‘Jersey remains could be animal’

The latest bones found at a former children’s home at the centre of a child abuse investigation in Jersey are “quite likely” to turn out to be from cattle, police said. The discovery by forensic archaeologists at Haut de la Garenne came as police are poised to make as many as three arrests in the case. Dozens of people are claiming to be victims and police are looking into one incident in which it is believed a child may have died.

MoD turnaround on wind power

The MoD was accused of indecision and causing confusion after it withdrew objections to three wind turbines in Norfolk, which it claimed would threaten national defence. Councillors have called for an inquiry over the turnaround.

Man dies after rescue attempt

A man died after jumping into a canal to save another who had fallen into the water. The 45-year-old went to the aid of a man who fell in to the canal in the Gay Village area of Manchester. The rescued man survived unharmed.

Doctors back deportation

Almost two thirds of doctors say a decision to deport Ama Sumani, 39, a terminally ill woman being treated for cancer, was correct. It was criticised at the time, but an OnMedica poll found most doctors backed the deportation to Ghana.

Controversial blog is axed

A civil servant who wrote an anonymous blog about the inner workings of government has taken down the site after it attracted widespread publicity. The blog, Civil Serf, which was mentioned in newspapers and used by Tory politicians to criticise the Government, made frequent references to welfare policy and to Peter Hain, the former Work and Pensions Secretary. The Department of Work and Pensions declined to confirm whether the blogger had been identified. Her profile states that she is a 33-year-old fast-stream civil servant.

£100m payouts for cancer negligence

The NHS has paid out almost £100 million in negligence claims due to medical errors in cancer treatment (David Rose writes).

The Government has admitted that over the past decade there were 1,179 clinical negligence claims relating to cancer treatment alone, leading to £47 million in compensation, with £50 million still outstanding.

Doctors failed to detect at least 935 cases of cancer in the past two years, while thousands more errors were made in chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, figures obtained by the Conservatives show.

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary said that the statistics showed the Government’s “failure to provide world-class cancer services”.

University beckons

Deprived teenagers who attend a summer school that encourages them to go to university achieve better degrees than their peers, said the Sutton Trust. Nearly 90 per cent of graduates lured into higher education by an initiative to attract students from poor backgrounds, achieved a 2:1 or first class degree.

Call to raise MPs’ pay

MPs’ pay should be increased to cover the cost of maintaining two homes, according to Theresa May, the Shadow Leader of the Commons. The senior Tory said her personal view was that MPs’ basic pay of £60,075 should be raised instead of members from outside London claiming a second-home allowance.

Skyscraper attacked

Historic views of London would be ruined by an “intrusive” skyscraper, the head of English Heritage said. Simon Thurley condemned proposals for the 43-storey residential Doon Street Tower planned for the South Bank, as it will obscure Whitehall from the St. James’ Park bridge and Somerset House’s courtyard.

Briton in flight death

A penniless British backpacker who died after suffering chest pains on a flight out of Australia has been identified as Michael Edgeley, 22, a student, of Penwortham, Preston. Immigration officials ordered him out of Melbourne when he ran out of money and started to live rough on the streets.

Dog lover spotted in the crowd at Crufts show

One dog lover from Japan carried away a souvenir from the most important event of the canine calender as Crufts drew to a close at the NEC arena last night. More than 25,000 dogs and their owners featured at the four-day show.

The event, officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the biggest dog show in the world, saw animals displaying skills in agility, obedience and even heelwork to music. Almost 200 different breeds took part in the event, including more than a thousand entrants from overseas.

Remote-control bombers

The RAF is arming two unmanned aircraft for use in Afghanistan, giving it the same military capability as US forces there. Senior defence sources said that the two Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles, bought from the US for about £10 million and until now used for reconnaissance, are due to start dropping precision-guided bombs and launching Hellfire missiles over southern Afghanistan. Every bomb and missile capable of being fired from up to 50,000ft (15,240m) – will be controlled by an RAF fast-jet pilot at the Creech airbase, about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

U-turn on MoD turbines

The MoD has been accused of indecision and causing confusion after withdrawing objections to wind turbines in Norfolk, which it had claimed would interfere with radar signals, threatening national defences (Magnus Linklater writes). Councillors in Norwich have written to the ministers for defence and energy calling for an inquiry after the MoD withdrew its opposition to three turbines at Hethel, ten miles south of Norwich. They accused the MoD of incurring “unnecessary costs to wind developers and unnecessary delay” by objecting in the first place.

Pygmy hippo looms large

One of the world’s shyest and most endangered animals has been found in a region of West Africa racked by civil war and habitat destruction (Lewis Smith writes). The pygmy hippopotamus was photographed from camera traps placed on the forest floor in Liberia as part of the Edge programme to protect the world’s most evolutionarily distinct species. Ben Collen, of the Zoological Society of London, said: “The pygmy hippo is an extraordinary, mysterious creature that has almost never been seen in the wild.” The cameras will continue to monitor the species.

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