lott, Nicole Scherzinger and Amanda Holden.
Mollie King led the way in an elegant sleeveless dress with black ribbing.
The outfit proved to be the perfect contrast for her shoulder-length blonde hair, but her vivid make-up – particularly the blood red slash of lipstick – overshadowed an otherwise neutral look. 

One short: The girls were without band-mate Frankie Sandford, who is currently on maternity leave

In contrast, band-mate Una Healy opted for an intricately patterned sleeveless gown that was busy enough to hold the attention despite her liberal use of mascara, blusher and lipstick.

Far-right on the rise in France as anti-immigration parties win majority of the vote in by-election

Two far-right candidates in France have won 50 per cent of the vote in a single by-election.
The success on Sunday night was described as a 'warning shot' to mainstream politicians who are accused of letting ordinary people down over issues like immigration.
The National Front (FN), which wants to call a halt to new arrivals, got 40.4 percent of votes in the first round of Sunday's by-election in the south easter town of Brignoles.

Growing in strength: President of the French far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen delivers a speech during a visit in the French northeastern village of Brachay

The result led to FN leader Marine Le Pen today saying that her party is 'already the main party in France'

An independent extreme right candidate meanwhile won 9.1 per cent of the votes.

US government shutdown is beginning to take its toll on business, warns Commerce Secretary… and not just in America

Economic warning: US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Bali

The US Secretary of Commerce has warned that businesses in America and abroad are beginning to suffer from the effects of the Federal Government shutdown.
Penny Pritzker, who is also a business executive and entrepreneur, spoke out about the US government deadlock during a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali.
And, in statement that showed the shutdown was not just a domestic issue, Philippines President Benigno Aquino said what happened in the US 'affects all of us'.
He said: 'The US economy is the number one economy in the world, what happens there affects all of us.
'The world economy obviously is not in a position to withstand too much shock when we are just recovering as a global economy.'
US President Barack Obama has cancelled a scheduled trip to Asia because of the shutdown, and that too has drawn criticism from APEC leaders.
Mr Obama was supposed to be discussing a free-trade agreement between 12 countries, but his absence has thrown any progress into doubt. It will be a major source of disappointment to the countries that were to be involved in the agreement, called that Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Ms Pritzker said: 'The shutdown is not good for business. It's not good for the economy.'
She explained that her own department was not collecting business data, which was used by international businesses.

Global concern: Philippines President Benigno Aquino says the US crisis affects the world economy. The decision of Barack Obama to postpone an Asia tour has also thrown international trade agreements into doubt

She added: 'We're a huge source of data for American business and that is a problem... It's affecting businesses and it's affecting their ability to get data.'

The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.

Mr Obama is refusing to negotiate with the Republicans over the budget issues until they pass a temporary bill to reopen the government. He also wants agreement to raise the $16.7 trillion US borrowing limit, to avoid the country defaulting on its debts.
US defence contractor Lockheed Martin will today put 3,000 of its workers on unpaid leave - a move it announced on Friday - but has not ruled out further lay-offs if the shutdown continued.

Nicole Scherzinger proves she's got the seXy Factor as she shows off her incredible bikini body in Antigua

She was looking for someone who has The X Factor to take through to the live finals of the ITV talent show.
But clearly all Nicole Scherzinger needed to do was look in the mirror.
The 35-year-old singer showed off her incredible bikini body in a patterned two-piece as she soaked up the sun in Antigua during her judges' houses segment on the show.

She's got the seXy Factor! Nicole Scherzinger showed off her bikini body in Antigua in scenes shown on The X Factor this weekend

Beach babe: Nicole smiled widely at the camera as she was filmed emerging from the water

Nicole looked stunning in the halterneck Beachcafe.com bikini, which drew attention to her washboard stomach and perky cleavage, as she put Bond girls around the world to shame by emerging sexily from the sea.
The former Pussycat Dolls star wore her long brunette hair down and to the side, with a plaited detail on one side of her head adding to her holiday look.
But of course, showing off her bikini body wasn't the most difficult part of Nicole's time in Antigua, as she was also given the difficult decision of reducing six hopeful acts down to just three.

Summer style: Nicole wore a summery jumpsuit and gladiator sandals as she arrived in London from Los Angeles on Monday

NCAA suspends operations of Associated Airlines following crash

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has suspended the operations of Associated Airlines, following the ill-fated crash that occurred on Thursday October 3rd, which killed 13 passengers.

