15/08/2012

Other News In Brief

Yellow Weather Warning Remains

A Met Office yellow warning remains in force over the risk of localised flooding in parts of Wales after a deep area of low pressure brought heavy rain.

South Wales and Pembrokeshire saw heavy rain on Wednesday which pushed north, causing outdoor flooding in Flintshire.

Forecasters had said up to 50mm (2in) could fall in places - particularly high ground - in a few hours.

20% Increase In UK Broadband Speeds

The arrival of superfast broadband connections from BT and Virgin Media has boosted the average residential download speed by nearly 20% during the last six months, to nine megabits per second.

Speeds have more than doubled in three years, up from 4.1Mbps in May 2009, and are comfortably ahead of last November's average of 7.6Mbps, according to twice-yearly research by the telecoms watchdog, Ofcom.

Ofcom said network upgrades were behind the increase. BT has improved its old copper network and has been rolling out fibre to street cabinets in a programme which has now reached a third of the UK's 30m homes and small businesses.

Virgin Media began doubling speeds for its customers in February 2012, and increased its top-tier package's maximum speed to 120Mbps.

Fabrice Muamba Announces Retirement

Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba has announced his retirement from football.

Muamba, 24, collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest on 17 March during Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final tie with Tottenham Hotspur.

"While the news is devastating, I have much to be thankful for," Muamba told the club website.

"I thank God that I am alive and I pay tribute once again to the members of the medical team who never gave up on me."

Muamba had travelled to Belgium earlier in the week to have minor heart surgery, which was said to have been routine and had no bearing on whether the player would return to action.


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