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Dennis Skinner, the 77-year-old Labour MP, told how he got a fateful call from the Sunday Telegraph yesterday asking questions about his parliamentary expenses.'I explained to them I had the lowest expenses in the House and the best voting record, but they wanted to know about £3,500 for alterations to my bathroom and kitchen and £800 for a sofa bed,' he said.'What their figures did not show was the alterations cost £12,800 and the pull-out bed £1,756, but I only charged the lower sums because I thought it was wrong to do otherwise. They have got a bloody cheek if they think I am on the fiddle. 'I only had the work done because, after my triple by-pass heart operation, I was told by the consultant to change the bath for a shower and make sure that the cupboards in the kitchen were at the right height and not to do any heavy lifting. He said it was important for my recuperation that I did things right or I would be back where I was.'The new sofa bed was needed be

Suddenly the hippest thing in Major League Baseball is getting hip surgery. In the last eight months, players who have had labrum surgery include Mike Lowell, Chase Utley, Alex Gordon, Alex Rodriguez, and, recently, Carlos Delgado.

NEW ORLEANS -- The only thing keeping Gerard Rigney from getting back into his home is the FEMA trailer in his front yard.

When a 30-second porn clip flashed on the TV screens of many Tucson cable viewers during this year's Super Bowl, the first thing Kim M. Bayne did was post it on Twitter.

Los angeles (AP) -- Kobe Bryant stared straight ahead, delivering his answer without emotion. His teammates were out of earshot, though Bryant undoubtedly told them the same thing.

A general overview on the things you need to consider in organizing a fashion show. source: Voice of StylePublished: May 30, 2009

Kobe Bryant stared straight ahead, delivering his answer without emotion. His teammates were out of earshot, though Bryant undoubtedly told them the same thing.

A few weeks back, Liberty University, a Christian school in Southern Virginia, said it would no longer recognize the College Democrats as a campus club because it supported politicians who favored abortion rights. Last week, the school told the group it could get its recognition back if it became a chapter of the Virginia Democrats for Life. Jan Dervish, the club's secretary, talks with Jacki Lyden about where things stand.

With just three days left in the Texas Legislature, the only thing certain was the $182.3 billion budget. But a Waco senator says he's trying to revive the children's health insurance bill.

Alpha Protocol (PS3)Alpha Protocol has a terrible name and, unfortunately, a lot of editors in the office and many of our readers haven't yet paid much attention to it. I was certainly among the many that couldn't care less when this game was announced or first shown. But that's changed after getting an extensive preview of the E3 build. Three things caught my interest: This is a spy RPG (how rare is that?), it doesn't rely on a morality system for its branching paths and it's uber geeky. If you're one of those RPG gamers who love spending lots of time debating how to upgrade their character, then read on.