NCAA announced the suspension yesterday Saturday October 5th via it's Director-General, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu. He said;

“Associated Airlines operations have been suspended by the NCAA. Let me say for the purpose of clarity, I said their operations, I mean all their operations of Associated Airline have been suspended by the NCAA. I did not say any certification was cancelled but all operations.”

Capt Akinkuotu explained that the suspension of the airline is to pave the way for ongoing probe into the cause of the crash.

Federal Government suspends Dana Air license again

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the operations of Dana Air...again. The suspension was announced on Sunday night October 6th by the Coordinating General Manager for the aviation parastatals, Mr. Yakubu Dati.

The NCAA said it shut Dana’s operations to enable it conduct an operational audit of the carrier and its planes. This suspension makes it the third time the NCAA would ground Dana Air over safety and other related issues since the crash of Dana flight 992 that killed over 150 passengers in June 2012.

Heavyweight profits: Jacamo owner N Brown gets big into fashion as plus-size sales jump

Growing sales of plus-size clothes have boosted profits at online retailer N Brown, with the group expected to report half-year pre-tax profits up eight per cent to £45.3million this week.
The group, which owns brands such as Jacamo menswear and Simply Be for women, focuses on larger fashionwear.

Safe hands: Jacamo has been helped by it's deal with cricket star Andrew Flintoff

Its first-quarter sales were up by 7.8 per cent and stockbroker Oriel Securities predicts continued ‘solid growth’ in what it described as a ‘stellar year so far’ under new chief executive Angela Spindler, who was previously global head of Asda’s clothing brand, George.
Spindler said: ‘It is absolutely our ambition to be the global retailer of plus-size fashion. That is our expertise.
‘There is a growing market and larger people have been alienated by the fashion sector. It is about making relevant fashion that is accessible to larger people in sizes up to 32.’

London's minicabs venture out to Australia as cab company seeks to trial run their service abroad

Black cabs used to avoid going south of the river, but now they’re venturing south of the equator.
The London Taxi Company has sent 98 TX4 cabs to Australia, although they will be painted white rather than the iconic black design familiar to Britons, due to the extreme heat Down Under.
The export order, for a trial run in Perth, is among the first since production at its Coventry plant resumed last month.

A mini adventure: The cabs in Australia have been painted white rather than the familiar black to cope with extreme hot weather

The trial run will be followed by the export of a further 200 cabs next year.

Good girl gone bad again! Rihanna finally puts her clothes back on... but reveals a not-so-sweet message on her T-shirt

At least she wasn't exposing parts of her body for all to see this time.
But Rihanna couldn't resist stirring up more controversy as she took to Twitter to post photos of herself in questionable attire.
The 25-year-old Pour It Up singer is seen posing backstage at her concert in New Zealand wearing a skimpy outfit consisting of shredded denim shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt with gaping sides.

Hanging out: Rihanna played the tease once again on Sunday by posting new photos of herself in cut-off shorts and a flowery T-shirt with a not-so-sweet message

The white T-shirt featured a pair of pretty yellow chrysanthemums and wouldn't have been so bad if not for the not-so-cryptic words written across the top, 'Blow me.'
While many blooms do lose their blossoms in a strong gust of wind, one has to guess that a gal like Rihanna probably wasn't referring to the weather.
Rihanna hams it up in front of the camera in another full-length picture, which shows her bending to the side while showing off her bare legs.

Send her no flowers: The 25-year-old Barbadian's message was a loud and clear 'Blow Me'

Mixing it up: Rihanna added a dog collar around her neck for added effect

'She x backstage x NEW ZEALAND,' she captioned the photo.
Rihanna had more fun by posting yet another picture in which she's leaning over a gal pal attempting to give her a kiss on the cheek.
'She loves me.... @jennnrosales,' she wrote.

Britain fails to make top 100 innovative companies for second year due to 'heavy reliance on financial businesses'

No British firm has made it onto a list of the world's most innovative companies, for the second year in a row.
The Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators list, now in its third year, measures innovation by firms' use of patents.
And it blamed a lack of funding for research and development in the UK for the complete absence of British names from the list.

Falling behind: The Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators list, blamed a lack of funding for research and development in the UK for the complete absence of Britain in the list

The report said British firms lost out because the economy is so oriented towards the service sector, in particular due to a 'heavy reliance on financial businesses'.
Figures from 2010 showed than Britain spent less than the US, Japan and France on R&D.