British reservists ‘not fit for duty in Iraq’
Soldiers in the Territorial Army who have failed the minimum fitness tests are being mobilised for Iraq and Afghanistan. Military commanders have complained that the part-time troops are unfit and have had to be evacuated for medical reasons, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said.
The Ministry of Defence admitted that recruits had been allowed into the reserve forces despite failing basic fitness tests, but told the committee that it was piloting a new system to enforce minimum health and fitness standards in the Territorial Army. Trials are due to start in November.
Iraqi’s assets frozen
The assets of an Iraqi doctor charged in connection with the London and Glasgow terror attacks have been frozen, the Bank of England said. Any financial institution that holds assets connected to Bilal Abdullah, 27, charged with conspiring to cause explosions, must stop anyone accessing them. He is linked to addresses in Cambridge and the Glasgow area and holds a British passport.
Advertisement
Legal aid reform fear
Children at risk of abuse will be hardest hit by plans to overhaul legal aid, lawyers said. Alistair MacDonald, of the Association of Lawyers for Children, said that making the scheme market-based would further reduce the number of firms doing family legal aid work: “For the children concerned this can mean the difference between a life in care and at home . . . or even between life and death.”
Idle civil servants
Civil servants have been sitting in offices for months with no proper work to do, a government official said. David Bell, Permanent Secretary at the new Department for Children, Schools and Families, said he arrived at the department 18 months ago to find that 180 staff had “unallocated positions”: projects they had worked on had ended but they had not been assigned new ones.
Student subsidy call
Advertisement
Overseas students bring such powerful economic benefits to Britain that the Government should consider subsidising them, a report suggests. The study, from the Higher Education Policy Institute, said that the 318,000 foreign citizens currently studying in Britain paid just under £1.68 billion in tuition fees alone, compared with £430 million in real terms a decade ago.
School bus crash
Four children were in hospital yesterday after a school bus struck a crowd of pupils outside a school in Hartlepool. The 33-seater bus, which was carrying more than 20 children, swerved to avoid a child who had run into the road. It hit a fence at English Martyrs School, where the group had gathered. Twenty-three children were taken to hospital. Two were said to be seriously injured.
£2m online fiasco
The failed system to appoint junior doctors through online applications cost the taxpayer nearly £2 million last year, the Government admitted. The Medical Training Application System for junior doctors was abandoned after being labelled a fiasco and infuriating doctors and applicants, who claimed that it left thousands of the brightest and best medical graduates without jobs.
Advertisement
Rail guard fraudsters
Two train guards face jail after profiting from selling tickets on the black market. Gregory Akinyode, Ishola Gdadedo and others on the run or still to be identified used compromised credit cards to buy tickets before selling them cheaply to South West Trains commuters. By the time they were arrested, Akinyode, 40, of Abbey Wood, London, and Gdadedo, 42, of Erith, Kent, had made £22,500.
Blair talks to BBC about years in power
The BBC has secured an exclusive series of interviews with Tony Blair in which the former Prime Minister talks candidly about his decade in power (Adam Sherwin writes).
The corporation said that Mr Blair was not paid to take part in the three hour-long programmes, which will be screened on BBC One in November.
Advertisement
The films feature contributions from colleagues at home and abroad, and critics. David Aaronovitch, the Times columnist, will conduct an extensive series of interviews with Mr Blair for the programmes and narrate the series.
Firearms alert near No 10 Downing St
A man was arrested at the back of 10 Downing Street last night on suspicion of having an imitation firearm in his car.
The man approached a police officer in Horse Guards Road, who accompanied him back to his car, which was parked in the road. The officer spotted what he believed to be a firearm, but it turned out to be a fake. Police officers said that there had been no security breaches. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that the man had been arrested and detained on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm. The spokesman added that the man was in custody last night.
Protective pint
Advertisement
Drinking a pint of milk a day or eating yoghurt can help to prevent a condition that increases the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, Cardiff University research suggests. The study found that dairy products helped to cut the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, also known as insulin resistance, which is thought to affect up to a quarter of the population.
Ecstasy overdose
The family of a clubber who died after taking five Ecstasy tablets in one night has given a warning of the dangers of taking drugs. Darran Baker, 22, of Burwell, Suffolk, was taken to hospital after feeling ill in a nightclub in July last year. An inquest at Bury St Edmunds found that Mr Baker, who worked as an administration clerk, died from an Ecstasy overdose. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
Magistrate fined
A magistrate was fined after refusing to pay a £50 fixed penalty incurred for throwing a cigarette butt out of her car window. Denise Hall, who sits at Middlesbrough, was taken to court by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. She admitted illegally depositing litter and was fined £50 plus £50 court costs by magistrates at Hartlepool. She now faces possible action by the Lord Chancellor.
‘Tax unhealthy food’
Extending VAT to unhealthy foods could prevent up to 3,200 deaths from heart disease each year, according to a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Mike Rayner, a researcher from Oxford University, suggested that careful imposition of VAT could also help to reduce obesity, to which “the overabundance of cheap junk food” contributed. VAT is charged on sweets and snacks.
Head is found dead
Hampton Hargate School in Peterborough, was closed for the week after its head teacher was found dead at his home. The school, which was opened in 2001 by the Duke of Gloucester, was due to undergo an Ofsted inspection today. Sources said there was nothing to link the head’s death to the inspection. A spokesman for the local authority said that he had been off sick, suffering from stress.
McCann friends talk to Portuguese police
Three members of the party who were on holiday with the family of Madeleine McCann when she was abducted were reinterviewed by detectives yesterday as they carried out a review of evidence.
Rachael Oldfield, 36, Russell O’Brien, 36, and Fiona Payne, 34, arrived at the PolÍcia Judici?ria in Portimão to go over their accounts of the events of May 3. It is believed that officers are trying to discover if the sole official suspect was seen that night. The three friends were in a restaurant with Kate and Gerry McCann at the time their daughter was snatched from her bed 50 yards away in an apartment in Praia da Luz.
Detectives have cancelled all leave, hoping for a breakthrough. Chief Inspector Oleg?rio Sousa said that officers had scheduled several interviews for this week. The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have been made aware of the plans.
Mrs Oldfield said as the group arrived to be interviewed: “We are more than happy to help the police with their investigation.”
Detectives yesterday also questioned Robert Murat, the only official suspect in the case, for the fourth time.
Typhoons in service
The RAF’s newest fighter aircraft, the Cold War-designed Eurofighter Typhoon, are now operational, taking over the role of protecting UK airspace from suspected terrorist-hijacked airliners. Based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, the Typhoons of No 3 (Fighter) Squadron are at full readiness to scramble in the event of any aircraft “acting suspiciously or intruding illegally”.
Flood theft arrests
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of stealing jewellery and other items from homes that were damaged in the recent floods. Humberside Police said that officers had arrested a 21-year-old man and two 17-year-olds, all from Cardiff, who had been employed to work in flooded homes in Hull and East Yorkshire. The men were released on bail pending further inquiries.
Boat death accident
A retired paramedic who helped to save 20 people on a burning boat on the Thames 14 years ago was killed when his own yacht caught fire in Corfu in January last year. An inquest at Gloucester was told that after Jonathan Towell, 58, returned to his boat in Ipsos harbour after a night ashore it caught fire, and firefighters were unable to save him. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Kinder ‘cut’ for dogs
Male dogs could soon be spared physical castration by a contraceptive implant that mimics the effects of neutering on a reversible basis. A device that releases drugs that block production of sperm and the male hormone testosterone for six months has been developed by scientists in Australia. It is expected to be approved for sale in the European Union within months.