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American rock singer Ronnie James Dio, who died on Sunday, popularised a hand gesture commonly used by heavy metal fans. But what does it mean?

It’s a gesture commonly seen at rock concerts.

The index finger and the little finger are upright and the thumb is clasped against the two middle fingers.

Ronnie James Dio, who sang with Black Sabbath and Rainbow before forming his own band, was partly responsible for it becoming a common symbol among metal fans.

But it has other uses too, depending on the position of the thumb, and the context. Here is a round-up of some of the common meanings.

‘WE ARE LOVING THIS GIG’

"Ronnie started throwing the horns shortly after replacing Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s vocalist in 1979," says Simon Young, news editor of heavy metal magazine Kerrang!.

"Many metal fans began to reciprocate the gesture and along with headbanging, it became synonymous with metal."

Dio wasn’t the first, says Young. In the 1960s, there had been Coven frontman Jinx Dawson, and the cartoon version of John Lennon on the cover of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine was seen using it too. But it really took off from Dio.

It has been misinterpreted as a sign of allegiance to the devil, because the shape of the fingers have been associated with 666, the number of the beast, says Young.

But Dio, says Young, explained that he was taught the so-called corna sign by his Italian grandmother, as a way to scare off the "evil eye", a look which is said to cause bad luck. It’s like knocking on wood for superstitious purposes (more on this meaning at bottom of page).

Fans copied Dio because they thought it looked cool, and it became a sign of appreciation at gigs. But it has more recently crossed over into mainstream youth culture, says Young.

"Rihanna, Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne have all done it – perhaps they’re all secret metal fans – but it has led to several internet groups forming in protest over the ‘egregious overuse and inappropriate use’ of throwing the horns. Quite right. Leave it to the metal fans."

WARDING OFF THE EVIL EYE

When Dio’s Italian grandmother taught him the corna sign, she was drawing on a much older superstition.

Bram Stoker mentioned it in his novel Dracula, published in 1897. In the first chapter, protagonist Jonathan Harker notes the following in his journal while in Eastern Europe’s Carpathian Mountains:

"When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty I got a fellow-passenger to tell me what they meant; he would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye."

This superstitious belief is especially common in Italy, but it is also shared in other countries.

‘GO, THE TEXAN LONGHORNS’

The slogan of the University of Texas is "Hook ’em, horns" and the hand sign that illustrates this motto is the same as the one used by heavy metal fans.

It is intended to symbolise the head and horns of the university mascot, the longhorn, and has been used since the 1950s.

Fans use it as a greeting or just to emphasise their Texan identity, a demonstration most famously seen in recent years by George W Bush.

His wife Laura and daughters were also fans.

‘I LOVE YOU’

With the thumb sticking out, it has a different meaning entirely.

"It is the American sign for ‘I love you’," says Sarah Murray of the British Deaf Association.

"It would probably be recognised by people here [in the UK] but you wouldn’t see it often used."

American politicians like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney have been photographed using it in the same way, although some believe that Jimmy Carter was its first exponent when running for president in the 1970s.

When the Obamas use it with their thumb sticking out, it is different from the specifically Texan use by George Bush, says Trevor McCrisken, a professor in US politics at the University of Warwick.

"They want to show that they care about people that need to use sign language," he says. "If you’re at a political event in the US, there will be a couple of people down the front signing to the audience, so they’re more careful [than in the UK] to ensure that everyone with special needs is catered for."

‘HANG LOOSE’

At his presidential inauguration, President Obama was seen doing what is known as the "shaka" greeting, which has the thumb and little finger extended.

It is also exercised by Brazilian footballer Ronaldhinho as part of his goal scoring celebrations.

In Hawaii, where the president was born, the sign conveys affection or "aloha".

It has been adopted by the wider surfing community as a greeting meaning "hi", "cool" or "hang loose".

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CCTV footage of robbers dressed as police forensics officers stealing diamond jewellery from a Lincoln shop has been released by police.

The footage shows one of the masked men threaten a staff member with a hammer at James Usher & Son in Guildhall Street in the raid on Saturday morning.

Managing director James Frampton said about £80,000 of jewels were stolen and security is now being reviewed.

The robbers escaped in a car later found abandoned and on fire.

The green Vauxhall Astra was set alight in Lindum Terrace.

