With my deepest sympathies

Ricardo Melchior Navarro

President of the Tenerife Government

The Art Group have held successful exhibitions at Los Cristianos Cultural Centre, the Hacienda Cristoforo, near Playa Paraiso, and at The Cuatro Esquinas Rural Hotel in San Miguel.

Artists display a variety of paintings showing the dedication and enjoyment of all the Swallows involved.

This year, in addition to their Tenerife landscapes and assorted other subjects, they have been trying something different, with some of the members painting a few individual pictures in the style of one of their favourite artists.

It was quite a challenge for them to try to emulate the style of Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh and others, but they have all enjoyed the diversion – and they hope you will as well.

The artists will be happy to share their painting techniques in Watercolour, Gouache, Pastels and Acrylics.

The Art Group hold workshops and painting classes for beginners and experienced painters, and you can learn more about them when you visit the Exhibition

All the paintings are for sale, everyone is welcome, and there is no admission fee, so come and meet this friendly group. It may, perhaps, be your chance to purchase a future masterpiece!

Delicious cakes and varying hot drinks are available in the charming café in The Swedish Church, and the Exhibition will be open at the following times:

Saturday – 10am-4pm; Monday & Friday – 10am-2pm; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – 10am-2pm, and 4pm-7pm.

For further information, call Barbara on 922 715 181, or Jacqueline on 922 738 143.

Tenerife Insurance Services, in Las Chafiras, started the ball rolling with the discount scheme, by offering Live Arico members a substantial discount on DKV Health care policies.

From there, Live Arico President Sue Havenhand has been asking local businesses to join the ever-growing list of collaborating businesses offering a discount to members only.

“It’s really going well – better than we could ever have expected,” she says. “It’s a win-win. Our members help the dogs by paying a regular monthly amount, and they gain by getting discounts in local businesses.

“The businesses gain by catching clients they might not have had. We now have agreed discounts in Xtreme Gym, Las Chafiras; Harbour Club, Los Gigantes; Bar Balú, Los Cristianos; Fly Fotography; Restaurant Maria, Golf del Sur; Claires Grooming; Tenerife Drinking Water Filters; Jada Design; Live Arico Charity Shops; Avon; The Beauty Room, Golf del Sur; Studio5 Hair Salon, Los Cristianos; Poochies Pet Hotel; Original Wigan Pier, Torviscas; Tenerife Ink; Brewers Droop, Las Americas; Hops and Grapes, Las Americas; Shires Bar, Los Cristianos; Indian Restaurant, near Los Cristianos charity shop; Tenerife Teeth Whitening, and more to come.”

To join as a member, subscribe on the homepage of www.livearico.org (you will need a paypal account) OR contact Suzy Q on 629 388 102 for bank details, OR pay cash in any Live Arico shop (Costa del Silencio, Los Cristianos, San Eugenio).

You will receive a newsletter, a membership card and regular updates of what’s going on in Tenerife’s biggest and busiest dog refuge.

Businesses, call Suzy to be added to the list of big-hearted bars, restaurants, and businesses offering a discount. Get your window sticker now. Also, come and see us on the markets ­- get your exclusive solidarity wristband, make a donation or a buy a second-hand book. We are waiting for you.

Important telephone numbers

Ana: 682 517 045 (call if you find an animal abandoned or in distress)

Suzy Q: 629 388 102 (fund raising, press releases, prize donations, etc)

Mark & Alice: 661 099 365 (Poochies Pet Hotel for boarding your dog)

Claire; 660 862 910 (dog-grooming and behaviour/agility training

Aktiontier, the German charity which sponsors Accion, has take over the pitiful cases of Paloma and Colita, and will eventually resettle them there.

Paloma, a young, black Labrador, has a severe hip problem, while Colita another youngster, was brought into the refuge with a badly-broken leg.

She had not received any treatment, resulting in the bones fusing together and causing her a lot of pain and discomfort.

Following their recuperation, Aktiontier will ensure they find new homes, which is good news for the dogs and Accion, whose staff work hard to find the best solutions and new homes for the many abandoned dogs they take in.

