IRA Army Council ‘no longer poses a threat’

The ruling body of the Provisional IRA still exists but poses no threat to security, according to a report out today (David Sharrock writes).

The so-called Army Council, which once ran Western Europe’s most effective terrorist group, no longer operates as a military command structure. That is the expected verdict of the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was set up by London and Dublin to monitor Northern Ireland’s paramilitary groups. The report addresses a question central to the political crisis that threatens to bring down the Province’s power-sharing government.

Degrees ‘won’t pay’

The higher salaries earned by some of those who have degrees will be wiped out by the debts they rack up, according to the National Union of Students. If the £3,000 cap on university tuition fees is lifted, the average graduate is likely to end up owing more than £25,000 in tuition and maintenance fees.

Electoral reform call

The elections watchdog made a fresh call for a shake-up in the voter registration system, saying responsibility should shift from householders to individuals. The Electoral Commission chairman, Sam Younger said individual elector registration was overdue. The Government agreed but said it had to lay the groundwork.

Clegg expects

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said that he and his wife, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, were expecting their third child in February. The announcement came a week before the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, the first that Mr Clegg, who is 41, will attend as party leader.

Remand in ‘plot to kill Brown’

City of Westminster magistrates remanded in custody a man charged with offences linked to an alleged threat to kill the Prime Minister. Muhammad Ali Mumtaz Ahmad, 24, of Blackburn, is accused of possessing terrorist material. He indicated that he would enter a not-guilty plea.

Striker cleared

The Southampton striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, 23, was cleared by Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court of stealing £85 in cash and mobile phones from a nightclub in Southsea, Hampshire, in February. His teammate Nathan Dyer, 20, who admitted the theft, was sentenced to 60 hours’ community service.

Fatal cliff fall

A husband watched his wife fall to her death as she tried to photograph a grasshopper. Kathryn Williamson-Stockwell, 54, from Amlwch, near Anglesey, slipped off a cliff in Dolno Dragliste, southwest Bulgaria, while on holiday. Her widower, Trefor, 68, said that he had warned her to be careful.

Grave error

A Glasgow funeral director dismissed for driving a hearse “recklessly” at 7mph has been awarded £30,000 by an employment tribunal. Scott Ralston, 44, said managers at Cooperative Funeralcare had objected to his vehicle’s tyres squealing on the garage’s polished concrete floor.

Theft from car in traffic

Jewellery worth thousands of pounds was stolen from the boot of a car while it waited in London traffic. When the jeweller reached his destination, he realised that two bags had gone.

Boy, 16, leapt from viaduct

A 16-year-old leapt 175ft to his death from a viaduct after splitting up with his girlfriend. Kane Davis, of Consett, Co Durham, had also been in trouble with police, an inquest heard.

Man wedged in wheelie bin

Firefighters had to rescue a 57-year-old Stafford man who became wedged bottom-down in a wheelie bin, with only his hands and feet visible, after he had sought shelter during a storm.

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