‘Dangerous individuals’

The robbers and getaway driver then made their escape in a white Transit-type van parked on Arboretum Avenue, police said.

Officers said the two robbers – wearing white hooded-boiler suits with a "police forensics" logo and dust masks which covered most of their faces – took various pieces of diamond jewellery.

They appeared to target the most valuable items in the shop.

Mr Frampton said: "We are relieved that our staff are physically unharmed although some are struggling to come to terms with the shock of these events.

"We appeal to all members of the public who were in the vicinity and saw anything at all to help the police with their inquiries. It is important for us all that these dangerous individuals are apprehended."

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Greece has received the first tranche of a 110bn-euro ($136bn; £94bn) loan to help it overcome its debt crisis, the European Union has said.

The European Commission said 20bn euros from the EU and the International Monetary Fund had been drawn on.

The bail-out package for Greece – which has an 8.1bn-euro bond repayment due on Wednesday – was agreed earlier in May.

On Monday, eurozone finance ministers insisted the euro was still credible despite its slide against the dollar.

The European single currency fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 2006, amid concerns that debt problems will undermine Europe’s recovery.

Tax scandal

The 20bn-euro loan is made up of 14.5bn from euro area member states and 5.5bn euros from the IMF. It is the first time Greece has tapped the funds.

In return for the loan, the government in Athens is trying to make major austerity cuts – a move which has outraged the public and led to violent clashes in the capital.

In a separate development on Monday, a tax scandal led to the dismissal of Greek Deputy Tourism Minister Angela Gerekou.

She was forced to go after a newspaper revealed that her husband, a popular singer, owed more than 5m euros in unpaid taxes and fines.

Ms Gerekou, a political protegee of Prime Minister George Papandreou, had filed joint tax declarations with her husband for years.

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MPs will come to the House of Commons later for the first time since the general election, where they will choose the next Commons Speaker.

Incumbent John Bercow is likely to return to the role, but not before facing a challenge from some MPs.

If enough call for a vote it would be the first such ballot in 175 years.

Following the formation of the coalition government, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs are to sit on the same side of the Commons.

Labour’s stand-in leader Harriet Harman and her colleagues will be on the opposition benches for the first time since 1997.

Swearing in

Some 227 new MPs were elected for the on 6 May, resulting in a hung parliament and a subsequent Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

MPs will begin being sworn in on Wednesday, assuming there is not a challenge to Mr Bercow, which would delay proceedings.

Sir Peter Tapsell, The Father of the House – meaning the MP with the longest continuous service – will preside over the appointment of the next Speaker, starting at about 1430 BST on Tuesday.

He will first ask for those supporting Mr Bercow, MP for Buckingham, to shout "Aye" and those opposing him to say "No".

Normally incumbent speakers are chosen unanimously at this stage. But if several MPs are determined to force a vote, they can do so.

There would then be a vote, with MPs passing through the lobbies.

If Mr Bercow loses this, a series of secret ballots take place until a new Speaker is chosen.

BBC deputy political editor James Landale said the process was unlikely to go this far, with Mr Bercow winning the lobby vote.

The Speaker has only been in place since last summer, when he replaced Michael Martin, who resigned over his handling of the MPs’ expenses scandal.

The last incumbent to be voted out was Charles Manners-Sutton, in 1835.

The swearing-in of MPs is expected to last into Thursday, with the most senior going first. MPs can take a religious oath or a secular affirmation of loyalty to the Crown.

The serious business of the Parliament gets under way next week, with the Queen’s Speech, outlining the coalition’s legislative agenda for the year, taking place on Tuesday.

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The performance of Boscombe’s £3m artificial surf reef since it opened has been sub-standard, Bournemouth Borough Council has confirmed.

The findings came from experts at Plymouth University who assessed the quality of waves enhanced by the underwater creation over six months.

The team found the surf reef only achieved four of its 11 objectives.

The council said it would withhold a £150,000 payment from its creator, ASR Ltd, until it is satisfied it works.

Plymouth University, home of the UK’s first marine institute, has been assessing the quality of the reef’s waves and the number of days suitable for surfing since last September.

Public discussion

The information, part of a 12-month independent report, was collected from on-site cameras and location visits which monitored the shape and power of the breaking waves.

