Cladding with fire-resistant core could have been used in Grenfell Tower for '£5,000 extra'

There are reports that the cladding on the London tower block destroyed by a fire may have accelerated the blaze, writes Claire Anderson.

The Times is reporting that the exterior cladding that encased the 24-story Grenfell Tower is banned in the United States.

A salesman for US-based Reynobond, which makes aluminium panels, told The Times that the cheaper version of aluminium panels which is thought to have been used at Grenfell Tower, are banned in American buildings taller than 40ft for fire safety reasons.

The version thought to be used at Grenfell has a flammable plastic core, rather than a fire-resistant core which is present in the more expensive versions.

“It’s because of the fire and smoke spread,” he told The Times.

Furthermore, the plastic (PE) panels are rated as "flammable" in Germany.

Reynobond sell fire-resistant panels for £24 per square metre, which is £2 more expensive than the flammable version.

The Times claim that rough calculations suggest that contractors could have used the fire-resistant version for less that £5,000 extra.

A company director of Omnis Exteriors, John Crowley, confirmed to The Guardian that Omnis had been asked to supply the cheaper version of the Reynobond cladding and that it was is £2 cheaper per square metre than the alternative fire-resistant version.

“We supplied components for a system created by the design and build team on that project,” Cowley told The Guardian.

UK Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said there would be immediate action following the early conclusions from an investigative report into the blaze which has left at least 17 people dead.

"We need to do whatever it takes to make people that live in those properties safe: that's either make the properties safe or find some other accommodation, it has to be done," Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Mr Javid was pressed on what would happen to other buildings with the same cladding as Grenfell Tower.

He said: "What's going to be very important here is what do the fire investigators tell us from their preliminary work and obviously that work has already begun.

"If they tell us that the cladding is the problem or how cladding is put on, or there might be some other issue that no-one has thought of yet, that is what will lead that investigation.

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New Nintendo Switch could be pretty cheap!

Nintendo is being pretty tight lipped about its new games console, dubbed the Switch.

We know it has on the go gaming as well as a dock for playing on your TV and it comes with some dinky controllers which can be detached from the main screen. Other than that, it's a bit of a mystery, and Nintendo doesn't plan to confirm anything else until January 2017.

But that can't stop the leaks from happening! Toys R Us in Canada apparently had a price listed on their site of 329 Canadian Dollars. At today's rate, that's under €240, though prices in Europe are generally higher.

For a console launch it's a pretty tasty price, and you should be able to get one with a game packed in for only a little more. Nintendo's new console caters to a different market to the likes of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S so that lower cost will be a definite advantage.

Of course, Nintendo isn't admitting to anything yet, but hopefully the rumour turns out to be true. The reveal is coming to happen early in the morning of the 12th of January, 2017.

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Samsung S8 could have a new screen size

After the issues around the launch of the Galaxy Note 7, which sometimes went a little bit on fire when it was charging, all eyes will be on what Samsung does next.

And it's pretty clear that's going to be the launch of the Galaxy S8. It's one of the most popular premium smartphone ranges in the world, and it's also the ideal way for the company to start restoring the faith of its millions of customers.

We've already heard that they could be bringing forward the release date of the handset to early in 2017, and the rumour mill is already grinding out potential specs. The latest whisper is that we could be seeing some new screen sizes next year.

Previously the regular S7 had a 5.1 inch screen while the Edge variant measured 5.5 inches. The word is that the new phones will start at 5.7 inches and go all the way up a 6.2 inches.

A very thin bezel was already rumoured and this would keep the handset dimensions from getting too much bigger - and the larger phone could have a truly edge to edge display. It might be called the Galaxy S8 Plus.

Right now these are just rumours but expect to hear about the new phones early in 2017.

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Skinny people might be at serious risk of Type 2 diabetes after all

Skinny folk with an infuriating ability to eat anything they want may not be as fortunate as they seem.

For some, the excess calories that appear to vanish like magic could be increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Scientists have identified a number of gene variants that both increase diabetes susceptibility and prevent the growth of fat under the skin – especially below the waist.

Drinking more than two sugary or artificially sweetened soft drinks per day greatly increases the risk of diabetes, research has shown (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The discovery could explain why some slim people develop Type 2 diabetes even though the disease is strongly associated with being overweight or obese.

Despite appearances, these individuals do not burn up extra calories from fattening food. Nor do they store the calories “safely” as peripheral fat. Instead, they transfer them to organs such as the liver and pancreas where they can do harm, it is claimed.

Lead researcher Dr Luca Lotta, from Cambridge University, said: “Our study provides compelling evidence that a genetically-determined inability to store fat under the skin in the lower half of the body is linked to a higher risk of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

The new research shows that obesity does not have to be the main cause of type 2 diabetes (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

“Regardless of their body weight, if people don’t burn these excessive calories, even if they don’t seem to be putting on a lot of weight, they may still be at risk.

“This doesn’t mean that being obese is a good thing. It does mean that if you eat too much and you don’t do enough physical activity you have an excess of calories you have to store somewhere.

“Not all individuals are predisposed to safely store those calories in peripheral fat tissue.”

Diabetes sufferers have to test their blood sugar levels at regular intervals (Mike Watson Images/Thinkstock)

The international team studied more than two million genetic variants in almost 200,000 people to look for links to insulin resistance. The condition, marked by a decreasing ability of the body to respond to the hormone insulin, can pave the way to full-blown diabetes.

Co-author Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, also from Cambridge University, said: “We’ve long suspected that problems with fat storage might lead to its accumulation in other organs such as the liver, pancreas and muscles, where it causes insulin resistance and eventually diabetes, but the evidence for this has mostly come from rare forms of human lipodystrophy.

“Our study suggests that these processes also take place in the general population.”

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See the spectacular supermoon beam over Hong Kong

The spectacular supermoon shone down on Hong Kong as the brightest moon in almost 69 years lit up the sky across Asia and the South Pacific.

The supermoon occurs when it moves along its elliptical orbit closer to earth, and is currently the closest it’s come to our planet since 1948.

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Suicide attack kills at least six civilians in Iraq

A suicide bombing in Iraq has targeted the Shiite sacred city of Karbala, killing at least six civilians, in the latest attempt by the Islamic State group to distract from the government forces' offensive on the IS-held northern city of Mosul.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan, six suicide bombers tried to sneak into Karbala from its western outskirts earlier in the day but security forces detected and killed five of them.

The sixth attacker broke into a house in the city's Ayn al-Tamer neighbourhood, where he detonated his suicide vest, killing six people and wounding another six.

The attack came as hundreds of thousands of faithful Shiites have been walking to Karbala to commemorate the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, Prophet Muhammad's grandson and an iconic Shiite martyr.

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Breaking Bad fan guilty of murdering police officer in UK

A man has been found guilty of murdering a police officer in the UK and, inspired by TV show Breaking Bad, trying to dispose of his body with acid.

Stefano Brizzi will be sentenced next month for killing Gordon Semple during a sex game at his London flat.

Gordon Semple

Jurors convicted him after 30 hours deliberating over the gruesome evidence.

Stefano Brizzi

Sky's Laura Bundock's has the details: "None of his family nor his long-term partner were here to hear the verdict today, they’ve not been present throughout the case.

“They have though issued a statement which said, ‘we were devastated when the news broke of Gordon’s murder and the circumstances which are still incredibly hard to deal with’.”

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