‘Pointless’ NUT strike set to close schools

Almost half of teachers in England and Wales think that industrial action planned by the National Union of Teachers on April 24 will close their school, according to an online poll by The Times Educational Supplement. But the survey of 7,300 teachers suggested that the profession was divided over whether there was any point in striking over a pay claim that has little chance of succeeding. More than a quarter of the union’s members responding to the survey said that they would not strike.

Inspectors and other staff at the education watchdog Ofsted are to be balloted for strikes after pay talks broke down. Unison and the Public and Commercial Services union said that school inspections across England could be hit if industrial action went ahead.

MP in bicycle crash

A cyclist was injured in Parliament Square after he collided with a car driven by the Conservative MP Simon Burns. The man, who is in his twenties, was flown to the Royal London Hospital after the accident. His condition is not believed to be life threatening. Mr Burns was not injured.

Barristers’ stand-off

A pay dispute between the Legal Services Commission and the Bar Council may have increased the risk of inexperienced barristers handling terrorism and murder trials. Only 110 of a potential 2,300 barristers in the Bar Council have agreed to a revised contract that applies to the most complex cases.

Paedophiles’ e-mail

Paedophiles will have to disclose their e-mail addresses to police when they go on the sex offenders register. Police will pass the details to social networking sites who will be expected to monitor offenders using the sites or bar them access. They may also have to register their mobile phones.

Ship dispute settled

Nearly 500 passengers on a cruise ship who were stranded in Madeira for two days set sail again last night. The MV Van Gogh was sailing to Falmouth, Cornwall, after a legal dispute was resolved between the administrators of Travelscope, the previous operator, and the current owners Club Cruise.

Chemists to relieve pressure on doctors

High-street chemists are to become “healthy living centres” providing a range of services, under plans outlined in a White Paper (David Rose writes). The NHS could save £3.5 billion in a decade if pharmacists, rather than doctors, diagnosed and treated minor illnesses such as colds, ministers believe.

Pharmacists could also provide flu vaccinations and tests for sexually transmitted infections, as well as health advice. GPs spend the equivalent of an hour a day dealing with minor ailments, equivalent to 57 million consultations a year. Chemists are expected to take care of half of these cases within three years.

Earliest Americans

DNA extracted from fossilised faeces found in an Oregon cave has provided the oldest definite evidence for a human presence in the Americas. Genetic tests on the excrement, or coprolites, proved them to be of human origin. Radiocarbon dating has established that they are between 14,000 and 14,300 years old, placing them 1,000 years earlier than any other confirmed human site in the New World.

Meredith drink claim

Meredith Kercher, the British student murdered in Perugia last November, was in an “alcoholic precoma” when she died, an Italian magazine reported. Panorama also claimed that a bloodstained footprint found in Ms Kercher’s bedroom was consistent with trainers owned by Rudy Hermann Guede, the Ivory Coast immigrant who is one of the three murder suspects.

Ban boy’s £20,000

A pupil who was banned from school for four days a week, rather than having his special needs reassessed, will receive a trust fund worth at least £20,000 from Stockport council which failed to educate him. In a report listing a catalogue of failures, the Local Government Ombudsman ordered the council to pay compensation as “the education he should have benefited from has been lost to him”.

Journalists strike

Journalists at a national newspaper group are to stage the first of three 24-hour strikes today in a row over pay. The National Union of Journalists said that up to 250 workers at Express Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Express and the Daily Star, are walking out in protest at a 3 per cent pay offer. It is the first full-day strike of journalists at a major national newspaper since 1990.

Pigeon’s kiss of life

A pigeon was given the kiss of life by its owner after it almost died from smoke inhalation in a fire. Alan MacDonald, 44, of Edinburgh, awoke to find smoke pouring from the pigeon hut and 35 birds dead. He spotted that one bird was alive and resuscitated it. “I don’t know if it will survive,” he said. “If the smoke doesn’t kill the bird then the shock of the ordeal may.” Fire officers suspect arson.

WI women tour red-light areas

Two pensioners from Hampshire WI are to tour the world’s red-light districts. Jean Johnson, 62, and Shirley Landells, a 73-year-old grandmother, will travel to Amsterdam, visit a “bunny ranch” in America and learn about mini brothels in New Zealand. On their return they will tell institute members why they think prostitution should be legalised. Mrs Johnson said she expects the trip to be “quite an eye-opener”.

Inactivity linked to heart disease

Teenagers with early symptoms of diabetes and heart disease are six times more likely to have had low levels of physical activity as children than healthy contemporaries, says a US study in Dynamic Medicine, an online journal.

Police recruit in dyslexia victory

A dyslexic police recruit who was hounded out of the force is seeking £500,000 compensation after winning his claim of disability discrimination. Officers in Essex Police treated Owen Brooking, 24, as if he were “thick”, a tribunal found.

Cranford takes the honour

Cranford, the BBC series adapted from the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell, won four awards, including Best Actress for Dame Eileen Atkins, 73, at the Broadcasting Press Guild awards. Philip Glenister, star of Life on Mars, won Best Actor.

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