Amy Childs shows off her curves in a pretty polkadot bikini

Amy Child

She has become one of the most well-known celebrities in the UK this year thanks to her role in The Only Way Is Essex and Celebrity Big Brother.

But her success in 2011 is nothing compared to what Amy Childs is hoping to achieve next year.

Before embarking on 2012, however, Amy decided to treat herself to a celebratory holiday in Spain with her brother Will.

The 21-year-old redhead, who now stars in her own Channel 5 reality show It's All About Amy, hit the beach in a pretty pink and white polkadot bikini as she soaked up the sunshine and enjoying a cooling dip in the water.

Amy teamed her curve-boosting two-piece with a huge pair of sunglasses, and did her best to keep her long red hair away from the water as she messed around in the sea with her sibling.

The former TOWIE star was enjoying a relaxing break in Spain ahead of celebrating the New Year with friends and family.

And, if recent reports are to be believed, Amy has a lot to look forward to over the next 12 months.

Since quitting TOWIE and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, Amy has been named the new face of Ultimo boss Michelle Mone's Bra Queen range for Tesco, as well as releasing a fitness DVD and opening her own beauty salon in Brentwood, Essex - taking her estimated earnings for 2011 to £1.5million.

It was claimed yesterday that if Amy continues at the same rate of success in 2012, she could make up to an astonishing £10million.

Amy Child

A source told The Sun: 'Money will just flow in now. She can keep reinventing herself like Katie Price.

'If she is managed carefully £10 million is very achievable.'

But when asked what her resolutions are for 2012, Amy had slightly more modest aims.

She said: 'I'm going to calm down on the fake tan - I've started to look more natural, but Amy Childs' tan, from my salon, is really good.

'I also want to stop pouting because it's a bad habit. It's time I started smiling again.'

Hot on Amy's tail on the TOWIE rich list, however, is her fellow Essex star Mark Wright, who is thought to have the capability to make himself £9million in 2012.

The source added: 'Mark's earnings can hit £9million but he must be clever and market himself quickly.

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Gold ends up, sets biggest weekly drop in 3 months

Gold Bar

(Reuters) - A weakening dollar and short covering drove investors back into gold on Friday, lifting prices to end a sharp four-session pullback that still yielded the biggest weekly decline in almost three months.

Spot gold rallied as much as 1.7 percent to $1,600.49 per ounce, and steadied at $1,596.40 by 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT,) up from a near 3-month low at 1,560.36 hit in the previous session.

U.S. gold rose 1.31 percent to close at $1,597.90 per ounce, after hitting a high at $1,598.10 per ounce.

David Lee, metals trader at Heraeus Precious Metals Management in New York said he thought gold's push higher on Friday was a function of the yellow metal being temporarily oversold after its nosedive from levels above $1,750 last week.

"Some people were taking the opportunity to scoop it up at lower levels. And, it's still up year to date. So, it wasn't surprising that people wanted to sell it off to raise cash for the year end," Lee said.

He warned, however, that the 1 to 2 percent rebound was not significant relative to the high priced of the yellow metal, adding that prices could come off again if the crisis in Europe worsens before year end.

"If comes back down to the day's low on Sunday night, for example, I'd say dump it really fast. I think it will continue to go down to around $1,550," said Lee.

A slightly weaker dollar against a basket of currencies also

helped boost precious metal prices .DXY. A softer U.S. currency makes dollar-priced commodities, such as gold, more affordable for holders of other currencies.

For the week, bullion lost around 6.60 percent, its biggest fall since late September. It remains vulnerable to a deepening euro zone debt crisis and rising funding stress.

"Gold took a beating this week and today bounced a bit as investors see this as a good moment to buy, but it is still vulnerable," Credit Agricole analyst Robin Bhar said.

"I expect gold will stay under pressure as the funding stress is increasing the need for liquidity, and gold is seen as one of the assets to liquidate."

The need for cash has overwhelmed gold's traditional status as a safe haven in the past few months, putting the metal on course for its first quarterly fall since end-September 2008 when the global credit crunch was at its worst.

Gold has, therefore, benefited recently from developments that have reduced risk aversion and the flight to cash.

It got a boost after Spain attracted solid demand for its bonds on Thursday, helping to ease concerns the country could be among the next to fall in the euro zone's debt crisis.

"At the moment a lot of people are resting their hopes on the fact that physical demand will pull gold back up again, but because of the amount of speculative investment that has gone into this market over the last years, it is obviously exposed on that basis," said Ole Hansen, a senior manager at Saxo Bank.

