Les Brangelina twins et arrive.

Angelina Jolie gave birth in Paris to a boy, Knox Leon (5.03 pounds) and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline (5 pounds), by Cesarian section on Saturday night.

Brad Pitt was present at the birth.

Jolie and Pitt already have four equally unusually named children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, and Shiloh.

They’re going to need a fair sized people carrier for that lot!

The UK Government will announce today its intention to harmonise driving with Europe by 2012, in time for the UK Olympics. The change has been suggested to help visitors to the Olympics negotiate the journey from the coastal ports to EastLondon with less difficulty.

Britain and Australia are the only major countries still driving on the left and the Government have been under pressure from the EU to come into line for some time.

Junior Transport Minister, Avril Duper, said “Although we understand that this may cause some problems initially, we feel that in the long term this decision will increase tourism and create jobs here in the UK. ”

From 2015, all cars sold in the UK will be required to be left hand drive, a move which will save European car manufacturers some 3.6 billion euros.

Latest research from the ABI (Association of British Insurers) highlights how vulnerable young drivers are to having a serious motor accident. Every day four people are killed or seriously injured in accidents involving young drivers. The findings reinforce the ABI’s call for a minimum one-year learning period for all learner drivers, and restrictions on the number of teenage passengers young novice drivers can carry.

The ABI’s analysis of insurance claims involving young drivers reveals that:

• Drivers aged 18 cause 50 collisions every day – nearly three times as many as drivers in their fifties.
• Inexperience affects young novice drivers more than older novice drivers: an 18 year-old driver with one year’s experience is twice as likely to make a claim as a 30 year-old driver with one year’s experience.
• Passenger restrictions in the first year of driving could significantly reduce the accident risk. In the USA such restrictions have reduced fatal crashes by up to 37%.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health said:

“Every year 50,000 17 year-olds pass their driving test with less than six months driving experience. One in three of these drivers are likely to be involved in an accident within the first two years after passing their test. Too often these accidents end in tragedy. Introducing a structured minimum one-year learning period, and passenger restrictions will help today’s young drivers become tomorrow’s safer motorists. We urge the Government to act now to protect young motorists and their families.”

You can see what tax band your chosen vehicle is in and calculate your new car tax at the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA):

vcacarfueldata.org.uk

This only applies to vehicles registered after 1st March 2001. If you have an older vehicle, registered between 1974 and March 1, 2001, your car will fall into these tax bands, calculated according to engine size:

• Cars under 1549cc cost £115 per year.
• Cars over 1549cc cost £180 per year.

Prices correct as at 12th March 2008, but these are set to rise.

The price of a gallon of petrol is now £5.00 per gallon, having reached 110.9p per litre on some forecourts. In the face of the most recent rise in oil prices, Alistair Darling backed away from increasing fuel duty by an additional 2p per litre. This has now been “postponed” for 6 months.

 To see what Vehicle Excise Duty your car is subject to, visit the Government’s site at:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10012524

These will increase as a result of the Chabcellor’s Budget statement today.

Alistair Darling announced today that high-emission vehicles would attract up to a £950 vehicle excise duty in their first year on the road. Cars emitting more than 255g of carbon dioxide per km would be subject to the highest rate, with cars that emit less than 130 grams of carbon dioxide per km would pay no car tax at all in the first year. It is unclear at the moment how this will affect drivers of older cars which fail to meet modern emission standards.

Mr Darling also reeaffirmed his commitment to exploring national road pricing. He announced an invitation to the private sector to run a number of projects based on road charging, even though the Government had ruled out road pricing for the forseeable future only a few days ago!