Dr Mark Davidson, from the Plymouth University team, told BBC News: "[The reef] does fall short in a number of ways – in particular the ride length is a little too short.

"The wave length is rather too intense and challenging [and it] is not quite as consistent as it should be."

The construction opened in November after a delay of more than a year and at nearly double the proposed cost.

There has been a mixed response to the reef’s success from surfers.

It was created to improve surfing conditions using 55 sand-filled "geotextile bags" which are 225m (740ft) out to sea.

Bournemouth Borough Council went ahead with the plan as part of an £11m overall regeneration of Boscombe, in an attempt to improve its rundown image and attract a new crowd of visitors.

The seafront promenade has been redeveloped with new restaurants and apartments, and a surf festival was held there in March.

Roger Brown, head of leisure services at the council, told BBC News: "In the latest discussions with [ASR] they are committed to undertaking some field work on site in order to help refine some outline design proposals for the reef."

The findings will be discussed publically at a council cabinet meeting on 26 May.

New Zealand-based ASR, which designed similar reefs in Mount Maunganui on the north island, and Narrowneck, Australia, has not yet commented to the BBC about the findings.

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The BBC has apologised after a radio presenter said the Queen had died.

Danny Kelly who works for BBC WM in the West Midlands, played the national anthem as he made the joke during his Birmingham-based afternoon show.

A BBC spokesman said it had been a reference to an item on one of his internet pages.

It was corrected on-air immediately and described as "entirely inappropriate" by a BBC spokesman who said the corporation apologised "unreservedly".

The spokesman added: "Although made as part of a light-hearted piece about social media friends, and corrected on-air immediately after it was made, the comment was entirely inappropriate and the BBC apologises unreservedly for it.

"There was no intention to offend.

"BBC WM takes this comment very seriously. Action is being taken."

The spokesman could not comment on what action had been taken following Mr Kelly’s comments and it is not yet known if he will present his afternoon show on Tuesday.

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Avatar, Clash of the Titans and the upcoming Tintin trilogy – all of them big budget movies made in 3D.

But it’s not quite as straightforward as that.

The price you pay to watch a 3D movie at the cinema is always the same – but there are several ways of tricking your eyes into seeing that extra dimension and, according to some, the quality varies greatly.

Avatar, for example, was filmed entirely using a 3D camera system, which was partly developed by director James Cameron.

Other movies, including the forthcoming Harry Potter finale, are being shot with regular cameras and converted into 3D during post-production.

Clash Of The Titans director Louis Leterrier had wanted to use 3D cameras to shoot his Greek mythology epic – but the technology was so new, the only ones in existence had already been booked for Avatar.

Leterrier had reservations about the conversion process – which, in essence, cuts the picture into layers like a pop-up book – but ultimately, he was impressed with the result.

"It was absolutely amazing, just the amount of detail. It doesn’t look like cut-out people on flat backgrounds – everything was absolutely realistic," he told BBC 5 Live.

But not everyone agrees.

Film critic Roger Ebert enjoyed the film but ended his review in the Chicago-Sun Times with a warning: "Explain to kids that the movie was not filmed in 3D and is only being shown in 3D in order to charge you an extra $5 a ticket.

"I saw it in 2D, and let me tell you, it looked terrific."

The Daily Telegraph reviewer Sukadev Sandhu was also unimpressed.

"Part of the problem lies in transferring it to 3D," he wrote.

"Avatar raised the bar quite high for that format… here it feels random, superfluous, distinctly unspectacular. If you choose to take off your specs you’ll be missing very little."

Martin Hobbs of Prime Focus, the company which converted Clash of the Titans, says he was pleased with the outcome although admits it was converted quickly.

"There are shots that could have been done with a bit more time," he concedes.

"You need time to make a refined product."

The film was converted in just eight weeks as opposed to the usual 12 – 15 weeks because making it into a 3D movie was "an afterthought", Hobbs explains.

To get the film ready in time, Prime Focus employees endured lots of overtime and director LeTerrier was very hands-on.

"He was completely involved, sometimes here up to three times a day," says Hobbs.

Hobbs is keen to point out he is not against making films in 3D – far from it.

"It’s not about one (process) or the other – you could shoot one scene in stereo and then choose to convert another one."

