The contestants had 10 days to construct “real, sustainable, self-sufficient and comfortable houses exclusively sustained by solar energy,” they said in a statement on Sunday.

The jury, made up of experts in architecture and solar systems, decided the Lumenhaus was “the most efficient” of the 17 entries. It “presents an open distribution that connects the inhabitants of the house with the external environment.”

Some 190,000 people have so far visited the “solar village” on the banks of Madrid’s Manzanares river where the houses are on display, the statement said.

Solar Decathlon Europe was taking place in Europe for the first time. It is organized by the U.S. Department of E

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As Glastonbury fans start packing for the usual feast of mud, music and moshing, new research into the essentials for this summer’s outdoor events scene from Post Office Home Insurance reveals a new generation of gadget addicts who are just as likely to pack a laptop or hair straighteners as they are wellies and wet wipes.

A far cry from the original summer festivals when all you needed was a tent and a sleeping bag, revellers heading off to festivals represent a generation of techno-dependants who can’t bear to be separated from their gadgets and designer accessories.

This summer UK people heading to festivals, concerts and sporting events at home and abroad will be taking along over two million camcorders, 12 million digital cameras, and just under a million sets of cordless hair straighteners. To

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“Users of iPhones and other GPS devices must be aware of what kind of information about them is being collected,” Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told the German weekly.

According to Der Spiegel, the minister’s criticism was aimed at changes Apple has made in its privacy policy whereby the company can collect data on the geographic location of the users of its products — albeit anonymously.

Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said she expected Apple to “open its databases to German data protection authorities” and clarify what data it was collecting and how long it was saving the data.

An Apple spokesman said he could not comment on the report.

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Barclays is reducing rates on its Woolwich mortgages by up to 0.70% from Wednesday 23 June, further enhancing its commitment to higher loan to value borrowing.

This follows the announcement earlier this month that Barclays is offering competitively-priced mortgages at 90% lending for customers buying a new Bovis Homes property, narrowing the gap between 70% and 90% mortgage rates. The deal for consumers purchasing from Bovis Homes is fixed for two years at 4.99%.

The key reductions this week include a cut of 0.70 percentage points on a two year fixed rate mortgage (up to 80% LTV) from 5.29% to 4.59%, a reduction of 0.60 percentage points on a three year fixed rate (up to 80% LTV) from 5.49% to 4.89% and a cut of 0.40 percentage points for mortgages up to 85% LTV from 6.19% to 5.79%. All deals come have a £999 application fee.

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Many commentators were shocked by the extent of the cuts Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced Tuesday that included a freeze on public sector pay and slashing benefit payments.

Osborne also announced he would slap a levy on banks and ramp up taxation on goods and services.

“Nothing in the election campaign prepared the British public for this bloodbath,” the Financial Times said, warning it was a huge gamble that could bring down the new government if it failed.

“This gamble has defined the government.

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