Bambam, this lovely big black-and-white dog pictured, is still looking for a new home. Visitors pass him by, perhaps because of his size, but he’s a just a gentle giant who wants someone to love him.

The cute little pup, is a cheeky chap who is also looking for a new home.

If you would like to adopt one of them, or one of the other many dogs at the refuge, please pay them a visit  from Monday-Friday (3-6pm), or call 922 778 630 for more information.

The refuge is situated at the Granadilla Industrial Estate, Exit 51 on the TF1 and right next to ITER, the ecological windmill park.

If adoption is to big a commitment, but you would like to help Accion del Sol, then come along and walk the dogs to the nearby beach and surrounding countryside. They always welcome a bit of TLC and an adventure.

Accion’s next Puppies and Pony Club will be held on Saturday (25^th Feb) from

10am-12.30pm. Please call 922 778 630 or 687 905 511 for more information.

This is a fun morning for children to learn about animal care and to

experience pony-riding, as well as playing with a few gorgeous puppies

from the refuge.

Aktiontier is a large animal charity, helping all types of animals throughout Europe. If you would like to know more about the organisation, check out its website http://www.aktiontier.org/

Users will be able to make payments of between £1 and £300 with a maximum of £5,000 per day.

The free Pingit app, developed by Barclays, allows users to send and receive cash to anyone with one of the bank’s UK current accounts and a mobile phone number.

Only Barclays current account customers can initially use the app, but it will be available to customers of other banks or building societies from next month.

To send money, customers can use the app available on iOS, Android and Blackberry, or they can register online to receive payments regardless of what type of phone they use.

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays retail and business banking, said the app could “revolutionise” the way people send and receive money.

“For friends splitting the cost of dinner, repaying a borrowed £10 or people sending money to a son or daughter at university, it’s free, quick, convenient, secure and easy to use.”

Barclays said transfers were as safe as any other banking transaction and the app was protected by a five digit code set by the user.

Rachel Springall, spokeswoman for comparison website Moneyfacts, said: “Whilst this feature strives to be a secure service, customers need to ensure that they input the correct mobile number on outset and that they are careful when making transfers so as not to select the wrong amount.

“It will be interesting to see how other lenders react to this release, especially since the launch of mobile banking as a whole has met many customers’ day-to-day banking needs.”

New research reveals that one in five parents has scrapped old classics and introduced more modern books instead.

One third of parents said their children had cried after hearing the gruesome details of Little Red Riding Hood.

And nearly 50% of them refused to read Rumplestiltskin to their children because the themes of the story were kidnapping and execution.

Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also likely to be left on the book shelf as parents felt it condoned stealing.

The survey of 2,000 adults was commissioned to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM, which started on Monday on the TV channel Watch, and sees six gritty episodes based on traditional fairytales.

The poll found that a quarter of parents wouldn’t consider reading a fairytale to their child anyway until they were five, because they prompted too many awkward questions.

And 52 per cent of the parents said Cinderella sent bad a message to their children as it portrayed a young woman doing housework all day.

Steve Hornsey, from Watch, said: “Bedtime stories are supposed to soothe children and send them off to sleep soundly.

“But as we see in GRIMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic, so it’s understandable that parents worry about reading them to their youngsters.

“As adults, we can see the innocence in fairytales, but a five-year-old with an over-active imagination could take things too literally.”

He added: “However, despite the dark nature of classic fairytales, as we see in GRIMM, good will triumph over evil and there is always a moral to the story.”

The study also found two-thirds of mums and dads avoided stories which might have given their children nightmares.

But 50% of parents said traditional tales were more likely to have a strong moral message than a lot of modern kids’ books, such as The Gruffalo, The Hungry Caterpillar and the Mr Men books.