But Avatar director James Cameron has also hit out at the conversion process.

Darker image

Cameron said filming a movie in 3D assures better quality over the subsequent conversion.

Nonetheless, the film-maker has revealed wants to remake his 1997 blockbuster Titanic in 3D, but said it will be different because he plans to take his time instead of doing a "slapdash conversion".

Tim Burton, whose Alice in Wonderland movie was converted to 3D in post-production, believes the differences in quality are more about artistic vision than techniques.

"With all of these tools, you can see good 3D, bad 3D, good conversion and bad conversions," he said.

But not all film-makers are keen to jump on the 3D bandwagon.

British director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire, Four Weddings And A Funeral) filmed the bulk of his new movie, Prince Of Persia, in 2008 and some critics have expressed surprise that it was not given a 3D makeover on its journey to the big screen.

But he was adamant that the film would be seen the way it was shot.

"If you’re going to do a 3D conversion, what you have to do at this stage is to send it off to some bloke’s garage in South Korea and he’ll give it back to you in three months’ time and say ‘that’s your lot," he told the BBC.

"Nobody’s prepared to do that".

Referring to his fellow colleague Cameron, he added: "Sequences in Avatar, like the seeds falling like snow, have to be planned from the very beginning. You can’t just run it through a conversion process. Until Avatar was released, nobody knew."

Another hold-out is Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro, who plans to make The Hobbit in 2D, according to producer Peter Jackson.

"Guillermo wants to shoot in 35mm, old-fashioned film," Jackson has said, "which suits me, because he wants to keep it in the same space as the original [Lord Of The Rings] trilogy".

Jackson has been keen not to over-emphasise the vogue for 3D, saying it "only adds to the experience" of watching a movie.

"The only thing I get annoyed about is the image being a little dull. It does feel like you’re looking at the movie with sunglasses on."

Indeed, that is probably the main downside for the viewer. The polarization process that creates the illusion of 3D results in a darker image on the screen, making films less vibrant.

But for just a few million dollars, a small percentage in a blockbuster budget, 2D films can be converted to 3D quite easily.

It is cheaper to convert than make in stereo – to make a film in 3D roughly adds about 30% to the budget, but the cost of conversion is unlikely to exceed $15m (£9.8m) dollars.

And with the extra bucks to be made at the box office, 3D movies show no signs of stopping.

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Sadaam Maake’s home would be a fitting shrine to the football gods. It is filled with football memorabilia such as tickets, trophy replicas and jerseys.

More than 200 "makarapa" plastic helmets and vuvuzelas (long trumpets) – both essential garb for any South African soccer fan – adorn Mr Maake’s tiny lounge.

Before our interview, he insists on "kitting up first"- he changes into a tracksuit in the colours of the national team Bafana Bafana and completes the look with oversized glasses.

"I am ready to talk about football now," he says, smiling.

At 55 years old, he says he has lost count of how many times he has been to a stadium.

"I’m a soccer slave. I drink football, I eat football, I talk football. Everything in my life revolves around soccer. It is my passion," says Mr Maake.

Mr Maake has been dubbed South Africa’s "number one football fan" by local media and Kaizer Chiefs, one of South Africa’s oldest and biggest clubs, which he has supported for 40 years.

‘Bitten by dogs’

An animated man, he speaks with great passion about the atmosphere in local football stadia.

"There are 80,000 people at a stadium at a go, all cheering and excited about the game. Here I make new friends.

"For 90 minutes, a brotherhood prevails here, strangers become instant friends," he says.

One of the unifiers at South Africa’s football matches is the sound of the vuvuzela. Mr Maake is the man who made thefamous here.

"If you don’t hear a vuvuzela playing at a game you are not in South Africa. This is our thing, international fans need to embrace it."

The trumpets will be blaring loudly at the World Cup, despite a number of attempts by some international clubs and commentators to have thembannedbecause of the noise.

"I’ve been arrested three times over the years and charged with public disturbance because of this vuvuzela. I’ve even been bitten by police dogs, but I will continue to play it," he said.

But he warns fans to be careful when blowing the instrument near children or people with sensitive hearing.

Local ambassador

Mr Maake says he cannot wait to see the national team play the world on home soil.

"This is a hell of a joint, it is the first – and perhaps the last – time we ever host the World Cup in Africa. We must do ourselves proud," he beams.

