BBC correspondent kidnapped in Gaza
A BBC news correspondent was kidnapped in Gaza yesterday by four masked
gunmen, according to Palestinian security officials. The BBC’s Alan Johnston
apparently threw his business card on to the street as he was being
abducted. His rental car was later found abandoned near his apartment.
Mr Johnston has been the BBC’s correspondent in Gaza for three years. He is
one of the few foreign journalists permanently based there.
The BBC confirmed that it had lost contact with its correspondent. “We are
currently unable to contact him and are concerned for his safety,” said a
statement. “We are trying to gather as much information as possible.”
Palestinian security forces have set up checkpoints across Gaza in an effort
to locate him.
Said Siyam, the Palestinian Interior Minister, called Mr Johnston’s
disappearance a “criminal act”.
More than a dozen foreign journalists and aid workers have been kidnapped in
Gaza in the past year and a half.
Women die in fire
Three British women died in a fire at the Paris apartment where they were
staying for the weekend. They were reported to include a mother and a
daughter from the Southampton area. They were trapped in a flat on the fifth
floor of a building on Rue des Innocents in Les Halles.
Real IRA still a risk
The Real IRA and other small republican terrorist groups remain a threat to
security in Northern Ireland but the Provisional IRA does not, a panel of
experts said. The Provisionals are still committed to the political path,
with no contemplation of a return to terrorism, the Independent Monitoring
Commission said.
14 held over attack
Fourteen arrests were made after three 18-year-old men were stabbed in
Hornchurch, Essex, yesterday afternoon. Two of the victims were airlifted to
hospital in a critical condition; the other, who was stable, had made his
own way. Police said that all of those held were men ranging in age from
late teens to their forties
Judge reveals why he acquitted officer
The trial of a senior army officer accused of failing to prevent the
ill-treatment of nine Iraqi prisoners by his men in 2003 collapsed because
his commanders in Basra ruled that hooding detainees and forcing them to
stand for in a stressful position for hours was allowed (Michael Evans
writes.)
Mr Justice McKinnon, a High Court judge, for the first time gave his reasons
acquitting last month Colonel Jorge Mendonca, former commanding officer of
the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment.
The judge said: “It’s now common ground that the brigade did sanction the use
of hooding and stress position [under which detainees had to stand with
knees bent and arms outstretched].”
Referring to the “fatal flaw” in the prosecution case, the judge said that the
charge against Colonel Mendonca collapsed on the basis of evidence from
Major Anthony Royce, battle group internment review officer. The sanctioning
was later relaid to Major Michael Peebles who replaced Major Royce. Major
Peebles and Warrant Officer Mark Davies are on trial for negligently
performing a duty by failing to prevent detainees from being mistreated.
Mr Justice McKinnon gave his reasons at their trial.
MPs slam ‘naivety’
A government contract to rebuild the headquarters of the National Physical
Laboratory ran more than five years late because of procurement process
weaknesses, the Public Accounts Committee said. The MPs said the Department
of Trade and Industry was guilty of “naivety”.
Sex offender jailed
A former bus driver has been jailed for grooming a teenage girl on the
internet and molesting her. Gareth Crowther, 37, formerly of Nether
Langwith, Nottinghamshire, was given a 14-month term at Gloucester Crown
Court for offences that took place in 2005 when his victim was 14 years old.
Search for diver
Police divers continued to search for the body of a woman in the Dorothea
quarry in North Wales, raising further concerns about safety in the
unregulated lake. It is believed the Cheshire woman, who was in her 40s,
became entangled in ropes on Sunday. More than 20 people have died in the
quarry since 1994.
Lighter duties
Cheshire police are considering using smaller firearms and lighter motorcycles
to get women to join “macho culture” units. The force recently changed
“inappropriate wording” on firearms unit application forms and there has
been a 25 per cent increase in female applicants.
Wembley sold out
Tickets for the first football match at the new Wembley Stadium sold out less
than six hours after going on sale. The England uner-21 game against Italy
on March 24 will now be watched by 60,000 spectators. Applicants were so
eager to book tickets that the website crashed.
Computer DVT risk
Call-centre and IT workers who are seated for hours at a time are at greater
risk of deep-vein thrombosis than long-haul air travellers, according to the
Medical Research Institute of New Zealand. Its study showed that 34 per cent
of patients with blood clots had been seated at computers for long periods.
