1,600 at Holocaust memorial service
LIVERPOOL Auschwitz survivors and religious leaders were among more
than 1,600 people who attended a ceremony to mark Holocaust Memorial Day
yesterday.
The service was held at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, to commemorate the
liberation in 1945 of the concentration camp in southern Poland, and other
atrocities. Guests included the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams;
the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks; and Hazel Blears, the Communities and
Local Government Secretary.
The service featured harrowing personal testimonies from survivors and
relatives of those killed.
Karen Pollock, of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said that it was important
to remember the relevance today of the events at Auschwitz and other Nazi
concentration camps.
“Genocide is taking place in Darfur, and genocide has happened since the
Holocaust . . . in Cambodia and Rwanda,” she said. “This was an opportunity
for people to come together and say never again.” More than 2,000 schools
are taking part in events across the country to mark the occasion.
‘Protect the Earth as well as profits’
LONDON BP and Shell have been accused of using environmentally friendly
initiatives as window dressing by Tony Juniper, the departing director of
Friends of the Earth (Lewis Smith writes).
Mr Juniper said that the heads of the oil companies were hamstrung by the need
to maximise dividends to investors, and that companies must have as much of
an obligation to protect the environment as they have to maximise dividends.
He said that Lord Browne of Madingley, when chief executive, had promised to
take BP into a new era of sustainability with its Beyond Petroleum campaign,
which Mr Juniper helped to initiate, yet it soon became clear that oil and
gas exploration would soak up the majority of investment.
Shell and BP also reduced their involvement with renewable energy such as wind
farms and solar power. Richard Branson was criticised too for his promise to
promote biofuels for trains and aircraft despite their restricted potential
for helping to combat climate change.
Kilt gives workers a natural breeze
GOTHENBURG The makers of a denim kilt that has proved popular across
Europe are hoping to sell it to British construction workers.
The craftsman kilt, designed by Marcus Jahnke, from the School of Industry
Design, Gothenburg, has two nail pockets, a loop for carrying a hammer and a
knife-holder. It is also available in high-visibility style.
Jeff Adams, from Blaklader Workwear UK, the British arm of the kilt’s Swedish
manufacturer, said: “Because they are 100 per cent cotton they are very warm
in winter. But they are also cool in the summer and provide a natural
breeze.”
Couple die in helicopter crash
A couple who were killed when their helicopter crashed after taking off from
the grounds of a hotel were named by police as Paul Spencer, 43, and his
wife, Linda, 59, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire. The crash happened on
Saturday in woodland at Rudding Park Hotel near Harrogate. The couple had
returned recently from a Caribbean holiday.
Four in car are killed in crash
Four people have been killed in a car crash in Derbyshire. The dead, two men
and two women, were in a Seat that collided with a Subaru on Saturday
evening on the A608, near Morley village. Two people in the Subaru were
injured, not seriously.
Two men shot as gangs clash
A man aged 20 was arrested after two men were shot on a housing estate in what
locals suggested was a row between rival gangs. The injured men, aged 26 and
28, sustained pellet wounds in the incident on the Callon estate in Preston,
Lancashire.
Plan your own funeral online
A new website is offering people the chance to plan their own funeral. Users
of yourdeathwish.com create their own webpage listing their final requests,
including the music that they would like at their funeral and where they
would like their ashes to be scattered.
Bureaucracy ‘hinders drive for volunteers’
Red-tape and security checks are preventing thousands of people from
volunteering, according to a report published today (Richard Ford writes).
The study by the Commission On The Future Of Volunteering said that the need
for Criminal Record Bureau checks, references and other assurances were
possibly disproportionate in relation to the actual risk and work being
carried out.
Baroness Neuberger, the Prime Minister’s volunteering champion, said: “Checks
are right where people are working with children and vulnerable people. It
is the way it’s being interpreted that is causing a problem. Organisations
don’t want to get into trouble so they have become risk averse.”
House sales linger
Houses for sale are languishing on the market for longer. Properties have
taken an average of 8½ weeks to sell this month, the longest time recorded
since 2001, according to Hometrack, the housing data firm. Properties on the
market in the early summer of 2002 were able to exchange in less than 3
weeks.
Ming quit over media
Sir Menzies Campbell said that “cruel and unfair” comments from the media
about his age led to him stepping down as leader of the Liberal Democrats in
October. Sir Menzies, 66, added on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One
that he wanted to be reelected as a MP and that he could return to the front
bench.
Court details of killer
A police inspector who killed his mother-in-law and himself while on bail
convinced a psychiatrist that he was not a danger, court papers are expected
to reveal. Judge John Bevan QC, who released Garry Weddell, 47, while on
remand for killing his wife, Sandra, is thought to want the bail hearing
details released.
Youth murder charge
A teenage boy has been charged with the murder of Boduka Mudianga, 18, who was
stabbed to death in Edmonton, North London. The 17-year-old, who also faces
a charge of grievous bodily harm on another 18-year-old, will appear before
magistrates today. A man in his late teens is also in custody.
Fear on the streets
More than half of British women and more than a third of men are afraid to
walk alone at night in their own neighbourhoods, according to a survey.
Three quarters of 3,600 people in the study thought that there were not
enough police. The findings feature in ITV1’s Tonight programme
at 8pm tonight.
Don’t pass the salt
Salt should be removed from the dinner table to try to improve health, Martin
Wiseman, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said. An estimated 10 to 15 per
cent of salt is added during or after cooking, Professor Wiseman added,
meaning that many adults eat more than the recommended maximum 6g a day.
Four die in crash
Four people were killed in a car crash in Derbyshire. The dead, two young men
and two young women, were in a Seat that collided with a Subaru on Saturday
evening on the A608, near Morley village. Two people in the Subaru were
injured and taken to hospital, police said.
Britannia’s rule is spent at last
The image of Britannia is being removed from the 50p piece. The change, which
takes effect in April, was approved by Gordon Brown before he became Prime
Minister. It will be the first time in 300 years that Britannia has not
featured on any British coin.