The avid fan adds that this is Africa’s time to shine. "Africa’s ‘six-pack’ – Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Algeria, SA and Ghana – must be in the final."

"The cup must stay in Africa."

Mr Maake is a local ambassador for the tournament – in the past year he has been touring the country educating people about the ticketing process.

He speaks candidly about the World Cup tickets, which still have not sold out.

"If the international fans don’t buy the tickets, we will. We will fill the stadia ourselves and cheer for their teams if we have to.

"The teams will play whether the fans are there or not. The game will go on, why should we be worried about ticket sales?" he asks.

Sixty-four matches will be played during the June sporting event.

Mr Maake’s 13 children all have tickets to a number of them.

"If it were up to me, I’d watch all the games. My family and I will go to all the games where South Africa and all the African countries are playing and some international teams like Portugal," he said.

Mr Maake, who lives in in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, loves football so much he sings about it. He released an album some years ago named after his son Cellular, titled Vuvuzela Cellular.

"There is a lot of singing at stadia. I came up with the idea of an album because of that. I love singing about football because it makes fans happy."

He worked on it with his children.

Though none of the songs are likely to be chart-toppers, he still he has a large following in his home province of Limpopo.

A price worth paying?

Mr Maake’s obsessive love for the game has come at a price.

He has never wed, saying he has had difficulties finding a woman who understands his passion for football.

"No woman can put up with a man who travels every day of the week just for football. Even when I’m at home this is all I talk about," he laughs.

"Just look at how the lounge is decorated, what woman would like this," he asks pointing to the pile of helmets under a table in the lounge.

The relationship between makarapa and fans dates back to the 1970s when they were originally worn to protect the head from beer bottles thrown at riotous games.

Nowadays, they are purely decorative, with fans expressing their individuality by painting the helmets.

Mr Maake’s passion has also cost him his job – on several occasions.

He first worked at a retail store in Johannesburg and was later employed at a car rental company.

"I’d be called to disciplinary hearings all the time because I would miss work during the week if my team was playing. I just couldn’t miss a game.

"It just wasn’t working out; I didn’t try to find a job since. But my football has been taking care of me," he explains.

With a month to go to the World Cup, Mr Maake has started learning a few languages including French – all to welcome international visitors.

He has the basics down, but says the greatest welcome they will receive is the hospitality of South Africans and the buzz around the World Cup.

"We are ready, we are waiting. This is it," he cheers.

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Researchers reveal how easy it is to subvert the control systems found in modern cars.

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Americans in several states are preparing to go to the polls to decide on party candidates for November’s mid-term elections.

The outcome of these primary ballots will be seen as a key indicator of the volatile political mood in America.

Two sitting Democratic senators are facing serious intra-party challenges, while the conservative Tea Party movement may claim a win in Kentucky.

Polls suggest anti-incumbent sentiment is rife across the US.

"In America today voters don’t like or trust government, business or even the Catholic Church," Republican strategist Mark McKinnon told the BBC.

"The worst thing you can be is an incumbent. The Pope would have a hard time getting re-elected right now."

Veteran Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who was first elected in 1981, is fighting for his political life against two-term Democratic House Representative Joe Sestak.

Formerly a Republican, Mr Specter switched parties, becoming a Democrat in April 2009.

At the time, Mr Specter said it was because Republicans had shifted too far to the right, but pundits speculated that the switch was motivated by a looming primary challenge from a conservative Republican.

Now, Mr Specter may well lose to a challenger from his left, Mr Sestak, in a campaign where the former’s many years of experience and political weight in Washington have become liabilities.

The latest polling shows the pair in a dead heat.

In Kentucky, two Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nomination for a Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Jim Bunning.

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson has been anointed by the Republican establishment, most notably Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and former Vice-President Dick Cheney.

But Rand Paul, son of one-time presidential candidate Ron Paul, has harnessed conservative grassroots energy, mounting a serious challenge to the party establishment’s favourite.

Driven by the burgeoning Tea Party movement, a win for Rand Paul would be the second victory in a matter of weeks for Tea Partiers, who recently helped displace sitting Utah Senator Bob Bennett as the Republican candidate in that state.

Outsiders’ energy

Also on Tuesday, a special election will be held to replace Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who died in February this year.