Phone-tap fears
Staff who tap the phones of suspected criminals fear they will face attacks if
ministers allow intercept evidence to be given in trials, MPs and Peers were
told. Telephone companies also oppose lifting the ban on phone tap evidence
being allowed because it will reveal what they tell the Government.
Bus kills mother and daughter
A mother and daughter died after being struck by a bus during yesterday
morning’s rush hour in Knutsford, Cheshire. The mother, who was in her
seventies, was crossing the road with her daughter and son, both in their
fifties, when the accident happened. The son was not injured. Police said
that both women lived locally.
The bus, which was the Arriva service between Altrincham and Knutsford, did
not leave the road and an investigation is under way into how it came to be
in collision with the two women.
Children from Knutsford High School were on board the bus. They were not hurt.
Soldiers’ bodies flown home
The bodies of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan were flown home, arriving at
RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Lance Bombardier Ross Clark, 25, and Lance
Bombardier Liam McLaughlin, 21, were killed during a rocket attack on March
3. Both were with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
Marine Benjamin Reddy, 22, who was with K Company, 42 Commando, died when his
unit came under fire three days later. Warrant Officer Class 2 Michael
Smith, 39, was killed in a grenade attack on his base two days after that.
He was serving with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
The Drifters hurt in motorway crash
The Drifters, the vocal group, escaped serious injury after a motorway crash,
South Yorkshire Police said. The band were travelling from a performance in
Newcastle upon Tyne when their vehicle was involved in a collision on the M1
near Catcliffe, Sheffield. Peter Lamarr, Victor Bynoe, Rohan Turney and
Patrick Alan were taken to Rotherham District General Hospital. Alan
sustained a head injury and was detained for observation. Turney dislocated
his shoulder, and all were treated for whiplash. Mark Lundquist, the group’s
agent, said they were still hoping to perform in Northampton on Thursday.
Heath’s house stays off-limits
The wish of Sir Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister, that his home should
be opened to the public after his death has been rejected by councillors.
Sir Edward, who died aged 89 in 2005, lived in the 18th-century Cathedral
Close in Salisbury. It was thought that thousands of people would visit the
house to view his papers and curios. Salisbury district councillors threw
out the application, because it was contrary to the local plan. Ian Tomes, a
councillor, said: “There is not enough information about the numbers
expected. We wanted a complete package because of the sensitivity and
uniqueness of the Cathedral Close.”
Fewer new people are without a home
The number of new homeless people in England is falling according to official
figures from National Statistics. They totalled 17,310 in October to
December compared with 35,770 three years earlier.
By 2008 the Government will have invested £300 million in homelessness
prevention. Local authorities have been allocated £47.2 million in grants
for this year, and voluntary organisations been given £16 million.
Ofcom criticism
The BBC has been criticised by the media watchdog Ofcom for including a
potentially dangerous stunt in children’s programme The Slammer. A mime
artist was shown putting a rubber glove over his head and blowing it up. The
BBC said that it did not believe that the trick would put children at risk.
Death of pilot
Steven Davis, 36, a professional pilot killed at Headcorn Aerodrome in
Ashford, Kent, on Sunday when his light aircraft crashed after an aborted
take-off, had started his job flying parachutists only one month ago, his
employers said. Two of the eight parachutists on board were injured.
Damages for son
Michael Benterman, 13, of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, won £40,000 agreed damages in
the High Court for the death of his father after a routine private operation
in 1994 at the Oxford Infirmary. The father, also Michael, was 37 when the
operation to have his tonsils taken out led to fatal bleeding.
Teacher jailed
A teacher who kissed a Sheffield pupil, 15, and touched her intimately was
jailed for nine months by Preston Crown Court — 30 years after committing
the offences. Geoffrey Cassidy, now 55, of Lytham, was also placed on the
sex offenders register after admitting five charges of indecent assault.
Drugs at school
Six children, boys and girls aged about 13, have been sent home from Lytham St
Annes High Technology College in Lancashire after they were found with
Ecstasy tablets. Philip Wood, the head teacher, called the parents of the
year nine children on Friday to remove them. They will be questioned by
police.
In the pink
Motorists scrambled from their vehicles to collect thousands of £20 notes that
were thrown from a car in Quinton, Birmingham. Police believe they were
thrown away by robbers who set off a security mechanism which covered the
cash in pink dye. Much of the money was returned to the police.