FUNDING STRESS

Gold benefits when central banks print money or cut interest rates or when money managers diversify assets.

"With access to liquidity being constrained, market participants have increasing problems to refinance," Credit Suisse said in a research note.

"As a result they have to sell their assets - including precious metals - to raise the much-needed cash. This is the main reason why gold prices fall on days of increasing funding stress."

In other precious metals, spot silver gained as much as 2.68 percent to trade at $29.97 an ounce, before pulling back to $29.64 per ounce late in the session.

Spot platinum rose to a high at $1,436.25, then changed hands at $1,415.24, up from $1,404 at Thursday's close.

Palladium climbed to a session high of $632.52 an ounce and then steadied around $620.72, higher than the previous close at $614.25 per ounce.

"As well as tracking gold, for platinum and palladium there are fears over weak industrial growth, and they may be hit harder as people look to liquidate risk," Bhar said.

"Some support however comes from costs. These metals are already trading very close to their costs."

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David Villa out for six months after breaking shinbone during Barcelona's Club World Cup semi-final

David Villa faces a long time on the sidelines

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola confirmed David Villa would be sidelined for a "long time" after the Spain striker broke his shinbone in today's 4-0 Club World Cup semi-final victory over Al-Sadd.

Reports in Spain suggest the 30-year-old will be out of action for between four and six months after being carried off on a stretcher six minutes before half-time.

Barca announced soon after that he had suffered a "fracture to the tibia in his left leg", with the player taken to hospital in Yokohama for further tests.

The news comes as a setback not only to Barca but potentially to world and European champions Spain, with their all-time record scorer's availability for Euro 2012 now in doubt.

Guardiola said after the match: "He will now travel to Barcelona as soon as possible. He will be greatly missed as a colleague and as a player. I hope everything goes well.

"He will be a long time. It's a big blow to the team. We just hope that he can play again as soon as possible.

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United States duo Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland win World Cup Golf 2011

Golf 2011

World Cup 2011: Final-round leaderboard

    * -24: U.S.
    * -22: England, Germany
    * -21: Australia, Scotland, Ireland
    * Selected others: -20: Wales, Netherlands
    * -19: Spain, Korea

United States duo Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland hit six birdies in a closing 67 to win the World Cup by two shots.

The Americans eroded the overnight two-stroke lead held by Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in China, with birdies on the first two holes.

Four more birdies lifted them to 24 under as Ireland faded with four bogeys in a level-par 72 to stay 21 under.

England's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose carded a nine-under-par 63 to finish second alongside Germany on 22 under.

"We were a little subdued [after the third round] and neither of us were much company," admitted Poulter.

"We stayed in our own rooms, and kind of rightly so as four under par in fourball was very disappointing.

"But to go and shoot nine under par in foursomes is crazy."

Poulter and Rose sank four birdies on the front nine and finished with two birdies and an eagle in their last four holes as they recorded the lowest score of the final round at the Mission Hills course on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.

But although they caught and passed McIlroy and McDowell, who had held an eight-shot advantage over the Englishmen going into the final round, they were unable to match the Americans.

Kuchar and Woodland played solid, rather than spectacular, golf in the alternate shot foursomes format as they finished with a five-under-par 67 to record the United States's first victory in the tournament since Tiger Woods and David Duval teamed up in 2000.

"You think of all the sporting events, and you think of all the teams that become world champions, and in golf there are not that many opportunities to be world champions," said Kuchar.

"So to represent the United States of America and become world champions just feels great."

Their only blip was a bogey on the par-three 11th, but that dropped shot was wiped out on the 12th with a sixth birdie of the round following on the 13th.

In contrast, McIlroy and McDowell, who led by three on the back nine two years but were beaten to the title by Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, again struggled on the final day.

They mixed two bogies with two birdies on the front nine to fall two behind the Americans.

A birdie on the 10th brought them within one shot of the lead, but a bogey on 12 checked their progress and another shot went on the par-three 15th after McDowell's tee shot plugged under the lip of a greenside bunker.

McIlroy could only blast the ball a few feet out of the sand but when his playing partner missed the 25-foot par putt, their challenge was effectively ended.

They finished joint fourth with Australia, Netherlands and Scottish pair Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher who closed with eight birdies in a six-under-par 66.

German duo Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka did not drop a shot over the last two rounds and played the final 18 holes in a three-under 69, sinking a lengthy par putt at the last to ensure they finished joint second.

The World Cup used to be held annually but was switched to biennial after 2009 to accommodate golf's inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games.

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