Mr Murtha’s seat was long considered a Democratic stronghold, but Republican candidate Tim Burns is polling well.

Both parties are viewing this race as an important preview of November’s elections.

They have funnelled over $2m (£1.4m) into the race and former President Bill Clinton recently campaigned there for the Democratic candidate.

"A Republican win in that seat could signal a really big Republican year," Scott Rasmussen, president and CEO of polling firm Rasmussen Reports, told the BBC.

But Mr Rasmussen cautions against over-interpreting the results for any one race. Rather, he says, the results should be looked at in concert.

"You have to look across the board. If Rand Paul wins his primary, if Joe Sestak wins his, and if the Republican wins [John Murtha’s former seat], then the energy really is with the outsiders," says Mr Rasmussen.

And insiders, as far as the public is concerned, appear to include Republicans.

"Rand Paul is really campaigning against Mitch McConnell. If he wins, that will send a clear message that Republicans aren’t immune," Mr Rasmussen says.

"It’s not that people have fallen in love with Republicans suddenly."

But Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, warns Americans not to interpret Tuesday’s results "to excess".

"Every race is idiosyncratic to that district or that state," Mr Newport told the BBC, pointing out that, for example, Arlen Specter’s long history with Pennsylvania voters animates that contest.

In Arkansas, incumbent Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln has problems on both the right and the left.

Ms Lincoln’s support for the economic bailout and health care reform angered Arkansas conservatives.

Meanwhile, liberals criticise Ms Lincoln for not supporting cap-and-trade energy legislation.

Appeasing the left could help her win her primary, but would certainly lead to a loss in the general election.

Ms Lincoln, like many Democrats in conservative states, has found herself between a rock and a hard place.

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Eating processed meat such as sausages increases the likelihood of heart disease, while red meat does not seem to be as harmful, a study suggests.

A Harvard University team which looked at studies involving over one million people found just 50g of processed meat a day also raised the risk of diabetes.

But there was no such risk from eating even twice as much unprocessed meat, such as beef, lamb or pork.

This was despite the fact the two forms of meat have a similar fat content.

Writing in the journal Circulation, the researchers speculated that given the similar quantities of cholesterol and saturated fats, the difference may be explained by the salt and preservatives added to processed meats.

This is defined as any meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting and includes bacon, sausages, salami and other luncheon meats.

Salt can increase blood pressure in some people, a key risk factor for heart disease.

In animal experiments, nitrate preservatives can promote atherosclerosis and reduce glucose tolerance, which can in turn lead to heart problems and diabetes.

Similar lifestyle

The team from Harvard School of Public Health looked at 20 studies involving more than one million participants from 10 countries.

On average, each 50g serving of processed meat per day – the equivalent of a sausage or a couple of rashers of bacon – was associated with a 42% higher chance of developing coronary heart disease and a 19% higher risk of diabetes.

"Although cause-and-effect cannot be proven by these types of long-term observational studies, all of these studies adjusted for other risk factors," said Renata Micha, lead author.

"Also, the lifestyle factors associated with eating unprocessed meats and processed meats were similar, but only processed meats were linked to higher risk."

Victoria Taylor, senior heart health dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said: "If you like red meat, this can still be included as part of a balanced heart-healthy diet.

"Go for lean cuts and aim to cook from scratch using healthier cooking methods like grilling or baking. If you need to add flavour, then try using fresh and dried herbs, spices and chillies instead of salt."

A spokesman for BPEX, which represents pork producers, insisted processed meats could form part of a balanced diet.

He suggested further research was needed before any dietary recommendations could be made.

"Various studies indicate that high consumption of processed meat can be indicative of an overall poorly balanced diet: therefore it could be other aspects of the diet that are contributing to the increase in risk," he added.

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A survey suggests parents worry more about their children being murdered than the health threat caused by obesity.

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Kim Phuc, the Vietnamese girl in one of the unforgettable images of the Vietnam War , has been reunited by the BBC with Christopher Wain, the ITN correspondent who helped save her life 38 years ago.

When Chris last saw Kim, she was lying on a hospital bed with first-degree burns to more than half of her body, after a South Vietnamese napalm bomb attack.

It was 8 June 1972 and Chris and his crew had been in Vietnam for seven weeks, covering the conflict for ITN.

