Daily Express Thursday, August 8, 2019 9DX1STBy Berny Torre
By Ashleigh RainbirdHarassment
Juvenile
asthma
link to air
pollution
AIR pollution could be
to blame for a third of
new cases of childhood
asthma in Europe, a
study has found.
Hundreds of
thousands of youngsters
up to the age of 14 are
being made ill each year
by breathing in fumes
from traffic, industry,
ports and other sources,
researchers claimed.
A study of children in
18 countries compared
rates of asthma with
levels of exposure to
pollutants, especially in
urban areas.
Researchers estimated
that 11 per cent of the
new cases of asthma
(66,567) could be
prevented each year if
countries adhered to the
maximum air pollution
levels recommended by
the World Health
Organisation for the tiny
particles known as
PM2.5.
And 33 per cent of
cases (191,883) could be
avoided if countries
reduced pollution to the
lowest levels previously
recorded, according to
the study led by the
Barcelona Institute for
Global Health.
One of the study’s
authors, Professor Mark
Nieuwenhuijsen, called
for “major lifestyle
changes” including much
greater use of electric
vehicles in cities.
By Jemma Crew
My shame over not
blowing whistle on
sex pests by TV Fern
Time to
call them
out...Fern
BrittonFERN Britton says she
experienced “inappropriate”
behaviour throughout her
career – including from a
well-known star who stuck
their face into her cleavage
while pretending to sneeze.
The TV presenter, 62,
says it is everyone’s
“duty” to call out
inappropriate behaviour in
the workplace – and admits
she feels “ashamed” not to
have spoken out in the past.
“A famous TV presenter
would shake my hand,
pretend to sneeze and put his
nose into my cleavage,” she
recalls. “It was thought to be
charming and hilarious.”
She tells Good
Housekeeping magazine:
“I’m ashamed that, in my
days as a young woman, we
didn’t speak out about
things that were wrong and
inappropriate.
“I would often have my
bottom touched or my
breasts remarked on.
“All those things were
supposed to be funny and we
were programmed to accept it
but thankfully, things are
different now.
“As I’ve got older I have
woken up much more to it.”
Fern has previously
described how a person she
interviewed “jumped” on her in
a lift at Television South,
where she worked in the late
1980s and early 1990s, andtried to snog her. She says: “I asked
him what on earth he thought he
was doing. But it didn’t seem to
shame him into stopping.
“The most privileged person on
the planet is still the white male.
“Women of my generation long
ago got used to being taken for
granted when it came to
inappropriate behaviour.”
Now, she believes women are
“re-powering” following the #MeToo
and #TimesUp movements.
She said: “We just want to stand
shoulder to shoulder, each with our
different strengths and qualities.“Whether you’re male or female, if
you see anybody behaving
inappropriately to somebody else,
it’s your duty to call them out.”
Fern firmly believes in closing the
gender pay gap, but has admitted
she has always felt she was paid
“too much”.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter star
Emma Watson, who has launched a
free #TimesUp-inspired legal advice
line for anyone experiencing sexual
harassment at work, said:
“Understanding what your rights
are, how you can assert them and
the choices you have if you’ve
experienced harassment is such a
vital part of creating safe
workplaces for everyone.”
Advice is provided by the charity
Rights of Women. The advice line
number is 020 7490 0152.Louise: Divorce stress
made me run red light
Ex-husband Jamie RedknappFined...Louise was ordered to pay £LOUISE Redknapp jumped a red
light becasue she was suffering the
“personal trauma” of her divorce,
a court was told yesterday.
The pop star and 2016 Strictly
runner-up was fined £666 and
slapped with three penalty points
on her licence after she admitted
running the light in her £31,
Land Rover Evoque.
Speaking through her lawyer,
the mum-of-two told of the strain
of splitting from her football pun-
dit husband Jamie Redknapp, 46.
Lavender Hill magistrates heard
the 44-year-old admitted jumping
a red light in south-west London,
at around 9.34am on November 2.
Prosecutor Jerry Josiah said:
“The cameras recorded a vehicle
intervening a road traffic signal.”
He said the automatic camera
showed the light had been red for
“approximately 1.4 seconds”.
Rebecca Penfold, mitigating,
said: “She expresses her fullremorse as evidenced by her
early guilty plea and extends her
apologies to the court through me
today.”
Ms Penfold said Redknapp took
full responsibility but added: “At
the time of November 2018 she
was going through the personal
trauma of a divorce which was
made that much harder from the
interest of the media.”
She claimed paparazzi had fol-
lowed the star “every day”.
The court heard she was already
on six penalty points for different
driving offences.
Magistrates chairman James
Murray gave her the maximum
£1,000 fine – reduced to £666 for
her guilty plea.
She was also ordered to pay £
costs and a £66 victim surcharge.
Redknapp, who was not incourt, split from her husband in
2017 after the couple were struck
by the Strictly curse, ending 19
years of marriage.
It was rumoured that her close
relationship with Strictly partner
Kevin Clifton had affected their
marriage.
Professional dancer Clifton is
now in a relationship with Strictly
champion Stacey Dooley, after
she broke up with her long-term
boyfriend while on the show.
Redknapp was a member of
1990s girl group Eternal before
going solo and selling 15 million
records across the world.
The celebrity was also a judge
on the UK version of So You Think
You Can Dance.
She is due to release Heavy
Love, her first studio album in 19
years, in October.Pictures: GC IMAGES / EMPICS / GETTYPictures: GC IMAGES