Top 10 fairytales children won’t hear

 1. Hansel and Gretel

 2. Jack and the Beanstalk

 3. Gingerbread Man

 4. Little Red Riding Hood

 5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

 6. Cinderella

 7. Rapunzel

 8. Rumplestiltskin

 9. Goldilocks and the Three Bears

10. Queen Bee

The new device, dubbed the ‘iPad 3′, will have a clearer screen, faster processor, more memory and better internet connectivity than the iPad 2.

The 2048×1536 pixel display – called ‘Retina’ as the pixel density makes it impossible for the naked eye to distinguish between individual pixels and gives it a sharper look – will be twice the resolution of its predecessor.

It is rumoured to also have double the memory at 128GB.

Although it will be a similar size to the iPad 2, it will contain an A6 quad-core chip allowing it to run much faster than the A5 dual-core processor in the current version.

The new iPad is also expected to be able to run on the speedier fourth-generation (4G) network.

4G is the next step up from 3G in mobile internet connectivity – offering at least 100 mega-bits per second (Mbps) of information to be transferred as opposed to 3G which can be as slow as 3.84 Mbps.

However, this may not be a big selling point most of Apple’s markets.

In the UK, the technology is still at the testing stage, with the communications watchdog planning to begin auctioning off the mobile spectrum to network providers at the end of 2012.

Several sources, including the technology sites AllThingsD and iMore, have said the launch date is set for March 7, and the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco where Apple’s late founder Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 last March is free on the day.

Apple has not confirmed any details, holding true to its policy to “refuse to comment on rumours or speculation”, but its stock jumped above the $500 (£319) mark on Monday.

Meanwhile, the company may face an export ban on iPads from one of its main production bases after a Chinese firm has claimed that it owns the trademark on the device.

Shenzhen-based Proview Technology has petitioned Chinese customs to prevent Apple’s iPads from leaving the country.

Although the customs department has not replied, officials from the Administration of Industry and Commerce in the northern city of Shijiazhuang have begun confiscating iPads from retail stores as a result of the lawsuit.

Apple insists it bought the worldwide rights to the trademark in 10 different countries several years ago and plans to fight back.

A Chinese court will make the final decision on February 29.

Scientific studies have shown that a high calorific intake can substantially increase the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a syndrome that is characterised by mild memory loss, which can precede dementia.

Dr Marie Janson, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “These findings touch on an interesting subject.

“The initial report suggests older people who consume a high number of calories may be at greater risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.

“It would be interesting to see how many of these people go on to develop dementia in the future, to see if there is link to Alzheimer’s disease.

“We know that age is one of the greatest risk factors for dementia, but adopting a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet and regular exercise, is beneficial in protecting against dementia along with a number of other chronic diseases.

“With 820,000 people in the UK living with dementia, and this number expected to rise dramatically with the ageing population, there is a desperate need to understand more about the risk factors involved.”

She added: “But to make real progress, we must invest in research.”

Figures show there are some million users of cannabis in the UK aged 16-24, and there are also around two million in the 16-59 age group.

A review of nine studies found that drivers were more likely to be involved in a collision with another car after smoking the class B drug.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found cannabis use resulted in a “near doubling of risk of a driver being involved in a collision resulting in serious injury or death”.

But the researchers, from Dalhousie University in Canada, did admit that the impact of cannabis consumption on the risk of minor crashes “remains unclear”.

The experts added: “The results also accord with recent data for collisions that point to the increasing presence of drugs other than alcohol (especially cannabis and depressants of the central nervous system) in injured and fatally-injured drivers.”

The study is thought to be the first looking at crashes solely after taking cannabis. Others have not differentiated between the effects of alcohol and other substances.

The present review involved people who either tested positive for cannabis use through blood tests – or who said they had used cannabis – in the previous three hours.

More than 49,000 people were included in the nine studies. The vehicles included cars, vans, SUVs, light or heavy trucks, buses, motorcycles and scooters, plus all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, said: “This research confirms what the available evidence has suggested for some time: driving while under the influence of drugs such as cannabis can be dangerous.

“The Department for Transport is setting up an expert panel to advise on how legislation could be amended to respond to drug-driving.”