"Oprah" Interview With the McCanns to Air in the UK

LONDON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Kate and Gerry McCann's interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is to be screened in the UK, a day after airing in America, NBC Universal Global Networks announced today.

Diva TV, which transmits "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the UK, will broadcast the McCann's first US interview on Tuesday 5th May at 8pm. Viewers will see a digitally created photo that shows how Madeleine might look today, aged five.

The McCanns will talk to Oprah about the two-year hunt for their missing daughter, whilst the show's cameras go inside their home, spending the day with them and their 4-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.

"The more people able to see Madeleine's image as she would look now the better," said Jon Farrar, Programming Director for NBC Universal Global Networks (UK), which owns Diva TV.

"By appearing on 'Oprah' the family can reach millions of people in America and, given the show is broadcast in 143 countries including here in the UK, target new audiences around the world. We hope it will lead to new and useful information."

NBC Universal hopes that airing the Oprah interview will prompt new information from the public. The company is working with the UK charity Missing People to facilitate sightings confidentially immediately following the transmission.

Jo Youle, Director of Services at the charity Missing People said, "We very much hope that, by airing Gerry and Kate McCann's interview with Oprah, anyone with that vital sighting will come forward in confidence on Freefone 0500-700-700."

The Oprah Winfrey Show: "Exclusive - The McCanns and the New Search for Madeleine" will be broadcast on Tuesday 5th May at 8pm. Diva TV is available on Sky channel 269 & Virgin channel 164.

Sightings of Madeleine can also be made online at http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/madeleinemccann

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Women gear up for charity fundraiser

WOMEN in Chester are gearing up to get behind the wheel of fire engines, ambulances, and tractors amongst other unusual vehicles as part of a charity fundraiser.

Chester Lions Club have organised the challenge which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7 and are appealing for as many women as possible with a full driving licence to get in to the driving seat.
For sponsorship forms visit Special page
All vehicles will have a regular experienced driver to supervise and a driver will be on the airfield runway.

Bookings are taken on a first come first served basis by returning the entry slip at the bottom of the sponsorship form with £5 entry fee for registration. All drivers must be pre-registered.

No entries will be accepted on the day. Minimum sponsorship requested is £50.

CES (UK) Ltd is supporting this event by contributing to safety and control features.

Proceeds from the event will be distributed to the Countess of Chester Relative Comfort Appeal which provides overnight facilities for those in the Critical Care Unit, Miles of Smiles charity, which provides holidays for mentally, and socially disabled and disadvantaged children, and the Hospice of the Good Shepherd, Backford, providing equipment for the Lions Day Care Room.

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Birmingham gym raises charity cash in sponsored spar

A CITY gym punched above its weight by raising more than £2,500 for charity in a sponsored sparathon.

Novice and professional boxers took turns at fighting with each other for a whopping 12 hours.

And there were plenty of high- profile contests to keep the crowds happy at the Fighting Fit Gym, on Lionel Street, in Birmingham city centre.

Broad Street manager Mike Olley sparred with Stuart Hyde, assistant chief constable of the West Midlands Police.

The gym’s owner and professional heavyweight Neil Perkins took on Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell over four rounds.

Neil, 29, who is undefeated in his fledgling boxing career, said: “It was a great day.

“We had loads of people down here coming and going all day.

“I would just like to thank all our members who worked really hard.”

The event also served as an open day for people wanting to find out more about boxing training and nutrition.

The £2,840 raised during the mammoth boxing bout, held on Friday March 13, was donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Macmillan fund-raising manager Sharon Battersby said: “They did a really fantastic job.

“I think the amount raised was beyond their expectations.

“The money will go towards helping fund a number of nursing posts in the city centre.

“They cost £140,000 over three years so the money is a massive help.”

The gym chose Macmillan after one of their staff received assistance from them when both his parents died of cancer.

Personal trainer Paul Gough, 43, from Dudley, said: “I lost my mum and dad to cancer a few years ago and the support they got was brilliant.

“I did a similar thing in my old gym in Dudley and it worked pretty well so I thought we would try it here.”

British cruiserweight champion Rob Norton was on hand to lend his support and show off his title belts.

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Toyota Manufacturing UK donates cash to charity

TOYOTA is to distribute more than £200,000 to charities and projects in North Wales and Derbyshire.

Representatives from a number of charities will be at the car manufacturer’s Deeside plant today (Thursday) to receive donations from Toyota Manufacturing UK’s deputy managing director Carl Klemm.

The presentation will also mark the official launch of the Toyota Manufacturing UK Charitable Trust, set up last year.

The trust raised £201,403 in its first year through fundraising activities including marathons, fun runs, golf events, raffles, cycle rides and cake sales.

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Goldman Sachs announces $5bn fundraising

Goldman Sachs has announced plans to raise $5 billion through the issue of new shares.

The Wall Street bank will use the funds to pay back a loan to the US Treasury and is optimistic about interest from investors, having also reported pre-tax profit of $2.6 billion for the first quarter of 2009.The result is above market expectations and up almost 24% on the same period of 2008.It follows a loss of $2.12 billion for the final quarter of 2008, the first loss since the bank’s flotation in 1999.Goldman’s participation in the US Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) has left it with government debts of $10 billion in total.

Plans to repay the loan have been greeted enthusiastically by analysts and investors although US authorities will dictate the speed at which this can be achieved, applying a “stress test” to ensure capital strength is maintained.Shedding the debt will allow the bank greater freedom regarding its remuneration policy as membership of Tarp comes with imposed limits on executive pay.

Commentators suggest that if Goldman Sachs is successful in paying off its loan, other US banks will be under pressure to follow suit.

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U2 'to donate £8.3 million to charity'

U2 will donate approximately £8.3 million of profits from their upcoming U2360 stadium tour to charity, it has emerged.

The band will be giving away 100% of the money raised from their 'Red Zone' VIP auction ticket sales, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Around 600 premium tickets are being sold off at auction for the concerts, with bids starting from between €95 (£87) and €1,015.

A U2 spokeswoman said: "All of U2's income raised from the auction of Red Zone tickets will be donated to charity."

Charities believed to be benefiting from the scheme include Global Fund and organisations focusing on Africa.

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