He remembers the day clearly: "That morning we’d arrived at the village of Trang Bang, which had been infiltrated by the North Vietnamese two days earlier. They were dug in, awaiting a counter-attack.

"In the late morning, two vintage Vietnamese bombers started to circle overhead – this wasn’t anything unusual, but because we had been into the village we knew something was going wrong."

Many of the villagers had already fled to the shelter of a temple, among them nine-year-old Kim.

"We thought this would be a safe place – but then I saw the plane – it got so close," she remembers.

"I heard the noise of the bombs then suddenly I saw the fire everywhere around me.

"I was terrified and I ran out of the fire. I saw my brother and my cousin. We just kept running. My clothes were burnt off by the fire."

Chris and his crew were about 400m from the point where the four canisters of napalm had exploded.

"There was a blast of heat which felt like someone had opened the door of an oven. Then we saw Kim and the rest of the children. None of them were making any sound at all – until they saw the adults. Then they started to scream."

Lasting memory

A Vietnamese photographer, Nick Ut, was also covering events in South Vietnam that day.

As Kim ran down the road, her arms outstretched and screaming for help, he took what is now seen as one of the most memorable images of the Vietnam War.

She was still running when Chris stopped her and poured water over her, while directing his crew to record the terrible scenes.

"We were short of film and my cameraman, the late, great Alan Downes, was worried that I was asking him to waste precious film shooting horrific pictures which were too awful to use. My attitude was that we needed to show what it was like, and to their lasting credit, ITN ran the shots."

Nick took Kim to the nearest hospital, the US-run Saigon First Children’s Hospital. Shortly afterwards, his photograph and the film footage appeared all over the Western media.

One result was that everyone wanted to know what had happened to the little girl.

It was Chris who found Kim the following Sunday, in a small room at the British hospital.

"I asked a nurse how she was and she said she would die tomorrow," he says. So he got her moved to a specialist plastic surgery hospital, for life-saving treatment.

Kim stayed in hospital for 14 months and went through 17 operations, remaining in constant pain to this day.

Her image became a lasting memory for a generation – but the little girl herself disappeared from public view.

Powerful gift

Then, 10 years later, a journalist from Germany tracked Kim down.

She was at university studying medicine but the Vietnamese government cut short her studies and ordered her back to her village to be filmed and interviewed. She was now a propaganda tool.

Even when she succeeded in resuming her studies, this time in Cuba, she was still expected to fulfil her duties as a "symbol of war".

It was at Havana University that she met Toan, a fellow student from Vietnam. They married and took a honeymoon in Russia, which provided them with a unique opportunity to flee to Canada.

"I heard rumours that a lot of Cuban students stay in Canada on the way back from Moscow, when the plane stops to refuel. By doing this I was finally able to gain my freedom."

Kim settled down to a peaceful and anonymous life in Canada with her husband and two children, but in 1995 she was traced by another journalist and the picture was splashed across the front page of the Toronto Sun.

"I wanted to escape the picture because the more famous it got, the more it cost me my private life. It seemed to me that my picture would not let me go," she says.

However, the realisation came to her she did not have to remain an unwilling victim. The photo was, in fact, a powerful gift that she could use to help promote peace.

"I realised that now that I have freedom and am in a free country, I can take control of that picture," she says.

‘Impressive woman’

This idea led her to establish the Kim Phuc Foundation, which provides medical and psychological assistance to child victims of war.

Chris continued with ITN for another three years as defence correspondent, covering amongst other things the Yom Kippur War and the invasion of Cyprus. Later he moved to the BBC.

He retired in 1999 and never expected to see Kim again.

"At the time, it was just another story, though an appalling one. It was certainly the worst thing I ever saw.

"Later, when interest was rekindled, I felt that Kim was being used. That was why 10 years ago I declined a proposed on-screen reunion with her on the Oprah Winfrey Show – it sounded exploitative."

Now, having met Kim, he’s changed his mind, and no longer thinks of her as a victim of that picture.

"Despite everything that has happened to her, and all she’s endured, she’s become a very impressive woman."

It’s My Story – The Girl in the Picture, presented by Chris Wain, can be heard on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 18 May at 1600 BST and then afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

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A loud explosion has been heard in the western part of the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say.

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